“She doesn’t want to see you,” I answer. “Not now. Not after everything.”
His jaw tightens.
“I just need to talk to her, Luke. Please. I’m fuckin’ beggin’.”
“No.” Luca’s voice cuts across the room sharp as a blade. “You need to give her what she wants. She doesn’t want to see you, so she won’t. Not until she says otherwise.”
Hank’s eyes flick toward him.
“She’s been through a lot,” Luca continues. “Not to mention she was already struggling with losing you.” He steps closer, his voice steady but firm. “She loves you. And she knows you don’t want the same as her.”
Luca’s charged words hang in the air. As much as I want to stand up for Hank, I agree with Luca. Hank made this mess and acted like a damn idiot. Now he has to live with the consequences of his actions.
For a moment, nobody moves.
Luca cracks his knuckles and rolls his shoulders like a man about to clock in for work. “Alright,” he growls. “Let’s get this done. Luke, let’s give these two men the ass whipping they deserve.”
“I want to help,” Hank adds, stepping forward.
“No,” is all Luca says. You’d think he was the Pres instead of Earl.
“I want the whiny ass prick who thought he had the right to put a sock in my ol’ lady's mouth. He touched her. Forced her delicate hand around his dick.”
Luca nods. “Then I’ll take this asshole. He should’ve been dead the moment he thought of buying my sister. A ten-year-old child.”
Abraham, Hiram, whatever the fucker wants to be called, doesn’t take his eyes off Luca as he approaches him. Blood drips from his lip, hitting the concrete in slow, steady drops.
Luca pulls a knife from the holster on his belt and stabs it right into the man’s shoulder. “You and your son picked the wrong family to mess with.”
Luca must have expected some reaction. It’s not like he can talk so perhaps some fighting back, trying to break free from the chains. But nothing. The man just glares.
Luca sighs. “See, that’s disappointing. I wanted more of a fight.”
“Well, let’s have some fun,” I say a little too excitedly. “I have a woman to get back to and I still need to get some clothes from my house.” Then, just because I know Hank is there and listening, and I want him to really get what he’s losing, I say, “I’m moving in with my woman.”
I forget about Luca and what he’s doing, and focus on the man whose life I plan on taking.
I see him move in my periphery, but I don’t waste time. I step over to the table and look at all the tools on the table andhanging on the wall. I want the fucker to suffer, but I want to be done with it too.
It takes me a minute to decide what I want to do first. But when it hits me, the corners of my lips turn up. The fucker is already reaping the rewards of one of the vile acts he did to my girl. My body shakes just thinking of what those socks must taste like. But thanks to Luca’s addition, it has to be ten times worse than how it was for Vee.
I pick up the clippers, blades strong enough to cut through bone. It was a little treasure that Doc brought home from the hospital for us to use. He’s going to pay for every finger that touched my girl.
I turn and head toward the son. I haven’t even bothered to remember his name because he’s nothing. A nobody. Someone that no one is going to miss or ever be able to find.
His eyes land on my hand as I step up in front of him and they go wide with fear. I imagine he’s trying to scream, but all I hear are muffled sounds coming from his mouth. He starts fighting as best he can, arms jerking the chains as they groan their resistance.
With every movement he makes, the metal cuffs bite into his wrists, causing him to bleed more. His arms are stretched high above his head, his shoulders probably screaming from the strain. I know mine would be. His ankles are still bound and his bare toes barely scrape the concrete floor.
Luca’s laughter cuts through the room, but I don’t lose my focus.
“Hank, chair,” I order, needing to get a little height so I can do what I have in mind.
“Fuck, Ace, wish we had some popcorn for the show,” I hear the prospect say with a chuckle.
Hank steps up beside me, not with a chair but a stool. He places it on the ground in front of me and I step onto it.
“Trust me, this is going to be far more painful for you, but that’s okay.” I wink at him.
