“How horribly descriptive of you,” Blackwell said.
“Welcome to my life.” And then Epifania looked at her. “By the way, Barbara, how are you and your man?”
“How are me and my what?”
“You and your man—what’s his name? Darkus?”
“That would be Marcus,” I offered. “But Freud would have had a field day with your interpretation, Epifania.”
“Fine, so it’s the Marcus,” she said as she looked from me to Blackwell. “You two do the screw yet?”
“Excuse me?”
“You know—the moley in the holey. The jig in the jam. The fleep and the flop on the mattress top.”
From the mirror, I saw Blackwell flush.
“Why do I suddenly have a craving for ice,” she said. “Why do I suddenly long to chomp down on it as if I’m crushing heads?”
“That’s something for you to work out, lady,” Epifania said. “But if you don’t want to talk about the Marcus just yet because you’re falling for him and want to keep it on the down low for now, it fine. I get it. I leave it be. Sensitive territory and all that. Let me give a kiss to Lisa over here—how are you, lovecat? You up next after Yennifer?”
“I am,” Lisa said. “And you really do look beautiful, Epifania. I wish I could fill out a gown like you can. I’m just a stick.”
“What you need are the fake boobies,” Epifania said. “Blow them up real good, like Chuckie did for me, and soon Tank will be motorboating you. Just you wait and see. And then you also can get a fake ass, like the one that Keem Kardashian woman has. She a treep, that one. When you look at her, you don’t know whether she coming or going. Beeg in the front. Beeg in the back. She like a cartoon that’s been sitting out in the sun too long—like she melted into this smeary version of a human being. Anyway, with a good doctor, you could have the big boobies and the big butt, too!”
“When you put it that way, I think I’ll remain a stick.”
“And when I think about that woman, I kinda don’t blame you.”
Blackwell came to her side and handed her a glass of champagne.
“Look at this, everyone,” Epifania said. “Champagne offered by the devil woman herself. Whoever would have thought?”
“Consider it a gift that will keep your mouth busy in other ways...” Blackwell said.
“What that mean?”
“Not a thing, my dear.”
“I know you’re lying, but whatever.” She looked at Lisa and me. “We three girls are gonna be the hotness tonight—you know, for our men! And also for those mean beeches who yudge us. Well, maybe they don’t yudge Yennifer and Lisa, but they sure as hell yudge me, which is why I like spending dead Chuckie’s money and showing up looking like this. Bling, bling, bling—bam!”
“You’re bringing all of that tonight,” Lisa said.
“You bet your pretty face I am. This dress and these diamonds? They like my armor.” She took a sip of her champagne and then lifted a finger. “Hey! Where are the boys tonight?”
“Alex and Tank?” I asked.
“That right.”
“Getting ready in Alex’s office, which means they’re likely having a glass of Scotch and catching up before putting on their tuxedoes. They don’t have to endure any of this to look good, which is just downright unfair. We’re going to meet them at eight, and then all of us will go to the party.”
“Bring it on!” Epifania said. “Because Epifania love to party to the hardy!”
“One day...” Blackwell said with a sigh as she wrapped an arm around Epifania’s waist. “I swear to God that I’ll have you loving something else.”
“What that, the cookie?”
“Self-restraint,” Blackwell said. “Even if it’s only just a trace of it.”
WHEN BERNIE WAS FINISHED with Lisa and me—and after Blackwell had dressed us—Epifania whistled as Lisa and I took to the full-length mirrors attached to the far right wall. And then we just stood there looking at ourselves and each other, not quite believing what we saw.
The talents that Bernie and Blackwell possessed weren’t only formidable—they were transformative.
I was wearing my Carolina Herrera sequined illusion tulle ball gown in champagne while Lisa was wearing her Alexander McQueen crystal-embellished bustier gown. The deep red color offset her blonde hair and creamy skin tone to perfection.
“You look like a princess,” she said to me.
“I still think it’s a bit much, but it is gorgeous—there’s no saying otherwise.”
“Shall I remind you that you paid fifty thousand dollars for that dress, Jennifer?” Blackwell said. “You are supposed to look like a princess in it. You are supposed to be a ‘bit too much’ tonight, especially when it comes to this crowd. The movers and shakers of New York mixing with the blue bloods—always a toxic mix. I’ve never styled you quite like this before—we’ve always gone for the more daring, edgier looks, because you’ve got the kind of brass balls that can pull it off.”
“Brass balls?” I said.
“Have you not taken two bullets for your husband? Have you not shot people in an effort to save your husband? Does the entire world not know that?”
