“Are you a mute fuck?”
“You’re on Giordano’s turf.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “That old fart. Yeah, nice one. I can do whatever the hell I want so long as I pay the toll.”
Ruin stared at him and waited. Silence was his greatest weapon. Over the years, he noticed that the quiet seemed to scare everyone more than anything else. He could brandish his gun, and sure, it scared some but not many. Knives and all manner of torture equipment might be used, but what men truly feared was the silence. That absence of sound where they could only hear their own panting and heart racing, and knew they were going to face death. That scared the shit out of them. It was truly entertaining, and he thoroughly enjoyed it.
“What the fuck are you doing? Huh? You dumb as well. Do you not speak? Can you not understand my language?”
Panic must have set in because he’d spoken to him less than a minute ago.The pimp advanced toward him, raising his fist. Ruin grabbed his wrist, twisted just enough to cause the right amount of tension, and then, waiting, he tugged, letting it snap. The moment he did, the pimp fell to the floor, screaming, so fucking high-pitched and loud, it was nearly deafening. To Ruin, it was a pleasing sound.
He heard the beat of footsteps as thebodyguardsapproached. Ruin couldn’t help but smile. He turned toward the men, who stared at their boss writhing on the ground in pain. They all looked shocked. No one had dared to take on this piece of shit, but that would end now.
“Kill him. Fucking kill him! The son of a bitch broke my hand. Kill him.”
Technically, he broke his wrist, but clearly, the man wasn’t too bright in body parts. He imaginedif he smashed in his knees, then his entire leg was broken. Pathetic.
The first guy rushed toward him, brandishing a knife.Ruin once again grabbed his wrists, twisted them, and plunged the knife into the man’s stomach. Down.
The next one came at him, and for his troubles, he got a broken neck.
The third onepissed and shit himself and Ruin pulled out his gun, lodging a bullet in his head, and the fourth got the same treatment.
Nowhe was alone with the pimp. He wrapped his fingers around his neck and dragged him up, pressing him against the wall.
“I pay thetoll. I pay the toll.”
“There is no toll with Giordano. Just death.”
“Dante Morelli. I have dealings with him.”
“And I have it on good authority you are not worth my time.”
He pulled out his knife and plunged it into his neck, ending the pimp.
With the men on the floor, Ruin looked around. He’d not touched anything, other than the bodies. He frowned. Men needed to learn who they were dealing with. No one insulted Giordano.
He made his way back to the car. There were several missed calls from Dante, but he needed to call Giordano.
****
They had gone to the fair, the movies, out to dinner, so many dates in the past three weeks. The thought of seeing him again filled her with excitement.
Ruin came to pick her up from work. Of course, this meant she became a hot topic for her coworkers, but it wasn’t long before people moved on when they realized she wasn’t going to give away any juicy details. There was nothing to give away. She randomly met the guy and since then, they’d been getting close.
He was alwaysthe perfect gentleman as well. He’d not tried anything else with her. always walked her to her door, a single kiss to the lips, sometimes a peck on the nose, and then he’d leave her alone. At first she loved this. He had shown that he was more than happy to give her some distance, but now she missed his kisses. She wanted them. Which was why she stood beside him as they walked down the street, after going to see a rather racy movie, and they’d enjoyed some ice cream afterward. How did she prolong this?
“Did you have a good day at work?” she asked.
“It was… productive.”
“Ah.” She didn’t have a clue what he actually did, but everything he told her had her figuring he traveled a lot. A salesman perhaps, of everything.
“What about you?” he asked.
“Er, yeah, work was the same for me. Lots of numbers to enter into a database. Nothing new. Kind of boring. A couple of the women asked about you again. Wondered if you had a friend.” This was her trying to get to know this amazing stranger.
Ruin stopped, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in close. “And what did you say?”