Chapter 29
Ryder
It was past midnight by the time I made it to the Fluffy Duckling, the back room guarded by no fewer than three men. I approached slowly, just enough for them to recognise me before they decided to pull the trigger.
The Bratva really had a flair for being unnecessarily trigger-happy, especially considering Sasha, Roman’s father, liked to change up the men regularly.
When I finally stepped inside, thankfully bullet hole free, Roman was exactly as I expected. White shirt, black slacks with his sleeves rolled up. The perfect show of effortless sophistication, or more like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Shame about the whole gruesome scene behind him.
“Started without me, I see,” I tutted. “Why is he wet?”
Roman’s eyes were bright when he turned; his monster, as he liked to call it, sated by the violence he’d just inflicted.
Cedric dangled from chains, his arms twisted unnaturally, shoulders likely dislocated with half his stomach carved.
Unconscious, but alive, which wasn’t a surprise because Roman was very good at drawing this out.
Making each cut last. Every breath agonising, all while not a single spec of blood spotted his white shirt.
Honestly, it was masterful. If torturing was an Olympic sport, Roman would get gold.
“Makes him more conductive,” Roman muttered, placing down one of his sharp toys. “You took your time. Where’s your girl?”
Maxim stood off to the side, arms crossed like a bouncer. So judgmental without actually giving an expression.
I gave him a wave before responding.
“I left her asleep in the hotel room, and she’s not my girl.” It was pathetic, really. I’d actually waited until she was out cold before slipping out.
Women were never a second thought more than it took to fuck them, and certainly never beyond an orgasm.But clearly Violet was fucking with my head, because her emotions shouldn’t matter to me.
Yet I waited until she was asleep, so as not to upset her.
Jesus Christ.
Normally once I’d fucked someone, I was gone before the sheets had even cooled. No exceptions, no attachments. And yeah, technically, I hadn’t even gotten that far with Violet.
Which was a miscalculation on my part.
One I’d take to the grave because I was never admitting out loud that she’d made me lose it. Me. The sex-fucking-god.
Roman raised a single dark brow. “I thought you weren’t going to fuck her.”
“I didn’t,” I snapped, a little too sharp.
Yep, she was under my skin. Like a thorn, or something equally as annoying. I shared my past to prove not everything was sunshine and fucking rainbows. I expected her to recoil, or at least be disgusted, but no, she met me with gentle smiles and compassionate fucking responses.
Her inexperience at life was sickening.
Then there was the kiss.
I didn’t kiss.
In fact, I’d never kissed, but I did with her. She’d tasted of honey and sin, and after just one taste I was already thinking about the next.
Roman watched me while I was clearly having an existential crisis. “You’re distracted,” he commented, eyes narrowing as if he was trying to strip me of my skin. “Something’s happened with the blonde.”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but the look on his face made it pointless. “Your ability to read me is creepy,” I grumbled instead.
“Spill.”
There was no point in denying him, Roman was like the tide. Fucking relentless.
“Violet pissed me off.” I shrugged.
Roman’s mouth twitched. “Maybe you should just fuck her and get it out of your system then.”
I blinked. “Weird advice coming from a psychopath. You’re usually the one telling me to never get attached, or just kill them.”
“Ty mudák,” Maxim muttered, and I give him my middle finger in response. He’d called me an arsehole… I think.
“You think so little of me?” Rome asked once I returned my eyes to him.
“The opposite. I know you too well.” That was the problem with Roman: we shared the same dark urges. But his were possibly darker, brought on by a father who taught him to kill from a very young age. Although, he kept himself restrained for the most part.
Roman went to respond, but Cedric seemed to twitch, drawing his attention.
“Our friend here admitted he doesn’t know who Mr C is,” he said, changing the subject. “But he’s powerful.”
“You confident with his replies?” I glanced at Cedric, the squeal of the chains squeaking a strange comfort, as was the gentle drip of his blood against the concrete.
“You think he’d lie to me?”
“Anything’s possible. We never thought you’d be tied to a single woman, yet here we—fucking ow!” I rubbed the spot where he’d just punched me. “Sensitive much? Not my fault you can’t stand up to daddy dearest.”
Roman pursed his lips, eyes narrowed as he slapped Cedric across the face, sharp and deliberate. When that didn’t work, Maxim stepped forward.
“What are you… oh, fuck,” I muttered as my face twisted, watching Maxim casually clip metal clamps to Cedric’s nipples like he’d done it a hundred times before, the other end attached to what looked to be a adapted car battery. “Ah, I get what you mean by conductive now.”
One flick of the switch and Cedric convulsed violently, a ragged screech ripping from his throat as his body jerked against the chains. Maxim’s expression remained detached, but I swear there was a glint in his eyes. The sick fuck.
“Nice of you to join us,” I drawled the moment Cedric’s bleary eyes found mine.
“Ryder…” he growled, but it lacked its usual venom. Probably because Maxim was currently pulling down what remained of his soaking wet trousers until his cock was out. “Please,” he whimpered when Maxim grabbed his balls, stretching them down. “I’ve told you everything I know!”
“Really, Max? No gloves?” I muttered, wrinkling my nose.
Maxim didn’t even flinch. He actually met my eyes, calm, unbothered as he clipped the clamps onto the tender flesh of Cedric’s testicles.
Moving towards the monstrosity of a battery, I leaned against the table it was sitting on. “I didn’t know you were into this,” I commented, flicking at the wire attached.
Cedric hissed as it tugged on his skin.
“Hot,” I chuckled. “They say it’s always the quiet ones.”
