𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐈

~Knife~

I couldn't lose her.

I could care less if she was rich or poor. Sick or healthy. Whole or broken. As long as she never lost her smile. And if she did, I'd love her anyway and find a way to bring it back.

But then I almost lost her.

And I couldn't let them get away with it.

"We already did everything we needed to do. He's all yours now," Antonio said, glancing at their bruised fists. Giving him a nod of thanks, I continued walking to the basement where he was being held.

I saw Blade and Oscar approach me as I entered the basement. Blade's knives were covered in blood and Oscar's hands weren't any different. Their eyes were laced with malice as they neared and I wondered how I was going to find Mr. Lewis Vale when I entered. Would his hands still be attached to his body?

Probably not.

I felt a smile grow on my face just thinking about it.

"He's ready to talk," Oscar nodded to me, a smirk of his own on his face.

"I got a little carried away but he still can open his eyes," Blade shrugged, wiping his bloody knife with a rag.

"I doubt that," I rolled my eyes, scoffing. Knowing him, he probably took out his eyes and lied straight to my face. He winked, walking out of the room with Oscar. Watching as they left from my line of vision, I took a breath and clenched my fists.

It was time for retaliation and answers.

I shook my head with a scowl and glare as I opened the heavy brass doors.

The heavy draft of cold air hit my face. It was frigid and bitter. The smell of human rot and blood burned my nose and it felt like ages since I had last done this. I walked into the dimly lit room, seeing the concrete stained in blood.

Getting a sense of déjà vu, I remembered this exact moment from three days ago. When I saw her kneeling and trembling, gasping for air. My jaw tightened and my body went rigid as my eyes followed the center light.

I saw him strapped to a wooden chair, barely breathing and looking like he just got run over. I was right. His hands weren't attached to his body. And Blade was lying when he said he could still open his eyes. Well, he could...just with one though since the other was completely taken out from its socket.

My eyes dragged over his body and I saw that something was on his arm.

A carving made by a knife.

It was a lion and a snake. The word lealtà was written under it with a line going through it, marking it out.

A smirk grew on my face.

Antonio and Matteo didn't leave him unmarked.

Flashback (3rd POV)

"That snake looks absolutely horrible," Antonio said to Matteo as he sat concentrating, using a knife to carve a snake and a lion into the man's forearm. Lewis sat screaming at the top of his lungs, squirming and pleading for mercy.

"It would be better if this Figlio di puttana sat still," Matteo grumbled, jaw clenching as he focused.

"It's good your in the mafia and not an artist," Antonio snorted. Matteo gave him a pointed look, glaring as he finished with the lion.

"Think you can do better? Go ahead," Matteo scowled, handing over the knife to Antonio. Antonio poked his tongue out at him, having a go at it.

Antonio began to write "lealtà" under the lion and snake, grinning when he finished, he crossed it out. It signified that he had not held his loyalty to the King and Lewis was a personal enemy of La Cosa Nostra.