Amore pericoloso

Chapter 9

Katherine

Panic. When Gio dropped me off, and I walked into my apartment, I couldn't stop the tears from falling down my cheeks. Why was I crying? Maybe it was a relief that I was home safe. But the little pang in my chest made me know that was a lie. It was him.

How messed up was I? Some guy, who had me shot, saved my life, asked me to join a gang, and then snuffed me when I said no was all I could think about. His blue eyes and the little smiles he had when he thought no one was looking. How in control of his world he always seemed to be. How could I be missing him, someone I barely knew and scared the daylights out of me, already?

Thinking about him was bad for me. Had I not been, I may have realized something was off. My apartment seemed to be normal, yet things were moved. Everything was in its place and not all at the same time. I sat my bag down and headed for my bedroom where I kept a bat. I could never bring myself to buy a gun, but to me, a bat would do just as well.

Boy was I wrong. The person was on me before I even had a chance to respond. I didn't go quietly. I hit back, tried to run, and when that failed, I started to scream. Wrong move. A hard blow came over my head and all went dark.

When I came too I could feel the throbbing in my head. OW. I was gonna have a serious headache for days. My hands were tied together and I seemed to be laying on my living room floor. I pulled against the restraints but they didn't budge. That's when I saw them, the person, or more accurately the woman, who did this.

She wasn't tall, maybe 5'5, with long dark brown hair and green eyes. She was very fit though and had one of the meanest looks I had seen in days. She was watching me, studying me, yet she hadn't spoken. Trying to steel myself I asked her, "Who are you?"

Her voice surprised me. High and sweet she said "Who am I? Ahh what a question." She had an accent I couldn't place, Russian maybe? She cocked her head to the side. "The better question is, who are you? Why are you important to the Esposito family?"

I gulped. Well shit. This was bad. Really bad. "What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. She moved closer to me but did not touch me. "I have not idea who that is."

She smiled, but it was evil. Like a cat playing with a mouse, she knew she had me right where she wanted me. "I can see how the mistake was made. Your hair is a little lighter than mine, but at night, who could really tell." she mused, talking more to herself than me. "From the distance they were keeping he wouldn't have seen your face. No way to know." she went on, pacing now. "But why keep you alive?" she lit up. "Why are you so important?"

I looked at her, "Listen, I am no one. Honestly. I mean nothing to them. That's why they let me go."

A blow to my face came fast and hard. It knocked the wind out of me and brought tears to my eyes. She knelt down to put her face in mine. "Do. Not. Lie." her words were harsh and accented. I noticed her green eyes were hard like stones. She would kill me. She just needed information first.

"I swear. I don't know anything. I just know they shot me, patched me up, and brought me home. That is it." I was pleading now. She hit me again, backhanded, and a ring she was wearing connected to my face. I felt a stream of blood coming down the side, but my hands were bound so I couldn't wipe it away.

She stood, taking in this information. She reached behind her and pulled a gun out of her back pocket. "Well then," she said, "if that is true, then you are no use to me." She cocked the gun back. Then the door flew open.

When I saw him, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He looked fierce, his expression hard. He had a gun in his hand. But when he saw me, his eyes widened. He turned back to the woman with a look to kill.

"Roza," he said in a harsh tone. His eyes narrowed and he took a step towards us. "Let her go."

Her wicked smile was back now. "Ah, now Lorenzo," she purred. "You know I can't do that. Besides, where is the fun in letting her live?"

"Maledetta!" he shouted. I didn't know Italian but I believe he was cursing. "Your issues are with me, not her."

"Yes that is true," Roza said with a small laugh. "But something tells me this girl means something to you. Which means, she is now my issue to deal with too."

"Let her go." he said, voice like steel. He glanced over at me, checking to see if I was okay.

"Drop your gun and I may consider it."

Now he did look at me. Holding his hands out, he slowly leaned and put the gun on the floor. My breathing excellerted. No. NO. He stood to face her again. "Done. Now let her go."

She laughed. "Now I am intrigued. The prince, willing to sacrifice his life for some girl? Tell me, is she really that good in bed?"

"I did as you asked. Now let her go." he said through gritted teeth. He looked at me with pleading in his eyes.

"I don't think so. I want her to see you die." and she pulled the trigger.

So many things happened at once. I screamed, Lorenzo fell, and the woman laughed. His body, limp, was on the floor and I could already see the pool of blood forming. My body shook, not from fear, but anger. Every fiber in my body wanted to rip this woman apart. I just needed to get free.

She laughed again and turned to me. "Well that was fun wasn't it?" she said with a grin. "Much easier than I thought. Thank you for that."

"You bitch!" I yelled at her through gritted teeth. "He was unarmed. How could you?"

She laughed again and knelt next to me. She cocked her head examining me once more and spoke softly. "You really don't know what is going on. Poor thing." She grabbed my face roughly looking at me again.

While she was distracted I saw Gio peaking in the doorway. His eyes were wide but he had his gun drawn. I knew what I had to do. I had to keep her talking, distracted. "So tell me. Help me understand why you shot a man in front of me."

Chucking she replied. "I don't have that kind of time." She went to stand up but hesitated. "Who are you related to? Who is your family?"

What an odd question. "I don't know. My parents are gone. I've never met anyone else. It's just me."

She looked deep in thought. Gio noticed and took this time to pounce. He took his first shot and missed. This gave us away. She looked panicked. She wasn't expecting back up, especially so soon. She took off towards the back bedroom. Gio went to follow.

Moments later he came back empty handed. "Fire escape." was all he said as he rushed over to Lorenzo.

"How bad is it?" I asked breathless.

"Bad." he said, his voice laced with worry.

"Untie me." I begged. He did and I knelt next to him. "Let go. I'll stay with him, pull the car around." As I held my hand on his chest, saying a silent prayer, Gio ran out of the building at full speed. Man, it was going to be a long night.