Blade

Chapter 75: The Breaking Point

Sienna

Pain is the only thing I feel.

My heart aches. My body throbs from the whips and from being tied to the ceiling for hours.

They keep tormenting me with videos of Blade fighting to survive a panic attack. He looks worse every time they press play. His breathing grows weaker with each passing minute and he trembles without warning.

It breaks me to know I can’t reach him when he needs me the most.

I have no idea what to do. My lungs feel locked and my throat tightens as they keep forcing me under the water. I can’t breathe and every open wound burns until the pain turns into a numbness that feels even worse.

The blood pounding in my head makes my vision blur. I use every last bit of strength I have just to stay conscious, clinging to the hope that somehow we will get out of this.

Eventually, Marcello orders his men to unchain me and haul me into a windowless room. They strap me to a metal chair, securing my wrists and ankles until I can barely move.

"I have imagined this moment for as long as I can remember. Watching the Armani empire thrive under the son of Leandro Armani was its own form of hell," Marcello says, his expression stern, though I still catch the faint twitch at the corner of his mouth. "That bastard destroyed half of my alliances and severed my supply lines. He even humiliated me at the gala the Russian Bratva hosted last year."

I bite down on my lip and squeeze my eyes shut, trying to stop the tears gathering from the sting of the whip wound. My body shakes from the pain, and my hair hangs in wet strands that cling to my face.

He leans against the doorway, arms folded over his chest, his tongue brushing briefly across his lips. "After all that ego, confidence, and supposed power he carries, that bastard is now on his knees because of me." He pushes off the wall and steps into the room, dragging a finger along my blood-streaked arm. "This is only the beginning, Sienna. I will break Blade, make him suffer, torture him until he loses his sanity and his mind finally shatters."

Marcello moves behind me and bends close to whisper in my ear. "And when I am certain he has had enough, I will slit his throat and let you watch every moment."

Tears run down my cheeks before I can stop them, my heart breaking at the thought of Blade enduring all of it. I cannot imagine him in that hell without feeling like something inside me is being torn apart.

"Please..." I sob, teeth sinking hard into my lower lip. "Do whatever you want with me. Just let Blade go. Don't hurt him anymore, please."

He fists a handful of my hair and yanks my head back so violently that a scream tears out of me, the pain exploding through my skull.

"Oh, I will do whatever I want with you," he murmurs, cruel delight twisting his voice. "After I finish Blade, you will follow him quickly so the two of you can rot together like the perfect match made in hell."

"Please... just leave him alone." My words shake as I beg, his grip tightening until it feels like he could rip strands straight from my scalp.

"Look at you. Pathetic. Begging for your husband-to-be. As the Italian boss, he should be ashamed that his little whore is pleading on his behalf. How much lower can he fall?"