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Vittorio’s eyes widen. “That Irish fucking scumbag! He’ll pay for?—”
“Seriously, Papa, this is getting pathetic now.” Vittorio freezes as Bee’s voice fills the room just before she joins me. She brandishes her own pistol and gives her father a greeting nod. “If I were you, I’d surrender and preserve what little dignity you have left.”
“Y-y… you,” he hisses.
Bee nods. “Me. The prodigal daughter returneth. Or whatever. I was never much of one for Bible stories.”
He bares his teeth, gawking at her in disbelief. “I can’t… How…?”
I throw her an annoyed glance. “You were supposed to stay in the car.”
She gives me a look in return. “You really thought I was gonna pass up the chance to watch my father die?” Her gaze veers pointedly to him. “Fat fucking chance.”
There’s sweat beginning to form on Vittorio’s brow. “Beatrice… Bee, tesoro… Would you really hurt your own father?”
She tosses her head back and guffaws as though he’s just told the world’s funniest joke. “Come on, Papa! It’s only fair that I return the favor. Especially considering you were the one who arranged the hit on me.”
“I… I took no pleasure in?—”
“Oh, bullshit!” Bee barks. “Every time you took that whip to my back, you fucking reveled in it. You really expect me to believe that my death was any different?”
“Bee—”
“It’s over, Papa,” she says firmly. “You’re surrounded. Your men are dead and gone. The only thing you can do now is give up with a little bit of?—”
Before she can finish her sentence, Vittorio lunges at Wren.
All I can think is, Bad move.
The moment his arm moves up, Aleks calmly steps in from behind and breaks his elbow in one fell swoop.
Vittorio collapses to a moaning puddle on the ground. Aleks kicks his weapon out of the way and coaxes Wren back out of Vittorio’s reach.
I advance on the Italian don’s huddled form. He’s stammering, muttering half-broken nonsense. “Y-you can’t do this… you can’t?—”
“It’s already done,” I tell him coolly. “It’s time to take your lashes like a man.”
My men part and the sound of footsteps announce Cian’s appearance. He’s holding the whip in his hand. When Vittorio sees it, his cheeks turn deathly pale.
“What do you say, Papa?” Bee asks, stepping forward. “Let’s see if you can get as good as you give.”
Cian hands the whip over to her as Aleks leads Wren out of the house on my orders. She doesn’t need to see this. The others clear out slowly in their wake, leaving behind Vittorio, who stares up at the loose circle that surrounds him.
“You would r-really do this to an old m-man?” he stutters, abandoning even the appearance of bravery now that there’s no one around to watch.
“You’re no man,” Bee spits. She crouches down so that she’s at eye level with him. “I want you to know something, dear father. I want you to know that if you’d been a half-decent person, a parent who simply accepted me for who I am, things could have been so different. Not only am I capable of running your empire, I’m capable of making it thrive. Look what I did to you in a few months from beyond the grave.”
Vittorio’s eyes bulge as he realizes the obvious connection. “Locksmith,” he hisses. “You were… are…”
Bee smiles and curtsies. “Yeah, that’s right. The one and only.” Then the smile vanishes and she spits in his face. “You never had the power to control me. And now, you never will.”
She gets back up to her feet and offers me the whip. I look at it with confusion. “I thought you wanted to do the honors?”
“I still do. But I’m giving you the first lash. For Elena.”
For Elena.
I take the whip gratefully and give Cian a nod. He twists Vittorio around and drags him over to the staircase, where he and Bee tie him up and slice his shirt open so his back is bared. Once he’s secured, they step out of the way.
