Page 64 of Of Desire And Deception

She filled the bowl while I held her hair back, then looked up at me, reticent. “Is this where you take your victims?”

“Come now, victims make it seem like they don’t deserve it,” I scoffed. “But you, my pretty little liar, deserve everything that’s coming, don’t you?”

She refused to answer and looked away, so I set the bowl down next to the bed and crouched next to the tarp in the middle of the room. She gasped when I threw it back and revealed yet another traitor.

“This is Donato,” I explained. “He got his brother killed when a warehouse was raided and sided with my family’s enemies. Unfortunately for him, I found out. Do you want to see what I do to those to betray my family, Remington?”

“You’ll never get away with this,” she hissed, pulling the blanket to cover herself. “They put people away for life for murder.”

“You thought you’d send us all to prison, goldilocks?” My lip curled into a sneer, and I stalked toward her. She recoiled as I leaned down, but I fisted her hair until she cried out and forced her gaze to meet mine, growling, “Surprise, I’m your jailer now.”

I laughed as Remington struggled, then reached behind her to the chains bolted to the cement wall. She fought me, but her body was slow, and I subdued and cuffed her easily. “Be a good girl and stay put while I give you a private demonstration of my skills.”

Her body was a distraction, so I tossed the covers over her before returning to my other guest.

“You’re sick. You know that?”

I rolled my eyes and glanced over my shoulder as I retrieved another syringe and turned my music on, breathing deeply as the first violin strains filled the room. “You really need to come up with something more original. You’re smart, Agent. Do better.”

I gave Donato the reversal shot and raised the chain attached to his cuffs until he was nearly suspended. He groaned as he came to, no doubt aching from the bruises I’d inflicted while capturing him. His swollen eyes wouldn’t open enough to look at me, saving me from having to gouge them out if he so much as glanced at Remington. I slapped him in the face for good measure, grinning as my handprint bloomed in red.

“I want you to pay close attention, Remington,” I singsonged, bouncing on the balls of my feet as the anticipation of torture got my adrenaline pumping. “I’m not a reasonable man, but I will give you a choice.”

“Can’t wait to hear it,” she grumbled, glaring.

“You can choose my traditional offering that Donato is about to get.” I ticked the options off on my fingers. “Or you can take the Remington special. I will toy with your body and twist your mind, and by the time I’m finished, you’ll be screaming my name in pleasure and begging me for more.”

She pressed her lips together, and I knew she wanted to tell me she’d never beg, but she knew what I was capable of. I’d break her. There was no denying that we were thunder and lightning paired perfectly in the storm of life.

“Don’t make a rash choice,” I warned, selecting a wicked-looking blade and letting it flash in the light. My guests’ eyes widened at the sight, and I chuckled. “Take your time and remember to be grateful. Donato doesn’t get the opportunity I’m giving you.”

I ripped the duct tape from Donato’s mouth, and he yelled, begging for his life immediately. I shook my head, disappointed at how weak he was. “You were never worthy of the family. The only person you ever cared about was yourself.”

“I was loyal!” he shouted, like somebody might hear him.

“You don’t know loyalty.” I dragged the knife down his chest, and he grunted from the pain. I completed the letter with another swipe. “Because of your selfishness, your parents will now mourn two sons.”

He blubbered as I carved more letters into his flesh until traitor mangled his chest and poured red down his torso. The world faded away, lost to the darkest part of me as I worked on Donato, ensuring his last moments would be as excruciating as possible. He passed out twice, but I brought him back with smelling salts.

Unfortunately for him, I wanted to make what happened to him so horrific that it wasn’t even a consideration for Remington. I might be able to torture her to some extent, but I could never treat her like I did men.

Retrieving an electric drill, I set about placing screws in Donato’s joints, leaving an inch or so protruding. Then I grabbed a bat and stood before him, twirling it as I whistled Take Me Out To The Ballgame. He hung listlessly from his chains, screaming and swinging like a pinata as the bat cracked into his left knee. I waited for him to still before taking aim at the right knee.

His wheezed cries garbled together as I went for his hips, ankles, and the screws in his other limbs. At one point, Remington began gagging behind me, and the fact that I’d heard her shook me. It was nearly impossible to stop playing once I started, but I paused to hold the bowl as she wretched. Her face had gone pale at the sight of Donato’s blood on my hands and arms, the crimson fingerprints I left on the metal, and she refused to look at me. I washed the bowl and returned to the task at hand.

Acid would have added a nice touch, but I couldn’t guarantee Remington’s safety with the fumes in the room, though I had state-of-the-art ventilation. I sighed, knowing Donato wouldn’t last through another round. Reluctantly, I selected a cleaver and began hacking at his legs. It was rather unsatisfying; I’d miscalculated, and he didn’t give the symphonic response I was going for. Instead, he lost consciousness and bled out quickly. Still, I dismembered him, knowing that Remington would hear, even if she tried to close her eyes against the carnage.

She thought I’d been too absorbed to notice that her breathing was a little too rapid with excitement as she watched me work. The violence turned her on, and I could practically smell her from across the room. I knew that was in my head, since everything smelled of iron and vomit. It didn’t stop my cock from swelling.

Soon, I told myself.

Remington lifted her eyes when I stood before her in all my violent glory, my chest heaving from the excitement and exertion. Her lower lip trembled as I captured her chin, but she didn’t resist as I pressed a kiss to her mouth and tasted her.

I pulled away slowly, admiring the blood covering us both. “It’s time to make your choice, goldilocks.”

Her jaw ticked under my fingertips, but we both knew there was only one option. She’d admitted she didn’t want to die when I pinned her under me at her apartment. I held my breath when her lips parted.

“I’ll take the second option,” she whispered angrily, wrenching her face from my hold. “I’ve survived sex with you before. It’s funny that you think I’ll somehow become a weak, whimpering woman for you.”

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