Page 69 of Kade

He did, but only briefly. His eyes narrowed, and his lip curled in an ugly snarl. “Or what? You’re going to break into my house and kidnap—” His eyes widened, and he froze. “My wife. My kids.” He strained toward us, eyes blazing. “My family, are they okay? If you did anything to the—”

More threats.

His fear was valid, but this wasn’t about his family. This was about mine, and he had put them in danger. A primal-sounding roar escaped me. He shut up for a moment, but still he strained to get free, pushing his body as far toward us as his bindings would let him.

Logan moved to my side. “That’s a good strategy.” He looked up to check on where we’d anchored the chains. It looked solid. “If we needed to keep him here longer than a day, he’d get free.”

My eyes fell to the anchor at his feet. He wasn’t focused on that, but he should’ve been. That was the weak point. I nodded at it, getting Logan’s attention. If Zeke was thinking, he’d twist his body as far forward as possible, taking the pain, because that anchor on the floor wouldn’t hold. It would loosen, and it’d pop out of the floor.

Good lesson if we ever did this again.

We let him struggle for a while, tiring himself out.

When I’d had enough, I stepped forward. “You’ve been looking into the Bennett family. Why?”

He went still, his chest heaving. Sweat trickled down his face, wetting his shirt. His eyes narrowed. “That’s what this is about?”

Logan growled. “Answer the fucking question. Why are you looking into them?”

Zeke scanned around the room, as if looking for other people before his eyes returned to us. “Can you respect my right to privacy?” he taunted.

Logan started for him.

Zeke laughed, sucking in his breath as Logan neared. He watched my brother walk over to a table where he had some weapons laid out. “Kai Bennett is a bad fucking guy. He’s…”

Logan picked up the knuckle rings, sliding them on and flexing his hand.

Zeke’s voice faltered. “What are you going to do?” He tried leaning away but couldn’t. “Look, man. I don’t know—obviously you know who I am, but I’ve got people who are going to be pissed that you’re doing this. They’ll fuck you up. Trust me. My best friend is…” He stopped, swallowing.

Logan shook his head, stepping around to inspect him, probably trying to decide on the first place to hit him. “We have you strung up, and you’re letting us know about the first threat to take out once we’re done with you? Thank you in advance.” An ugly chuckle came from Logan’s mouth.

Zeke tried watching him as Logan circled around to his back. “What do you want? I’m not going to tell you shit. You work for the Bennetts? Is that what this is? They’re pissed at me or something? It was just a little hacking. Nothing serious. I didn’t do anything. I was only looking for information.”

I stepped forward. “What information?”

He twisted back to me, his eyes widening. He’d forgotten I was here.

Zeke swallowed again. He closed his eyes, readying himself. “I—just information on them. Nothing incriminating. I… Who the fuck are you guys? I don’t know shit. Okay?Okay?They’remessing with people I know and I’m—I was just trying to help. That’s it. Fuck’s sakes. That’s it. I’ll stop.”

Logan stepped back so we could share a look.

Zeke looked between us. He licked his lips. “Seriously. I’ll stop. Don’t…” Suddenly, the fight drained from him. His body slumped. His arms strained with his weight, strung above his head. “Whatever. I can’t tell you shit, and I’m not going to. Fuck me up. Just… Leave my family alone. Okay?”

Logan tapped the knuckles against his other hand, but Zeke seemed to tune him out. He was waiting for the torture to start, which put us in a bind because we didn’t actually want to torture him. Scare him? Yes. Put some pressure on him and see how he handled it? Absolutely. But making him bleed… Well, I couldn’t deny that something about that held some appeal for me, but Zeke wasn’t the real enemy.

“You’ve given up already?” Logan picked up a knife and tapped it against Zeke’s forehead.

Zeke shook his head, trying to flip him away.

That same ugly chuckle left my brother again as he stepped around in front of Zeke, trailing the tip of the blade over Zeke’s chest.

Zeke just waited. His chest and stomach trembled under the knife’s point.

Logan was enjoying this, and he angled the knife higher, so only the tip touched Zeke’s stomach. He grabbed hold of it with both hands and moved in, pushing it further. It cut through Zeke’s shirt and he grimaced as the tip pierced his skin.

I waited. This was new for us. We’d not done this type of interrogation, usually resorting to blackmail or straight up violence in the past. A writhing ball of emotion twisted in my stomach. I liked doing this. How fucked up was that?

Logan pushed the knife farther.

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