Page 19

I quickly wipe off my makeup, grimacing while I do. It’s fucking unfair, but Marcus’s whispered warning still rings in my ear. If Tennant thinks he can break me, he has another thing coming. What he doesn’t realize? I bend, not break. He wonders if I’ll learn quickly? Fuck, I wonder if he will.

Slipping back into the room where Tennant and Jude are in, I stand quietly, waiting for their attention. When Tennant finally graces me with a smirk—bordering on evil—I realize he’s known I was here the entire time. The fucker has the audacity to wink at me. At least Jude is startled by my quiet appearance.

“As a Second, sometimes you want your presence to fill up the room. Other times, you want to be a silent shadow. We’ll work on it. Both of you need practice.” Tennant taps his lips as he peruses us both. My skin flushes at the embarrassment of failing already. Tennant cocks his head, studying me, and I know I need to redirect him.

“Do you have plans for today’s lessons?” I ask respectfully. I’m trying the respectful route first, but fuck if he doesn’t make me want to piss him off. I’m not sure why, but I want to see that cold facade crumble, even if it means standing in the middle of a tornado. Only my promise to Lio and Ignacio keeps me in check—for now.

“How much experience do you have with interrogations?” Tennant’s gaze is penetrating, and it takes me a moment to swallow, and to remember he asked a question.

“I’ve been in the room when Lio has interrogated others. I’ve only participated once myself.”

“And what did you do?” Tennant keeps his sole focus on me, even though I glance at Jude. I know he’s not going to like this answer.

“Ignacio taught me how to skin someone.” I clench my teeth, rolling my shoulders back. I may not be as experienced as Tennant, or any of the Amatos or Martellis, but that doesn’t mean shit. I’m here.

“Hmm…what type of knife?” Tennant picks up our gift from where his men left him in the middle of this torture room and shoves him into a chair, locking him down easily.

“Uh, well…we didn’t have much time, and Ignacio felt using a skinning tool would be best.”

Tennant freezes for a moment, before turning to look at me. He sneers in disgust, shaking his head. “What the fuck do they teach you over there? No wonder Lio wants me to train you. That’s just fucking sad.”

“Then do better,” I snap, stepping forward. I’m still giving him plenty of space, but fuck if I don’t want to intrude, to make him step back for once.

Snorting, he shakes his head. “You’ve got balls, kid. But you’re not ready to take me on. Now, it seems today’s lesson is going to be about interrogation. You certainly need it, Topolino.”

He shoos me away and I move to stand next to Jude. I bite back the curses that want to fall from my tongue. I regret promising not to piss off our allies.

Tennant rips off the duct tape from the cop’s mouth, and I smile at the scream of pain. Perhaps this lesson will be more fun than I imagined.

Once the screams die down, the cop sneers at us. “You’re going to want to release me. Immediately. Maybe if you do, you won’t go away for too long. Right now, you’ve fucked yourself. You can’t just take a cop. If we go missing, the entire wrath of the blue line will rain down. And you’re already in enough shit.”

“Oh, really? The men in blue. They terrify me so much… Actually, why do they call it the men in blue? You have more than men in it…”

Tennant slides his gaze to me, as if I’d understand misogyny or bigotry. At my shrug, he once again focuses on the man in front of him, the threat doing nothing but amusing him, given his jovial tone.

“Now, let’s be clear here. I don’t give a fuck that you’re a cop. If anything, that just makes my day even better. What I want to know is why, after years of taking bribes, you decide to turn on the hand that feeds you? I don’t expect people to be smart, but a little common sense isn’t much to ask for, is it?”

The man doesn’t say a word, gritting his teeth as if that's enough to defeat Tennant’s will. Fucking idiot. Tennant gestures for me to come forward and I quickly listen, lest I piss him off. I take the knife he silently hands me and look at him sideways. “Yes?”

“Skinning lesson. You’re going to make a small nick here,” he places his fingers just under his elbow and makes a downwards motion. “Then slowly peel the skin back with the knife. Think of it like taking the skin off an apple. That’s all you’re doing.”

“Except the apple in this case will be screaming,” I retort sardonically as I meet the cop’s gaze.

“Just think of it as music. It’s quite relaxing.”

I shrug a shoulder as I side-eye him. Drawing a deep breath, I follow his directions, chanting in my head that I can do this. He stops me occasionally when I go too deep, and I lose myself to his tutoring. I almost miss the cop’s babbling until Tennant grips my shoulder tightly. Fuck, that’s going to hurt. His lips twitch as I switch my attention over to him.

