A slow smile curved my lips as I stepped forward and held the chainsaw out. He couldn’t stop his body’s momentum as he swung into the chainsaw. He got stuck, and the screams intensified as the chainsaw started cutting through flesh.

With him hanging, I couldn’t get enough pressure to cut through the bone. I pulled the chainsaw free, blinking away the spots of red in my vision. I had to wipe my eyes and glasses clean. Blood gushed out of the wound and I could make out the muscles and bone I hadn’t been able to get through.

His body swung back and forth limply. and I didn’t need to look up to know life was flickering out of his eyes. I moved over to his friend, letting the chainsaw die down so I could talk to him.

“He was meeting some cop,” the one on the table screamed. He shook his head, refusing to look at the other guy. “Please, we didn’t know this would happen.”

“What did you think would happen?”

“The guy was only supposed to take a crate or two.” His eyes bugged out as I pulled the string on the chainsaw. “Wait. Wait!”

The engine hadn’t started, and I stopped letting it recoil back. I cocked a brow.

“I don’t have a name.” He licked his cracked lips before coughing. “I swear. Please.”

“Who was it?”

He shook his head. “No idea. Only saw him once, and he wore a mask.”

“In other words, you’re no longer useful.”

“Wait, I could point him out.” He was grabbing at straws.

My head was shaking before he even suggested it. “Impossible to get every cop in New York to line up for you to pick out who you think it might be.”

I’d have to dig into all of Benjamin’s past work and see where and when money started to go missing, along with products. The chainsaw started up once more, drowning out the shouts and curses.

This is paradise.

Once it was all said and done, I stepped out of the room, cleaning the blood from my glasses as I slipped them on. Blood covered me from head to toe. I didn’t need to see my reflection to know what I looked like. A smile stretched my lips as I stood there in the mess of my making. It was the only time everything wasn’t overwhelming. No amount of noise, smell, or touch could deprive me of the calmness that coursed through me.

“Enzo,” Benito called out.

I didn’t jump, the reaction long ago beaten out of me. I turned to look at my brother. He normally never stuck around when I had to torture. A cigarette hung between his index and middle finger. The cherry glowed red before a tendril of smoke curled in the air.

I was so high off the moment of normalcy I hadn’t even noticed the smell. Benito pushed off the wall, his weighted gaze rooting me to the spot as he stepped forward. He took another drag as he stopped right in front of me. He was far taller than me, but my brother had never ruled it over me, at least not since we were children. I tilted my head back slightly.