Page 49 of Inside the Sun

Very gently, carefully, he slides a tiny key into the underside of my dick cage. He removes it slowly, then sets it on the table. I’m guessing it was him who put it on me, on Anzo’s orders. Maybe he even dressed me.

I don’t say anything. My mind’s blank.

Strangely, for a second, I think about my dad’slecsó, the one I didn’t even touch. It’s probably still in the fridge, slowly going bad.

A gift from my dad… who made it knowing how much I love it.

Out of love.

Out of care.

And I just rejected it like that, his little way of showing affection, like the ungrateful fucking bitch I am.

In a way, I deserve what’s coming.

Now I have no love. I threw it away like it didn’t matter. Instead, I have pain, humiliation, degradation.

I want to cry, my thoughts begging for another chance, to see my dad again…

Something beeps in Anzo’s pocket.

I recognize the personalized text message sound; I composed it myself.

Anzo pulls it out and glances at the screen.

"Wow, he’s good, your dad. Uncanny intuition. Keeps bombarding you with texts, asking if everything’s all right," the fucker says.

He looks up at me and my eyes get wet.

Dad knows, feels me, somehow… The person I treated with such disregard still loves me, thinks of me… It breaks me even more.

"Well. Guess we gotta deal with that now."

Anzo crouches next to me, and I flinch.

"Now listen to me very carefully. Matteo, Franco, and Massimo are sitting in the soldiers’ lounge right now," he says. "From there, it’s about a two-hour drive to your parents’ house. In two hours, your dad will be dead if you fuck up even once during that call. Got it?"

His face is like stone.

I stare at him. I feel the blood drain from my head. Actually, it feels like it’s draining from my whole body. Anzo watches my reaction closely.

"Do I have your attention now? Good. Listen up. You’re going to call your dad back. You’ll tell him you broke up with Martin and you’re feeling a little down, but everything else is fine and he doesn’t need to worry. That’s the only way he lives. If you so much as hint at anything weird, if he senses anything off, your dad’s dead in two hours. Got it?"

I nod. I’m not even thinking about trying anything. Because my dad’s life, just the idea of anything happening to him, is worse than the vision of my own death. He’s already suffered enough. He doesn’t deserve any more pain. I already added to it.

Anzo grabs me by the shoulders and pulls me up into a chair. The position feels unnatural. I’d rather be lying down. My arms drop lower now, triggering another wave of pain. But he hands me the phone.

"Put it on speaker. Call him back."

I do as I’m told and press the green button.

"Sun? How are you, son? I’m sorry to keep bothering you, honey. I just… I’m really worried about you. I feel like something’s very wrong…"

I have to choke back the tears building in my eyes, and steady my voice; it wants to crack, wants to fill with sobs.

"Dad, you don’t need to apologize for calling. I… I’m not doing great. I broke up with Martin. It was bad. A big fight. I’m just not in the best mood."

There’s a pause on the line. I’ve never confided in him like this. Never said I felt shitty after a breakup. Usually it’s like, "Eh, screw that idiot." So yeah, this is different.

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