Page 23 of Tangled Souls

Baker clears his throat behind me, but I know it’s only to cover his laughter. Toying with this imbecile is more entertaining than it should be. He has no idea that he’ll never see the light of day again.

“You definitely don’t want to piss my cousin off,” Adam states.

Even with me standing in front of him, the fear in his eyes has nothing to do with me. It’s all about his cousin.

“Your cousin, Mikhail,” Huck growls from where he’s leaning against the wall.

Adam’s eyes snap over to him, the surprise evident on his face. It’s almost comical.

I turn toward Huck and give him a look. “Why do you have to take away all my fun?”

Huck shrugs, unaffected by my warning look. “I don’t want to be here all night. Let’s get the answers we need and then head home.” He turns his gaze toward Adam. “We know Mikhail is your cousin. We know you didn’t grow up the same way Mikhail did. How the fuck did he get you mixed up in his mess?”

Adam’s shoulders deflate and he shakes his head. “I’m not going to answer any of your questions.”

Baker sighs before picking up a knife from the table. He smirks as he approaches Adam. “I understand this isn’t the first time you’ve had a knife pulled on you tonight. Our wife is quite impressive, isn’t she?”

Adam curls his lip, but it’s all bravado. “Your wife is a whore. I know all about her. She was supposed to marry Mikhail, but my cousin didn’t want her.” He scoffs, “Why would he?”

Baker tsks, but that’s the only warning he gives before he plunges the knife into Adam’s thigh. He’s careful about where he places the wound. Adam screams out in pain.

Before he even has a chance to process what is happening to him, I land two quick punches to his gut. He doubles over in the chair as he gasps for breath.

“Here’s what is going to happen,” my voice is cold as I get in Adam’s face, “you’re going to tell us everything you know about Mikhail and his plans. You’re absolutely going to explain why you sat down next to our wife tonight.”

“No,” he groans.

“Yes,” there’s a demand in my voice.

“You’re not going to make it out of this room,” Huck warns him coldly. “Right now, the only thing you can do is ensure your death is quick. Or you can endure unfathomable torture. We’ve had a lot of practice at it.”

“I’m not a fucking rat,” Adam spits.

“Oh good,” I punch him again, this one a jab to his nose which has no hope of holding up and fractures, “I was hoping you wouldn’t take the easy way out.”

Baker grunts and slams the knife into Adam’s other leg. We don’t let up. I land punches and Baker stabs Adam, always careful about where he’s plunging the knife into him. There’s no doubt in our mind that he will die.

But will it be tonight?

In a week?

That has yet to be seen.

“Let’s see if he’s ready to answer our questions now,” Huck sounds bored as fuck behind us.

I glance over at Baker to find blood splattered all over him. I don’t even have to look down at my clothes to know I look roughly the same. With a smile on my face, I head over to the tray and drop the brass knuckles down, flexing my fingers once the weight is gone.

Baker’s voice is a low demand, “Tell us about Mikhail and how you got mixed up in his shit, and the point of tonight’s stunt with our wife.”

Adam’s head lolls to the side and he can barely open either of his eyes to look at us. When he coughs, some blood sprays out of his mouth and Baker steps back quickly with a look of disgust on his face. The room smells like urine, and I realize that I didn’t even notice when he pissed himself.

I can’t help the bark of laughter that bursts from me. Baker looks at me like I’ve lost my fucking mind, but all I do is wave my hand dismissively.

“I didn’t realize he pissed himself. You think he shit himself too?” Another round of chuckles takes me under, and it takes a moment to get myself under control.

“Fuck you,” Adam rasps, but there’s no heat behind the words. How could there be? The man is a mangled mess.

And it’s only going to get worse from here.

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