Page 70 of Dark Things
He cuts into my chest right below my tattoo of the ‘R’ over my heart. I don’t know if that was intentional, but I appreciate the thought of not slicing through it. I’d get it refilled if he did, but that’s not the point.
Blood drips from the wound to the floor, and I watch it pool at my feet. He makes two more cuts, one to my arm, and the other right above the waist of my pants. All three sting, but I hold my reaction, watching Gino’s face fall. He thought I’d make this easy for him.
I roll my eyes. “I would suggest the thigh for the next one, but if you don’t want to take off my pants, I’m sure Staffy will help you,” I say, winking in his direction.
Staff’s face turns a beautiful shade of red, and my jeans get a bit tighter. He’s fucking hot when he blushes.
“Are you some kind of fag?” Gino says, curling his lip.
The word lands hard. Twisted. Familiar. And in that moment, I see him for exactly what he is.
“Oh, come on—homophobicandugly? How tragically predictable. You’re really letting me down, Gino, baby.”
The blows keep coming after that. Gino’s breath becomes labored, and sweat dots his brow. My body is starting to wane, but no one would be able to tell. The one thing I was honest about—I’ve been beaten since I was fourteen. Nothing they can do in this small room will break me. Nothing ever has.
It’s beenhours since Gino started his party. He’s taken breaks and upped the intensity of the torture. At one point he got a car battery from somewhere and hooked the cables up to my nipples. I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would.
“Tell us where he is!” Gino screams in my face.
I pick my head up and give him a Cheshire Cat grin. “Are you not having fun anymore?” I ask, spitting blood in his face.
He bellows, but before he can stick that hunting knife in my heart, Mario walks in and whistles. Gino stops mid-swing and takes a step back, his breath sawing in and out of him.
“Spiro, sei venuto qui per morire?” Mario asks.
The guys are still in the room, not leaving me since I got here. I’d have thought they would have saved themselves, but they surprised me. At one point Brooks had to be restrained in order to not interfere with Gino’s love taps, not that Gino noticed, but I fucking did.
“Vivere e morire per me sono la stessa cosa. Non ho preferenze per l’uno o per l’altro,” I respond.
He smiles at me, patting my cheek. “I knew I’d like you. Bigger balls than your old man. But you should care if you live or die,” he says, playing with the shirt sleeves underneath his perfectly pressed suit. It’s a nice suit.
“Want to take a look? See if they are bigger?” I mock.
He laughs and turns to the guys. “I think you all need to prove to our guest that I’m not letting him leave before I get my information,” he says.
I can’t see his face, but I can for sure see the look on Staff’s, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he wasn’t happy with his boss.
Before it can get to the point where Reb will truly never forgive them, I finally get to cackle. “Mario, we both know those boys aren’t made for this. You might call themil corvibut they’re really little puppies. Let Gino continue or if you want to take a crack at it, I wouldn’t be opposed. But I’d hurry if I was you.”
He tilts his head staring at me before taking his suit jacket off and putting on the hook. Rolling up hissleeves he stands in front of me. “Why would I need to hurry,figlioccio?”
I flinch back. What in the fuck?Godson. My mask slips for a moment before I school my features once again. “Because you don’t want to be here when it happens.”
He smiles and appears to be thinking it through before he responds. “And tell me, what’s going to happen?”
“She’s coming, and you’re not going to be able to stop her. You know what that means, right, Mario? If you ever heard a story about Pitch, know that Every. Single. One. Is. True.”
“You think I’m afraid of a little girl? Someone who has no alliances, no family, no nothing. She’s a puppet, and you know it.”
I snarl, my first true reaction since I’ve been in this shitty room. “That’s your second mistake, Mario. Your first was having your boys take me, but by all means, make this easier for her.”
He grabs the brass knuckles and punches me in the face. I hear a slight crack. I hope this motherfucker didn’t break my jaw. I will be very pissed off if I have to get it wired shut.
His next hit goes to my sore ribs and the third connects with my kidneys. If I don’t piss blood after this, I’ll be shocked.
“You will tell me where he is and what he’s planning. I want to know everything,figlioccio. If you tellme, I’ll let you live. We could do great things, combine the families again and rule the city. Don’t you miss it?”
“It's hard to miss something you don’t remember. We left the city when Momma died, before all this shit went down with you and dear ole dad. Since you’re calling mefiglioccio, you have to know that, godfather.”
