Running his tongue over his teeth, Brian checked to make sure they were all still there. His head was still ringing with the force of the blow from hitting the ground. He gripped tightly to that strength that he’d found in the trunk of the car and used it to hold in the scream that was burning in his throat. He would not break for them. He refused to do it!
A pair of hands roughly grabbed him and yanked him and the chair he was tied to back upright. “There’s something wrong with this one.” One of the thugs said to someone over Brian’s shoulder. “He’s not quite right in the head. He’s not saying a word, not even screaming or crying. I think he’s loco.”
Someone snapped something out in rapid fire Spanish that Brian didn’t understand. He didn’t care, either. None of this was important. They hadn’t hurt him that badly. A quick inventory of his aches showed him that he was right. It wasn’t that bad. He’d had worse. Hell, he and AJ had done worse to each other when they’d fought! He could handle this. He could. AJ would be here soon. How long had it been since they’d put him in this chair and tied him down? An hour? Two? He didn’t know. But AJ would come for him.
That thought repeated over and over in his mind. Even when he heard footsteps behind him he still held that thought close. AJ would come. He was coming. Just a little longer, that was all. He could wait a little longer.
But his blood ran cold when a man stepped around him and into his line of sight. He wasn’t dressed like the others were. No, he had on what Brian knew had to be a designer suit. Very mob like he thought to himself. Who did this guy fancy himself? The Godfather? That little bit of humor was helping Brian keep himself under control. He could always count on humor to relieve his own tension and stress, even if it was humor inside of his head.
The man in the fancy suit smiled down at Brian. There was something in that smile that made Brian want to shiver. To turn and run as far and as fast as he could.
“My employees here, they think you are not right in your head.” The man had a smooth Spanish accent. His English wasn’t as broken as the other men’s. More, cultured. “Now, me, I think you are more than you seem, si?”
Brian said not a word, just licking his lips to ease their dryness. His eyes stayed fixed on this man that he knew was the most dangerous of them all. Something about his look must have pleased the guy because suddenly he was grinning even more.
“Oh, but where are my manners. Mi llamo es Alarico. It is an old family name that means noble, regal ruler. Appropriate, no? And you are Brian. Now we have been formally introduced.”
Still Brian didn’t speak. There was nothing to be said here. The guy was playing some game and until he knew the rules, Brian wasn’t going to do a thing.
This seemed to amuse Alarico. He made a small gesture with his hand and suddenly Brian saw a fist come flying from one of the goons by his side only seconds before it landed in his gut. He bent double, wheezing as he tried to suck air back in. God, God! It took him a few minutes to bring himself back under control, though he still couldn’t sit up straight.
Alarico smiled down at him. “Now, I think you have plenty to say. But I think you’re holding on to foolish hope. You still think your lover is going to come for you.” That smile grew sharper. “It has been four hours since you arrived. Don’t you think that if he was coming he would have been here by now?”
He was just baiting him. Brian had to remind himself of that. Alarico was just baiting him. They wanted to get him to talk and to break the damn on his emotions.
Another gesture, and then Brian was hit in the side of the face. It would have sent him and his chair flying again if it wasn’t for the guy standing on the other side of him catching him. He felt his eyes slide closed and his face tighten in an effort to hold in the cry that was begging to be set free. God damn it, that hurt! The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth.
Once he was righted again, Alarico took a fist full of his hair and forced his head back so that they were eye to eye. Maybe he meant the gesture to be even more threatening, but Brian wasn’t bothered by it at all. He let his mind fill with images of the times that AJ had done this, and with a tighter grip too. So the guy wanted to pull hair? Who cared about that? Those thoughts kept him going.
“I think you know things and that might be why you’re quiet. But it would be smart to tell me what I want to know.” Alarico bent lower, bringing their faces closer together. “Now tell me, where is your lover?”
Wait…what? Brian blinked a few times, not quite understanding. Where was AJ? His pain fogged brain slowly made the connection. They had taken him to draw AJ here, but apparently they felt that he wasn’t coming since he hadn’t already arrived. So, they were trying to find him. But if they were asking Brian where he was, that meant they must have already started to look for him. This meant that he wasn’t at home, for one.
So that’s why they’d been going at this beating him business. It wasn’t so much for trying to break AJ anymore. It was to break him so he’d help them find AJ. Interesting.
“Where is he?” Alarico broke control then, shouting the words at him and jerking his head.
Using his power in that moment, Brian licked the blood off his lips before letting his face stretch into a smile. “Fuck you.” He said the two words in a strong, clear voice and had the satisfaction of watching Alarico’s eyes widen with surprise, then go tight with annoyance.
He let go of Brian’s hair and stepped back, raising his hand to make that same gesture as before. Brian let him get his hand part of the way up before deciding to start toying with him. “You won’t find him.” He announced calmly.
Everything around him seemed to freeze. Alarico’s hand froze for just a moment before dropping back to his side. “Do you think so, maricón?”
Just to piss him off, Brian let his grin turn cocky as he had seen AJ do a million times. “More a matter of knowing so.”
“We will find him, make no mistake on that.” Alarico seethed. His eyes looked furious. “The cobarde cannot hide from us for long. With or without your help, we will find him. But if you help us, I promise that I will take it easy on you in the end.”
