my brains. The guy watching me wasn't as tough as he looked."
Leo grins. "I'm glad you're not dead. Now, tell me, where's Sergio Bianchi?"
Chapter Twenty-Five
Triss
Where's Antonio?
The question continues to plague my mind as I sit inside the hotel room waiting for news about him. Any news. It's been hours and I still have none.
And I've grown tired of waiting. Time to put the idea that hatched in my head a while ago into action.
I walk towards Gina, who is currently feeding Lara. Like everyone else, she got wrapped around Lara's finger in a matter of minutes. Now I need to try and wrap her around mine, or at least make her give in to my request.
"Gina." I sit beside her. "I was wondering if I could ask something of you."
She meets my gaze. "What?"
"Do you know where they're keeping my ex, Jim? They said something about a van."
"Yes. Why?"
I draw a breath. "I was wondering if I could talk to him."
"Why?"
So that I can ask him where Antonio is. I have a feeling he knows.
"Because I know he's going to jail. I don't want to visit him there, but there are some things that I want to tell him, you know, to get off my chest, to get some kind of closure."
"I thought he's your ex," Gina says. "Didn't you dump him already?"
"Actually..."
I tell Gina my story. When I'm done, she looks like she's about to cry. She may be a trained agent or whatever she is, but she's a woman, too.
"So you see," I tell her, "I just want to be the one with the last word. I want him to know that he can't hurt me anymore, that he'll rot in jail and I'll be happy. I win. I want him to be as miserable as can be, even more miserable than how he made me feel for so long."
Gina nods. "Okay. I'll take you to the van."
~
I have it to give it to Gina. She not only brought me to the van like she said, but she even asked Everett to leave me alone with him. I should thank her later. For now, I have a date with the monster who made my life a living hell for years.
He doesn't look much like a monster now. He's tied to a chair and half his face is bruised and swollen. He has a few cuts on his lips. Still, he manages a grin.
"Well, hello there," Jim greets me. "I didn't think you'd come and rescue me."
I sit in front of him. "What makes you think I'm here to rescue you?"
"Because I've been good to you," he answers.
Good? He really thinks he was good to me?
"You kept me locked up. You beat me whenever I did something wrong. You threatened to drug me each time I refused to do as you asked. You fucked me in front of your friends and watched as they fucked me..."
"You're welcome," Jim says.
I hit the uninjured half of his face with the back of my hand. Now his face looks more even. And as I rub my hand, I have to admit that felt good.
"You treated me like dirt," I tell him through gritted teeth.
"I gave you a home and fed you."
"Not always."
"I didn't tell the police you were the one who tried to kill me," he adds. "If I did, your pretty ass would be in jail now."
"The only reason you didn't was so you could punish me yourself. I'm supposed to thank you for that?"
He just grins. I wonder how many more times I'll have to hit him before he finally stops grinning. But before that, questions.
"Where is your new friend keeping Antonio?"
"I already told your new friends," he answers.
So he does know.
"What? They didn't tell you? Poor Christine."
"Don't call me that." I take the bread knife I took from the hotel room out of my pocket and press the blade against his neck. "Now, tell me, where is Antonio?"
Still, Jim grins. "Do you really think you can kill me this time?"
"I have the knife against your throat, which I didn't last time," I point out.
That finally makes his grin vanish. Is he scared now?
I press the blade tighter against his skin. Blood trickles out from his veins.
"Tell me."
Jim doesn't answer. I grab his crotch and squeeze his balls, something I've been wanting to do for a long time. He yelps.
"Tell me."
Finally, Jim relents. "It's an old house in a small town just outside the city."
"Give me the address," I demand.
He