Page 85 of Madness & Mercy

I’m burning this whole fucking estate to the ground.

CHAPTER 13 – UNRAVEL

NICO

The sound of the door slamming behind Enzo echoes like a gunshot.

Julian’s footsteps fade on the stairs, each one scraping against my nerves. I should’ve kept him down here. Should’ve made him watch. But there’s only so much heat you can throw at a flame before it burns out of control.

And right now, I need control.

I descend the basement steps again, Luca trailing close behind me. The stench of blood hits first. It’s soaked into the concrete. Into the man still strapped to the chair, barely conscious, his breath rasping through busted lips.

He lifts his head when he hears us. One eye is already swollen shut. He knows what’s coming.

I pause in front of him, staring into the one eye that still works.

“There are holes in your story,” I say quietly. “Keep talking, or I start matching them. One bullet at a time.”

He tries to speak, but all that comes out is a cough and a string of blood.

Luca moves to the table in the corner, the one with the tools. He doesn’t ask what I want. He already knows.

“I gave you a chance,” I murmur, crouching in front of the bastard. “And you pissed on it.”

His mouth twitches like he’s going to be brave. Like he’s going to take whatever’s coming like a soldier.

But I’ve seen that look before. I know what it hides.

Fear.

Regret.

Weakness.

“Let’s start over,” I say, standing again. “This time, you don’t lie. This time, you tell me why Braga’s got a hitman pulling a trigger onmyproperty. And why thefuckJulian Cross’s name is tangled in any of it.”

Luca turns, handing me the bolt cutters instead of the pliers this time.

I don’t say a word as I grip the bastard’s mangled hand, steady it against the chair arm, and sever his fourth finger like I’m trimming a dead branch.

He screams in agony.

“Talk,”I growl. “Before I start working my way up the arm.”

He spits blood onto the floor. “Fuck you.”

I sigh. “You never learn.”

I raise the cutters again, but he breaks before I even squeeze.

“Okay! Okay—just…fuck—just wait—”

I pause, breath steady, jaw tight.

“Start talking.”

He nods, gulping down pain. “Braga didn’t send me for you. He had no idea you’d be there. He’s moving product through your territory. I was there to keep eyes on your runners, not to pull the trigger.”