by Wilde, Leah
I took a step back from Dimitri and eyed my boys as they walked across the room in front of me.
“Why are you down here doing the dirty work?” Chase asked, and started laughing.
“Seriously, Gage, we can take care of this for you,” Juarez added.
Dimitri looked up at me with panic in his eyes.
“Oh, you don’t like it when I let the boys play, huh?” I mocked him.
“I don’t think he does,” Chase answered.
“That’s good to know.” I stepped around in front of Dimitri, placing myself between Chase and Juarez.
His eyes followed me. He seemed to be pleading with me not to let them have him.
“Danvers,” he said. He started repeating her name.
“I’m sorry, Dimitri, but you fucked that one up. You ran her off with your little stories. You really have no place talking about shit you didn’t even witness. So now, you’re left with just us, but don’t worry. My guys will take good care of you.” I spoke slowly, though I was certain it didn’t help him understand a thing I said. That condescending tone just felt so good.
I stepped back behind my boys so I could watch them work their magic on him.
“Have at him, guys,” I told them.
“Ladies first,” Juarez said, holding a hand out to allow Chase the first punch.
“Oh, real funny, but you’ve always liked my leftovers, so here you go.” He threw a punch into Dimitri’s gut.
It was like watching two kids on the playground. They talked trash to each other while they worked him over with their fists.
“Don’t kill him,” I told them. It wasn’t time to let him go just yet. I wanted him to hurt for taking Julia from me. I wanted him to pay for sticking his nose into my business and stirring up old dust from the past.
“That’s no fun anyway,” Juarez said as he shoved a fist into Dimitri’s shoulder. His voice sounded strained, as if he had lifted something heavy and held it while he talked. Dimitri winced in pain, and I was sure Juarez had just broken something.
“Right. It’s more fun to keep him alive. More torture.” Chase landed one right across Dimitri’s jaw, sending spit and blood all over his partner.
“You son of a bitch. Look at what the hell you just did,” Juarez cursed Dimitri for spitting on him. He grabbed the Russian by the back of the head and forced him to look at the blood on his t-shirt before ramming a fist into his face.
“Guys, take a break,” I urged them.
“Huh?” They both looked at me. They stood like boxers with their hands up in front of their faces as if they were waiting on the next move from their opponent, but he wasn’t going to be throwing any punches any time soon.
“Back up a second. I want to watch him,” I said.
They backed away like they were told, and Dimitri’s head fell forward again. His breathing sounded wet and phlegmy, but that was probably from the blood covering his face. It dripped on his jeans and his shirt, but at least he was still breathing.
“Let’s let him catch his breath.” I held my hands up to hold the guys back.
“Come on, Gage, don’t go soft,” Chase insisted.
“He’s still got a few more rounds left in him,” Juarez added.
“No, I think he’s had enough for now,” I argued.
The boys put their fists down.
“You know what would be fun?” Chase asked as he turned away from the Russian.
“Oh, man, I’m thinking the same thing you are. Gage, let’s untie him so he can fight back. We’ve got a pretty good head start on the guy, so I doubt he’d be able to catch up,” Juarez blabbed excitedly.
“You can even join us.” Chase clapped a hand onto my shoulder.
I looked at the worn down Russian in front of us. Those boys hadn’t seen him in action. They thought they were hurting him, but I would have put money on there being a smile on his face while he looked down and away from us. Guys like Dimitri fed on violence and pain.
“You two must be stupid,” I said flatly.
They snapped their faces toward me in disbelief.
“If we let him go, that motherfucker will stand up and show you what strength really is,” I continued.
“No way,” Chase dismissed me.
“Look at him! He’s down,” Juarez insisted.
“No, he’s just waiting. He wants you to let him go so you can keep beating him. As soon as you do, though, he’ll whoop both your asses. You don’t know him the way I do. You’ve never seen him in action,” I explained.
“Well, you’re the boss,” Chase eventually said.
Dimitri looked up when he realized we were done. Sure enough, he wore a perverse smile across his face. He was enjoying the punishment the guys were dishing out. That bloody smile and those evil eyes staring up at me just pissed me off that much more.
“Fuck it. Finish him,” I said. I turned around as the guys went back to him with smiles on their faces. I could hear him protesting as their fists began meeting their target again. The fleshy smacks of fists in his gut and across his face gave way to the deep, hard thuds of their fists connecting with bone.
Dimitri cried out in Russian as they punished the bear’s body. They weren’t talking this time. They were focused on turning the solid Russian muscleman into putty. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the honest pain in his face. I couldn’t help it when my lips curled up into a smile. It felt good to see him get what he deserved.
“Danvers,” he called out again. He repeated her name in his pathetically weakened voice. I turned to watch him.
