“He didn’t,” she whispered.
My eyes moved back to him. “Then, I guess your death will be quick.”
I felt him move the blade, and I ducked. I felt the sharp metal rake against my face, taking with it some of my freshly-trimmed beard. I watched the hair fall to the floor as his knee knocked my gun out of my hand, but that didn’t stop my fist from slamming directly into his stomach. He doubled over, the knife falling out of his grasp. I brought my knee into his nose and felt it crunch.
He wrapped his arms wrap around my legs.
“Israel!”
Bonnie’s yelp pulled me from my trance as the man hoisted me over his shoulders. He growled, barreling me against the kitchen wall. There, I slid from his hold until my feet found purchase as my wife scrambled for the gun. She picked it up with her shaking hands and held it up to the man’s back. But the last thing she needed to be doing in her state was taking someone’s life.
So, I pushed the man out into the hallway. “You're mine now.”
The man grinned. “Bring it on. I’d love to kill you both.”
Punches were thrown and blood was splattered against my white walls as I took the man to the ground. We wrestled while Bonnie cried in the kitchen, and all I wanted was to get back to her. All I wanted was to scoop her into my arms and place her in a relaxing bath. We rolled all the way out into the living room before I finally scrambled back to my feet. I felt a pinching pain in the small of my back before my face connected with the hardwood floor, and that massive brute stood over me.
Except when I flipped over, I punched directly upward crippling the man to his knees.
“Holy fuck,” he gasped.
I wiggled my way from beneath him and stood, hovering over his crouched body. “You let Pava Moretti know that no one will lay a hand on my wife. She’s mine now. And every man he sends to try and hurt her will see himself and his entire family slaughtered in the process.”
Then, I brought my elbow into the back of the man’s neck and knocked him out.
“Bonnie,” I roared.
She sobbed.
I took off back down the hallway. “Bonnie. Hey. It’s okay. You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
With the gun in her hands, she sobbed into her palms.
I slid the gun out of her grasp and holstered it back before scooping her into my arms. I walked over to the pantry and opened it up, plucking the phone from its receiver. And after scheduling yet another clean-up for the day, I walked us upstairs.
Putting us behind locked doors until everything was bleached was the best bet.
“Bonnie, take some breaths. I need you to talk to me.”
I sat on the edge of the bed with her in my lap before I gripped her chin. I raised her gaze to mine, and the sight of her swollen eye infuriated me. I ran my thumb along her lower lip, watching her wince as I brushed across the split. Then, with a kiss to her forehead, I picked her up again.
But not before grunting in pain.
“Israel, what's wrong?” she asked.
I walked us into the bathroom. “Nothing a nice, hot bath can’t fix.”
“You’re hurt.”
“I know. It’s just a—”
“No, you’ve got blood on the back of your shirt.”
I settled her down on the bathroom counter before turning around. And sure enough, there was a slow trickle of blood bleeding through the back of my shirt. I stripped myself of my clothes and took a look at the puncture wound. Fucking hell, I’d need a damned doctor to get it stitched up.
“My God,” she breathed. “When will my uncle stop?”
I faced her. “We’ll get through this. You and me.”
Then, a knock came at my bedroom door.
“What?” I roared.
“Message.”
I heard the maid’s voice through the door, and I looked at Bonnie. “I’ll be right back.”
“Who is it?” she asked, her voice breathless and her body still exposed.
“Just stay there.”
I walked to our bedroom door and threw it open, looking at the small, stout lady who stood there. Her hazel eyes contrasted her olive skin and the downturn of her lips told me she wasn’t happy with the situation she just walked into. She wasn’t the only one, though. I made a mental note to leave her a larger tip for having to come around in the middle of the day, but I needed her to get to doing her damn job. I needed this place cleaned up just in case someone heard the ruckus and decided to ask for a welfare check up here.
Because while I had paid off the owner of this complex to keep his mouth shut, it wasn’t as if I’d paid off the individual tenants living beneath me.
My eye twitched. “What is it?”
Her eyes raked down my body. “You need a doctor.”
“Yes, I know.”
“I’ll call the doctor.”
I nodded then thought again. “Not yet. What’s the message?”
The maid tipped her head to the side and gave him a frank, disapproving look. “Didn’t take much for him to talk.”
“And?”
She paused. “Pava has a hit out on her.”
I closed the door and I turned to look back at Bonnie
Rage lit her eyes.
Guess that isn’t something that came up at lunch.
3
Bonnie
I pressed a warm washcloth against Israel’s skin and he winced. It seemed that every time I touched him with anything nowadays, he winced. But, even more so now that he had stitches and some light bruising from the altercation in the kitchen earlier.
It already seemed like lightyears away. Like the intruder that had burst into this place happened days ago, or something. One sin was blurring into another, obscuring the passing of minutes and hours that clocked the days since I had turned my back on my own family. I didn’t know which way was up any longer. I didn’t know who to
