Rachel shuts him up with that nifty little tool of hers. I should really consider adding something similar to my own arsenal. I watch with a sick satisfaction as his body twitches and convulses in his restraints.
“So where exactly were you before you found him?”
He grits his teeth as he stares me down. “The warehouse district.”
Rachel and I trade looks. There’s nowhere near Unbidden Desires. How exactly does it all tie back to there?
“What did you do when you found out the auction had gone up in flames?” I push.
“I went back to my hotel,” he sputters. “Found Ciar where you left him and left town.”
I tap my fingers along the arm of the chair Romano’s strapped in. “You didn’t seem too concerned about your son when you abandoned his body there.” I point out. “Seemed to care only about yourself as you tucked tail and ran for the hills.” I turn my attention to Rachel and give her a subtle nod before backing away from him.
Rachel starts back up with her prod and I turn my back to focus on Declan again. We can let her get some of her rage and aggression out, get her pound of flesh before we try and dive back in for more answers. Maybe after that, he won’t have so much to say. Maybe he’ll stick to just the answers we’re wanting from him.
She takes her time, adding in new methods every once in a while to keep Romano from figuring out a pattern. The smell of burning flesh fills my nose and I finally pull away from Declan once more. He isn’t giving us anything useful. Nothing that would indicate how he knew to attack the club, or even that he did attack it. Rachel has asked every question we could think of. Danced around the topic in an attempt to trip him up, but nothing. He’s giving us nothing.
Still, I was right. He’s too weak to be holding up this well under torture. He’s a sniveling, sobbing, coward. He isn’t giving us answers, not out of some righteous last fight, or even out of loyalty to someone else. No. He’s not answering because he doesn’t have the answers we want.
Rachel’s moves become less precise with every blow. Her agitation gets the better of her as she rears back and uses the prod to smack him across the face. His head snaps back, blood and spit flying in an arc across the room.
I cross my arms in front of my chest, watching his chest heave as his head drops back in front of him. Time to stop beating around the bush. “What’s your connection to Unbidden Desires?” My eyes stay locked on him, watching, waiting, needing to see how he reacts to the question.
He keeps his head bowed, but it’s just enough that I can still see his emotions flicker across his face. A furrowed brow, a momentary pause, a slow smile that spreads across his beaten face before a maniacal, bloody cough wracks his body.
“You want to know about the explosion.” He doesn’t say it as a question, he already knows that’s what we’re after. But I have my answer. I search out the eyes of first Luca and then Declan, they have more experience with men like Romano than anyone else. I see my conclusion reflected back in their eyes. Rachel is just too emotional to see it. “There were lots of reasons to blow that place up,” he says smugly, the blood dribbling from his mouth detracting from his sense of a win. “Hearing it took out one of your own was just a cherry on top.”
His laugh is caustic, grating on the very edge of my nerves. There’s nothing more I’d like to do than silence him once and for all, but we aren’t done. Not yet.
His glare lands on Rachel where she’s firing up a brand, turning the metal that red hot color that glows. His smile never falters, his words the only weapons he has available to him now. “I couldn’t have planned a better hit on the legendary Snow Queen if I tried to.” He coughs, but Rachel doesn’t falter. “But I was never your enemy, Rachel.” His eyes dart to her side, where they land on me. “Maybe you should be looking a little closer to home.”
Her torch goes out, and Ryder quickly grabs it from her before she can drop it. Rachel smirks, ignoring his words as she presses the brand into his chest, right into the tender flesh over his heart. His screams make my ears ring and the burning scent makes my stomach turn, but Rachel holds steadfast, pressing the brand into him even harder as he fights to separate himself from it. She pulls back, leaving a perfect rose in the brand’s place.
“That new?” I ask her.
She gives me a small grin. “Thought it fit.”
I nod in agreement. It most certainly does. She takes a step closer to me, and I grip her arm to pull her into my side. I whisper into her ear that I think it’s time to change lines of questioning. It’s clear he’s trying to plant seeds of doubt in Rachel’s head about us. I’m not worried about her regretting her choice to trust us. We’re far too past that point now. But he’s given us everything he can on Alec. The attack on Unbidden Desires wasn’t done in retaliation for the auction. Now that I know that, I’ll get the rest of the answers on my own.
Her eyes are still filled with pain as she studies me, hesitating. She doesn’t want to be done yet. I shrug and gesture for her to continue. Allowing her to continue being the one to question him should keep Romano from guessing what else we’re truly after.
I turn my back to him, dismissing him for what he will soon be–irrelevant. Forgotten. Moving behind the desk he was sitting at when we first walked in, I kick the dead guard’s body out of my way as I settle behind his computer to take a look at what he was doing.
After a few minutes, it’s easy to tune out the cries and whimpers as Rachel has her fun. When she gets to the real questions I’ll start paying attention again. Right now, all she’s doing is laying the foundation.
Clicking through the tabs he had open, I don’t find anything of immediate interest. Some email correspondence between him and Donahue. Not entirely surprising. They’ve always been far too blasé about their security. That is what got us into this entire mess after all. Leaving evidence so easily accessible. Turns out they haven’t learned much.
Even after reading through several of their emails, there’s no new information. Nothing at all that interests me. Just a bunch of complaints and whining. I’m almost surprised Donahue hasn’t already killed Romano based on these emails alone. Demanding little thing.
Noah takes over going through his files as I begin to get bored. Antsy. Patience has never been a huge struggle for me, but all of a sudden everything is taking too damn long. I want answers. I want them now.
Rachel is dragging useful information out of him about his gun trades and work with the Alvarados. A flicker of pride momentarily eases my frustration. She seems more herself here, taking charge. Asking her own questions that will give her a leg up when she does begin her dealings with them.
She switches gears again and begins to ask about the human side of his trafficking enterprises. He laughs, but it isn’t as smug this time. More disbelieving. “Don’t tell me the Snow Queen and Little Miss Rose over here are getting into the skin markets.”
The very idea repulses me and I shudder where he can’t see me. Rachel, however, keeps her cool. At least one of us does. She shrugs. “We have our own reasons for wanting to know.” Her smile is pure malice. There’s no more sign of cattle prod, seeming to have fully moved on to branding his flesh if the overwhelming smell is anything to go by.
I trail my fingertips over the desk, watching Noah work on his computer when I spot the book we found in Romano’s pocket. It’s small, dark, and worn. Like it’s very old and something that has been touched quite a lot. Shaking my head, I finger through the pages, huffing a breath of annoyance. Names and names and names. So many names. Ones I recognize.