"Yes." I snapped my fingers, liking that idea. "Then I'll come in and finish him off. He doesn't know where I was shot."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mom asked.
I lifted my free shoulder again. "I have to. It's the only way."
Ricardo called my father as planned. "He's on his way."
"Perfect." I let go of Zell. "Mom, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Of course," she replied.
We walked into the room I had woken up in, and I closed the door. "We should hurry since we don't know where he is."
"Okay? What do you want to talk about?"
"Where the hell have you been?" I questioned.
She stared off as though she was collecting her thoughts. "Long story short, I was tired of being in the background, and I thought I saw you following in his footsteps. I couldn't watch you—"
"But I wasn't," I argued.
She cupped my cheek. "I know that now, and I regret the way I left. Maybe things would have turned out differently if I'd stayed."
"Where did you go?"
"Oddly enough, I just went to a hotel around the block from our apartment."
"Really?" I balked.
"I had to detox."
"Detox? Detox from what?"
"Pain killers."
I had no clue. I knew she drank, but I didn't realize that she was addicted to pills. "Seriously?"
"Remember when I hurt my back a few years ago?"
"Yeah. When Dad pushed you?"
"Yes, I've been taking them ever since then."
"And now?"
"As I said, I detoxed. My head is clear now."
"And you're okay with us killing your husband?" I never thought I would ask my mother that question. Killing was in my blood, but I never thought it was in hers.
"For what he has done over the years, I have to be. He can't be stopped otherwise."
"I know." We didn't know which cops were on his payroll, and in the end, him not breathing would be the best for everyone.
"Are you really okay with killing your father?"
I nodded slowly and sighed. "For what he's done over the years," I echoed her, "and what he did to Zell and Jackie, I have to be."
"Well then, we better get back out there and get a solid plan before he arrives."
"Right." I started to walk away, but she stopped me and brought me into her arms. I didn't know when she last embraced me, but I welcomed it even though it hurt.
"You know I love you, right?"
I smiled tightly. I had always questioned it. "And I love you."
We walked out of the room and joined everyone in the sitting room. I went straight for Zell and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. For someone who had been through so much in twenty-four hours, she was really holding it together or at least she was too busy to process everything. I needed to be there when she did fall apart. I wanted her to know that even after everything, we would overcome it all. We were in it together. I had killed for her, and she had killed for me.
Ricardo walked up to me and handed me the gun that my father had given me the night before. It was ironic that he was going to die by it. "I think we should get the girls out of here," Ricardo suggested.
"Okay," I agreed. There wasn't a reason for them to be here. They didn't need to be involved in the takedown. They needed to be free.
"I'm going to give Erin my address and have her take them to my place once your father gets here. I'll give them the code to the service elevator so they can slip out, and once everything is finished with your father, we can get them help or whatever they need."
"Sounds good." I stuck out my hand. "And thank you for being on our side."
Ricardo looked at one of the girls—I didn't know her name—and then back to me. "Wasn't just for you."
"Ah. Good deal." I clapped him on the back. "Hurry and get them going. I might need you to buzz my father up if he doesn't have his elevator key on him."
"Okay." Ricardo left and gathered the girls.
"Mom," I called out. "Why don't you take Zell—"
"We're not leaving you. And I don't think you should be in the room when he arrives."
"Right," I agreed. "Jackie, that will be you and Ricardo. Maybe tell him I'm in Zell's room or something. He won't know the difference."
"Okay, let's get ready," Jackie said.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jackie became nervous as the plan started to come together. She had chickened out about poisoning Frank, but after watching a doctor tend to Frankie, and the way Zell was clearly in love with him, she knew that to have a life with her daughter—to be free—she needed to put a stop to the man who had caused it all. They thought that Jackie was the decoy for when Frank arrived, but she had another idea.
Everyone got into position, waiting for Frank's arrival. Zell was in her room one floor up, Frankie and Quinn were waiting in a room on the same level Frank would arrive on, Ricardo was standing by the elevator, and Jackie was in the sitting area.
The last time Jackie was in the penthouse, Frank had taken her out by the arm. She'd put up a fight until something was injected into her, causing her to be in a daze. When Jackie had a clear ahead again, she was already at the cabin and it was too late.
Now, she was back and ready to end it all.
In the almost quiet penthouse, Jackie heard the elevator as it started to ascend. She looked at Ricardo, and he nodded that it was Frank. No one else had an access card except Madam, and she was still lying on the floor with a sheet over her dead body. As the elevator rose, so did Jackie's heartbeat. It thumped rapidly in her chest, her palms became sweaty, and she felt as though she was going to pass out.
"You can do this," she chanted to herself over and over and over and over.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Jackie held her breath as she waited for the man who destroyed her world to walk out.
"Where is he?" Jackie heard Frank ask.
"Right over here," Ricardo responded.
Jackie stood just as Frank came into view. How she ever had feelings for him was beyond her, but she did, and that was the sad reality of the entire situation. Frank Russo was a handsome man who had given her what she needed to survive: food, shelter, affection. She was a pawn in his game, but now it was time to take down the king.
