13. Chase

The pebbles crunched under the weight of the SUV as it made its way up the long driveway toward the chateau. Levi stirred in Chase's arms, disturbed by the sound. He inhaled sharply, then stretched out his lean body, blinking a few times as he adjusted to his surroundings.

"Oh shit, did I fall asleep?" the boy asked, sitting up straight and looking out his window.

When he spotted the mansion, his shoulders deflated.

"Damn. Sorry, I fell asleep on you. I was really looking forward to spending some time with you on the car ride home," Levi confessed, sounding sad and disappointed.

Chase pulled the sullen boy into his side.

"I loved having you sleep curled up against me. It was cute hearing you make all sorts of little noises that one should never make," he teased.

Levi gave him the stare of a thousand murders.

"I don't make any noises while I sleep. I lay motionless and soundless, often confusing people with my deathlike state."

Chase chuckled.

"Yes, babe. You were purring like a kitten, especially when I rubbed your little belly."

"Arg," Levi groaned, rolling his eyes and slapping Chase across the chest. Then he froze. "Hey, Pierre, why are you going around back? You can just let us out here by the front doors."

Pierre glanced at them both in his rearview mirror.

"Mr. M called and asked me to drop you both off by the back stables."

Chase felt Levi's body tense against him.

Something was wrong.

"You, okay?" Chase asked, wondering what had Levi suddenly on edge.

The boy shook his head. "Nothing."

It didn't feel like nothing. He watched as Levi scanned the area around the stables.

Levi was looking for something.

Once the car came to a stop, a large man emerged from the stables and walked toward their car. The sleeves of his white dress shirt had been rolled up past his elbows. Something about the way he walked told Chase that he was not a bartender and definitely not a dancer.

"Excuse me, Mr. Harwick, but could you please come with me?" the large fellow asked, gesturing toward the stables.

"What is this, ?zgur?" Levi asked, looking around as he waited for a response.

"Never you mind, little one. Mr. M said to bring him in, so that's what I'm doin'," the brutish man missing a chromosome mumbled, never taking his eyes off Chase.

"Sorry, bud, but I'm not going anywhere with you," Chase said, turning and heading back toward the mansion. He got the feeling that he had overstayed his welcome and he needed to leave. Fast.

Pain tore across the back of Chase's head, and he stumbled down on one knee. What the fuck?

"?zgur! What the fuck!" Levi shouted as Chase was grabbed by the arms and dragged toward the stables.

"Levi!" he heard Matteo's angry voice shout from somewhere above his head.

The next thing he knew, his hands were being tied above his head with metal chains, and an angry ?zgur stood tightening the locks.

"Matty! What the fuck is going on?" Levi shouted, looking very tiny, standing in front of the seething Italian who owned the kingdom they were standing in.

"Stay out of it, Levi, or I'll send you inside."

Levi immediately stopped shouting and stood there, arms crossed, in silent anger. If looks could kill, Matteo's brains would be splattered across the bales of hay behind him.

Hanging there, Chase wondered what had happened. Had they caught him on the security cameras last night? Was this a shakedown, and they were going to ask him for millions in fake cattle money?

All his years of training and experience had taught him that he needed to be patient. He had to wait for them to indicate why he was being held like a lamb about to be slaughtered. The last thing he wanted was to open his mouth and say the wrong thing, giving himself and his investigation away.

Pain flashed across his eyes as ?zgur blindsided him. Levi let out a yelp as he cringed in pain for Chase.

This wasn't the first time that some dumb knucklehead introduced his fists to Chase's face. He welcomed the pain. It brought back so many fond memories of working on the force—back when he actually trusted the people he worked for and believed that they were making a difference. Boy, had he been naive.

Chase shook off the pain and locked eyes with Matteo.

"Did I do somethin' wrong?" he asked, sounding a little more like an asshole than he intended, but hey, he had just been punched across the face. He was allowed to be short.

Matteo held up the USB drive Chase used to clone his laptop.

Damn it.

"Stealing private information?" Matteo asked.

He chuckled, spitting out a glob of blood, trying to buy himself some time to think of a logical excuse.

None came.

"It's where I store all my porn. Safer than saving it on my laptop. You never know what sort of virus you might catch if you're not too careful." It wasn't the greatest comeback, but it was the best he could do with all the throbbing going on in his head. Man, that ogre really can pack a punch!

"Don't waste my time," Matteo growled. "Why were you stealing from me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Chase tried again.

Another punch. This time, to the gut. Arg.

Matteo nodded to the jumper cables and gave ?zgur a slight nod. The bearish man picked up the cables and the tiny black box next to it. He began cranking the lever that stuck outside of the box until the button on top turned green.

Next, he applied petroleum jelly to Chase's calves and strapped two metal clamps around each leg.

"Last chance," Matteo warned.

Chase watched as the beast-man tapped the jumper cables together, and electricity sparked between them.

