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Entering the holding cell where Estrella was being detained was meant to prepare Presley for being strong when she entered Odin’s space. It was Rami and Belkin’s idea. She wasn’t prepared though to see Belkin in the room as well and the difference in the man in front of her compared to the one she knew very well was causing her footsteps to falter.
He was what the movies portrayed the evil villain in a psychological thriller would look like. In her opinion this man, this version of Belkin in front of her, if she’d met him before the one who rescued her, she would have been pissing in her boots. He was scarier than Liborio ever was to her. It was clear Estrella was feeling the same way, despite her earlier introduction to him on the ship. The playful yet angry man from the day Presley was rescued was nothing like the one here.
“Good morning,” Presley nodded at him. “Belkin, I see you and the Mechanic have made yourselves comfortable and my guest quite uncomfortable.” Presley pulled a chair forward and straddled it, folding her arms along the back of it and eyeballed Estrella. “Hello Estrella. How was your trip?”
“You b***h,” Estrella appeared as if she’d not showered in days. Her hair was matted, and a stench clung to her making Presley’s nose twitch.
“Reminds me of the day Ramona came to Cruz’s office. She’s a little ripe,” Presley rubbed her nose.
“She was given food and drink, a safe place to use the toilet and a sink to wash in. She opted to go on some
kind of bathing strike ten days into her trip. She’s not bathed or showered in five days. The men were
reluctant to force her to wash given they did not want to make her take her clothing off, though they were about ready to hose her down.” Rami offered as he picked through a rolled–out knife kit on a table.
“I will personally ensure she showers before leaving here.” Presley turned her attention back to Estrella.” Remember when you ordered me to change, and I refused, and you slammed me against a door and bruised my face? You told me how I was your favorite author, but I disappointed you so much with my wimpy attitude. You should know, I’ve grown in the time we’ve been apart, Estrella. I might not match your physical strength, but I have a team who does. I’ve spent weeks curating a special all–female team from each of the families in Phoenix to help with the situations women like you pose.”
“Women like me?” Estrella raised an eyebrow.
“Yes. Women like you. The kind of women who would put other women at risk for nothing more than blind following of a man. Liborio capitalized on your weaknesses Estrella. You were conditioned fairly young to do the bidding of me. Growing up in a brothel, you were trained to please a man in any way he wanted. Despite you learning you don’t need to focus on pleasing a man at the risk of your own mental health and wellbeing, Liborio presented himself to you as your savior and you have hero–worshipped and blindly followed him. Worse, you convinced yourself, because you’re in love with him, or the idea of him as your savior, you could do anything he asked without questioning it because he was godlike.”
“He was a good man! You killed him!”
“I didn’t kill him.” Presley shrugged. “He violated many of his own rules, rules he created in memory of his sister, because he wanted something which was not his. I reminded him of his past, but I was never meant to be his future. He wanted to do to me what the men in your brothel did to you. I read the report on the brothel. The women there were encouraged at a certain age to have babies, and the male ones were taken away to
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work in the homes of the wealthy, but the girls were raised to work in the brothel. You wan
of there with most of the women, and you were given a fresh start in life with therapy and treatmen
brotherly love.”
“He loved me.
He let you believe he loved you as a brother, but the truth is, the man was so damaged he wouldn’t know how to love if someone implanted a chip in his brain and it rewired him. He was f****d up. His f***d–up behavior affected you. Now, part of Phoenix is to make sure all women are rehabilitated and given a second chance, however, we’re realizing some women don’t want this. It’s why I’ve created my new all women task force.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want you to look to your right,” Presley motioned at Belkin. “He seems pretty pissed off, doesn’t he? Do you want to know why?”
“I don’t particularly care.”
“Oh, but you should. You f****d up. You slipped up and revealed something you kept hidden even from Liborio. If Liborio were alive, he himself would kill you with his bare hands. Right now, my big Russian friend is torn. It’s not in him to hurt a woman. He has spent so much of his life saving and rescuing women that for him, to consider harming one with his own hands is making him uncomfortable. When he is uncomfortable he needs to compartmentalize and in doing so, he shuts down. He is disassociating, I think it is the psychological term but I’m no expert. All I know, is he’s taking all those feelings of being the good guy for women and might be a bit angry with himself because he really wants to do you harm.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Well first, you told the world I killed Liborio. Lies. He did this himself. However, more importantly, your husband sent us a video clip of you hurting your child.”
“She was being bad, and I spanked her. So what?”
“It wasn’t the spanking. You threatened to send her to the brothel where you grew up.” Presley leaned forward, her eyes narrowing.
“I think this one.” Rami interrupted the conversation. “You thought you might like to dole out the first punishment before the Flame team takes her away.” He put a small scalpel intò Presley’s outstretched hand.
“What do you intend to do with that?” Estrella gave a brave laugh.
