Page 131 of The Heir

I give him a grin, ignoring Claudio's incessant pleading in the background. "You still gunna love me after you see how happy his torture makes me?"

He gives me a wicked smile back. "Oh honey, you don't even know it yet, but you've been promoted to the King Dynasty ball busting CEO position. There was a vacancy," he says in a serious, yet teasing tone.

"You two, stand back against the wall. Sprinklers are about to turn on," Frank barks out.

As we walk towards the wall, he brings out a device and Claudio really loses his mind. Frank walks to the cage and begins to speak over his hoarse cries.

"Claudio Maniotti, you have been captured and retained by this facility in order for you to face retributions for your crimes against the young woman standing behind me known as Isobel Sophia King." Frank says in a loud voice that echos off the walls. King slides his hand in mine, gripping tightly. "Your crimes include: stalking, kidnapping with the intent to human traffic, murder, the use of drugs to sedate, starvation, and intent to kill both victim and her unborn child. Your time at this facility has now drawn to a close, and you will be offered no last words, no last meal, no time to make peace with whatever savior, as you most likely don't have one. Your punishment is decided upon by your victim. Here is stage one, of three. If you cannot make it past stage one, a government official will administer an adrenaline drug to keep you conscious so you will mentally and physically bear the full brunt of your retribution."

Frank steps back and clicks a button. The collar releases, and Claudio drops to the floor with a sickening thud and a groan. The sprinklers turn on and he starts screaming as acid begins to fall from the top of the cage. It comes down in little droplets, not a heavy sprinkle like I thought. Claudio winces and then rolls to his side, yelling out.

The spots on his clothes where the acid touches him slowly disintegrate to show red burn marks. Once his clothes melt off, it quickly covers him, and he stumbles to his feet and lurches for the bars of his enclosure, screaming and crying out.

"Help me, Calliope!" he screams, his voice hoarse with pain."Help meee!"

My eyes narrow as I watch him, elation filling me up so fast that I almost want to tell Frank to just go ahead and let me shoot him. But no. I want my comeuppance nice and proper. King's hand slides into mine, and he stoically looks on with me.

Selfishly, I can't bring myself to ask him if he's okay with what he's seeing.

When his clothes are mostly burnt off, and his skin is bright red and peeling from his body, a loud buzz brings our attention to the doorway which is opened by a trainee. A table rolls through the door, followed by a huge industrial meat grinder. My eyes widen.

It's one thing to ask for something in theory, but another to follow through. I turn my head to look at Claudio, pure hatred replacing my trepidation.

"This makes us no different, Calliope!" he yells weakly from his curled up ball on the floor.

"Are you okay?" King asks. "We can leave, if you'd rather not see this."

I wet my lips, narrowing my eyes as the sprinkler turns off and the men in protective body equipment walk into the cage, hauling him up, dragging him out of the enclosure and plopping him on the table. There's no need for restraints as he's obviously in shock. Blood smears the floor and on the table where he's squirming.

"I don't care if I'm going to have nightmares about this. I'm already going to have nightmares about what he did to me. At least now I have something to make me feel better about it all," I say quietly, watching as Frank steps forward and injects something into Claudio's neck.

Claudio seizes up, screaming an ear shattering sound. Good. I hope this next part really hurts. A muted buzzing sound fills the room as the grinder turns on, and I smile. Feeling truly happy for the first time in three months.

"No!" he yells, arching up off the table."Nooo!"

They begin quickly, wasting no time. One of the men raises a giant knife and saws through Claudio's hand. Another scream rents the air and Claudio fights to get away, but the men hold him down. Frank takes the dead flesh, and tosses it into the grinder carelessly with an impassive expression on his face, as if he does this everyday.

Well, I guess he does.

They take it slow, dragging it on for long, torturous minutes. After every cut, they cauterize him to keep him from bleeding out. Claudio is shaking at this point. His teeth are chattering and his eye is flickering aimlessly at the celling. Every now and then you can hear a hoarse "help me," escape his lips, but pretty soon that ceases too, as does the life behind his eyes. Fading slowly.

We watch as piece after piece of him is cut off and fed through the grinder. Blood oozes through a hole in the table and trickles down. It's not long before I'm satisfied, so I step forward, not even caring I'm stepping into his blood with my Manolo Blahniks.

Coming up to his right side I hold my hand out for the knife the man to my left is holding, halting him from cutting whatever body part he's trained on next. He places it in my hand.

"Turn the grinder off," I say.

I wait until the room is completely silent, leaving us with just the sound of this fuck up of a human being whimpering on the table. Leaning into his ear, I speak to him softly. Ignoring the soft sounds of pain emitting from him.

"What makes us different is that you deserve this, andI didn't.Have a great time in Hell, Claudio."

Opting to slit his throat instead of shooting him, I put the blade to his throat and slice slowly watching as pain winces across his features and blood bubbles up and spills over his neck and out of his mouth. A few seconds later the light completely leaves his eyes. And though I'm standing in a room full of this man's filth, peace enters the space, making it feel light.

I look back at King, who's staring at me with a rather prideful look. He reaches forward, brushing his knuckles down my cheek. "I am so proud of you."

And he is, I see it in his eyes. My heart swells with love, and my eyes fill with tears. Happy tears for the first time in a long time.

"Thank you, I love you too," I sniff, ready to go back to our lives. "You ready to go, my love?" He nods his head, holding his hand out for me. I turn, eying Frank who also has a look of pride on his face. I hold my hand out to him and he takes it gently in his, giving me a squeeze. "Thank you, sir. What you do here is invaluable."

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