Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 72790 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72790 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“You fucking Vince? You too good for me but you lay down for him?”
“No. I don’t– I didn’t… do that.”
“Then why, bitch?” His hand closed over my throat and I gasped, desperately trying to get some air. “Why you so fucking hard to get?”
“Please…”
He tightened his grip.
“How about I fuck you? Then you go back to Vince with my sloppy seconds between your legs?”
His other hand reached for the hem of my dress and pushed it up. I reacted without thinking. I brought the hand holding my shoes up and hit him.
A little harder than I meant to.
I stared in shock as I backed away. Sal had… he was…
My cheap high heel shoe was flush against the side of his head. I had… he was… I had impaled his temple with the spiked heel. His mouth worked like a fish, gaping open and closed for a minute. Then he fell backwards. A river of dark red blood immediately started to pool around him.
Oh no.
OH NO.
I didn’t need to check his pulse to see that he was dead, or about to be. The reality of what I’d done started to hammer through me. I’d killed a man. I’d actually done it. I backed away to the door, slamming against it.
“Boss? Customers are starting to roll up.”
Paulie was outside. Paulie was outside and I’d just killed his boss.
Oh GOD.
I had to get out of here. I had to–
I had to go to the other side of the country. Maybe the planet. That probably wasn’t far enough.
I’d just killed a made guy. Not some two-bit hood. A mobster with pull. My life was forfeit and I knew it.
Think, Kirsten! Think!
I had to get Paulie away from the door. He wasn’t a bad guy, but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t let me off the hook for this. Even if it was in self-defense.
I realized I was holding my other shoe and dropped it like it was a hot cake. I started shaking, trying not to look at Sal. He was really dead. There was no taking this back. I’d just ended his life.
But I hadn’t meant to! It didn’t matter though. The road to hell was paved with good intentions. He was gone for real, and I had to think fast.
Maybe I should take the evidence and run… but how would I get out of here? There was a three-hundred-pound guy standing outside the door.
Maybe I should pretend we were busy in here…
I cringed at the thought of what I was about to do. But I didn’t have a choice. I moved away from the door and retrieved one shoe, and then reached for the other.
I closed my eyes and pulled on it. It didn’t budge. I pulled harder. I almost threw up as I felt it release from his broken skull. Everything got much more real in that moment.
I stared at my gory shoe and then back at the door.
And then I moaned. I had to make it seem like I was playing hard to get but enjoying Sal’s attentions. Otherwise Paulie might stay or try and come in.
“Ohhhh… no, don’t! Please, Sal… I shouldn’t…”
I heard footsteps move away a few seconds later. So much for getting saved by Paulie. But what was he supposed to do? I had to move fast. I patted down Sal’s body for a key.
I looked around, making sure all evidence of me was gone. Other than the obvious… I had my purse and shoes, now I had the key. I could do this. I ran to the door, unlocked it, shut it behind me and locked it.
I was cringing as I slipped down the hallway, one tiny, quiet step at a time. My shoe dripped blood and I flinched, rubbing it on the outside of my jacket.
I didn’t need to leave a trail of breadcrumbs!
Somehow I made it to the front door and out before anyone saw me. I took the stairs two by two. Then I ran. I ran with everything I had. I stayed off the road, taking a winding path through the dark and decaying buildings.
I got to a secluded spot and stopped. I had to. My body wouldn’t let me run any further without upchucking. I bent over as everything in my stomach exited my body in one dramatic burst. It was over as quickly as it began. I used my jacket to wipe my face, trying to catch my breath.
My jacket was evidence, where I’d wiped off the blood. My shoes were evidence. Sal’s whole office had traces of me in it…
Then again, it wasn’t like the mob was going to call the cops. That might be my saving grace. It was a slim chance, but I held onto it with both hands.
I stood there, shaking and wondering how everything had gotten so messed up. I had taken a life. Sal wasn’t a good person but he was still a human being. And now he wasn’t. I didn’t know if I could ever forgive myself for it.