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“Every time I ask you something and I’m not happy with your answer, a piece of you will go missing. Now, let’s try this again. Where is Zoe?”
In the end, he had to cut off another finger—he opted for the thumb—before Ivan gave him a name.
“Pachenkov! I sold her to Yuri Pachenkov! One of Kristoff’s men.”
It was like a sucker punch to his sternum. “You sure about that? If you’re lying again this time, I’m going for your nuts.”
“I swear! I owed him. A lot. You don’t want to owe Pachenkov or Kristoff. I was doing fine paying him every week, but then that Britney bitch died, and I didn’t have a cunt to sell anymore. I figured her sister owed me, you know.”
Kristoff.
A man he had compartmentalized in his brain up until today. Separating the brother he loathed from the crime boss. A man he had believed didn’t trade in women and children. Guess he’d been wrong.
Ivan was sniffling, clutching his mutilated hand. “I told you everything I know. Pachenkov is untouchable. A hit on him is a hit on the Bratva. Kristoff owns this city. He will bury you and anyone you care about.” His eyes darted around the room, as if someone might over hear him. “You’re gonna get me killed. If Pachenkov finds out I ratted him out, he’ll tell Kristoff, and that Siberian will give me to his enforcers. Those crazy twins will feed me to snakes. Fucking snakes!”
Hector sighed. The stories about the twins got worse every time. Rumor had it they fed people to a pit of anacondas, fed them to an alligator. Maybe even to a gorilla. One would almost think Kristoff was running a fucking zoo.
It didn’t matter, though. It didn’t matter who he had to get through to get Zoe back. Fate had these weird twists sometimes.
Maybe this day of reckoning had long been coming. ’Cause brother or not, if Kristoff had anything to do with Zoe’s kidnapping, Hector would take him out.
CHAPTER 16
HECTOR
Their next stop was Kristoff’s lavish mansion. The uncrowned king of San Francisco lived at the edge of North Bay, without any close neighbors in sight. Not that any sane person would want to live next door to a kingpin.
When Hector stopped in front of the iron gates, he could no longer ignore Achilles’ sideways glances.
“What?”
“You sure you want to do this?”
“Do what?”
“Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I mean. You’re going up against fucking Kristoff Romanov. Yeah, the man showed up to your wedding, but that doesn’t mean shit. Especially not since you don’t acknowledge him as your brother. Don’t you think it’s smarter to call Gio? He knows the guy; they play poker together, for fuck’s sake. He can parley with Kristoff without this turning into a bloodbath.”
Hector lowered his window and pressed the intercom button. “I’m not waiting until Gio’s here. Zoe could be gone by that time. Also, this is my family. My business. You can leave if you want.”
Achilles snorted. “You know I’m not gonna let you go in there alone. Just saying, for the record, there’s a smarter way to do this.”
Smarter, perhaps. But the swirling rage inside him didn’t want smart. It wanted blood. It wanted someone to pay for the grief on Mary’s face.
“Duly noted.”
“If we get killed, I’m gonna say I told you so.”
“Of course you are.”
A lone figure walked up to them. Hector recognized him as Angel, Kristoff’s right-hand man. One of the crazy twins. According to rumor, when Angel’s twin Damon got a scar on his left shoulder, Angel had cut himself on the exact same spot.
“I’m here to see Kristoff.”
“Are you now,” Angel said, peeking through the window. “See, it’s a Monday afternoon, and this is Kristoff’s friends and family time. Which exactly are you?”
Hector hated the smug motherfucker. Kristoff’s honorary brother; one of the men Kristoff had preferred over his own blood.
The asshole tried to get a rise out of him and any other day, he’d have gladly gone a round with him, but not today. Time was of the essence and if that meant having to swallow his pride, he’d do it.