Julian
six
T his fucker managed to slip past me, and worse, he recognised me.
Even after the beating I gave him when he tried to escape the first time, he managed to fight back, kicking me in the balls then running out the door.
I knew I should have let Dante tie him up .
I’m useless at knots, but I entrusted Natalie with him.
I couldn’t call him back after he took her away from the danger.
I need to stop fucking up so badly. He could have found Natalie and hurt her again, he could have escaped and told the police what happened. He could…
“Boss?” Bull calls from the door. I manage to lift myself up onto all fours. Fuck being kicked in the balls hurt.
“He got away, find him .” I order and he’s off. Bull is a fast runner, hence his nickname. That and he’s built like a fucking brick shit house. I force myself up despite the pain. Bull needs to get him back. I need my treasure to get her revenge.
“Get off me.” Howard yells, I get the chair ready knowing Bull will soon be dragging his ass back in. “Do you even know who I am?”
“I don’t give a fuck who you are.” Bull growls. “But I do know what you did to that poor girl.”
“Poor girl?” Howard laughs sadistically, “Oh you mean my little pet?” Crash . Howard's bloodied body comes flying through the door, Bull follows, closing the door behind him and standing guard. “Mother fucker. I’ll sue you all.”
“ That’s if you stay alive for that long .” I can hear the smirk in Bulls voice.
“People will come looking for me, my brother is the chief of police.” He smirks at me, “but you already know that, right Julian .” I grab him by the throat and throw him back on the chair.
I hold him there and gesture for Bull to tie him down, I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.
“How would your daddy feel if you were to kill me over some pathetic slut?” He sneers, no matter what we do to him, he won’t stop talking shit about my woman.
I’ll end up killing him before Natalie gets the chance to.
“That’s his girlfriend you’re talking about, so if I were you, I’d shut your mouth.” Bull growls as he heads toward the fireplace to grab some tongs for me. He has been in this room with me so many times that he knows exactly what my next move is.
“Girlfriend.” Howard spits. “Oh I see, so you were the one who was waiting for her yesterday. Did you not come in because you’re afraid I’ll tell her who you really are?
” He smirks. “Worried she’ll leave once she learns the truth.
Or are you scared that I fucked her better then you ever could. God, her body…”
I grab his jaw, forcing his mouth open before he can say anything else.
“How did you know it was me?” He looks toward my tattoo, one I forgot to cover before coming back in here. Shit. “I can’t have you telling her who I am, so it looks like you’ll be losing your tongue.”
Bull reaches into Howard's mouth with the tongs, then replaces my hand on Howard's jaw.
I make my way over to the open fire and kneel.
Picking up another set of tongs, I eye up the different sized Ball Bearings.
No, not good enough . I look on the other side of the fire and see the barbed caltrops there.
Perfect . I reach in and take one of the metal stars with the tongs, stand and make my way over to Howard, whose eyes become wider the closer I get.
Yeah, that's right motherfucker. Be scared. Just like you scared Natalie. The smell of urine fills the room and I laugh, he's actually pissed himself with fear. Good . The flesh of his tongue singes as I press one of the points into it, his screams are like music to my fucking ears. I wonder if Natalie screamed, I didn’t hear her when we were in the bank, but maybe she couldn’t.
“ Stop screaming, the more you scream the longer I’ll take.
” I chuckle. “You will suffer just as much as you made my girl suffer.” He tries to keep quiet but can’t as the heated metal pierces through.
“You know what, I think I like this piece of jewellery. But you need a matching nose piercing,” he tries to shake his head, only to burn himself more on the other points.
“Now, now. Let’s be a good boy. The more you behave, the longer you’ll live.
” I taunt. And the longer I get to torture you for.
Twisting the caltrop I start directing another one of the sharp tips towards his nostril.
The smell of burning flesh and urine starts making Bull gag, but he stays with me.
He’s a good fucking doctor , but I swear any tiny thing makes him feel sick, especially the sight of needles .
I try not to use them as much while he's in here with me, but they are still one of my favourite bits of equipment.
I remember the first time I injected acid into someone's eye.
The screams coming from them made me so damn happy.
Yes, I’m a hitman we all are, and we are mostly clean with our kills.
