Page 71 of Double Edged Hearts
Chapter Twenty-One
Cora
Alex likes spices, so I add more pepper to the lasagna mixture of minced beef and Italian herbs.
I like cooking for him, and cooking tonight has been a good distraction.
My mom taught me how to make lasagna. She liked to add a dash of sugar to the meat to give it that extra flavor. So, I do that too.
I put it all together with the layers of pasta sheets and grated the cheese in between each sheet so it will blend with the sauce.
I’ve just put it inside the oven when I hear a noise outside the window.
I look out, but I can’t see anything.
The window’s open, and I’m not overly fond of that given the view of the place can look a little scary at night.
I walk over to close the window and jump out of my skin when a masked man rises into my view and laughs.
I scream and stumble backwards only to collide with someone who grabs me from behind.
“Not so fast, my pretty,” he says with a Russian accent.
Shit. It’s Matvey’s men.Fuck… they found us.
I struggle to break free, but it’s no use. This guy is big and tough. I’m no match for him.
The gun is in the drawer. If I could get it, I could kill him and run. That’s not happening though, not with the choke hold he has on me.
“Alex!” I shout.
“Sorry…” comes a voice I recognize.
Zack walks into the kitchen with Matvey. I’ve only ever seen pictures and footage of him, but he’s just as gruesome in real life as he is in the pictures. He’s a big guy with a shaved head and full beard. There’s a nasty gnash running down the side of his face, right from his eye to the edge of his jaw.
“Your boyfriend is dead,” Zack informs me, and I scream.
“No, he can’t be.”
“The bullet I left in him says different.”
Tears run down my cheeks.
I can’t believe this is happening.
“Alex…” I whisper his name, and Zack walks up to me.
“Yes, dead. Now I get to keep you as a fuck toy.” He laughs, and so does Matvey. “Get her in the car.”
“Let me go!” I scream.
“I don’t think so.”
I kick and scream and fight, but it’s useless.
It’s doom, all of it is doom, and there’s nothing I can do.
Alex… they killed him.
