I’ll Burn Anyone (The Challenge Night Series Book 2)

by K. L Mann

  I shove my phone back into my pocket, waiting for Gio to find me. I drink down half of the bottle of water and think my heartbeat has finally returned to normal. I screw the cap back on to my water when I hear his footsteps.

  “They really wiped out every remaining Hernandez?” I ask before he says a word.

  My phone buzzes but I leave it alone.

  “Every single one, 92 bodies to prove it,” Gio replies, seemingly as impressed as I am.

  The Hernandez cartel tried to take over the Garacias months ago, kidnapping Katherine in the process. Katherine’s father ran the Garcias for years and her former fiancé was heir to the Hernandez. Needless to say, vengeance was required and thoroughly produced.

  The Garcia cartel needed a new home, they were far too beaten down to continue alone. They needed leadership and they chose us. Their task wasn’t easy, but necessary to prove fealty with any sort of merger this size. Katherine and her mother being the last of the remaining founding family pushed them to win. Being that Lorenzo is Katherine’s husband, he’s considered a García in their eyes. There were probably some innocent men left within Gustavo Hernandez’s ranks, but they would never be trusted. Death was the only option.

  Killing innocents isn’t common, but nothing is ever guaranteed.

  “Looks like we’ll have our work cut out with them then.” I sigh. “Training is so much easier than un–training and retraining. Katherine has got some serious technical skills though, so maybe they will too.”

  “Some of them need more work than others. Some of the men weren’t exactly trained for combat, but I believe they’re all capable. I’m thinking we’ll do a pyramid test, then throw them into the program where they fit best. Some of them might only need a month or so. Others might need the full eight.”

  “My thinking exactly.”

  Gio and I are in different power structures, but he likes to stay in Italy so he helps with training a good amount. Though, the program is technically mine, he’s still an heir and I don’t mind his insight. I actually enjoy working with him quite a lot.

  His hand to hand is even more impressive than mine, and I was recruited for my fighting skills. Not to mention he knows the business better than anyone, even Lorenzo. He has connections everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if people feared the name Cel in Alaska.

  “What did Sal and Loui think of owing a girl in a frilly pink dress our kind of favors?” I ponder, thinking back to her win, she was so excited. The smile on her sweet lips was downright sweet. I wanted to kiss those dangerous plump little lips until they couldn’t kiss anymore.

  Gio grins. “I think they were more concerned about what I was going to do with a limitless favor from a seemingly helpless girl in a frilly pink dress.”

  “Yeah, what are you going to do with that anyways?” I raise an eyebrow at him, trying to keep my tone casual. “I mean, she’s been trying to break you down for years now. You don’t really need a favor to get her to do anything for you, you know that right?”

  Gio looks at me suspiciously, cocking his head to the side. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

  Yeah, I fucking would.

  I need to prepare her for you, you idiot.

  “Well, I’d like to be prepared for when Lorenzo holds you at gunpoint. Since his little sister owes you a limitless favor, when she shouldn’t have even been in the game,” I point out, grumbling.

  “Relax, I’ve got it handled,” he says, rolling his eyes like she would. God they are so alike and they don’t even see it. “Since when do you care what happens to Arianna anyways? You hate her, you think she’s spoiled and whiny.”

  I blanch.

  Is that what he thinks? That I hate her?

  “I don’t hate her. I hate how easy life has been to her, and she’s too peppy for my grumpy ass. But like I said, I’m worried we’re all going to kill each other by the end of this month with her living here.”

  He looks at me like I’m hiding something, and I am. “And why would you be in danger of death?”

  Fuck. This interrogation isn’t helping my guilt.

  “Because I’d have to pick a fucking side,” I grimace.

  “Lorenzo won’t kill me, and you won’t have to pick a side. Okay?” Gio tries to reassure me.

  Yeah, cause I’m going to teach Arianna how to get out of it before you can fuck everything up. I’m not done with her yet. You can’t have her.

  I’m ruined for her man.

  God, I want to tell you.

  “Alright,” I nod and jump up from the counter. “Send me a list of names, I’ll randomize some skill events to make the rotation.”

