If Looks Could Kill

Chapter Twenty Four

Belaina

The door clicking close is like another knife to my body. Immediately my older brothers facade drops and in its place is the devil himself. If I was ever scared of something, my brother in a furious state was it. He was the disciplinary source back at HQ, and I knew he reveled in my agony every time I got in trouble. Beau served my punishments with joy, almost the same way people happily served candy to trick-or-treaters.

When I first saw him my heart fell through my ass because I knew why he was here. Over the course of the earlier confrontation I made peace with my fate. Let's just get this over with.

"Who took you?" Beau gets straight to the point.

"Don't know the organization name but I'm pretty sure it's the same people who are stealing from Ma... Mr. Brazzo" shit. The last thing I need is him finding out how friendly me and Matteo have been. Not that he's an overprotective brother in any sense. He never has been, none of my brothers were. It was more a sense of controlling me.

"You didn't get a name?"

"No"

"Did you get out on your own?" He takes a step closer but I don't dare step back. It'll only make it worst. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't lie he'd see right through me.

"Yes. I was free before Mr. Brazzo stepped through the door." Even if my heartbeat was beating at rapid speeds I kept my voice neutral. I've been through this dance enough times that showing any weakness would make it burn longer.

"Why did you let them take you in the first place?" My brother reaches into his long pants pocket located on his side. Pulling out a medium sized branding iron, a thick 'A' attached to the end. Twirling it around his fingers to taunt me. Then he brings out a small blow torch lighter.

"They were planning on taking Cassandra Brazzo, I was protecting her" I say it confidently, not regretting my decision even as the anticipation kills me. When the blue flame clicks on Beau narrows his eyes at me.

"Was that apart of your assignment? Last I checked you were here to clean up money laundering issues from the inside out."

"I saved her, I don't regret my decision" I swallow hard when I see the flame meet the metal 'A'.

"Even though you knew you'd be punished? Stupid sister, you never learn." The metal is glowing red under the blue flame of the lighter. "Stick to your task, leave your feelings out of it. Or do you forget the last time you let your feelings cloud your judgement. Left us a lot of bodies to clean up Belaina. Would hate for that to happen here." He slowly turns the branding iron through the flame like he's roasting a marshmallow.

I have nothing to say, I just nod stupidly and wait for him to proceed. Knowing Marco is right outside I'm half intrigued to scream when the hot metal meets my skin. But that would only cause more problems than we have time to deal with. I'm so close to unveiling the identity of the enemies head.

"Pull down your pants, you know the drill" Beau clicks off the lighter and smoke escapes the iron. Unbuttoning my pants I pull them down low enough to expose my left hip, pushing my underwear out of the way. My punishment scar lies at an angle on the meatier part of my hip. Beau uses his precision to make sure to align the scar every-time he pushes the iron into my skin. This time is no different as he aligns it just right, I can feel the heat from the iron with it an inch from its finish line.