Page 9 of Deadly Devotion

“There were two men earlier asking about a waitress.”

“Who were these men? Are they here now?”

“No, they left after I told them I knew nothing about her. I don’t know their names, but they’re connected to the Lupani family. I’ve seen the older guy in here before. He’s a real sonofabitch, and I thought it was best to not give them any information. She seems like a nice girl, so no reason to send trouble her way.” He slides another shot in front of me.

My hands are balled into fists at my sides to keep from smashing the shot glass on the bar. Fucking Lupani. He’s the greaseball son of old man Lupani, head of the Italian crime family. The old man is tolerable, although he doesn’t leave his estate often due to his failing health. His son, Gio, is a real scumbag. Word on the street is he has a loan shark business that his father doesn’t know about. He keeps all the money for himself and doesn’t give any of it to the family. He has a handful of loyal men that run the business for him.

“And the waitress? What did they want to know about her?”

“Basic information; her name and address. She’s new here, so I don’t know much. Her sister is a waitress here, too,” he says quietly.

“Where does she live?” I ask, scanning the crowd around the bar.

“Sandy, the sister, lives in an apartment on 34thand 8th. I don’t know the apartment number. Maybe she lives with her. You’ll know her when you see her. She’s gorgeous; long brown hair, light hazel eyes, and legs that I wouldn’t mind wrapped around my neck.” He winks at me, and I have to dig down deep to not lunge over the bar and beat him unconscious. Gulping down the shot of vodka, I pull a few hundred dollar bills out of my pocket and put them down on the bar.

“Thank you, Mr. Avilov.” He smiles brightly. “By the way, Sandy just walked in.” He nods toward the front door.

A pretty, strawberry-blonde-haired girl in her mid-twenties is talking to the bouncer near the front door. She nods and then quickly starts wiggling her way through the crowd. She walks right past me, and I notice her deep blue eyes and tinyfreckles scattered across her porcelain cheeks. She stops to chat with one of the waitresses.

I get closer, straining to hear what she is saying over the music. She pats the waitress on the arm, giving her a friendly smile. Then she heads toward a hallway, her eyes nervously scanning the crowd. Her smile is gone now, and her lips are pulled into a tight line. Clutching her bag against her side, she walks down the hallway and stops in front of a red door. She looks around before pushing the door open and going inside.Why is she nervous? What does she know?

I follow her and stop in front of the red door. Pushing it open a crack, I see it’s a dressing room where the waitresses get ready for their shifts. Sandy is standing before a locker, putting items into a backpack. I hear her chatting with another waitress.

“What did they say?” Sandy asks, zipping up the backpack and slinging it over her shoulder.

“They were asking about your sister,” the blonde-haired girl replies. “They’re scary, Sandy, but I didn’t tell them anything. I’ve seen the older guy in here before. He’s a real creep. He slapped my ass once and tried to corner me, wanting a blowjob. I told Phil about it, and he made him leave the club. He told the creep that Mr. Sanzone wouldn’t like how his girls are being treated.”

“Thank God for Phil. At least he looks out for us,” Sandy mutters.

“Yeah, well, I think it’s because he’s afraid of Mr. Sanzone. He likes to keep his club classy, and if Phil allows these creeps to harass us, then he’d have to answer to Mr. Sanzone.” She smirks, smacking her ruby-red lips together. “Just be careful, okay?” Shegives Sandy a quick hug and then goes to the other side of the room, where her uniform is laid out on a chair.

I quietly close the door and briskly walk back down the hallway. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I call Dimitri.

“Brat, where are you?” Dimitri inquires.

“I’m in front of the smaller bar near the VIP door. I have a lead. Meet me here now.” I put my phone in my pocket and lean casually against the bar.

Sandy passes by just as Dimitri is walking my way. I nod my head in Sandy’s direction. Dimitri’s eyes find her, and he nods back in understanding. I need him to get the SUV so we can follow her. My gut is telling me that Lupani was involved in Mikhail’s death, and I need Sandy to lead me to her sister. If Lupani’s men asked about the waitress, she must know something that scared her enough to flee the club earlier. I stay a few feet behind Sandy, watching her float around the club, chatting with a few waitresses and a dark-haired bartender with a handlebar mustache. Eventually, she exits the club, hailing a yellow taxi. Dimitri has the SUV idling in the valet area. I slide into the passenger seat, and we follow her through the dark city streets to her apartment building.

The taxi pulls up in front of the building, and we watch as she punches in a code to open the glass door and then pulls it shut behind her. Dimitri parks the SUV and gets out, trying to open the glass door. I see him scanning the names on the apartment buzzers next to the door.

He comes back to the SUV and gets in. “We can’t open the door without a key or a code. There are two apartments with ‘S’ listed as the initial of the first name; 2D and 5F,” he announces,slipping back into the driver’s seat. “How do you want to handle this?”

“For now, let’s keep an eye on the door. I’m sure someone will buzz a delivery guy in soon enough, and we can slip in behind him.”

Chapter 7

Talia

The front door unlocks, and I jump to my feet. “Thank God you’re here!” I run over to Sandy and give her a tight hug. “What did you find out?”

“First,” Sandy says, pulling out of the hug, “are you okay? Is the baby okay?” She looks me over, her eyebrows pinched together.

“I’m okay.We’reokay.“ Instinctively, I cradle my belly. “But my nerves are shot.” Sandy leads me back to the sofa, and we sit down facing each other. She takes a deep breath and pulls her long hair back into a ponytail.

“No one knows anything about the man that got killed. But Dana said two men were asking about you.” She sips water from the glass I left on the small coffee table. “She said that one of the men is a real creep, but she didn’t tell them anything.”

I stand up and start pacing around the small living room. “If they were asking about me, then the killer definitely saw me.” A bead of sweat trickles down my back as I nervously chew on my bottom lip. “Iknewhe saw me. Shit, sis, what do we do now? Do we go to the police?”

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