Page 122 of Mafia Toy

After I pushed away the tears, I walked toward the bathroom without knocking. “Turn away,” I called before walking into the room and attempting to keep my voice strong. “I need to use the bathroom.”

When I stepped into the bathroom, Poppy stood naked in the shower, facing the wall, her hands in her wet hair while she washed the shampoo out of it. I stood in front of the foggy glass and lifted the gun.

My arms were unsteady, trembling. My heart pounded inside my chest, beating so hard that I thought it would burst straight through my chest. I feared that one bullet wouldn’t shatter the glass, that I would miss, that Poppy wouldn’t die and would kill me instead.

I feared that I would leave this world without admitting that I loved Constantino and Laila with all my heart, without them really knowing how I truly felt about them and the lengths I would go to in order to protect them, the way that they had protected me.

Tears began streaming down my face, and I attempted to bite back a sob.

“Are you okay?” Poppy asked, her voice so genuine.

Like she actually fucking cared.

And part of me wanted to believe that this was all some sort of mistake, that the gun didn’t belong to her and that she really wasn’t part of the FBI. I wanted to believe that she had been my friend because she liked me.

Not for information.

“I’m fine. Just … uncomfortable.”With what I am about to do.

I aimed the gun at her head and hoped that it was loaded. I wasn’t sure how to check, wasn’t even sure if the safety was off. I fiddled around with it and did what I had seen Constantino and Riccardo do a couple of times.

Pain shot through my entire body. I steadied my hands.

“I haven’t told them yet,” she suddenly said.

“Wh-what?” I whispered.

She turned around and continued to shower, staring right at the gun, as if she had known the entire time that I was going to kill her. “I haven’t told the FBI and my superiors any of the information that I’ve learned about your family.”

“Liar,” I whispered. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are!” I cried, stepping closer. “You’re lying!”

“You’re holding a gun to my head. I have no reason to lie to you.”

“That gives you an even better reason to lie!” I shouted. “Why?! Why’d you do it?!”

She took the showerhead in her hand and washed the soap off her naked body. “Because it was my job, but I …” She paused. “I regret ever lying to you. I realize that now, especially because of Ricca—”

I pulled the trigger when she began to say his name. She was using him against me. She knew that I thought she liked him. She was playing into it, and I couldn’t let her get inside my head. I wasn’t as stupid as she might think.

Glass shattered everywhere, the water from the showerhead spraying into the room. I aimed the gun at her head, standing a few feet away from her, and cried out in emotional pain. I didn’t want to do this. Not to her.

“Did you organize the kidnapping?” I asked. “The waterboarding? The torture?”

She paused and swallowed hard, fear crossing her face. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does!” I shouted. “Did you do it?”

“Yes, but I—”

Before she could finish her sentence, I pulled the trigger four more times. Bullets whizzed through the air and lodged into her skull. Her corpse smacked against the bathroom floor, her blood mixing with water. And she lay dead in front of me.

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laila

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