Page 40 of Corrupted Deception

Without pausing for Mendoza to answer—not that he could with a rag in his throat—Cielo pressed the tip of the needle against Mendoza’s chest, just above his right clavicle and jerked his wrist, plunging the needle in at least an inch on a downward angle, right behind the bone.

A muffled roar slipped out around the gag, but the sound was too quiet to travel far. The moment the roaring stopped, Cielo removed the rag from Mendoza’s mouth.

“Ask again,tempesta,” Cielo said, completely unruffled.

My heart was pounding.

My abused palms felt sweaty.

I could only imagine what shade of green I’d turned, but I forced the words out.

“What were you doing in Maracay?” Pretty sure I was starting to sound like a broken record here.

Mendoza’s eyes finally swiveled in my direction.“¡Que te den por el culo, puta!” he slurred.

“Go fuck yourself, bitch”?Not very nice, but I supposed I wouldn’t have been very nice either if I had a giant needle sticking out of my chest.

Cielo shoved the rag back into Mendoza’s mouth then shifted the needle just a little.

I could imagine it scraping right across the bone, but I had a feeling he was adjusting pressure points, bringing up the pain level incrementally.

Mendoza roared into the rag while Cielo waited patiently.

“Speak to her like that again, and this will get very unpleasant for you, Carlos,” Cielo said coolly when Mendoza stopped.

“Your trip to Maracay?” I snapped, losing a handle on my anger for a fraction of a second.

When Mendoza still didn’t answer, Cielo left the needle in place and retrieved another from his briefcase, shoved the gag back in, and inserted the needle right through Mendoza’s shirt-covered bicep.

The man screamed, the sound loud enough to fill the room despite the gag.

I took a deep breath, dug my fingernails in deep, and blanked my expression.

This wasmyinterrogation.

“All right, Carlos. I’ve given you the opportunity to do this the nice way, but I’m afraid I’m out of patience,” I said, my tone smooth as velvet.

“I don’t actually enjoy reducing a man to a heap of blood and agony, but you’re not leaving me much of a choice.” I shook my head like it was regrettable.

Mendoza glared at me, but there was something new in his eyes now, an alertness, a single-minded attentiveness that had been lacking before.

“Would you mind removing his pants, Cielo?” I asked without looking away.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Cielo staring at me, eyes narrowing.

“If Carlos won’t be leaving this room,” I continued on smoothly, “there is a part of him I don’t think he’ll be in need of any longer. And I do find men think much better without it.”

The corners of Cielo’s lips twitched while he shook his head, now looking down almost sympathetically at Mendoza. “I think you were faring better with me,amico. But what the lady wants, she gets.”

He moved to the man’s waist, unbuttoned his pants, and jerked them down in one tug.

I leaned over Mendoza, pretending to survey the contents of the briefcase, taking my time, willing the man to hurry up and understand what I was about to do here, and ultimately, accept defeat.

Ireallydidn’t want to have to follow through on this. Pretty sure this was the kind of stuff that would make my therapist need a therapist.

Eventually, I selected a medium-sized scalpel and leaned away, carefully touching the slender blade to the tip of my finger and making a drop of blood well up.

Mendoza’s shallow breaths were coming faster, his pupils fully dilated.

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