by Leah Wilde
Then, slowly, while I thought about what had happened, how it had happened, and why, it dawned on me. It was Dimitri’s fault for filling her head with a bunch of nonsense and for trying to convince her that I was a danger to her. If she had just done what I asked her to do, she would have been alright. She would not have found herself in harm’s way the way Lisa, my ex, had.
I hadn’t thought about Lisa in ages. It wasn’t that I wanted to forget what had gone down. I just needed to move past it. I had vowed to her that I would never let anything like that happen to anyone else. My carelessness had caused what happened that day. Instead of mulling it over again, however, I was going to make Dimitri pay for bringing those memories back up.
Dimitri smiled humorlessly when I walked into the room in the basement.
“You knew I was coming down here after you brought Lisa up,” I told him.
I would have imagined that anyone else in Dimitri’s position would have shown more tact, but no, not Dimitri. The thing about big guys like Dimitri was that they could take a lot of punishment and keep on going like nothing had even happened. That was what made them valuable assets to people like Ivan. That fact was not lost on Dimitri. He knew how much punishment he could take, and he truly believed I wasn’t going to test that limit.
He kept his smug smile as I talked and approached the table. He may not have understood the words that were coming out of my mouth, but he knew exactly why I was down there. He knew what he had told Julia, and he knew I had come to hand out his punishment.
“Now you’re fucked. There’s no one else here who understands Russian, but I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement anyway.” I shoved the table aside so that I stood directly in front of his chair.
If I had allowed Dimitri to stand up in front of me, he would have towered over me. He would have stood wider than I did as well. He was a mountain of a man, a real Russian bear. He wasn’t standing, however, which gave me a rather unfair advantage over him. I didn’t mind.
“You see, Dimitri, I know a language that we both speak. Pain.” I leaned forward as I spoke, bringing my face down to his level.
He spat in my face and laughed.
“Oh, that’s it, you motherfucker.” I punched him right in the mouth.
He just smiled and spit out the blood. I almost didn’t hear it spatter on the floor over the sound of another punch landing square in his gut. He lurched forward in the chair, pulling on the rope tied across his chest.
I unleashed my rage on his punching bag body and face, burying my fists into him. He took everything I dished out and kept the bloody smile on his face. When I stopped and stepped back to catch my breath, he laughed at me and said something in Russian.
“Shut the fuck up,” I shouted, sending another fist into his face. I punched the smiles and laughter right out of him then. His head slumped forward, and blood dripped from his face. His chest heaved with his heavy, beaten breath.
I couldn’t stop myself. I took off my thick leather belt and wrapped the ends around my hands.
“You want to talk shit when Dr. Danvers is in here, huh? Let’s hear you talk shit now.” I stepped around behind him and pulled his head back with my belt around his throat.
He gasped and looked up at me with his bruised and bloody face.
“Talk shit, Dimitri. I can’t hear you.”
I pulled harder. I pressed the belt more against his chin than his neck. I didn’t want to choke him out. I just wanted to hurt him. He wheezed, and I saw his hands frantically gripping and releasing the arms of his chair.
“You’re being awfully quiet. Did you run out of shit to say, you dumb bastard?”
“Gage!”
I let go of the Russian’s neck and looked over at the voice calling me from the door. It was Juarez. He entered the room when I acknowledged him. Chase followed, of course. Those two were like the tag team champions from hell.
I took a step back from Dimitri and eyed my boys as they walked across the room in front of me.
“Why are you down here doing the dirty work?” Chase asked, and started laughing.
“Seriously, Gage, we can take care of this for you,” Juarez added.
Dimitri looked up at me with panic in his eyes.
“Oh, you don’t like it when I let the boys play, huh?” I mocked him.
“I don’t think he does,” Chase answered.
“That’s good to know.” I stepped around in front of Dimitri, placing myself between Chase and Juarez.
His eyes followed me. He seemed to be pleading with me not to let them have him.
“Danvers,” he said. He started repeating her name.
“I’m sorry, Dimitri, but you fucked that one up. You ran her off with your little stories. You really have no place talking about shit you didn’t even witness. So now, you’re left with just us, but don’t worry. My guys will take good care of you.” I spoke slowly, though I was certain it didn’t help him understand a thing I said. That condescending tone just felt so good.
I stepped back behind my boys so I could watch them work their magic on him.
“Have at him, guys,” I told them.
“Ladies first,” Juarez said, holding a hand out to allow Chase the first punch.
“Oh, real funny, but you’ve always liked my leftovers, so here you go.” He threw a punch into Dimitri’s gut.
