Page 91 of The Billionaire's Bride
"But you can now?" Arpad straightens.
"Yeah." Baron blows out a breath and looks at Saint. "Remember the time you and I fought at the underground parking lot and I defeated you?"
"You didn’t defeat me."
"Sure, I did," Baron smirks, "though that's not the point." His features harden. "I saw him in the crowd that day."
"You did?" Arpad frowns.
"You sure?" Sinner asks.
"Yeah." Baron squares his shoulders. "Best to get on with the questioning." He glances toward me, "Do you know his name?"
"Anton," Weston interjects, "Anton Ruzlovksy."
I whip my head around, "He’s Russian?"
Arpad stiffens; he stares hard at the figure on the bed. "I am going to call Nikolai in on this."
Arpad’s wife is Nikolai’s sister; their father isPakhanof the Bratva. Arpad, himself, is part of the Bratva…as a special consultant, of sorts…or so he claims. Asshole is probably more in with the Bratva than he is letting on.
He straightens, exchanges a glance with Baron, who nods. Arpad pulls out his phone and walks out, while Baron leans over the man, "Anton, can you hear me?"
Anton’s eyes flutter.
"Anton Ruzlovsky?" Baron's voice is firm, "Nod if you can hear me, Anton."
Anton swallows. His eyes flutter again, then he nods almost imperceptibly.
"Good," Baron says in an encouraging tone. "I’m Baron. Baron Masters. Can you tell me who you work for, Anton?"
He opens and shuts his mouth, but nothing emerges.
"His vocal chords suffered some trauma," Weston mutters, "but he should be able to speak."
"Can you hear me, Anton?" Baron asks.
Anton nods.
"What do you have to do with Ava’s kidnapping?"
The guys stiffen.
"Ava was taken?" Sinner snaps.
Neither Baron nor I reply.
"Fuck," Saint growls, "this asshole had better start talking, and fast."
I scowl down at the prone figure, who takes in the faces around the room. His chest planes move.
"Anton, hey!" Baron snaps his fingers and Anton jerks his attention back to him. "Ava," Baron growls, "what do you know about Ava's abduction?"
His lips move. Baron presses his ear close to Anton’s mouth.
He clenches his jaw. "You are lying," Baron growls. "You do realize, we are not going to go easy on you. The only way you can alleviate what’s coming to you, is if you tell us the truth."
Anton swallows, then shakes his head again. His lips move and Baron straightens. "Asshole insists he had nothing to do with the kidnapping."
