Page 76 of Madness & Mercy

He tries to talk. I smash the butt of my gun across his jaw.

He won’t be talking unless I say so.

I lean in, close enough he can feel the rage rolling off of me.

“You shot the wrong man,” I growl. “And you’re going to tell mewhy.”

Then I crack my knuckles.

Because now, thereal funstarts.

The bastard’s bleeding before we even get to the car.

A split lip. Broken nose. His left eye’s already swelling shut, and I didn’t even touch him with my gun yet, just my hands.

He didn’t answer my questions in the alley.

So now he’s coming with me.

Enzo pops the trunk. We don’t cuff him like the cops do. I slam the fucker in face-first, zip-tie his hands behind his back, and toss a tarp over his head.

Luca raises a brow as he slams it shut.

“No cleanup?”

I shrug. “Not yet.”

We drive in silence, the way back to the estate feeling longer than usual. The guy in the trunk moans once, maybe twice. I don’t care.

Julian’s blood is still on my shirt.

And the scent of it—copper and heat and sweat—is making me see red all over again.

He could’vedied.

Not from a neck snap or a clean kill. Not from a knife to the ribs.

No, some low-rent motherfucker pulled a trigger and nearly ended him without even knowing what he was worth.

I won’t let that go unanswered.

When we reach the estate, the guards at the front gate don’t even ask. One look at my face and they open the gate. They know the rules.

No one fucks with what’s mine and walks out breathing.

We haul him down into the basement. Concrete floor. No windows. Smells like bleach and bad intentions.

Luca flips on the light. It flickers, that annoying buzz that makes people twitchy.

I like it.

We zip-tie him to the old metal chair in the center of the room. I step into the shadows and wait. Watch him squirm.

When he finally lifts his head, I lean forward, arms crossed.

“Name,”I say.

He spits blood onto the floor and grins like he thinks this is a game.