Nightclub Surprise

by Michelle Love

  Tamara squinted into the unconscious face of her step-sister. “You’re going to die today, bitch.” But Sofia remained unconscious, unhearing, her head slumped to her chest.

  “Did you hit her too hard?”

  Grant shook his head. “I know what I’m doing. Go change into something more…fun,” he said to Tamara. He began to strip, enjoying the admiring looks Tamara was giving his body. When he was naked, he slipped a cock ring onto the base of his penis and began to fist his cock, never taking his eyes from Sofia. “Go change, Tamara,” he said again, “I want some alone time with Sofia here.”

  Tamara left and Grant focused entirely on Sofia now, lifting her chin with his finger and kissing her lips. “Wake up, beauty. Look what Daddy’s got for you.”

  Sofia moaned and opened her eyes. When she saw where she was and what was happening, she whimpered in terror. Grant smiled. “Hello again, darling. Welcome to the last room you’ll ever see.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “I missed them, I’m sorry man, I looked everywhere.”

  Penn Black looked sick to his stomach but it was nothing to how Ivo felt. She’s gone, she’s dead. The mantra kept repeating in his head over and over. “Just take me to Christo’s club, man.”

  The rode in silence to the club. In the early afternoon sun, the frontage looked dull and lifeless, and the least threatening place in the world. Was she here?

  The doors were locked but, after five minutes of banging on the doors, an annoyed cleaning woman came to see them. “There’s no-one here, come back later.”

  Ivo pushed his way into the club, ignoring the cleaning woman. He strode past the cloakroom and reception and pushed his way into the main room of the club. “Sofia? Christo?”

  Silence. He scanned the room, looking for any clue. Penn walked in beside him. “There are private rooms downstairs for couples. Let’s check there.” He led Ivo down the stairs to the maze of corridors underneath. They checked each room, finding them unlocked and Ivo shook his head. “This place…I’ve been to sex clubs before, as you know, buddy, but this is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. There’s something about it…”

  “It’s sinister,” Penn nodded. “There’s a darkness, a wrongness about it as if…it’s not about consensual S&M.”

  Ivo looked at his friend. “It’s that exactly. This doesn’t feel right…Jesus, Penn…what have they done to her?”

  Penn put his hand on her shoulder. “We don’t even know if she’s here, yet, brother. Let’s just keep looking.”

  Ivo nodded, and drawing a long breath, he shouted. “Sofia!” They both listened but there was nothing but silence.

  “What was that?” Grant went very still, his knife clenched in his fist and Tamara, who was grinning at the fear in Sofia’s eyes, shrugged.

  “I didn’t hear anything.”

  Grant turned cold eyes towards her. “Go check.”

  Tamara stared back at him. “Who died and made you boss? Go check it out yourself, you fuck.”

  For a moment, she was scared by the anger in his eyes, but then he put the knife down and strode out. Tamara smiled at Sofia, who was panting with fear, straining at the ropes which bound her wrists. “All alone, princess. Do you know, we have been planning thus for months? This room…we built it with your murder in mind. And now we’re here, so, Sofia, how does it feel to know you’re going to die very soon? Painfully too…Grant is looking forward to gutting you, so he says. Myself, I don’t care how he does it as long as you feel unimaginable pain.”

  “You’re a sick fucking bitch,” Sofia spat at her. “You’re worthless, a waste of good air. And now you’re upgrading to murder. You think Ivo won’t come after you?”

  “Oh, the delectable Ivo Zacca…how easy it was to get that photo. He had no idea what was going on, of course, which was the whole point. So, you reacted as we thought you would and that sealed your fate. You’ll never see him again, Sofia. Maybe Grant will kill him too…”

  “No!” Sofia was beside herself, thrashing against her binds and Tamara laughed. She picked up the knife Grant had left and pressed it to Sofia’s exposed belly.

  “I almost want to deny Grant the pleasure and do you myself…but there’s something erotic about a man killing a woman. Besides, you’ll be Grant’s first female kill. He’s been very excited about this.” She raised the knife to Sofia’s throat and nicked the skin. Sofia didn’t look away, her eyes blazing with both terror and anger.