Cedric grunted, baring his teeth at me as if it was supposed to be some sort of threat. With a tut, I looked over at Roman. “See, we wouldn’t get this sort of attitude if you’d brought your snakes, Rome.”
Roman didn’t look at me, his attention remaining on Cedric. “It can be arranged.”
I flicked the wire once more, just to savour the responding screech. “I hear venom is excruciating when you’re bitten on your—”
“I’m telling you everything I know!” Cedric cried, his toes stretching to try and keep the weight off his arms. “Please, I don’t know who Mr C is. We only communicate through text.”
“How did he offer you the job in the first place?” I asked.
“He found me on the dark web.”
“How much are they paying you to find the USB drive?”
“No… no drive. The woman. I was paid to find the woman.”
“Geraldine Hoffman?” I continued while Cedric was being reasonable.
But he seemed to be lagging, his words beginning to slur as blood loss and whatever the fuck Roman had done to him took its toll. Not to mention he was stabbed less than eight hours ago.
“Not just… not just Geraldine,” he managed to wheeze out, blood bubbling from a cut on his chest. “They… they want the girl.”
“Violet?” I asked, ignoring the weight sinking into my gut. “Why do they want her?”
When he hesitated, I snapped the wire again, harder this time so the metal teeth of the clamps really tugged against his balls.
Cedric screamed, his voice cracking as sweat poured down his face. “I don’t know!” he choked out. “I’m just paid to find shit. They offered me a quarter mil to retrieve her!”
Quarter mil? Holy fucking shit.
He sucked in a ragged breath, words spilling faster now. “At first, it was just the mum. That was the job: find her, rough her up a bit, and then take her back. They didn’t even know the girl existed, not until you found her.”
“Anything else I should know?” I asked, my finger rubbing the switch suggestively.
“No… no. Please, let me—”
“Oops.” I flicked the switch, wincing as Cedric convulsed so violently his teeth cracked down on his tongue, blood spilling past his lips. His eyes rolled back, whites showing, while the skin around the clamps began to split and char. “How many volts is this?” I asked casually.
The scent of burning flesh began to perforate the room. Either Cedric was just being dramatic, or no way was this a normal car battery.
“Maxim made it.” Roman shrugged. “Not enough to kill him. Probably.”
I looked over at Maxim, who was watching the show with an empty expression. “Max, love your work, but I have some notes. It needs a dial so we can play with the—”
A low vibration cut me off, rattling the metal table shoved against the wall. Maxim moved first, plucking the handset from the pile of Cedric’s belongings. Without a word, he passed it to Roman, who hit the speaker when he answered.
“Hello,” I chimed before anyone else could speak. “You have reached the phone of—”
“Mr Finn,” a familiar voice cut through, clipped and precise. “Where’s Mr Abby?”
“Your assassin can’t come to the phone right now. He’s currently pissing all over himself.” I glanced at Cedric, who was still convulsing beautifully. Pretty sure he was foaming at the mouth. “Not cool to double cross me, Jürgen. I’m offended.”
“I can only apologise.”
“Apology not accepted.” I looked over at Roman, and he nodded at me to continue.
It would be a somewhat political statement if he voiced his presence, because while he was his own person, he unfortunately represented the Bratva. So until I figured out what the fuck was going on, and who this Mr C was, I didn’t really want to start a war.
Probably. Not unless I really wanted to fuck shit up.
“Now, do you want to explain why you hired me to find a USB drive, while Cedric here was paid to track down Geraldine? Oh, and minor detail, there’s no USB. She lost it.”
“No USB just means the job has got easier for you,” Jürgen replied, calm as ever. “Mr C wants the girl.”
“They want the girl, huh?” I mused. “I steal things, not people.” I’d had a few offers, but the last job I’d taken that involved someone breathing nearly ended with the Beast separating my head from my shoulders. Since then, I turned them all down without a second thought.
“We’re aware, which is why you were hired for the USB.”
“You were always after Geraldine?” I clicked my tongue. “Smart.”
“The USB was her leverage against us,” Jürgen confirmed. “But yes, our priority has always been Geraldine.”
“Then why send me? You gave me the details to track her, so why not send someone more competent than Cedric?”
A pause hummed through the line, one he didn’t bother to fill with lies. “Our reasons are our own,” he said finally. “The discovery of the daughter has been… unexpected. Mr C is willing to offer you double to retrieve her.”
“Double?” I snorted. “Double’s not what you gave your boy here.” I reached over and killed the power to the battery. Cedric slumped in his chains, limp and pale. “You’re asking me to kidnap someone. Someone you didn’t even know existed. Someone Cedric here couldn’t even get close to.”
“We’ll match Cedric’s offer,” came the smooth reply. “Quarter of a million euros.”
“Euros?” I barked out a laugh. “I’m not getting screwed on the exchange rate. Quarter of a million pounds, or I’m hanging up and you can say goodbye to—”
“Deal.”
I frowned, pissed off for not asking for more even as my stomach tightened. They must be fucking desperate. “What about the hit on my head?”
“That’ll be removed as soon as the package is delivered. She is to remain unharmed, or money will be deducted.”
I clicked my tongue. “And Geraldine?”
“The daughter is the priority,” he replied. “If you also retrieve Geraldine, we’ll add an extra fifty. Alive is preferable, but dead is also acceptable.”
Jesus Christ.
“All this drama for this one girl? Did she piss in your boss’s cereal or something?”
“You have thirty-six hours.” With that, the line clicked dead.
I stared at the screen a moment longer before tossing it back to Maxim. “Well, that’s a plot twist.”
“It’s one way to fix it,” Roman said, no judgment in this tone. “So, what are you going to do?”