Page 27 of Bones

Slowly the plates begin to squeeze his forearm and he screams. I roll my eyes, because I know damn well it’s not painful yet. Uncomfortable maybe, but not painful, and he is already screaminglike he’s in absolute agony. Punk ass bitches annoy me, so I speed things up and smile at the sound of crunching bone.

Now he really screams as he nearly convulses in the chair, and this time I don’t judge him because it hurts. The chair buckles beneath him, and my guys rush over and set him right. This will happen repeatedly as he attempts to get away from the pain. It’s a normal response. If you touch a hot burner on a stove, your normal response is to retract your hand without thinking about it. This is no different. Realistically, he knows there’s no way to avoid this. Yet the brain will still make him try to run from it.

I move to the other arm and repeat the process, while whistling. That’s a family trait. We all do it and yes, I’m aware it’s probably a sign we’re not okay mentally. As I feared, once the plates begin to crush his left arm, he passes out from the pain. The body is amazing in the way it attempts to protect us from more than we can handle. The brain specifically. My men are well trained, and Miguel brings over a hose and sprays him in the face with cold water. They are taught to know how to respond without me having to give orders.

He coughs as he wakes to water in his nose and mouth. I glance down at his red, sweaty face. “Good morning, sunshine. Shall we continue?”

I turn the handle as he moans curse words, and my phone rings.

Holding up my finger, I say, “One moment, please.”

“What?” I answer as I walk away from sobbing Michael, so I can hear.

“Boss, we have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“Your wife, sir. She got a hold of Eduardo’s weapon and she’s holding him at gunpoint.”

I shake my head with irritation. “How did that happen?”

Glancing at Miguel, I order him, “Finish this. I need to cut my trip short.”

Walking out of the building, I go straight to the car and inform my driver we’re going back to the airport.

I climb into the backseat as Jimmy explains, and I pull up the video so I can see my wife for myself. “She played dead. Eduardo got closer to make sure she was okay, and she took his gun. Mrs. Bonetti says if we don’t shoot her, she’s going to kill him.”

I sigh as we reach the tarmac. “Listen closely, Jimmy. Nobody touches my fucking wife, even if she shoots you, which she’s rather unlikely to do. Touch her, and you’ve signed your own death warrant.”

“Yes, Boss,” he says and I hang up the phone. There’s nothing I can do about it from here, so I need to hurry home. I don’t believe she’ll shoot them. Bite them, maybe, but she won’t actually kill anyone. When I get home, my beautiful Butterfly is in so much trouble. This is why she was restrained, because I can’t fucking trust her to behave.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

ATHENA

I hold the gun in my hand, pointed at Luca’s employee, the one that kept bringing me food I’m not going to eat.

The other one stands watching, while his buddy kneels on the floor as he was told. I’m not going to kill anyone, but I’ve been trying to get the other one to shoot me to save his friend. The guy standing by the door, I think his name was Jimmy, says, “Phone call, Mrs. Bonetti. I’m not coming any closer. I’ll put it on speakerphone.”

Mrs. Bonetti.

Those two words make me feel physically ill.

“Butterfly.”

My hands shake uncontrollably. “Hang it up.”

“Baby, please put the gun down. I’m afraid you’re going to hurt yourself.”

The pounding in my head intensifies, my arms and legs tingling as I listen to his voice. The one I never want to hear again, yet also need near me. Confusion scrambles my brain as I sob. “Hang up the fucking phone.”

“Princess, open your mouth for daddy.” I’m only six years old, I don’t understand why, but I do as I’m told. Daddy says I’m a good girl and I always do as he says.

“Butterfly, please put the weapon down.”

He snaps me back to reality, but then something keeps pulling me back to that dark place. I cannot control it.

“Princess, get in the cage.”

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