Chapter Ten

Amon

It was all I could do to control my temper as I looked at Larissa. Once again, she'd failed. I'd trained her for five fucking years, and this was what I got…failure. It was unacceptable.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm not worthy of all you've given me," she mumbled, not looking at me.

"What happened? What went wrong?" At least one of them should've been dead by now! Dammit!

She raised her head, tears pooling in her eyes.

I grabbed her by the chin, pinching hard. "Have I not given you everything? They would have used you, then tortured and killed you. You swore that you would do this one thing for me, yet you've failed every time. Maybe I was wrong to save you from them. I thought you wanted revenge as much as I did."

"But I do. Jude would've followed me off the building, except Ezra must have been watching him. He tackled Jude before he could jump."

"You should have handled it better. You could've had both of them going off the roof." I shoved her away from me, putting distance between us. "You will be punished for your failure."

Nadine, who had stood silently beside me, perked up. "I will do that for you, brother."

"And leave scars again? I don't think so. No, I will do it myself." I thought of all the tortures I had performed on Larissa. I didn't want to whip her. Even though my beatings never left scars, she had to be in top physical form to go up against the Morelli brothers. I thought about what I could do and then decided on the perfect punishment.

"Strip off her clothes." It gave me great satisfaction that she was no longer concerned with her nakedness, which was the way I kept her most of the time. I only admitted to myself that she was a beautiful specimen. I should've sold her to the highest bidder for one night. Her virginity would've made me a fortune, but I was selfish. I didn't want any other men touching my prized possession.

Nadine stepped forward, practically rubbing her hands together. Who would've guessed my sister would have such a streak of evil running through her? Sometimes, she scared the hell out of me. As soon as Larissa was naked, I had one of the men with us tie her hands behind her back. We left the training facility and went around behind the crumbling castle. Fuck I hated this place even more than Nadine.

Someday, I would leave it to ruin and return to the city. The Morellis' money would be in my bank account. People would continue to stare at me as they always had, but I would be so rich by then that it wouldn't matter. They wouldn't dare say something against me. With the Morellis' fortune behind me, I would rule the city. I would have everything I'd ever wanted.

We stopped beside the pool. "Do you deserve to be punished?"

"Yes, sir."

She had begun to tremble, knowing what was coming. It wasn't the first time I had used this technique. It was a very successful one. I nodded to Nadine, and she shoved with everything she had against Larissa's back. Larissa fell into the deep end of the pool. She floundered in the water for a moment, then immediately shot to the top, pushing off the bottom.

Larissa's gaze met mine and held as she kicked her feet to stay above the water. I was quite proud of how long she could keep it up. When her legs gave out and she went under, she could even hold her breath for quite a while. I would put her up against a Navy seal any day.

She was my perfect weapon.

Except she'd failed me for the second time.

I turned and went back inside, Nadine following me. My limp was more pronounced. Every time the sharp pain shot down my leg, it was all I could do to keep from crying out. Larissa didn't know what pain was. Sometimes, I was too soft on her.

I went inside my room and sat on the sofa. Nadine knelt beside me and began to rub my leg. With a sigh, I closed my eyes and waited for the pain to ease.

"If she fails again, what will you do?"

"I'm not sure. I can always have her put a gun to her head with them watching, then blow her brains out."

"No, I'm not sure that would be as effective. They don't care as much for her as they used to."

"They still mourn her death. They leave flowers at her grave. You underestimate just how much they do care."

"But not enough to kill themselves over her death."

I was thoughtful for a moment. "You're right about that. None of them went completely off the deep end when they thought she died the first time. They only became fiercer, meaner, as if she'd cut out their hearts and taken them with her. I want them to feel again, then lose her all over."

"You're going to have to do something more dramatic this time. By now, they either think she's an imposter, or she didn't die in the car accident. They'll start investigating. What if they realize you're behind everything?"

My sister had good insights. Sometimes, I thought I might care too much about seeking revenge. I didn't want it to be my downfall.

"Have her kill one of them," Nadine continued. "Then, while they're mourning his death, she can go after another brother. Leave the oldest one to mourn his brothers. Maybe we can send Larissa to him cut up into pieces, wrapped up in a pretty package, or even just her head. That would be even better."

I looked at my sister. Now, she just made me curious. "How can you hate her so much? When you think about it, she's innocent in all this."

She stopped rubbing my leg and came to her feet. "Because she's beautiful," she spat. "She's the kind of woman who always gets whatever she wants just because of her looks. I was never given anything. No matter how hard I tried, people were always disgusted with my appearance."

"But you don't have to dress that way. Sometimes, I think you're intentionally making yourself drab-looking."

She turned sharply on her heel. "On second thought, don't kill her. I've never asked you for anything. If she follows through on the tasks you give her, I want her," she said, evading my question.

"I thought you hated her."

There was no warmth in her smile. "I want her as a pet."

Now, I was even more curious. "What will you do with her?"

"I'll shave her head, and every time she disobeys me, I will leave a mark on her. She'll no longer be beautiful by the time I'm through with her."

"Sometimes, sister, I think you're more cruel than I am. Maybe that's why we're so close to each other."

She came back to me, kneeling and resting her head on my lap. I ran my hands through her short hair.

"You'll always love me, won't you?" she asked.

"Yes, I'll always love you. We're all we have left. Now, get her out of the pool before she drowns. We still have work for her to do." And I knew exactly what I wanted to happen next.