51. Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty
Luca
Two Days Later
From the moment I was old enough to walk, my father began training me to be a killer. He trained me to read people in an instant, to manipulate situations and people to do what I wanted. He made sure I knew the inner workings of this world and how to survive it. He taught me to be cold and precise because he knew the dangers that come with being the head.
As we make our way to the headquarters of this “special” division, I don’t feel fear. I feel excitement. People are going to die today. And they are going to die by my hand. I will see the pain and the fear in their eyes, and I will smile as I send them into the next life. Today, Nicolai, Romelo, and I will make history. And the world will never even know it happened.
The plan is foolproof. We’ve gone over it, done run-throughs, and played out the worst-case scenarios. We are all ready to die for the family—die for the Pasquino legacy. Because if we fail, no one will be safe. And our reign will end with me—Eli Trovoli getting what he wanted from beyond the grave, as his selfish actions put all of this into motion.
I close my eyes for a moment, envisioning Elise. Her green eyes and dark hair always stood out to me. How her father could sacrifice her in the way he attempted to is beyond me. I could never do something so irredeemable. If I fail, not only will my family perish, but so will Elise.
“Boss.” I open my eyes as Romelo’s voice cuts through my thoughts. He and Nicolai are in the front seat, looking at me. And I shift my attention beyond them to the thick greenery we must trek through to reach the tunnels.
Adrenaline courses through me as I get out of the car. Somehow, everything feels and looks much more vivid. The monster lurking inside of me claws at the surface, desperate to be let out—to wreak havoc. This is who my father trained me to be.
I look at Nicolai on my left, then Romelo on my right, both of them nodding to signify they are ready.
I smile in anticipation of the carnage to be left behind this night. As I take my first steps toward destruction, Nicolai and Romelo follow close behind.
This is going to be fucking fun.
The scent of blood, sweat, and urine permeates the air. It was almost too easy to sneak in. And the torture has become a walk in the park, the longer it stretches out, especially with the five agents who are currently dead.
For the past few months, my life has revolved around Elise. Her kidnapping and getting her back have taken up all of my time. I’ve rarely been able to do things on my own. This moment is a breath of fresh air for me. It reminds me of who I am beyond being the head of the family.
“You know, I could sit here all night. I enjoy this, I really do,” I say to the man before me. His body convulses against the chair as he attempts to get away from my blade. But it’s plunged deep into his thigh. And he’s tied to the chair.
I twist the blade, and his screams fill the air, sending ripples of excitement up my spine. I move the blade up his thigh, watching in fascination as the flesh separates, the blood welling to the surface. Finally, I rip it from the muscle, holding the tip under his chin.
“I just want the password,” I say.
We’ve been going at this interrogation for hours. The firewall is strong enough that even Romelo can’t access it, not even from within. So, we have to go old school and actually get the password to get into the system and have access to all the data I want. This particular government entity will have access to potential buyers, enemies of the country, and information on specific individuals that I will need to blackmail to propel us even further into this sphere.
But to do that, I need the damn password.
The man looks at me through tears, furrowing his brow as he attempts bravery.
“Go…to…hell,” he grounds out, his head dropping as soon as he finishes.
I smile, angling my head lower so that he can look me in the eyes.
“Look at me,” I say.
He slowly lifts his gaze, his breathing ragged. I slowly push my finger into the open wound on his leg. Then, I add another, and another, until he is screeching in pain, and my hand is ripping into his flesh. The warmth of mingled blood and muscle engulfs my palm, and I form a fist to tear it even further. He pulls desperately at his ties, his screams maniacle.
I hear the screams of the remaining agents, one of whom has settled into hysteria as she begs for his life. We made sure to leave one woman and two men alive. It’s a form of psychological torture without having to touch them first. One of them is going to break before the other—whoever is most desperate to live.
Suddenly, his eyes roll back, and he spasms violently before he hangs his head. I am suddenly ripped away from him, Romelo holding me as Nicolai goes to check his pulse.
“Dammit, Luca, you’re supposed to scare him not kill him he may have had the information we needed!” he snaps.
I try to pull myself down from the high that I feel, especially from the feel of the thick blood still trickling between my fingers. It’s an addictive thing, holding someone’s life in your hands.
As Nicolai checks on the unconscious man, I turn my attention to the two remaining agents. The man has a look of false bravery on his face, but the woman has tears spilling down her cheeks as she stares beyond me, trembling.
I study her closely as her gaze finally meets mine. She’s an attractive woman, though she comes nowhere close to Elise. Her eyes are brown, and she has a light dusting of freckles over her nose. I take a step towards her, and her terror intensifies.
She’s going to be my break.
I slowly squat in front of her, and I grab her face with the same hand that was in her coworkers thigh. She grunts in disgust as blood oozes between my fingers and her skin. Before I can speak, however, the other agent speaks up.
“You won’t get anything from us. We have trained our entire lives for more than this, no matter what you bottom-feeders do,” he snaps.
I stand, removing my hand from her face to look at him. His features are twisted in hatred. I can’t help myself. I laugh. And his expression forces my laughter to come out harder than I would like, until tears are in my eyes.
“Bottom-feeders?” I chuckle, forcing myself to calm down.
“Do you think I don’t know who you are? Who you took money under the table from to come after me?” I laugh, shaking my head. “Or why you were so eager to try and fuck with my empire?”
His bravery disappears as he realizes I’m here for more than just information.
“Wow, they really hire anyone these days, huh?” I laugh, moving away from him.
“How about we play a game?” I ask, moving back to the woman.
She closes her eyes, shaking her head vigorously. “Please, please, no!”
I roll my eyes at her pleas. If only she knew how much I hate begging.