It was like watching two kids on the playground. They talked trash to each other while they worked him over with their fists.
“Don’t kill him,” I told them. It wasn’t time to let him go just yet. I wanted him to hurt for taking Julia from me. I wanted him to pay for sticking his nose into my business and stirring up old dust from the past.
“That’s no fun anyway,” Juarez said as he shoved a fist into Dimitri’s shoulder. His voice sounded strained, as if he had lifted something heavy and held it while he talked. Dimitri winced in pain, and I was sure Juarez had just broken something.
“Right. It’s more fun to keep him alive. More torture.” Chase landed one right across Dimitri’s jaw, sending spit and blood all over his partner.
“You son of a bitch. Look at what the hell you just did,” Juarez cursed Dimitri for spitting on him. He grabbed the Russian by the back of the head and forced him to look at the blood on his t-shirt before ramming a fist into his face.
“Guys, take a break,” I urged them.
“Huh?” They both looked at me. They stood like boxers with their hands up in front of their faces as if they were waiting on the next move from their opponent, but he wasn’t going to be throwing any punches any time soon.
“Back up a second. I want to watch him,” I said.
They backed away like they were told, and Dimitri’s head fell forward again. His breathing sounded wet and phlegmy, but that was probably from the blood covering his face. It dripped on his jeans and his shirt, but at least he was still breathing.
“Let’s let him catch his breath.” I held my hands up to hold the guys back.
“Come on, Gage, don’t go soft,” Chase insisted.
“He’s still got a few more rounds left in him,” Juarez added.
“No, I think he’s had enough for now,” I argued.
The boys put their fists down.
“You know what would be fun?” Chase asked as he turned away from the Russian.
“Oh, man, I’m thinking the same thing you are. Gage, let’s untie him so he can fight back. We’ve got a pretty good head start on the guy, so I doubt he’d be able to catch up,” Juarez blabbed excitedly.
“You can even join us.” Chase clapped a hand onto my shoulder.
I looked at the worn down Russian in front of us. Those boys hadn’t seen him in action. They thought they were hurting him, but I would have put money on there being a smile on his face while he looked down and away from us. Guys like Dimitri fed on violence and pain.
“You two must be stupid,” I said flatly.
They snapped their faces toward me in disbelief
.
“If we let him go, that motherfucker will stand up and show you what strength really is,” I continued.
“No way,” Chase dismissed me.
“Look at him! He’s down,” Juarez insisted.
“No, he’s just waiting. He wants you to let him go so you can keep beating him. As soon as you do, though, he’ll whoop both your asses. You don’t know him the way I do. You’ve never seen him in action,” I explained.
“Well, you’re the boss,” Chase eventually said.
Dimitri looked up when he realized we were done. Sure enough, he wore a perverse smile across his face. He was enjoying the punishment the guys were dishing out. That bloody smile and those evil eyes staring up at me just pissed me off that much more.
“Fuck it. Finish him,” I said. I turned around as the guys went back to him with smiles on their faces. I could hear him protesting as their fists began meeting their target again. The fleshy smacks of fists in his gut and across his face gave way to the deep, hard thuds of their fists connecting with bone.
Dimitri cried out in Russian as they punished the bear’s body. They weren’t talking this time. They were focused on turning the solid Russian muscleman into putty. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the honest pain in his face. I couldn’t help it when my lips curled up into a smile. It felt good to see him get what he deserved.
“Danvers,” he called out again. He repeated her name in his pathetically weakened voice. I turned to watch him.
“Shut up,” Chase said, punching him in his mouth.
“Danvers,” he insisted with his eyes trained on me. There was no fight in his eyes, no false panic, and certainly no more cocky defiance.
“Guys, whoa. Hold on.” I stepped up and put hands on their arms, holding them back.
“Danvers.” Dimitri closed his eyes and slumped over in the chair.
“Is he…?” Juarez asked.
“No, but you’ve done a number on him,” I told them. I watched him breathe while we talked just to make sure he wasn’t going to try to check out on us.
“He wants your girl,” Chase told me.
“I see that, but there’s just one problem,” I told him.
“What’s that?”
“He ran her off, talking shit.”
“Oh, man, I think we need to find her and get her back down here,” Juarez said.
“Yeah, it sounds like he wants to talk to her,” Chase added.
“Danvers.” Dimitri’s voice was weak.
I put a hand on the Russian’s shoulder, and he opened his eyes to look at me. I nodded, letting him know we were going to get her for him. I just didn’t know where the hell she was.
“Alright guys, we need to find Julia and get her back here to let Dimitri talk,” I told them.
