I turn to the man and punch him in the face, knocking him to the ground. He whips out a gun from his pocket but I kick it out of his hand before he can shoot me with it.
Grabbing the back of his hand, I yank him towards me. “Did Luca send you? Surely, right? Why else would you be trying to kill me right now?”
“You weren’t exactly hiding yourself by coming here.”
“Good. Then that means I can kill you for trying to kill me.” I pick up the knife that he dropped, ready to stab him with it… when an idea occurs. “Get up.” I jerk the hitman to his feet and shove him into my car before I punch him hard in the temple. He blacks out.
It’s easy to get him to the house where I have Susanna stored away. It’s a nondescript place. Blends in with every other house on the street.
The hitman is still passed out when I drag him into the house and down to the basement.
Susanna jerks to her feet. Unfortunately, she put her clothes back on after I left her. I’ll have to rectify that soon.
“What’s going on?” she demands. “Who is that?”
I throw the hitman to the floor. He groans as he wakes up. I step on his chest so he can’t jerk to his feet. “I thought you should see the real me. You seem to not be taking this whole situation seriously enough. I figured this would get you to change your tune.”
Susanna looks between me and the hitman, trying to appear not afraid but I can see the terror behind her eyes. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to kill him. And you’re going to watch.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because he tried to kill me. Luca sent him after me. I know it.”
She turns her back to me, wrapping her arms around herself. “I don’t have to watch. You can’t make me watch and kill him at the same time.”
“I thought you weren’t afraid of me.”
“I never said that. I just refused to cry.”
“Then maybe this will do the trick. Turn around, Susanna. I will strap you to a chair and make you watch if you don’t.”
Slowly, she turns back to me. “You’re horrible.”
“I never claimed otherwise.” That’s when I bring the knife onto the right wrist of the hitman.
“Don’t!” he screams right before I begin cutting it off. His shrieks are the sound of nightmares. He tries hitting me with his other hand but I easily slice through his wrist before turning to his other hand and cutting that one off too. His blood begins to gush all over the floor.
Susanna doesn’t make a sound as she watches.
The hitman’s face quickly turns pale as he dies out. The moment he’s gone, the room goes eerily silent.
“There,” I say, standing back. “That’s the real me.”
“You could have killed him in a more gentle way.”
“I could have but I chose not to. When someone tries to kill me, I don’t take it too kindly. So why would I offer him mercy? He’s dead now anyway so it doesn’t matter.” I use the knife to start cutting off his legs.
“What are you doing?” she gasps.
“I need to cut him up to send his body back to Luca in pieces. Maybe then Luca will understand how much of a threat I am.”
“You’re evil.”
I set the knife down and grab her chin with my bloody hands. She flinches but once again, doesn’t cry.
“What’s it going to take?” I murmur. “To get you to cry?”
