Page 75 of Spider Demon's Kiss

“I’m gonna remove the gag from your mouth. Are you gonna make me regret it?”

He calmed and then shook his head, ‘no.’

Slowly reaching down, I loosened his gag and removed it from his mouth.

“Gratsi. Gratsi. Thank you,” he said in an Italian accent.

“Now, I have some water for you. But first you’re gonna need to answer a few of my questions. Do you understand me?”

“I understand. Yes.”

“And you’re gonna be honest with me?”

“I’ll tell you the truth. Whatever you need me to say.”

I looked back at Kuroi who held the cup expressionless.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m nobody. I’m just here visiting family. You have the wrong guy.”

“Are you Vincent Ricci?”

“He froze hearing the name.”

“I said, is your name Vincent Ricci?”

“I don’t know what you would want with me. I never hurt nobody. I’m just here visiting family.”

I took that as a yes.

“Are you here to do a job?”

“I’m not here for nothin’. I told you. I’m just here visiting family.”

Stepping closer to him, I balled my fist and clocked him as hard as I could on his jaw. The old man rocked into silence. I had to be careful how I did this. I was still raging from what Kuroi had told me. And I had nearly knocked him out.

I tapped the other side of his face to wake him.

“I told you. You gotta be honest with me. Are you going to be honest with me?”

“Si. Si, I’ll be honest.”

“Now, were you allowed back into the country in exchange for doing a job?”

“Si. My brother needed me to do a job.”

“Your brother said you could come back in the country if you took care of his son. Is that right? Dante Ricci?”

He again froze, this time trying to figure out who I was.

“That’s what he wanted me to do. But I wasn’t going to do it.”

“What were gonna to do, huh? Were you gonna warn him?”

“Yes, I was gonna warn him.”

“You were gonna find him and let him know that his father had sent you to kill him?”

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