Page 100 of Gray Area

“A story,” I fill in for him, “and if you don’t get to the truth, it will only get progressively worse for you.”

He shakes his head. “He and his thug brothers—”

The curtain is roughly jerked aside, and said thug brothers enter calmly, shutting the curtain behind them, flanking me. The heart monitor starts to go crazy, and Slade walks over and shuts it off.

“Where is Declan?” I ask calmly.

“I-I…”

I stand and put a hand on Kent’s leg. “Tell me,” I say encouragingly, sweetly even, but Kent just shakes his head quickly. My anger flips quickly to rage, and I ball up my hand on his leg and land a hard jab to Kent’s balls and grind down. Kent goes to call out and Axel covers his mouth with his leather-gloved hand.

I had never understood why Declan had always said he would do anything he had to in order to protect someone that he loved. I couldn’t understand the way he was willing to hurt someone else if his family was threatened. I couldn’t imagine ever going to that length or why any sane person would need to be violent. The rage he felt at someone alluding to his family, to me, was something so foreign to me.

It wasn’t until about thirty minutes ago when Axel and Slade had showed up at my condo and told me what had transpired and that someone had Declan that I felt what must have been a flicker of what Declan did. And now that I have a way to get a piece of the puzzle to get him back to me and Kent won’t give me what I need, I completely understand the need to destroy. I am taking great satisfaction in making Kent hurt. I don’t care that he had bamboozled me, but the fact that he has Declan, my Declan, and he is keeping him from me makes me eager for him to hurt.

“This is a sample of whatIwill do to you. I believe you’ve had a sample of what Declan will do to you, but you’ve got no idea what Slade and Axel can or will do,” I hiss at him. “If you’d like to avoid your sampling, you better fucking tell me where Declan is.”

Axel releases his hand from Kent’s mouth after I ease up on his balls, but I leave my fist there. “I don’t know where he took him,” Kent squeals.

“Wherewhotook him?” Slade cuts in.

“Heath, my brother.” Kent’s eyes go wide when he realizes he probably let too much slip.

“What is his plan?” Axel demands. Kent doesn’t answer immediately, and I move to punch his balls again.

“He wants to torture him and destroy the Falco brand!” he shouts before I make contact.

“Why?” I ask, completely taken aback by that answer.

“Because he stole it all from us and killed our father.”

Slade comes forward and gets into his face. “What’s your name, fucker?” he demands.

“Kent—”

“No,” Slade cuts off, “what’s yourrealname?”

I sit and watch their interaction, completely confused by the question. What the hell does Slade mean, his real name?

Kent starts shaking under his gaze, and then he loses what little color he has left when Axel moves into view, adding another level of threat. “August Lexington,” he says.

This means nothing to me, but it means everything to Axel and Slade, whose eyes quickly slide to each other’s and back. Slade reaches across Kent’s body and pulls a gun from under Axel’s suit jacket. Kent’s eyes bulge as Slade takes the gun and points it first at his face, and then he keeps moving, pointing it at his chest and finally nuzzling the barrel at Kent’s groin.

“Tell me where my brother is,” Slade whispers.

Kent shakes his head. “He wouldn’t tell me. He said—”

Slade cocks the hammer of the revolver back, and it gets Kent’s attention and he starts speaking rapid-fire. “He has a warehouse in Maryland. It’s underground, on a piece of land that is worthless that we couldn’t sell. I think—”

“You should know,” Slade informs him.

“It’s on Packard Street, in Baltimore.”

Axel has already taken out his phone and texts something. He watches the screen and then he nods at Slade.

Slade puts his PR smile on for Kent. “You stay alive for now, Gussy,” he says, “just with a little less.” Slade pushes the gun straight into Kent’s shrunken cock.

“No!” Kent heaves out and Slade pulls the trigger. Kent’s eyes roll back into his head as the gun clicks into the empty chamber.

---