Page 37 of Dark Things (Payback Duet #1)

Haunt

THE NIGHT BEFORE

T he guys bring me to the club. I was hoping we’d go to the ranch that Mario calls home, but I guess this is as good as I’m going to get—not that I’m looking forward to the near future. I’m sure it’s going to fucking hurt.

They tried to grill me in the car about what Reb told me to tell Brooks, but I’ve been quiet, my mind on how she’s going to come for me. It’s not going to be pretty. When Reb is in a mood, a lot of people die.

My hands are tied, and my clothes are a little ripped. I even have a cut lip from the punch Colter threw because he didn’t like being told ‘no’ one too many times. It’s the least of my worries.

The club is closed when we get inside, everyone gone for the night. They lead me toward the same curtain we discovered last time we were here. Staff holds a keycard to the reader and the door clicks open. Silence greets us, but that’s not always a good thing.

The corridor leads to three different doors. The one on the end is slightly ajar. I can hear low voices talking the closer we get, and once we’re in front of the door, I know who’s behind it.

Staff knocks on the door and a voice calls to enter. When Mario looks up from the papers on his desk his face falls into a frown. “What the fuck is this?” he asks, his eyes darting to Colter first.

“We caught a rabbit,” Colt says, giving me a small push forward. “Thought he’d be better suited here than at the fight club.”

Gino scoffs from behind him, but Mario’s gone a little too still. I guess my reputation precedes me.

“And how exactly is that you caught Ghost?” he says, voice low. He steeples his fingers, glaring at Colter.

Brooks jerks from behind me. Guess not everyone knows who I truly am. “Clocked him outside of the club. Didn’t see us coming. Figured he’d be more important than Brooks fighting. We came straight here,” Colter says.

Staff’s fists are clenching next to me, and I can hear the rise of Brooks’ breathing, but my attention is focused on Gino’s cruel smile. He’s practically bouncing on his feet. I imagine I’m going to get worse than what we did to him in the forest. Should have killed him when I had the chance .

Mario stares at me for a moment. He doesn’t seem happy about me being here, and that’s curious. If he’s hated Stan as much as Stan hates him, why isn’t he using this as an opportunity? I dislike that I don’t know the answer to that.

“Put him in the red room. I’ll be along shortly. Gino will start,” he says.

“Red room? I’m all for kinky shit, but I’m not particularly feeling it with this crowd,” I drawl. Brooks’ hand flexes on my arm, but I ignore him, my focus on Mario.

But of course it’s Gino who answers first. “It’s called the red room because of all the blood you’ll be spilling in there. There are whips and chains, but none of them will bring you pleasure.”

I laugh, “I guess you don’t know me that well, then.”

Brooks drags me toward the door before I can hear whatever Gino says. They push me to the center of a concrete room. The walls are stainless steel, and the floor slopes to a center drain. There’s a large hook hanging from the ceiling with chains dangling down.

“Nice torture room. How does stainless steel compare to regular concrete? Mine isn’t this fancy, although I do have to say my tool cabinet is much bigger,” I say, turning around and staring at all three of them.

“Do you take anything seriously? You’re about to die if we don’t figure out how to get you out of here,” Staff hisses.

I give him a lopsided smirk and walk over to the chains, holding my arms up. “If you think this scares me, you truly have no idea who I am. I’ve done this dance for years. Hook me up and leave. You don’t need to be here for what’s about to happen.”

Brooks stares at me as if I’ve suddenly sprouted wings; Colter is grinding his teeth so hard, I’d be surprised if they weren’t worn down to nubs; and Staff’s eyes sink in sadness.

I could do without the emotion, but I’ve never been one to give it freely.

Seeing it from Staff is a surprise and almost welcoming?

Reb is the only one who’s ever made me feel anything.

Brooks brings the chains down and attaches them to the ropes connecting in between my wrists. That was a mistake, but one I will not be pointing out. Let’s hope Gino doesn’t notice, either.

“Are you really Ghost?” Brooks murmurs. The other two are close enough to hear him, but I doubt his voice will travel down the hall.

“You’ve heard of me, huh?” I ask, because really they should have made a connection by now. It’s not that hard to find out the information if you were really looking for it. Mario seems to not share everything with his crows .

“We’ve heard of you, sure. But don’t you have a partner? Pitch. I heard you don’t go anywhere without him,” he says.

A belly laugh comes from me, and I have to fight from cackling because this is truly hilarious.

