Page 89 of Born into Blood

I don’t bother arguing that after we get Lara back I’m wrapping my arms around her and never letting go, so the meeting is going to have to wait. He’ll figure it out soon enough.

“Let’s go,” my Uncle Vitaly says, smacking my dad on the back as he walks by. “I know where the club is. If he doesn’t know where she’s at, then maybe he’ll know someone who does.”

On the drive to Lou’s, my Uncle Danil keeps working on his laptop, but I can tell by his angry scowl that he’s not finding anything. Niki gets the same look on his face when he gets stumped and can’t figure something out on his computer.

Ignoring just about every traffic law, we get to Lou’s in record time. I drive around the building and then back my car up so the bumper is kissing the back door, effectively blocking Lou in the building in case he decides to do something stupid like run for his life.

Max and Val stay by my side as we enter the shitty building with our dads right behind us. The club is busier than the last time I was here, but still just as depressing. The girl on stage is working hard, and she perks up when she sees us, but our faces must say it all because she quickly looks away, concentrating on the men nearest the stage, doing everything she can for the pitiful tips.

“God, this place is a dump,” my Uncle Vitaly mutters from behind me.

“Not interested,” I hear my Uncle Matvey growl when a topless waitress walks over to him.

“Danil and I will guard the front,” my Uncle Lev says.

The same old bartender is working tonight, and he watches me walk past. I ignore the shout he gives when I head down the hall to Lou’s office, pulling my gun out while Max and Val do the same. I don’t bother knocking this time. I raise my foot and kick the damn door in, and when I see the young blonde on her knees, noisily sucking away at Lou’s old cock, I momentarily wish I’d stuck with the niceties. It would have spared me from having to witness Lou’s cock shrivel up at the sight of us.

“Oh my god!” the woman yells when she sees our guns. She scrambles to the side, holding one arm up and using the other to cover her bare chest.

“Get the fuck out,” I tell her and then put all my focus on Lou, who looks like he’s trying really hard to not shit himself.

“Put your fucking cock away,” Val tells him. “No one in here wants to see it.”

“No one out there does either,” Max mutters. “How much did you have to pay that poor girl, or did you just threaten to fire her if she didn’t get on her knees?”

Lou quickly tucks himself back in his jeans and then reaches a shaky hand for the pack of cigarettes on his desk. I move my gun from side to side and frown at him.

“I’m disappointed, Lou. You’re trying to quit, remember?”

“Fuck that,” he mutters, eyeing our guns and reaching for his lighter.

“If you light that, I will shoot you.” He pales at my words. I smile at him. “You’ll thank me later, if you live that long.”

He drops the cigarette. “Jesus, man, I didn’t do anything.”

“Someone took Lara,” I tell him right before I glance over and see my dad and Matvey. They’re hovering in the hallway because the office is way too small for all of us.

“I had nothing to do with that,” he quickly says. “I swear I haven’t seen her since the day you came in with her.”

I step closer and rest my hands on his desk, the side of the gun pressing against the cheap wood but still pointed at him. “I don’t believe in coincidence, Lou. We came in here asking about her dad, and now she’s been taken. No one else knew who her dad was. It all points back to you.”

“No fucking way,” he groans. He looks from me to my cousins and then finally to my dad and uncle, two of the original members of the Bratva, and when he realizes who they are, he shakes his head and grows even paler. “I’ve spent my whole life staying as far away from you all as I could get. I’m a coward. We all fucking know it. No way in hell would I go after one of your girls.”

He focuses on Max when he adds, “And I didn’t force that girl to blow me. That’s how big of a coward I am. I don’t want to risk an angry boyfriend coming after me. I offer the girls money for shit like that. They know I won’t fire them if they say no.” He gives a harsh laugh that sounds forced because of how scared he still is. “Most of them do.”

I switch to Russian and look at the others. “I believe him. He’s fucking pathetic, too stupid and too big of a pussy to attempt something like this.” In English I ask Lou, “Who else has been working here a long time? Who else knows who Lara is?”

It’s almost painful to watch him try and think, to conjure a name when he’s so scared and using all his willpower to keep his sphincter clamped shut.

“Come on, Lou,” I say, encouraging him. “You can do it. All I need is a name.”

“You going to kill him?” he asks.

“If he’s involved, yes.” When he hesitates, I add, “or I can just torture and kill you. Your choice.”

He caves in record time, surprising even me. I’ve barely gotten the words out before he’s saying, “Roger, the bartender, he’s the only one who’s been here long enough. He knew Chloe. He must’ve recognized her daughter.”

“Damn, Lou, you’re a real shit friend,” I tell him, but he doesn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. Lou would throw his own mom at our feet if he thought it would spare his own life.

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