Page 76 of Psycho

My brothers share a shocked glance, before Bones chuckles loudly.

“Psycho’s girl is a, well,psycho. How fitting.”

Walking away from Jimmy, I look down at Hadley, and tilt her head back with my free hand.

“If that’s what you want, you’ll need to give me a few minutes first. I’ll make sure he’s still alive for you to do it.”

She motions for me to come closer, so I do. Leaning my head down, she whispers in my ear,

“He made me cry, Massimo. Make him cry louder.”

I swallow hard as her words hit me. She knows. I don’t know how, but Hadley knows her tears are only for me. It’s one of many things he took from her that he had no right to.

It’s hard to turn away from her, when all I want to do is take her in, but I do what needs to be done. Call me a sick bastard, because I’ve always enjoyed torturing my enemies, but this isn’t for me. It’s for her.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

HADLEY

I’m not sure which of us is more insane, as Massimo cuts Jimmy’s skin for the umpteenth time. He’s the one with the knife in his hand, but I watch like it’s a riveting movie, unable to look away, afraid I’ll miss some important part of the plot.

Massimo slices.

Jimmy screams.

I used to be a good person, and something like this would’ve made me sick to my stomach. Something broke inside me out there in the woods. It wasn’t the bear traps, it was something deeper. I’ve had so much taken from me. My father, mother, my son, then Massimo. The loss gets to a point where it’s too much to handle. The way Jimmy and Carlo thought they could do what they wanted to me, with no consequence. Maybe Massimo too, although I’ll admit it’s different with him. He has hurt me, but I know deep in my soul, he’d never beat me. Even the first night, when he caught me at the warehouse, and said he’d kill me, I know, he never would’ve done to me what they did. Is he a good guy? Hell no. He did things to me he had no right to do, and he may not know it right now, but he’ll pay for those choices. In the last few hours, he has taught me that I like dishing out what I have been given.

A smile crosses my lips, as a decision is made. Massimo catches the look on my face, and drags his non bloody hand down his face.

“You look like you’re planning to take over the world, little lamb.”

“Something like that,” I respond, refusing to give him more.

Setting his knife on a small table in the corner of the room, he comes back to me and squats down.

“Tell me your thoughts.”

I shake my head and say, “It’s something I know, and something you’ll find out.”

Arching an eyebrow, he grins at me, something equally curious, and slightly afraid, in his eyes.

“If you’re planning to stab me, I welcome it, and it’s deserved. I won’t try to stop you.”

He clears his throat, like he’s pushing away emotions. Massimo likes to make people believe he doesn’t feel a damn thing, but I know otherwise. He can keep that secret from the rest of the world, but not from me.

“Ready to roast his dick?”

I go to stand, and he barks, “Sit the fuck down.”

He isn’t the guy that will ever buy me flowers, and tell me how much I mean to him, but it’s there in moments like this. Massimo doesn’t want me to get hurt, and that’s how he shows that I mean at least something to him.

“Let me stand, I need to do this. You can stay close by, but I need to be on my feet.”

The reluctance in his expression is clear as day, as he drags a hand down his face, before finally relenting. He nods and helps me out of the chair.

“Hey, Bones. I need one of those bbq lighters, and gasoline, or something flammable.”

He grumbles something about taking orders instead of giving orders, which leads to his brothers rolling their eyes, as he leaves the room. Jimmy lays there sobbing. I don’t know why he’s so worried about it, obviously at this point he knows he’s gonna die. You don’t take your cock with you, so I am not sure why it matters. Then again, men are so attached to them, it’s the worst-case scenario, I think, for any man.

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