And what could I say to that?
“So?” she said. “We surprise them. This look softens you and your style in ways that people will notice at once because it’s a dramatic change. You might not know it, but I’m shooting for Page Six tomorrow with this look, because the reporters on hand also will see the change in you. You’ll be turning heads tonight, Jennifer, and for all the right reasons.”
“How is this skirt even going to fit in the back of the limo?” I asked. “Five of us are driving there tonight. It’ll take up too much room.”
“Then divide into two sets and take two limos, which will give you and Alex plenty of room and time to canoodle.”
“I’ll never turn down a chance to canoodle with my husband,” I said.
“As well you shouldn’t,” Blackwell said. “Just watch your makeup.”
“I long to cadoodle again,” Epifania said.
“It’s canoodle,” Blackwell said. “Not cadoodle.”
“You know I mean. And Rudsy is the one I want to cadoodle with.”
“Who is ‘Rudsy’?” Lisa asked.
“Rudman Cross,” she said. “I call him ‘Rudsy’ because he like it that way. He think it sexy. He puts on this beeg show of being this mother of a bullmastiff, but he really a pussycat when you get to know him.”
“Epifania was instrumental in introducing Alex and me to him,” I said to Lisa. “Tonight, Alex and I hope to nail down a deal between him and Wenn that will integrate our SlimPhone with Rudman’s Cross Communications. There’s a lot more riding on tonight than just a pretty dress.”
“There usually is when you and Alex go to a party,” Lisa said.
“Truer words...”
“Look, don’t worry about the deal,” Epifania said. “It gonna happen.”
“Do you know something I don’t?”
“Here what I know. If I rub up against my Rudsy the right way and at the right time, I can make his mind go to sheet. After that, he pretty much become agreeable to anything.”
“Businesswoman of the year,” Blackwell said.
“Say what you want, lady, but these boobies can get sheet done—you just too blind to see it.” She checked her watch and looked at Lisa and me. “Almost eight! So, get ready, the cookies, because tonight gonna be epic. Tonight is going into the papers. The three of us are like lava right now—smoking hot. We’re gonna bring the bang, bang, bang. You see—I promise!”
BEFORE THE THREE OF us took the elevator to the forty-ninth floor, Barbara turned to me and said, “I already called down to Cutter—there will be two limousines waiting for you.”
“Thank you,” I said as I kissed her on each cheek.
“You look perfect,” she said to me. “Just right.”
“I couldn’t have done it without your help,” I said.
“But when have I ever been able to do any of this without your help?”
“Save that for my eulogy.”
“Thank you, Barbara,” Lisa said. “I couldn’t have said it better than Jennifer.”
“And here you call yourself a writer. Why am I not surprised that words fail you now?”
“I—”
“I’m joking,” Blackwell said. “Give us a kiss. That’s right. You, too, Epifania. Now, go and make some headlines. Make that deal happen with Alex, Jennifer. Give Kate my best. And have some fun.”
WHEN THE ELEVATOR DOORS slid open and Alex and Tank were revealed to us—each looking beyond handsome in their tuxedoes—they let out a low whistle.
As Alex’s gaze swept over me with a hunger that I knew I’d be seeing more of after the party, he said to Tank, “How did we get so lucky?”
“I think we won the Powerball,” he said as he looked at Lisa.
Since Alex was nothing if not a gentleman, he didn’t allow the conversation to linger on Lisa or me too long because Epifania also was with us, and I knew that he’d never want her to be left out.
“Epifania, you’re going to light up that gala tonight, I can tell you that,” he said as the three of us stepped out of the elevator. “Especially in that dress. You look beautiful, my friend.”
“Thank you, the cookie,” she said as she air kissed him on each cheek. “That mean plenty coming from you. Now, take your wife while I give Tank a quick kees so Lisa can have at him.”
“A done deal if there ever was one,” Alex said as he drew me to him. He kissed me lightly on the lips so that he wouldn’t ruin Bernie’s hard work, and then he placed his hand against the low of my back and pressed his lips against my ear. When his stubble brushed over my skin, I closed my eyes as a shiver shot through me. “I’ve never seen you look so beautiful,” he said. “Jesus, Jennifer. I so married up.”
“Strap some wings on me, and you could toss me into a production of ‘Cinderella’,” I said.
“What I’d really like to do is to take you home and toss you onto our bed...”
“And I fully expect you to do just that, Mr. Wenn—after the party.”
“Certainly Kate has a backroom at the Foundation that we could use...”
“Ever the romantic.”
