Page 51 of No Longer Mine

“Not really.” I cracked my knuckles. “But he’s gonna wish he had.”

Don yanked out a roll of duct tape and started securing Tony’s wrists to the arms of the chair. Alexei stepped forward, crouching slightly to get a better look at our guest, his fingers tapping against his jaw in thought.

“He piss himself?” Alexei asked, nose wrinkling.

“Not yet.”

Alexei smirked. “Give it a few minutes.”

I turned to Benson, who was already setting up a laptop on the metal table. The glow of the screen illuminated his face, his glasses catching the light as he scrolled through what I assumed were Tony’s financial records.

“I pulled everything,” Benson said without looking up. “Bank accounts, shell companies, offshore holdings, burner phone records. He’s got ties to someone higher up, but he’s smart—doesn’t keep direct evidence.”

I exhaled sharply, dragging a chair over and flipping it around so I could straddle it, my arms resting on the backrest.

“That’s fine,” I said. “We don’t need direct evidence.”

Alexei raised a brow. “You got a plan, brother?”

My eyes met Alexei’s dark ones. “Well, of course I do.” Tony started to groan while I continued to talk. “I like to rip dicks off.”

Benson let out a whistle. “What’s wrong with you?”

Alexei rolled his eyes. “He’s enjoying our collective torment.”

I smiled at all of them as I bent down to Tony’s eye level. “So would you like to be missing your dick soon or would you rather tell us who you work for?”

Tony’s partially bald head rolled around on his shoulders. “Ugh. What’s going on?” Then his eyes shot open, and he paled further. “Fuck. Fuck.”

Alexei bent down beside me. “The last thing you’ll be doing is fucking if you don’t answer the question, Tony.”

A chill went through me as I smiled down at the terrified man. I loved this entirely too much. I couldn’t believe I’d given it all up for politics.

Revenge. I reminded myself.

Tony’s lips trembled. “If I tell you, I’m dead.”

I smirked. “Wrong answer.”

Alexei huffed out a chuckle. “Should we start with fingers? Or go straight to the main event?”

Tony’s face turned a sickly shade of gray. “Please?—”

“Please, what?” I interrupted, cocking my head. “Please be gentle? Please let you go? Please not rip your dick off and feed it to the fucking rats?”

Tony let out a strangled whimper.

I sighed again, rubbing my temple. “You’re not making this fun for me, Tony. I’m trying to be patient. But I really don’t like being patient.” I was lying. I loved this shit.

Alexei pulled a knife from his pocket, flicking it open with an audible snick. Tony’s gaze darted to the blade. Then to my face. Then back to the blade.

“Okay,” he breathed, voice barely above a whisper. “Okay, I’ll talk.”

I smiled. “That’s more like it.”

Tony’s breath was ragged, his fingers twitching against the armrests, the reality of his situation sinking in. He wasn’t getting out of this. Not unless he gave me something worth letting him live for. Alexei twirled the knife between his fingers like it was an afterthought, his gaze was bored and detached. He was bored. Me, on the other hand? I lived for this.

Benson, still casually scrolling through files, let out a small noise of interest. “His name is Cavalier. His name pops up in connection with some pretty hefty real estate purchases in the city.”