“Shut up,” Chase said, punching him in his mouth.
“Danvers,” he insisted with his eyes trained on me. There was no fight in his eyes, no false panic, and certainly no more cocky defiance.
“Guys, whoa. Hold on.” I stepped up and put hands on their arms, holding them back.
“Danvers.” Dimitri closed his eyes and slumped over in the chair.
“Is he…?” Juarez asked.
“No, but you’ve done a number on him,” I told them. I watched him breathe while we talked just to make sure he wasn’t going to try to check out on us.
“He wants your girl,” Chase told me.
“I see that, but there’s just one problem,” I told him.
“What’s that?”
“He ran her off, talking shit.”
“Oh, man, I think we need to find her and get her back down here,” Juarez said.
“Yeah, it sounds like he wants to talk to her,” Chase added.
“Danvers.” Dimitri’s voice was weak.
I put a hand on the Russian’s shoulder, and he opened his eyes to look at me. I nodded, letting him know we were going to get her for him. I just didn’t know where the hell she was.
“Alright guys, we need to find Julia and get her back here to let Dimitri talk,” I told them.
Chapter 19
“You guys stay here. Make sure no one else comes in to see Dimitri. If Julia shows back up, call me. I’ve got my cell phone on me,” I told the guys at the steel door to the interrogation room in the basement.
“What are you going to do?” Juarez asked.
“I’m going to track her down,” I told him.
“By yourself?” Chase chimed in.
“Yes, guys, I’m tracking her down by myself. I certainly don’t expect either of you to know her well enough to know how to find her. I know the places where she might have gone. Now, stay here and keep an eye on your boy back there.” I turned and left.
I didn’t want them to know how worried I was. Nothing was supposed to get under my skin, least of all a girl. They had already seen too much, anyway, after they walked in on me as I took out my frustrations on Dimitri. They could only have assumed it was because Julia had left.
The fact was my reaction had as much to do with Julia as it did with Lisa. What happened with Lisa had been my fault. I had allowed my emotions to cloud my judgment. I learned my lesson with her. I had to keep my persona
l life separate from what I did for the MC. I had no business letting my old lady get mixed up in the business side of things.
My guilt over what happened to Lisa became a reluctance to find Julia. I hopped on the back of my bike and gunned the engine, but I didn’t drive off right away. I sat at the curb and listened to the engine as it purred beneath me. I contemplated killing the engine and going back inside. If I brought Julia back here, I risked putting her in the same position Lisa had been put in when I lost her. I didn’t want to lose Julia the same way.
“Then, don’t,” I told myself as I walked the bike back from the curb.
When I pulled up in front of Julia’s apartment building, I wasn’t sure of what I was going to say, or if she was even home for that matter. I walked up to the door and buzzed her from the intercom downstairs. I was surprised when she let me in.
That didn’t mean she was completely comfortable talking to me yet. She cracked her apartment door, and I could see the chain pulled tight. I wanted to tell her that it wouldn’t have helped. Anyone could still enter her apartment, even with that chain in place. I decided to use a little more tact and work my way in.
“Why are you here?” she asked flatly from the other side of the door. “I thought I made myself clear earlier. I don’t want any part in what you’re doing.”
“Listen, Julia, I really need your help.” I leaned into the door and added in a low tone, “If you come back, I will pay you today. He’s ready to talk.”
She closed the door, pushing me back from it, and I could hear her sliding the chain across to release it. A moment later the door opened and Julia stood there, ushering me in. She’d switched out of her jeans and tank top and into a pair of slacks with a long-sleeved blouse.
“Are you heading up to the university?” I asked her.
“Yeah, I’ve got to account for where I’ve been the last few days,” she said. “See, I’m accountable, Gage. When I tell someone I’m going to do something, I have to show them that I’m doing it or that I’ve done it. I can’t say that I’m going to do research and then go sit on the beach somewhere or torture someone in my basement.”
“I’m sorry. I should have been more up front with you about what was going on.” I followed her into her bedroom as she continued to get dressed. As sexy as she was in jeans and a loose tank top, I couldn’t deny how great her ass looked in slacks. What was wrong with me? Here I was, trying to convince her to come back with me to HQ, and all I could think about was ripping her clothes off and manhandling her on the bed. I didn’t want to listen to her scolding me. I wanted to listen to her crying out in ecstasy.
“Damn right you should have been more honest.” She turned around and started walking towards me from her dresser with a hairbrush in her hand.
I took a step back. I knew if I let her get too close, this would be just another thing that was never resolved because we fucked instead of taking the time to talk.