This was not going to be fun.

The police force had trained him to endure basic torture techniques and how to endure pain but given the unethical look in this German beast"s eyes, Chase doubted they were going to start off with a low voltage. He would probably only have one or two strikes before they stopped his heart and killed him. Was his mission really worth dying for?

Fuck it, life was short. He wanted to see what sort of balls these bitches had.

"You gonna sweet talk me all night? Or are you going to get to the fucking part already?" Chase baited.

Judging by the anger that flashed across Matteo's eyes, he really didn't appreciate the comment. The master of Sin Castle grabbed the cables from ?zgur and jammed them onto the metal clamps.

Voltage after voltage shot through Chase's body, feeling like the fires of hell were dancing on his skin.

Lights flashed before his eyes as his muscles began to convulse, and his body began to cook from within.

Chase cried out in pain, hating himself for not being able to endure more pain.

Matteo showed no mercy. He was pissed and demanded answers.

After what felt like an eternity times twelve, Matteo finally lifted the cables from the clamps with a pop and a final spark.

Panting, Chase saw nothing but spots and flashes of light before his eyes.

There was a foul odor in the air, a cross between burnt hair and week-old chicken.

"Why were you stealing from me?" Matteo growled before him.

Behind Matteo, Levi looked like he was going to be sick. He had his hands in front of his mouth and looked terrified.

He didn't want Levi to think he was a coward or a weakling. Someone like Levi deserved a strong man, someone who could protect him and make him feel safe and loved. He wasn't going to roll over so easily.

"I heard you had great porn," Chase mumbled as he watched another flash of anger shoot through his captor.

Searing hot pain shot through his body once again as Matteo wasted no time in applying the cables once again.

Pain. Heat. Flashing lights.

He was lost in a sea of excruciating pain. How long could he last? How long before his heart gave up?

"Matteo, please!" Levi cried out.

There was so much pain in his voice that Chase couldn't stand it any longer. Hearing Levi in pain was his true torture.

Matteo pulled off the cables once again, whether to give Chase a chance to speak or because he, too, couldn't bear to hear Levi in such pain.

Either way, Chase was done. He couldn't take it any longer.

"Journal…" Chase whimpered, barely able to form a coherent word. The pain was excruciating, and he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and die.

"Journal?" Matteo asked. "What journal?"

"I was… hired… to find out… who… wrote… a particular… journal." Chase's words came out all choppy as his breathing and vocal cords refused to work in tangent.

How long did electricity stay in the body? Were his insides being cooked as they spoke?

"What's in this journal?"

"Bad men, doing bad things," he grunted. The pain was still there but was slowly being replaced with anger over getting his ass caught and fried.

"What does that mean?" Matteo snarled, although his tone was losing some of its bite.

"Does the name Oldridge Peabody mean anything to you?"

Chase noticed Levi's eyes went wide, but he didn't say anything. Curious. Perhaps he should have asked Levi more about the book over dinner.

Matteo watched Chase with nothing but coldness in his eyes.

"I want to see this journal you're talking about."

Laughing, Chase shook his head. "Well, I don't have the damn thing with me, jackass. My boss is holding it for safekeeping."

"Then call your boss and tell him to bring it here."

Chase shook his head again. "My boss is a very cautious man. He won't step a foot inside this place."

"We'll see," Matteo grunted, nodding to the ogre standing next to him. "Take him to his room for the night. Make sure there are two guards posted at the door." Then Matteo took a step toward Chase and gripped his bloody face with his hand. "You better not be lying to me, boy. Call your master and arrange a meeting for tomorrow. If I find out that this is all some sort of scam, you and your master are dead. You don't fuck with Matteo Sabarino and live to tell the tale." Matteo's frosty blue eyes bore into Chase.

It was hard to believe that the cold monster standing before him was also the generous man who saved Levi and his brothers. Perhaps it was true what they said about Italians and their tempers. They can be the kindest, warmest people, but don't ever piss them off.

Hell,half of Montreal's buildings and construction sites are littered with pieces of people who pissed off Italian mobsters and crime lords. Who knew what sort of crimes these walls had witnessed?

Chase groaned as the cold metal chains around his wrists opened, allowing his body to sink to the floor in pain.

Across the stable, Chase watched as Levi was led away by his own master. He didn't want to see the boy go, but there wasn't much he could do to stop it.

Before Levi reached the large entrance to the stable, he glanced over his shoulder at Chase. His once beautiful and hopeful eyes were now a mix of confusion and pain.

Chase needed to speak with Levi. Tell him the truth of what was really going on. Sadly, there was no way that Matteo was going to let Levi anywhere near him now… or ever again, for that matter. As long as Matteo held control over Levi's heart, Chase would never be able to penetrate that shield and get Levi to trust him again.

His shoulders slumped forward as he watched Levi's velvety-black hair disappear from the stables.