Chapter Twenty-Six – Laina
“You sure you’re ready for this?” Lola said, holding what I’d asked Viper to find in my house: my claws. The way she looked at me, I could tell she would be supportive of me either way. Hell, if I asked her to walk in that room and finish it for me, she would.
So would any of the guys, other than Jason.
But no. This was my plan, my idea. I wanted to see Tessa myself, to talk to her, to tell her exactly what was going to happen to her. I wanted to watch as the realization of it fully hit her. She might’ve been a good liar, but by now, she had to have known she lost.
She lost, and there would be no more games after this one. This time it was winner take all, and I planned on taking everything.
“I’m sure,” I said. My guys were outside, waiting to take me home after I had my little chat with Tessa.
We were in an old house, one of many the Lucianos had transformed into holding cells, so to speak.
When you were a high-profile mafia family, you never had a shortage of enemies or people who tried to steal from you.
Places like this came in handy all the time.
This specific location, however, would be mine for the foreseeable future.
“Hold this,” she said, handing me my claws. I took them, and a second later, she was reaching for my left hand, undoing the bracelet on my wrist and carefully pulling off the two metal fingers on my nubs.
I worked on sliding my left hand into the clawed gauntlet, and I bent my fingers, all of the claws clinking together. Metal, sharp and shiny. These claws had been largely forgotten about lately, with everything going on. With me pretending I was someone else.
But I wasn’t. I was me.
Lola, holding onto my other metal fingers, took a step back from me and wiped the corner of her eyes, like she was tearing up—only she wasn’t. “They grow up so fast.” Like I was some baby bird learning to fly out of the nest for the first time.
Together, we stood in front of a door. It was the only door in the basement, just off the last stair. The room was soundproofed and had multiple locks on the outside, with a reinforced door no one could bust down on their own, especially not someone like Tessa.
Fang, Mike, and Kieran were upstairs with Viper, Maddox, and Sylvester.
Harvey had been here, but the driver had left after he delivered the package.
It was just us. They were all here for me.
Jason would’ve been here too, if it was literally anyone else in the basement and not Tessa.
Because it was Tessa, he was at his rented house, giving me space to do what I had to do.
I gave Lola a small smile and told her, “Thank you. Thank you for everything. I don’t think I could’ve done any of this without you. Who knew when you came to my hospital room that day, looking for your missing woman, we’d end up like this?”
“I’m glad we did. It’s always good to have more kickass women in your life,” she said. “You and I both have plenty of dick to go around, so it’s nice to balance that shit out every once in a while.”
A soft chuckle escaped me. “You ever find that woman?”
She shook her head. “No, and the more time that passes, I don’t think we will. I guess not everyone’s as lucky as you.”
Lucky. That wasn’t a word I’d use to describe myself, but I supposed, if you looked at my life and zoomed out, luck had to be on my side, otherwise I would’ve been dead half a dozen times over.
So, yeah, I guessed I was lucky. Too bad my dad didn’t have some of that luck. I still didn’t understand how I was supposed to go on, knowing he was gone. This city felt hollow.
“Sorry, that sounded… wrong,” Lola quickly said. “You probably don’t feel too lucky right now.”
“Not really, but I get it.” I glanced at the door that sat between me and Tessa. Cameras were installed in the room yesterday, so I’d have a front-row seat to her misery any time I wanted. Honestly, I couldn’t wait to go in there and spell out exactly what I had planned for her. “I’m going in.”
“We’ll be upstairs. Take all the time you need.” Lola left, heading up the creaky basement stairs, taking my metal fingers with her as she went.
I unlocked the door, lock by lock. It wasn’t as if I thought Tessa would escape—I didn’t think she was that crafty—but you never knew. Had to be super careful when you were in it for the long haul, and this? This was what made the definition of a long haul long.
I stepped inside the room. It was small.
A bed was bolted to the floor. A small toilet sat a few feet away, along with a tub.
All in all, it was close to the room I’d spent two years of my life in, minus the pink walls and carefully-picked out sheets.
Kieran had done his best to make my stay in that basement comfortable, but I hadn’t done the same for Tessa.
Too bad.
Tessa was passed out on the bed. I’d left her silly belly on—figured it’d help me make my point. Her heels had been taken, so her feet were bare. Beneath her dress slacks was a chain around her right ankle, tying her to the bed, just like I was way back when.
I heaved a sigh and stepped closer to the bed.
I leaned over her and pricked the top of her palm with a claw.
The moment the metal dug into her skin, she woke with a jerk, and a bright red spot of blood oozed out from the wound.
When her eyes opened, I took a step back and waited for her to get her bearings.
“What…” She sat up and held her head, then groaned and wiped at her hand, where the fresh blood drop was.
That bright red stuff smeared all over her skin.
She looked around the room, spotting the chain on her ankle and the fact that she was tied to a bed.
After a few seconds, she realized she wasn’t alone. “You.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Me. Bet you didn’t think we’d be meeting again under these circumstances.” I cocked my head at her. “How did you think it would go? That I’d let you kill my dad and leave you be?”
