Page 93 of Claim

“Don’t bother taking him inside. I don’t have time to drag this out.” I tell them, grabbing the older man by the throat and pinning him against the wall.

“Simple yes or no. Are you working with Ivan Volkov?”

The fear in his eyes amuses me. I’m sure he’s just realized I am more of a threat to him than Ivan ever was.

I’m not one that comes out to play often. I let my men deal with it for me, except when I do decide to appear, I seem to put the fear of god in everyone.

“N-no.” His voice shakes.

Taking a page out of Ana’s book, I stare into his eyes. He rapidly blinks, his green eyes becoming less clear as his pupils dilate.

“You’re lying. Let me rephrase that question. Are those Reapers working with Ivan?”

He tries to swallow against my palm. I squeeze tighter, making his eyes bulge.

“Maybe,” he croaks out.

I sigh, shaking my head.

“Okay, how about a deal? You tell me the truth. If you are working with Ivan but admit your treachery, I might think about keeping you alive. You lie to me one more time, however, I will find your wife, slit her throat—” I hold up the razor in front of his face. “—and make you watch.”

I release my grip, and he sags against the brick wall.

His hands are shaking by his side as his skin pales an awful gray.

“Fine. Yes. Ivan orchestrated the robbery.”

I run my hands through my curls.

“Anything else to tell me? Directly with you or with the Reapers?”

He avoids eye contact.

“With me. I got the Reapers in to help me. He threatened my family, Mikhail.”

I let out a menacing laugh.

“And you think I won’t follow through with my threats?” I hold the blade against his throat and press under his chin.

“It’s funny. People often think Ivan is worse than me, but they don’t know me. You see, there is a reason I stay hidden. I lock this evil away from the world. The monster Ivan himself created. I am your worst nightmare, Bill. Not Ivan.”

“P-please don’t hurt my wife.” His bottom lip trembles when I lean in.

“See, that is where me and my piece of shit father are different. I respect women. He does not.”

A quick slice across his neck, and warm blood gushes over my hand.

I release him and throw him to the ground as he suffocates to death on his own fluids.

“Niki, you got a towel or something in the trunk?”

He shakes his head and laughs.

“Umm, I got something in there.” He scratches the back of his neck as I head towards his black Hellcat.

“Careful!” Nikolai shouts as I open up the back. I leap back as a bloodied Reaper in a leather vest hurls himself at me.

Throwing my hand up, I launch my fist straight at his nose, hearing the crack against my knuckles, and he falls to the floor.

---