DANTE'S POV
I caught him. It wasn't easy and I ended up hurting the bullet wound on my shoulder even more but I got him and that's all that matters. I was also right when I suspected he was setting a trap for me. He knew I killed those two men and he knew I was tracking his number but the fool underestimated me.
He thought he could take me out all by himself and I'm not going to lie, he put up a good fight, but there's something I have that he lacks. I have pain, I have determination, I have the drive. I'm angrier than he is and I'm going to do everything I can to get what I need out of him and go back home to Adeline.
I walk up to the man I have tied up to a chair, my shoulder bleeding slightly from him punching and digging his fingers into my bullet wound. He looks like he's in his late twenty's, not so much older than I am and I wonder if he has a sister or a girlfriend, for him to help the kind of people he does.
"You're making a mistake. This little charade that you have going on will end soon. My bosses will find you and they'll kill you and everyone you love." The man says, looking up at me with angry eyes and my lips twitch in anger at his loquacious attitude. He hasn't been able to shut his damn mouth since I brought him here, screaming profanities at me.
It's as if he isn't able to believe that he was bested by me. When I barged into his apartment, he said he was waiting for me and boasting about how he would receive a very generous reward once he delivered my head to his bosses.
"The dead body of the man who's been killing our men and clients will get me a very big reward." That's what he said as he sat confidently, watching me with a gun in his hand.
I guess he didn't want to ask for any help because he wanted to get the reward for killing me all for himself. Big fucking mistake because now I have him trapped and I'm not letting him go until I get what I came here for.
"You have a pretty big mouth for someone in your situation." I say pulling a chair right in front of him. I take a seat and take off my shirt. I stare at him straight in the eye as I clean my wound and change its dressing. I'll have to find a way to hide this from Addie because what am I supposed to tell her when she asks me why I have a nasty wound on my shoulder?
There's a hint of fear in his eyes that he's pathetically trying to hide. He knows he's going to die today and there's nothing he'll be able to do about it.
"Let me elucidate your situation for you." I lean forwards and place my elbows on my knees. "You're going to tell me everything I need to know about the people you work for and I'll make this all less painful for you. Or we can do this hard way and that entails me torturing you to get what I want. And trust me…."
I glare straight into his eyes. "You do not want to do this the hard way with me."
"You're out of your mind if you think I'm telling you anything." He bars out and I smirk. Apparently, he's still too confident for his own good. Maybe if I break a few bones, cut off some skin. Maybe then he'll realize how fucking serious I am.
Tilting my neck from side to side, I raise myself from my seat and tower over the man. "Wrong answer."
I grab his cheeks and raise his head up so he's facing me, and then I start punching him repeatedly and aggressively straight in his face. It takes me a whole lot of self-restraint to stop myself because I don't want to kill the guy before I even get hm to say a word.
"What the fuck?" He screams out in pain and spits out blood. "What the fuck is wrong with you man?" He looks up to me with wide eyes, his face already bloody and wounded from my punches.
I laugh as I start circling him. "Just tell me what I need to know and I'll hold back on redecorating your face."
"I can't tell you anything! Just kill me and get this over with." He says.
"Now where's the fun in that?" I take out my dagger and smirk when I think of the next painful thing I can do to him. I play with my dagger as I continue circling him.
"You know how many nerve endings surround the skin and tissues on the nail? The fingertips have a higher concentration of nerve endings compared to other parts of the body. The pain in hurting a finger nail is phenomenal." I state and come to a stop in front of him.
"Did you bring me here to give me a biology lesson?" I lick my teeth and punch him straight in the stomach to shut him up and the intensity of the punch makes him cough up some more blood. If I don't control myself, I'm really going to kill him just by beating him up.
"Let's put that biology lesson to the test." I say and stoop in front of him. His nostrils flare in anger as he watches me. When I grab one of his fingers, his eyes widen in realization at what I'm about to do.
"Stop. No…wait wait wait!" He pleads desperately when I sink the dagger so deep into his flesh that blood starts oozing out easily.
"I'm waiting." I say, blinking once at him with a frown on my face. "Got anything to say?" I ask.
When he stays silent, something cracks inside me. I don't know if it's anger but I suddenly feel even less remorse for him. I want him to hurt so much.
"Fine then." I say and sink my dagger deep int the first nail. His screams of agony are music to my ears and I want more. I want more of his tears, more of his suffering.
"You don't understand man." He says crying pathetically. "I can't tell you anything. This is bigger than you think it is. Even if I told you, you won't be able to take them down anyways. They'll crush you before you even get too close. Abandon this while you can man…" He says, his voice sounding weaker and weaker with every word. He's weaker than I thought.
"I've come this far haven't I?" I say and start going in with my dagger to hurt another finger. He trembles and shakes so much his chair almost falls over. His fidgeting annoys me so I stick my dagger into his thigh. He lets out a haunting wail. Screaming as he stares directly into my eyes.
"There's a list." He says as he tries to catch his breath. "A list of investors…" He says trailing off as his body attempts to pass out.
"Go on…" I say grabbing his cheeks and slapping him straight across the face to keep him awake.
"We have a lot of investors and they all go by code names. They'll be difficult to find but our most regular investor goes by the code name "Predator". That's all I can tell you." He says and starts trembling aggressively as his body goes into shock.
What the actual hell?
I stand up and watch him suffer, coughing off blood and shaking like a worm. I savor his suffering for a few seconds before taking out my gun and putting him out of his misery.
I shoot him straight in the head, once. And then I frown and shoot him multiple times all over his body. I did my research and he has no wife, basically no family. No one will miss his pathetic ass.
Now I have one more lead but he didn't give me enough information to get me started. All I was able to get from him was his phone.
I have to find this investor who goes by the code name 'Predator' and I have to do it fast.