was going to make Nadine Roche a widow. Partly because I couldn’t stomach sending this piece of shit back to that sweet woman, but partly because I had some demons to exorcise.
I glanced over at Curtis as I arranged my toys. “In all honesty, Curtis, I’ve been having a fucked-up week,” I told him. “You just got the shitty end of the stick, my friend.”
I heard the hum of the elevator and knew I had a visitor. A few seconds later, Luca walked through the door. I wasn’t surprised to see him, but I hadn’t been expecting him either.
“What’s up?”
“What do we have here?” he said, asking his own question. “Is that Curtis Roche?” His face was a bit beaten, so I could see how Luca would ask for clarification.
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “The dude just doesn’t learn.”
Luca walked further into the room until he was leaning up against one of the support beams that held up some of my suspension chains. “I haven’t heard from you in a couple of days,” he stated calmly. I snorted.
We both knew why he was here.
“I’m still pissed,” I admitted.
“I thought that might be the case,” he replied.
Curtis’ muffling got louder, and I almost rolled my eyes. There’s no way he could possibly believe Luca would save him. Luca detested abusers.
I turned to face Curtis. “Shut the fuck up, you coward,” I barked. “Luca’s not here to pardon you.” I turned back to Luca. “Can you believe these assholes, sometimes?” I shook my head in disgust.
Luca ignored the terrified man. “So, what are you more pissed about?” he asked. “That we arranged dinner without you? That you fought with Francesca? Or that slap?”
“All three,” I answered, sliding him a look.
“We shouldn’t have arranged that dinner without letting you know about it,” he said, apologizing without apologizing. “We tend to…weaken when it comes to Francesca, and we let her have her way.”
I straightened as I met his eyes. “You know what I thought when I discovered you guys all having dinner?” Luca shook his head. “I thought of that night in the warehouse. I imagined that must have been how Frankie was feeling to find out we had kept her in the dark about what we were doing. It was very sobering.”
Curtis started dancing around in the chair, and my frustrations got the best of me. I walked over with the meat cleaver and brought it down on the remaining fingers of his left hand. He howled behind the gag, but it was muted noise that no longer made an impact on my ears.
“You should have stopped whining like a little bitch while we were talking, Curtis,” I spat.
“They never learn,” Luca mumbled behind me.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the first thing Nadine buys is a cake in celebration of getting rid of this asshole,” I muttered, my irritation showing.
Luca continued as before. “So, you didn’t like the role reversal,” he prompted.
I dropped the meat cleaver back on the tray. “I’m still mad, Luca,” I told him. “I’m still mad about seeing Frankie tied to that chair and I have no one to take it out on. I know it was Phoenix’s right, but I feel…unsettled that I wasn’t the one who killed him for her.”
“I know what you mean,” he quietly agreed. My eyes flew to his, and he shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t think that anger can ever be dispelled, Ciro. And I can tell you that, even though Phoenix got to kill him, Phoenix still has residue guilt and rage over the entire ordeal.”
“I just wish I could bring the fucker back to life, so I could kill him this time,” I muttered irrationally.
Luca didn’t say anything as picked up the nail gun and walked back over towards Curtis. I squatted so we were face-to-face. “This is another lesson in keeping your hands to yourself.” I placed the staple gun on the top of his right hand squeezed.
Returning the gun back onto the tray, I started looking through my ice picks. I was going to pull out his left eye but keep his right intact for a bit.
Luca’s voice continued our conversation, “And that slap?”
I looked over at him in disbelief. “Can you believe that shit? She actually fucking slapped me.” Once the initial anger had worn off, a brief bout of admiration crossed my mind when I thought about how this tiny slip of a girl actually had the balls to slap me. Grown men have pissed their pants just talking