Page 16 of Doormat
“And when I leave this car, I want you to sing.”
“To sing?”she asked.
“Yeah, I want you to keep your eyes closed, sing, and cover your ears.Under no circumstances are you to leave this car, is that understood?”
She was tempted to argue with him, but it had been a long day, and with every second that passed, Diego had gotten grimmer.Liana wanted a divorce, but she also knew there were unset limits of just how far she could test him.Today was not one of those days.
“Okay,” she said.
She turned a little in her seat and allowed him to put the tie across her eyes.He put his hands on her shoulders, gripping them just lightly.
“I’ll be back in a minute.”Before he left, he brushed his lips against hers.
Liana couldn’t see around the tie or through it, but at his request, she also squeezed her eyes closed, and when she heard the door close, she put her hands against her ears.There was no song that came to her mind, so she just started to sing a bunch of words that all married together, from some Christmas carol to a birthday tune, to humming, and then she just went into a melody that made no sense.She was not much for listening to music, but she kept singing, feeling like the minutes were going by so slowly.
The time kept ticking by, with no right or wrong reason.She knew, somewhere close, Diego was killing a man or a woman, or both.She didn’t know the details, but she knew they had stolen a lot of money from the mafia.
When she heard the door open, she stopped singing, but she didn’t remove the tie.She wondered if Diego would smell differently, but there was no sign of a change.The tie was removed from her face, but she kept her eyes closed, as it suddenly occurred to her that this might not even be Diego.Then she opened her eyes, and of course her husband was staring right back at her.Neither of them spoke.
He cupped her face and used his thumbs to gently stroke her cheeks.“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”
“No.”
“Well, I’m an asshole because I think you are beautiful.”
“Beauty fades.”
“I don’t care.”
She was about to ask him for a divorce, but then Diego kissed her, and all sense seemed to lose her.What was it about his kisses that seemed to warm her?She wanted to hate him.After all, she was boring to him—a doormat—but in that moment as he kissed her, she lost all sense of reason.Her stomach chose that moment to start growling.
He let out a chuckle.“I think it is time I fed you.”
He pulled away and turned the ignition over, putting the car in “reverse” and pulling out.Liana felt her lips still tingling, and she had been so distracted by her husband, she had not even seen the trailer go up in smoke.She looked at the trailer and wondered just for a second what had gone on inside there.
One glance at Diego, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he hated his job.Did he like to kill people?It didn’t seem right to ask him, so she looked out the window.
“Ask me,” he said.
“What?”
“Whatever you want to ask me, just do it,” he said.“You never know, I might just answer.”
Liana glanced out the window and wondered if she should do exactly that, but then she thought better of it.Then, seeing no point in avoiding the truth, she turned toward him, giving her full attention.
“Do you like killing people?”
She expected him to answer right away, only Diego didn’t.She had to wonder if that question was off limits.
“Do I like to remove people that pose a threat to my life and that of the Colombo Mafia with which I serve?Yes.Do I like to kill people that don’t deserve it?No, I don’t.I don’t believe in killing people who do not need to be killed,” he said.
This surprised her.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.My father always said that killing came easy to a man, but empathy seemed to be a challenge to most.He was proud of the reputation I built, but he always advised that I don’t lose who I am as a man.”
She had never gotten to meet Diego’s father.He had passed long before they were married.
