Page 53 of Nico

I raised my eyebrow, waiting to see what he’d say. Nico’s attention was on the girls, a wide smile on his face.

“Sure, girls. But I have to warn you, I amreallygood at hopscotch.”

I couldn’t hold back a full blown laughter. “Can I record you? Because that will be priceless, I just know it.”

ChapterNineteen

NICO

Imight wear expensive, tailored suits, but I never hesitated to torture and murder people that betrayed me. Regardless if they were a man or a woman. After a game of hopscotch and early dinner with Bianca and her girls, I headed to the location where Jenna was being kept.

Jenna’s head turned as I entered the basement. She had been the first woman to visit our little torture location. She shouldn’t feel proud.

She hung there, her wrist tied above her head, hanging off the ceiling and her feet barely touching the ground. A special kind of torture, though I would have preferred to hang her by her scalp.

Fucking traitorous bitch.

Her eyes stared at me, like a deer caught in the headlights.

Slowly, deliberately, I took out my gun and released the safety. I placed it on the little table in the corner then turned back to her. Next, I pulled out my knife as I leisurely walked over to her.

Jenna’s eyes darted to my knife and the color drained from her face. She was smart enough to know how this would play out. The end result would be death - it was up to her whether it would be an easy road to her last breath or a long and painful one.

“You have two options,” I started, my voice void of all emotions. “The easy way out or the hard way.”

Her face was smeared from tears. I heard she begged my men for mercy. She’d never get it. She didn’t look so good anymore. Traces of her makeup smeared all over her face, ugly red blotches from tears all over it.

“Nico pleas-”

“I want to know everything,” I told her. “Start from the beginning.”

She shook her head. “I-I don’t know anything,” she said, trembling, her eyes full of lies. Her body swayed back and forth.

“We can do this all night,” I told her. “And for many more days to come.” I leaned closer, wrinkling my nose. “But know this, Jenna Palermo,” I hissed a breath, “I will get it out of you. Or Gabito!”

“Gabito is a coward.” Her teeth started to chatter, her eyes frantically looking to Leonardo behind me, pleading for help. “P-please, I didn’t-” she cried, “... I didn’t do anything…”

I raised my eyebrow. This woman was a piece of work. It was Jenna who was the coward here.

I couldn’t help but think back to Bianca, and how she owned up to her husband stealing the money. Her only plea was to kill her somewhere else so her daughters wouldn’t find her there.

Flipping the knife open, I pressed it against her cheek and ran it down to her neck. “I was hoping we could just end it quickly, with a bullet through your brain,” I said. “But I don’t mind making it messy either. Sometimes it’s rewarding.”

I pressed the blade against the flesh of her neck, and her scream pierced through the air. I barely cut her, but she was a coward. I watched as the small drop of blood ran a trail down her neck and beneath the color of her crisp pink polo.

“You know,” I taunted, “you shouldn’t play with the big boys if you can’t take the punishment when caught.” I drew the knife lower, placing it against the flesh of her thigh, drawing it upwards beneath the short, white tennis skirt. I kept the blade from cutting her flesh, knowing it wouldn’t take much more before she cracked.

“I-I didn’t have a choice,” she screeched. “I didn’t.”

I lowered my knife and waited. “Well, do tell, Jenna. Tell me what forced you to sleep with Bianca’s husband and work for Benito.” She was stupid to think I didn’t already know. I was the Wolf. When it came to information, I could track down what I needed with little effort. The only downfall was having the right questions to ask. Otherwise, I would wind up going in a circle, chasing my own tail.

A gasp left her lips. “B-Benito?”

I grinned, and I imagined it wasn’t a pretty grin because I was pissed off as all hell.

“Are you denying it?”

“You have to let me go,” she begged, trying to jerk on her chains but only succeeding in dislocating her shoulder.