Their eyes locked. "Jackie?" Frank asked.
"Hello, Frank."
"What the—" he started to say but stopped when he heard the cocking of a gun.
Ricardo placed the barrel of his pistol against the back of Frank's head. "I'm going to need to take your piece."
"What the fuck is going on?" Frank snapped.
Frankie and Quinn stepped into the room, and Frankie smirked as he pointed his gun at his dad. "Isn't it obvious, Father? There's a new king on the throne. Now, give Ricardo your gun."
Except Frank didn't do as his son ordered. He laughed. "You should know that a king rules until he's dead."
From the hallway that came from the kitchen, three of Frank's men entered, all of them with guns drawn and aimed at everyone except Frank and Quinn. In a blink, Ricardo reached for Frank, bringing him against his chest with his arm around Frank's throat. He grabbed Frank's gun from his holster after putting his own gun in the waistband of his pants.
"Give it to me." Jackie reached out her hand as she got close to the two men.
Ricardo did, switching the gun with his own and keeping his arm around Frank's throat. Jackie took the gun and pointed it at Quinn, mere feet from Frank. Ricardo wasn't sure if he should aim at Jackie or one of the other men with guns. He opted for Jackie but kept a hold of Frank by the throat.
"What are you doing?" Quinn asked.
Frank laughed. "Exactly what the king wants."
"Well, not exactly," Jackie replied, and without hesitation, she turned the gun on Frank and pulled the trigger, shooting him in the side of the head. Frank's blood splattered against her and Ricardo's face, killing him instantly.
&nbs
p; Jackie needed that extra second for Frank's men to think that she was bowing down to Frank. She turned the gun on the men just as Ricardo dropped Frank's body and did the same. Frankie also aimed his gun at them.
"Now, are you with your dead boss or the new one?" Frankie questioned.
"I … uh …" one of the guys stuttered, and then held up his hands. "You, Mr. Russo."
"Yeah, yeah," the other two men agreed at the same time.
"Good. Now, help Ricardo take the bodies to the harbor."
"Yes, sir."
Frank's men didn't bat an eye when it came to cleaning up dead bodies. He had trained them well, but it was unfortunate for Frank that he hadn't trained Jackie as well as he'd thought. She’d had a long speech to give him about killing her husband, taking her baby, and locking her up for eighteen years, but Jackie didn't get to say any of those things because she had seen an opportunity and taken it. Frank hadn’t hesitated when he'd shot and killed Russell in front of her, so she didn't either.
"Are you okay?" Frankie asked Jackie.
"Yeah." But when she lifted the gun to hand it to him, she was shaking.
"I thought for a second you were going to shoot me," Quinn admitted.
"I did too," Frankie agreed.
"I was hoping everyone would think that."
"I just hope it's all over now," Quinn stated.
"Me too," Jackie agreed.
"Go check on Zell while I make sure these guys do what they were told," Frankie ordered.
The ladies went to the stairs, looking in each room for Zell until they got to the end of the hall and found her pacing back and forth in the small space.
"Is it done?" Zell questioned.
"Yes," Jackie replied and brought Zell in for a hug. "It's all over."
"What do we do now?" Zell inquired.
"I don't know about you two, but I could use some sleep," Quinn answered.
I couldn't believe that the plan had worked.
Jackie had scared me when she turned the gun on my mother. That was unexpected, and I thought she was turning on us, that somehow Dad really did have control of her. I wasn't sure what I would have done if that had been the case. Would I have had to kill Zell's real mother? Would they have killed us? My heart raced, thinking about everything, but I had to show no fear, especially since I was in charge now.
"You good?" I asked Ricardo as he and another guy carried my father's lifeless body down the hall to the stairs that led to the kitchen.
"Yeah. Are you?"
"Perfect." I wasn't necessarily sure that was true. I was too busy worrying about everything to really process the last two days or the fact that I’d just watched my father die. Plus, I was exhausted and starving. I went down with them to a van parked near the service entrance to the building. They placed both of the bodies in the back.
"Is that all, boss?" Ivan questioned.
"Actually, tell me why my father had you come in the back way."
Ivan looked at Diego and Aaron and then back at me. "After he got the call from Ricardo, he pulled up the camera feed on his phone. He saw you all talking and knew that you weren't shot."
Those fucking cameras. I had forgotten about them since they were hidden on the main level, but I was going to rip the place apart until I found every last one of them. I grunted and pulled my shirt up, revealing the bandages on my chest. Hell, my sweater had a bloodstain on it. "I was shot."
"Why didn't he come up with his piece pulled?" Ricardo questioned.
"He thought we'd get the upper hand by coming in through the back. I don't think any of us expected that woman to shoot him."
Yeah, that was a shock. "Okay." I nodded. "And just so we're clear, you work for me now."
"Yes, sir," the three of them said.
"And Ricardo's my right-hand man, so when I'm not available, he's the one in charge."
"Yes, sir," they said again.
"Ricardo, call me when you're done."
"Yes, sir," he responded.
