Page 38 of Arranged Control
I stare at him, struggling to maintain my composure. I barely know Finn, and I don’t want to take this out on him, but he’s really pissing me off.
Honestly, this wholemarriageis driving me insane.
I knew it wouldn’t be easy. No part of hitching my life to a total stranger sounded simple.
But this is way worse than I imagined.
There’s a new complication at every turn. We’re struggling to agree on where we’ll live. Seamus is a paranoid crazy person and won’t leave me alone. And now his brother’s ruining my business, which is basically the only thing I really care about in this world.
With a deep, heavy sigh, I stare right into Finn’s face and step a little closer. His smile falters.
“I have one question, and I hope you’re as honest as you’re pretending.”
“Well, we do what we say we’ll do, but that doesn’t?—”
I hold up a hand and cut him off. “I don’t care. Just answer one question.”
He shifts foot to foot. “What’s that?”
I lean in closer and lower my voice.
“Where the heck is my husband right about now?”
Chapter 12
Seamus
My fist cracks straight into his jaw.
The young soldier’s a bloody mess. His eyes are swollen shut. Blood leaks down his face from a cut above his eyebrow. His ribs are likely broken, and I doubt he’ll ever use his fingers properly again, assuming he survives this.
My friend is tied to a steel chair. The basement floor is concrete. The lights flicker every time someone walks around upstairs. A convenient drain is placed right below him. It gurgles as blood washes down into the pipes.
I stalk back and forth across the room. His eyes track me, but his head lolls to the side. He’s barely conscious and in a lot of pain.
This hasn’t been as helpful as I had hoped.
“Normally, when a guy like you is caught sniffing around my territory, I don’t jump straight to torture.” I stop walking and watch his reaction. “I’m a reasonable man. I don’t enjoy violence. It’s fun, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not a freak about it. I don’t get off on hurting people. But I will gladly keep you down here for as long as it takes until you give me what I need.”
He lets out a soft whimper. I think he’s trying to cry, but he’s way too fucked up for that. Breathing is just about all he can do. Forget about sobbing.
“I don’t… know anything…” He tries to open his ruined eyes. The bloody stump of his left hand flexes like his fingers haven’t all been severed. “Please… I don’t know…”
“You work for the Petrovs. They know better than to send one of their little rats to my territory, especially right now. I’ll ask again. Did your boss order the hits on my people?”
“I don’t know.” He flinches away when I approach. “Please, I don’t know! I don’t know!”
I’m about to hit him. At this point, I’m starting to think he really doesn’t have a fucking clue. But my top lieutenant, Neal, found him watching one of our drug houses, which would be cause for a little conversation even during normal times. When there’s a killer on the loose, that means all bets are off.
There’s a knock at the door. It creaks open before I can start the beating again. Neal looks inside, frowning slightly at the state of our friend before nodding at me.
I pat the enemy soldier on the cheek lightly. “Safe for now. I’ll be back. Do us both a favor and think very hard while I’m gone. I want to know why you were watching my property.”
Neal steps aside and closes the door behind me. The hallway’s damp and tight. Most of the space down here was stuffed with sound-dampening materials to keep the neighbors from complaining about too much screaming.
“Bad news,” Neal says. He’s in his early fifties. Old for a lieutenant, but tough as nails and no bullshit. I trust him more than most. “Someone’s here to see you.”
“Right now? Can’t it wait? Our conversation was just getting good.”
