Braxton
Chapter twenty
The SUV is still here from when we brought Vanessa to Dr. Lasher’s.
I get in and find the key in the cup holder where Liam told me he’d left it.
I have no idea where the hell I am. The entire drive here, I was so fixated on watching Vanessa and the time it took us to drive here I didn’t pay attention to anything else.
Dialing Ozzy’s number, he answers on the second ring. “Did you decide to stay with your woman?”
“No. I need to know where the hell I’m going,” I tell him.
“I’ll text you the address.” Ozzy releases an annoyed breath. “Seriously, Braxton, this can keep for another day or two.”
“No, it can’t.” My voice is firm and leaves no room for argument, even from my prez.
I disconnect the call and have the address within moments.
Pulling away from the house, I get to the end of the drive and input the address into the GPS system.
Luckily, it doesn’t look like it will take me more than an hour to get to Petrov’s.
That’s still too much time to be alone with my thoughts, though.
When I pull into Nik’s massive driveway, I see several bikes parked out front belonging to my brothers.
Jude is outside having a cigarette, and when I open the door to the SUV, he shakes his head.
“Now I’m not saying I won’t enjoy getting some answers from those fucks inside, but what the hell are you doing here, brother? Your woman just woke up.”
On the drive over, I couldn’t think of a good reason why I left.
In fact, I feel like an asshole. But this shit needs to get handled, and it’s not like I’m leaving Vanessa alone.
She has her mom and sister, and Dr. Lasher is taking good care of her.
She doesn’t need me there hovering. But all that feels wrong, and it feels like a flimsy-as-hell excuse for why I’m running from what I’m really afraid of.
That she’s going to tell me that she’s leaving.
That she doesn’t want to deal with any criminals or dangerous people, and I’m both.
“She’s in good hands,” I tell Jude. “There’s nothing I can do for her there. But here? I can definitely do something for her here.”
My answer doesn’t seem to appease him. He takes a drag of his smoke and blows it out to the side. “Alright, you don’t have to tell me the truth. Let’s get this shit handled.”
We walk into the house, and my brothers, along with Nik and Liam, are in the same library we sat in not more than a week ago.
“Where are they?” I ask Nik, who’s standing at the far window looking over his grounds at the men he has patrolling outside.
“Come on, I’ll take everyone back,” Nik says and walks out of the library.
We all follow him outside, past a giant patio scattered with pots of flowers just starting to bloom. We walk past his giant rectangular pool and the lounge chairs lining the edge, toward the pool house in the back.
“You have them in a fucking pool house?” Liam asks.
Nik doesn’t answer as we step through the door.
He leads us down the hall and opens a door to what looks like it would be a closet, but it isn’t a closet at all.
There’s a steel door on the other side and a keypad next to it.
Nik punches in a code, and I hear the locks disengage.
When he opens the door, there’s a set of stairs.
We all walk down single file and after Nik—as though we’re playing follow the leader.
The hallway we’re in lights up as we pass the motion detectors, and then he opens a door to another room.
There are four cells in this room, and two of them are currently occupied.
“This is one hell of a setup, Petrov,” Liam comments. “It looks like maybe I should think about moving out of the city and somewhere a little more secluded so I can build something like this for myself.”
I don’t pay Liam any mind. Instead, my gaze is laser focused on the man who nearly killed my woman.
Who took so much from her at a young age, from her mom, from her sister.
And he doesn’t even have the balls to look at me.
He’s not so fucking tough now that he’s surrounded by men twice his size and not threatening a woman.
“I have a room across the hall that I think will serve our needs,” Nik says. He walks out of the room and into another.
Jude makes it in before I do, and I hear him whistle as he looks around. “This will do very nicely.”
Walking through the doorway, it looks like I’ve stepped into a serial killer’s playroom—if the serial killer were meticulously clean.
White-tiled walls and a white-tiled floor line the room.
Good for cleanup. There are two metal chairs sitting in the middle of the room over a drain.
Above those chairs, giant meat hooks hang from the ceiling.
To my left, Jude is already standing in front of a table, admiring the collection of tools.
