“Vengeance.” His voice was cold and angry. “Is that what you’re calling this?” He met her eyes. “I never pegged you for a sadist when I first met you. I guess I was wrong.”

“No. You weren’t wrong.” Nita shrugged. “But people change. I changed.” She leaned forward, eyes cold. “I had to change to survive because of what you did to me. So, this, all of this?” She waved a hand around. “That’s on you.”

He glared. “I’m not responsible for your choices, Nita. You are. You chose to be what you are, and you chose to do this to me. I admit, I fucked up. I shouldn’t have sold you out. And I’m sorry. I really am. I’ve apologized a dozen times, and I mean it. But I can’t change it. And it’s not my fault what you’ve decided to do since then.”

Fabricio looked away. “I have enough things to hate myself for without adding your crimes in there too.”

Nita’s smile was tight. “I’m sure you do.”

“You can look as smug as you want, but at least I know what my crimes are.” His voice was bitter and raspy from screaming. “But, Nita, do you know?”

“Know what?”

“The price of your ‘vengeance’?” Fabricio raised his eyes and met hers, rage burning dark and cold in their depths. “I think it’s only fair you know, don’t you?”

Nita’s eyes narrowed.

“Shall I tell you what Kovit did to me?” Fabricio said softly, barely more than a whisper. “Shall I tell you what you let him do to me?”

An uneasy feeling coiled in the base of Nita’s stomach. She didn’t like hearing the details.

“I know what Kovit did.”

“Do you?” Fabricio whispered. “Then you know that he started skinning my fingers? Slow, small strips of skin, one after the other. He peeled them off like potato skins.”

Nita didn’t say anything, her expression hard, trying to cover the ugly, vicious revulsion coiling inside.

“Have you ever scraped your knees, Nita? That’s just a little bit of skin off. Just a small scrape. This was bigger. He scraped and scraped, and it was so painful that I couldn’t even tell you my own name. I couldn’t think over the pain.” He swallowed. “I suppose at some point my body decided it was too much pain to bear and stopped sending so many signals. But if I twist wrong, it hurts all over again.”

“Enough, Fabricio.” Nita sounded hoarser than she intended. “I get it.”

“Do you, though? Because I’m not done.” Fabricio’s blue eyes were steady. “Because he reached my nail at one point, and he slid that knife under my nail. And he ripped. It. Off.”

Nita clenched her fists at her side and said nothing.