Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
MAX
“ T hree months. That’s all it took for you to make me regret my decision. And here I was thinking you’d be an asset,” Don Battaglia calmly said, leaning against one of the far walls of the basement.
Every other wall was decorated by soldati with guns while I sat in the middle like a damn centerpiece, dripping blood onto the concrete floor. They’d tied me to a chair. Hands bound behind my back while my ankles were strapped to the legs.
I’d been on the other end of this before, so the drill wasn’t a secret. Only this time, intel wasn’t the goal. This was pure punishment. Setting an example for the newcomers or whoever had a shadow of a doubt about them.
“My sister!” Matt sneered under his breath as he meticulously folded his sleeves. This was too personal to have anyone else delivering the message. At least he didn’t hide behind his position like many did. I had to give him that.
“My sister.” He said again, louder this time, his tone just as accusatory as the fist that connected with my cheekbone again. My head spun to the right at the impact, my eyes shutting as tight as they could while I tried to bite my tongue and not make a damn sound.
I knew that would only piss him off further, but I wasn’t about to become a little bitch just because he needed to hear my pain for his satisfaction.
He’d already broken my nose to make me comply and sit my ass on this throne of torture. That’s where my blood came from for now. But I wasn’t a fool. I knew what this meant. I wasn’t leaving this room tonight, yet somehow, the lingering taste of Alison’s kiss on my lips didn’t allow me a single drop of regret.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Liam coming from the other side of the room, pushing a little cart, and right there, I knew this was about to become the longest night of my life. I’d seen him at work. He was meticulous and liked to draw on skin just as much as on paper.
His nickname, “The Architect,” was not only because he worked at his father’s architectural firm, but also because his targets painted a fucking blueprint for him if needed with the information he drew out of them with his technique.
Those blades he carted were covered in either acid or salt, maybe even a mixture of both for maximum effect. I clenched my jaw at the sight of them as I shook off Matt’s blow and set my eyes straight ahead.
It’s not like I hadn’t been beaten before.
Fuck, my own father took pleasure in taking me to the brink more times than I could count.
“You need to toughen up. You’re not a mama’s boy anymore. You’re a fucking man. Take it like one.”
And I did. Every damn punch, jab, or stab, I took it without making a single sound. And it pushed every one of his golden buttons just as it was pushing Matt’s. Maybe he’ll end my misery sooner and kill me quickly for not being as fun as he thought I’d be.
“Open.” Liam barely said.
Jimmy walked towards me and yanked my vest and shirt open, pushing it down my arms, all while supporting what seemed to be an apology on his face but still following his orders.
We’d gotten close these last few months. We were climbing the ranks together. Being in the same shitty boat made us stick together. Not anymore, I guess.
“I know my family doesn’t mean anything to you, but you’ll learn today that there’s nothing in this world that means more to me. And my baby sister? She’s not off-limits. She’s on a fucking pedestal so high and guarded that you can’t see, hear, or smell her. Am I fucking clear?”
Matt was treating me like an outsider. He hadn’t taken my admission well, and tonight, his displeasure was on full display. I couldn’t blame him. He smelled the bullshit from a mile away, and I was sure his grandfather hadn’t exactly disclosed my story.
“Crystal,” I replied with a steady voice, despite the blood that rushed into my mouth as I did.
“Good boy.” Matt tapped my face condescendingly, stepping out of sight to make room for his younger brother.
“Now, let’s make you mean it,” Liam said with a grin on his face, taking a chair for himself and sitting right in front of me.
Cut after cut, I sunk my teeth into anything I could to stifle the grunts of pain that threatened to leave my chest. My tongue. The inside of my cheek. My lips. I managed to keep my silence as much as it hurt.
It wasn’t so much the breaking of skin, but the burn left behind from whatever coated those blades tonight. It was as if every open wound was on permanent fire, and every new one burned a million times more than the last.
I was close to breaking, close to tapping out for the first time in my life, when glass breaking, followed by a loud thump, broke everyone’s focus from me. More guns were drawn, aimed at the only door to this space, waiting for the intruder to show themselves.
Who could be so deranged as to walk into purgatory while every fucking demon waited for their turn to feast?
Stumbling as she tried to put her heels back on, Alison appeared at the threshold, and immediately, all guns turned their muzzles to the ceiling.
