[ARTEMY]
When I saw Milandro’s eyes rolling back into his head, I pressed one more time before releasing him. His head fell forward, and he coughed dangerously, desperately gasping for his next breath.
His whole body shook with the effort to take in as much air as he could.
When I noticed him getting in control of his labored breathing, I grabbed his hair and pulled his head back. I held his neck against the back of the chair and glared.
“Why?” I simply asked.
One word. One question. Milandro was one of my men. He understood how I worked. He understood what I wanted without even asking.
I thought the betrayal would hurt. It did hurt, but I was mostly consumed by anger. The fury clouded my vision and every other emotion.
I had to find Rebecca, and Milandro was my only hope. The thought of her being in danger and hurt because of someone I trusted sent a wave of pain through my body.
Was it my fault? It was a constant thought in my mind, something that slowly killed me every day since she was taken from me.
“Why the fuck did you do it?” I snarled into his face. He didn’t flinch, but the way his eyes darted to the side betrayed his fear and pain. I knew my gaze promised violence and revenge. My voice shook with it.
When he didn’t answer, I punched him again, quickly losing my patience. “Answer me!”
There was a gash next to his eye, and he winced when my punch landed on it. It looked like Avim had already done a number on him.
I looked down at my hand and saw his blood. I wasn’t wearing my gloves, and in that moment, I didn’t want to. I wanted to see his blood on my hands, knowing that he was suffering and in pain.
At the thought of Rebecca, I landed another furious punch on his face. I felt my jaw tighten and heard my teeth grinding together. If I could, I would string him up by his fucking intestines for what he had done.
Milandro coughed and choked, spitting out the blood that accumulated in his mouth. He glanced up at me through swollen eyes. “You killed my father.”
Oh, I knew this was coming. There was only one reason why he would betray me.
His father betrayed my life, my father, and when I took over as Boss, I killed him. Without any remorse or even an ounce of guilt. I left him on the cold ground, bleeding to death. When I came back at night, his body was already gone and buried.
Milandro had been kicked out of the house. He was seventeen. When I found him a few days later, he was starving. Homeless. And alone.
I brought him back into my house. We were friends, brothers not my blood, but still brothers.
I never thought it would come to this. But all this time, I was getting betrayed. For ten years, he betrayed me.
Shaking my head, I pulled away. With my hands behind my back, I glared down at Milandro. He finally flinched under the weight of my murderous stare. I felt the corner of my lips twitch with satisfaction.
“You were the traitor all this time?” Brayden growled behind me.
Milandro glanced at him and then chuckled. He broke off and whimpered in pain before replying. “Yeah. All this time…it…was me…but…you were too…blind…to see it.”
Avim’s face thundered, and he reached forward, punching Milandro in the stomach. He doubled over in agony and wheezed through his broken nose.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.
Rubbing my face in frustration, I took a deep breath. I couldn’t kill him. Not now. Not until I found Rebecca. And I knew he wasn’t going to tell me easily.
My fingers itched with the need to kill him. But for now, I was going to hurt him until he would feel the weight of the pain he caused my Angel.
“Why Rebecca? Your enmity was toward us…not her,” Brayden asked, coming to stand beside me.
Milandro shook his head. “You are…right. My enmity was with you.” He broke off and gasped. Sucking in a deep breath, he continued in a low painful tone. “I didn’t even know who she was until the day we went to the beach. Raffaele might have trusted me, but he was smart. I was never allowed into his house. Only his clubs. But that day, he called me to his house. I saw Rebecca’s picture there. I put two and two together, and there you go. She was an Cavalieri.”
“That doesn’t explain why you handed her over,” Brayden snapped. When I saw him moving forward in anger, I grabbed his arm, stopping him.
Milandro continued speaking. “Raffaele wanted her back, and I wanted to make you pay. It was easy. Two birds with one stone. The best way to bring you down was by hitting you with your weakness. And she was your only weakness.”
I stayed silent, forcing my anger into control. If I moved, I would kill him.
“For years I waited, planned. I looked for your weakness. You were a strong motherfucker. Your motto was kill or be killed. And then Rebecca came into your life. It was almost too easy,” Milandro said through his harsh breathing.
