Page 97 of Skin Deep

Pax yanked Sergei up—chair and all—by his shirt. “You better watch your fucking tongue, or we’ll start there.”

The chair clattered to the floor and Sergei blinked, clearly rattled. He recovered quickly though, sneering when Pax patted the bat in his palm. “A baseball bat? Come on. You can do better than that.”

“For fuck’s sake, kill him already,” Boone grumbled, crossing his arms. “Fucker’s annoying me and I’m getting paid to be here.”

Pax ignored him and lifted the bat, pretending to examine it. “Nah, I think ol’ Jackie’ll do nicely. But first, I got two questions that need answered.”

Sergei leaned forward. “You want to know why I did it? Or are you the type that wants to know how I did it? How I got away with it for so long? Which itch do you need scratched, asshole? Either way, you’re gonna be disappointed.”

Pax pressed the bat into Serge’s chest. “I want to know which hand you used.”

Sergei’s face went blank. “The fuck kind of question is that?”

“You heard me. Are you right-handed? Or are you a leftie?” Pax tapped the bat on each of Sergei’s bound hands. “I need to know which hand held the knife that cut my wife’s face so I can make sure I break the right one.”

“Fuck you, asshole. I’m not telling you shit!”

“Then I guess we’ll have to do both,” Pax said and lifted the bat.

Sergei’s eyes widened. “No, no, no, wait!”

I flinched as the bat came down on Sergei’s right hand. Sergei screamed, but Pax didn’t let up. He brought it down again and again until the chair’s arm cracked and snapped off. Sergei’s arm fell limply to his side, nothing more than a bloody sack of pulverized bone.

Sergei gagged and then vomited all over himself, but even then, Pax didn’t stop. He shifted positions, leveling the bat at the left hand this time.

“Fuck,” River muttered as the bat cracked against Serge’s left hand.

“This is some third world level shit,” Boone added. “That’s your man, huh?”

I watched the bat come down, breaking off the second armrest, with pride swelling in my chest. “That’s my man.”

Boone shook his head. “Boy, you might be crazier than me.”

By the time Pax was done with Sergei’s other hand, Sergei was a sobbing, whimpering mess covered in blood and vomit. I wrinkled my nose as his bowels let loose.

“Now,” Pax panted, pushing the end of the bat into Sergei’s chest. “If you’re a little more cooperative with my second question, I’ll give you a fighting chance to escape. What do you say?”

Sergei’s chin trembled and he nodded.

I frowned. Pax would never let him go. This was all part of whatever sick game he was playing. I’d known Pax had a dark side, but this was a lot, even for me. He was acting like one of my brothers. Like a deranged killer, not a vigilante.

“Just kill him, Pax.” I said.

Pax shook his head slowly. “No. I can’t do that. Not after what he did to you and Maya.” He turned again to Sergei. “You made a mistake. You hurt not one, but two people I love. People I vowed to protect. You see, Sergei, I’d hung up my guns. Given up my life of crime. All I wanted in life was to be a good father and a loving husband. But you… You killed that man. He died with Maya, and in order for him to come back, you’ve got to suffer. So I’m gonna ask you one more fucking question, and if you answer me, I’ll open the door and give you a sixty second head start. If you don’t? I’m gonna break every fucking bone in your body. So, what’s it going to be?”

Sergei swallowed and nodded. “Okay! Okay, I’ll do it!”

“Good boy.” Pax took a step back and pointed at me with the bat. “You made War kiss your foot. Which foot?”

Sergei’s eyes bulged and he glanced at me. “I…I…”

“Oh, come on, now. You must remember. You broke his brother’s arm that night. Think hard.”

“Left!” Sergei squeezed his eyes closed, sobbing.

I frowned. “It was the right.”

“He says right, you say left…” Pax sighed and rested the bat on the floor.

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