“I have people waiting and not a lot of time,” I say, moving to the black bag we brought. I rummage through briefly, my smile widening as I land on a pair of pruning shears.
As I look up, Nicolai is still checking the unconscious man, and Romelo stands by the computer awaiting the password.
“I’m going to ask a question.” I quickly cross the room, standing over the woman. And as I lower myself, her whimpers grow louder as I bring the shears to her tied hands. “And each time you don’t answer, well, that’s a finger.”
I motion to the man who called us bottom-feeders as I continue. “But only he can answer. So, whether you keep your fingers or not is up to him,” I say, shifting the shears over her pointer finger.
She jerks and pulls at her bonds, but she isn’t strong enough to break free, and I laugh.
“Let’s get started, shall we?”
Her screams grow as she begs, flaring my anger, and I look at her, holding the shears to her throat.
“If you don’t shut the fuck up, I won’t be able to hear his answers. And if I don’t hear him, I’ll assume he didn’t say anything. And that will be a finger,” I growl out.
She bites her bottom lip, sniffling as she nods.
“Good.” I turn to the man, “What’s your name?”
He looks between me and her, taking much too long to answer the simple question. So, I add pressure to the shears. Her screams turn blood-curdling as the blade punctures the thin layer of skin.
“Daniel! It’s Daniel!” he shouts.
I stop what I’m doing, watching the blood trickle down her finger before waving the shears at him in a scolding fashion.
“You may not want to take so long on such a simple question next time, Daniel. And what’s her name?” I ask.
“Nora!” he responds instantly.
I give him a sarcastic nod.
“I know that everyone in this building was aware of the circumstances involving Arianna Anderson’s death. I also know that you are aware of the circumstances involving Lorenzo Pasquino. I know, because your superior, agent Jeffries left behind a lot of damning information. And I also know this particular division had something to do with the removal of Wyatt Danson from his force,” I say.
“All this to say, I didn’t just stumble upon this shithole. Give me the password, and I will give you quick and painless death. Don’t, and I will draw it out for the next four hours,” I say.
I move next to Nora, placing the shears back, and she sobs, pleading under her breath.
“What’s the password, Daniel?” I ask.
He stares at me with wide eyes, closing his mouth,
Snip.
Nora screams at the top of her lungs as her finger falls to the floor.
“What’s the password, Daniel?” I repeat. Nora is now screaming at the top of her lungs, begging him to tell me. He looks torn, but he doesn’t speak.
Snip.
Nora screams grate at my ears from the sheer volume, as she pulls against the chair violently.
“Password?” I ask. “She only has so many fingers,” I add.
No answer.
Snip.
Nora screeches, and as I move to chop off another finger, does she scream.
“V24-Porter15! We change it every twenty-four hours! We just changed it! Please stop!” she screams.
“Specify, Nora,” I say.
She shakily goes through the password, giving us the proper capitalizations and punctuation.
“We’re in,” Romelo says.
I shift my attention back to Nora.
“Thank you for that…but it was Daniel I asked, remember?”
Snip.
Her screams fill the air, and I shudder in pleasure at the agony leaving her lips. I stand, pulling out my knife as I hold it to her throat, ready to cut it open, and her pants grow darker as she loses control of her bladder.
“Luca,” Romelo calls to me, pulling my attention.
He has an amused grin on his face, gesturing to Nicolai. For once, he won’t meet my gaze.
“What?” I snap.
Finally, Nicolai’s eyes meet mine, and I note his face is red. I laugh aloud as realization dawns on me.
“You’re kidding,” I say.
Out of Romelo and me, Nicolai has always been the most normal. I never thought he’d want to take someone, especially in this situation.
I pull my blade away from her throat, holding it by the steel as I throw it across the room. Daniel grunts in pain as it plunges into his chest, and I close the distance between us, ripping it out before plunging it into his lung. When I finally pull it out, his eyes are wide as he looks at me, and he suddenly begins choking.
“You will not die quickly,” I say.
I grab a bucket of blood from the corner where we’ve drained most of the agents’ bodies, dropping it in front of his feet. I then kick the chair forward, holding his head under the thick liquid. His body jumps and struggles, eventually stopping. And I leave his head submerged.
“Bring me some ice,” I call to Nicolai.
Seconds later, I’m placing her severed finger into the ice, handing it off to Nicolai in irritation.
“Better move quick or she’ll lose them,” I say, looking at her.
She’s sobbing with her head down as she murmurs a prayer.
“Did you have an address for me?” I call to Romelo as I move past Nicolai.
“That and more,” Romelo calls back.
I look back at Nicolai, gesturing to the area.
“Stay here, survey cleanup, make sure this place is destroyed. Leave no trace that we were here,” I say.
I pause mid-stride.
“If she escapes and we are caught, I will kill you before the cops can,” I say.
“I understand,” he says.
I can’t help but laugh at the situation. “Enjoy.”
Romelo and I quickly copy all of the data possible as we wait for reinforcements to arrive to help with the cleanup. Once we finish, we make our way out of the facility to our final destinations. We are far from being in the clear. We’ve only just taken out the low-level subordinates. Now, we must cut off the head. As we approach the cars, I turn to him.
“Don’t get cocky. These men are actually trained for this,” I say.
Romelo scoffs, nodding. “I know.”
His smile disappears as he watches me with his usual calm exterior.
“No matter what happens after tonight, I am honored to have been sworn in under you, Luca,” he says.
“I couldn’t ask for a better man to be at my right side,” I say.
While the three of us are close, Romelo and I grew up together. His father was a lousy old man who deserved death a thousand times over. My father used him on occasion for information, but towards the end, he became useless. If not for my notice of Romelo’s ability, he probably would have died in that house.
I place my hand on his shoulder.
“See you on the other side.”