Chuckling, Brian relaxed his posture as best he could, trying his hardest to ignore the aches in his body that flared to life at movement. “Easy on me, huh? I take it that means a quick, painless death.” He tipped his head to the side and pretended to think about it. “Hm, let me see. Betray the person I love and let you kill me quickly and painlessly.” He looked at them and shook his head. “Why on earth would I do that? I’d miss out on all the fun.”
“Fun?” Alarico asked him with honest surprise.
Oh, Brian knew he was going to pay for this, but he couldn’t stop himself. He’d sat here for hours and taken their pain. Taken every bit of it. Well, he was done cowering. He would take the strength and courage that he’d found in himself, that AJ had helped him find so long ago, and he would show them he wasn’t so easily beaten.
“Yeah, you know, fun. A good time.” Smirking, he winked at them. “I’m going to enjoy watching what happens to all of you when he gets here.”
The humor and confidence that Brian was showing seemed to have stunned them all. Alarico was the first to gain back his composure. “He is one and we are many. He won’t stand a chance. But maybe I will keep him alive at first and bring him before you so that you two can see what the other is reduced to.”
Unable to help himself, Brian threw his head back and laughed. “You’re fools, all of you.” He told them cheerfully. You think you’ll catch him? You’ll never even see him coming unless he wants you to. You have no idea what you’re up against. You’re idiots, each and every one of you.”
Alarico made that gesture and Brian found fists hitting him from all sides. “I think you are all bravado.” Alarico said as the beating went on. “If he loved you like you think, he would have saved you. Yet here you sit.”
When it finally stopped he was gasping, bent double again. There would be new bruises, and there was fresh blood. But after a moment of gasping he got himself under control enough to at least lift his head and grin. He could feel the blood running from his nose, dripping down his face. “You have no idea about him.” He said, and was proud that his voice was firm. “He loves me, and you took me away from him. God have mercy on your soul when he finds you.”
“You have this much stupidity to think that he will come for you?”
“He loves me.” To Brian, that said it all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From where he sat in the rafters, AJ had to admire Brian’s courage even as he cursed his stupidity. The idiot! Didn’t he realize that he was encouraging them? They would hurt him so much worse for his calmness and his spirit. Yet, at the same time, AJ knew he would have been the same way. He would have refused to break before them.
The sight of the bruises and blood on Brian had him almost losing his control, though. There was a huge bruise on one of Brian’s temples that seemed to spread down to his eye and the top of his cheek. His nose was bleeding profusely, leaving a trail down over his mouth and chin to drip on the floor. A part of his blond hair was matted down with dried blood.
AJ looked over to the shadows to his right, checking to make sure that Rex was in place. This part of the plan was a little looser than AJ would have liked but it was the best that they had been able to come up with.
After questioning Jeff for almost an hour, AJ had found out the information that he needed. From there it had been a matter of getting a few items and planning how they would get in here and what they would do when they arrived. Plus, stopping off somewhere to get Rex as armed as possible, and a few extras for AJ.
He didn’t have time to think about any of that, though. He needed to focus. Alarico was saying something else and then Brian was laughing again. Laughing! That sound eased some of AJ’s tension. Brian had to be somewhat ok if he could still laugh.
Scanning the room, AJ chose the few targets that he wanted and tried to think where he wanted to take his shots. There were at least twelve people in the room, Alarico included. He wouldn’t be able to take them all out, but he could take out some.He had come to terms with the fact that people would be hurt here, whether he wanted it to happen or not. Better that it happened on his terms and not theirs.
He steadied his nerves first, then gave Rex the signal, gesturing to the ones that he’d already claimed. With one final, calming breath, AJ locked away his emotions and emptied his mind. Then he threw four of his throwing knives, quick as can be, one right after the other. Even as he did that, Rex threw his. Each one hit their target.
Eight men dropped to the ground, knives sticking from their thighs. It wouldn’t stop them, but it sure would slow them down.
While they still had the element of surprise with them, AJ gave Rex one last look. Then he turned and dropped down to the ground just to the side of Alarico. Before he even hit the ground he had his gun out. When he had his feet underneath him it was pointed at Alarico and cocked.
Guns came out all over the room. AJ just grinned at Alarico. “Tell them to drop them, or I guarantee, this bullet will enter your brain. They may be fast, but they aren’t that fast.”
“You’d be dead before I hit the floor.”
“True.” AJ concurred. “Or, at least it would be, if I was alone. But I never said I came alone. Now, tell them.”
There was a moment of charged silence before Alarico called out “Drop your weapons. Now.”
All around the room came the sound of weapons hitting the ground. AJ grinned at them all. “All of you, against the wall over there. The one without the windows. Have a seat. This could take a while.”
They looked to Alarico, who nodded. “Do what he says.” He said tightly.
Once everyone was out of the way, AJ kept his gun trained dead center on Alarico’s forehead and walked over to where Brian sat. He pulled a knife out of his sleeve and, never looking away from his target, cut away the rope binding Brian’s wrists. He gave the knife to him, letting him cut his own ankles.
Free again, Brian stood and stretched out the sore spots on his body. One arm came to automatically wrap around his waist while he brought the other up and wiped some of the blood from his mouth. Then he turned a glare to AJ. “You’re late.”