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“What is Astoria?” I finally asked. “You mentioned that place before.”
“Astoria is my club in downtown Leighbridge.”
I waited for more—none came. “I see I have to be more direct,” I said, earning a laugh. “Why are we going to a club in downtown Leighbridge? What does this have to do with my lessons?”
“Vito Bernardi has been located.”
I shot up in my seat.
“He’s being brought to Astoria as we speak. You’re going to question him.”
My lips parted but nothing came out. The man gives me a direct answer, and that’s what he has to say?
“I’m going to question him,” I croaked. “Why me? I spoke to him twice, made a lifelong enemy out of him, and then he helped with my abduction to set a trap for you. Why would he talk to me?”
“He’s got no reason to.” Liam’s tone was calm. “You have to make him.”
“Make him? How exactly do I do that?”
“Creative thinking.”
I stiffened, my delicious meal settling uncomfortably in my stomach. “Liam, do you expect me to torture this man?”
“Are you incapable of doing so?”
“I’ve been training with Bane for a week! What makes you think I’m ready to do something like this?”
“You were ready before you started training with Bane. I know about the man you kneecapped.”
I froze. “How do you know about that?”
“That night in New York, I stayed behind to clean up. I questioned the men who survived. Among them was one of the men who took you. In an embarrassing display, he cried, pleaded, and went on that he should’ve left you in Cinco after you shot his partner.”
Slowly, I sank back into my seat, a strange roaring filling my ears.
“When I invited you to question my valet and you refused, I thought you didn’t have the stomach for this life. As such, you didn’t have the stomach to share a life with me. Now I know you’ll do anything to protect what’s yours, and that’s the first lesson, Kenzie. Protect what’s yours at all costs.”
My throat bobbed. “Liam, my daughter had been taken by a drugged-up mistress of the most dangerous man I knew. There was no question that monster would hurt my baby, and I couldn’t let that happen. I found that strength within myself because my daughter needed me. Just like my mom found the strength to protect me.
“That doesn’t apply in this situation,” I said. “Laurel isn’t in danger. This isn’t self-defense. And Vito didn’t lay a hand on me. Do I want to see him caught and thrown in jail? Yes. Will I torture him to find out what he knows...?” I just shook my head. “Liam, I honestly don’t get why you think I could do this. I want to learn to protect myself, not numb my soul to the point it withers away and dies.”
“You don’t have to do a single thing you don’t want to do, Mackenzie. I’d never force you,” he said, “but I’ll always be honest with you. The day will come again that someone knows something that will save our family, and neither threats nor bribes will get it out of them. That day might come sooner than you think as you’re hunting down the Brotherhood’s accomplice in Caddell.
“You’ll have to make a choice to let them walk away with information that could save us or innocent people, or do what it takes to get it out of them.” Liam met my eyes though he was driving. “So here’s the choice, Mackenzie, you stay out of the fight, learn enough to defend yourself, and only get your hands dirty when forced.
“Or you can accept that we’re fighting a war with the most capable enemy we’ve ever faced. They’ve chosen violence, bombings, murder, and aren’t above hurting children.”
My lips pressed into a thin line.
“You can accept, Kenzie, that we need to know everything Vito knows about the Brotherhood, so we can stop them. And you must accept that asking nicely will not work.”
I didn’t like this. Somehow Liam being bluntly honest with me was worse than his silence.
“Make your choice,” he said. “I’ll respect whatever you decide.”
I was quiet for a long time. “Do you really believe this is the only way?”
“Vito does not hide how much he hates our family. He won’t willingly help us, and any information he did volunteer—”
“We can’t trust,” I said softly. “He wants the Merchants destroyed. Anything that seems like helping us would have to be a lie.”
“Yes.”
Gazing out the window, I tried to picture myself hurting that young, broken man twisted by tragedy. “That day is coming soon,” I repeated. “Why do you say that like it’s inevitable, Liam? Why must I accept torture as my new reality?”
“Because there’s always another Vito. Another Adams. Another Snyder. In the fifteen years that I’ve been doing this, that’s the one thing that’s remained true. You can’t wait to react in self-defense. You have to strike first and strike hard.”
