Seven: Don't Tempt Me

He fell asleep without his shirt on. He didn't have any tattoo, it must be part of his job, he wouldn't want people to recognize him from his tattoo. But the marks on his body tell a story of how it had gone through violence she could only imagine.

Bullet wounds, stab wounds, there were traces of long diagonal markings on his back and a deep wide dent on his abdomen. She looked at his sleeping face. This guy must be dangerous. She hesitated. Can she pull this off? Had she really thought it through?

She saw the gun on the bedside table and he was fast asleep right next to it. If she tiptoed closer, he would never hear her. She can grab the gun with her tied hands and just shoot him right there on the bed. She had to shoot him at least twice ... on the head ... and then he'll be dead.

Her heart raced. She stood up from the corner where she had been curling up and approached the bed. The floorboard creaked, she grimaced. He was still asleep. She proceeds more cautiously this time, very slowly, as light as possible.

She held her breath as she came closer to the gun, then she finally grabbed it. She had the gun in her hand and pointed it to his head. His eyes were shut, face down on the bed. And then she froze. All she needed to do was to pull the trigger and put a bullet in his head, but she froze.

She had never been faced with a choice to end someone's life before and it was not as easy as she had pictured it in her head for the past couple of hours. Her hands trembled, she was breathing heavily. Tears started to seep from the corners of her eyes. She pressed her index finger on the trigger, but she couldn't pull it.

Her heartbeat was going crazy, her knees were weak, her body shivered uncontrollably. Her vision was blurred by the tears that swelled up in her eyes.

He opened his eyes.

She gasped and pressed the trigger.

He grabbed her wrists and pointed the gun to the ceiling, he pulled her waist and threw her on the bed. In a blink of an eye, he was on top of her. She felt his full body weight pressing on her and the look in his eyes frightened her.

He took the gun off her hands and pushed it against her waist. "Don't tempt me." He pressed his forearm against her neck.

She cried, she turned her face away from him, she was sure he was going to hurt her this time.

"Really? That was your plan? To shoot me in my sleep?"

"Please ... please ... don't kill me ... I didn't know what else to do ... I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? You tried to kill me and you're sorry?" he got up and kicked a chair until it flung over. "God damn it!"

She was relieved, the adrenaline had worn off and she laid heavily on the bed trying to gain control of her breathing.

"You ..." he was swinging his gun at her, he tousled his hair with both hands. "You ... are not making this easy Ari, I can't do this anymore!" He paced back and forth.

"I'm sorry, okay ... I ... I don't know what else to do ..." she started to cry again, it came hard this time, "I just want to go home ... I can't stand not knowing what will happen to me, please just take me home ... I promise I won't tell ..." she shook her head.

He took his phone from his back pocket and dialed. He was pacing back and forth while waiting for the call to connect.

"It's me," he said. "I can't do this anymore ... she tried to kill me ... I have to make the delivery today."

"What? What did you do to her?"

"Nothing yet ... but that's not gonna last very long if she keeps trying this shit on me, man ... I can't promise you anything," he pointed the gun at her.

She was still crying on the bed and had no idea what the other person said on the phone. She could only hear his part of the conversation.

"Don't do anything, okay ... she's worth more alive than dead ... these people are the real deal man, you don't want to screw up the order."

"I'm not the one who screwed up the order, I was supposed to drop her off yesterday ... she's been throwing tantrums on me, tried to escape, and then she just tried to kill me with my own gun ... I'm not having another day of this shit!"

"I know ... I know ... this is a special job, but this will be the last thing you do and then you're home free ... right? Someone already bid for her for 50 million dollars... make sure there's not a scratch on her ... she's a national treasure," the guy chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

"She's being auctioned out to the highest bidder as we speak, this trafficking business is crazy, imagine how much money they can make out of her if they're willing to bid that high?"

"Wait ... someone else is taking over the job? You can't do that ..."

"I know man, the job had been intercepted, she was supposed to be plucked out of the party and dropped off, this is beyond my control, I've never seen anything like this before, these people mean business, huh?" he laughed. "These people are not one to mess with, I can't say no, it's turning into something a lot bigger than any of us ... she will disappear that's for sure, they've arranged for a new identity for her already."

"What do you mean intercepted?" he was confused.

"Hey ... you know we don't get to ask questions, the job is legit, it's going chaos around here ... the phone is ringing off the hook, people are bidding for her like she's some kind of commodity."

He was staring at her in silence now, he had just found out what will be her fate.

"Look, I'll see what I can do, I think they can manage to keep her somewhere for a while and get her out of your hair ... I'll let you know as soon as possible, okay? Just ... don't kill her."

He put the phone back in his pocket and lowered his gun.

"How did you know my nickname was Ari?" she asked.

He stared at her blankly for a moment, "I know more things about you than you think."