CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

ARIES

One Year Later…

"Am I not fucking paying you," I bite at the Private Investigator I hired a year ago. I'm getting really fucking tired of him pissing and moaning about there not being a single trail.

"You are. I just don't think I'm going to find her. It's clear her brothers have gone to great lengths to keep her hidden. Either that or she's dead."

I pull my gun out and shove the barrel into his forehead, "Don't ever fucking say that again. If you don't want the job, I'll pass it onto someone that does."

Placing my weapon back in my waistband, he breathes a sigh of relief, "Aries, how long have I known you?"

I shrug, "Ten years. Twelve years. A long fucking time."

He nods slowly, "Close. Thirteen years. I'm on your side here but you're becoming rather unhinged. Not that you've ever exactly been hinged," he waves his hand in the air, "This is not looking good for you. I'm afraid you're losing it, man."

I sigh audibly and refrain from pulling my gun out again, even though I really fucking want to, "I appreciate your concern, Art, but I'm not interested in your evaluation of my mental health. I'm only interested in finding Dalia. Save your fucking commentary for someone who cares."

For the last year I've had my private investigator working tirelessly trying to find her. As well as two IT guys, who I admit aren't as good as the De Lucas' guy, Benji, but it's what I have. They've been checking to see employment. I believe she no longer works at the safe house, because she was never seen coming and going after a few weeks. I've checked hospitals, morgues, everything any of us can think of. My entire existence has been about finding her.

The good thing about soul crushing agony is it makes my job easier. I've always been a violent man, but now I am even more so. Picking the Aiellos off, one at a time, has been fun. They were prepared for a war, a bunch of men coming on the attack, but this they weren't ready for. One at a time, their men simply started disappearing. Jewel Aiello was kidnapped four months ago, so they assume the disappearances are connected. They're not.

Art shakes his head at me for the hundredth time in the last hour, "Alright then. I'll let you know what I find, if anything."

Vinnie Aiello has been in my basement for three months. He gets a little food and water to keep him alive, but not much more. I wanted to kill him, the second I got my hands on the disgusting bastard, but since I have special plans for him, I had to wait.

Giorgio: He's in the basement, Boss.

Me: Perfect. On my way.

This is the happiest I've been since I last saw Dalia. The excitement is radiating through my body. I head down to the basement with a near skip to my step. The entire downstairs is set up to my exact specifications. It's not fancy but it gets the job done. Like Max had, I have a metal table with straps, a must for any killer. I don't have all my weapons on a table for display, but I think I'll be changing that, because it fucks with them even more psychologically, and I'm into that. There's also a metal slab against the far wall with restraints on it, if I decide I want them to stand for days at a time. Standing doesn't sound like so much of a punishment, but it becomes one when the hours stretch to days, or even weeks. Every muscle and joint in your body begins to ache with a severe burn. The human body isn't designed to stay stationary for that long, and it almost always makes them break. Breaking is what I do best. Of course no basement designed for killing would be complete without tile and a drain, the blood's got to go somewhere and it makes cleaning up a lot easier. Besides, there's something really beautiful about wanting someone dead, and watching their life force literally go down the drain.

I enter and greet my captives with a smile on my face, "Good evening, gentlemen."

Rubbing my finger and thumb over my jaw as they both watch my every move, I say, "When my sister said only Vinnie had sex with her, I was confused, because somehow I knew he could have never done this alone."

William looks at me fearfully, "I didn't. My kink is not children."

I laugh, "Oh what a noble man. You would never rape a fourteen-year-old girl. You only hold her down so your best friend can, right?"

Vinnie and his buddy exchange glances, "I didn't say a word," he says as his friend glares at him.

Chuckling, I say, "He didn't. Secrets always have a way of getting out. Trust me, I know better than anyone."

I swallow hard, forcing the image of Dalia from my mind, because now is not the time to think about her. Reaching into the drawer I've been keeping my very special handmade toy in, I grab it and pull it out. I marvel at the perfection. Thank you, Mr. Henderson, for that eleventh grade welding class. They both eye me with suspicion like I'm a madman. I chuckle out loud. Okay, maybe I am.

"What the fuck is that?" Vinnie asks with wide eyes while staring at my toy.

I hold it up to the light as I inspect my craftsmanship, "It's essentially a cock cage with spikes on it."

"Okay," William says, sounding nervous as hell and really he should be.

"It's your lucky day, man, because I agree, holding someone down is bad, but not quite as bad as shoving your dick into a little girl. So congratulations, you get to do the fucking."

William immediately panics, "What? Fucking who? What is happening?"

I sigh with irritation, "Alright, try to keep up because redundancy pisses me off."

Pointing the toy at him, I say, "You're going to put this over your tiny dick, and fuck Vinnie here in the ass. It's gonna hurt like a fucking bitch, so hopefully you don't mind a little screaming."

Vinnie begins to shake slightly, "You're a fucking unhinged psycho."

I chuckle loudly, "Well, what the hell. There's that unhinged word again, maybe I am. Sorry Vinnie, I guess you shouldn't have fucked with the sister of an unhinged psycho."

I nod to Giorgio, "Get them ready."

He cringes slightly, "Extra pay, right?"

I shake my head at him with laughter, "Yeah, man, one hundred thousand dollars on top of your regular pay."

This is what I love about him, he will do anything with zero questions, as long as the money is there. My employees always do what they're told, because they know the consequences if they don't, but coordinating a deadly ass fucking is not part of their normal responsibilities.

First he yanks down William's pants, I hand him the toy, and he puts it around his cock and locks it into place.

"I'm not going to be able to get hard. I don't fuck dudes."

I smile, "That's the beautiful thing. It won't matter."

He undoes William's wrist restraints and I warn him, "Don't try anything stupid. I'll make you regret the day you were fucking born."

Giorgio undoes Vinnie's jeans and yanks them to his ankles and tosses him onto the concrete, kicks his legs open, and puts his booted foot on his back to hold him down.

Chuckling loudly, I laugh at pathetic Vinnie, "Bend over, bitch."

I nod to William, "You know what to do. Just like a pussy but an asshole. Although you're really going to need to shove it in there. We aren't doing this slow, that'd probably just hurt more anyway."

This is by far the sickest way I have ever killed someone, but I'm a psycho apparently, so I'm enjoying it. He kneels between Vinnie's open legs, while his buddy sobs from the pain he knows is coming.

He grabs his ass cheeks with a grimace and spreads them, "Sorry, man."

Closing his eyes, he begins to push inside his best friend. Fuck. I should've recorded this because the sounds are epic. The screaming of agony from Vinnie, the whimpers from William, and the fucking ripping flesh. The blood is almost instant and I already know this is the best revenge. His ass is pouring blood and if I say so myself, it's pretty fucking gross. It's Vinnie himself that makes me tell William to keep going, he cries like a little bitch, and then comes the blood curdling screams. They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but I think revenge is best served bathed in blood.

I nod to Giorgio, "Finish it."

He walks up to William and cuts his throat from ear to ear, before he really even knows what's happening. A fraction of a second before he made the cut, his eyes widened. There was no time to fight because his brain didn't work quite quick enough. His body collapses on Vinnie's neck and just as Vinnie struggles from the weight, Giorgio pulls his upper body off Vinnie, grabs his hair and slices his throat, the same way he did his friend's.

Glancing at me, he admits, "I hope I never have to do that again."

I smirk, "Yet, if I asked, you would do it?"

He laughs, "Hell yeah. Money talks, Boss."