Saws of varying lengths, a pair of scissors, bolt cutters, two scalpels, a hammer, and a giant metal mallet have been neatly arranged on the table along with a couple of vials and syringes.
“You thought of everything,” Jude says, turning to Nik. “I’m touched.”
“I thought about what I would want in a room like this if I had someone or something that I cared about the way your club does, and I stocked accordingly,” Nik says.
“I do adore a thoughtful crime boss,” Jude replies.
“Thank you for letting us use your house, Nik,” Ozzy says. “And waiting for Braxton to be available.”
Nik dips his head slightly. “It’s my pleasure. I have no tolerance for men like Russ and Damien. Even in my world, there are lines that should never be crossed, and they jumped right over them. What happens next is deserved.”
Ozzy looks at Knox and Barrett. “Let’s bring our guests in,” he says, and Nik pulls the keys from his pocket, tossing them to Knox.
They return moments later with Russ and Sokolov, who are both trying to look like the scene before them doesn’t scare the piss out of them.
All of my brothers, including Liam and Nik, are standing against the walls in the white room.
Jude is at the table, still admiring the tools with a smile on his face.
Knox and Barrett handcuff the assholes to a chair and step back to join us.
“Well, Petrov. Looks like you won,” Damien says. “It only took an MC and whoever the hell that guy is to get us here.” He nods at Liam then glares at Nik.
“End result is the same, Damien. Whether or not it was me, or if I had a little help from some friends, you’re still in that chair,” Nik says with a smile.
“I’m sorry. Allow me to introduce myself,” Liam says casually, straightening from the wall.
“Liam Ashcroft. I run a security firm. All that shit you see on the news about governments toppling or high-ranking officials suspected of crimes against humanity—in particular, those who hurt women and children—going missing? Chances are extremely high that my associates and I had a hand in it. Tell me something, Sokolov, have you had a business associate or two suddenly disappear recently? Maybe turn up dead from suicide? Self-inflicted gunshot to the head or overdose?”
Damien stares at Liam.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Liam waves his hand and smiles. “I can tell you’re familiar with our work. We’ve been looking into many of your business partners. I’d like some information from you. Just a few names to fill in the gaps that are missing.”
“I’m not giving you shit,” Damien spits.
Liam chuckles and nods toward Jude. “That’s my brother over there.
If there’s one thing he hates more than someone who beats women, it’s someone who hurts children.
You know what he does love, though?” Damien and Russ are silent.
“His family. You hurt people he cares about. People that I care about. I’m afraid I don’t have much control over him, and he’s of the mind that if you cause pain, he’ll return it tenfold.
But you can lessen the time between now and your death.
There’s no way you’re getting out of here.
We killed all your men. It’s only you and Russ.
And unless you have someone like me in your pocket, which you don’t because there is no one else like me, then there’s no chance for you to escape.
So, Damien, how long would you like your torture to last? ”
“Fuck you,” Damien says.
Liam nods. “Okay, endless agony it is.” He steps back against the wall, and Jude steps forward with bolt cutters. “Who have you been working with? We want names of buyers. We want shipping ports you use. Hell, I want the names of your pimps and where they live.”
“You think you’re scaring me? Why should I tell you anything? I’m dead either way. A little pain before I go will only turn me on,” Damien sneers.
Jude grins, and in an instant, two of Sokolov’s fingers are between the blades of the bolt cutter before Jude snips them from his hand.
Damien lets out a scream through clenched teeth.
“That make you hard, sweetheart?” Jude asks, patting the side of Sokolov’s face.
My gaze focuses on Russ. Honestly, I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to get Sokolov to spill.
He knows he’s dead, and at this point, it’s going to be a battle of wills.
Russ, on the other hand, won’t look to see what Jude is doing to his boss.
His eyes are firmly planted on the floor, though I did notice him jump in the chair a bit when he saw two bloody fingers fall next to his feet.
No, I think if Russ sees the lengths Jude is willing to go to get what we want, he’ll be the one spilling the secrets.
“We can start smaller, Sokolov. We heard you were starting a club in the States. A place where you offered more than a show. And the women who work there won’t be willing participants. Who’s helping you with that?” Liam asks.