The men got into the van, and I went back into the elevator. Ricardo had given me the code, but I needed to figure out how to change it. In fact, there would be a lot of changes. I needed to find out if the warehouse was still standing, if the auction was completed, and then stop it all. There would be no more kidnapping or selling women, and the nightclub wasn't going to be a front for drugs anymore.
I stepped into Zell's room, and she rushed into my arms when she saw me. "Don't forget I was shot, princess," I groaned.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"Are they gone?" Mom asked.
"Yeah. It's just us left."
"Now, what do we do?" Zell questioned.
"We can go back to the apartment," Mom suggested. "We know we'll be okay there."
"Just don't drink the scotch." Jackie chuckled.
"Yeah, we need to pour that out," Mom agreed.
"Is it really over?" Zell asked.
I pulled her to me and wrapped my arm around her, kissing the side of her head. "Yeah, princess. The old king and his witch are dead."
"Until the cops find their bodies," Jackie stated.
I never knew what happened with the bodies my father got rid of in the harbor. Maybe the water washed away all the evidence and nothing ever got tied back to him. I hoped that was the case this time.
"Well, the only evidence is here in the penthouse, so we obviously need to clean up Frank’s and Saffron's blood," Mom said.
"Can we sleep first? Maybe get something to eat?" I asked.
"What if someone comes and sees the blood?" Zell questioned.
"Like who? They can't get up in the elevator," I stated.
"Martin will be here in the morning," she replied.
"Who's Martin?"
"The chef."
"He comes and goes?" I questioned.
Zell shrugged. "I thought he had a room downstairs, but I haven't seen him since we've been here."
I let go of Zell and took off toward the kitchen. Ricardo had said the service elevator was next to the chef's room. Was he there the entire time? The first door I opened was the pantry. I slammed it shut. The next room was a bedroom, but it was empty. "He's not here."
"Maybe he left with the girls," Mom suggested.
"Zell"—I grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes—"think real hard, princess. Was he held captive like you and the girls, or did he come and go?"
"I think he lived here like us."
"That seems likely since he has a room here," Jackie stated.
"He had to have left with the girls," Mom said. "We can ask Ricardo."
"Yeah, I'll do that when he calls me." I yawned, causing all the ladies to yawn. "Let's get out of here and get some sleep." I was fucking exhausted.
"Can we stop and get banana pudding?" Jackie asked. "I've been craving it for over eighteen years."
I woke to the sound of crying. When I turned on my bedside lamp, Zell was curled into a ball next to me sobbing. "Shhh, it's okay." I wrapped my arms around her. She cried harder. "Just let it all out. I've got you."
"I was just thinking about everything."
"I figured. A lot has happened."
"I always wanted to see the city, but now I'm scared to go outside without you. What if I get kidnapped again?"
"I won't let that happen." I nuzzled my face into her neck.
"But it did happen, so it could happen again."
"Hey." I turned her so she was lying on her back and I was looking down into her blue eyes. "All the men who worked for my father aren't going to have a job any longer. Everything criminal he was doing stopped with his death."
"But I'm a criminal now."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because I killed Madam."
I brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I haven't processed the fact that I killed a guy either, but we aren't criminals like my father was."
"How do we process it?"
"One day at a time. I think that's how anyone gets over anyth
ing."
"And that's the same about the man who—you know."
"Raped you?"
She nodded. "Will I get over that?"
I took a deep breath. "That, I don't know."
"What if I don't? What if I never want to have sex again?"
"I think that's a question for Jackie or the girls." I leaned down, pressing my lips against hers just as the phone that the doorman used rang. I got out of the bed and rushed to it. "Yeah?"
"The cops are here, Mr. Russo," Sal replied.
I sucked in a breath. Fuck. "Send them up."
"Yes, sir."
I hung up the phone and went to my mother's room, not bothering to knock. "Mom!"
"What?" She rose.
"Cops are here."
"They are?"
"Yes, and on their way up."
"Shit."
I heard her get out of bed as I turned to leave. I knocked on the guest bedroom door before opening it. "Jackie, cops are here."
"Oh no."
I went back to Zell. "Don't panic, princess, but the cops are here."
She sat up and wiped her face. "Why?"
I took a deep breath and grabbed a T-shirt. "I don't know."
"Do you think that they know?"
They obviously knew something, but what that was I didn't know. "I'm not sure. Stay here, okay?"
"What if they arrest you … or me?"
I went to the bed where she was sitting and grabbed her face with both of my hands. "We'll deal with it."
"Promise?"
I kissed her and then held out my pinky. "Promise." Before I left the room, I cupped her cheek. I needed Zell to know how I felt in case I was arrested. She looked up at me, and I smiled. "I love you, princess."
She started to cry again.
"Don't cry." I brushed her tears.
"I can't help it."
I kissed her again and started to turn, but she grabbed my hand. "Frankie?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you too."
I kissed her again and then left, hoping and praying that the cops weren't here to arrest any of us. The doorbell rang just as I entered the foyer, and Mom was already waiting, dressed in her robe.
"Officers?" she greeted as she opened the door.
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