“Really? You were just gonna let me go before and now I ruined it?” I’m proud of how snarky my voice sounds.
He grabs me by my hair, yanking my head back, and practically drags me back to the tarp. This time he shoves me to my knees hard and I fall forward onto all fours. Three pairs of shoes surround me as I take a few deep breaths, trying to remain calm.
It’s when a fourth pair of shoes comes into my peripheral view, I know things are about to get ugly because these shoes are covered in little plastic bootie-like covers—similar to those I saw in Z’s room.
A week ago, I wouldn’t have had a clue, but now I recognize the signs.
He’s a cleaner.
And the long knife in his hand tells me he’s here to chop me up into little pieces.
“I’d like to introduce you to Mr. Lopez. He graciously agreed to help me take out my trash.” It’s the mob boss’s voice from behind me that confirms my worst fear.
I subconsciously start to crawl backwards, but the men surrounding me have me trapped in the circle of hell as they take turns kicking and shoving me around while calling me vile names.
“Enough!” the boss yells.
I admit, it confuses me that he stops his men. I would think he’d love to see me being hurt. I don’t have to wait long to find out he has a different kind of pain in mind for me.
I hear footsteps around me as the goons make way for him to join the circle as he gives his next order.
“Get her up on her knees. I want to see her face.”
I slap at the hands groping me but it’s no use. They easily manhandle me onto my knees facing the man who plans to be both judge and jury for my crime of killing his son. Our eyes meet and I feel his fury in my bones. For a long second, I wait for him to give the order. The man with the huge knife is right behind me. He could slit my throat in two seconds, and I’ll be dead within a minute.
I hope it doesn’t hurt too much.
I close my eyes, not wanting to see it coming, but his command of, “Strip,” has me opening them again. I hate the ugly grimace of a smile on his face.
God, I hope I heard him wrong. I stay frozen in place until he repeats, “I said to strip. Now!”
I can’t believe I’m this naive. I’d been mentally preparing to be killed. Expecting the whole ‘eye for an eye’ shit. Only now is it dawning on me just how much worse things could get before they kill me.
The easy thing to do would be to obey, but if I’d done the easy thing when JV burst into my room, I’d be the one already dead right now. The thought allows me to bravely say, “No.”
My neck snaps as my cheek explodes from his backhand. I can see that was a move he’d passed down to his already dead son. I cup my cheek with my hand as I try my best not to cry.
“Fine. You know what to do Mr. Lopez,” he taunts.
Within seconds I feel the metal of the sharp knife brushing against my arm just before it cuts through my sleeves and then down the back of my shirt, yanking the shreds off my body and leaving me in my bra.
Instinctively I rush to cover myself with my arms just as I feel the knife move lower, slicing down the back of the yoga pants I’ve been wearing for days. Men’s hands grope and rip at the ruined fabric until I’m lying curled up in a ball at their feet. I feel small as they tower over me, laughing at my fear.
“You know, I warned JV,” old man Luciano says from above. “I never understood his obsession with you, but I admit, I never thought you were a threat.”
I don’t understand… at least at first. As the reality of what he is saying sinks in, I realize JV must have been stalking me much longer than I was aware of. No wonder they knew to suspect me. I hadn’t been just a random target for his son.
“Every fucking time he should have been paying attention, he was checking his phone to see if you’d posted some new picture of where you were eating or if you were out whoring with friends. He was obsessed, and now that I’m getting a better look at you, I guess I can see the attraction.” He pauses before issuing his next order. “Mr. Lopez, finish your job please.”
I throw my arms over my head defensively, refusing to watch as the assassin murders me. But like before, the knife only comes for my remaining clothes, leaving me naked at their feet as the henchmen take turns throwing raunchy insults my way.