“I’m going to remove the tattoo Liborio allowed you to get as a pledge to his family. Well, not really remove it. I’ll probably puke if I see too much blood. I am going to ruin it though. I’m going to put an x through it. In fact,
moving forward, any of the Bartoli clan who defy Liborio’s orders to have me lead this family, will be marked
with an x through their tattoo. I won’t be doing them all. I have Rami for that and Guido too.”
“Guido?”
“Yes. Guido. He’s my new brother from another mother. Did you know he and Liborio grew up together and he
was terribly ashamed of the man Liborio became after he set his sights on me. Guido never blamed me for Liborio’s downfall. He recognized it’s not a woman’s fault when a man becomes a monster. It’s the man’s fault. You on the other hand, are such a kiss ass you would blame God himself before holding Liborio accountable.”
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* One Down. ***
Presley rose up and motioned for Rami to hold the woman still and lift her arm. On the upper nions alde Estrella’s bicep, just under her shoulder, the mark of the Bartoll family was there. Presley fought the was stomach heaved with revulsion as she made an example of Estrella and cut an x through the tattoo Estrella in defiance didn’t fight or even scream but big tears rolled down her cheek.
You are no longer part of the Bartoli clan.”
“You don’t bear his mark either.”
“Actually, I do. Not in honor of him though.” Presley lifted her shirt and showed her the small tattoo she’d gotten. “It’s in honor of his sister, the reason behind Phoenix. I’m taking the Bartoli name away from the men who hurt her and defiled her memory with their bullshit and I’m giving her voice. I’m going to sing her story from the rafters of every building I go into it. The only way I can sit in the seat Liborio wanted me to take is by doing it in her honor, not his. The honor and memory he tainted with his wickedness, I’m taking back in her honor.” She stood up and watched the blood run down Estrella’s arm. “This is for her.”
“So, what. You removed the tattoo. Big deal.”
“Oh, honey, we’re not done with you. We found out what you did. You thought nobody would find out. Phoenix destroyed your brothel, your childhood home and all the men who ran it. Nobody would ever have thought the women there would start it back up again a few years ago. You helped. You slipped up mentioning sending your daughter there because it was originally destroyed.” She pointed at Belkin, “he is terribly angry to know you and your sisters, and your cousins rebuilt it. This time, there will be no second chances for you. We wouldn’t care if you wanted to run a brothel, and all the women were there of their own free will but it’s not the case. You’re dragging women in against their will. You’re making them have babies so you can groom their daughters to know how to please men. The boys are being taken home to please your sisters and cousins who have taken over the role as the rich bastards who started all this fifty or sixty years ago. You and your entire family will be gone by morning. Our all–female team, we’ve named The Flame, are going to burn through until it’s cleansed. The children are all going to be saved but we’re not going to be lax. They will be monitored and taken care of. There will be no returning to a bordello run by psychopaths.”
“No. You can’t kill my sisters.”
“Oh, honey, you’ll see that I can.” She looked at Belkin. “Would you care to elaborate?”
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“I would.” Belkin cleared his throat, the only emotion Presley could pick up. “Since you are now captured and in our possession with no chance of escape to warn them, your sisters have been rounded up. All of them, as well as your mother and your two aunts and your aunt’s best friend, will all be brought to Phoenix for trial.”
“I deserve a trial,” Estrella grasped onto it.
“You were tried in absentia.” Belkin shrugged. “We presented a ton of evidence, and your husband testified against you. He told us how you made twelve trips back home under the guise of visiting your mother and sisters. You used money earned in the Bartoli family to help them rebuild the business. We also have your phone which was used to communicate with your family. We have all your texts, emails, and messages outlining your betrayal of the Phoenix rules. The jury has ruled you will be put to death. Presley is right. It goes against everything in me to hurt a woman. My mother raised me right despite who I was to the rest of the world. Yet, I’m grappling with the urge to beat you into the f*****g ground.” He gripped Estrella’s chin, “you threatened to prostitute your child. You threatened to let the men teach her what it means to be obedient. What kind of f*****g horror show are you? Your punishment is death. I want to do it myself, but Phoenix has allowed Presley, since you are part of the Bartoli family, to determine how you’ll be dealt. She has ordered I
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not sully my hands or my spirit with your blood. You will be executed for your crimes by the waham Flame. One of the women was a survivor of the same brothel from whom you were rescued. She becam. of my family and wanted to be a soldier, strong and resilient so no man ever hurt her again. We let her da this. She is upset you restarted the brothel.” He clapped his hands, and a woman entered. “I believe you two know each other.”
Presley nodded, “I will leave you to it. Belkin, I believe you and I have an appointment in the next room. Raml will supervise here.”
Exiting the room Presley reached a hand, knowing it was shaking a fraction at what she knew was to come, to slide into Belkin’s large one. He grasped it gave her the reassurance she needed.
“It’s for the best Presley.” He whispered as they closed the door on Estrella’s screaming pleas to save her.
Presley wondered if this part ever got easier.