“Yes?” I ask as the sounds of the room finally penetrate my bubble of violence.

“While torture is fun, you do need to pay attention. After all, we’re trying to find out answers, not just carve a man up.”

Sighing, I stand and roll my shoulders, trying to release the tension from being slumped over, since I had concentrated on his arms first.

“What the fuck is wrong with you people?” the man whimpers. I huff at his pitiful response, and gesture for him to get the fuck on with talking, otherwise I want to go back to training. “I know it’s open season on both of your organizations. It doesn’t matter what you bribe us with, or what you threaten us with, we will take you down. You’ve already lost your Kings. We’ll dismantle the rest of your organizations piece by piece. And I can’t fucking wait. We’ll finally be getting rid of the crime on the streets.”

I startle at Jude’s laughter, and glance back. So far, he’s been a silent observer, likely having been through these beginner lessons already. “You think you’ll get rid of the crime on the streets by doing away with us? Who do you think keeps the gangs, cartels, and other organizations out of here?”

“You are correct, Agnellino,” Tennant purrs as he gestures for his lover to come closer. Jude stands up and walks forward. With silent instructions, I hand Jude the knife I had been using and step back. “It’s your turn to see what you can get out of this coward.”

I stand back to watch Jude. Admittedly, his technique is far superior to mine. I wonder if he’s done this before. It doesn’t take long before the cop hisses, his entire body shaking.

“Fuck! There’s nothing more I can tell you! We were told that it’s time to take both organizations out, that we’re protected now. Several of us received a letter, and the person knew we were being fucked over, had threats made against us, or were forced to take bribes.”

“And do you have a copy of these letters?” Tennant asks in a flat voice.

“Are you fucking crazy? No. We all got rid of them and decided to attack—legally.”

Snorting, I shake my head. “You didn’t do shit legally. Go ahead and have your last thought of self-righteous bullshit, but you took money without a care. We didn’t threaten you into doing it. And now you’re likely bribing others to put a target on our back. But, guess what? It won’t work. You’re done here.”

Tennant hands me a different knife and nods towards the cop. I didn’t ask his name, and I don’t fucking care. With a quick slash to his throat, the problem is gone.

My hands shake, and I almost drop the knife. Thankfully, Tennant is there to take it. He pushes me back until I stumble into a seat, adrenaline coursing through me. It may have been the right move, but killing still doesn’t come easy to me. It’s only the second time I’ve done it.

“You’ll get used to it, Topolino—or die.” Tennant doesn’t sound particularly bothered by this, and I swallow hard at the reminder that he really wouldn’t care if I died. I wish I could say it terrified me, and it does in some ways, but it’s more captivating than anything.

“Are we finished?” I croak out, ready to take a shower, if nothing else.

“No, I think we have time for one more lesson. Go ahead and sit back down, Jude. You saw me put the cop in the chair, but I don’t think you saw the knots I used. Let me grab some rope. I want you to get a feel for it. You need to be able to replicate it.”

My heart thumps with worry. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but there’s something about the way Tennant smiles that sets me on edge. He disappears for a short while, before coming back with several lengths of rope. He goes to Jude first, explaining the knot as he does. He steps back and nods before turning toward me.

“Umm. Shouldn’t you untie Jude first?” I ask nervously, but Tennant doesn’t say a word. Instead, he kneels in front of me, taking the same time to explain a slightly different knot to me. I’d be fascinated if I wasn’t so worried.

When he stands, he smiles at the two of us and heads out, turning the lights off and plunging us into darkness. Fuck. Okay, well…he can’t leave us for long, right?

“Uh, Jude? He wouldn’t really leave us, would he?”

“You have a lot to learn about Tennant,” Jude responds grimly. “He really does want to break us. Tying us up is a lesson, which means we’ll be here for however long he deems necessary—and that could be a while.”

“Aren’t you lovers, though? He’d at least want to take mercy on you, yes?” I can’t see Jude in the dark, but I orientate my head in his direction as best as possible.

“How often did Il Padrone take mercy on Lio?” Jude drawls, and I wince, because yeah, my friend went through some fucking shit there.

“Great. Well, I guess we’ll just hang out. You, me, and a dead body.” For some reason, Jude finds that funny. Personally? I’d rather think of ways I can make Tennant pay. I don’t give a shit that he’s supposed to be the best. Everyone loses at some point…