The Mafia Contract Series

The music stops and everyone in the packed room turns to see what’s happening and I feel my soul pant with expectation. This is what I love.

What’s molded into our souls and nurtured from a very young age.

Pain, revenge, fear, and retribution. Qualities required to learn a trade many would die rather than experience for themselves.

Alessandro and Ivan have forced Eden and her friend Brianna into two chairs and are currently holding them in place by their hair and the fear in the girl’s eyes is a magnificent sight to behold.

I don’t enjoy hurting women; it doesn’t sit right with me, but they need to be taught a lesson and it needs to be in full view of everyone to guarantee their humiliation.

Winter turns and looks at me and shakes her head.

She doesn’t need to voice the words, it moves between us like a telepathic wave, and I feel my own eyes flash as I stare at her with a promise. ‘This is for you.’ Slowly, I push off the wall and say in a low voice, “Have you anything to say?”

I address my question to Eden because we all know she is the ringleader in a gang that is terrorizing the female students for no other reason than to earn a reputation. She blinks the tears away as she looks at me helplessly and winces as Alessandro tightens his hold.

“I’m sorry.” The tears burn in her eyes, and she looks deliciously helpless as she realizes her time’s run out.

Her friend’s tears are running down her face and she looks scared shitless, which suits my purpose and Ivan pulls down sharply on her hair and hisses, “Your turn.”

“I’m sorry.” She says it quickly and I almost laugh out loud because she doesn’t even know what she’s apologizing for. She just acts as a lookout most of the time and is nothing without her more dominant friend.

I address the room loudly. “Eden and Brianna made a fatal error when they targeted my sister and her friend. Brianna’s guy paid the price, an eye for an eye, when he slammed a locker door into Emma’s face.”

The crowd gasps and all eyes turn to a quivering Emma who looks as if she’s about to give up on life in seconds and I see Winter edge closer to offer reassurance. Flynn moves beside Emma and places his arm around her shoulder, and it amuses me to see the pure terror dawn in her eyes as she’s caught between a rock and a hard place. This is a public claiming of the most fucked-up kind because the whole of Rockwell Academy knows Flynn doesn’t care about anyone. However, tonight Emma is getting the full service and if she doesn’t feel special by the time the dawn breaks, he won’t have done his job.

I say roughly, “She is under our protection, so listen up. Leave my sister and Emma alone or suffer the same fate as Eden and Brianna.”

The terror dawning in their eyes wraps my soul in happiness because dealing with bullies is my favorite pastime. Girls like Emma don’t deserve the way they are treated and need someone to stand up for them sometimes. I love pain and revenge, and we are taught to inflict it where it matters most.

My sister is where it matters most, to me, anyway and so I say thoughtfully, “But what are we going to do to punish you?”

Brianna starts crying and Eden looks shocked and completely mortified, which is amusing because we haven’t even got started yet. I know most of what she does is to earn a reputation as a woman not to be messed with. She thinks that would impress me, would earn her passage as my girl and a place at my side. She knows shit because I don’t do relationships of any kind and her night has passed and will never be repeated.

I turn to Winter. “It’s your decision.”

To her credit, she just looks bored, yet I know inside she will be hating this scene because Winter is a kind girl who hates violence. Ironic really when you think about where we come from.

“Any suggestions?” She throws it back at me and I laugh to myself.

Getting her to seal another person’s fate will be like discovering the tooth fairy, but I need everyone to see the power she holds. After tonight, nobody will mess with my sister and her time here will be drama free.

“I have a few. What about you Emma, what do you think their punishment should be?”

It’s as if the devil has asked for her soul and Emma’s frightened eyes blink in disbelief as Flynn’s arm tightens around her shoulders and he strokes the back of her neck with a gentleness that always surprises me to witness.

Winter interrupts, “Emma won’t want revenge. She’s too good for that, but I’m different, not so kind and not as forgiving.”

I knew she would step in to save her friend, which was my intention all along. To force Winter to face who she is and harden her heart. She needs to let go of sentiment to face the future, and it begins now.

“I want a promise from them both.”

She glares at the girls and says with a voice edged in steel. “To stop intimidating the other students and trying to prove they’re something they’re not or will ever be.”

