Bound to Darkness (Doubeck Crime Family)

The man struggles with the rope, and Kai just stares at him. “Nice to see you again. Ike, is it? Or Ivan, maybe. I get all you boys mixed up.”

Kai turns to me, and something about his smile is off. It’s almost…feral. “You’d think their parents would learn to stop reproducing. Am I right? Considering how many assholes they keep making.”

I nod dumbly, unsure what role I’m playing in this little scenario. Kai stares down at my legs and then hands me the blanket. “For the record, I think you are perfect.”

Well shit. I swallow hard, unable to speak after that declaration. So he heard the guy call me fat.

Kai sits on the coffee table, his towel spreading open so he can brace his arms on his knees, his hands folded. “What are you doing here?”

The man, looking almost serene, stares Kai down, not speaking.

I clutch the blanket around me tighter, watching them both. I should be scared, right? Terrified. Not only is this man a stranger, but I also propositioned him like I’d actually go through with it. It’s something I might have done…before. A tiny flare of hope kindles in my chest, and I can’t let it go. I want to breathe air on it, feed it, let it grow some more, but I don’t know how.

Kai’s voice drags me back to the questioning. “Did you get tired of waiting around for one of your brothers to take over after Sal’s death?”

It hits me. This man is one of Sal’s brothers. I freeze, barely breathing, studying his face. It is. He has the same greaseball haircut and extended forehead. A Neanderthal in training is what I used to call Sal. His brother has the same look.

I step forward, and Kai leans away. The man shifts his gaze to me, clearly not expecting anything.

I reach and hit him hard enough to jar my knuckles and shoot pain into my fingers and wrists.

The man flops back against the chair, and I leave a mark on his cheek. Kai sweeps in behind me and leads me to the kitchen. I stand there glaring at the man while Kai fishes out a dishrag and some ice for my hand. “Here, hold this.”

To his credit, he didn’t ask me why I hit him or why I’m imagining shoving a knife in his chest… the same way…

I pull my thoughts from the past and look at Kai. Water droplets still cling to his neck as if he’d barely had time to dry himself before running to my rescue. “You okay?”

I nod. “Let’s just find out what he wants so we can get rid of him.”

He raises one dark eyebrow, his lips turned up in a smirk. “Get rid of him?”

I shrug. “What of it? I want to put a bullet in his brain so he can rot in hell with his brother.”

Kai turns and grabs the gun off the refrigerator and then sweeps up the man’s gun off the floor where he’d dropped it in the scuffle. I stare at both the guns and look at Kai.

He gives me an exaggerated sigh and hands me his nine mill. “Do you know how to use this?”

“Pull the trigger.”

He swears softly and guides my fingers to hold the weapon. “Hold it like this, and then you flip this safety off. Don’t pull the trigger. Squeeze it. Not likely you’ll miss at this range, but if you do, just try again.”

The man in the chair starts struggling. “What, you’re going to let this bitch shoot me, for real?”

Kai sits on the coffee table again, his dark hair wet and slicked back, his eyes bright. His sharp smile is back, and I love seeing it directed at someone who is not me. “Sure, you did call her fat after all.”

The guy looks at me, where I’m holding the gun loosely in my hand. “I didn’t mean nothing by it, honest. You’re real pretty, just not my type.”

I take a step forward and sweep my hair off my face. “Do you recognize me?”

He shakes his head. “No, should I? Do you want me to?”

Sal and his goddamn brothers hurt so many people, and they don’t even remember they’ve done it or the faces of their victims. I’d seen Sal’s brothers that night. They egged him on as he hurt me. And he doesn’t even have the decency to remember my face.

Tears burn at my eyes. My throat burns. Everything in me burns. I’m so angry my hands shake as I raise the gun to sight down the barrel.

“Come on, you’re going to get pissy because I can’t remember your name? I meet a lot of chicks.”

I glance at Kai, who rolls his eyes. “Yeah, sure you do. Tell me this, why are you here?”