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Right to the point. Leave it to his dad to skip to the meat of things and not mince his words.
"Yes," Porter said softly. "He did."
They descended the spiral staircase together. Each step his father took without saying a word made Porter's throat close up. When they reached the first floor, the man glanced at him.
"And did you do it?"
They both knew the answer to that. Porter had tried on more than one occasion to complete the assignments given to him. Some weren't so bad. Collecting money, attending meetings, forcing businesses to give into their extortion for protection. But some things were much harder. And for Porter? They were impossible.
"No."
"And why not?" Gabriel continued to walk, through the halls, into the kitchen, toward the dreaded door that led to the basement. "Were you in some way confused by what I asked you to do?"
"No, sir," Porter whispered
"Then you're defying me."
Porter paused on the basement stairs. Everything in him screamedrunbut he was frozen, his hand on the metal railing as his father continued to descend. Gabriel stopped, turned and glanced back up at him.
Porter swallowed thickly. "Father, I don't want to defy you." He practically pleaded, "Can't we talk about this upstairs?"
His father's eyes searched him. "You can come downstairs or be dragged down."
Porter bit his lip, his teeth sending little electric pricks of pain through his mouth. But he couldn't resist. This was his father. If the man wanted him to follow, then he would follow. What other choice did he have?
Slowly, he started to walk again. The darkness of the stairwell led into the dim light of the basement. Only one light was turned on above their heads and underneath it was a man tied to a chair. Immediately, Porter knew who he was.His target.The blond hair, big eyes and sharp facial features were the same as the picture he’d been handed. A man named Haden. Just someone that owed them money who he was supposed to torture. But Porter hadn’t gone through with it.
"Hello, Haden." Gabriel shrugged off his jacket and passed it to Michele, the big, silent wall of muscle that glanced at him, sneered and took the jacket away.
"Porter, this is supposed to be your job." Gabriel walked beside the silver tray of instruments and picked up a scalpel. "So, do your job."
Porter swallowed thickly. There it was. He knew he couldn't avoid the situation, but he’d refused to do it the first time around and now it would be much worse... His father held out the metal scalpel, his dark eyes flaring dangerously as Porter frowned.
"I-I can't. Father, please."
"No son of mine is going to be a pathetic bitch!" Gabriel's sudden yelling made Porter jump. "You will do this or you'll take his place."
No, no he couldn't take one more night of being beaten and sliced into as if he was a piece of meat. He shakily reached out for the scalpel. As small as it was it felt as if it weighed ten pounds in his hand. He looked up at Haden, the man shaking his head and trying to pull himself free from the chair as mumbled words tumbled from behind his gag. His big blue eyes begged Porter for mercy, and he so badly wanted to give the man that. But he couldn’t.
Michele chuckled, his grin made Porter’s stomach turn and bile burn at the back of his throat.No one should enjoy this.Michele had warned Porter of course when the boy said no, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Haden wasn't a bad man. He had made some bad decisions and gotten into debt with the wrong people. Porter’s father, namely. But he also had two little wide eyed toddlers and an older daughter that was working herself to death trying to pay them back. So, how could he hurt this man and his family? They didn’t deserve it.
"Porter," Gabriel growled. "Are you going to stare at him all night? Do it."
"H-he doesn't have any money. I've already been to his house, I tried to collect, he really doesn't have anything. Father, please."
Pain flared across his cheek. He could feel wetness on his jaw and he already knew it was blood. His father's ring had cut him, again. Porter's hand shook as he looked up at his father.
This isn't right. I can't do it. I can't do this anymore!
"Last chance," his father said through clenched teeth, his patience clearly gone.
"I can't!" Porter snapped, his voice catching in his throat. "I can't do it."
"Fine. If you can't cut him, then I'll kill him."
Gabriel crossed over to Haden and Porter flinched when his fist slammed into the man's face. Hit after hit landed, each one making Porter feel smaller and smaller as his stomach turned. Michele shook his head at him, a sneer on his face and he could see him mutter one word.
Pathetic.
