“No, he was. I know he was.”
Interesting—he didn’t frown or give off any body language that he was confused by what I said. I glanced up at Axe who remained behind Brant and jerked my c
hin to indicate the show was his for now. Axe knew how to hurt people without killing them. I struggled with that, so this part of the interrogation was his.
Axe wrapped an arm around Brant’s neck and squeezed hard. When Brant panicked and attempted to pull out of my brother’s grip, Axe said, “Easy there. You keep thrashing about like you are and you’ll likely end up choked to death.”
Brant’s face reddened as he tried to suck in some breaths. He stopped fighting Axe and nodded his agreement.
“Good,” Axe said. “Now, I’m going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to give me straight answers. If you don’t, this is going to get a whole lot uglier for you. Got it?”
Brant forced air out of his nostrils and nodded. He looked like he was about to shit his pants, and I had to wonder why Romano had used him for this dirty work. If he’d sent Brant to us, I suspected he’d chosen the wrong man, because Axe was about to break him and then, if needed, I’d finish the job off.
Keeping his arm firmly around Brant’s neck, Axe continued, “We know for a fact that Romano wasn’t raided by the cops. Why did you lie to us?”
Brant shook his head, and Axe eased his grip just enough for the asshole to splutter out his words. “I didn’t lie! That’s what Tony told me! I swear—”
Axe clenched his jaw as he squeezed Brant’s neck again. “Bullshit.” When Brant shook his head again and tried to claw Axe’s arm from his throat, Axe tightened his hold even more and yanked him up out of the seat. Dragging him back towards the wall behind them, he growled, “Shit’s about to get real messy for you, Brant. Start fucking telling the truth.”
By the time Axe slammed him against the wall, Brant was fighting for breath. When Axe let him go, he raised his hands in a defensive manner and pleaded, “Stop! Ask me anything else. I’ll tell you whatever you want.”
Axe threw out his first question without hesitation. “Did Romano send you here to give us false information?”
“No.”
Axe slapped him. “I’ll ask that again. Did Romano send you here?”
Brant held his face where Axe had hit it. “No, he didn’t. I came by—”
Axe slapped him again. Harder. “Why did you come here then?” His questions were rapid fire, giving Brant little time to think in between.
“Because I wanted to check on Ivy. You’ve gotta believe—”
Again, Axe slapped him. “I don’t fucking believe you, Brant. Give me something I can buy into.”
Brant’s words came out fast, like he was tripping over them to get them out. “I was worried for her safety. I knew Tony would be going crazy looking for her, so I wanted to check that she was with you or that she was safe somewhere else. After Tony went into hiding—”
Axe gripped Brant’s shirt with both hands and pulled him forward before slamming him back against the wall. Moving fast, he punched him hard in the gut and demanded, “Who told you Tony went into hiding?”
Brant doubled over, holding his stomach and trying to draw breath. “Fuck, man—”
Jesus, it was taking every ounce of my self-control to hold myself back. I wanted to get in there and punch every last breath out of the motherfucker so that he’d just fucking give us what we wanted. Instead, I paced back and forth, giving my brother the space to drag the information from him.
But, fuck.
Axe didn’t allow Brant the opportunity to complain. He punched him again and roared, “Who the fuck told you Tony had been raided by the cops?”
Brant stumbled, almost falling to the ground. Doubled over, he yelled, “Tony did!”
Axe took hold of Brant’s chin and lifted his face. A moment later, his fist connected with the asshole’s cheek, knocking him to the ground. As Brant lay in agony, Axe crouched beside him. “Start from the beginning and tell us everything. I wanna know why you care so fucking much about Ivy’s whereabouts, and how you came to have that conversation with Romano about being raided.”
Brant stared at Axe with hatred while catching his breath.
Axe watched him in silence, waiting.
My brother’s patience fucking amazed me. It always had. Even when we were kids, he’d had this level of calm that I envied. I’d never had patience for much. My father had seen to that. He’d wired my brain to respond with anger and swift retribution whenever I felt fucked over.
Finally, Brant started talking. “Like I told you the other day, Ivy has been kind to me, so I care about her. I don’t want Tony to be able to hurt her ever again, so I’ve been helping her get ready for this attempt to leave. Tony called me the day she left, asking me to check on some stuff at work, and in that conversation, he told me he was laying low for a while because the cops had raided him. I swear to fucking God, that’s the truth.”