by Nicole Banks
He had no clue where Bruno started the fire, but the heat in the club had risen. He was starting to sweat, and he could hear wood start to splinter and break. Of all the ways to die, this wasn’t too high up on his list of preferred deaths. His only hope was that he’d pass out from smoke inhalation before the flames kissed his skin.
“Gianna!” He heard someone scream his sister’s name, and at first he thought he was imagining it. Gia wasn’t here. He made sure of it when he called her about Ivy being at the club. They must have hit him in his head pretty hard if he was starting to hear voices, or maybe it was his basic human instinct to want to survive that made him imagine help was on the way.
Otto coughed again, and he sucked in a sharp breath. The pain in his side was getting worse with the coughing from the smoke he kept inhaling. He leaned his head back, and hit it against the pole he was tied to. It wasn’t lost on him that it was the same pole Ivy had danced on every night that she worked here. She set him up, and he was going to die strapped to what brought her into his life.
Talk about poetic.
He heard someone shout his sister’s name again, but the voice sounded closer this time. “Fuck, Otto. What the hell happened?”
Otto dropped his head when the voice finally registered to his tired mind. “You have got to be shittin’ me. Why are you here?” Otto wheezed out to Smoke who worked quickly to cut his binds with the knife he always carried.
“Saving your dumbass. Where’s your sister? I usually come with her to the club, but she wasn’t home, and I haven’t been able to get a hold of her.”
Otto felt Smoke’s hands on his arms, and in one quick motion Smoke hauled him up to his feet. Otto let out a pained howl as his head swam.
“Fuckin’ dipshit. I could have been seriously hurt, and you could have just made it worse moving me like that,” he snapped. “And Gia’s not here. I called her before I showed up. You need to leave my sister alone. Go sniff up someone else’s skirt.”
Smoke threw Otto’s arm over his shoulder and practically dragged him toward the exit. Once they were outside and away from the club, Smoke dropped him on the curb. “Only you would give me shit while I’m trying to save your ass. Should have left your ass in there to fuckin’ cook some more. It might make you a more pleasant human being,” he grumbled.
Smoke pulled out his cell, and Otto heard him talking to a 9-1-1 dispatcher.
He heard his sister’s voice next, and he looked up to see her standing over him with Smoke’s arms wrapped around her.
“You two aren’t going to end well,” he grumbled and tried to stand to his feet. He coughed and groaned. This sucked. His body hurt, his ego hurt, and if he was being honest his feelings were hurt too.
“What happened to you?” Gia asked as the sound of sirens blasted in his ears. He watched firemen surround the club with their fire hoses trying to kill the flames.
“Ivy,” Smoke said her name as a statement instead of a question, and Otto nodded. Smoke laughed, but it lacked humor. “I knew she was hiding something.”
She was, but it wasn’t what they thought, at least from what he could remember. Bruno said something about her sister and setting them free, but the way Otto’s head was spinning, he wasn’t sure what he heard and what he imagined.
“Sofia’s going to want her head,” Smoke growled.
Otto quickly shouted out a no. He knew if Smoke or Sofia got to her first, Ivy wasn’t going to survive, and while he wanted his own revenge against her, he also wanted to talk to her, to hear her side of things.
Always the sucker.
Otto ignored the voice in his head. He thought he had seen tears in her eyes while he was getting jumped by three of Bruno’s men. He didn’t think she did this to be malicious.
“I want to find her first, and I’ll bring her to the Council for Sofia and the rest of you guys to make a judgment call.” Otto hoped it would be enough to satisfy Sofia and Smoke. He knew if Sofia ordered Smoke to do anything, the man wouldn’t even question it.
Smoke nodded. “I’ll help find her for you and go with you. No offense, but you can’t be trusted when it comes to her.”
Otto rolled his eyes as another cough made his body shake. Gia was right at his side, urging him to get checked out by the EMTs who had shown up. He waved her away as they watched firefighters bring out a lifeless body. Smoke turned to look at him confused. “You didn’t say there was someone else in the club with you.”
