13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
CRUE
W hat’s this? A dog on the hunt?
Is my shadow active again? I thought for sure it would be silent after my night with Fiametta. Perhaps I was mistaken at how easy it is to rid myself of the black fog. Or I’m in a much worse place than I realized, and it’s grown too big to be silenced again.
Nah. I just need to watch someone’s light go out. That will make things much better.
Where are you off to, little man?
It’s different today. It’s not belittling or berating me for my sudden inability to kill something, anything. Instead, it’s keenly observant of our surroundings, noticing the tiny details that slip by me. The biggest of them being Tomas skulking his way down Fiametta’s hallway.
Unless my shadow’s keen instincts are off, Tomas may very well be on his way to call Fiametta for Lorenzo. There’s no reason to see it as suspicious, yet... I think about the times he tried to force himself on her.
My blood is instantly set alight at the thought of his grubby fingers on my woman’s skin. I imagine the fear she must’ve felt while he hovered over her. Threatened her. Made her feel small.
I shake my head in an attempt to snap out of it. Now isn’t the time to lose myself to the blinding red haze of rage.
Yes, it is. You want someone who deserves your blade? There’s no better target than him.
Lorenzo is. He’s still the reason we’re in this mess to begin with.
Your priorities have changed. He will die, but not today. Fiametta comes first.
Is that a statement or a jab at my psyche?
I wait for Tomas to vanish inside Fiametta’s room before stepping closer.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Tomas’s voice comes through the closed door.
“Home,” Fiametta answers.
Am I part of her home, now?
Don’t lose sight of the mission.
Right. No daydreaming about a future with her and our child.
“Are you trying to run away? You won’t get far, little girl.”
“I’m not running,” Fiametta fights off his implied threat. “I am leaving with Father’s permission.”
“What?” Tomas’s voice lowers, and becomes nearly inaudible behind the closed door. “And you didn’t think to run it by me?”
“Why would I?” she replies.
Yes. Stay strong. Put him in his place. I won’t let this fucker get in the way again.
I mean it, too, until Tomas says, “Because I’m your husband-to-be. My say-so should count for something.”
His words knock the wind out of my lungs. The reaction lingers so long, I start to feel lightheaded, and I forget to breathe while I try to piece together the fucked-up arrangement Tomas has forced onto her this time. After being lightheaded to the verge of collapse, air suddenly fills my lungs through my savagely flaring nostrils.
There he is. Ready to take what’s his. My killer-in-waiting. My own next kill.
Even my shadow’s torment can’t penetrate the raw fury that’s coursing through my entire being.
Do it. Kill him. End our suffering. Grab him by the head. Pull him into the shadows. Plunge your blade into his neck and bathe in the warm, red ooze.
I want to obey. I want to kick in the door and make Tomas suffer, the way he has made Fiametta suffer. I want to see the fear in his eyes. See the hesitance followed by the realization that he’s the sole reason I have him on my killing floor. I will speak to him, and tell him all the terrible things I’ve done to get there. I’ll listen to his cries and wails as my words turn from my own deeds, to what’s about to befall him.
Most importantly, there will be no blade this time. Absolutely not. He’ll die by my hands, wrapped around his throat and squeezing tight. I will suffocate him rather than quickly extinguishing his breath. I’ll watch it flicker and sputter, as he claws for oxygen, before he’s gone.
But I can’t. Not yet. Not here. I’m still an outsider and, in some ways, still an outcast to these people. I am just a hired gun, who’s meant to play the starring role as Don Lorenzo Napoli’s good lapdog.
If I want any chance of seeing Tomas’s perfect end come about, I must wait. I must bide my time. Fiametta will understand. She’ll have to.
There is no future for our child and us, if I run in blindly.
So, I will continue listening and watching, a silent avenger looming in the shadows.