My face and my cold as fuck face must have terrified him so much that he began to wheeze and struggle for oxygen as sheer panic engulfed him.
With a rough hand, I reached for the pillow under his head, jerking it away.
His thin neck, once a boxer’s thickness, bounced back on the thinner pad below.
His exhales began to amp up into hoarse, jagged gasps.
With a groan, he clutched his chest.
I didn’t buy his act for a second.
Still, he lurched on the mattress in a panic, trapped in the thrall of his past sins.
I arched a brow with cold inscrutability, giving the same energy as he had when he played judge and executioner to my parents.
‘A mali estremi, estremi rimedi,’ I whispered. Extreme evil, extreme remedies.
With dispassionate coldness, I took one final look at my family’s killer, sucked my teeth, and placed the pillow over his gasping face.
I pressed in with one hand and, aiming, took a single shot to his covered temple.
Between the silencer and the padding, there was only a tiny puff of noise and an entry hole in the cotton.
I stepped back, eyes fixed on him as he jerked one last final time.
I lifted the pillow to the sight of a perfectly round wound and a seeping circle of red below his head.
His eyes, open and sightless, stared into the ceiling, bidding his soul farewell.
With a suck of my teeth, I slid my weapon and silencer back in my holster, switched on the monitors, and slipped out of the room.
The flat line alarm rang out as I turned a corner, pushing my janitor’s cart.
I paused to let the rush of doctors and nurses pass, racing toward the room I’d vacated.
With an inhale, I abandoned the trolley and strolled away.
Lavoro fatto.
Job done.
Chapter 14
CHIARA
My phone rang, shattering the silence.
I knifed up in bed, groggy, pushing my hair from my eyes.
My hands fumbled as I picked the device up, the hospital’s number flashing on the display.
I jolted, sliding the screen to take the call, noting the time.
6 a.m.
Nobody called at this time with good news.
I already had a foreboding even before they even spoke.
