Page 12 of Charity's Redemption

The sheer size of his body propelled him forward with no means of stopping until he crashed into the drywall with his shoulder, producing a massive hole.

Jesus Christ.

He pushed off the wall with a furious howl, his arms swinging like King Kong until he found me standing on the couch, taunting him.

“John. Calm down, you green ape.” I paused as he charged towards me again with the grace of a blind Sumo wrestler.

“Ahhh.” His furious holler added to his Frankenstein-like stomping as he came bounding my direction. I feigned left, then rolled right and settled on my side before kicking his knee backward.

A nauseating pop that tickled the back of your throat, followed by his screams, permeated the air as I separated his knee from its socket, causing me to shiver with delight.

He collapsed to the ground in a fit of cries as I flew towards him, landing on top of his massive belly, my fist connecting with his broken nose.

Blood spurt across his stained floor and white shirt as my knuckles pulverized the bones in his face.

A strong, overwhelming sensation overtook me with the sense of power and invulnerability.

Untouchable.

John lay in a bloody heaping mess beneath me as my chest rose and fell with exertion, and my head swam with the exhilarating high.

“Listen up, motherfucker.” I tapped his cheeks until he moaned. “This is going to be quicker than I intended, but I think you’ve learned a valuable lesson thus far.” I pressed my hand to my chest as I willed more oxygen to fill my lungs. “If Luca so much as hears that you or any of the other Keepers have been mishandling the women again, I’m going to come back and put a bullet through your broken nose.”

John’s swollen eyes made it difficult to tell if he was awake and listening or if I gave my entire speech to an unconscious man making noises. “Understand?”

He swallowed and nodded, a slow and steady answer. I rolled off of him, collapsing next to his battered body.

So much for not making a mess.

“Good. Now, I have a date with the boss man to tell him how terrible a host you were.” I rolled over to my knees and rose slowly to my feet, so I didn’t go headfirst into the ground, then pulled out my phone and called Luca. I shut the door behind me, leaving the man groaning on the floor.

“Where are you?” Luca answered as my foot hit the first step on the stairs.

“Funny. I was going to ask you the same question.”

“Charity.”

“Luca,” I said with the same tone, “I’m finishing up a job. Where are you?”

“Home. Did you follow the orders this time?”

“Don’t I always?”

“If you did, I wouldn’t ask the question.”

I laughed a full-bellied laugh as a woman stepped out of her door. She locked eyes with me as she placed her key inside the lock and turned.

Smirking at her, I took the next several steps down the stairs. “I’ll see you soon.” Hanging up my phone, I stumbled down the rest with my body in a full sweat, then out to my car. If I drove slow enough, I’d be fine. But my impaired mind told me I could drive like I owned the road, and no one could do a fucking thing about it.

I slid into my car and drove to Luca’s like a grandma until I pulled into his driveway with cars honking their horns.

Hindsight.

I probably should’ve had him come to get me.

Parking on the grass that wrapped around Luca’s fountain in the middle of the roundabout driveway, I stumbled out of my car, leaving it running with the door open. My bruised knuckles ached as I gripped the doorknob to enter the house.

“Charity?” Vito called after me, a look of concern embedded in the wrinkles on his forehead, but I ignored him and walked inside with him chasing behind me.

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