I saw his lip twitch in a small smile as he chuckled dryly. “You only made two mistakes. The first one was to trust me.”
He took a deep breath before delivering the final blow. “The second was falling in love with Rebecca. So, you see, in the end…it was your…fault. You let her…become your weakness.”
Brayden reached forward and pummeled Milandro with three furious punches. “You fucking bastard!” he roared.
He reached back for another punch, but Avim was quicker. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. When I heard Avim’s voice, my eyes snapped open.
“Did Raffaele know I wasn’t betraying Boss?” he hissed into Milandro’s ears.
Milandro laughed through his pain. “Fuck…yeah…he knew everything. It was our plan. We’d make you think he believed you, while I was behind your back, giving him the correct information. How did you think he always knew your moves when Avim was giving him false information?”
“So it was all for nothing?” Brayden snarled, pulling away in frustration.
Milandro nodded. “It…was…obvious. Avim was…too…loyal. Even when he was…close to…death…he never spilled…anything.”
He paused, taking in desperate air through his compressed lungs. “He…knew you…would never betray Artemy.” Glancing back at Avim, he smiled through his broken lips. “You are…like…a…fucking loyal dog.”
Avim’s eyes glowed fiercely with fury. “You little shit,” he spat.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I finally spoke. “Where’s Rebecca?”
Nothing mattered. Why Milandro betrayed me or how…only Rebecca mattered. I fucking hated that I depended on Milandro to find her, but there was no other way.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “Did you…really…think…it would be this…easy?”
This time, a smile crept his way across my lips. In no way was it a gentle smile. No, it promised only pain.
“No, I didn’t think it would be easy.” I shrugged a heavy shoulder, leaning forward until our faces were mere inches apart. “It’s not going to be easy for you. Not at all.”
I leaned back and nodded at Avim. He pushed a white cloth into Milandro’s mouth and stepped back, looking at his handy work.
Brayden walked over to the back table and came back with his favorite equipment. Clippers. They usually chopped off the fingers clean and without much effort.
Avim also came back with a spiral knife. My favorite.
He handed it to me while I watched Brayden get to work. It started out slow. A few punches, choking Milandro, and when he still didn’t talk, Brayden moved to the nails.
It hurt like a son of a bitch. Milandro’s screams were muffled by the cloth, but the way his body trembled, it was obvious he was in terrible pain.
He hadn’t lost any fingers yet. Only three nails.
I raised my hand, and Brayden immediately stopped. Avim tore the cloth from Milandro’s mouth, and he screamed as the pain coursed his fingers and traveled its way through his body.
His hand was strapped to the arm rest, and I saw the way his fingers shook. They were covered in blood, and I chuckled at the sight.
“You want to talk now?” I wondered, looking at his bloody mess.
“Fuck…you…” he wheezed.
“No? You don’t want to?” I taunted. “Okay then. Enjoy.”
Brayden held the clipper over Milandro’s index finger, just below the first knuckle.
He waited. Waiting was a form of mental torture. The best way to break someone. Waiting made them tense, more alarmed, and their fear would hold no bounds.
I counted the seconds in my head.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
Milandro screamed. He bellowed so loud my ears rang. His pain was music to my ears, and I sat down on the chair behind me.
“That was barely a finger,” Brayden muttered as he stared at the bloody knuckle on the floor.
“Make sure he doesn’t bleed to death,” I snapped. We weren’t done with him yet. Not until we had our answers and Rebecca safe in our room.
A few minutes passed, another finger lost. One on each hand.
I waited to see if he would talk, but Milandro stayed stubbornly quiet. Shaking my head to repress my frustrated growl, I got up and Brayden moved out of the way.
Leaning forward, I grabbed Milandro’s chin. “If you talk, this is going to be easy on you,” I warned.
“I…know…you…” he gasped. “Doesn’t…matter…if I talk…or not…I won’t…make…it…out alive…either way.”
I cocked my head to the side, regarding him with curious eyes. “Smart. You’re right. You won’t make it out alive either way. But I’ll make your death quicker if you speak.”
Another lie and he knew it.