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I lead the way to the basement, Cathal dragging Gio along with him. The door creaks loudly as I push it open and we descend into the darkness, as the scent of dampness and mildew fills my nostrils. It’s the perfect place to exact my revenge. Somewhere no one will hear this piece of shit scream.
As I glance at Cathal, I wonder what he’ll think about my intention to torture Gio long and slow, as when I knew him before we were just kids.
“Please, you can’t kill me. What about—”
Cathal slaps him to silence him. “Shut it, old man.”
I guess he’s just as brutal as I am. After all, he’s a leader here in Washington.
“Chain him to the wall,” I say, nodding at the wall where there are two chains hanging from it. Clearly, this place was used for the same intent I have in the past, as there’re knives and tools on a table, all of which look a little rusty. “This is perfect,” I say, running my finger over the hilt of a rusty knife.
Once Cathal has finished chaining Gio, I turn around with the knife in my hands.
“Have at him, Joe.” His jaw clenches. “Can I call you that?”
“Not in public, but now it makes sense.” I nod.
He smiles at me. “Don’t hold back. Make him bleed.”
“Come on, both of you. I agreed to you marrying my daughters, and this is how you repay me?”
I arch a brow and glance at Cathal. “Marriage.”
He nods. “Yeah, but doesn’t look like I need his permission anymore, anyway.”
Turning my attention back to the man I’ve longed to torture for fifteen long years, I close the distance between us.
“I’m going to enjoy this as it’s been a long time coming,” I say, as I press the blade of the knife against his throat.
His eyes widen with fear and he begins to struggle against the chains, trying desperately to free himself. The sight of him so powerless gives me a sick kind of satisfaction, knowing that revenge is finally in my grasp.
Taking my time, I cut away his clothing, savoring each tremble of fear as I gently nick his skin in the process. His skin is pale and slick with sweat from his terror, and I revel in it.
“You tore my entire world apart that night, and now I’m going to tear you apart,” I muse, running the rusty edge of the blade along his sternum, only grazing the surface of his skin.
“Any last words before I make you scream in agony?”
Gio’s mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. “Please—”
I press harder beginning to cut into his skin, cutting off his ridiculous plea for mercy. His men didn’t show my brother any mercy and I won’t show him any.
The rustiness of the blade only increases the amount of pain he must feel as I carve intricate patterns on his skin, taking my time to make sure he feels every slash of pain and agony that goes through his body.
His scream of pain is like music to my ears, and yet even as I get my revenge, I know nothing will be enough to appease the agony that this man inflicted on me, sending those men into our home. Aiden is never coming back.
A terrible fact that I’ve spent too long avoiding thinking about, fixated on this notion of revenge. Blood trickles down his skin in a beautiful display of carnage as I carve him, losing myself in the pain and hatred that has lived inside me for more than half of my life.
As I slam my knife into his left leg, tears prickle in my eyes. Tears that I’ve not felt since that night fifteen years ago in Dumbarton Oaks Park. I was sure I would never cry again, but being here, torturing the man who tore my world apart all those years ago, is giving me some kind of closure. No matter how sick it may be. No matter how tortured and twisted I’ve become, this is what I needed.
Something takes over as I begin to go to town on him, reveling in the screams of pain that tear from his throat. And the way the blood spurts from his body with each slash of my knife. It isn’t until Cathal’s hand lands on my shoulder, God knows how long later, that I’m pulled from the chaos of my mind.
“Isiah, I think that’s enough. Don’t you?” he asks, his voice a little shaky.
I shake my head, trying to shake off the blood lust haze that has filled my mind, and the scene in front of me is one of pure carnage. Gio’s rasping breaths prove that he’s barely hanging on to life and my stomach churns with sickness.
I got my revenge, and it’s bittersweet. This man deserved to die more than I ever knew before I returned to Washington, but somehow I need to move on and heal the wounds that have been so deep since the day Aiden died.
As I plunge the knife deep into Gio’s heart, ending his agony, I am finally able to let go of all the hurt and anger that has been bottled up inside me. As I step back from Gio’s battered body, all I can do is feel thankful for the closure that this experience has brought for me and look to a bright future with the woman I love.
