Page 38 of Enzo DeLuca

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

“It didn’t sound like a diss.”

“Being too observant can get you killed,” he warned.

“So can helping a pedestrian. It seems anything can get you killed these days.”

“Do you always have to get the last word?” he asked.

“Do you?” she countered, focusing her glare on him.

“I do,” he admitted.

“Houston, we have a problem, because so do I.”

He sat down on the edge of his bed. “Kneel,” he told her.

She chuckled sarcastically. “No, thank you.”

“Now,” Enzo ordered, tone leaving no room for argument.

Her gaze remained connected with his. Neither looked away. Neither blinked. Seconds ticked by. Enzo gritted his teeth.

“You plan to be defiant until the end,” he said after minutes passed without her kneeling.

“How does it look, me, a black woman, kneeling for a white man?” she asked. “That shit is never happening.”

He didn’t miss the way her voice shook.

“This has nothing to do with race,” he told her. “You’re my hostage.” Why was he explaining himself to a damn hostage?

“I thought I was your witness.”

“Bottom line is, you belong to me. And you’ll do what I say. Now, kneel.”

“I won’t kneel,” she told him.

“Are you saying you’d rather die than kneel?”

“Since we understand each other, go ahead and do whatever you need to do.”

This motherfucker.

“Do you want to know what I usually do to witnesses who don’t talk?” he asked, not expecting her to know the answer.

“I’m pretty sure you kill them.”

“True. By the time I’m done with them, they’re no longer begging for their life. Instead, they’re begging me to kill them. Do you want to know why they beg me to kill them?”

“You probably torture them,” she answered.

“And do you want to know how I tortu...”

“I’m pretty sure I already know,” she interrupted him. “I’m sure you gouge their eyes out so that they can’t see. They can only hear. Then you probably rev up some chainsaws to scare them a bit before actually cutting off their limbs. Then you probably burst their eardrums and make it to where they can’t hear or see. They’re completely in the dark. The only thing left is pain. They beg you to kill them. But you don’t kill them just yet. You cut their tongues out, so they can’t talk. Now, they can’t even beg for death. You leave them in that state until they either die from blood loss or you finally put them out of their misery.”

It was like she was reading his mind. But that was impossible. Again, he didn’t believe in coincidences. Enzo stood up. Eve took a step back.

“Who sent you?” he asked, voice low, dark, deadly.

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