“And another thing,” she continued. “Wait, did you say you think he’s ready to talk?” Her ears perked up.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“How do you know? Surely, he didn’t tell you. Or, if he did, you wouldn’t have understood it anyway.” She walked back to the mirror above her dresser and brushed her hair.
“He started asking for you while we were talking to him,” I admitted.
“You mean while you were torturing him,” she stated for clarification.
“Well, I wouldn’t call it torture. Torture implies we did something creative. Juarez and Chase just beat the shit out of him until he started asking for you,” I said matter-of-factly. There was no reason to lie or hide it anymore. Hiding what was really going on would just ensure that Julia took the same path Lisa had taken.
“Dammit, Gage,” Julia said, shaking her head, “you can’t keep torturing this guy.”
“What’s he going to do? Is he going to go tell the cops?” I laughed. “Or is he going to tell Ivan? All that would do is bring Ivan to us instead of us having to look for him.”
“How do you know I didn’t tell the police?” she asked me frankly.
“You wouldn’t.” I checked to see how far I was from the front door or the nearest window. It wouldn’t have been the first time I had to escape the law at a moment’s notice. I hadn’t even considered that Julia would have gone to the cops with her story.
“You don’t have much to say now, do you?” she snapped. “I could have already called the police to let them know I’d been held against my will in a garage downtown. I could have buzzed you up here so that when they show up, they’ll find you. I can even tell them that you forced me to have sex with you. When they start asking questions, I can tell them all about your little motorcycle gang, about Dimitri and Ivan. I can tell them everything I know, Gage, and I’m sure they’d be more than happy to take you down.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “You didn’t call the police. In fact, you wouldn’t have let me come up if you had. Knowing you, you would have sent the police to HQ to pick me up if you had called them.”
“You’re right,” she said, suddenly sounding exhausted. She put her brush down and turned around to face me, leaning against her dresser. Her shoulders slumped as I stole her fire by calling her bluff. “I thought about it,” she added.
“Oh, I never said you didn’t think about it. I just know you didn’t actually do it.” She looked so vulnerable I couldn’t resist walking over to her and putting my arms around her.
At first, she resisted and tried to push me away, but she quickly gave up and rested her head against my chest.
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” I told her while I stroked her hair, “but I need you to come finish the job. I really think he’s about to crack.”
“But how do you know he’s going to tell you the truth?” She tilted her head up to look at me with those beautiful green eyes.
“Well, think about how long I’ve been doing this. Guys like Dimitri don’t usually lie when they crack under pressure. It’s not like being interrogated by the law. There’s only so much they can do. We’re not bound by their rules and regulations. If we catch someone lying to us, they can be pretty sure it’s the last time they lie to anyone.” It felt odd talking to Julia about this with her body leaning against my chest. She was giving me her trust, and I was telling her about hurting people, and worse.
“What are you going to do once you get the information you need?” she asked. I couldn’t help but think she already knew some of what I was trying to get her to figure out from Dimitri. She sounded worried that I would find out he’d been talking all along.
“We’re going to take Ivan down,” I told her. “That’s the whole purpose of taking Dimitri the way we did. We need to shut Ivan down.”
“Does that include killing him?” she asked, looking back up at me again. Her eyes searched my face, and I knew she wanted me to tell her I wouldn’t kill any of them, but I couldn’t promise her that.
“If we have to, we will.” It was the best answer I could give her. There was always the possibility that he would get away from us, but I didn’t know how to explain to an outsider that our safest option was always going to be to completely eradicate threats like Ivan.
“If you have to,” she repeated, pushing herself back from me. “Why does it sound more like if you want to?”
“Because you don’t understand,” I said. “You don’t know what we’re up against, and you don’t know how this all works.”
“Yeah, because I’m this sheltered history geek who spends all her time in libraries and university lecture halls, right?” she snapped at me resentfully.
I wanted to admit that she was right, and that her academic lifestyle was exactly why I didn’t expect her to get it, but it was also one of the reasons I found her so irresistible. I couldn’t tell her she was right; it would have crushed her and ended my chances of bringing her in.
“Listen, you come from a different world,” I explained, grabbing her hand
s and pulling her back to me. “I want to protect you from everything outside of your conversations with Dimitri. You weren’t supposed to get involved, and you really don’t want to know what else happens after you talk to him, so please, trust me.”
“I don’t feel like I can.”
“Look, the guy who has to deal with assholes like Ivan isn’t the guy standing in front of you right now. He’s certainly not the same guy you slept with. Understand that, for some of us, work isn’t all we are. We aren’t all lucky enough to find a job where we really get to be a hundred percent all the time. History is who you are. It’s you through and through, and you get to work with Russian history and Russian culture, and I’m willing to bet there aren’t too many other things you think about during the day. Am I right?”