Page 55 of Devil's Bride

I dig two fingers in his bullet wound. I relish in his scream, but I’m disgusted by the blood and flesh clinging to my nails. “Trust me, I have no problem torturing you for the next couple of days, weeks even. I’ll keep you well fed and conscious enough to feel all pain I’ll inflict on you.”

“Fuck you!” he manages to yell through clenched teeth. “You’ll never get a thing from me.”

I twist my fingers hard enough to feel his bone. He screams louder, his voice nothing but pure agony. I’m thinking of a hundred ways to torture him. I want him to feel the fear and pain Irina felt while he dragged her on that floor.

I stand to my feet and grip his hair, then stretch out a hand for a knife. “This is what you did to her. You tortured her, inflicted pain on her. All with a grin on your face.”

Dimitri passes me a knife. I stab the asshole’s shoulder blade with it. His teeth cut into his bottom lip. His attempt to smoother his cry is useless. He’s only causing himself more misery. I wait until he’s almost calm before I pull his hair all the way back. His cry is like music to my ears.

“Now, you can tell me what I want to know.” I hold the handle of the knife and twist it while it’s still buried in him. “Or I can torture you in other creative ways. I can start with pulling a tooth every two hours, or you could lose your fingers and toes, one by one. I’ll make you choose.”

He groans, but he doesn’t say a word.

I smile. I like how stubborn he is. It’s no fun torturing men who tremble with fear the second they’re in front of me. I turn to Mikhail. “Get me the bolt cutters, we’ll start with his fingers.”

Mikhail nods and walks off. When he returns, he’s holding the tool.

My prisoner’s eyes widen the moment I click the handles together. “W-wait! I’ll talk!”

I bring the bolt cutter closer to him.

“I’ll talk Goddamn it. Keep that thing away from me. I’ll tell you whatever it is you want to know.”

A grin pulls my lips back. “That sounds more like it.” I grab a chair and sit in front of him, the tool resting on my thigh. “Who sent you?”

“The Phoenix. I work for the Phoenix,” he quickly answers. “I’ve done hundreds of jobs for them. Your wife, she’s been their target for months now.”

“Months?” So, they weren’t after her because of me. They were watching her before they forced us to get married. “Who runs the Phoenix and why are they after my wife?”

“The Phoenix has three leaders. I don’t know who they are.” He pauses and gasps for air. “Your wife’s father is one of the top dogs, but they sensed a betrayal. They wanted to control him.”

“Keep talking.”

“You’re an idiot if you think you can take them down. They’re too powerful.” He groans. “They’ll wipe you and your legacy from the face of the earth before you even discover their true identity.”

“I told you to tell me all I need to know, and you’re threatening me instead?” I scratch my chin. It’s obvious he doesn’t know how badly I take to threats.

His chuckle sounds like a death rattle. “You’re a fool, Alexei Vadim. And your foolishness will be the end of you.”

“Maybe, but I’m not dying any time soon.” I stand and pull a gun from my holster. “Guess who is?”

His begins to writhe, his eyes widening. “Fuck—”

I pull the trigger. Blood trickles from the hole between his now lifeless eyes. They’re still wide and filled with terror.

“Get rid of this mess,” I say, returning the gun to my holster. “We’ve gotten a lead and we have work to do. If there are three leaders, one of them is sure to have left a trail.”

“How do we find them though?” Dimitri asks, giving the dead fellow a disgusted look. “Matteo won’t tell you anything, even if you asked him.”

“I don’t intend to.” I’ll keep digging for any information I can find on the Phoenix, no matter what it takes. “One more thing, Irina must not hear of this. She holds her father in high esteem. It’ll break her to find out he’s nothing but a piece of trash.”

“I think it’s a little too late for that, brother,” Nikolai says, his tone laced with sick amusement.

I shift my attention to the door where he’s looking and my blood curdles. Irina’s standing by the door, teary-eyed and shaking. “What did you just say about my father?”

Chapter Eighteen

Irina

---