Reuben #2
Standing in a loose circle were faces I knew.
In addition to the expected faces of Iker and Hoss, there was Matvey and two more of his men I recognized—Nikita and Konstantin.
There were a couple more. I recognized their faces but couldn’t recall their names.
There were numerous ones I’d seen at Matvey’s estate when we were there for gatherings.
Adams was shoved to his hands and knees in the middle of the circle. The floorboards of the barn had rotted in spots, making it uneven, splintered, and filthy. Dirt and weeds grew up between the cracks in the floorboards.
“Did you have any trouble?” Matvey asked.
“No, it went perfectly. As you can see, he was relaxing.” I snickered as I pointed to Adams.
In his current position, I saw he was more pathetic than I’d seen. His underwear was sagging down over his non-existent ass. They were grungy, and I swore there was a yellowish stain in the back, as if he’d shit them at some point and never gotten it out of the material.
“It’s all your show, Reuben. We’re here to watch and lend a hand only if you want us to,” Hoss informed me.
Iker and Matvey nodded in agreement. Carver wasn’t here. He was out of town on business. Mikhail would still be covering Lustz. Sawyer was becoming close to us, but I wasn’t ready to let him see us actually kidnapping, torturing, and murdering someone. I felt he was trustworthy, but I was cautious.
“Thanks. And Matvey, your guys are true professionals. I think to save us all from becoming sick to our stomachs from wondering what formed those stains, we should get him out of his nasty underclothing.”
Right as I finished saying it, I removed the knife I had on me.
I bent over Adams and sliced up the back of his wifebeater before tearing it off him.
Moving to his underwear, I gripped his waistband and sliced it down both cheeks to the back of his legs.
It fell to the ground. My final act was to yank the balled-up cloth from his mouth.
“If you let me go right now, no one will ever hear from me what you did,” Adams babbled.
“That’s not happening,” I informed him.
“You won’t get away with this. I have friends, and my family is well-off.
They’ll hunt you down. I’m part of the Fisher family.
You know, the ones that Fisherton is named after.
They have influential friends and people who owe them favors.
You harm me and you’ll pay,” he blustered.
His tone said one thing, but his expression another. Adams was scared.
“Uh oh, guys, did you hear that? His family has money and connections. We need to let him go,” I teased. The others all chuckled and rolled their eyes.
It angered our captive. “I’m not fucking lying! My family will have you thrown in prison,” he snapped.
Before I could respond, Matvey stepped closer. He stared hard at the naked man. “Your weak, pathetic lies do not impress or worry us. Even if what you say is true, we have nothing to fear from the likes of you or your family,” he sneered.
“Don’t bet on it,” Adams snapped back.
“Oh, but I will bet on it. Do you have any idea who I am?” Matvey asked.
You’d have to be blind and an idiot not to see and feel the menace coming off Matvey at the moment. His immaculate suit screamed wealth—a great deal of wealth—as did the limited-edition gold watch he wore and the entourage surrounding him.
Adams spat at the Pakhan’s feet. Luckily, it missed his glossy, several-thousand-dollar-a-pair shoes. All of Matvey’s men stepped toward Adams, but the raise of a hand from their boss had them freeze. Though if looks could kill, the captive would be dead.
“No, and I don’t fucking care,” the bastard said.
“Please, please, let me tell him,” Iker said gleefully. He was smiling and bouncing on his toes like a kid.
“Be my guest,” Matvey said, gesturing.
Iker leaned down so he could look Fisher Adams in the face. He stayed back far enough to avoid if he spat again.
“You just spat at a Bratva Pakhan, a Russian Mafia boss. These men standing around him are only a portion of the soldiers who work for him. Matvey Ivanova can not only make you and your entire family disappear, but also all your influential friends. His guys know some very creative and excruciating ways to extract information, and then to make you pay for your offenses before ending you. You should’ve forgotten about Cristiana and stayed away. ”
My woman’s stalker glanced around. I saw the uncertainty in his expression. He wasn’t convinced Iker told the truth, but he was wondering if he had fucked up. Slowly, he shook his head.
“No, that’s not possible. There’s no way Ana knows anyone in the Bratva. She’s a good girl. You’re lying so you can keep her for yourself, but I’m not falling for it. Like I said before, she’s mine. Walk away, and I’ll forget this ever happened.”
Hoss tossed back his head and let a booming laugh escape. At six feet seven, Hoss was aptly named. The rest of us either chuckled or snickered.
“You’re a stupid motherfucker, aren’t you? What happened? Did your parents drop you on your head repeatedly as a baby? Or is your entire family inbred mouth breathers? Here, let me show you something.”
Hoss removed his cell phone from his pocket. He tapped a few times, then swiped his finger over the screen. He held it so Adams could see it. Leaning closer, I saw it was a picture of Matvey. The headline read Police Unable to Build a Case Against Matvey Ivanov, Suspected Bratva Pakhan, Again.
I observed the color drain from Fisher Adams’s face, and he gulped as what he saw sank in. When Matvey approached him a second time, Adams flinched and reared away from Mikhail’s favorite cousin.
