I shook my head. I had a feeling Talia wouldn’t be happy with me smoking.
He shrugged. “Your loss. You’re allowed to enjoy yourself, by the way. I’m not going to fault you for it, as long as you keep this energy for my daughter’s enemies and not her.”
“I would never hit Talia,” I said vehemently.
“I believe you.” Nico pointed to the lower half of the traitor’s body. “Keep going on him. Land a few good blows to the legs. Maybe a kneecap, if he doesn’t start fucking talking.”
“Got it.”
I followed instructions, letting out every bit of my anger on the man in front of me. The world was unjust and unfair. It had dealt my sister and my mate shit hands, and I couldn’t fix that, but I could fix this.
He would talk.
By the time I surfaced from my rage again, he was pleading for me to stop. I smirked at him, pressing my brass knuckles against his broken ribs. “Knew you’d open up eventually.”
“You goddamn bastards.” He groaned, trying to curl in on himself. “He paid me, OK? Benji paid me two and a half years ago to get a job here. I’ve always hated you Alfieri assholes anyway, so it was a good gig.”
Fuck. I’d assumed Benjamin had bribed a guard to turn traitor recently. If this guy had come in here already bought and paid for by the man, Emilia would have to go back way further on those background checks.
“Why do you hate the Alfieris?” I asked.
“Elitist designation assholes.” He spat blood at my feet, glaring daggers at me.
Anti-designation sentiments weren’t that common in Banfield—except inside the O’Connor family. They were well known for hating alphas and omegas. Their influence had spilled over to certain parts of Medley Island.
“Benji O’Connor is an alpha too. Why isn’t he an elitist asshole?”
“He’s helping the beta population come out from under the thumb of alphas.”
I snorted a laugh.
I shouldn’t be surprised Benjamin had conned this man—he’d conned Talia for years. I’d never met him, but I imagined he was slick and unshakeable when he was wearing his mask.
That’s all it was, though. A con. I guaranteed Benjamin didn’t give a shit about betas. The bastard only cared about himself, and he was probably furious his family wasn’t at the top of the O’Connor ladder.
Stepping back from the captive, I slipped off the brass knuckles and shook out my hands. They were sore as fuck and covered in his blood, but I’d be fine with a few hours and a long, hot shower.
“You’ll know better what specifics to ask about,” I nodded to Nico and his guards. “I’ve asked what I wanted to know.”
Nico’s guards took over. They asked the tactical questions like how he was communicating with Benjamin, what information he’d been given, and if there were other rats running around the Alfieri Estate that he knew about.
He was very forthcoming, after the convincing I’d done.
Even told us he suspected someone else was giving out information to the O’Connors besides him, meaning the Alfieris didn’t just have a single rat.
They had a rat problem, and they’d need to start setting out poison.
Nico flew into a rage, tossing the metal chairs around the room and creating a symphony of screeching and crashing. I wanted to throw things right along with him, but I’d gotten out enough frustration during the beating that I managed to restrain myself.
When he was done, sweat-drenched and panting, he went back to his cigar and took a long drag. “Don’t tell my daughter about the tantrum I just threw.”
“‘Course not.”
I’d be telling my packmates, just so they knew how volatile he was. We had to be really goddamn cautious around that guy. But Talia? No, she knew the loving, affectionate side of her father. She didn’t need to know how he acted when he was on the job.
Same as how she didn’t need to know I’d laughed while torturing someone.
“Need any more help with this?” I asked.
