Page 45 of The Devil's Den

I rise to my feet, lifting my head in slow motion, a fist curling at my side, my chest widening with pummeling breaths.

He snickers. “Kid, you heard me. Your girlfriend was sucking cock yesterday, definitely getting some too.”

With a roar, I’m on him at lightning speed, like my body has been reborn, forgetting the scars of the day before, forgetting everything it endured. And before I know it, he’s underneath me at my mercy.

I pound his face, over and over until his screams for help and his features are distorted. But I don’t end it there.

He attempts to get his gun out of his pocket, but I snap his hand back, bones cracking as an animalistic growl rips out of me.

If he’s telling the truth, if Aida had been sent there to be….Fuck! No!

My hand clutches his throat, his eyes filling with terror, my teeth baring.

“You’re gonna die,” I tell him. “I’ve wanted to kill you for so long. I’ll enjoy this.” When I notice a knife only inches away, I stretch out my fingers to retrieve it, my palm tightening around his neck.

“Hey!” someone shouts, running up to me, his weapon cocked. In that instant, I reach for Stan’s gun and shoot the asshole before he even has a chance to pull the trigger. He dies on impact, the bullet entering his chest cleanly as he falls backward. It was stupid of the Bianchis to underestimate me. I’m stronger than they think. They made me that way.

I pick up the knife, aiming it at Stan’s eye, and slowly, I puncture it as he tries to scream but his voice is no longer there. This time, I’m the one who’s smiling.

It goes deeper, the blade sinking through his flesh until only the handle shows, until he’s dead.

“Fuck you!” I spit into his face, then grab his car keys from his pocket as I dash out of there. But I’m not running, I’m coming back to the den. For her. It’s always her.

Aida’s my lifeline, an extension of me. Without her, there’s no boat. There’s only fire. And I’m sick of being burned.

* * *

They thought I’d never get the chance to escape, so they’d let things like Agnelo’s address slip, not thinking I’d ever need it.

It’s thanks to their stupidity I’m able to drive back to the house. At first, I had no idea what the fuck I was doing at the wheel, but I watched them every time they drove me to this shithole. Saw how they started it, what they did to drive it. I memorized everything. Every damn detail of the outside. I ate it up. Spit it out. Then chewed it up again. Until I could taste it.

Sure, I’m nowhere near good enough to drive, and I’m definitely afraid of going fast in case a police officer stops me, but it’s good enough.

They’ve got one of those GPS things too. After taking five minutes to figure it out, I realized they had Agnelo’s address programed in here, even had his name.

Finally pulling up to the house, I run to the door, banging on it so hard, I almost break the glass.

Ms. Greco opens it, Robby huddled to her side, but when she sees me, her eyes bug out. “Robby, sweetie, why don’t you go and finished building our tower?”

“Okay.” He frowns at me, darting off.

“Where is she?” I push past her, running into the house. “We all gotta go. Now! Aida! Where are you?”

“Matteo, you’re bleeding,” she whispers. “Your back. Your face. Oh my God.” She clasps a hand around her mouth.

“Is she upstairs? Why isn’t she down here with Robby?”

“Matteo…” She shakes her head with sorrow permeating her eyes.

“Tell me.” I walk up to her, gently clasping her shoulder, bending my head to meet her gaze as she lowers her face to the floor.

“She’s upstairs. Hasn’t come out since…” She pulls in a trembling breath, tears trapped in her lower lashes.

“Since when?”

“Since Agnelo brought her home yesterday…from that vile place.”

“Fuck!” I shout, stepping back, pulling at my hair. I don’t want to think of what they did to her there. The fury, it fills me to capacity, my chest expanding with every ravaging breath.

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