Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Good lesson if we ever did this again.
We let him struggle for a while, tiring himself out.
When I’d had enough, I stepped forward. “You’ve been looking into the Bennett family. Why?”
He went still, his chest heaving. Sweat trickled down his face, wetting his shirt. His eyes narrowed. “That’s what this is about?”
Logan growled. “Answer the fucking question. Why are you looking into them?”
Zeke scanned around the room, as if looking for other people before his eyes returned to us. “Can you respect my right to privacy?” he taunted.
Logan started for him.
Zeke laughed, sucking in his breath as Logan neared. He watched my brother walk over to a table where he had some weapons laid out. “Kai Bennett is a bad fucking guy. He’s…”
Logan picked up the knuckle rings, sliding them on and flexing his hand.
Zeke’s voice faltered. “What are you going to do?” He tried leaning away but couldn’t. “Look, man. I don’t know—obviously you know who I am, but I’ve got people who are going to be pissed that you’re doing this. They’ll fuck you up. Trust me. My best friend is…” He stopped, swallowing.
Logan shook his head, stepping around to inspect him, probably trying to decide on the first place to hit him. “We have you strung up, and you’re letting us know about the first threat to take out once we’re done with you? Thank you in advance.” An ugly chuckle came from Logan’s mouth.
Zeke tried watching him as Logan circled around to his back. “What do you want? I’m not going to tell you shit. You work for the Bennetts? Is that what this is? They’re pissed at me or something? It was just a little hacking. Nothing serious. I didn’t do anything. I was only looking for information.”
I stepped forward. “What information?”
He twisted back to me, his eyes widening. He’d forgotten I was here.
Zeke swallowed again. He closed his eyes, readying himself. “I—just information on them. Nothing incriminating. I… Who the fuck are you guys? I don’t know shit. Okay? Okay? They’re messing with people I know and I’m—I was just trying to help. That’s it. Fuck’s sakes. That’s it. I’ll stop.”
Logan stepped back so we could share a look.
Zeke looked between us. He licked his lips. “Seriously. I’ll stop. Don’t…” Suddenly, the fight drained from him. His body slumped. His arms strained with his weight, strung above his head. “Whatever. I can’t tell you shit, and I’m not going to. Fuck me up. Just… Leave my family alone. Okay?”
Logan tapped the knuckles against his other hand, but Zeke seemed to tune him out. He was waiting for the torture to start, which put us in a bind because we didn’t actually want to torture him. Scare him? Yes. Put some pressure on him and see how he handled it? Absolutely. But making him bleed… Well, I couldn’t deny that something about that held some appeal for me, but Zeke wasn’t the real enemy.
“You’ve given up already?” Logan picked up a knife and tapped it against Zeke’s forehead.
Zeke shook his head, trying to flip him away.
That same ugly chuckle left my brother again as he stepped around in front of Zeke, trailing the tip of the blade over Zeke’s chest.
Zeke just waited. His chest and stomach trembled under the knife’s point.
Logan was enjoying this, and he angled the knife higher, so only the tip touched Zeke’s stomach. He grabbed hold of it with both hands and moved in, pushing it further. It cut through Zeke’s shirt and he grimaced as the tip pierced his skin.
I waited. This was new for us. We’d not done this type of interrogation, usually resorting to blackmail or straight up violence in the past. A writhing ball of emotion twisted in my stomach. I liked doing this. How fucked up was that?
Logan pushed the knife farther.
Zeke grunted, panting. “Fuck. Fuck! Stop.”
I moved to the side, checking to see how far the knife had gone. It wasn’t that far, just a little past the tip. But it was enough to make him feel searing pain and bring some blood seeping out. It looked bad, but in the end, he’d only need a stitch or two.
Zeke went pale, struggling again. “What do you want? You still haven’t told me shit.”
“We want information,” I barked. “Why were you looking into Kai Bennett and his family?”
His eyes flicked my way but returned immediately to Logan. That knife was still there. Zeke was moving around, making it worse. “I—” His voice broke before he yelled, his tone strangled. “What are you going to do? Cut me up? Just do it! Do it, assholes. Slide that shit deeper. Come on.” Zeke began straining toward Logan, pushing the knife deeper.
Logan didn’t move back, just looked my way to see what I wanted to do.
“Stop.” Grabbing Zeke’s shoulder, I held him in place.