“Ha, they sent you to torture me? What are you going to do, bore me to death?”
I feel Gio step in behind me, and I watch in amusement as his smirk drops, his face pales, and his fingers tighten on the armrests he’s tied to. “I was going to introduce you to my brother, Eddie, but I get the feeling you know who he is.”
“The Grim Reaper,” he whispers before trying to struggle out of his restraints.
My eyes jump to Gio. “The Grim Reaper?” I ask, and he shrugs.
“I’ve developed a reputation.”
“Aww, man, I want a nickname,” I tell him as I wander over to the tray of equipment and start playing with the shiny instruments.
“You’ve got one. You’re Mafia Princess,” he jokes, and Ed’s eyes widen as he watches us banter.
“What do you think, Eddie? I think Mafia Princess is rather lame.” I pick up a pair of pliers. “What about the Tooth Fairy?” I ask as I turn and show him the pliers. “I could keep a souvenir from each of my clients.” I look at Gio again. “Is that what we call them? Clients?”
He shrugs and leans against the wall. “I call them victims, but you can call them whatever you want.”
“So what do you think? Do you want to be the first of my clictims?” He looks confused. “You know, victims and clients combined.”
Gio snickers, but Ed just gapes.
“What the fuck are you talking about, bitch?” he spits, and I can’t take the name calling anymore. I punch him in the face. There’s a cracking sound, and his nose starts to spurt blood as I shake out my hand.
“Fuck. You’ve got a hard head, Eddie boy,” I complain.
Gio pushes off of the wall and looks at my hand, running his fingers across my knuckles. “It doesn’t look like you’ve broken anything. Thankfully you know how to throw a punch.” He turns and picks up a pair of knuckle dusters. “But if you’re going to beat on someone, make sure you use these. It will save your hands in the long run.”
“Good thinking. So how do you use these?” I ask him, waving the pliers.
He rolls his eyes. “Trust you to pick them. You need to use them in conjunction with this.” He holds up a weird-looking contraption. “This jacks open his jaw, otherwise he could bite your hand off as soon as you put it into his mouth. Teeth also take a bit of wiggling before they come out. It’s a bit of a process.”
“So not the Tooth Fairy then.” I throw the pliers back on the tray in disappointment.
“Oh, now don’t be like that. You can use the pliers to pull out his fingernails.” He picks them up along with a blowtorch. He turns it on, and the sound of the blowtorch is loud in the otherwise quiet room. Ed whimpers as Gio holds the end of the pliers inside the blue flame.
When they are good and hot, he hands them to me. “Just slide it under the nail, grip, and yank. It’s going to take a bit of force, so make sure you pull nice and hard.”
I feel a little queasy as he hands them to me, and I hesitate for a moment. Can I do this? Am I ready to go all the way? Am I ready to finally embrace my family’s legacy?
ChapterTwenty-One
Gio must see the indecision in my eyes. “Ed, did you rape all of the strippers?” he asks without looking away from me.
“I didn’t rape them, they were paying their dues. Junky bitches were asking for it. All except that bitch, Candy. I hadn’t had a chance to drug her yet.”
A switch flips inside my brain when he talks about drugging them. I march up to him and don’t even hesitate as I slide the pliers under his middle fingernail. He starts to scream as the hot metal touches his flesh, and he screams even harder as I yank, but the nail doesn’t budge.
“What the fuck?” I look to Gio for help.
“Slide the pliers farther under. You’ve got to separate it from the skin.”
I do as he says and push the pliers deeper, and this time when I pull with all my might, I manage to tear out his fingernail.
Ed’s scream cuts off and his head lolls back as he passes out. The nail bed is bleeding, and I watch in fascination as the bright red blood drips to the floor. It looks so pretty against the pristine white tiles.
“Yup, that’s what I was talking about as far as them being useless if the pain is too much.” Gio goes over to a nearby sink and fills a bucket with water. He then comes back and tosses it over Ed who comes to, spluttering and whimpering.
“You need to practice, so let’s keep going. I personally like the hammer.” Gio heads to the table, puts the bucket down, and picks up a good-sized ball-peen hammer. “You can target specific areas nicely with this one, and it’s not as heavy as others.” He passes it to me, and I hold it in my hand, feeling the weight.
