Page 53 of Ruthless Vow

I set the crowbar down.

I pick up a pair of pliers and nod at Luca.

Luca steps behind Danila, grabs his hair with one hand, yanking his head back. With the other hand, he grips Danila’s jaw. I step close and tap the tip of the pliers against Danila’s teeth.

He struggles and squirms, but Luca holds him tight.

“You don’t need to tell me who your boss is,” I say. “I already know. Bianca Moretti. And I know she’s in bed with the Vasilievs out of Chicago. I’m not even going to ask you about operations, names, locations. There is only one piece of information I want from you. Where is Sofia?”

Danila’s breathing is shallow and fast, his body shaking.

“You don’t have to suffer,” Luca says amiably. “You don’t have to die.”

“She’ll kill me,” Danila says.

I laugh. I can’t help it. And the look Luca shoots me tells me the sound is chilling.

Danila makes a high, whining gasp.

“She’ll have to find you in order to kill you,” I point out. “There are islands in the Caribbean, in Tanzania, the Indian Ocean, places where you can retire. Disappear. You have an emergency fund, don’t you, Danila?” He doesn’t answer, but I continue as if he had. “Of course you do.”

I tap the pliers against his teeth again, harder this time.

“You think that if you make it out of here she’ll believe you told us nothing? You can’t go back to her either way. Can’t go back to the Vasilievs, either. Bianca ordered you to kill her niece, her fuckingniece.” I let that sink in for a second. “She is going to kill you whether you talk or not. So talk. Tell me what I want to know and this ends.”

I nod at Luca and he holds Danila’s head even tighter. I close the pliers over his front tooth while he struggles and howls. It doesn’t take me long. Blood drips down his chin as I toss the tooth on the floor.

Luca leans close, so his mouth is next to Danila’s ear. “You can end this,” he says. “You have all the power. Just tell us where to find Sofia. End this.”

Danila drools blood, whimpering. His eye darts back and forth, desperation in every sound he makes, every twitch of his body.

I set the pliers down and lift my knife from the tray of implements. I offer no warning, no chance for Danila to even draw breath before I plunge the blade into his shoulder. I pierce muscle, avoiding anything of life-or-death importance. This is just a warning, after all.

“Sofia’s location,” I say as I yank the blade free, blood soaking his clothes. “Or I will carve you into bite-sized bits and feed you to the dog.”

I don’t have a dog. Maybe I should get one. Nicole likes cats. I wonder if she likes dogs. If her cat would like a dog.

Wait. What the fuck am I thinking?

I glare at Danila.

From his place behind Danila, Luca raises his brows.

My knife dances across Danila’s skin, each cut deeper than the last. Blood swirls down the drain in the floor. I cut clear through to bone, and still he refuses to answer.

I let him rest, catch his breath. And then I begin again.

“Okay,” Danila finally whispers. “Okay, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

He talks. And when he’s done, I slit his throat.

19

Nicole

It’s beena quick evolution of surroundings these last few days. A dungeon. A sparse but functional holding room. A locked guest bedroom in my aunt’s home. And now this.

Leo’s bedroom.

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