But when I bring them here, to this room.
Well that's a completely different story. When I wear the mask I become unhinged, I become my alter ego. The one who can do whatever he wants to do without consequence. I become a bandit. Without my mask I’m plain old Julian, friend to the rest of the bandits, uncle to little Nico, I can do normal things like cooking, watch a movie, play football - although the others call it soccer- I mean, you kick a ball with your feet, I think football is the perfect name but whatever.
I’m two different people with two different faces.
I’ve shown her the me without the mask while wearing the mask.
She knew the normal me without seeing my face, but can she like this side of me too?
This is a part of me that I cannot control, that I can’t stop.
I wonder if she will like my dark side as well as my light.
Howard's screams dull down as he starts to lose consciousness.
I finish getting the final barb through his nose.
His tongue comes up with the caltrop, however it slowly slides down as the heat of the metal burns through it.
I take the tongs back to the fireplace and hang them on the hooks.
Howard is fully passed out now, but still breathing.
Shame. “What are you going to do, boss?” Bull asks.
“About?”
He grabs my arm and pulls me out of the room, precaution incase Howard can still hear.
“About everything, he knows who you are. He might find another way to tell Natalie.” He’s right.
Howard could write it out in blood, he could mouth it out to her, she’s a clever enough woman, if he gives her some hints she would easily guess. “You need to get rid of him.”
“It’s not down to me.” I breathe and rip off the mask. “Natalie gets the final say on whether he lives or dies.”
“B…” I put my hand up to silence him. He removes his own mask and drops down on the sofa. “You best lock the door and let the girls know it’s safe to come out. I’m sure they’re going to have a lot of questions.”
I click the padlock in place, I haven’t needed to use it for months, not since the woman who killed her teenage daughter tried to escape. Peacock had a lot of fun with that one.
“How is she?” I ask quietly, unprepared for his answer as he tells me every injury she received. It makes me want to go and rip out Howard's Adams apple with my sharpened pliers. “Will she be okay?”
“Physically, yes.” Bull sighs. “However, it may take some time for her to be mentally well again. She has been through a lot, Julian. Be gentle with her. I wouldn’t want to go above you, but I will if I have to .”
“You won’t have to.” I grit my teeth, getting pretty fucked off with my team telling me how to treat my woman .
“Good.” He stands and knocks on the bathroom door once, waits three seconds then knocks twice. Our code to let each other know it’s safe to come out. I hear the lock click, then the door slowly opens. Pea pops her head out and double checks before she nods behind her.
Natalie shuffles out, her tired eyes meet mine, the bandages on her head are now hidden behind a fringe.
So that’s why Peacock wanted the scissors.
The rest of her hair is shorter than before.
A lot shorter. “Right, we’re off.” Peacock slides her arm through Bulls.
“Rest up and I’ll see you tomorrow.” She doesn’t look back as she drags Bull towards the exit.
“Umm…” She looks down and starts fiddling with the hem of my t-shirt she is wearing. I see the outline of the boxers underneath, but she opted not to wear the trousers. I wonder why.
“Sit.” I gesture to the sofa. “I’ll make you something to eat.” I shuffle over to the kitchen, hesitant to leave her alone, even though she is only mere feet away from me.
“Umm, okay.” Her voice is quiet, unlike the confident loudness she had last week when she was dancing around her living room in just a t-shirt and underwear, a glass of wine in one hand, the TV remote in the other switching through the music channels every time one came up with an advertisement.
She was celebrating something and refused to tell me what it was.
Although there was a sadness in her eyes, she forced herself to smile.
“Anything in particular you would like?” I open up the fridge, “we have plenty of choices.” I look over my shoulder to where she sits. She’s fiddling with her fingers, her eyes quickly meet mine from where she was staring. Her cheeks redden as if she is embarrassed about something.
“I don’t mind.” She finally gives me a small smile. “Whatever you cook is always amazing anyway.” I notice she is sitting with a little lean to the left. “Would you like me to help?”
“You can help by sitting there and looking pretty.” I tell her. “Your haircut suits you.” I finally admit. Although I’m a little disappointed she cut the length, but damn she looks beautiful.