“There shouldn’t have been. I opened.”
“So who the fuck is that?” Smoke question, and Otto shook his head not knowing for sure, but if he heard Bruno correctly, he could guess whose body they were putting into a black body bag.
Maybe Ivy was innocent after all.
More fire trucks pulled up to Tres Bellas to help stop the flames from destroying the inside of the club. Otto heard the sound of car tires squealing, and he turned in time to see a very pissed off Sofia step out of an SUV and head toward them.
Otto stood his ground, already feeling the wrath that was coming his way. He fucked up, and he was going to have to deal with whatever consequences Sofia threw at him.
“Someone’s about to get they assed beat by a woman,” Smoke taunted in his ear, and Otto grinded his teeth, counting down the days until the bastard was out of his hair.
“You want to tell me why my club is on fire?” Sofia’s voice was as cold as an ice pick as she cut Otto down to size with just her glare alone.
“You asking a question you already know the answer to.”
Sofia moved faster than he blinked and pressed a gun into his chin. Gia paled, and Smoke pushed her behind him as he used his body to shield Otto and Sofia from prying eyes. “I may not be able to shoot you with all these witnesses, but I can pistol whip you till I feel better. You saw what I did to Bruno, and that was me going easy on him.”
Sofia’s words were soft spoken, but he still felt each one of them like the hit they intended to be. He hadn’t meant to give her a smart-ass answer, but he wasn’t sure things could get any worse tonight.
Sofia had every right to be pissed at him. What she acquired with quickness had been stolen from her just as easily. She couldn’t cement her foothold on New York when Boris and Bruno were taking hits to her empire through her soldiers—soldiers who pledged to ride for her and be a part of the Council.
“How are you fixing this, Otto? I’d hate to have to get rid of you.”
Otto knew he needed to right this, and they were going to need a win soon to tip the scales back in their favor, but he couldn’t do shit until he found Ivy. He needed her truth. For his own sanity, he needed to know her why, and once he found his answers, he’d bring her to the Council, and they would all deal with it together.
“I’m taking Smoke with me to find her, and once I do, she’s all yours.”
Yeah right. Once you get your hands on her, you won’t be so quick to hand her over for a death sentence.
Sofia pressed her lips together and looked at Otto like she had heard his inner thoughts. She pulled the gun off of him and her gaze shifted to Smoke. “If you see him getting soft, put a bullet in her and him and bring their bodies back to me.”
Otto heard Gia’s gasp, and Smoke stiffened at the request. He slowly nodded, agreeing to Sofia’s command, but the way he grabbed onto Gia when she tried to step away from him let Otto know Smoke wasn’t going to do anything that would hurt Gia.
Otto might be able to save himself and Ivy after all.
Ivy’s hands shook as she tried to get her key in the damn lock. She dropped her keys on the floor and cursed under her breath. She bent down to pick them up when she heard a sound behind her. She jumped up expecting to see Sofia, Smoke—shit the boogeyman at this point—with a shovel and body bag ready for her. She fucked over not only Otto but also the Barbati organization by helping Bruno. It wouldn’t matter to them that she was trying to save her sister. She betrayed them and they would make her pay, whenever they caught her.
Ivy let out a breath, trying to calm her rattled nerves. Once her hands stopped shaking long enough for her to get the key in the lock, she opened the door on a soft click. She quickly shut the door behind her and leaned her head up against it. She didn’t have time to be sorry—she barely had time to catch her breath, but that didn’t stop her thoughts from shifting to the man she left tied to the stripper pole on the stage at Tres Bellas.
She’d kissed him with everything she had, and she could still feel the burn of his lips against hers. She had wanted to tell him everything and had been warring with it since Bruno’s last visit. She convinced herself that maybe Otto could help, but it had been too late already. Things were set in motion that she couldn’t stop.