  “You killed your own mother. Your own mother!”

  Tamara smiled. “Yes, and I would have killed yours too, but she conveniently dropped dead of her own accord.”

  Sofia spat in Tamara’s face and, enraged, Tamara raised the knife again. Before she could stab Sofia however, Grant grabbed Tamara’s wrist and twisted the knife from her hand. Tamara screeched but Grant was unrepentant.

  “Your boyfriend and Zacca are snooping around upstairs. Get rid of them.”

  Tamara glared at him. “What?”

  “You heard me. Get rid of them. I’m going to deal with our guest here. Sadly, it looks as if we’ll have to rush this.”

  “I want to watch.”

  Grant grabbed Tamara’s throat. “Get rid of them” he intoned, “or I’ll end you myself.”

  Stumbling back as he released her, Tamara fled, anger and fear roiling through her. She closed the door behind her, sliding the iron covering that melded seamlessly into the wall across it. She straightened herself up and slipped along to her office on the floor above. Make it look as if you’re just working. They’ll never hear anything down there, not with the soundproofing. They’ll never find the room. She was disappointed she would see Grant kill Sofia but if she was successful, she’ll still see the body afterward.

  She sat at her desk and opened her computer. In less than two minutes, Penn Black pushed into the room and she stood, feigning surprise. “Penn! I thought you said you never wanted to see…”

  “Cut the crap, Tamara. Where’s Sofia?”

  Ivo Zacca followed Penn in, and Tamara couldn’t help but marvel at his angry beauty. “Last I knew she was in Paris with Mr. Zacca, here. Hello again.”

  Ivo’s eyes narrowed. “Where is she, Tamara? Where is Grant Christo?”

  Tamara smiled and walked to her drinks cabinet. “I honestly couldn’t tell you. Drink?”

  When the attack came, it was Ivo who shoved her violently against the wall, gripping her throat. What was it with men grabbing women’s throats?

  “I hate violence against woman,” Ivo said in a voice trembling with rage and fear for his love, “But for you I would make an exception, you murderous piece of shit. I’ll ask again: where is my wife?”

  Being gutted even as we speak. Tamara would have loved to have said that to him, but she had a feeling that she wouldn’t live very long if she did. “Okay. Okay, I’ll tell you what I know, just please, let me go.”

  “Don’t trust her,” Penn said but Ivo released her throat. He had no need for it, his physical presence was enough to intimidate her.

  Tamara straightened her clothes. “Yes, she’s with Grant as far as I know…and willingly, I assume. He called me this morning to tell me he was bringing her back to New York, but I told him…she’s not my family anymore. I don’t know where he has her, but I have his address. It’s a start. Have you called the police?”

  Both Penn and Ivo just stared blankly at her and Tamara played her role to perfection, rolling her eyes and picking up her phone. She held it out to Ivo. “Call them. I’m sure for Walter Zacca’s son, they’ll jump right to it.”

  Penn and Ivo looked at each other. They were buying it. “Look,” she said, “I’m being honest here, I don’t care what happens to Sofia, whether she lives or dies. I wouldn’t insult your intelligence by pretending otherwise. But I don’t know where she is.”

  Penn took the phone in her outstretched hand and called the police. Ivo stared at Tamara, who smiled at him, her red lips stretching, her tongue tracing a pattern of he
r lower lip. “Remembering our kiss?” She said it softly, intimately like a lover and watched Ivo’s lip curl in disgust.

  “You’re a whore,” he said, ice in his tone, “And Sofia knows that.”

  “So, why did she run away? And careful who you call a whore. Mr. Zacca, I know all about you, and Sofia, and Penn. I have video that could go viral so the less time you spend threatening me the better.”

  Penn finished up his call. “They want us to go down to the station,” he said to Ivo, then looked at Tamara. “If I find out you have anything to do with Sofia’s disappearance…”

  “I know. You’ll kill me.” Tamara gave him a strange smile. “I look forward to it.”

  The two men made their way back up to the main club and were walking out. “She’s lying.” Penn shook his head as Ivo spoke.

  “I know. She’s beyond evil…why the hell did I never see it?”

