Page 25 of Psycho

“Please don’t do it.”

I take a deep breath and hold the blade up.

“I’m sorry, so sorry. I don’t have a choice. If I don’t do this, he’ll kill me, and I can’t die. It’s not just my life on the line. My mother will die too. I promised my dad I’d take care of her.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

PSYCHO

Listening to her talk about her mother, as a tear rolls down her cheek, makes me curious about things I shouldn’t be. I wonder what the deal is with her mother, that she cannot care for herself. I can’t stop myself from asking, even though it’s going to confuse her, and make her think I care. Which I don’t.

“Is she sick?”

She nods and admits.

“Very. When my father was killed, she lost her way. Her depression is killing her, slowly.”

Interesting. I assumed it would be cancer, or something like that.

“Make your cut. I’m growing impatient.”

“I hate you, Massimo Bonetti. I fucking hate you,” she says as she pierces his flesh, and drags the knife over his stomach, like she watched me do to her.

“Deeper.”

When I cut her, I wasn’t trying to fatally wound her. It was lighter treatment than she deserved. She will do far worse to her boss than I have done to her so far. Easton’s screams become annoying, so I grab duct tape from under the table, tear a piece off, and cover his mouth. His face is red, and covered with tears and snot. Way to die like a man, buddy. I’ve always known he was a coward, but now he’s proving I was right all along.

Bones is going to be pissed, because eventually a new District Attorney will be elected, and we’ll have to go through everything to get that person in our pocket. This is all his fault, though. He is the one that didn’t want to fuck with the pretty ADA, and waited until shit got out of hand. So now I’m doing his fucking job.

Her hands tremble as she pulls the knife out, and plunges it deep inside his abdomen.

“Fuck. Good girl.”

This is a first for me, forcing someone to kill another is different, but I think I like it. Maybe I’m more depraved than I thought, because my dick is hard as fucking steel.

Easton bucks his hips up, but he isn’t going anywhere. His screams are muffled now, but I can still hear them. Sometimes I like to hear them cry out in pain, but not now, because I’m solely focused on Anastasia. I don’t think she realizes it yet, but she’s going to kill him. Today is a big day for her. Your first kill is something you never forget.

I remember mine well, after my father found me with the Russians.

“How much did you tell them, Massimo?”

I shake my head and answer, “Nothing. Bonetti men are never rats.”

He grins at me while he pats his chest.

“You make me proud, figlio.”

My heart swells with pride, because my father is everything I strive to become. The thought of disappointing him is not something I can bear.

“It’s time for your next lesson, Massimo.”

I nod, ready for anything he wants me to do, as I look at the six Russian men of the Kuznetsov family, hanging upside down from chains, much like I was.

My father hands me a knife, and I take it, staring at it with a feeling I can’t quite describe. I think maybe this is what it’s like, when you become a man. Gone is the awkward little boy, unsure of his place in the world, replaced with the carbon copy of my father. Everything I want to be. All boys look up to their father, but for me, it’s different. For the last four years, I have asked to take part in the business. He has always said I was too young, and was not ready. After what I’ve endured, he knows I can handle it.

“This is a custom made blade for you, figlio. It can cut through flesh and bone with ease. That means you are careful with it. This is yours now. Use it now to exact your revenge. How much, or how little, is up to you, Massimo. If you cannot finish it, I will.”

I start with the man that beat me to a pulp. Maybe I should savor it, and drag out his pain, but at this moment, I want instant gratification.

---