Ivy closed her eyes, and she felt the tears trickle down her face. She was out of the club before the fire started, but she couldn’t escape the flames. They taunted her the entire ride to her apartment, her thoughts steady on the man she betrayed and might have helped kill. She wanted to turn on the television to see if there was any news on the club, but her phone buzzed in her hand.
She looked down and saw a text from a number she didn’t recognize. Her heart sank as she read the words.
Your sister is at 111-13 14th ave. She is waiting for your pick up.
I hope you’re satisfied with your freedom and understand that everything comes at a cost, my pet. If Sofia doesn’t find you first, know that I will. You’ll always belong to me.
Ivy’s body gave out, and she collapsed to the floor. Pain she never felt before ricocheted through her, making her cry out. Her head swam, and the tears she always kept at bay came streaming down her face in full force—she could no longer keep everything inside of her.
He promised her—promised her freedom was hers to have, hers and her sister’s.
And he delivered it in the form of death.
Ivy’s body continued to shake, knowing she had betrayed her little sister too. She promised Eve she’d get her out of this life and she hadn’t. Instead, she got her killed. That address Bruno texted her was the same address as Tres Bellas, and it was currently going up in flames with Otto and Eve trapped inside.
“What have I done?”
IVY WALKED BACK TO HER hotel. She used cash and a fake name to check in, not like it mattered much to her anyway. She hadn’t gotten very far in her quest for freedom. Her heart and feet refused to leave this god-awful city. She had nowhere to go. Her body was numb—only operating on autopilot. She didn’t understand how there was a world without her sister in it? How the hell could she go home to face her mom now?
Ivy wiped away the tears that hadn’t stopped coming. As soon as she got the text from Bruno, she ran back to Tres Bellas in time to see that Otto had made it out alive. She was momentarily grateful until they locked eyes and he stared at her with hatred.
Why he hadn’t alerted Sofia and Smoke that she was there didn’t make sense to her, but she didn’t have enough time to understand his motives. She watched as EMTs loaded a body bag into the back of their ambulance. Whatever self-preservation she still held on to kept her rooted by her car, instead of running over there demanding they unzip the bag, so she could see with her own eyes what she already knew was true.
As soon as the ambulance left, she followed them all the way to the hospital and had to beg to see the body. No one wanted to let her in to say goodbye to her baby sister without the proper ID, but someone showed mercy on her and led her down the cold and lifeless hallway that led to the morgue.
When they unzipped the bag, she gagged at the smell of burnt flesh and screamed at the sight of her lifeless little sister’s burnt body. She screamed her rage, her pain, and for all the mistakes she made. She screamed until the air left her lungs and she collapsed on the floor begging anyone who would listen to take her life instead of her sister’s.
Ivy woke up sometime later in a hospital bed with the sound of machines beeping around her. She let hope wash over her that the last few years had all been a crazy nightmare, but when the nurse came in to check on her, she knew she hadn’t woken up in a life that allowed her sister to still be alive.
She checked herself out of the hospital, left her car, and headed for the nearest hotel. Whatever plans she had for her life after she was granted her freedom went up in smoke, and her survival instincts were at an all-time low. She put zero effort into hiding. She knew it was only a matter of time before they found her, and she didn’t care anymore.
Ivy put her keycard in the door and opened it. As soon as she flicked the lights on in her hotel room, a figure wearing all black moved out in front of her, wrapping a hand around her throat. A mask covered her assailant’s face. She felt the press of a gun in her stomach and knew this was it, someone had found her and was here to kill her.
“Don’t scream,” her assailant commanded her. She knew that voice. It belonged to Smoke, and she wasn’t the least bit surprised he was the one who found her first. “I thought for sure you’d try a little harder than this to run.”
“Are you here to kill me?” she questioned, wondering what he was waiting for.
“He won’t, but I might. Though, I think death would be too easy for you. My poison Ivy.”