“Now do you believe?” Matvey asked softly.
The little prick whimpered. “I-I’m sorry. I believe you. Please, forgive me. I meant no offense.”
“Yes, you did, but we will let that slide. What I want you to do is answer every question my friend Reuben has for you. Answer him truthfully and fully. Every time you hesitate or only partially answer, Reuben or one of us will break a finger. When we run out of those, we will move on to other parts of your body, such as that miserable excuse for a cock. Christ, no wonder you have to kidnap and force a woman to be with you,” Matvey told him, clicking his tongue.
Nikita came forward with a stool he sat down behind me. Giving him a chin lift of thanks, I sat on it.
“Sit up on your knees so I can see your face. I want to see your expression and eyes. Know that Tiana told me all about how you two met, and you refused to take no for an answer. The police told her they wouldn’t help unless you hurt her or broke an actual law.
You spent months stalking her until you made her feel she had no other choice but to leave town and move hours away from her family.
“While I am thankful that the move allowed me to find her and make her mine, I won’t overlook the wrongness behind it.
It’s fucking ridiculous that anyone, male or female, has to endure being harassed and stalked, and there’s nothing that can be done until the culprit trespasses or causes actual harm.
You’re sick in the head. She doesn’t want you. ”
“That’s a lie! She does. It was part of the game we were playing. You, you somehow brainwashed her into moving and saying the opposite. I know you did. When did you meet her? Where? Did you go to the club in Memphis?” Adams asked angrily.
“Will you listen to yourself? You’re crazy. I didn’t brainwash her or make Tiana move. We met months after she moved to Nashville. Enough arguing. I want to know how you discovered where she went.”
Adams glared at me in silence. If he thought I was joking about breaking fingers and then damaging other parts of his anatomy, he was wrong.
“Tell me, or you’re sacrificing a finger,” I warned him.
I waited several seconds. When he remained mute, I reached forward.
He tried to hide his hands, but with them restrained in front of his body at the wrists, he couldn’t do much.
I pried the left pinkie away from the fist he made and twisted.
The slight cracking sound was followed immediately by his scream of pain.
I gave him a few moments to let his yell die down before I spoke again. “I’ll ask you again. How did you know where she went? No one knew outside of her family. And I don’t see them telling an outsider.”
“A friend told me,” was all he said.
“What friend? Give me a name,” I insisted.
“Someone who knew how worried I was about her.”
Not waiting for him to spout more non-answer answers, I latched onto the left ringer finger and snapped it. Again, there was the cracking sound, followed by his scream. As much as I wanted Adams to tell me, we danced until all five were broken on that left hand.
“Who is the friend?” I snarled for the umpteenth time.
“We met online. He and I have common interests,” he panted out raggedly.
“Online? Where online? Do you mean a fetish site?” I asked.
“Yes, he was in a forum that I joined that was for Doms like me. We got to talking and discovered we had very similar needs.” Adams paused.
“Go on,” I demanded.
When he hesitated, I reached for the right pinkie. It was all the inducement he needed.
“Wait! Don’t. We started chatting privately. It was during one of those that we began talking about the woman who’d gotten away from me and the one he was interested in. It went on for a while before the eerie similarities had him asking me for the name of the woman I was searching for.”
Adams hesitated, but when I raised an eyebrow, he sighed and continued.
“He told me of the woman Ana, whom he had met at the House of Lustz club in Nashville. When I told him Ana was the name of my woman, it was too much of a coincidence. A few more questions led us to exchange pictures. It was the same person.”
This revelation was a surprise. What would be the odds of it? The chances were astronomical. A feeling of certainty gripped my stomach. I had to voice it.
“And the name of the man who told you about her. What is his name?”
“Please, I can’t tell you,” Adams stated.
Tired of taking it slow, I snagged his right hand, but this time, I snapped the remaining digits one after the other. His screams made my ears hurt. I barely allowed them to die down a little before I took out the knife again. I held it under his tear-filled gaze.
“Tell me, or I start cutting and removing parts,” I snarled.
“H-h-his name is Rhys. I don’t know his last name.”
I heard Iker and Hoss swear. I let out a roar. I came to my feet and kicked the stool over. As I paced, I kept thinking that if I’d done something about Rhys when he first latched onto Cristiana, he would’ve never been able to be on the forum and connect with Adams. Jesus Christ!
A hand on my shoulder pulled me up short.
I glanced back to find it was Iker. “Stop blaming yourself. I know you are. There was no way to know, and the chances of those two meeting were a billion-to-one. I think this information requires us to bring another participant to join the party. Don’t you? ”
I took a couple of deep breaths before nodding and answering him. “Yes, we do. Let me call Mikhail and have him find Rhys’s address in his file.”
“No, you relax and let me call Mikhail. And then I’ll go with one of Matvey’s guys to bring him here. Let me help with this.”
Thankful for his help, I nodded. As I stood there, watching him take out his phone, I fantasized about how I’d finish both Adams and Rhys off. Then I’d have to go home and tell Cristiana how she was found and that I should’ve protected her better.