Page 71 of Hart of Vengeance
Despite knowing that Duke was behind stringing me up and beating the crap out of me, I was too out of it to care. But then I gulped down a mouthful of air. If Duke was responsible for my plight, that meant he was responsible for shooting Jade.
I thrashed around. “Get my brother,” I shouted, but my voice was only a whisper. I would gladly kill if Jade didn’t survive. The idea of Jade dead caused my gut to spasm.
“Now I see the fear,” Lou said.
I spat in his face. “Tell my brother to get his ass in here, or out here, or wherever the fuck we are.” Given the fishy aroma, we had to be near Boston Harbor.
I pulled down on the ropes, but it was pointless. If I could get free, I probably couldn’t run. I couldn’t feel my damn legs, let alone my arms. The only thing I could feel was the sweat dripping down my face, back, and chest. Or maybe it was blood.
Lou laughed again. “In due time. But first, I have my orders.”
I growled, baring my teeth. “When I get free, I’m going to tear you apart limb by limb after I drive a knife through my brother’s heart.”
He belted out a sinister laugh, which bounced off the cracked cement walls and echoed loudly. “I can’t wait to hear you scream.” He dragged the pliers down one side of my face. “I think I’ll start with your teeth. Then your fingernails.”
Keys jangled behind Lou. “Hold up.” It was another voice I knew well.
Growling, I writhed as Lou clamped my upper lip between the pliers, squeezed as though he were fighting with a nail that wouldn’t come out, and pulled hard. I grunted, fighting to hold in the pain.
Lou knew I was in hell, and the fact that I didn’t squeal like a pig didn’t matter. Lou let out a satisfying and hearty laugh.
Fucker.
“Just a taste of what’s to come.”
“Lou,” Tito Alvarez barked.
Lou backed away with a smirk that was cold, calculating, and downright creepy as fuck.
My mind juggled to understand what was going on. Lou worked for Duke, or I thought he did. Maybe Tito worked for Duke too. Maybe they were one big, happy family.
Tito twirled his keys on his finger and strutted closer, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. I briefly wondered if the blood on his white T-shirt was mine. I didn’t remember seeing him, but I hadn’t been coherent. For all I knew, he’d beaten me when I was down, which he had been known to do with his victims.
He crossed his skinny arms over his chest. “It’s good to see you, bro.” He said every word like he meant it, and I would’ve believed him if it weren’t for the dark glare he was giving me.
“Do you kill your brothers?” I fired back.
“That’s your department,” he was quick to respond. “I hear your girl isn’t going to make it.”
I spat in his face. “So you admit shooting her?”
“She wasn’t the target. You were.”
“Why? Because I killed your brother?”
“I know you didn’t kill my brother.” He sounded like he knew who had.
Confusion and shock melded together, making my eyes nearly pop out of my head. “How do you know I didn’t kill Hector?”
“You’re not a killer. Never were. Hector left that part of the job to me.”
“So what the fuck is this all about?” I gritted my teeth.
“Lou, go shine your pliers. I need a moment with Hart.”
Lou snarled but obeyed, taking his pliers with him.
“So he works for you now?” I asked. “Or do you both work for Duke?”
