Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

“I don’t understand.”
I try to think of a way to say it aloud that won’t sound
ridiculous. There isn’t one, so I just tell him the truth.
“He came to Tahoe last September to torture me for
information about you, then kill me.”
David makes a small, horrified noise. I smile grimly.
“Wait. It gets worse. Instead of being a good assassin and
shooting me in the head then dumping me into the lake, he
thought it would be fun to make me fall in love with him first.
Which he did, the bastard.”
David’s mouth drops open. He looks like he’s about to
throw up.
“I know. I’m an idiot. Apparently, I have a very specific
type: mafia men who lie through their teeth to get into my
pants, but have no intention of staying with me. Or keeping me
alive. Anyway, fast forward five months, and Mogdonovich
discovers Kage hasn’t murdered me yet. He’s still fooling
around with the big dumbass he was supposed to kill. Like a
cat with a mouse. You know how cats will bat mice around for
a while, enjoying the hunting and maiming phase before they
finally get down to business and bite the head off? That was
Kage with me. But I digress—so Mogdonovich gets pissed
I’m not dead and sends Viktor.”
David makes a choking sound.
“Oh, you know Viktor? Old blue eyes? Such a charmer. At
least he didn’t try to make me fall in love with him. He was all
business, that one. Except the joke’s on him, because he got
his head blown off with a shotgun.”
David wheezes in horror. I keep talking.
“I figured out about the money and the clue in the letter
because of Viktor, by the way. If he hadn’t shown up, I’d still
be blissfully unaware that you were alive and Kage was
playing me like a violin.”
I stop to draw a breath, but can’t. My lungs are frozen.
This is when I realize my face is screwed up and my cheeks