Chapter 14 #2
I didn’t bother answering him as I pressed my finger against the throttle and pulled the cord to start it. The engine kicked to life, and the vibration rattled me down to my toes. If the guy on the table said anything more, I couldn’t hear him over the chainsaw.
Stepping forward, I held it up. As if I’d dumped ice water on him, the man suspended from the ceiling shook. The chains hanging from the ceiling rattled.
“What the fuck!” he shouted for help as he struggled, swinging around.
My fingers went numb the longer I held the chainsaw. I let him swing, but he lost control. His body started to move in a circle. Blood from his wound fell on my white shirt, making a crimson spot appear.
I focused on it for a second, drowning them both out and sinking into the bliss of chaos. Where some felt out of control, I felt normal. It was how I imagine everyone felt every single day, their brains not on fire and steadily trying to destroy them.
A slow smile curved my lips as I stepped forward and held the chainsaw out. He couldn’t stop his body’s momentum as he swung into the chainsaw. He got stuck, and the screams intensified as the chainsaw started cutting through flesh.
With him hanging, I couldn’t get enough pressure to cut through the bone. I pulled the chainsaw free, blinking away the spots of red in my vision. I had to wipe my eyes and glasses clean. Blood gushed out of the wound and I could make out the muscles and bone I hadn’t been able to get through.
His body swung back and forth limply. and I didn’t need to look up to know life was flickering out of his eyes. I moved over to his friend, letting the chainsaw die down so I could talk to him.
“He was meeting some cop,” the one on the table screamed. He shook his head, refusing to look at the other guy. “Please, we didn’t know this would happen.”
“What did you think would happen?”
“The guy was only supposed to take a crate or two.” His eyes bugged out as I pulled the string on the chainsaw. “Wait. Wait!”
The engine hadn’t started, and I stopped letting it recoil back. I cocked a brow.
“I don’t have a name.” He licked his cracked lips before coughing. “I swear. Please.”
“Who was it?”
He shook his head. “No idea. Only saw him once, and he wore a mask.”
“In other words, you’re no longer useful.”
“Wait, I could point him out.” He was grabbing at straws.
My head was shaking before he even suggested it. “Impossible to get every cop in New York to line up for you to pick out who you think it might be.”
I’d have to dig into all of Benjamin’s past work and see where and when money started to go missing, along with products. The chainsaw started up once more, drowning out the shouts and curses.
This is paradise.
Once it was all said and done, I stepped out of the room, cleaning the blood from my glasses as I slipped them on.
Blood covered me from head to toe. I didn’t need to see my reflection to know what I looked like.
A smile stretched my lips as I stood there in the mess of my making.
It was the only time everything wasn’t overwhelming.
No amount of noise, smell, or touch could deprive me of the calmness that coursed through me.
“Enzo,” Benito called out.
I didn’t jump, the reaction long ago beaten out of me. I turned to look at my brother. He normally never stuck around when I had to torture. A cigarette hung between his index and middle finger. The cherry glowed red before a tendril of smoke curled in the air.
I was so high off the moment of normalcy I hadn’t even noticed the smell.
Benito pushed off the wall, his weighted gaze rooting me to the spot as he stepped forward.
He took another drag as he stopped right in front of me.
He was far taller than me, but my brother had never ruled it over me, at least not since we were children. I tilted my head back slightly.
“You still have that picture?”
My stomach clenched, knowing exactly which one he was referring to. I fought to continue meeting his gaze head-on. The normalcy was slipping away before I was ready for it to.
“Yes.”
Benito nodded and moved to walk past me. He placed a heavy hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “You know why I made you keep it, don’t you?”
“So I wouldn’t repeat my mistake.”
Benito’s hold tightened. “Are you?” I turned to look at my oldest brother. His gaze was unwavering. “Are you repeating your mistakes, Enzo?”
My heart rate slowed as my fingertips went cold. My instant answer should be no. However, Tex’s face flashed before me and how I’d let him walk out of my place. I hadn’t even checked him over.
“Enzo.” Benito’s voice dropped an octave. “Non mentirmi, fratello.”
My tongue felt heavy in my mouth, and the blood that covered me felt tight. I wanted to wash it all off. The longer I stood there with it on me, the more it felt as if I was in a closet-sized room that was shrinking by the second.
If I told him the truth, Tex would meet the same fate. Or he’d be taken from me, and that thought made breathing hard.
“Focus.” Rapid-fire Italian came from Benito.
To me, it sounded like garbled-up words with static being played over it. I opened my mouth to ask what, but that didn’t work either. My chest began to burn, and I stood there frozen, unable to talk.
“Breathe, fratello.” Benito pressed our foreheads together. “You’re my brother, and we will always have each other.“
“Familia is everything.”
Benito pulled back, and some dry blood clung to his light brown skin. He wasn’t bothered by it, but my eyes wouldn’t leave the spot until he cleaned it off. He wiped his hand over it, and the pieces fluttered to the ground.
“Do I need to get involved?”
I shook my head. “I won’t repeat the mistake.”
Benito’s shoulders relaxed. “Good.” He patted my shoulder before walking toward the exit. He stopped before he stepped out. “Find out who’s betraying us.”
I would. I just hoped it had nothing to do with Tex.