Knocked Up by the Killer

I felt my face go hot again. “Oh, god,” I said. “Please, you didn’t, like… give me something, did you?”

He laughed. “No, but I think you’re going to wish I did.”

“That’s… weird,” I said.

He sighed and put his coffee down. His eyes locked on to mine and I felt like I couldn’t look away even if I wanted to.

“Elise, I’m supposed to kill you.”

I let that sink in for half a second then laughed. “Oh, yeah, right,” I said. “Good one. You’re a psycho, right?”

He didn’t smile. “I was supposed to do it last night,” he said. “But then I decided not to. I’m not really sure why, I guess I haven’t had a good time with someone like that in a while and I forgot how it can feel. Or maybe I’ve never felt like that before, I don’t know.”

“You’re being serious?” The smile slowly went from my face.

“I’m serious,” he said. “Do you know what the Leone Crime Family is?”

I shoved back from the table. My eyes went wide and my heart leapt up through my chest. I stood and staggered away from him until my back slammed against the wall.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, a small smile pulling at his lips.

“You’re not joking,” I said. “You’re… you’re one of them.”

“I told you,” he said, “I was supposed to kill you.”

I turned and ran. My mind was a haze of gibberish and I could only focus on one thing—find your phone, find your phone—and I made it into the hallway before he caught me. I felt him grab my waist and slam me against the wall.

Stars burst into my vision.

I groaned and slumped forward. I tried to slap at him, tried to knee him. He pinned my wrists against my side and held me from behind.

“Calm down,” he said. His voice was smooth and emotionless.

“Let me go,” I said. “Let me go let me go let me go!”

He threw me to the floor. I gasped in pain, tried to roll away. He grabbed me by the hair then knelt down on me. He pushed me against the floor and held me there. I stared up into his passionless eyes and he smiled down at me.

“Done yet?” he asked.

“Please,” I said. “Please let me go.”

“I don’t think I can do that.”

“I don’t have anything to do with my father,” I said. “I don’t know about his business. I haven’t talked to him in years.”

“Well, that’s not true,” he said. “That last part at least. You talked to him recently, didn’t you?”

“No,” I moaned. “He called me. I told him to go to hell. I told him not to come here.”

“But he did anyway,” he said.

“I told him to go away.” My heart was racing and I tried to struggle, but he had me, had me tight. “I don’t want to see him, don’t you get it? I’m not a part of that world.”

“Hm,” he said. “I believe you.”

I blinked and stared at him. “You do?”

“I do,” he said and tilted his head. “You didn’t let me finish.”

“Finish what?”

“Talking.” He cleared his throat. “I was sent to kill you. But I decided I’m not going to.”

I went still. He kept pinning me and didn’t ease up. I thought maybe if I acted like I believed him, then just maybe he’d let me escape. I could run into my room, lock the door, and call the police before he had a chance to break it down.

If I was lucky.

“If you’re not going to kill me, what are you doing?”

“I’m going to warn you,” he said.

I chewed on my lip hard. My wrists, back, and side ached from getting thrown around.

“About what?”

“Even if I don’t kill you, someone else will come,” he said. “Don Leone wants you dead. He thinks killing you will send a message to your father, and the Don’s hasn’t been in a very kind mood lately.”

A pathetic sob escaped my lips. “Why me?”

“Because you’re unprotected,” he said. “Because you’re his daughter. Pretty simple, really. Nothing personal.”

“You can’t,” I said.

“Like I told you, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Why did you take me out on a date last night?” The words tumble from my lips before I can stop them. It’s a stupid question and totally not important to this moment at all, but I can’t help myself.

We actually had fun.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I thought it would be a good way to get close to you. But then things escalated and I just… I decided I didn’t want to hurt you. I decided that maybe killing you would be fucked up, even more fucked up than the things I normally do.”

“You’re going to let me go,” I said.

“I am,” he said. “But first, you need to understand. You’re in danger, Elise. Your father might be able to protect you, if you’re willing to go to him today.”