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“Hola, Giulio.” I moderate my voice, leach it of all sentiment.
He doesn’t get to benefit from my pain or to lord any slip in my control over me.
“Tácito? Is that you?”
I approach the old man who has aged nearly twice his as much since I abducted him. “Shhh. You know the only words I want to hear from you.”
“Please…How many times must I apologize?” His isolation is working. Not even Sansone knows his location.
Until I’m done with him, no one will. “Giulio, I’m not looking for your regrets. It’s too late for that.” I check the machine that deals timed doses of pain medications and refill it from the supply in my medical bag.
When I told Valentino I would work with Sansone, I wasn’t lying. I work with the younger DeLuca to divert his attention. I was one of the first to hear that Giulio had escaped the extraction that saved my parents. Once I was certain Valentino and Sloane were stable for transport, I had them taken to the mansion while I went hunting. Fear lost its hold on me. The years filled with terror because of Giulio melted as if the emotion never existed.
I now thrive on vengeance.
Thanks to Valentino, I know where all the DeLuca safe houses are and the one Giulio was most likely to scurry to. He’s run his organization for so long, he’s forgotten what it was to sacrifice, and his safe house of choice came equipped with high-tech gadgets and a door whose code hasn’t changed since Giulio acquired the property.
His writhing draws my attention to the task at hand. I pull out a syringe and two vials then turn to finding a vein with a purple bruise. I plunge a concoction of anti-depressants and more pain killers into Giulio’s body then check his body for additional bruising from his binds. I alternate where I place the straps along his body to ensure his skin doesn’t bear witness to his stay here.
“Giulio, what is it that you have to say?”
“I don’t understand why you’re doing this. You follow rules. You’re a good guy.”
I chuckle, not hiding the darkness in my humor. “Even good guys have a breaking point. Now, what is it you have to say to me?”
“I don’t want to die like this.”
“We don’t always get what we want. Sometimes, we get what we deserve. Now, why don’t you stop wasting my time. I want to see the words spilling from your lips, Giulio.”
After a brief stare down where I don’t budge, Giulio opens his mouth. “M-M-Mary Mitchell, Slo-Sloane Mitch—”
“We’ve discussed this, Giulio. Sloane is a DeLuca. You have to get it right on the first pass. Begin again.” I keep my voice chillingly soft.
“Mary Mitchell, Slo-Slo-Sloane DeLu-Luca, D-D-Dami—”
I knock my knuckles against Giulio’s forehead without tempering my strength. “Was Mary the first of my people’s lives you tried to ruin? Use your brain, Giulio. Begin again.”
“Please, whenever you leave, they haunt me. I s-s-see them everywhere. Their screams keep me awake.”
“Begin again,” I repeat, allowing more frost to enter my voice.
“Martina Abramo, Sansone DeLuca, Tessa Hallowell, Valentino DeLuca…”
I curl my fingers into a tight fist when he utters Valentino’s name. How I want to beat him to a pulp, but doing so will be counterproductive to my end goal.
“…Sloane DeLuca, Tácito Sandoval, Damian Mitchell, Mary Mitchell, Luís Sandoval, Marisol Sandoval.”
“Again.”
With every visit I make to this place, I feel less troubled by my actions. Should Valentino discover what I’ve done, he will forgive me. Giulio is a cancer needing to be excised, and I’m the perfect person for the job.
For the next two hours I make Giulio repeat the names of everyone who matters to me and my family. Each time I see their names leave his lips, it’s an acknowledgment that their suffering is at an end.
Giulio startles as if he sees something, but there is nothing. No one is here but the two of us. The anti-depressants he’s on are effective in causing his hallucinations. I was lucky to get the right dosage the first time as the side effects are unpredictable. If luck is on my side, terror will shadow him until I’m ready to conclude our interludes.
We repeat this ritual for another week. I arrive, shoot him up with drugs, and make him name the people he’s harmed. The ritual doesn’t tire me. It allows me to unleash my darkness without endangering my loved ones. I keep Giulio alive with a saline drip to administer enough nutrients to sustain his life.
Today, I find him frantic, dodging invisible hits.
