Antonio
“Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhh." Joey’s muffled screams filter through the thick cloth jammed in his mouth.
“Let me know if I'm doing this wrong, will you?" Dom chuckles as he cuts yet another finger from his hand with a pair of shears. “Joey, you're running out of fingers here, are you sure you don’t want to spill your guts?" Dom taunts as he walks around the table Joey is strapped down to in his underwear. “You tried to take my Angel, and my children, away from me. Then, you let that psycho bitch, Janet take your keys to break into my house. You tried to have me whacked." Dom shears off another finger. “Demetri, take the gag out of his mouth. Let’s see if he's got anything to say."
I lean against a wooden bench holding an assortment of knives, all of them razor sharp, and other pain causing implements. Joey struggles against the ropes holding him in place, it's futile. Even if he did manage to escape the ropes like a Houdini, he isn't going anywhere. Blood drips to the floor, and my mind pictures the blood coating Kristy's body in the warehouse.
I shiver when I think about the possibility of Kat suffering somewhere right now. Anger courses through me, I can’t stand back and watch anymore. We have been here for over an hour, and every minute wasted, is more time away from my girl. Sergio has already managed to get answers concerning the girl from the warehouse, turns out a guy named, Billy gave her to him as payment for drugs. What asshole piece of shit would trade a woman to pay off a debt?
Sergio was pissed and sliced Joey’s chest to pieces, not enough to kill him, but enough to cause him pain. I have never seen him behave that way before, usually it's my job to torture and get answers. It seems something has sparked between him, and the girl so, I was happy to give him the pleasure of cutting this piece of shit.
I look around the warehouse we are in at the docks, and see the disgust in Demetri, Nico, and Johnny’s eyes as they glare at Joey. They're almost as pissed as me, the difference is, their girl isn’t still missing.
Turning my attention back to Dom, I see the smirk on his lips as he positions the shears on another finger. “Traditore della famiglia"(Betrayer of the family) He closes the blades, detaching the digit, before turning to pick up a knife. He studies it closely, and weighs it in his hand, while Joey’s screams echo of the walls.
Dom nods at me and I step toward Joey, his eyes widen with fear. I take the offered knife from my boss, and run the tip from the base of Joey's throat, down the centre of his body to hover just above his groin. The asshole's whimpers are doing nothing to gain my sympathy, they only fuel my need to get answers.
“How did you get Kat’s backpack?" The backpack on the front seat of the van was found to have Kat’s belongings in it.
“She gave it to me," he wheezes.
“Who, Ashley?”
“Yessss," he hisses when the blade glides over one of the many fresh cuts on his chest. For now, I will torment him, make him wonder when it will be his dick the knife slices off.
“How the fuck do you know Ashley?" I trail the knife back up his chest.
“She use to get her drugs off me.”
“Where are they now?”
“I don’t know." I drag the knife back down his body, and his eyes widen with my next words.
“Wrong answer, asshole." With a quick flick of the wrist, I slice the knife over both ankles. Demetri jams the cloth back into his mouth, and holds it in place until he stops screaming.
“One more time, you know how this works, where the fuck did Ashley take her?”
“To an old apartment building in the Junction where we use to go to get high.”
“Where? ADDRESS!" I’m over the fucking games, I bring the knife up, and slice across his wrist. He screams out the address and I look toward Dominic.
“Joey, you been very helpful. So helpful in fact, I’m going to put you out of your misery without cutting off your dick. Antonio." Dominic holds out his hand, and I pass him the knife. I'm ready to finish this, and go get my girl.
“Boss, I was high. I didn’t know what Janet had planned, I didn’t mean for your family to get hurt. Please, Boss, don't kill me. I swear I'll do whatever you want from now on.”
Pure disgust, mixed with anger, a look I have only seen a handful of times before, settles over Dominic's face before he raises the knife and studies the blade. Light glints off the blade as blood drips from it to the floor. Then, in a flash, he brings his arm down, slices the fucking assholes throat and shuts him up. The piece of shit's life is finally ended.
Dom drops the knife to the floor, and Nico hands us both a cloth to clean the blood from our hands. “Antonio, let's go get your girl. Demetri you’re with us. Nico and Johnny clean this mess up," Dominic orders before we rush toward the car. I need to find my girl.
Staring through the tinted windows of the car, I watch as the sun slowly slips behind the clouds. It represents my mood, the way I'm feeling right now. Without Kat, there would be no hope of any more light in my life.
