Page 25 of Destruction

“Yes, boss,” Marcus grits out, bowing to Benjamin’s authority over him. “Call me if you need anything.”

“It’ll be fine.”

Marcus looks dubious, but he allows Enzo to escort him out of the warehouse. Once he’s gone, Tennant calls for one of the guards from the outside to drag his newest toy off to the torture room he prepped earlier.

“Now,” Tennant says. “Are you going to do as you were told, or will our first lesson start here?”

“Do you know how long it takes to get makeup this flawless? And you want me to just wipe it off all willy-nilly? Becauseyousaid so? How is that okay? I came here for your so-called “training”, not to be degraded like this.”

Tennant moves closer to Benjamin, and he holds his ground, lifting his chin in defiance. “That’s exactly what I want,” Ten says. “I am glad you put the makeup on, this would have been far more painful for you if you went without, but now you’re here, and you’re mine. I will make you into the perfect little soldier, and to do that, I will first strip you of everything that makes you unique. Make no mistake, you will bemine, and once you are… I will show you how to rebuild yourself into something even your own Family members are afraid of.”

“And if I don’t?”

I move in closer, so as to not miss a word of what Tennant has to say. Ten looks at me, the smile on his face is pure mayhem. “Then I will enjoy ruining you. Your choice, Topolino.”

Iquickly wipe off my makeup, grimacing while I do. It’s fucking unfair, but Marcus’s whispered warning still rings in my ear. If Tennant thinks he can break me, he has another thing coming. What he doesn’t realize? I bend, not break. He wonders if I’ll learn quickly? Fuck, I wonder if he will.

Slipping back into the room where Tennant and Jude are in, I stand quietly, waiting for their attention. When Tennant finally graces me with a smirk—bordering on evil—I realize he’s known I was here the entire time. The fucker has the audacity to wink at me. At least Jude is startled by my quiet appearance.

“As a Second, sometimes you want your presence to fill up the room. Other times, you want to be a silent shadow. We’ll work on it. Both of you need practice.” Tennant taps his lips as he peruses us both. My skin flushes at the embarrassment offailing already. Tennant cocks his head, studying me, and I know I need to redirect him.

“Do you have plans for today’s lessons?” I ask respectfully. I’m trying the respectful route first, but fuck if he doesn’t make me want to piss him off. I’m not sure why, but I want to see that cold façade crumble, even if it means standing in the middle of a tornado. Only my promise to Lio and Ignacio keeps me in check—for now.

“How much experience do you have with interrogations?” Tennant’s gaze is penetrating, and it takes me a moment to swallow, and to remember he asked a question.

“I’ve been in the room when Lio has interrogated others. I’ve only participated once myself.”

“And what did you do?” Tennant keeps his sole focus on me, even though I glance at Jude. I know he’s not going to like this answer.

“Ignacio taught me how to skin someone.” I clench my teeth, rolling my shoulders back. I may not be as experienced as Tennant, or any of the Amatos or Martellis, but that doesn’t mean shit. I’m here.

“Hmm…what type of knife?” Tennant picks up our gift from where his men left him in the middle of this torture room and shoves him into a chair, locking him down easily.

“Uh, well…we didn’t have much time, and Ignacio felt using a skinning tool would be best.”

Tennant freezes for a moment, before turning to look at me. He sneers in disgust, shaking his head. “What the fuck do they teach you over there? No wonder Lio wants me to train you. That’s just fucking sad.”

“Then do better,” I snap, stepping forward. I’m still giving him plenty of space, but fuck if I don’t want to intrude, to makehimstep back for once.

Snorting, he shakes his head. “You’ve got balls, kid. But you’re not ready to take me on. Now, it seems today’s lesson is going to be about interrogation. You certainly need it, Topolino.”

He shoos me away and I move to stand next to Jude. I bite back the curses that want to fall from my tongue. I regret promising not to piss off our allies.

Tennant rips off the duct tape from the cop’s mouth, and I smile at the scream of pain. Perhaps this lesson will be more fun than I imagined.

Once the screams die down, the cop sneers at us. “You’re going to want to release me. Immediately. Maybe if you do, you won’t go away for too long. Right now, you’ve fucked yourself. You can’t just take a cop. If we go missing, the entire wrath of the blue line will rain down. And you’re already in enough shit.”

“Oh, really? The men in blue. They terrify me so much… Actually, why do they call it the men in blue? You have more than men in it…”

Tennant slides his gaze to me, as if I’d understand misogyny or bigotry. At my shrug, he once again focuses on the man in front of him, the threat doing nothing but amusing him, given his jovial tone.

“Now, let’s be clear here. I don’t give a fuck that you’re a cop. If anything, that just makes my day even better. What I want to know is why, after years of taking bribes, you decide to turn on the hand that feeds you? I don’t expect people to be smart, but a little common sense isn’t much to ask for, is it?”

The man doesn’t say a word, gritting his teeth as if that's enough to defeat Tennant’s will.Fucking idiot.Tennant gestures for me to come forward and I quickly listen, lest I piss him off. I take the knife he silently hands me and look at him sideways. “Yes?”

“Skinning lesson. You’re going to make a small nick here,” he places his fingers just under his elbow and makes a downwardsmotion. “Then slowly peel the skin back with the knife. Think of it like taking the skin off an apple. That’s all you’re doing.”

“Except the apple in this case will be screaming,” I retort sardonically as I meet the cop’s gaze.

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