Page 65 of Marked

She deserves his blood.

“Ah, there he is.” She laughs when Vince’s eyes pop open. He tries to move his mouth to speak, but the drugs are getting in the way.

“It’ll be another minute before you can talk,” I tell him, pressing the tip of my knife to his chin. “In the meantime, I’m going to ask you some yes or no questions and you’re going to answer by blinking. One for no, two for yes. Understand?”

He stares up at me. His panic is well under control, and there’s only a trace of fear on him.

Poor bastard still thinks he has a way out of here.

“The knife to the kneecap is still an option for noncooperation.” I point the tip of my knife at his legs. “Do you understand what’s happening?”

Two quick blinks.

“Good.” I pat the flat of the blade against his cheek. “Do you work for Jimmy Blackwood?”

Again, his stare goes blank.

I sigh. This is going to be a very long conversation if he makes me hurt him every time I want an answer.

But he’s a grown man, making his own decisions.

In a quick motion, I drive the knife just above his kneecap. A gurgling sound of a scream bursts from him, rising up in volume a bit toward the end.

Good, his vocal cords are starting to come back to life.

Jerking the knife back out, I bring the blood covered tip to his view.

“Do you work for Jimmy Blackwood?” I repeat my question.

Two quick blinks.

“See. All you have to do is answer.”

“You move his product?”

Another two fast blinks.

“Great.” I turn to Harley who’s chewing on the inside of her lip. “He’s finally getting the hang of this.” She smiles a little, but having him so close to her has to be hard. This man hurt her. He played with her like she was some dirty toy for them to pass around.

“And product is girls?” I turn back to him, my skin hot.

“Y-yeah.” He blinks but his mouth is working.

“Oh, good. You can talk.” I step back a little. “You sell girls for Jimmy?”

He swallows then licks his dried-out lips. “I set up the sales, yeah.”

“I thought Jimmy was in the loan sharking side of things. I’d heard Jacob doesn’t like the flesh trade.” And as big a deal Jimmy is in Chicago, his cousin, the head of the whole operation, is fucking huge in all major cities.

“He doesn’t.” He swallows again. “Jimmy takes the girls as payment.” He coughs a little, turns his head best he can with the strap holding him in place, and spits on the ground.

“No fucking manners,” I mutter. “What does that mean, payment?”

“If they can’t pay, they put up collateral.” His head rolls the side. The problem with this drug is, even when it starts to wear off, sometimes it kicks back in for certain muscles. If it wasn’t for the strap, he’d be face deep in his chest again.

“So, if someone takes a loan from Jimmy, they have to put collateral in the form of a person?” Harley steps up.

His eyes roam over her. Memory strikes and all color drains from his face.

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