Her body relaxed at the sound of his voice. She hadn’t been sure if she would ever see him again, but when her gaze shifted past Smoke’s imposing form, she caught a glimpse of Otto leaning up against one of the walls in all black with gloves on and a gun in one of his hands. She could see the bruising on his face, and even in her current circumstances, she instinctively wanted to comfort him. That whirlwind attraction that had always been between them hadn’t lessened at all—at least not for her.
Every part of her body awakened at the sound of his voice, including her heartbeat, and he was here to silence it.
Otto put the safety on his gun and put it in his waistband, and Smoke took his ski mask off but still had the gun pressed into Ivy’s stomach. Otto knew he’d find her again; he just didn’t think it would be this easy. It was like she had been trying to get caught. He whistled for Smoke to let her go because he wanted to get a good look at her. He was pissed, but that pull they had between them still made him want her.
He was either the biggest sucker in the world or crazy because the second he took in her puffy, tired eyes, all he wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and tell her it was going to be okay, even if it wasn’t.
“Step outside, Smoke.” Otto wanted Smoke as far away from this conversation as possible. He hated that the asshole had to tag along on this little adventure with him because Sofia didn’t trust Otto to make the right decision when it came to Ivy.
Sofia was right of course.
Otto wasn’t making his decision based on the Council when it came to Ivy. He knew there was more to this than some malicious intent to see him hurt, and once he got the truth, he was going to make sure Sofia heard it too.
Smoke cursed under his breath with a shake of his head. He put his own gun away and moved Ivy before reaching for the door. Otto was waiting for some smart or slick comment to leave Smoke’s mouth, but he left the room with nothing more than a roll of his eyes.
As soon as Smoke left, Otto’s feet had him moving across the room and pushing Ivy up against the door. He crowded her space and both of his hands came on either side of her head, caging her in. He could still smell the faint scent of coconut oil, and it made his mouth water. How he hated her for what she did and was doing to him, and in the next breath, he wanted her laid out on the flimsy hotel bed while he took his time consuming her flesh.
“I should do to you what you’ve done to me,” Otto started and brought one of his hands down to wrap around her slim throat. He angled her face so she looked directly at him as he spoke. “I should slip inside of you, burrow myself so far past all your defenses that when you think you’ve freed yourself of me, I’ll still be there. I’ll be in the taste that coats your lips, in the way you breathe, and in the way your body moves. You’ll only ever feel me an
d mourn the fact that I’m not there.”
He leaned down so his lips were just above hers. “I should deliver your death slowly, like the poison you’ve given me.”
“Otto,” she whispered his name. He felt her breath against his lips, and her slim hands gently wrapped around his waist, pulling him further into her web. “If you’re going to kill me, kiss me first so your taste is the last thing I get to experience before I meet my death.”
Otto didn’t even hesitate at the request. His lips quickly found hers, and he groaned into her mouth, kissing her with the possession he promised her mere seconds ago. This was madness, but he couldn’t deny her request even if he tried.
Yep, definitely a sucker.
BORIS WAS IN HIS OFFICE with a wide smile on his face. News of Tres Bellas burning down was all over the media outlets. He hated to admit it, but Bruno’s plan had worked. While he would have preferred to have the club back, he got a sick satisfaction knowing Barbati had lost not only the club to the point she’d have to rebuild but she also lost one of her soldiers. If they kept on schedule, Boris would have Barbati on her knees by the end of the month.
His cell rang. He checked the caller ID. It was one of his captains who distributed his sand storm on the streets. He picked up, but before he could get a word in, his captain spoke. “We have a problem. Six of my guys are dead, and there’s a new product on the street. I haven’t seen it yet, but there’s been some buzz going on.”
Boris gripped his phone. He was seething. His product had been in that part of Brooklyn forever with no pushbacks, no cop interference, nothing. He remembered the phone call from one of his captains earlier in the week. There had been Hispanic men asking around about his product. This had Sofia written all over it. If not Sofia, it was that shithead Ethan.