Free Sleeping With The Enemy by M.N Providence Page A

hammer.
    Imposimato reeled
forward with a loud groan. Instinctively, he reached for the African artifact
that rested on a small table next to the door leading from the bathroom. It was
a small statue made of stone. He grabbed it firmly in his hands and lashed out
with it at his attacker. It crashed into the man’s chest and he was rewarded
with a loud groan of pain.
    Suddenly the
room was bathed in light, and Imposimato quickly cast a glance at the bed and saw
Rosina with her hand still on the bedside switch. She screamed suddenly and
Imposimato turned just in time to see the knife in his attacker’s hand make a
dive for his throat. He swerved back and the blade missed him. When he saw his attacker’s
face, Imposimato was not really surprised, but he was stunned at how the man had
penetrated the security of his mansion.
    More thoughts on
that though – for now he was facing clear and present danger.
    Cambiaso lunged again
with his knife at Imposimato’s midsection. Imposimato blocked the attack with
the artifact. As soon as the knife made contact with the artifact, he released
it from his hands and pummeled a fist into Cambiaso’s face. Cambiaso screamed
in pain as the fist caught him squarely in the face and broke the bones of his
nose. Imposimato kicked him in the groin and swiftly followed that up with another
blow to the man’s head with his strong fist.
    Cambiaso slumped
onto the floor in a dazed state. Imposimato picked up the stone artifact from
the floor and dropped to his knees before the agonizing man. He raised up the artifact
in both his hands, ready to crush it into his enemy’s skull, but a shrill scream
from Rosina stopped him.
    Still holding
the statue firmly in his hands, high above his head, he looked at her, and saw
the horror written on her face. She was sitting up on the bed now, watching
helplessly as the two men connected to her life one way or the other fought.
    Imposimato slowly
lowered the artifact and dropped it to the floor. He rose to his feet and
stepped back slowly from Cambiaso, still engulfed in a maddening fit of
murderous rage.
    Cambiaso
struggled weakly to his feet. He wiped away some blood from his nose and gazed
fixedly, tauntingly at Imposimato. ‘The soft heart will never be warm enough to
respond to the stimulation of violence.’
    ‘Get out,’
Imposimato said in a dangerously quiet voice laced with vehemence. ‘Get out of
my house.’
    ‘Or what, huh?’
questioned Cambiaso boldly. ‘Or kill me?’
    He did not get an
answer.
    ‘I don’t think
so. Not in front of you angel.’ He cast a glance at Rosina and then brought his
eyes back to taunt Imposimato. ‘She’s the best thing that’s happened in your
life, isn’t she?’
    No response.
    ‘Are you equally
as good and honest to her as she is to you?’
    ‘Get out of my
place, Cambiaso.’
    ‘Tell her,
Imposimato. Tell her the truth.’ Cambiaso warmed up hysterically, raising his
voice. ‘Tell her that you are no saint. Tell her you are a heartless brute with
a criminal record, who has hands full of blood…’
    For the first
time Rosina’s voice penetrated the tense air in the room. ‘What is this, Ferdinand?’
she said, getting out of bed. ‘Do you know this man?’
    Ferdinando stared
at her for a long moment without responding. ‘This man…’ He turned to look at Cambiaso
but found Cambiaso having disappeared.
    Imposimato avoided
Rosina’s eyes and looked down. A long, tense silence followed.
     
    * *
* * *

She drew a
distance from him and spoke quietly. ‘Violence is the last refuge of the
incompetent.’
    It was a quote
from Isaac Asimov.
    ‘I’m not an
incompetent,’ he said softly.
    ‘What are you?’
she demanded hotly. ‘The Mob?’ she spat the word out as if it was some vile
demon defiling her body.
    Shamefully,
Imposimato stared at her and nodded silently.
    Rosin stepped away
from him. She began to pace about the room restlessly. She let out a loud sigh and
came back towards him. She