Page 7 of Charity's Torment

“Please. Wait,” he said. “I gambled it. I lost it all on the tables.”

I glanced at Luca. Did he accept this answer, or did I need to press for more?

Luca tilted his head, silently telling me to proceed. He didn’t believe him, and I didn’t either.

I looked back at Vinny and tapped my knife to his cheek, ripping a devious smirk across my face. “I know you are aware you aren’t coming out of here alive. So you are probably thinking… you’ll just leave that money for your family. I’m sure they know where it’s at… right? So let me tell you what is going to happen.” I ripped my knife down his chest, cutting into his flesh. His screams ricocheted off the walls as his blood gushed over his shoulders. I waited for him to stop squealing so I could finish my threat. “Before you die, I’m going to leave this room and head to your home. Then, I’m going to make your wife watch as I slit your son’s throat. I’m sure she’ll tell me where the rest of the money is, and when she does, I’ll string her up… just like you are now, and slash her from navel to throat and let her fall apart from the inside out.” Vinny’s sobs became louder. “Then I’ll come back here and show you the lovely pictures I took and cut pieces from you until there’s nothing left. How does that sound?” I flashed him my pearly whites and ran the blade over his gaping wound, forcing it to become deeper until my knife caught on his bone, and I had to jerk it away.

“Ah! Okay. Okay.”

It took him a moment for his whimpers and cries to settle down. Given that having your bones cut into was extremely painful, it was surprising he could speak at all.

“I’m listening.”

Luca leaned against the wall with his arms folded, his eyes roaming my body, his lip slightly tipped up in a smile. If he keeps giving me that look, I will forget myself and why I was here.

“I hid it in the floorboards of my office at the construction site. There’s only twenty-five grand left.” Blood created a fresh path over his chin into his eye, turning it bright red.

“Where is the missing fifteen grand?” Luca’s voice was icy enough to send shivers down my frame.

“I-I… Oh, God,” he shrieked, “I spent it on my son’s college tuition.” Vinny’s tears and blood dripped to the floor, making a beautiful mixed puddle of turmoil.

I waited for Luca to give me the order. “You can go, Charity. Thank you.”

The knife clattered to the table as I abandoned it and went over to Luca. “You never let me have any fun.”

I placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. Admitting my attraction to Luca aloud would be suicide, but not in the literal sense. Being rejected is mortifying and death to the soul. Luca leaned forward, gripped his hands on my hips, then moved me back, solidifying my decision to never show him how I feel.

“You’ll get your chance next time.”

I walked away, alone.

Nico, the family lawyer, and Luca’s slightly older brother sat at the bar. “What are you doing here so late?” he asked.

I plopped in beside him and stole his decanter. “Unexpected work. What else?” I swallowed the remaining liquid. “Water? Nico, I relied on you to supply me with alcohol, notwater.” I scowled.

Nico chuckled and raised his hand for the server to come by and refill it. “I have court in the morning. I can’t muddle my mind with liquor before a case.” He placed his large hand on my thigh.

While it may be an innocent touch for him, it sent fire through my spine and ignited something deep in my gut. Nico would be a man I would bring home to Mom. She wouldn’t find anything negative to say about him. It tempted me at times to ask, but I never had the courage to.

A fearless executioner can’t ask a man out…how sad.

I laid my head on his shoulder and sighed. “If only we could all be as responsible as you.”

“At your age, I was partying like a rock star. I’d say you have it more together than most men and women your age.”

“I didn’t get the luxury of freedom like you did, Nico. In case you forgot.” I reminded him of the arrangement he and his brother made with me—the one I couldn’t refuse. I wished I had the freedom to be stupid and party, but my brother showed me what happens when you indulge without restraint—you come out worse for wear, looking like a hag with the world out to get you. I would never be like him.

“You could have let your brother accept the repercussions. You wouldn’t be in this life if you had.” I lifted my head to look him in the eyes. “He was the one that screwed up, not you. Yet you took it upon yourself to save him. Was it worth it?”

I glanced away and pondered his question. I never asked myself if it was worth saving my brother’s life. He was family, no matter how fucked in the head he was or how much he didn’t give a shit about his own life. I felt compelled to help him, just as I do today. “Yes. You’d do the same for your family.”

Josh and I were more similar than I cared to admit. Although he made poor life choices that now affect me, we think the same. We both have that thirst for blood—the desire to rid people of this world that deserve it. He just didn’t have the discipline that I do.

“Don’t compare my family life to yours. It’s not remotely similar.”

“No. But it’s family. With that, we can relate.”

“We can.” He brought his fresh drink to his lips and sipped. Nico loosened his tie on his navy-blue suit and exhaled.

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