Deviant(64)

“How is S?” I asked, meaning Serena.

“She’s fine. She parked her pretty little ass on his lap and he was gone. Apparently, he couldn’t get his dick out fast enough once she got him back to the flat. It was just as well I turned up when I did. I think she found him revolting.” He laughed and I chuckled along with him. I should imagine a lot of my girls felt like that most of the time. I never forced them. I just asked that if they weren’t up for the job, they should leave. They always had the right to refuse a client. I just asked that they had a decent reason why.

I calmed and took a look at Pinzano hanging there, practically burning alive. Every now and then, he would whimper or howl as the burns got to be too much. It was time to put him out of his misery.

Crouching down, I gazed at the face of the man who ruined my life. Raising my hand, I untied the bandana from around his eyes, getting ready to look into them one last time.

Once it was off, Pinzano blinked a few times, then his gaze settled on me. He frowned, trying to place who I was, but then a spark of recognition flared. There it was. That look I had been waiting to see for the last thirteen fucking years. The euphoria inside felt like nothing I had ever experienced.

“Pinzano, you sick fuck. How the devil are you?” I smiled like he was my long-lost friend.

“You!” he cried, although it was pained. “I should have sent my men to look for you that night.”

I nodded. “Yes, you should have. You underestimated that skinny, fragile-looking boy. Not so skinny and fragile now, am I?”

“Mi metterò per questa (I will get you for this)!”

I shook my head, tut-tutting as I took my knife out. “That’s no way to greet the boy whose parents you took away from him, is it? But I’ll let you in on a little secret, shall I? You won’t be getting me at all. And do you know why? Because in approximately, say, five minutes time, you will be dead.”

“You fucking asshole!”

I looked up at Jimmy and shook my head. “He’s not happy, is he, Jimmy?”

Jimmy shook his head, smiling. “No, boss. He’s not happy at all.”

Turning back to look at Pinzano, I frowned. “Do you think I should try and put a smile on his face?” I looked back up at Jimmy.

“Oh, yes,” he said, nodding. “It’s the least we can do.”

Positioning my knife, I held it horizontally in his mouth. Pinzano started screaming, panic radiating through his veins. With one forceful shove, I pushed as hard as I could, hearing the flesh being cut as I went. Pinzano screamed and even whimpered, but I couldn’t give a fuck.

I stepped back, the heat from the fire pit getting to me. I stood there with Jimmy, our heads cocked to one side, admiring my handiwork.

“I think I could have done a little better with the left side of his face. What do you think, Jimmy?”

Jimmy bent his head further down to get a better look. He frowned, then nodded. “Yeah, just a little bit crooked there, but it’s better to see him smile now. He was starting to depress the fuck out of me.”

Leaning forward a bit, I wiped my blade on Pinzano’s clothes. “It’s awfully fucking messy, this killing business.” I patted Pinzano’s protruding belly. “Don’t you worry, sunshine. This will all be over in a bit. There’s just one more thing I need to do before you rest with da fishes.” I laughed and could hear Jimmy laughing, too. He knew just what I meant, though, so he fetched me the Samurai sword I had designed just for this day. Jimmy walked back from the corner of the room, handing it over. I inspected it for a moment, admiring its shine. At the base of the sword was an inscription of a lotus flower. It was truly magnificent.

Pinzano saw it and the panic rose again as I positioned it to his right wrist. “You know, I’ve always wanted the day to come where I get to chop off the hands of the scumbag who killed my parents. Now that I am here, I think I need to take a breather. You know, just to take it all in.”

Closing my eyes, I took a deep, relaxing breath. I could hear Pinzano whimpering. He knew what was coming and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

As I opened my eyes, I struck. It didn’t take much effort to chop off his right hand. It was on the floor within a fraction of a second. Pinzano screamed, but it was a little difficult considering half his face was cut up. “That was for killing my mother, Isabella Scozzari.”

I didn’t waste any time. I walked over to the other side and struck at his other hand, watching it fall to the floor. By now, there was blood everywhere. It amazed me how he was still alive. “And that, my little shit-bag friend, was for my father, Michael Scozzari.” I handed the Samurai back to Jimmy and retrieved my serrated knife.