Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(70)

Brian had admitted he didn’t know the name of the man who’d hired him and his friends, but he’d described him down to the mole on the side of his neck. Of course, knowing the man had brown hair, brown eyes, was “middle age,” and had a beer belly wasn’t exactly the kind of information that would help to find him.

“I’m sick of this,” Gray said. “He’s not telling us anything useful.”

Black knew his teammate was trying to scare Brian, so he went along with it. “So what should I do?”

“Cut off his ear,” Ro said matter-of-factly.

“What? No! Don’t come near me!” Brian said in a high-pitched, panicked tone.

“Not his ear,” Arrow chimed in. “Take one of his thumbs.”

“Shit! No!” Brian cried as a large stain spread across his lap.

“Did you just piss your pants?” Ball asked.

“Look, I’m telling you what I know! I swear! The mole dude met with me a couple of times and told me to have my buds harass everyone who lived in the building.”

Black leaned over Brian, trying not to inhale too deeply, as the man seriously stank of fear, piss, and body odor. “Why?” Black asked in a low, harsh tone.

“He wants the building!” Brian shouted. “He gave me a couple hundred bucks and promised me and my friends free apartments when they were built. But he couldn’t start building the damn things until he owned the building.”

Black stood up and held out a hand to Ro. “Hand me your knife.”

“No!” Brian screeched. “I’m telling the truth!”

“We already know about the apartments,” Black told the quivering man. “You aren’t telling us anything we didn’t already know.”

“He owns them all!” Brian blurted desperately. “All but the shelter! He made some offers when he heard some other investors in the area were sending her unsolicited offers for the building, but the old broad hasn’t responded to any of them. He can’t get the permits to build and start making money off the state until he owns all the buildings on the block. He said something about doing something to make sure she’d have no choice but to sell, and sell to him.”

Now that was news to Black. As far as they knew, the buildings had all been bought by different companies. Not to mention whatever the mysterious contact was going to do, or had already done, to make Loretta sell.

He saw Gray slip out of the room, presumably to call Meat with the new information.

Black cracked his knuckles and stood up straight. “Now, how about we discuss your attitude toward the women and kids who live in the building?” Black asked.

“I was just doing what I was told to do,” Brian retorted. “Besides, they’re just chicks.”

“Just chicks?” Black asked. “And that means what?”

“Come on, you know. They flirt and act all coy and shit, then when it comes time to put out, they’re all like, ‘I said no.’”

Black didn’t like what he was hearing, or the fact that Brian seemed to have gotten a second wind and a bit of his courage back. “So you’re saying it’s okay to take what you think they’re offering even if they say no?”

“Well, yeah. They want it. They always do.”

Enough was enough. Black nodded at Ball and Ro, and they moved behind Brian and pulled his head up so he had no choice but to look at the man in front of him.

“What gives you the right to force a woman to have sex? I don’t care if she’s begging you to make love to her—the second she says no, you stop. Period,” Black said, despite knowing Brian wouldn’t change his thinking just because he told him to. “And what gives you the right to terrorize other people? I’ll tell you what—nothing. You think because you’re bigger and badder than them, you can do whatever you want? You think it’s fun to make someone cry? You like having people be scared of you?”

Black leaned in, placing his hands on Brian’s thighs and putting all his weight on them. Brian cried out in pain as pressure was put on the small cuts Black had made on his legs earlier, but Ro and Ball held him still as Black made his point.

“I’ve got news for you, Bear. There’s always someone bigger and badder. In your case, that’s me and my friends. You think we’re pretty boys who don’t know the rules of your world, but you’re wrong. We don’t need rules, because we can go anywhere and do anything we want. You’re nothing but a low-down piece of scum on the bottom of our shoes. So here’s a tip—we don’t see you again. If we do, this little interlude will seem like a day at the spa. And if you think I’m kidding, know that I could absolutely kill you right here, right now.”

Black moved his hand to Brian’s throat and squeezed. He watched as his face began to turn red and his eyes bugged out.

“No one would know where you went. No one would ever find your body. Your family would always wonder what happened. Your kid—yes, we know about your son—would never know what a scumbag his father was, which would probably be a gift for him. No one would miss you. If you want to continue breathing, you’ll find another place to hang out. You won’t meet with your contact anymore. You’ll forget the shelter exists. You hear me?”

Satisfied when Brian nodded as best he could with a hand around his throat, Black abruptly let him go. Brian gasped for air, and when Ball and Ro let go of his head, it immediately fell to his chest, as if it was too heavy for him to hold up any longer.