“What the hell are you doing here, Alison?” Matt said, marching towards her, blocking everyone’s view of his little sister as he took up most of the space at the door.
“Righting a wrong.”
“What happened?” Liam joined Matt by the door, his voice laced with a concern that contrasted greatly with the demeanor he sported just half a minute ago.
“I didn’t want to put anyone else in danger for merely speaking to me or getting the fuck out of my way so I could come down through the stairs like a damn lady. So I broke the cellar’s window and climbed in,” She replied, pushing past them and walking into the room unapologetically, not minding the bulk soldiers or their armed guns and loaded expressions.
That was the first uninterrupted view I got of her. The skirt of her dress was torn, exposing her slender thigh with blood smeared all over it and more pouring from a gash. She had another scrape on her elbow and a cut on her cheek, too.
“Alison?” Don Battaglia wasn’t pleased with the interruption, and yet, Alison held her stance and faced him head-on .
“He didn’t do anything. I blackmailed him into helping me get rid of Mr. Barrington.”
“You blackmailed him?” It was almost a chuckle, as if such an innocent creature wasn’t capable of something so demeaning.
“Yes.” She answered, squaring her shoulders and standing as tall as she could, trying to match the height of a man who had more than his build going for him.
“In that case, why should I keep a soldato that gets blackmailed by a girl?”
“I’m not just a girl, and you know it.” She sneered with derision, not appreciating the condescending tone her grandfather took with her. She was a queen in her own right, indeed, and only the blind couldn’t see it. “I told him that this would happen if he didn’t help me. That I’d tell you and my brothers he forced himself onto me and end his miserable little life. He was new enough to believe me.”
She was lying with every ounce of conviction in her after going through a damn window in stilettos and a tight-as-fuck dress. If my cock hadn’t sprung alive from her kisses, this right here would do it for sure, even if it made my blood boil at the same time.
I didn’t need to be saved. I didn’t deserve it, either.
“I’m not sure I believe you.”
“Because it’s a lie.” I managed to say between gritted teeth, the pain forcing my voice to come out strangled. My interruption earned me a loaded glower from Alison that clearly meant, “Shut the fuck up.”
“I wouldn’t have gone through a window to tell you this if it wasn’t the truth. I don’t want his death on my conscience, especially when he wanted no part in it. He didn’t want to touch me. I forced him to do it. You can’t kill him for something I did. ”
“What would have happened if Mr. Barrington hadn’t alerted us?”
Barrington? That motherfucking weasel.
“Absolutely nothing, and only because Max doesn’t seem to like me. Because if it were up to me, I would–”
“That’s enough.” Liam interrupted, and even if this was the wrong fucking place and time, I wanted to hear those next words. “He was about to hurt you. He had a gun in his hand, Alison.”
“BECAUSE I TOLD HIM TO!” She yelled, “To scare Barry away!”
Liam peeled her hands from his arms and started walking back to his seat in front of me. He was bluffing for sure. I wasn’t here for long, but one thing was clear in my eyes – Alison was indeed their little princess, and Liam wasn’t about to tarnish the image she had of him by allowing her to see him at his best. Or worst – semantics depended on which side of the darkness you were on.
“You have to stop, Liam. He didn’t do anything,” Alison’s eyes gave away her panic as she spoke, as if her voice hadn’t done it already. The shine of unshed tears made her green eyes sparkle under the single light bulb, and that was the exact thing that made her grandfather relent. I saw it in the slight slump of his shoulders.
Soon enough, his hand landed on Liam’s shoulder, telling him to pause.
“Don’t do that again, Fiore mio. ” Don Battaglia closed the space between them, placing a caring palm on Alison’s cheek, wiping the stream of blood that slid down her face. “It won’t end well next time.”
“The Pinot Noir I landed on might have a different opinion,” Alison chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, but as her eyes darted to me, nothing but remorse marred those beautiful features of hers.
“And you,” Don Battaglia suddenly turned to face me, his finger pointing at me accusingly, “Think of what and who you are. Think of what you bring to the damn table before touching my granddaughter again. Remember your place here.”
Without another word, the rope that bound my hands was cut, and yet I never felt more tied down in my entire life.
I knew my reality. I knew my ghosts wouldn’t stop haunting me, but for a moment, she made me forget how rotten I was. And fuck me if that wasn’t exactly what I’d been craving.