Page 70 of The Bratva’s Monster

“Y-You… You can’t d-do this—” Rikki jolts him again. He rises up on his tiptoes, his scream becoming louder and more high-pitched.

“If I were you, I’d elect to shut my fucking mouth unless I’m asked a question.”

Shivering and shaking, he whimpers with every breath he takes. I’m sitting on the edge of my seat. I didn’t think he’d be so easy to break.

“We’ve got a rat problem, Josef,” he says. “But that’s not news to either of us. What I want to know is who has been feeding your boss information about us?”

I expect Josef to curse him or something. He doesn’t. He just hangs there making soft puppy noises.

Alex looks over at Rikki, another of his silent commands, and Rikki presses the button again. Josef twists as he stiffens, his cries loud and unabashed. When the current is turned off, he hangs limply, sobbing as a dark stain appears in the front of his pants and yellow liquid runs out of his pants leg.

“Do I need to ask again?” Alex says.

Josef shakes his head, or rather it lobs back and forth. “Y-You,” he says. “You told… you…” He stops and lifts his head. His eyes are bloodshot and drool dribbles down his chin. “Planted… planted a bug…”

Rikki stiffens behind him. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“You planted a bug?” The words just come out. I’m in so much shock that I can’t contain it. “How?”

He stares at me, and I see flickers of the piece of shit that tried to kill me less than two hours ago. Rikki steps up and punches him in the back of the head, sending him forward against his bonds. He sputters in a short burst of pain.

“Talk,” he growls.

“Your… simp Pakhan,” he says. “Brought in people last month… to build a crib… for his spawn. We did it… then…”

Alex backhands him, sending his arm up in an arc. His body jerks backward, his head snapping hard. “Kill this piece of shit.”

Rikki turns to the remote and I stand up. “Wait. Stop.”

Both men freeze. Josef just hangs by the rope, his breathing labored under the strain.

“Don’t kill him yet. We can use him.”

“Liz, back off,” Alex growls at me.

“No,” I say. “We can use him, Alex. Think about it. Don’t kill him just yet.”

He glares at me, and for a moment, I don’t think he’s going to listen. Then Rikki tosses the remote to the table. “She’s right.”

Alex’s head whips around to him. “Fucking excuse me?”

“This shit stain is Stefan’s kid brother,” Rikki says. “If we keep him alive, we can draw Stefan in.”

“If we kill him, Stefan will understand that we’re not to be fucked with.”

“Alex—”

“Enough,” he growls and just stares at him for a long time, then his eyes turn to Josef. “This isn’t over, Josef.” He then glares at Rikki, then walks away. I can feel the heat coming off him as he passes me on the stairs.

Rikki looks away from me, his brow furrowed in a way I’ve never seen before. I just stand there looking at him, wondering what I should do. Finally, he picks up a knife and drives it into Josef’s right shoulder. His eyes go big as he screams out in agony.

Rikki looks up at me, rage behind his eyes, then he takes out the knife and stalks toward me. I’m frozen like prey under a tiger’s gaze as he comes up the stairs and takes me by the arm.

“Come on,” is all he says as he tosses the knife and drags me upstairs.

28

RIKKI