Whump!

Reilly fought to keep from uttering a sound as the fist of one of Reznor’s men struck him in the stomach again. Reilly raised his eyes toward his captor and sneered “Trying to torture me or tease me?”

Reznor stepped to the center of the empty room where Reilly dangled from a rope in the ceiling by his hands. “You think I’d let it go?” he glowered. “You think I’d forget? You had one thing to do, easy as eatin’ pie, and you humped me”.

“You had plenty of other targets, there was no need to start tapping peasants in the projects”, Reilly glared.

“That ain’t the point”, Reznor shouted, backhanding Reilly himself. “I tell you to do a job, you do the job! No questions!”

“And I told you, that’s a line I don’t cross! You want to bleed other bosses, fine - or idiots too stupid to hold on to their own bounty, fine. Not people who got almost nothing!”

Whack! The back of Reznor’s hand struck Reilly again. Reaching out, Reznor grabbed Reilly’s hair and tilted his head upward, bringing his own face within inches of Reilly’s. “You were nothin’ when I found you”, Reznor growled. “Petty street urchin stealin’ change from men’s pockets. Grabbin’ trinkets offa fools not lookin’. I made you, gave you opportunities, and you scuffed me and ran! Now you find out what happens when you cross me”.

“They were beggars!” Reilly snarled, ignoring the trickle of blood from his mouth. “Dirt poor! No threat, no target, nothing to you either way!”

“Yeah”, Reznor grunted, “Almost nothin’, kinda like you now”. Releasing Reilly, Reznor turned and started toward the only exit, a heavy wooden door. “Let him stew for awhile while I conjure w