Page 113 of Shades of Loyalty
I click my tongue, feigning disappointment. “A stubborn one, aren’t you?”
The pliers dangle from my fingers as I crouch in front of him. “One last chance.”
His eyes are wild now, darting between me and Hayden. “No—please! No more!”
“Oh,nowyou beg me to stop?” I sneer, pressing the pliers against his shattered fingers. “You should’ve thought about that before you decided to be a fucking liar.”
I twist.
SNAP.
The sickening crunch echoes through the room. His scream is pure agony. It’s so beautiful.
It’s almost even more beautiful than my girl’s moans. But just as I said, only almost.
I watch, an unreadable expression on my face as his body sags against the chains. His hand is a ruined mess; fingers bent at unnatural angles.
“Name,” I demand one last time, reaching into my jacket and pulling out my gun. I press the barrel against his temple. “Now.”
His breath comes in frantic gasps. His whole body trembles. “It’s—Lora—Lore—” He stumbles over the name, his voice raw. “I—I don’t know! It starts with ‘Lor’—that’s all I know! I don’t remember the full name!”
I narrow my eyes. “You don’t remember, or you’re protecting him? Did he pay you as well?”
“No, I swear!” he chokes out. “Eduardo only told me once! He’s the only one who got paid by this guy! I have nothing to do with all of this!”
I glance at Hayden. “What do you think?”
Hayden smirks. “Sounds like bullshit if you ask me.”
I shrug.
The guy looks between us, panic clawing at his face. “It’s the truth, please!”
And for a second—just a second—I think about sparing him.
I think about not being the monster I usually am because, what would my girl think? If she’d see me right now? She’d hate me. She knows who I am. I told her. But she hasn’t seen me.
I’m glad she hasn’t. I’m not planning to let her. Maybe I should let him live. Maybe he really doesn’t know.
Maybe he’s not the right guy… But when he says his next words, I push that thought away in an instant.
“You assholes can’t stop him anyway, no matter what I tell you!”
I scoff.
Then I shoot him in the foot.
His scream fills the room, echoing off the cold concrete walls. Ah, there it is again. The beautiful symphony of his screams.
I don’t know how much time passes after that. All I know is my patience is running razor thin.
Physical torture means nothing to me. A few broken bones, some bullets, a knife to the gut—it’s all meaningless. It won’t bring back Roy. It won’t bring back my mom.
But mental torture? That’s what really fucks me up.
I can’t let him know that. I can’t let anybody know except my family, Hayden or my girl. Lettingthemknow I’m vulnerable is risky enough.
I sigh as I grab my knife from the table and ram it into his chest, satisfaction filling me as he tries to get into a different position.
