Page 194 of House of Cards

Instead, he just drops his head and looks…desolate.

“Don’t be sad, Hutch. You did her a favor. I’d have made it messy.” He pauses until Smith looks up at him, then his smile turns predatory. “But you? You’re not getting the same courtesy.”

Smith’s eyes narrow, and he tugs at the zip-ties binding his wrists like he’s imagining ripping them off and strangling Elonzo with his bare hands.

Elonzo’s eyes slide to me, flashing a cruel smile. “Not your little rat friends, either.”

Smith’s face goes stone cold, but not before his eyes flicker like he wants to look in my direction. “Leave them out of this.”

“Ay, dios mío!”?6 Elonzo laughs, slapping his knee. “Look at that face! Big, bad, Hutch, begging for his little girlfriend.” He crouches down in front of me. “Tell me,mamacita. You love this piece of shit?”

“Fuck y?—”

Elonzo’s backhand cuts off the rest. My ears ring, pain and sparks of white dancing through my head.

I dimly hear Smith roaring, “Don’t you fucking touch her!”

When I force my eyes open again, Miguel has him in a choke hold, Smith almost on his feet and still struggling.

For me.

Elonzo turns to face Smith, spreading his arms wide. “Our boy Hutch has found himself anotherputato care about. Time for my favorite game.”

Luis laughs as Elonzo pulls out his gun and checks the chamber with theatrical flair. “Rules are a little different this time, so try to keep up.”

He aims the gun directly at my head, close enough that I can see down the barrel. “You tell me to pull this trigger...” His voice drops to a whisper as he gestures to the terrified staff huddled in the corner with his free hand. “Or I start shooting until there’s nobody left but you and your little ratputa.”

“What’s it matter?” Smith says in a strained voice. “You’ll kill us all, anyway.”

“Yeah, Hutch, but it’ll be overquick.You make me kill everyone else first…” Elonzo clicks his tongue, eyes flickering to Smith as he drags the muzzle down my throat, over my chest, and burrows it into my stomach. “She’s gonna die slow. So, so slow.”

My stomach tries to flutter away from the muzzle, but Elonzo’s digging it in too deep.

When I look at Smith, at the fear in his eyes, I realize it’s entirely for me. Not Ricky, not his staff, not himself.

Me.

I get it now.

Why Smith did it.

He’s a killer. A monster who put a bullet in his girlfriend’s head without hesitation. Who dragged me into a nightmare none of us are going to survive.

I should hate him.

Idohate him.

But then I remember the way he kissed me this morning, like I was something precious. How he came back like he needed me. How he’s taking beating after beating to keep Luis away from me.

The way he’s looking at me now, like he’s faced with another impossible choice, and he already knows what he has to do.

Because it’s the only choice there is.

The choice he made for Michelle is the same one he’s going to make for me. And instead of hating him for it…I…I think I admire him.

I might even?—

My chest clenches like a fist.