Until The Trial

Chapter 23

Julian

Julian turns on the cold water and runs his fist under it. Purple bruising is already starting to show, and the bastard is yet to talk. He is careful to not hurt his face too much, to keep his brother happy, but Barrios deserves his face to be smashed in. The countless allegations of sexual assault on his file are more than enough reason, and now Barrios was caught trying to shove a woman into his car. The woman is lucky his men were on the 166 territories at the time. Julian winces when he stretches his hand, causing a cut to open. He'll have to wear gloves tomorrow, so his brother doesn't see the damage. He'll know it's there, but at least he won't have to see it. Julian knows Lucas is doing the right thing by distancing himself from violence, but he still misses the time when his brother would work alongside him to get information out of criminals. Most of them end up going back home without any jail time. The only punishment they would get was the brother's fist as they try to get information out of them. Most don't learn, as they end up doing the same crimes they got a deal cut for.

"Flynn, you going to try again or do we bring him in?" one of his men, Shelton, asks.

"Do you think he can handle more?"

Shelton smirks, "I'd say, considering he was laughing at us just now, he can handle much more."

"Good," Julian finishes wrapping his hands in bandages and heads back to the storage room, they keep specifically for these situations. He is determined to make him talk. Say anything that could possibly help them. Lucas is worried that what Julian is doing, counts as corruption, but he disagrees. They are not lying or cheating anyone. Anyone who thinks the police don't know what happens in the gang units is a fool. It is true, that some units use their power to their advantage, but Julian was not raised in such a way. He knows when enough is enough, and right now it's not enough.

Julian shoves the door open with a hard shove. "Are you ready to talk now?" He raises an eyebrow at Barrios, who currently has his hands tied above him and is shirtless. Sweat and grime cover him, along with bruises on his torso that are covered by his countless tattoos. Barrios lift his head, a grin on his face.

"I'll talk all ya want. Just not about what you want," he laughs, "you don't scare me. I'm around people like you all day."

Julian allows his anger to grow. It's what he'll use to be able to do what he has to, "I am going to give you one more chance to tell me something useful."

Julian goes up to his face, "One, two. Three." Julian punches his bruised rib. Barrios shouts a curse. He does it twice more.

"You ready now?"

Barrios spits in his face with a laugh.

"I think he needs something else," Another of his men, Derek, says from behind him.

Julian's rage boils in him. To hell with keeping his face fine. Julian pulls back a fist and slams it into Barrios's nose. Upon seeing it successfully being angled disgustingly to the side, Julian pinches it tightly. Barrios screams trying to pull himself away but causes himself more pain.

Julian pulls his hand away, "Now?"

Barrios remains silent. "Okay," Julian grabs his nose again, this time twisting it.

"Stop!" Barrios shouts, "Stop it!"

Julian leans to his ear, "Did you stop when they asked you? Did you!"

"I'll talk," he whimpers, "I'll talk."

"I can't hear you," Julian twists harder.

"I'll talk!" he shouts, "please! I'll talk!"