Page 27 of Kiss of Death
Otto shook his head and pulled out his phone to text one of his crew members to keep an eye on Ivy. He hated that Sofia was right, but he needed to put some space between him and Ivy. A night probably wasn’t going to make much difference, but it would give him time to think on how he should proceed with her. They were speed racing toward a collision that was probably going to hurt. He needed to figure out a way that was going to lessen the blow.
“You’re right. Tell me where you want me tonight, and I’ll check out the area. We got Nico and Bebo’s product in place yet?”
Sofia shook her head, handing him a piece of paper. “The dead bodies showing up kind of stalled that. They got a guy in the area now just scoping shit out. We should have their product in Brooklyn by the end of the week.”
Otto nodded, looking down at the address on the paper Sofia gave him. He knew the area and restaurant pretty well. “Welp, if you don’t need me for anything else.” Sofia shook her head, and he gave her a salute.
He turned to walk out when she called after him. “Be careful, Otto.” He knew she wasn’t talking about his surveillance. She was worried about the woman who was occupying his mind, and the truth was, so was he.
Bruno and a few of his guys broke into Tres the next night using the blind spot and security codes Ivy had been able to acquire for him. He had to give Ivy credit. She was always able to get whatever Bruno needed, and this job had been no different for her. The men he flashed her in front of had been too weak to deny the pretty face and sweet cunt she offered. Years of training her to be the perfect toy had come in handy. Because of Ivy, he was about to get a small taste of the revenge he wanted against Sofia and Otto.
“Where do you want the body?” One of his guys asked as they carried Eve’s dead body in behind them. The poor girl hadn’t lasted long in Boris’s care, and even though Bruno always had death on the menu for Eve, he had to imagine Eve pushed Boris past his breaking point. Where Ivy had been brought to heel eventually, Eve always had an air of defiance about her that made Bruno want to kill her as soon as he got conned into taking her. She didn’t seem worth the struggle until she was used against Ivy.
Bruno remembered the day Ivy and Eve had been brought to him. Ivy’s ex had owed Bruno money—a lot of it. He couldn’t pay up, and he traded the lives of Ivy and Eve for his own. Bruno still killed the idiot, but he had gotten two beautiful women that were his to do with what he wanted. That seemed like such a long time ago. It was almost sad to know Eve and Ivy were no longer going to be his.
Bruno looked Eve’s body over. There were welts and bruises all over her, letting him know she hadn’t died peacefully, and that filled him with deep satisfaction. “Put her up in the office and douse it in gasoline.”
He looked around the club. This was once his place and the only source of power and clout he had. When he started this, he thought he wanted Tres Bellas back under his ownership, but now he realized he’d been dreaming too small. He wanted to build in his own name and separate from his father, and he was going to have that. His father was knocking on death’s door, and when he drew his last breath, Bruno would be a boss. He would help Boris take out Sofia, and then the majority of New York would belong to them.
He picked up his phone and dialed Ivy’s new number. She picked up on the first ring. “Get Otto to Tres once we hang up. When I’m done here with him, I’ll give you the information on your sister.” He hung up as the rest of his crew brought in the gallons of gasoline. They set them up in prime locations, so once he took care of Otto they could knock those gallons over and set fire to this shithole club.
Bruno couldn’t wait to see the flames of Tres Bellas light up the night sky.
Ivy paced in front of Tres Bellas. The sweat was pouring off her, regardless of the cold bite in the air. She was nervous and felt sick to her stomach at what was about to happen.
She hadn’t talked to Otto since he barged into the locker room last night. He hadn’t been there to drive her home. She had taken that as a sign that she wasn’t meant to tell him the truth just yet, until Bruno called and told her they were at the end of their little job. She felt both panic and relief that this was almost over. Her and her sister were just a few hours to freedom, and that had been the fuel Ivy used to keep up the lies.
Goodbye, New York and Bruno.
And Otto.
She stopped pacing and gasped for air. The sharp pain in her chest was enough to knock her on her ass. “Get it together, Ivy. You cannot think about him,” she whispered to herself.
Her guilt in hurting Otto was its own chain wrapped around her feet. She tried to cut it off,to pretend it wasn’t there, but that was like pretending the man himself hadn’t existed.
He was in the blood pumping through her body and couldn’t be ignored. She knew this was going to hurt him. She felt his pain already because it was her own. This was killing her, thinking about the destruction her actions were about to cause, but it wasn’t enough to get her stop.
“Ivy?” He heard his voice, and her body instantly came to life as her heart pounded in her chest, making the pain worse. She turned around and instantly ran into his arms. Her body reacted on autopilot. It wasn’t until her arms were around his shoulders that she realized what she was doing.
“Hey, hey, are you okay?” his voice was in her ear as his palm made gentle circles against her low back. She hated that he kept asking her that. She would never be okay.
She pulled away from him and kissed him with everything she had, poured herself into the kiss, hoping he could feel the things she didn’t have the strength to say. She wanted to come clean with him, and she wasn’t sure how much time she’d have inside before Bruno did whatever he had planned, but maybe she could be brave and share her story with him before she ran.
Ivy pulled away from him, her nerves making her nauseous. “Can we go inside to talk?” She asked the question but refused to move. She didn’t want to let go of him. If anything, she wanted to take his hand and run in the opposite direction of the club. She wanted to forget about the war that was going on between Bruno and Sofia and make a life for herself and Otto with their sisters in tow.
She knew once she stepped inside with Otto everything was going to change and there was no going back.
“Yeah, come on.” Otto unhooked her arms from his shoulders, seeming unfazed by her heightened emotions.
The closer they got to the door at Tres, the louder her heart pounded in her chest. She felt lightheaded and was sure she was about to pass out from the stress of it all.
Otto turned toward her before he unlocked the door. “I’m glad you called me, Ivy. I’m not sure what you’re stressed about, but I’m glad you’re finally willing to talk to me.” He turned back around to unlock the doors, and Ivy felt the rush of tears in her eyes. His words were like a smack to the face. He thought she was opening up to him, and she was about to do the exact opposite.
I’m not going to survive this. If no one comes after me, surely my heart will give out from the pain.
Otto ushered her into Tres before him, and as soon as she cleared the entranceway, the lights to the club came on. She turned around to see Otto coming in behind her with worry etched on his face.
Ivy went to speak, her words finally willing to break free when she spotted a guy standing next to the bar in a black ski mask. The guy looked at her, and she could see his sinister smile as he brought his finger up to his lips to tell her to stay quiet and she did.
