Page 3 of Before Broken Vows
"They—they contact us through different means."
"Like?"
"A waitress at a restaurant. Food delivery driver. Special cargo. Fuck, even old-school brown bag drops around the city." He's shaking, eyes unfocused from pain. "I never met anyone. We do a job, the money comes. It was too good to ignore."
"And my father?" I ask, bringing the bolt cutters in front of his face.
"No, no," he says, shaking his head frantically. "We had nothing to do with that."
Inside, something sharp and cold twists through me.
Not because I think he's lying, but because for the first time in a long time, I'm not sure where the enemy stands.
It does mean I was right, however. There's someone else. Someone bigger, using these low-level idiots and trying to take down my family.
And I don't have a name.
I study his face. And while I don't think he's holding something back, I have to make sure.
I walk back around him.
"Tell me who you're protecting, Yannis," I say as I slide the bolt cutters under his remaining fingers. "Or I take another. And another. And then I start on parts your wife will miss."
"They'll kill me and her!" he screams, jerking against the zip ties. "They'll kill Elena!"
"And I'll kill you both if you don't give me a name."
There's a moment of silence, and then, he speaks.
"A lawyer," he says in a low tone. "A guy by the name of Chris Xanos. He's local."
I squeeze the cutters lightly over his fingers just enough to draw blood.
"I swear," he screams. "I never met anyone regularly but him. I swear to God." Tears stream down his face, mixing with snot and blood. "Please, I'm telling the truth."
I take a moment. I believe him, and at least he gave me something.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Yannis," I say, tossing the bolt cutters to the side. "That will be all I need from you."
Relief floods his face. "You'll let me go?"
I laugh.
"No."
I pull a knife from my belt and yank his head back. Without hesitation, I slit his throat clean and deep.
The blood gushes hot across my hands. His body spasms against the chair, blood bubbles and gurgles from his mouth. After a couple seconds, he slumps in the chair, motionless, blackness in his eyes.
I step back.
"Have this cleaned up," I command to my men in the room as I wipe my hands and blade on a rag I pull from my pocket. "And run a full background check on Chris Xanos. I want to know everything. Where he lives, who he fucks, what he eats for breakfast."
One of my men steps forward.
"You want us to burn him?" he asks.
"No." I toss him the bloodstained rag. "Dump him where the Warriors will find him."