  Ivo stopped and studied his friend. “You love her.”

  “No. I thought I did…but I don’t think I ever knew what love was until I saw you and Sofia together.”

  He regretted saying that because he saw the heartbreak in his friend’s eyes and knew he was on the verge of losing it. “Hey, we’ll find her.”

  As they walked out, the same cleaning woman who let them in, walked past them. Suddenly Ivo stopped. “Hey!” He went after the woman, who squeaked in fright and dropped everything she was holding. She disappeared somewhere into the club, but Ivo wasn’t going after her. Instead he stopped where she’d dropped her stuff and from the pile, he pulled out a backpack. Worn and in some places threadbare, the pack yielded as he tugged it open and gave a low moan.

  “It’s Sofia’s….she’s here, god dammit….”

  And they both ran back into the darkness of the club.

  “Are they gone?”

  “Yes. You haven’t done it.” Tamara nodded at an uninjured Sofia who growled at her. Grant smiled.

  “No, I decided you have done a good enough job to warrant this gift.” He turned back to Sofia. “Sadly, we don’t have enough time to draw this out, or for me to fuck you, beautiful Sofia, so instead…” And he drove the knife deep into her belly. Sofia gasped in agony, and Grant stepped back, leaving the blade buried in her to the hilt. Blood seeped from around the weapon and dripped down the white dress.

  Tamara laughed and clapped. “Grant, that’s…”

  In a split second Grant had taken up another knife, whirled around and had plunged it into Tamara’s throat. Tamara staggered back, her eyes wide with disbelief as Grant chuckled. “No loose ends, Tamara darling. I let you watch me stab Sofia but as for the rest of it…I think I’ll enjoy it alone.”

  Tamara, her voice gone, slid to the floor, her eyes shifting from Grant to Sofia as she bled out. She began to smile as she gave a gurgling sound, then the air from her lungs hissed out finally, and she was still.

  Grant looked down at her dispassionately, then turned to finish Sofia. He never saw her hand with the knife in it until the last second before Sofia plunged it into his eye.

  Sofia, having freed one hand, had wrenched the knife from her abdomen and cut herself free as Grant watched Tamara die. She had no hesitation in finishing Grant Christo and as she wrenched the knife from his eye and watched him drop, she knew this was her last chance. The wound in her belly was agony, but adrenaline surged through her as she stepped over the bodies of her would-be killers and yanked the door open. Ivo was here, Penn was here too, somewhere, and she mustered all the energy she could and screamed for them, staggering along the corridors, feeling the blood dripping, making her feet slippery, every movement drenched in pain. She drew in another lungful of air as she stumbled and dropped to the floor. She dragged herself against the wall and screamed again.

  “Ivo!”

  Ivo heard her scream and his heart began to pound as he and Penn raced to find her. When he saw her, slumping, half-sitting, half-lying against the wall, he began to panic, but when he reached her, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. “I knew you’d come,” she said weakly, touching his face. “I love you so much. I’m sorry I ran…I should have known better.”

  “It’s okay…oh god, Sofia…” He gently removed the hand that was clamped over her wound, and his veins ran with ice. She was losing so much blood.

  Penn touched his shoulder. “Let’s get her to hospital, Ivo….now.”

  “I think I’m okay,” Sofia said, but then fainted. Ivo scooped her up into his arms and together, he and Penn hailed a cab and rushed her to the hospital.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Sofia smoothed Ivo’s dark curls away from his face, marveling at his soulful green eyes and the thick black lashes. “Do you know you’re drop dead gorgeous, Ivo Zacca?”

  Ivo grinned. “How much morphine did you take?”

  Sofia grinned. “I’d get stabbed more often if I got this stuff every time.”

  Ivo winced but Sofia kissed him. “Hey, I’m kidding. And look, the knife missed everything that could have killed me. Guess Grant wasn’t such a hot shot – or rather hot stab – assassin after all.”