  “Vito is doing that right now, you should get some sleep,” he lectures me like he’s my father.

  “Yeah, cause sleep has always been so peaceful for me,” I dig at him sarcastically, and start to walk away. “Goodnight!” I call back to him in a less than enthusiastic tone.

  “Four hours to function,” he reminds me like he does nearly every day.

  I get that he cares, but it feels a bit redundant at this point. I get three to five hours a night if I’m lucky. Though, my body is pretty tired from earlier, so I might at least be able to relax and listen to music.

  I open Arianna’s message when I get back to my room.

  Arianna: How will you know I’ve prayed?

  Luca: I have impeccable lie detection skills, princess. Trust me, I’ll know.

  I text back and jump into my bed.

  My room is massive. The ground floor is set up like the floor above the foyer. We call it the second floor because most people don’t know about the basement floor. Katherine’s room takes up one half of the second floor and Lorenzo’s takes up the other. Though, they sleep in each other’s rooms now which was a cultural reset for all of us. There’s a small hallway between them where the stairs and elevator are. The basement is the same, Gio has his half and I have mine. Though, we have shared space when we bring home someone to play with together.

  My bed takes up the center of my room, it’s a custom-built size, big enough for six people. My walls are a pale grey color and the floors are a black oak wood. I don’t have a lot of things. I don’t spend a lot of time down here, it’s nice and all but it’s kind of secluded. There aren't any windows, the basement is set up as one big safe room. You can only get to it by the elevator or the stairs, but both have codes to access them.

  Arianna: Tell me a fantasy you haven’t acted out yet. I know there probably isn’t much you haven’t done… but I’m curious. I’ve told you so many.

  Luca: Are you calling me a slut?

  I joke, shaking my head at the idea of her saying those words.

  Luca: Since you were a good girl today, I’ll tell you about one of the times I imagined being with you.

  Arianna: Oooh. Do tell. *Winky Emoji*

  Luca: Do you remember the Christmas party when Lorenzo, Marco and Gio had a drinking competition two years ago?

  Arianna: Yeah, they got utterly plastered and probably could have died of alcohol poisoning if they were normal people. We watched them talk like idiots for hours until they finally passed out.

  Luca: No, you watched them for hours. I watched you walk around in those tiny silk red pajama shorts and tight matching top. You stayed up watching Christmas movies, making sure they were still breathing every hour. I pretended I was watching too, but I wasn’t. You would bend over to check their pulses and hear their breathing. Your ass was the only view I could think about, even after you stood back up. All I wanted to do was part your pretty little legs and play the quiet game. To see how long you could handle me licking you relentlessly without screaming. Right on the couch, with your brothers a few feet away, and your mother and father upstairs asleep. I knew you were fawning over Gio, trying to take care of him. But I didn’t care, I wanted to make you forget about him for the night.

  Arianna: You were wearing those awful Christmas plaid pajama pants that mamma made you put on.

  My heart b
eats heavier in my chest realizing she remembers more than she let on as I continue to read.

  Arianna: You sat at one end of the couch, and I sat at the other. But my feet would “accidentally” hit yours when I went to sit back down. Your hair was messy because Gio tried to fight you before he fell asleep. I just remember wanting to sit on your lap to fix it… Maybe I bent over on purpose, hoping you’d notice me like Gio never did.

  Part of me wants to tell her that Gio does notice her, but the other part of me knows I can’t. It’s Gio’s choice what he wants to do with Arianna, and I can’t really do anything about it either way.

  Luca: You should get to sleep, worshiping takes a lot of energy.

  Arianna: Okay, I’m exhausted anyway and soreness is definitely creeping in… but is it supposed to feel this good?

  Luca: I can make it hurt more next time, if you want to see the other side. Goodnight, Princess.

  Arianna: Goodnight, King.

  Goodnight, what a presumptuous human thing to say.

  Yet, I still say it knowing my nights are never good. I can’t remember the last time I had a good night, but if anyone deserves the well wishes of a Goodnight text, it’s her.