They definitely haven’t done any research or figured out what’s about to happen.

I almost want to keep it to myself to see the shock on their faces when Reb gets here, but she doesn’t want them to die, so warning them is the best route to take.

“Pitch is my soulmate. And you know her already,” I smirk.

“No…” Colter says, shaking his head. “Are you saying that she’s Pitch? That Reb, the five-foot nothing is the merc who has killed dozens of people is Pitch. That can’t be right. She’s too…”

“Small? Soft? Innocent , even? Yeah, she hasn’t been innocent in a long time. She’s worse than me. But like I said, you should leave. It’s not going to be safe for you soon.”

I try to appeal to Staff because he seems like the only one who has any grasp on what’s truly going to happen, but once I’m hooked up they all step back toward the wall by the door. I let out a loud sigh.

“If you’re going to stay, promise me you’re not going to interfere. You don’t want the assholes in that room to question you, especially when I’m hooked up and can’t help you.”

“Why would you want to help us?” Colter says, his eyes narrowing .

“Ah, it must seem strange right? But we did have a deal. And I assure you, I have my own reasons. None I’m willing to discuss, though.”

“It’s because of her, isn't it? Pitch, she’s protecting us?” Colter asks. Not as dumb as what I thought, but there’s no way I’m going to betray Reb’s confidence, so he’ll just have to live in the gray for now.

When I don’t say anything, he looks at the other two and nods his head. He’s about to open his mouth again, but then Gino walks in, whistling a tune.

“I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that Spiro Ferrante is here. I mean I’ve waited for this day for a long time, Ghost,” he says, walking over to the tool cabinet. He selects a few knives and brass knuckles, laying them out on the table.

“I haven’t been called Spiro since I was a kid, but if it tickles your pickle, I don’t mind. You probably don’t get much action, so I’ll happily be the reason why your cock gets a little excited.”

The blow is expected, but the power behind it isn’t. Gino is clearly enjoying himself. This kind of enthusiasm is hard to fake.

“You’re going to learn your fucking place, boy,” he says, before a few punches land on my torso making me swing back a bit on the chains. I can hear the groan of the rope, but Gino is too into what he’s doing to pay attention.

“Nah, my father tried to beat that into me since I was a child. Don’t think you’re going to have any luck, but feel free to try ,” I sneer, and this time it’s all teeth. My manic is showing.

Gino takes this as a challenge and he takes a small hunting knife from the table, twisting it so it glints in the low light of the room. It’s a nice knife, I might have to get one just like it.

He slices my shirt open in the front and then moves to the back. It falls in tatters the floor. “I liked that shirt. It was one of my favorites. I’m going to have to bill you for another one.”

He cuts into my chest right below my tattoo of the ‘R’ over my heart. I don’t know if that was intentional, but I appreciate the thought of not slicing through it. I’d get it refilled if he did, but that’s not the point.

Blood drips from the wound to the floor, and I watch it pool at my feet. He makes two more cuts, one to my arm, and the other right above the waist of my pants. All three sting, but I hold my reaction, watching Gino’s face fall. He thought I’d make this easy for him.

I roll my eyes. “I would suggest the thigh for the next one, but if you don’t want to take off my pants, I’m sure Staffy will help you,” I say, winking in his direction.

Staff’s face turns a beautiful shade of red, and my jeans get a bit tighter. He’s fucking hot when he blushes.

“Are you some kind of fag?” Gino says, curling his lip .

The word lands hard. Twisted. Familiar. And in that moment, I see him for exactly what he is.

“Oh, come on—homophobic and ugly? How tragically predictable. You’re really letting me down, Gino, baby.”

The blows keep coming after that. Gino’s breath becomes labored, and sweat dots his brow. My body is starting to wane, but no one would be able to tell. The one thing I was honest about—I’ve been beaten since I was fourteen. Nothing they can do in this small room will break me. Nothing ever has.

It’s been hours since Gino started his party. He’s taken breaks and upped the intensity of the torture. At one point he got a car battery from somewhere and hooked the cables up to my nipples. I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would.

“Tell us where he is!” Gino screams in my face.

I pick my head up and give him a Cheshire Cat grin. “Are you not having fun anymore?” I ask, spitting blood in his face.

He bellows, but before he can stick that hunting knife in my heart, Mario walks in and whistles. Gino stops mid-swing and takes a step back, his breath sawing in and out of him.

“ Spiro, sei venuto qui per morire ?” Mario asks .