Him (A mafia story)

Chapter 3

I was sitting face to face with the leader of an Italian mafia at my kitchen table. After having a bit of a panic attack when I realized my sister had been taken by the mafia, Dante Corinthos had suggested that we move to the dining room. While it had sounded like a suggestion, I really didn't think I'd had a choice in the matter.

"Your sister owes me a lot of money. Usually, if someone can't pay what they owe me, I make them pay with their life. I decided to make an exception when Xander here," he gestured to the man standing behind me, "told me that you might be of use to us."

"I'm a little confused. I don't understand why you would need my help." I admitted, still not sure what it was that Dante wanted me to do for him.

"I need you to take care of someone for me." He leaned back in his seat and gave me a smile that made my blood run cold. "I could get someone else to do it, but I think it's poetic to have you do it in exchange for your sister's life. You know, a life for a life?"

"A life for a life?" I repeated. This had to be a joke. A really, really terrible joke with an even worse punchline.

"All you have to do is kill this man." He told me, sliding the picture of a man across the table to me.

I look down at the picture in front of me. The man was strikingly beautiful and I couldn't imagine this angelic man doing anything to piss off the Italian mafia. His brown hair was messy, almost as if he'd run his fingers through it many times and he had warm, brown eyes to match. He had a five o'clock shadow along his jaw, as if he'd been in a rush that morning and forgotten to shave. For some strange reason, he looked familiar to me, but I couldn't figure out why. I never thought I'd become a killer, but this is what it took to save my sister, and I didn't think I really had a choice in the matter.

"I don't think I can..." I whispered, choking on my words.

"You can and you will if you want to have your sister back." Dante snapped.

"I just have to kill him? Then you'll let my sister go?" I asked, looking back up at Dante.

He nodded slowly. "You have my word. Kill this man and we'll give you back your sister."

I glanced down at the picture again, already feeling guilty. It was crazy that I was having this conversation, let alone that I was even considering it. "What's his name?"

"Nikolai Alexios."

'Why him? What'd he do?" I asked. I didn't want to kill someone without knowing why he'd been sentenced to death.

"He's a threat to my business." Dante answered, his tone leaving no room for any more questions.

"So how am I even supposed to find him, how do I even get to him?"

"I'll take care of that. For now, you'll go on living your life like you normally would. When we're ready for you, we'll come find you." I blinked up at Dante while he stood, buttoning his suit and adjusting the sleeves. "If you mention this meeting to anyone, I'll know and you'll meet a fate worse than death."

The second Dante and Xander walked out the door, I started hyperventilating. This was insane! This whole situation was absolutely fucking insane! The idiot I call a sister had gotten mixed up in the Italian mafia and now I had to kill a man. How was that fair?

On top of that, the man was drop dead gorgeous and I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd seen him before. Maybe he was a model, he was definitely gorgeous enough to be one. I definitely wouldn't be able to get away with murdering a celebrity. It didn't make sense to me that they wanted me to kill him. They had people everywhere, couldn't someone else do it?