“You’ll kill…me if…I tell you.”
“I’m going to kill you anyway.” He leaned closer to Kir, rage infusing him as he looked at the man who’d held Dominique at gunpoint, dragged her away from where she’d felt safe. Where she should have been safe. Viktor had no idea what Kir had done to her either. That not knowing was making him insane. “If you tell me I’ll make your death quick. If you don’t…you know what I used to do to people who crossed me.”
The truth was, he’d never been into torture. Unlike his father. But he’d stoked the rumors of his nature years ago so people would be afraid to cross him. Clearly his reputation hadn’t been enough to keep Kir from turning on him. Viktor would have to remedy that soon.
When Kir didn’t respond, he continued. “See my man Lyosha over there? You know how good he is at finding people. He found you in less than an hour. He’s already drained all your bank accounts—even the one you thought you’d hidden from us. Now all his focus is on finding who hired you. He will find who it is, that I have no doubt. The only question is, will he find him first or will you tell me? Because once he finds what I need, my offer of mercy is gone. I’ll keep you alive for weeks. At least.” He leaned even closer so that his mouth almost brushed Kir’s ear. “I will cut you apart piece by piece. And then I will make you eat your own dick.”
“Found something,” Lyosha said
Eyes widening, Kir blurted, “Shane Hollis! He’s the one who’s been paying me! I took her…to one of his buildings downtown. The top four…floors are…” His breathing was labored and his words starting to slur. “Abandoned. He’s keeping her there…for now.” He rattled off an address before breaking into a fit of coughing.
Viktor shoved to his feet, looking to Lyosha for confirmation. His head of security shrugged and Viktor realized Lyosha hadn’t found anything. He’d just been trying to goad Kir into talking.
It was hard to believe Hollis was behind this. The trust-fund jackass was so weak, ineffective at business—and had a drug problem.
“Keep him alive for now,” Viktor said to Dima. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with Kir yet.
Dima nodded, giving Kir a look of pure disgust.
Viktor turned away, all thoughts of Kir’s betrayal taking a backseat to finding Dominique. Saving her was all that mattered.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He yanked it out, answered even though he didn’t recognize the number. This could be about Dominique. “Hello?”
“Click on video capability,” a distorted male voice said.
The fear inside him raked against his insides like savage, unforgiving talons. He motioned to his brother to keep Kir quiet as he quickly moved out of the kitchen. He stopped in the bare living room and swiped his thumb across the screen.
Dominique appeared, her face scrunched up. She was squinting. Her face was illuminated by a bright light. His throat seized in terror when he saw that she was cuffed to a chair, her arms and legs restrained.
Suddenly the light dimmed and a man wearing a hockey mask crouched next to her, his face right by hers as he fisted the long length of her hair and yanked her head back. The blade of a knife gleamed as he held it up in full view of the camera.
Crying out, she blinked, her eyes filling up with tears as she stared into the camera. He wanted to tell her everything would be okay, but he knew he’d break if he started down that road.
He had to keep his shit together for her, to get her out of this whole. “What do you want?” His voice was somehow calm.
“You took something that belonged to me. Now I have something that belongs to you.” The voice was muffled but not mechanical. It was difficult to tell if it was Hollis or not. Leaning closer to the camera, the man loosened his grip on her hair but didn’t let go completely as he moved forward.
“Tell me what you want and it’s yours.” He couldn’t even negotiate. Not with Dominique’s life in the balance. He’d give this monster whatever he wanted.
“You’re going to meet with me at a place of my choosing and sign over property to me. If you involve the cops she’s dead.”
He snorted in derision. “There will be no police.”
The masked man nodded once, setting the knife down. “You will also bring your brother. If you have any backup, however, she’s dead. If I even think you have backup, she’s fucking dead. And I’ll amuse myself with her before I kill her.” The man reached out and stroked Dominique’s cheek. “She’s got such a pretty mouth.”
A red haze blurred Viktor’s vision at the sight of this bastard touching her. “Where do you want me to go?” he bit out.