  Four hours to function. My motto for the last ten years of sleep deprivation. Doc has offered to help on a few different occasions, but it seems sort of redundant at this point. There isn’t actually a cure for PTSD and that’s what this is. I’m tortured as soon as it’s dark, quiet and my eyes flutter shut. The same memories pollute my mind.

  Every.

  Single.

  Night.

  My mouth is so dry that the idea of speaking seems impossible, but I need to see her. I can’t help myself. I need her to help me.

  “Mamma,” I whisper through the crack in my bedroom door. “Mamma, can you hear me?” My voice comes out shaky and hoarse and hurts my throat, but I ignore it.

  Sweat is dripping down my back, soaking through my white shirt. I should take it off. It’s too hot in our house today, but I can’t go outside. I’m not allowed outside, outside is dangerous. I don’t know when he’s coming home and I wouldn’t dare risk being caught by him. It has to be soon because she always comes to hold me when he leaves so maybe he isn’t going to be gone long. Maybe he is just stepping out to take a call or to smoke in the sun, he likes that. I don’t care what he likes, because I hate him. I hate him so much and mamma says hating is a sin. She says God will protect us. She’s wrong. God hates me. He wouldn’t let him hurt mamma if he loved us. We don’t deserve to be saved. We’re evil by association; tainted by him. Tarnished because we live under the same roof as someone evil.

  God won’t save us, mamma.

  Mamma always has fresh bruises when she comes to see me and it makes my tummy hurt, but when she sings to me, I feel better. She sings me “Brilla, Brilla La Stellina” in a hushed voice to make me fall asleep. If I’m asleep I can’t get into trouble. I don’t care about the reason. I just like hearing her voice.

  She’s not allowed to hold me when he’s home, so I always hide away until I hear the rumble of his car leaving. She usually finds me first. Today she hasn’t found me first.

  Something is wrong.

  My heart feels it.

  It’s burning in my chest like there aren't enough hugs in the world to calm it.

  Why won’t she answer me?

  My hand feels wrong pushing against the door, like it shouldn’t be there, but still, I do it.

  Mamma’s room is dark. The curtains are keeping any stream of light from peeking through the windows. But as I let the door open, the light from the hallway shows me her.

  Mamma is on the floor.

  She’s not moving.

  Her chest isn’t rising and falling.

  “Mamma?” my voice cracks.

  I’m frozen in my place, rooting to the shitty concrete floor, willing her to move. Tears rush down my face in hot streaks as I stare at her.

  Blood.

  The room smells like blood.

  No. No. No.

  Blood is a bad smell. It means bad things happened. Mamma isn’t moving still. Is she…?

  No. That can’t happen.

  My knees give out and I fall to the floor.

  112. That’s the number you call when bad things happen. I’m not supposed to call it. He says so. Yet my fingers find the crappy old phone on the floor a few feet away and I dial.

  The police took me away that day. After they took away Mamma and told me I couldn’t see her, ever again. Heaven they said, with God. Mamma went to be with God. She left me behind, that’s how I felt about her.

  I felt abandoned.

  Understanding is a bitch, because once I understood the reality of life and death, I understood guilt. Guilt for feeling abandoned. Guilt for letting him kill her. Guilt for hating God. Guilt for still resenting the police who saved me. Guilt for being bad in foster homes. Guilt for never being able to find and kill my father.

  The things I’ll do to him when he inevitably comes out of hiding…

  Unspeakable things that even the most seasoned killers would find vile.

  I’ll do everything I can to make him suffer and then I’ll end him.

  Chapter 6: Repression

  “People Think That Torture Is Pain.

  It’s Not Pain. It’s Time.”

  –Frank Castle

  Arianna

  It’s freezing cold outside. I didn’t check the temperature, so I didn’t put on a coat. My sweater feels like it’s itching my skin as the winter air hits it. Lorenzo’s backyard garden is a maze the further you go into it. The pond at the bottom of the little hill is the only place I can go to be alone during these awful Christmas parties. Everyone pretends like we’re one big happy family every year, like we don’t all bicker and yell the rest of the time.