I turn toward Dom who is sitting beside me. “Boss, she’s mio luce del sole (my sunshine). I can’t lose her."
“Fanculo. Si." He nods.
I know I don’t have to say anything else, because he understands exactly how I feel. It’s only been a couple of weeks since we were racing to find his girls and he felt the same way as I do right now. Fuck, why does this shit keep happening? My girl has been through enough in her life, how much more can she take before she gives into the darkness? No, I won't allow that to happen! I won't fucking allow my Kitten to give up, and leave me.
I allowed the darkness to consume me for so long, and I had learnt to live with it. But, then, Kat came along, my Kitten, and everything changed. She loved me, and showed me, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. That same light awaits her, at the end of her tunnel, and I will not let her turn away from it. Kitten is mine, and I will get her back!
“Antonio, we will find her." Dominic interrupts my thoughts and some of my resolve slips away. They are the same words I said to him a few weeks ago. We got lucky last time, but what if this time, we're not?
Demetri pulls the car to a stop at the address we were given by Joey. It's an old apartment building; run down, windows smashed, litter everywhere, and neglected lawns. I leap from the car and sprint up the cracked footpath which leads to a glass door. The place is typical of a hangout for the local drug users.
I burst through the door with Dominic and Demetri, hot on my heels. We take the filthy stairs two at a time, hurrying to the fifth floor, where Joey said he and Ashley hang out. As we get closer, I hearing screaming followed by a loud bang. Fuck, I know that sound. It's a gunshot.
I'm frantic by the time I set foot onto the fifth floor and look around for Apartment 5E. As soon as I find it, I sprint down the hall, pull the gun from my waistband and kick in the door. I stop in my tracks when the barrel of a gun is pushed into my chest.
“Fuck, Kitten, it’s me."
She realizes immediately who she has the gun pointed at, and drops it to the floor. A smile plays over her lips, but tears flow from her eyes.
“Antonio," she sobs as she throws herself into my chest. I hold her close, and thank Christ she is in one piece. I look over her head to see who she has shot.
“Figlia di madre,"I growl.
“What is it, Antonio?" Dominic asks as he steps up beside me.
“Pezza di merda polizia,"Dom spits out when he sees what I do.
Another loud bang sounds and Kat screams. I dive to the floor with her held tight in my arms. Gunshots ricochet around the room and ring in my ears. When the shooting finally stops, I move back to check Kat is not hurt. My heart thumps in my chest when I see the blood covering her shirt.
“Where are you hurt, Kitten," I yell while running my hands over her. Where is the blood coming from? Fuck. Where is she hurt?
“FUCK! Antonio, it’s not me. I’m not bleeding."
Her hand raises to my shoulder, I feel light headed as she pushes me to the ground, and applies pressure. I look up to see tears streaming over her cheeks.
“Antonio, you need to hold on. Y-you can’t leave me, not now. Please, Antonio. Please baby, stay with me."
I hear the panic in her voice and try to reassure her. “I’m not going anywhere, Kitten." I reach up and stroke the tears away. Fuck my shoulder is burning.
“Dominic, please help him." Kitten is screaming.
All I want to do is sleep. Why won't they let me sleep?
Demetri grabs hold of Kat and tries to drag her away from me. I growl at him for touching my girl and try to get up. Dom puts his hand on my chest and pushes me back down to the floor. I'm not having any of it, I want my girl by my side. “Stop fucking struggling with me, brother, let me fucking help you. Demetri has her."
I quit fighting, I'm too weak. Dom puts pressure on my shoulder, but I don’t look at him. My eyes are firmly on my girl. Even crying, bleeding, and bruised, she is fucking gorgeous.
“Who the fuck shot me?" I ask weakly.
“Her sister, Ashley."
Fanculo figlio di puttana (fuck, son of a bitch). “Did you get her?”
“No Lei scappo"(she escaped). Dom is pissed, I can feel the anger coming off him in waves.
“The Ventosa di gola polizia (cock sucker police) who took my girl, is he dead?"
“Si," Dominic nods and looks away. I assume he is checking out the piece of shit, more than likely, lying dead on the floor.
It’s the same figlio di puttana who touched my girl, when the cops arrested me. A fucken police officer.
“Miss Katherine, do you know his name?" Demetri asks.
“Ashley said his name was, Billy."
My eyes are getting heavy, and I can’t concentrate on what’s being said. I allow the darkness to draw me under, thanking fucking Christ, my girl is alive, and safe.