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Yulian retaliates with a brutal punch to his gut.
“Fuck you,” Horvat sneers, his breaths coming fast and shallow. “I already told you, I know nothing about Alexander Luzkov abducting anyone. We were in prison together a long time ago. I haven’t seen him in years.”
“Well, that’s simply not true,” I say, keeping my voice soft. “I have pictures that show the two of you together right before Luzkov attempted to kidnap Alyona Nikitin. He’s dead by the way, although I’m sure you know that. Alyona killed him. Not much of a professional in my opinion. But that’s neither here nor there.” Crossing my arms, I lean on the blood-flecked wall facing Horvat, allowing him to see the feral glint in my eyes. “We know you’re the middleman, nothing more,” I say lightly.
“You don’t know shit,” he wheezes.
I shrug. “I know that you brought Luzkov in on the job. Just tell us who hired you, and we can put an end to your suffering.”
“You’re wasting your breath,” Horvat croaks. “If I knew anything, I’d never tell it to American trash like you. Fucking bratva scum.”
A knife sails across the room, landing clean in Horvat’s shoulder. He howls in pain. “That’s for insulting my family,” Andrei roars from across the room before a second knife slices through the air and implants into Horvat’s opposite shoulder. “And that’s because you’re wasting our fucking time.”
Yulian stalks forward, his mouth tipped up in a deceptively friendly smile. I should know; the man never smiles like that. “Shit. That looks painful, let me help you with that.” One sharp tug on the knife in Horvat’s left shoulder, and the blade falls, spilling blood like dark red wine.
When Yulian reaches for the other knife, Horvat begins to thrash and convulse, his cries turning ugly as Yulian proceeds to twist the blade. The cold, damp air in the room fills with the stench of copper and Horvat’s howls.
“Listen,” I say, stepping forward to play the good guy. “We’re just getting started here, next we’re going to hack away at you, limb by limb, finger by finger. You don’t want that, do you?” I pick up one of the knives that Yulian removed from Horvat’s body and trace it up the side of his leg, landing just above his dick. My intent is clear. “I usually like to start here. I find men without cocks get real chatty.”
Horvat sucks in air, sobbing and wheezing. His whole body is a heaving, trembling mess. “He’ll come after my family,” he screams, his voice tortured. “You don’t know what kind of man he is.”
“You clearly don’t know what kind of man I am,” I say in a dark whisper. “Or he is.” I point to Yulian. “’Cause right now, they’re coming after my family. Someone I love more than anything, someone I can’t live without.” Yulian freezes behind me, but I don’t care. The words are out in the open, and I won’t take them back. I’ve kept a secret from my friend for a long time, and now that time is over. No more secrets, no more lies.
I press into the knife below his pubic bone, barely a prick, but it’s a warning of what’s to come. “I will hunt down and murder each and every person that means anything to you if you don’t spill. Just tell us what we want to know, it’s so simple. Transglobal Holdings paid you $20 million for a job that you contracted to Luzkov. We need a name.”
“You… you don’t want this man’s name. Trust me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” I sink the knife deeper, and Horvat releases an ungodly sound. If I’ve learned one thing in this life, it’s that slicing off a man’s dick breaks even the toughest of souls. “Just a name, then all of this ends. All of it.”
“Maxim!” he screams, pain filtering through his voice. “Maxim Belov.”
Yulian’s eyes cut to mine, and the confusion swirling in their depths mirrors my own. Jesus fucking Christ.
“I told you, now kill me. Be done with it.”
“I lied.” I shrug and cut off his dick anyhow, because no matter which way you slice it,ahem, this man was key in hurting Alyona, and hell is too good for him. So I make sure he suffers on his way out.
Behind me, a chair scrapes across the floor. Daniil’s voice carries over Horvat’s piercing screams. “We need to go. There’s company buzzing around.”
Yulian shoots Horvat square between the eyes as we move towards the exit, taking the stairs two at a time. We burst outside, but there’s no time to talk about what we just learned. There’s only one thing to do.
“Back to the safe house,” Andrei grits. “We need to get Kira and Alyona and leave the country ASAP.”
“I’ll travel with you,” Yulian says, jumping into my passenger seat while Andrei and Daniil head towards their vehicle.
I have a feeling Yulian has some questions for me, and although I’m ready to tell him the truth, I don’t really feel like being punched out by my best friend right now.
That shit could wait till we’re on the plane.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
ALYONA
My eyes shoot open,the movie that was playing is now finished, the screen of the TV black. Kira is asleep on the other end of the couch, but when a searing explosion rips through the air, her eyes fly open, and she springs to her feet.
“What the fuck was that?” she grits, fear lacing her voice. Drawing a pistol from her waistband, she disengages the safety and whirls around, scanning the room, her body taut and poised for action.
“We can check the cameras,” I suggest, my voice trembling.
