Page 25 of Black Widow's Kiss

“Good evening, Mr. Ricci,” he said opening the elevator for me.

“Evening.”

When the elevator door closed behind me, I forcefully inhaled. I couldn’t breathe. I never felt like this. What was going on?

Hearing the bing as the door opened, I realized that whatever I was feeling was a little too much. I needed to get into my room as fast as I could and come up with a way to handle things.

Stepping out of the elevator, I instinctually looked around.

“Hey Honey, you’re home!” my husband said from the kitchen.

I knew I should have kept going, but I couldn’t. The man was wearing a 1950s checkboard dress full with pearls, an apron, and a dish of casserole in his hands.

“What’s on your face?” I said before I could stop myself.

“What do you mean?” He said smiling at me in full white face like one of those Kabuki performers.

I laughed. Maybe it wasn’t a laugh. It might have been more of a dismissive humph. In either case, it was then that my legs started moving and I continued to my room.

You would think, as skinny as he was, my new husband wouldn’t be able to throw a casserole dish like he did. But he could. And his aim was spot on.

Not only did he manage to hit me with it from across the room. But the dish caught me on the one spot that could drop a person if caught exactly right. I was on the ground before I knew it.

Lying defenselessly, I half expected to be turned into Swiss cheese. Not this time. This time, he pulled the apron strap from over his head and wrapped it around my throat. You had to give him points for improvisation.

I mean, someone had to. I was too busy trying to stay alive. If I didn’t get up, I was sure that I was never going to again. This time he really was trying to kill me. At least I wouldn’t have to listen to my father say he told me so. Or listen to Ma tell Kuroi embarrassing stories about my childhood.

Strangely, it was the thought of Kuroi sitting in my childhood living room hearing stories about me from Ma that kept me from giving up. I think there was some part of me that wanted that.

Before this moment, I could never have imagined a husband truly being a part of my life. But that was what I wanted. It had always been what I wanted. I had never let myself acknowledge it before, but that was the version of my life that was worth fighting for.

With a new focus, I reached behind me and grabbed the apron string. Pulling it just enough, I was able to twist throwing him off balance. With the apron string loosening more, I yanked him towards me, grabbed his dress, and tossed him over my head.

Rolling forward, he didn’t stop until he was again on his feet. But he was faced the other way. This was my chance. Struggling for air, I shot to my feet and dove for his waist.

The man wasn’t a spider, he was a cat. Twisting around as I caught him, I half expected to feel a knife sever the carotid artery in my neck.

Alive for another second, I let instincts take over. Disabling him, I spun and threw his shoulder onto the ground. It startled him. It was enough for me to wrap my large hands around his skull. Knowing this was life or death, I slammed it against the floor.

That stunned him. Rolling on top of him, I wrapped my hands around his throat and tightened my grip. I could see the life slip out of him. His was such a beautiful face. The sharp cheekbones, prominent eyebrows, silky brown complexion. What was I doing?

Catching myself as I saw blood below his nose, I eased back without letting go. Where was he bleeding? Even now my desire to protect him was strong.

‘Oh shit, it’s coming from me. And it’s gushing.’

It looked like Kuroi didn’t need to strangle me. He had opened a gash big enough on my head that given enough time, I would bleed out.

“You crazy fuck,” I said letting him go and grabbing my skull.

“How would you know?” he coughed out.

“What?” I asked confused if he was flirting with me or questioning my judgement.

Not taking my eyes off of him, I stumbled to my feet and applied pressure to my head waiting for the elevator. When it arrived, I backed in, stared into his intense eyes, and waited for the doors to close.

Safe, I knew what I had to do. I needed to get help and I needed it fast. With every passing second, I would be weaker. And I could stick around here because if my psycho husbanddecided to take a second whack at me, there would be nothing I could do but die.

“Mr. Ricci, are you alright?” the lobby attendant asked as I rushed past him.

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