Page 67 of Scarred Heir

The cracks in my breaking point were showing. Could they be glued back together, or was it already too late?

SEVENTEEN

Milo

Doingthis sort of job came naturally to me. Extracting information from a potential enemy was something my father had taught me at an early age. But if there was one important lesson I’d learned over the years, it was that not every situation was the same, and some could go off the rails in a New York minute.

Get them to fear you from the tone of your voice and they start talking. The sheer, unspoken threat of mortality when facing an Accettis’ deadly stare did wonders for purging the soul.

Pier 57 had been the spot of preference when my family needed a secluded area to take care of matters that had to be handled away from the public.

My men had been working over this particular rat who sat in front of me shivering and bleeding, but he still wasn’t talking. It was time for me to step in.

“Do you know who I am?” I patrolled in front of him.

“Milo Accetti.” His weak voice was barely audible, but I imagined that was from all the throat shots he had taken in the last few hours. “Everyone knows you.”

“Then you know my reputation. You know my family runs this city.”

He nodded.

“I’m not understanding why you would be stupid enough to steal from me.”

“I didn’t.”

“A man who would steal from me would lie to me too.”

When I glanced at Ax, he took the rope he had been so patiently waiting to use and put it around our guest’s neck from behind and held it tight against his throat.

“Wait!” the man managed to yell out in a hoarse attempt to plead for himself. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” I asked. “Don’t make you pay for stealing three of my cars?”

“I didn’t do that.” He tugged on the rope, but Ax’s clutch was too strong for him to find any relief.

“The camera footage on my delivery truck said otherwise. We were able to identify you and two others, but you were of the most interest to me since this wasn’t your first rodeo.” I crouched in front of him. “You have ties to several prominent people in my world, don’t you?”

“I’m just making a living. I go where the work takes me.”

“How you make your living is of no concern to me unless it affects my bottom line.” I patted his thigh. “You see how that works? Of course, I know you didn’t mastermind that heist yourself. I’ve looked into you, and I know you don’t have the resources to pull something like that off. You needed someone with deep pockets. Someone who has a death wish for provoking me.”

“I swear, I didn’t know you were the target.”

“I might buy that.” I pointed at Ax. “Maybe I’ll even let him go easy on you, but you have to give me something in return.”

“What do you want?”

“Names,” I said. “Who took my cars?”

“I… I was paid in cash by a middleman.” He glanced around the room. “I don’t know who I worked for. I did what they told me to do, and I got paid.”

When I nodded at Ax, he tightened the rope around the thief’s neck. His eyes widened as he gagged.

“It’s only going to get worse for you.” I stood. “I promise, I’m not leaving until you give me what I want or you stop breathing. The choice is yours.”

“I don’t have what you’re looking for.” He tugged at the rope around his neck. “Please.”

“There is no need to make this difficult. You tell me who hired you, and I’ll let you go.”