  Something feels different about this time, like maybe someone is watching me? But I don’t see anyone when I look behind me. I think about turning back for a coat as I reach the end of the hill looking down at my pond, but if I go back, mamma will find me.

  A gust of wind makes me trip. I didn’t know wind could be so forceful. It feels like it pushes me on purpose, like it’s angry with me. My hands try to catch on the grass to keep my body from falling down, but the ground is too hard. I tumble down the hill and my body aches like I’ve broken something. I can’t slow down. The hill is small but steep and I’m losing my battle against gravity.

  My head aches worse than I’ve ever felt pain, I feel even more cold despite warm wetness running down my neck. My hands feel bruised as they reach to touch the pain. Sticky red syrup covers my hand, making me scream.

  I’ve never seen so much blood, especially my own. I try to make words, to scream for help but all I can do is yell a panicked scream. I’m going to die, no one knows I’m out here. I can’t feel my legs, I can’t make myself move.

  God, my fucking head hurts.

  “Arianna!” Someone yells. “Arianna, wake up!” I feel something shake me. I’m not at the bottom of the hill anymore, it’s dark. “Arianna, open your eyes, stop screaming.” I feel hands grip around my arms, and I’m pulled back into reality.

  My eyes open, I’m drenched in sweat and the scar on the back of my head aches. My heart hurts like it’s been beating far too fast. I haven’t had this nightmare in forever, but being at Lorenzo’s house overnight again must have reminded me. Reminded me of the day I almost died from a simple fall. The day Lorenzo found me just in time. I realize that the hands that shook me awake are still wrapped around my arms.

  Gio is holding them, looking at me worriedly.

  “Are you okay?”

  My eyes get lost into his, my mouth feels dry. I’m mad that he’s touching me. I’ve wanted his hands on me for so long and the moment he pays attention to me, could be any more inconvenient.

  “I’m fine, it’s just a dream I get sometimes.” My voice comes out quiet.

  “What dream?” Gio’s hands relax his grip, but he doesn’t l
et go of me.

  “When I fell down the hill on Christmas, four years ago. I still can’t remember most of it, but it hurts my head so bad. And I’m bleeding, worried that no one can hear me scream.” Gio’s eyes still don’t look calm. “What time is it?”

  “It’s 3am, I only heard you because I was in the office; Lorenzo needed a file. You dream about the time you fell? It was so long ago.”

  “Only sometimes, but being here brings back the little memories I have I guess.” I shrug. “Mamma was so mad at me for sneaking off, and everyone looked so worried when I woke up in the hospital. You all looked at me like I was a ghost, and my head hurt so fucking bad.”

  “You were a ghost,” he sighs and takes his hands off of me. He’s sitting down next to me on Katherine’s bed. This is the longest time we’ve spent this close. “You were so pale, you lost so much blood. Marco had to donate blood for you because he was the only match and there was a shortage at the hospital. He couldn’t stop shaking, the nurse barely got the needle in his arm.”

  “Marco gave me blood?”

  “You really don’t remember much, do you?”

  “No. I still don’t understand how the wind pushed me so hard, or how Lorenzo found me. The doctor said it’s permanent amnesia, I’ll never remember. Even if it was on camera, and you showed it to me, it wouldn’t feel real.”

  “Right,” Gio nods.

  Something about being this close to him is driving me crazy inside. He was worried about me, and he’s sitting so close to me. Every vulnerable part of me rushes to the surface at once.

  “Why don’t you like me?” I feel a tear fall down my cheek.

  His face fills with a sadness I haven't seen from him before. He doesn’t want to answer me, he never does. “Arianna… don’t.”

  “Why?” My voice squeaks. “I’ve waited for so long, and you still push me away.” More tears fall from my eyes, I feel completely exposed. “You don’t want me, but you don’t want anyone else to have me; tell me why.”

  One of Gio’s hands cups my cheek as his thumb whips away my tears. “You know why Arianna. I can’t have you. We’d never work. I’m ten years older than you and I can’t do that to Lorenzo.”