Page 43 of Brutal Mercy

I grip his hair and yank his head back. “Buck up that your pinky is all I took this time. Lie to me again, and I will start removing other body parts. What do you know about the girl Diego Alvarez kidnapped? A girl by the name of Lyla Abbott.”

“I swear I don’t know anything.”

I sigh. Because what good old Paulo doesn’t seem to grasp is that I always win. I always get the answers I seek by any means necessary. “And that is the wrong answer.”

I nod at Ares as I step back. And Ares waltzes up to him, grips his hair, and delivers a few solid jabs to his face. The blows snap his head back. Blood flies out of his mouth with ropes of spittle.

Paulo slumps in his seat, passed out from the pain and my brother’s right hook. “Wake him up. He doesn’t get to pass out until I’m done with him.”

Ares douses him with a bucket of ice water. Paulo gasps and sputters as he comes to.

I hold the blade over the flame of a lighter, staring at him with hatred burning through me. His eyes widen in terror, and his palpable fear feeds my need for vengeance. Because he works for my enemy, the man who hurt my wife and would have raped her if she didn’t have so much grit to survive. And I don’t take kindly to anyone harming what’s mine.

Over the next hour, Paulo’s screams fill the room. Between Ares and me, we extract the information needed.

“And is there anything else you’re not telling us? She’s being held at the fortress south of Denver. Do you know why Diego went after her and her sister?”

“All I know is the boss’s son wants her older sister. He even had a hit put out on her parents years ago.”

My brows raise, and I see the shock on Ares’s face over that bit of news. “Why? Why did he put a hit out on them?”

“Because Diego saw her and wanted her. When he tried to pay them for her, her dad told him to get lost.”

Fuck. And Diego Alvarez is a sick and twisted asshole who has no qualms about destroying anyone in his path to getting what he wants. I am too, but I don’t go after innocents like Luna.

“Anything else?”

“No. I swear. Please let me go.”

My fist connects with his nose, snapping his head back. The bone crunches beneath my fist. He bleats like a stuck pig before the pain makes him pass out.

I sneer. How I wish I could end this fucker. But he’s one of two gifts I intend to offer Roman.

I jerk my head toward the door, instructing my brother to follow. Luna’s sister is being held in a facility the cartel owns in the mountains. It’s just what the name suggests, much like my compound. And to raid it successfully, we’ll need help. That’s where the Russians come into play.

“Does your wife know Diego was targeting her? That he put a hit out on her parents?” Ares asks the moment we’re alone.

“No. And that knowledge doesn’t leave this room.”

“You’re not going to tell her?”

“I will. But I want to get her sister back first. She’s been through far too much. I don’t want to add to her burden.” And I have this need to protect her at all costs.

Ares winces. “How do you think she’ll take it?”

“How do you think? She’s not been part of our world until this past week.” I wipe a frustrated hand over my face. This news will crush her. And it makes me wonder if she even needs to know. I don’t want to withhold secrets from her, but my desire to protect her is warring with the need for full disclosure between us.

“Damn. Sorry. What do you want me to do with him?” He nods toward the cell. “The boys and I—"

“Just make sure he stays alive until we can hand him over to Roman. If the fucker does something stupid like die before then, you know what to do. But I’d prefer it if he was still alive. And I know what you’re going to say about bringing the Russians in. I don’t doubt your skills, brother. But I made my wife a promise to get her sister back. And we’re not in the rescuing business, which means we need more than just us to strike the fortress. Furthermore, if we’re gonna take them out and eradicate the cartel from Denver, we need them.”

“They’ll never go for it. I don’t know Roman, but his brother Rurik is an okay dude. They only engage in stuff like this if family is involved.”

And it’s another ace I’ve held up my sleeve. “That’s why it’s time our sister married.”

A marriage between our families will solidify a truce between us and make Orlov more receptive to working with us. It doesn’t mean I will trust him with all our business. Only a fool would do that.

“Athena will never go with it.” Ares grimaces, looking at me as if I’ve lost my mind.

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