43. Games #3
The soldier shook his head, refusing to open his mouth. I glanced at the man beside him and then towards Callum. “Five seconds to steal a life and answer for him.”
Nothing. Fine by me. The fun had only just begun.
I bent down, grasped one of his toes with the pliers, and twisted until I felt the bone snap.
He heaved through the pain but remained silent.
When all five toes on his left foot were rotated, I stood up and advanced to Contestant B.
The man’s eyes were squeezed shut, fully aware of what was about to happen if he failed to answer.
“Contestant B.” I pointed the pliers at Callum. “Who is that man?”
Sweat beaded along his hairline. He pressed his lips together firmly. After breaking five of his toes, it was clear he was the weakest link of the three. He howled like a wolf with each twist.
“Contestant C.” I stood in front of Callum’s dangling body. “The name you were born with.”
He glared at me. I smirked. This would hurt him the most, considering he was holding himself up on his toes. I had to admit; I never thought Callum would be so mentally strong. He hardly flinched.
“Round Two. The other foot.”
I moved along them all again, twisting more toes as they refused to answer my questions. Round three, where I cut off each of their index fingers, and round four, where I shattered their kneecaps with a baseball bat, were much the same. Silence.
“Round five. A favourite of mine. An answer or an ear. Your mate Damiano enjoyed this one.” I grabbed my knife and stood in front of Contestant A.
He was a burly man, shaved head and plenty of tattoos.
The one on his neck was a woman’s name. Sadie.
Not an Italian name. Deciding to try a different tactic, I asked, “Who’s Sadie? ”
His bloodshot eyes snapped up to my face, and I saw the first flicker of panic. Clearly, she meant a lot to him. The idiot shouldn’t have had his weakness tattooed on his neck for everyone to see.
As if I were one to talk.
He clenched his jaw.
“It won’t take me long to find out. All I need is to give my man Nero a quick call, and I’ll know everything I need to.”
“I’ll steal a life,” Contestant B interrupted.
All our heads whipped towards him, and I smirked.
I knew he’d crack first. But the most interesting thing of all...
he spoke in English. Not Italian. And was that an Irish accent I detected?
I needed him to speak more to be sure. “Sadie is the reason he won’t talk. He’ll protect her with his life.”
Callum threw his head back and laughed. I frowned, unsure what he could find so amusing about this situation.
I stepped towards Contestant A and cut the upper part of his ear off as he hissed at me.
Yeah, this bastard would sooner die than ever utter a word.
But that was useful to know. Sadie, who I could only presume was the love of his life, would die if he betrayed whoever he was working for, so he’d stay silent until the end.
I bypassed Contestant B, holding my end of the deal for stealing a life, and moved straight over to Callum.
“You told Aria you came to Italy to settle a score. What score did you settle?” I growled in his face. His gaze hardened as it flicked over my shoulder and landed on Giovanni. There was hostility there. Deep-rooted anger.
“Your family betrayed mine,” he growled through clenched teeth, talking directly to Giovanni. My brother stepped forward, standing beside me.
“So you are a Leone. Whose bastard were you? Riccardo’s? Or his son, Lorenzo?”
Callum chuckled, his chest convulsing as he leaned his head against his bicep. “That’s a lot of questions. I answered the first one. It’s not my turn.”
I ran my tongue along the front of my teeth, and Gio turned away to let me carry on. But I was finished with the petty games. It was time to show them exactly who they were dealing with.
“Round six. Bring in the mirrors.” My men wheeled in the standing mirrors and positioned them in front of each of them. “I’ll cut off your eyelids. So you have no choice but to watch what happens to you from now on.”
Contestant B squirmed in his chair against his restraints, growing increasingly pale.
“Contestant A. Where were you taking my wife?”
He heaved erratically, glaring at me. I glanced at Contestant B, waiting for him to steal another life to save himself from the torture. His whole body was trembling, but Callum cut across.
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
Contestant B glanced at Callum before lowering his head and whimpering.
I grasped the top of Contestant A’s shaven head and pulled it back. Gio stood behind him, holding him steady as I carefully cut away both his eyelids. This time, he screamed.
Contestant B was a blubbering mess as I approached and repeated the question.
“Please… pl-please. If I tell you anythin’, they’ll kill my kids.” I glanced at Gio. That was definitely an Irish accent.
“Okay,” I sighed, cocking my head. “Instead, tell me who ‘they’ are?”
He shook his head, tears streaming down his face. “I… I can’t.”
Gio yanked his head back by clutching a handful of his brown hair, and I straddled his lap, carefully cutting off his eyelids as well.
When I reached Callum, I spun the knife in my hand, studying him and piecing together the fractured parts of what I knew so far.
Callum wasn’t working alone. He was working with someone.
Maybe an Irish Mafia family? But one that used to have links to the Leones and helped Callum get his revenge on my family.
But… he said my family betrayed his… that would suggest at one point we were allies or had some loyalty. We never had any loyalty to the Leones…