Blood in my mouth. I spit, rolling away and pulling myself upright. “Took you long enough.”
My side isscreaming.His punch broke a rib, at least, and as he holds up his hand, I realise why.
The knuckleduster looks like solid silver, matching the sharper caps that flash as Matteo smirks at me. “Hello,cugina.”
“Right on… time.” My lungs scream for air as I run my eyes over him, searching for weapons. “A touch late, maybe.”
His eyes darken. “Or two days early. A nice little speech you gave this evening. I’ll be watching carefully to see who bothers to answer your little plea.”
My grin is more like a baring of teeth. “You’re not going to be alive to see it.”
He rotates his shoulder. “Planning on poking me with your toothpick again?”
I glance behind me. “Oh, they’re not coming. I brought some extra men with me to keep them busy.”
He takes a step forward. “Just you and me, Caterina.”
“Excellent.” My hand slides down to my belt. “Did you like our little trick yesterday? Must have hurt, having your show ruined.”
He shrugs. “Plenty more of those in the future, I assure you. I’ve got all sorts of plans, Caterina. Everyone who you care about. All of them. I’m going to hunt them down when you’re dead, and I’m going to make them scream.”
Leaning in, he grins manically. “And those men you spread your legs for – they’re first on the list. They’re going to last for months. As long as I can keep them alive. They’ll beg to die, and I’m going to enjoy every moment of their pain. Maybe I’ll keep your body around to really torment them.”
“You’re a fucking psychopath.” Rage coats my vision as we face each other. I tug on the string around my wrist before pulling the knife free. “I’m going to enjoy this.”
I throw the knife. It flies past his shoulder, and he throws his head back on a laugh. “Fucking pathetic.”
“Not that.This.”
I whip the thin length of silver out. It slashes across Matteo’s face in a clean, deep cut as he folds over with a roar.
I run for him, flinging myself onto his back and gripping his neck as I wrap the garotte around it and pull as hard as I fucking can.
Matteo chokes beneath my grip. His fist slamsupand into my cheekbone, leaving fire in its wake before I dodge the second hit and slide off, backing up.
His hands grapple with the garotte, but it’s too tight for his fingers to create a gap as it cuts off his air. He shoves the knuckleduster off his hand, and I lean down to pick it up. “Heavier than I expected.”
It smashes into his nose and Matteohowls, a choked, enraged cry. He doubles over as he backs away and I stalk toward him.
I slide my dagger from my shoe. “I was going to take a long time over this, but I’d rather you were dead.”
I slash my knife across his face. “For Amie.”
Again, my heart filled with rage. “For Bea and Pepe.”
Again. “For Frankie.”
His screams turn high and reedy as my knife cuts away. There are too many, too many dead and hurt by his hand.
He slumps to his knees, his fingers clawing at his face and neck. Blood coats him; his eyes, his face as I lean forward and seize his chin in my hand.
“Gio should be here,” I tell him softly. “But since he’s not…,”
He struggles as I shove my hand into his mouth and yank out his tongue. “This is for Nicoletta Fusco.”
His screams turn muffled as my knife slices through his flesh. I shove his head back as his body collapses, gurgling sounds the only noise he makes as he chokes on his blood and I toss his tongue to the side in disgust.
I sit heavily, pulling up my knees as I watch my cousin writhing in agony. Watch his movements slow, before they stop completely.
