I open the door as he says sweetheart again and she goes at me.
“Is it my throat?” I ask her, stepping out of the way as she crashes into the pad against the wall.
“No,” she says, stopping in her tracks.
“Who then?” I ask her, stepping cautiously closer to her.
“Who do you want to kill, sweetheart?” Doc says.
“Richard,” she snaps before stepping into my arms.
“You’re okay,” I whisper.
“It was touch and go there when he started, I was raging. You only caught the very end,” she says.
“I’m here, always will be. Now it’s time to put a plan in motion,” I grin and she returns to it.
Joelle
I’m not sure about this plan. I want to be over with this. It will bring me joy to watch the life drain from his eyes, though.
We found a nice place to open the burlesque circus, the girls were over the moon with the new digs. For the grand opening, we sent out a bunch of invites only to high rollers and celebrities. My ex received one as well under the guise that he would get to catch me whacking a man.
My father hated the idea and he’s only here on protest to make sure I make it out alive. I’m glad for the extra security. I’ve learned a lot about the mafia in the last couple of weeks living at the house. Antonio, Abel’s father has been my best teacher. I’ve spent a lot of time with him since Abel is taking over the reins soon. I make sure I spend lunch with him and then I have tea in the afternoon. I look forward to tea each day.
“Ready?” Meryl asks. He’s still getting used to being just an employee, but he loves California and his tan agrees.
“I am,” I smile at him as I swipe another layer of gloss on my lips.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” he murmurs.
“Just know that every time you’re getting a big paycheck,” I hug him.
“I meant taking out a cop,” he mutters.
“It will be fine. Tomorrow we’ll go back to normal operations,” I squeeze his arm as I head out to the main room with him. It’s a nightclub made up to look like a circus. I have to admit that whoever did the design did a fantastic job. Meryl in his boxers and top hat takes center stage while I get into my cube-like always.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. We have lots going on tonight,” he starts as the music starts playing. I know his speech and drown it out as I take in Abel and Cain staring at me. I blow them a kiss. I see their mouths turn up in smiles right as I’m introduced. I stand up and lick the window of my cube before doing a little spin and going to my knees before my light goes out and I move out of the cube.
“He took the bait. He already paid for a lap dance from you,” Cain says. I start shaking a little bit, knowing I’ll be close to him. Knowing what he did to me, not just the whole making me kill for him, bullshit, but the lying he did, the men he brought over that day. I hate him and I want to see him dead.
“I’m ready,” I tell them. I will go into my new room, though I’ll never use it after tonight unless it’s for work purposes, meaning mafia-related. I will also travel; we did agree on that. Abel will try to go when I do, but I will always have Cain.
“He’s coming,” Abel says, before moving to the shadows.
Before I can say I change my mind, Richard is here.
Abel
He stalks her, taking her in and Cain has to hold me back.
“You’ve changed over the years,” he almost sneers at Joelle.
“I’ve grown up since you,” she says.
“It surely agrees with you, just like slicing open throats does,” he says.
If he was expecting a reaction, he didn’t get one.