  “Could you stop saying ‘stab’?” But he kissed her back, passionately, tangling his fingers in her black hair. It was still miraculous to him that she was okay. The wound looked so brutal, so deep, that when the surgeon had told him that it hadn’t been so serious, that Sofia would recover quickly and fully, Ivo had been so overwhelmed he’d embarrassed himself by bursting into tears. Penn had comforted him, but then sold him out to Sofia who hadn’t stopped ribbing him since. “My big man, crying like a bebè.”

  Ivo grinned sheepishly. “You got me. How do you feel?” It had been two days since the stabbing, and Sofia’s color was good, and the i.v. tubes had been taken out of her arms.

  “I feel….liberated. Like a huge weight has been lifted. Tamara was such a malevolent presence that I think I was always waiting for her to ruin things.” Sofia put her hand on his face. “I hate that she kissed you.”

  “I didn’t kiss her back.”

  “I know that, Ivo Zacca. It was just such a shock to see that photo. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Honestly? I didn’t see the point of it. It was some stupid thing that happened when I was out of it at my mom’s funeral. Which reminds me…Dad is on his way over from LA to see you. Clemence sends her love – she wishes she could come, but Peony is still too young to fly. Desi was almost at the airport but I told her that, hopefully, we would be back soon. Will we?”

  “You bet your sweet ass we will,” Sofia grinned. “I cannot imagine living anywhere else now but Paris.”

  “Me either. Listen…because of what happened…if you wanted to look for a new apartment, we can.”

  Sofia’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding? I love our apartment…it’s our home…even with the crappy paint jobs,” she added with a grin and Ivo laughed.

  “I love you, Sofia Amory Zacca.”

  “I love you too, Ivo, and to answer your question, yes…as soon as we can. Let’s go home…”

  Epilogue

  Three years later,

  Hollywood, California

  The entertainment reporter watched as Walter Zacca moved along the line of reporters, clutching his Oscar and charming the entertainment programs with his trademark jokiness. He looked delighted to be feted and the reporter mentioned that he had won the Best Actor Oscar in a performance he had dedicated to his late wife, Adria La Loggia, in his acceptance speech.

  “Also, accompanying Walter, are his son and daughter-in-law, Ivo and Sofia Zacca, in a rare public appearance for the very private couple. Lured away from their Parisian love nest, they are in town to support Ivo’s dad, and also to celebrate Ivo Zacca’s fortieth birthday. The handsome bachelor broke hearts worldwide three years ago when he married his artist wife, who is sixteen years his junior, but the two look more in love than ever. Zacca, who has a three year old daughter with ex-lover Clemence Brochu, recently opened his first solo gallery in Paris, an event attende
d by the best and brightest of Parisian society and the art world’s most important scions. Sofia Zacca, herself a rising star in the art world, is becoming an outspoken member for women’s rights and recently was invited to meet with the French president. Let’s see if I can grab a word with them…no? Well, I’m not surprised, they are very private, and they seem to be having a pretty intense discussion right now as they wait for Walter to finish up before they attend the Vanity Fair party…”

  The camera panned to the beautiful couple, standing out of the spotlight, the young woman, clad in dark burgundy, was grinning up at her husband, her hand on her belly. The man gaped at her then picked her up and twirled her around, making her laugh, her hair streaming behind her as they moved. The smile on her husband’s face lit up the screen as their lips met and the kiss seemed to go on…and on… and on…

  The End.

  Thank you for reading!

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  Nobody’s Girl Extended Epilogue

  Sofia Amory Zacca woke up on the day of her thirtieth birthday and listened to the silence of the apartment. Usually, she and Ivo would be assaulted by their five-year-old twin sons, Beau and Paolo (otherwise known as Bo and ‘Lo), but today—and for the next few days—the twins would be staying with their half-sister Peony and her mother, Clemence. Today, Sofia and Ivo would fly out to stay in a private villa on the east coast of Italy for a week for a second honeymoon that would also double as a celebration of Sofia’s birthday.

  When Ivo had suggested it, Sofia had been hesitant at leaving the kids alone, but their half-sister Peony doted on the boys, and she had grown into such a lovely young pre-teen that Sofia couldn’t bear to disappoint her. Clemence, Ivo’s very ex-girlfriend and Peony’s mother, was one of Sofia’s closest friends and allies and had assured her they would have a great time together.