I was so incensed by the time I was done with my little rant, I lost all sense of finesse as I yanked the Pear out of Spencer’s mouth and ripped the Fork from around O’Malley’s neck. Spencer couldn’t talk because his jaw was broken and the lower half hung like a grotesque marionette, but O’Malley was still trying to talk around his gag. I decided to remove it, because why the hell not?
As soon as it came off, he couldn’t talk fast enough. “It wasn’t like that,” he insisted. “We like Robbie.”
I stormed over to the tray, grabbed two ice picks and stabbed O’Malley in between his ribs, making sure to avoid any major organs or arteries, lest he bleed out too soon or die of cardiac arrest.
He screamed.
I didn’t give a fuck.
“Bullshit me again, or I’ll keep you here for fucking weeks,” I roared. “You two motherfuckers are going to die, it’s just up to you how soon you meet your maker.”
“The box belongs to Nelson Sorgen,” O’Malley blurted out. “It’s his hold on the city.” I didn’t care. I really didn’t. Nothing they could do or say now would save their lives. But I still understood that knowledge was power. However, in this instance, I’ve heard of Nelson Sorgen, but he wasn’t anything we needed to worry about. He was high level in Cedar Creek, but up against the Benetti Family, he was nothing.
“I don’t care,” I said, breaking the news to O’Malley. “And do you honestly think that whatever information you think you have is worth me forgetting what you did to my girl? You are dumber than I gave you credit for if you believe that shit.”
O’Malley was silent for a bit before he finally said, “So, you’re just going to keep us here, playing with us, until we give out. Is that it?”
I smiled.
No.
That was not it.
Fear of the unknown was a special kind of torture. Your mind ran wild with all the ‘what if’s and morbid possibilities. Especially being in a room like this one.
However, fear of the known was also something quite special. Because now you know exactly what’s going to be done to you and now your body, along with your mind, is completely enshrouded with the anticipated pain you know you’re going to feel. Making someone’s mind break was nearly as satisfying as watching the life drain from their eyes.
I walked over to my cutting board, which was just a steel table, and started preparing the straps. “Do either of you know what a Blood Eagle is?” I asked over my shoulder. “No?” I didn’t actually expect an answer. “It’s when a person’s back is splayed open and the ribs are broken in such a way, it exposes the back of the lungs. The ribs are fanned out creating a wing-like effect.” I turned back to look at my two guests, and Spencer’s head hung low in defeat, while O’Malley was pissing himself.
Even though my original intent was to hang on to these two for a while, two hours later, I was snapping photos of my most beautiful masterpieces.
Chapter 24
Roberta~
My nerves were so shot, Phoenix threatened to tie me to a chair if I didn’t stop pacing. He claimed I was making him dizzy with my nervousness.
He wasn’t necessarily lying.
After Frankie and I were dropped off at their apartment building, to which Frankie did nothing to hide her enthusiasm at having me with her at Kratos, I had immediately fallen asleep from all the physical and emotional turmoil I was suffering. When I had awoken, Luca and Frankie had been sitting in Ciro’s living room chatting it up like old friends.
It had been so mind-boggling to see Luca freakin’ Benetti so relaxed and relatable, I had stared like a nutjob for a few minutes before he called me out. He had known I was standing in the hallway observing, but he had wanted to give me some time to acclimate to their company.
After that, he had cooked breakfast for us-
Seriously.
Luca freakin’ Benetti had cooked breakfast for me and Frankie, and the man probably didn’t think I had one iota of sense in my brain as I kept getting starstruck at his presence.
I also noticed how his demeanor changed as soon as he gave me permission to make my presence known. He wasn’t cold or cruel, by any means, but he wasn’t as open and comfortable as I’d witness briefly when he thought it was just him and Frankie.
I was beginning to see that Luca and Frankie did, indeed, have a special friendship.
An hour after breakfast, Phoenix had shown up at Ciro’s and the entire setup had my mind reeling. Last week, I was a simple waitress in a small town living in a broken down, but clean house. Tonight, I was sitting in the living room of Ciro Mancini while The Holy Ghost and The Father of Morgan City were keeping me company.
What in the actual hell?
Then there was the whole ‘I love you’ debacle I had to
