Page 6 of Twisted Vows

He scowls and mumbles into the tape. The fury in his eyes tells me he knows exactly who I am.

“Good,” I snarl as I reach for the roll still hanging on the end of the tape.

His eyes widen. I smile. His pupils shrink in fear and the acrid stench of piss joins the smell of garbage. I nick his throat every time I wedge the tape under his head, wrapping the roll around his face half a dozen more times until he’s covered from chin to temple. He claws at my forearm and thrashes on the ground. I press my knee into his stomach and lean my weight onto his soft belly.

“Nod if you can breathe,” I say, even though I know he can’t.

He shakes his head and fights harder.

“Nod if you’re ready to talk.”

He doesn’t hear me. I sigh and push his forehead down, pinning his skull to the ground. His desperation rises. I lift the knife to his covered lips.

“Nod if you’re ready to talk,” I hiss.

When I lift my hand, he gives the smallest of nods. I slice the tape over his lips, cutting the corner of his mouth. He coughs and sucks down a few noisy breaths.

“Where’s Narciso?” I ask.

It’s a test. I know where thestronzois holed up.

He spits a wad of blood at me. I press more of my weight onto his stomach and nick his throat again.

“Wrong answer. Where’s Narciso?”

After a moment of futile struggling, he curses and rats out his boss. Itskand slip the blade of my knife into his mouth and press his tongue down with the tip. He vibrates with terror.

“Thinkverycarefully before you answer my next question.Capisci?”

He tightens his grip on my forearm and pushes the heels of his boots against the concrete.

“Who’s he working with?”

I wait a few moments, letting him prepare his response before I remove my knife from his tongue.

Before he even speaks, the tilt of his lips tells me I won’t like what he says. The idiot has too much misplaced pride and not enough common sense.

“He wasworkingwell with that sexy nurse last night.” He spits before continuing with a sick chuckle. “Boss told me not to touch her, but theputtananeeds to learn her place. I’m gonna fuck her before I kill her,” he rasps.

I cover his mouth with my hand and punch my knife into his side. Warm liquid flows over my grip as he screams into my palm.

It was a long shot—Narciso wouldn’t share important information with a mere lackey—but his crude words infuriate me. An instinctual urge to protect the curvy, exotic nurse washes over me, and even though I can never have a woman of my own, I long to spend one long, sweaty night with her.

“You won’t lay a single finger on her,pezzo di merda,and neither will Narciso. Any last words?”

He opens his mouth, but I twist the blade, yank it free, and plunge it between his ribs.

He jerks. Grabs at my sides and shoulders. Twitches. Gargles on his own blood.

His heels tap against the concrete.

I pull my knife out and stab him higher in his chest. My blade slides between his ribs like butter.

As his lungs fill with blood and the crimson puddle grows underneath him, his limbs slip to the ground, splashing in the refuse.

A sound draws my attention to the mouth of the alley.

The curvy nurse stands on the sidewalk.

---