*****
Maria was lying face down on a sunbed next to the pool when Christian arrived. She hadn't seen him standing in the corner of the yard of her brother's house. He'd been observing her for a few minutes. He'd seen her breasts when she'd removed her bikini top to prevent white stripes. They were beautiful breasts, the type he liked—full and heavy. Normally he would have felt himself getting hard at the sight of them, but nothing happened. It was as if he was suddenly impotent. He hadn't even bothered to look at any of the scantily clad young women on his journey to Maria. Worse still, he was now presented with an ideal opportunity to seduce her, and he didn't care.
“Maria,” he said. She turned over, forgetting she was topless, and suddenly thrust her arm across her chest.
“Jesus, Christian, you frightened me to death.”
“Maria, I need your help.”
“Why should I help you? You threatened me the last time we saw each other.”
“You have to tell me when Alexander Gorev is next coming to the States.”
She reached for a towel and wrapped it around her. “Why? You'll only kill him.”
“I won't, but Fabio might. Do you care? It was only a casual fuck, wasn't it?”
“I won't tell you. Why should I send a man to his death? You can torture me all you want, but I will never reveal when he comes to the US. Why do you want him anyway?”
“Fabio wants him to exact his revenge. He's taken his daughter hostage.”
“So wait until he comes for his daughter.”
“I don't think you understand. Fabio won't release her when Alexander arrives. He'll kill them both.”
“Go and rescue her then. You always play the big hard man. See how hard you can be when you're up against Fabio. You won't last a minute.” She laughed. “Now fuck off. You're standing in the sun.”
*****
Alberti waved to the man and watched as the car drove to the end of the road and turned left. He looked at the bottle and syringe in his hand and smiled. He enjoyed this kind of work. It turned him on. He might even have a bit of fun with her before injecting her, he thought. First he needed a drink, though.
*****
Christian stopped outside Fabio's house and nodded to the guards who were hanging around outside the front door.
“Christian, have you come to hand in the money you've collected?” Fabio asked as he poured himself a glass of wine.
His office reminded Christian of a lawyer's office. There was a large desk in the middle of the room and bookshelves on all the walls. Not that Fabio read much. He just had them for effect.
“Here,” Christian said. He tossed an envelope full of cash onto the table and sat down on the opposite side of the desk.
“What's this?” Fabio asked, taking the money from the envelope.
“A few couldn't pay. They promised to pay more next week.”
Fabio flew into one of his rages. “Fuck you. You're going soft. I told you before, if they don't pay, thrash them. And if they still can't pay, kill them. Jesus, I'm surrounded by idiots.”
“There's more. I want you to let the girl go,” Christian said.
“You've gone mad. No way. I told you before, she'll just grass us up. She's going to die.”
“What? No. Wait until her father gets here,” Christian said, trying to buy himself more time.
“You don't know, do you? Her father isn't coming. He doesn't give a shit about her. In fact, he told me we should get rid of her.”
Christian hadn’t expected that. Surely every man loved his daughter. “So what are you going to do?”
“Kill her. Alberti should be doing that about now.” Fabio looked at his watch. “The delivery should have arrived.”
Christian leaped over the desk and kicked Fabio in the chest. He fell back out of his chair and landed on the ground. Christian took him by the collar and punched him so hard he knocked his front teeth out. When Christian banged Fabio's head on the desk, Fabio fell into unconsciousness.
*****
Alberti's hand shook as he put the syringe into the pot of morphine. In his drunken haze, he couldn't remember whether he should inject her three or four times. What the fuck, he thought. He would pump the whole bottle into her. That would do it.
He climbed the stairs to the bedroom where Amy was lying, asleep, and opened the door. When he saw her, he began to breathe more heavily. He looked at her breasts, which were still encased in the dress she'd worn at the wedding. He walked to her, lifted her dress, and looked inside.
“Nice,” he said when he saw her smooth legs.
She woke up and screamed. She thrashed around as never before but was still unable to break the rope.
“Be quiet. I'll be very gentle,” he said. She was wild. She saw the needle in his hand and realized what he was going to do.