Page 68 of Married to the Mafia

They don’t get up again.

I turn to face Ricardo. He’s no longer smiling. He’s reaching into his pocket for a gun at the same time as I reach for mine. Normally it would be no contest, but I’m fumbling after all the jolts that ripped through me. It’s touch and go who gets there first.

All I know is, if I don’t kill him, Rose dies. I will not let that happen. We both pull out our guns at the samemoment. I squeeze the trigger, and the chamber is filled with the deafening sound I know so well.

There’s a flash of blinding light in the gloom, and then it all goes dark.

27

Rose

Rose

I’m screaming because the man in front of me keeps waving a knife at my face. Each time he moves, he gets closer and I’m sure he’s going to cut me. He keeps talking in Italian but I’ve no idea what’s he saying.

I can guess it’s not good. He looks down, and his tongue comes out, licking his lips as he stares at my tits.

I’m tied to a chair but they haven’t found the gun strapped to my thigh. All I need is to get a hand free, but that’s not easy. The ropes binding my wrists are rough and cutting into my skin whenever I try to yank myself free.

The entire time he’s talking to me and waving that knife. When he finally lunges, I scream at the top of my voice, but at the last moment he swerves away and starts laughing, cupping himself through his pants while again staring at my tits.

I can hear voices in the next room. The walls are thick, but the door is letting the noise through. It sounds like Dino. “Is that him?” I ask. “Is that Dino?”

The man laughs and runs a finger across his throat. “Dino è morto,” he says with a grin. He comes at me with the knife again, pressing it to my cheek. He’s stopped talking, his eyes widening as he moves his hand down to my chest, lifting the strap of my dress.

I shift my leg so it’s between his and just as he stares down at my tits; I raise my foot as hard as I can. It catches him right when I want it to, and he gasps, grabbing hold of his balls and falling to the ground, fighting for air. I try again to get my hands free, but I can’t do it.

He’s already recovering, though it’ll be awhile before he can function properly. The knife fell from his hand when I kicked him and it’s somewhere down there.

Can I find it? I’m trying to shift the chair when I hear a gunshot so loud it’s like it’s right in front of me. The guy turns at the noise, still holding himself.

The door opens a second later. It’s dark in the next room. There’s no one there. Just shadow?

“Ricardo?” my guy says in a weak voice. A figure emerges from the darkness into the light. I get a chance to see the gun in his hand and then bang.

The guy on the floor is blown backward by the force, sliding into the wall, blood pooling under the hole in his chest. The figure continues coming into the light.

It’s Dino.

“Are you all right?” he asks, running over and kneeling behind me, trying to get the ropes undone.

“Knife,” I say. “Down there somewhere.”

He leans over and grabs it, starting to saw through the ropes holding me in place. “Did they hurt you?” he asks.

“I’m fine,” I reply. “What happened?”

“Ricardo. I shot him.”

A voice echoes from the next room. “Didn’t kill him though.”

Two things happen at once. The knife sawing through the ropes finally gets there and my hands are free. At the same moment, Ricardo appears in the doorway. He’s got a gun in his hand, pointing our way. Blood is streaming down his face. He’s grinning insanely as he looks from me to Dino.

“This isn’t your fight,” Ricardo says to me. “This is between my family and his. Nothing to do with you. Winner takes all. What do you say, Dino?”

“You made one mistake,” I say, leaning slowly downward.

“And what’s that?”

---