“I don’t even know what he looks like,” said Troy. “Is he in the room here now?”
Franchetti looked to Pliers, exchanging a cruel laugh -- once again at Troy’s expense. “Amato? No way, he’s too good for this shithole. You go to the library, you sit around there looking... like you do... long enough, he’ll come to you. If not, well then...” He pulled out a cell phone, tossing a quick look over his shoulder -- not that anyone was likely to report Franchetti and his crew for contraband -- which he scrolled through until he found a unfocused picture of Amato. Dark hair, a low craggy brow, strong jaw with a cleft in his chin. Brown eyes. Beaten-looking but full lips.
Troy swallowed.
“Like that, do you?” Franchetti taunted. “I knew you’d be perfect for this job.”
Franchetti, God fucking damn him, was right. Troy did like what he saw. He told himself that that didn’t make any difference, except that it made the first part of the job easier to stomach. That was all.
He’s just like they are. Mobster psychos. This isn’t murder: it’s a shark hunt.
“So we can count on you?” Franchetti asked.
Troy looked point-blank at Pliers, at the tell-tale scars on his knuckles and sadistic gleam in his eyes. Don’t have much fucking choice, do I?
“Yeah. Sure.” He swallowed whatever bile was in his throat and tried to mirror Franchetti’s cool indifference, Pliers’ obvious knack for violence. “Just get me something to do it with.”
“I hear they cut a finger off a rubber glove,” Franchetti mused, deliberately misunderstanding Troy’s meaning. Shame flushed up Troy’s face.
Outside, it had started to snow.
From "The Saturnalia Effect", the short story I wrote with Violetta Vane, out on submission now. It's a mafia Christmas in prison story with a fantasy twist! Here's the logline:
Christmas in prison isn’t just lonely -- it’s murder. New fish Troy Khoury learns the hard way when he’s forced into a mafia revenge plot, and the only way to get close enough to kill his man... is to get in his bed.
What are you working on right now? Anybody got seasonal stories on the go?
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