She had the balls to crack a smile in my direction. “No. I thought I’d stage a suicide after your father’s funeral. Such a tragedy it would be: father assassinated, then daughter kills herself out of grief—”
“And then you lose the baby,” I cut in. “Right. How terrible. Only… you and I both know there’s nothing in that belly of yours.
” As if I needed to make my point, I stepped closer to the bed and sunk one of my claws into her belly.
The metal disappeared slowly, inch after inch, and I yanked it out after that, making sure to wiggle each of my knife-tipped fingers in front of her.
Now, I think, she finally saw how deep the shit she was in was.
She swung her legs off the side of the bed, dragging the chain with her as she moved. “What is this? Cut the shit. If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with already.” Though she tried to sound tough, she failed. My claws were the only thing she could stare at.
“Kill? Oh, no, no, no. Tessa, you’ve got it all wrong.
You think I had you brought here so I could kill you?
” I let out a laugh. “I’m afraid you’ve never been more wrong in your entire life—except maybe when you sicced your brother and your father on me.
Thanks for introducing us, by the way. Your dad’s really cute. ”
She ground her jaw. “Fuck you.”
“No, fuck you.” I lunged at her. Even though her hands were free, I’d been dreaming of this forever.
I was stronger now than I used to be. This woman could not overpower me.
Besides, when I lunged at her, I brought my clawed gauntlet to her face, covering her mouth with my palm and closing every single bladed finger around her face, like a twisted mask.
The knives dug into her skin immediately, enough to draw blood in multiple places.
Tessa was so caught off-guard, so fearful of those knives, that she could only whimper in defiance.
“I thought about it,” I admitted. “Being done with you. Stabbing you in the heart and giving your body to the fishes in the river. They’re hungry little things, you know.
But then I thought about everything you’ve done, everything you tried to do, and you know what?
A quick death is too good for someone like you.
I need the satisfaction of knowing your death is slow and agonizing. ”
Her eyes widened, but she could say not a word with my palm over her mouth.
“I’m not going to kill you,” I hissed as my fingers tightened around her face.
“You’re going to be here, alone, knowing the world outside doesn’t miss you one bit.
For every day I was in that basement, you’re going to be in here, trapped.
No matter how hard you scream, no matter how hard you pull at the chain around your ankle, you won’t be able to get out.
For the first time ever, you’ll know what it’s like to be helpless. ”
I shoved her face away and dragged my clawed hand down her arm. She didn’t respond, but she whimpered when I left a deep cut on her bicep. I stepped away from the bed, allowing her the opportunity to grab at her arm and wince.
“Actually,” I said, leaning my back on the wall, “you owe me more than two years. You owe me a lifetime of misery, so you’re going to stay in this room and get real acquainted with these walls, because they’re the only things you’re going to see.
In fact, you’ll be down here while I’m out there, living my life.
I’ll be the grieving daughter at my dad’s funeral, don’t worry.
The world won’t miss you at all. No one will remember Tessa Hawkins. ”
Something like that? It was the worst fate for someone like her, someone who so desperately wanted to be revered, admired, and respected. A fate like that was worse than a quick death a thousand times over.
Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to dig these claws into her, to give her a million tiny cuts and watch her bleed out as she cursed my name to hell and back—but the gratification of that wouldn’t last long.
No, this way, I’d be able to check in on her, to look at her chained to this bed, any time I wanted.
“A quick death is, to put it simply, too good for you,” I told her with a shrug, and then I started toward the door.
“No!” she called out to me. “No, wait! Don’t—”
I stopped when I reached the door, tossing a smug glance over my shoulder. Seeing her there, chained to the bed, gave me this warm, tingly feeling in my gut. Honestly? She was right where she should’ve always been.
“Oh,” I said, “and by the way, I’m going to have so much fun fucking your dad. Bye!” I waved my clawed fingers at her, leaving her with that as I exited the room and bolted every single lock on the door.
The look on her face when I said that? Priceless. Absolutely priceless. And the best thing was, I wasn’t even joking. I really was going to have a lot of fun fucking that woman’s dad.
I made it to the kitchen, where everyone was waiting for me.
Kieran was the one who spoke first: “That’s it?
That was quick.” I knew out of the three of my guys that were here, he was hoping I’d do a little more physical torture and less mental torment, but the mental part was what would really hurt that bitch the most.
“I said what I needed to say,” I spoke with a shrug as I lifted my clawed hand. The tips of the metal were wet with red, but not overly dripping with the stuff. “No point in delaying it.”
He didn’t seem too pleased, but he got over it pretty quickly. “Should we place bets on how long we think it’ll take for her to lose her mind in there? No TV. No window to the outside world at all. Diabolical, Laina.”
“Maybe we’ll show her a clip or two from the funeral, just so she knows she wasn’t missed.” I worked on slipping off the glove and replacing it with the regular metal fingers. Fang helped me with the bracelet part.
“So, back to the bets—”
I smiled to myself as the entire kitchen erupted in conversation, everyone saying their own two cents on the matter. Even Mike chimed in here and there. It was all so… normal. So strangely normal, considering what the topic of conversation was.
When would Tessa lose her mind? We’d have to wait and see, but in the meantime I’d have popcorn at the ready. I’d be there, watching from afar, as that woman lost her mind day after day, and I’d do it with a smile on my face.