"Being Ben's"

35. Struggle boat

"Valentino!" Lorenzo stormed over to his son and snatched the gun out of his hands. Ben's eyes were squeezed tight and I saw tears dripping down his face. "Do not tell me you were about to do what I think you were going to do."

"Father." Valentino huffed. "I wasn't going to kill him... maybe I was but why do we need both of them."

"Let Felix go!" Ben yelled, furiously. They both looked at him and continued to talk with one another, ignoring us.

"Oh..." Valentino said. Lorenzo nodded lighting a cigarette that was in his mouth. "You've learned nothing, have you?" Then he leaned in my face blowing the cigarette smoke in my face. "You know where Marcus is, right?"

I leaned back, holding my breath until he stood then I shook my head. "I don't." I looked to the ground. Lorenzo chuckled. "You're an awful liar."

I looked back and forth to Lorenzo and Valentino standing in front of me. Valentino scoffed. "That was a dumb answer. We know you do." He kicked my toes with his dress shoes. "So... where is his, Ratito?"

"Don't hurt him." Ben said in the back ground.

"I'm not telling you." I glared at him. He shrugged and pulled out the knife he had earlier and stabbed into my hand. I stared at the knife connecting my hand to the chair and had to swallow back bile.

"Felix!" Ben's voice was filled with panic. Valentino pulled his knife back out and my hand wouldn't stop shaking. It didn't hurt, maybe because of shock or maybe because of this whole situation. Even Lorenzo couldn't take his eyes off my hand that surprisingly wasn't bleeding as much as I thought it would be but still was concerning. Valentino looked at his father. "I learned that. Right where there's no nerve, no veins, no bone. Just a scare tactic."

Lorenzo shrugged, like he was unimpressed but... how?

"I'm... not scared of you." I said still staring at my head which was starting to scream with pain. My chair went flying backwards and my vision went black around the edges. Valentino stepped on my chest and I heard a couple cracks and yelled.

"Valentino stop!"

"There's nothing I hate more then cocky little sons of bitches." He said ignoring Ben completely. I groaned and he pressed harder. I sucked a breath in through my teeth.

"Valentino, control your temper." Lorenzo said quietly. His foot loosened. "I'm not going to kill him... I mean I will but not now."

"Leave him alone!"

"Infuriating..." Lorenzo said closing his eyes in annoyance. "I know but we still need information from them."

"I don't know what you- you are trying to acc- accomplish by doing this but it's not go- goi- going to work." I said stumbling through my words, my head hurt like a bitch and I felt I could throw up any second now. The edge of Valentino's shoes pressed against my throat making me tilt my head back. "You're just as annoying maybe even more annoying then he is." He grumbled.

"Fuck." I glared at him and spoked through bared teeth. "You."

A low to my head was the last thing I felt before my whole vision went dark.

——

I woke up against cold metal, it was dark and I could see nothing. All I could hear was my heavy panicked, breathing. "B- Ben."

"Felix, I'm here. You're okay."

I wasn't sure about that but at least I knew he was here. I took a deep breath and exhaled a couple of times to get the immediate panic out. It worked... a little. As soon as the panic was gone though, pain consumed my whole body. "Ahh..." I closed my eyes and hot tears ran down my face. I didn't move from the position I was laying in on the floor but I could tell that I was chained to the wall with my hands now behind my back. "B- Ben a- are you okay?" I tried talking to get my mind off the pain. I groaned, not being able to keep it in.

"I'm okay... Felix, don't try to move, you'll only hurt yourself more. I'm not even sure what kind of injures you have."

"I'm trying but..." I had to catch my breath. "... everything hurts." I whimpered. I tried staying quiet as to not worry him but I wasn't doing to well.

"I'm sor-."

I cut him off. "You've gotten any sleep, yet?" I asked changing the subject. I pressed myself up and sucked in a breath though my teeth. I crawled on my knees (carful not to fall over) over to him, following his voice.

"Not yet, they won't let me sleep but... it's fine. I can do without." He jumped when I pressed my face against his thigh. I smiled sadly with my eyes closed, taking in just that little bit of warmth.

"Fel-."

"Shh." I said "Not now."

His finger tips brushed the top of my head. "I-." He started but the door opened creaking ominously and Valentino stepped through, turning on that horrid bright light.

We both glared at him after we adjusted our eyes and he walked over to us. "Looks like I gave you a little to much lead, perrito." He grabbed the chair Ben sat in and pulled it back so it was a arms length away (or would be if my arms were free.).

Hurt twisted in my chest as I glared at Valentino who stood behind Ben, smirking at me, enjoying the pain I was in. "One of you is going to break soon enough and I'll get to see my nephew soon." He said. Ben rolled his eyes. "You lost the right to call him your nephew the day you left and never came back."

A slash of Valentino's knife flashed through my vision. It cut right through Ben's shirt and left a cut beneath it. The chains behind me rattled as I pulled on them.

"Fuck you." Ben said through gritted teeth. Valentino turned over Ben's arm and scoffed looking at it. "There's a form of execution they used in Imperial China death of a thousand cuts. Looks like you already have... what seventeen on this arm and ten on this arm. Twenty seven..." He pointed with the knife at the slash on Ben's chest. "Twenty eight. Only nine hundred and seventy two left."

I looked at Ben, how his teeth were bared and his eyes followed the pocket knife Valentino had in his hands.

"Stop, please." I begged him. He walked in front of Ben and shoved his shoe into the side of my ribs. I cried out as pain like I've never felt before spread through my chest. "Shut up before I-."

"Mijo..." Lorenzo said standing by the door. Valentino looked at him and looked at me a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth then he and Lorenzo walked away.

"Ben... I... I don't know if I can watch you suffer." I sniffed. My throat felt raw and dry, it hurt to speak and even swallow. He was quiet for a moment then sniffed too and tried to flip his hair from his face. "Don't worry about me, I grew up in this family. I know what their tactics are... but if... if they do anything-."

"Hey... I'll be fine." I said staring at his lips across the room. I wanted to kiss him, make this fear go away, make this whole setting disappear. He smiled, nodding softly. "I love you." His voice was rough and he was holding in a cough.

"I love you too."

"Again!" Loud clapping echoed throughout the room. "I can definitely feel the emotion."

My body started to shake as I recognized the voice and face of the man who was walking up to us. I didn't take my eyes off his haunting face, his bald head, that foreign Russian accent that haunted a recent nightmare. I shook my head and the fact he was even here.

"Finally... I get you to myself."

"Novikov!" Ben yelled and struggled against his restraints. "Don't fucking touch him or I'll murder the fuck out of you." He looked up to Novikov, following his eye contact with a warning look. "I thought you'd have some objections... no matter I have a solution." He pulled out a cloth and put it to Ben's mouth. He not making it easy to place it over his head but to our horror Novikov made it work.

I scrambled back to the wall, trying to lengthen my time to impending doom.

Ben yelled and screamed at Novikov, cursing him out, in all the languages he knew.