Page 39 of The Bratva's Knocked-Up Bride

His intentions weren’t clear just yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time, given how the guy was already slumped over in his seat, panting while he tried to block out the pain.

“Always with the silent treatment…” Daniil said, grinning as he looked the captive over. “You’d think you people would learn by now…It doesn’t matter how long and hard you refuse…I will make you talk.”

As he smacked his backhand against the guy’s face, his head whipped back and he groaned, body visibly shaking from the pain Daniil continued to inflict upon him.

“As irritating as it is, at least we have an opportunity here,” Alex added, gears working in his head while he observed the scene in front of us.

“The Levovs have been turning up the heat on me lately…which means I’m fully prepared to take advantage of this situation,” I murmured in return. “Maybe this rat will lead me to its colony.”

Alex nodded his approval, then gestured forward. “By all means…do what you need to do.”

As I took a few steps forward, Daniil shifted and stood close to the captive’s side, eyes set on him still while he let me take the questioning reigns.

The captive managed to look up at me despite the blood on his face, caked beneath his nose from where I hit him earlier. His chest heaved with every deep breath. Even if he seemed to recoil under my gaze, he still kept his mouth shut.

Given the chance, I inspected him closer, seeing how his dark eyes didn’t look as hard as I would expect from someone in his position, assuming he was following the orders of another kingpin. His face was too obstructed for me to get a solid look at him, but I had the feeling he was younger than I initially thought.

Maybe I wasn’t too far off in guessing he was a novice. Closer to a kid, even.

“It was fairly bold of you to follow me to my territory…surrounded by our men and resources. You must’ve had some reason to do so,” I began, keeping my assessing gaze on him all the while. “Can’t say you did too well at it, but hey, that only makes my job easier. And my brother’s here.”

Even if he didn’t respond, I could see the fear in his eyes and how he took in every word. He didn’t have too much choice in the matter, after all.

“How about this…we’ll start with something nice and easy. Nothing to hurt your head over.” Hands in my pockets, I hardened my gaze by a fraction, determined to not spend all day working on getting him to talk. “What’s your name?”

As expected, he said nothing at first. Whether it was him being stubborn or simply unable to get the words out, he stayed quiet.

When Daniil cracked him over the face again, he grunted and spat out another mouthful of blood on the floor. Sucking in a breath, he finally let it slip with his exhale. “Dario…”

I grinned faintly at that, aware of how the pain was beginning to weaken his resolve. “Good. Dario, you’re going to tell me exactly why you were following me, who you work for, and what your boss is planning. One way or another, you will talk. Got it?”

Dario breathed a bit hard, eyes hesitant and uneasy all the while he looked at me.

Of course, regardless of how many times Daniil hit him or threatened his life, he did his best to hold out and keep his boss’s secrets. It’s what they all did since spilling secrets about your employer would earn you a fate worse than dying at the hands of your enemy if you managed to somehow get away.

But after some time, Dario was hunched over in the chair he was bound to, gasping for air as more blood seeped past his lips.

“Fine…just stop, please…”

Daniil lifted a brow as he looked him over before glancing at me. With my nod, he took a step back and waited.

“Then speak,” I uttered, growing more impatient as the interrogation went on.

Letting go of a shuddered breath, seemingly battling with his internal war, Dario swallowed hard and managed to speak despite his swollen face. “I was sent to follow you to scope out the area…to figure out your patterns and slip inside the warehouse undetected.”

“Why?”

“To get a read on your business…on your resources, your defenses, your structure…everything.”

I grit my teeth, anger flaring at the mention of it. “To what, use against us?”

Dario nodded. “Yes…the boss wanted to know what we were up against.”

Up against.

So that meant someone was planning on following through with a bigger job and roping us in with the Levovs to attack us both. The attacks on Levov property and their exchanges had only been trials. They had to be.

Despite my anger, I reined it in to continue. “And it started with the Levovs, correct?”

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