“Ah yes, you would take me down. How? You and Lucas? You know it would take half a second for my guards to kill you on the spot right now.”
“You want to kill me now? Then who will take over your precious legacy?”
“I still have your brother. His loyalty in bringing you home has proven to me he can be trained.”
“He wouldn’t last a day.”
“Don’t make the mistake of underestimating Enrico like you already did. He is willing to die for the family.
“Then make him your heir! Why do you need me?”
“Because this is the way it is meant to be!” he shouts. “Decades of tradition. I will not be the one who has the son that disobeys and destroys our history. You either come back or accept death.”
“Ahh all about the name and power.”
“You are the same as me, son. Don’t forget I’m in your blood.”
“This is getting us nowhere, Gabriel,” Bruno says tiredly.
“Enrico,” my father calls and he suddenly appears from fucking nowhere. He is shirtless with a pair of joggers and is carrying something that has my body in a chokehold. Holy shit, no. This cannot be happening.
Simon's eyes widen when he sees what Enrico has in his hands, and starts to violently try to find a way to untie his hands. Rocking back and forth against the pole. Desperation is the only thing he is feeling right now.
“You look a little pale, Carlos,” Enrico says as a guard comes up beside me, reminding me I have no power here.
Bruno chuckles, and he is number three on my now ever growing list of kills.
A simple kill will not be enough for these motherfuckers. I want screams. I want pain.
They will die.
26
SIMON
W hat the fuck is going on? Why is Carlos not doing anything to stop this! He promised nothing would happen to me. It's a
lie.
His messed up brother has just walked in with some kind of medieval leather whip and I can’t help but flinch in fear. I will never admit it, but this is a living nightmare. As hard as I try to free myself, it's pointless. My wrists are painful from pulling against the rope restraints, friction burns and bruising patterns my skin and it fucking hurts. But not as bad as the pain that I’m about to face.
“You’re making a huge mistake. Let him go,” Carlos warns in a low tone.
“No. You made a mistake, brother. This could’ve all been avoided if you came back. But now I’m hoping you decide to stay away. Then I will be the one in charge, after I’ve buried you in the ground.”
“It’s always good to have a dream,” Carlos says with gritted teeth.
I start panting, quick, shallow breaths as Enrico moves behind me. My hands grip onto the pole as hard as I can to brace myself, but my palms are sweating so much from the anticipation, that they keep slipping.
The room goes still. Waiting.
Please someone help me. D, Lev, Jules, please come save me, is all I can think right now. My family of brothers. The only ones I can trust. Who would have my back.
But nobody is coming.
I feel the crack of the whip before the delayed wooshing sound of leather flies through the air. The sound is so loud. But the pain…the pain.
“ARGGHH,” I scream out of the top of my lungs. The gag slips from my mouth as I collapse onto my knees, my hands sliding down the pole, unable to bear the weight of my body. I’ve never experienced anything like it. The sharp pain is more intense than the cut of a knife. It feels like the leather tail penetrated the skin, bruising my insides. Cold sweats like a fever rack over my body. It’s shock. Terror.