“Too easy.” I shake my head. “That will happen regardless. They need to pay the price for their actions and a promise just isn’t good enough.”

The atmosphere is tense, dark, and exciting. The other students are watching like vultures at an ancient battle. Horrified curiosity as they wait for the dramatic scenes that will prove how basic human behavior really is. A fight to the death before moving onto the next in line, a blood lust that can be more addictive than any drug.

Looking at Ivan, I say in a dead voice. “Ivan, do you have a preference?”

His eyes flash as he snarls, “I have several.”

Brianna yelps as he twists her hair and forces her up to face him. “What will it take to teach you a lesson, I wonder? What will teach you not to fuck with my family?”

Alessandro grins and forces Eden’s head down between her knees and growls, “I say we humiliate them and give them a visual reminder of their sins.”

I can feel Winter’s alarm from here and let it bathe my tainted soul in pleasure. I love this. I feed off this, which shows me what a fucked-up animal I am.

I catch sight of Claudia’s excited face staring at the scene with a flushed face and a bright gleam in her eye. She’s loving this which is interesting.

Maybe I misjudged her, and she’s not as sweet as she looks.

Her eyes raise to mine, and I see an interest in them that would give me a night to remember and it’s so tempting, so intoxicating, I almost consider breaking my own rule for one night only.

Laughing to myself, I look back at the two girls who await their fate with fear and resignation, and I snarl, “A temporary reminder will be sufficient payment. I think their vanity could use a lesson, cut off their hair.”

The two girls’ screams make me laugh as they face the worst possible outcome, in their eyes only.

Malik steps forward with a knife that would make an assassin’s eyes water and as Alessandro holds Eden’s hair in one hand, he slices through it, cutting it off close to the scalp. The shock ripples around the room as she cries as if she’s been stabbed, and her screams of agony make me despise her even more.

Malik turns to Brianna who has the balls to plead with him, “Please, not my hair, not my face, I’m sorry, I’m …”

Her tortured scream makes me smile as her own long, blonde hair joins Eden’s on the ground and the gasps of horror all around me make me feel warm inside.

The sobs of the two girls are like music to my ears as Malik twists the metaphorical knife and says darkly, “Maybe we should shave the rest off.”

The broken women moan with pain as if we have stabbed them in a frenzied attack, and I shrug. “What do you think, Winter? Do you think they’ve suffered enough, or do you want more? I mean, Claudia has a personal interest in this too. Maybe she wants more?”

All eyes turn to Claudia, who pales as the focus of the room shifts on her and she backs down, telling me she just isn’t cut out for this. “No.”

Her whisper irritates me a little and I say coolly, “Have it your way.”

Heading over to Eden, I crouch before her shaking body and pull her chin to face me, relishing the beaten eyes that stare at me with humiliated defeat.

“Just so everyone knows, you were a lousy fuck, and I regretted it the moment you spread your legs. Learn some self-respect and stop trying to make yourself feel good by terrorizing others. Oh, and by the way, you’re no longer welcome here.”

Nodding to Alessandro, he heaves her up and propels her across the room and as the crowd parts, they openly stare as she moves through them.

Alessandro opens the door and pushes her outside, slamming it behind her and then all eyes turn to Brianna who is sobbing, and I say bitterly, “You are even worse. You gain your reputation by another’s actions. A look out and a cheerleader for the wrong team. Reveling in other people’s pain, you are the worst kind of person. Never standing up for what’s right and enjoying the misery of others. If anyone, I want to hurt you the most, but knowing how vain you are, this is the worst kind of punishment we could give you.”

Looking at Ivan, I snarl. “Throw the trash out.”

He pulls her to her feet and almost drags her to the door before pushing her roughly outside and as the door slams, I snarl, “Show over.” The music starts up again and I turn to my sister and see the sadness in her eyes that cuts me deeper than any knife could.

For a moment we are back at home, witnessing another punishment, another day at the office and I can tell she’s wearied of it all. Then, like the good friend he is, Baron steps forward and rests his hand on her shoulder and whispers, “Hey, let me fetch you a drink.”

She nods and turns with him, and I watch them head into the kitchen with the heaviest feeling in my heart. I’m not proud of what I did, but I will do worse if it means protecting her. She’s all I’ve got, and I will never stop trying to make her life better in any way I can.