“Those cops are friends. I take care of them, and they take care of me. I do not have to explain my actions to you, or that most of the men upstairs owe me.” He turned toward the men.
They were currently passed out.
Roman had decided to start with their nails. He found the utmost pain talked volumes. In most situations, a little pain, and men were blabbering all kinds of secrets. It was kind of embarrassing for them, but that was the way of their world.
Liam stepped forward, and he tilted their heads back.
“What are you doing?” Roman asked. He was used to working alone.
“They have the mark,” Liam said and stepped back.
“What mark?”
Roman had been too pissed to get too close without beating the crap out of them. All he wanted to do was cut them up. He rather liked using his knives, and these men had thought to attack his wife. Even though he didn’t particularly like Alex, she was still his wife. Under his protection, and if anything happened to her, it would be on him.
He would be a laughingstock of the Greco family.
She had to be protected at all costs, even if he didn’t agree that she was part of their world. She was his wife.
“The Smirnov mark,” Liam said.
This made Roman step forward and lift the man’s head. Sure enough, at the base of his neck was the mark. It was a coiled snake, the fangs dripping blood.
Roman hadn’t seen that in many years. “Why are they after Alex?” Roman asked.
“Let’s find out.” Liam lifted the bucket of water, which was also mingled with piss. He had found another of Liam’s men pissing in the bucket and said the boss liked it.
Roman didn’t bother asking questions. This is one of the many reasons why he preferred to work alone or with his own men.
Antonio, Marlo, and Cash all knew the score. They knew how he worked. They were his best friends, and the only men he trusted, other than his father.
He certainly didn’t trust Liam, his father-in-law. Just thinking of him like that was enough to wrinkle his nose.
The piss and water were used on the men, and they woke up with a gasp.
Now, Liam’s method of torture was legendary, or at least the rumors surrounding him were. Men would rather kill themselves than face Liam’s wrath.
Roman watched as Liam pulled out a knife from his jacket pocket. He unsheathed the blade. It was small.
“Why were you following my daughter?” Liam asked. He stood with his legs wide, almost straddling the man on the left. Roman watched as he suddenly jabbed the man in the chest.
A gasp, and Liam repeated the question. The man on the right just watched. With each question and jab, the man looked even more terrified.
Roman saw Liam work, and when he wasn’t stabbing the man’s chest, he hit his stomach, and then his thighs.
How the man was still breathing, Roman didn’t know, but his skill was … sharp, it was perfectly aimed. The man was still alive, even as Liam stepped away, and Roman saw all the blood covering the man’s body. He was going to die slowly and painfully. The blood was already soaking the floor.
“Why were you following my daughter?” Liam held the knife, about to jab the man’s chest, but he screamed. “Our orders were to take her!”
Liam held himself tight, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. “To take her?”
“Yes, Alex Smith is an important pawn in this game. They wanted us to take her.”
“Who is they?” Roman asked, stepping forward.
The man looked from Liam to him, then back again. “I don’t know. I just know that once you get this mark, you have to do as they tell you. Our orders were to watch her, and when the opportunity presented, we were to take her.”
“You work for the Smirnov?” Liam asked.