Page 62 of Fight Me Daddy

I barked out a laugh. "If you don't tell me, I'll continue to slice and dice until you're nothing but a pound of blood and exposed muscle." I traced up to his abdomen and over his arm before I ripped off the bandage on his bullet wound. "And I'll have fun doing it."

I stabbed the scalpel into his wound and he screamed. The sound was music to my ears.

"Who is Andrei?"

"Fuck," the man panted when he stopped screaming. "I can't. I can't, man."

"You were going to kill someone I give a shit about," I said as I twisted the knife in the hole I'd made in his arm. Sweat rolled down his reddened face and he blew out puffs of breath. "So I'm going to try this one last time before I start gettin' real creative."

"This...isn't...creative?"

I grinned. "Not even close." He was wasting my time and keeping me away from Calix. "But I'm done talking. Start telling me who Andrei is and I might stop carving."

"Wait. Wait. W-wait ah fuck!"

I let my scalpel move the way it wanted to move. What felt natural. Every cut into his flesh brought on more blood and it rolled down his body before dropping to the floor below. I watched the color start to drain from his face and I reached up. I slapped him roughly and he panted at me as his eyes went out of focus and then returned to normal again.

"Andrei...is my boss," he said.

My skin tingled. His boss? I had just found the answer to all of Amadeo's problems. Once I dropped this news onto his lap, he would hopefully get off my back. I kept my face passive as I stared up at the man and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Where is this boss of yours?"

"Don't...know."

I sighed and stepped toward him again. The scalpel sank into his thigh like his flesh was made of soft butter. I turned it and felt the scraping of bone. The man's eyes rolled back in his head and he choked on air.

"No, no not yet," I demanded as I yanked the scalpel free and shoved it underneath his chin. "Where is Andrei?"

His words came out choked before his eyes came back into focus. "I-I don't fucking know!" He gagged and his head dropped forward. "Don't know. Don't know. ?? ????. ?? ????. ?? ????."

"Shit," I muttered. "Looks like you've reached the end of your usefulness." I snapped off my gloves and tossed them into the trash can. "Normally I would let one of my men have their fun before they finally slit your throat, but you almost took away the one goddamn thing I care about." I reached out and grabbed his cheeks roughly. Drool spilled from his lips as he stared back at me through glazed eyes. "I can't let anyone steal my Tesoro. He's the only treasure I have."

"Andrei will gut you," the man said as a smile tugged at his lips and quickly faltered.

"I look forward to him trying."

I shoved the scalpel against his throat and pulled. Hot blood arced from the gash in his neck and sprayed onto my shirt and cheek. But I didn't look away as he gasped, his eyes bulging out of his head. The light dimmed in his gaze until there was nothing left behind.

Once he was gone I stepped back and regained the part of me that had been tucked away. I washed my hands in the sink and watched the blood turn into swirls of pink before it ran clear and I didn't feel stained anymore. I took out my phone and texted Amadeo.

Gabriele: New developments. Meet tomorrow afternoon. Important.

Ama: Now

Gabriele: No

Ama: Gabe...

Gabriele: For once fuck off!

I shoved my phone back into my pocket and grabbed my jacket. What I needed was a shower and more than that I needed Calix. I needed to touch him, hold him, and know that he was safe and he wasn't going away.

A thought came to me and I fumbled as I dug into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I pulled up the tracking app that connected with Calix's bracelet and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that he was still at home.

Calm down. He's okay.

My heart refused to believe that and the rising panic that clawed at my throat was just as sure. I had to go see Calix.

Nothing else mattered.

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