Chapter 19
“You guys stay here. Make sure no one else comes in to see Dimitri. If Julia shows back up, call me. I’ve got my cell phone on me,” I told the guys at the steel door to the interrogation room in the basement.
“What are you going to do?” Juarez asked.
“I’m going to track her down,” I told him.
“By yourself?” Chase chimed in.
“Yes, guys, I’m tracking her down by myself. I certainly don’t expect either of you to know her well enough to know how to find her. I know the places where she might have gone. Now, stay here and keep an eye on your boy back there.” I turned and left.
I didn’t want them to know how worried I was. Nothing was supposed to get under my skin, least of all a girl. They had already seen too much, anyway, after they walked in on me as I took out my frustrations on Dimitri. They could only have assumed it was because Julia had left.
The fact was my reaction had as much to do with Julia as it did with Lisa. What happened with Lisa had been my fault. I had allowed my emotions to cloud my judgment. I learned my lesson with her. I had to keep my personal life separate from what I did for the MC. I had no business letting my old lady get mixed up in the business side of things.
My guilt over what happened to Lisa became a reluctance to find Julia. I hopped on the back of my bike and gunned the engine, but I didn’t drive off right away. I sat at the curb and listened to the engine as it purred beneath me. I contemplated killing the engine and going back inside. If I brought Julia back here, I risked putting her in the same position Lisa had been put in when I lost her. I didn’t want to lose Julia the same way.
“Then, don’t,” I told myself as I walked the bike back from the curb.
When I pulled up in front of Julia’s apartment building, I wasn’t sure of what I was going to say, or if she was even home for that matter. I walked up to the door and buzzed her from the intercom downstairs. I was surprised when she let me in.
That didn’t mean she was completely comfortable talking to me yet. She cracked her apartment door, and I could see the chain pulled tight. I wanted to tell her that it wouldn’t have helped. Anyone could still enter her apartment, even with that chain in place. I decided to use a little more tact and work my way in.
“Why are you here?” she asked flatly from the other side of the door. “I thought I made myself clear earlier. I don’t want any part in what you’re doing.”
“Listen, Julia, I really need your help.” I leaned into the door and added in a low tone, “If you come back, I will pay you today. He’s ready to talk.”
She closed the door, pushing me back from it, and I could hear her sliding the chain across to release it. A moment later the door opened and Julia stood there, ushering me in. She’d switched out of her jeans and tank top and into a pair of slacks with a long-sleeved blouse.
“Are you heading up to the university?” I asked her.
“Yeah, I’ve got to account for where I’ve been the last few days,” she said. “See, I’m accountable, Gage. When I tell someone I’m going to do something, I have to show them that I’m doing it or that I’ve done it. I can’t say that I’m going to do research and then go sit on the beach somewhere or torture someone in my basement.”
“I’m sorry. I should have been more up front with you about what was going on.” I followed her into her bedroom as she continued to get dressed. As sexy as she was in jeans and a loose tank top, I couldn’t deny how great her ass looked in slacks. What was wrong with me? Here I was, trying to convince her to come back with me to HQ, and all I could think about was ripping her clothes off and manhandling her on the bed. I didn’t want to listen to her scolding me. I wanted to listen to her crying out in ecstasy.
“Damn right you should have been more honest.” She turned around and started walking towards me from her dresser with a hairbrush in her hand.
I took a step back. I knew if I let her get too close, this would be just another thing that was never resolved because we fucked instead of taking the time to talk.
“And another thing,” she continued. “Wait, did you say you think he’s ready to talk?” Her ears perked up.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“How do you know? Surely, he didn’t tell you. Or, if he did, you wouldn’t have understood it anyway.” She walked back to the mirror above her dresser and brushed her hair.
“He started asking for you while we were talking to him,” I admitted.
“You mean while you were torturing him,” she stated for clarification.
“Well, I wouldn’t call it torture. Torture implies we did something creative. Juarez and Chase just beat the shit out of him until he started asking for you,” I said matter-of-factly. There was no reason to lie or hide it anymore. Hiding what was really going on would just ensure that Julia took the same path Lisa had taken.
“Dammit, Gage,” Julia said, shaking her head, “you can’t keep torturing this guy.”
“What’s he going to do? Is he going to go tell the cops?” I laughed. “Or is he going to tell Ivan? All that would do is bring Ivan to us instead of us having to look for him.”
“How do you know I didn’t tell the police?”
she asked me frankly.
“You wouldn’t.” I checked to see how far I was from the front door or the nearest window. It wouldn’t have been the first time I had to escape the law at a moment’s notice. I hadn’t even considered that Julia would have gone to the cops with her story.
