Page 28 of Draven

Louise scrambles to her feet. I clamp a hand around her wrist. “Sit down.”

She wrenches from my grip. “I need to go.”

I let her leave as more crying ensues down the phone line, the woman almost hysterical now, her pleas and sobs falling on deaf ears. Moretti’s legs thrash as he pointlessly tries to free himself from the metal restraints and the strong arm wrapped around his torso.

“Please, Franco. Whatever they want, give it to them, please.”

A guttural moan bursts from the chest of the man sitting opposite, like an animal in acute pain.

I count down the seconds. Five, four, three, two, o?—

“Okay! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you what I know.”

“Hold it,” I order.

“Fuck’s sake.” Pavel groans. “Leave me with blue balls why don’t you. Bastard.”

I suppress a grin. Pavel really is going for the Best Actor Oscar with this performance.

“Stay where you are, but no one touches the goods.” I lock eyes with Moretti. “For now. Let’s see if the intel is worth it.”

“Got it. Take her back to the basement. Tie the bitch up.”

The sobs grow faint, the sounds of feet dragging along a concrete floor fading away until they can no longer be heard. I end the call.

“Impress me, Moretti, or your missus is about to find out what it’s like to be fucked by a bunch of feral men.”

Chapter 12

Louise

My legs barely hold me upright, my body only vertical still because of the wall to my back. I gulp in lungful after lungful of air. What the fuck just happened? This is his plan? To approve the terrorizing of an innocent woman? To have her bullied, beaten, and gang raped just because she’s married to a piece of crap?

Nausea burns my throat. I’ve called this all wrong. Draven’s always been a rebel, but this time he’s taken it too far. This… this is criminal. And where the fuck is Rick? Why hadn’t he stormed in and put a stop to it?

A small voice at the back of my mind repeats Draven’s murmured, “Trust me”, and for a moment, I pause. Until my heart hardens. Even if the men who have Moretti’s wife are under instructions not to harm her, they’ve still taken her, probably by force. She must be scared shitless. No. I can’t allow this to continue, even if Draven’s actions would result in Moretti giving us intel that could lead to Kiera. Hurting one woman to save another is not an equal equation in my book.

I ram my palm so hard into the door where Rick’s holed himself up, it bounces off the wall, almost hitting me in the face as it rebounds. I stomp inside, my cheeks flaming. Rick has his headphones on, his eyes trained on the scene in the next room.

“Stop this, Rick. Do your fucking job and stop it right now!”

“Calm down.” He makes this motion with his palms that makes me want to break both his arms so he can’t do it again. “He’s got this. He won’t actually allow Moretti’s wife to come to any harm.”

“Calm down?” I bite out. “Even if this is all for show, he’s using an innocent woman to his own advantage. Do you have any idea how terrified she’ll be? Of course you don’t because you’re a man, and we all know that men don’t have to do any of the shit women do to keep themselves safe.”

Rick spins his chair around to face me. Outwardly, he emits serenity, but Rick has a tell. His right eye always twitches when he’s pissed off, and right now, that thing has gone into overdrive.

“First, she’s far from an innocent. I should know. I worked on this case with Draven. And second, yes, I am fully aware of Draven’s unusual methods when interrogating criminals. I’ve worked with him on many occasions, and sure, he pushes boundaries. But I have never, ever seen him put a woman’s health and wellbeing in danger. I don’t know what he’s up to, and I’m guessing from the way your face has turned crimson, neither do you. So, I suggest you sit your ass down and watch how the rest of this plays out. Moretti just agreed to talk. And I, for one, want to hear what the piece of garbage has to say.”

He picks up a pair of headphones and passes them to me, jerking his chin at the spare seat beside him. I snatch them out of his hands and put them on, then plunk my ass in the offered seat. Draven’s deep timber fills my ears, but the words he speaks don’t soothe me at all, despite Rick’s attempt at reassurance.

“Impress me, Moretti, or your wife is about to find out what it’s like to be fucked by a bunch of feral men.”

I swallow bile that erupts into the back of my throat and swipe at a trickle of sweat tracking across the nape of my neck. The very thing Draven is threatening to subject Moretti’s wife to is more than likely a replica of the horrors Kiera has faced every day since her abductors snatched her from the parking lot of the mall. Sometimes I pray that whoever took Kiera killed her swiftly. There are worse things than death.

“Look.” Moretti’s face shines with sweat, and his right leg bounces hard enough to rattle the chains holding him in place. “I only heard rumors. Nothing concrete.”

Draven doesn’t move, doesn’t react, just stares. From my angle, I can only see his face in profile, but even so, he gives off a fearsome vibe. The kind where second-guessing his actions is impossible. He’s capable of anything.

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