“Let’s just say that sometimes, when I see you like this, you bring out my baser instincts.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You can also take this as one.” He nudged me closer to give me another kiss on my lips and when he did, I could feel him pulsing against my thigh.
“Alex,” I said.
“I have no control over it,” he said in a low, deep voice that only I could hear. “It’s your fault.”
“And I’m happy to take the blame.”
I looked over at Lisa and Tank, who were similarly intertwined, and then I caught sight of Epifania, who was politely standing to the side. Alone. And that made me feel guilty because, as caught up as the four of us were, we should have been more sensitive to her situation.
I walked over to her and put my hand around her shoulders before we left. “Tonight, you land Rudsy,” I said. “If anyone can do it, you can, Epifania. All you need to do is be yourself. Who wouldn’t fall in love with that?”
“You’d be surprised,” she said with a trace of emotion in her voice. “It take a special man to put up with someone like me—Epifania know that. She know she a lot to handle. She get it.” But then she cleared her throat and looked straight at me with determination in her eyes. “But that man is out there, and I plan on making it happen tonight. So—shall we go?”
“We’re ready,” Tank said.
“I’m good,” Alex said.
I noted that his hands were shoved deep into his pants pockets, likely in an effort to conceal what would have been difficult to conceal otherwise. When he saw me glancing down at his crotch, he shot me a salacious wink.
God, I love him...
I reached for Alex’s hand, and hit the down button on the elevator. The doors swished open, and I motioned in front of me so that everyone could file inside.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“THERE THEY ARE,” GIA said as she peered down the sites of her McMillan Tac 50 rifle. The scope had a range that was so powerful, she felt as if she was right there with the Wenns as they stepped out of their limousine and onto the sidewalk in front of the Stone Foundation.
“Do you see them? They’re moving toward the paparazzi. Smiling for them. Turning this way and that for them.” Her voice darkened. “Imagine if they knew that it all ends for them tonight.”
She and Carlo were in the office Mario had leased for them. It was dark inside. Their rifles—held securely to the windowsills with metal brackets so the guns couldn’t move—peaked slightly through the barely-open windows. They were thirty stories up, so unless someone had superhuman vision, no one would see them now or later in the evening, when they planned to shoot and kill Alex and Jennifer Wenn as they left the party to go home.
“I could kill Jennifer right now,” Carlo said to her. “I’ve got her head right in my sites. I can take her now—can you take him?”
“Back off,” she said to her brother. “We can’t kill them now. And you know why, so why are you even going there?”
“Because right now is perfect,” he said as he leaned into his rifle and crouched low behind it. “One shot, and she’s dead.”
“Save it for later. Right now, the city is alive with cops actively on patrol. But hours from now, when it’s past midnight, there will be fewer cops on the streets, which is why we’re taking the Wenns then, when they leave the party. If we shoot them now, it would be next to impossible to escape this building. The cops would swarm us.”
Reluctantly, he pulled away from his rifle and turned to face his sister in frustration. She could see his face in the city’s ambient light, and she could tell by his tense expression that he wanted this behind them as much as she did, particularly after the stunt Rowe had pulled on them earlier that morning.
“Have you heard from Mario?” he asked.
“Not yet, but he’ll come through for us. He’ll get rid of the Murano and Jones’ body. Especially if he wants the money I offered him to clean up that mess.”
“Why did Rowe trick us like that?” Carlo said. “Why didn’t he just come clean with what he was intending to do?”
“Because he’s sick,” she said. “And because he knew that neither of us would have stood for it.” She rolled her shoulders to ease the tension she felt and sank back against the wall behind her. “What’s done is done. He’s paid us in full for Jones, and we’ve already transferred that money to another account so that he can’t rescind it. Better yet, he’s on a plane now, flying off to wherever the hell he came from. I say good riddance to him. Tonight, we end this and get on a plane ourselves. By tomorrow afternoon, we’ll be relaxing on a beach far away from here.”
“You can’t get me out of here soon enough,” he said. “This job has been a bitch.”
“Agreed. But look at the money we’ve made from it,” she said. “And it’s almost over—just a few more hours to go. And trust me, Carlo, if Rowe even tries to stiff us for the Wenns, we will go after him. We’ll find him. And we’ll kill him when we do.”
“I’m with you on that,” he said. “But when aren’t I with you?”
“You’ve never let me down,” she said in a low, sincere voice to him. “Which is why I love you. There were too many years in my life when I thought that I could only trust Uncle Niccolo. And then you proved me wrong. Thank you for that.”
He leaned forward and took hold of her foot, which was stretched toward him, and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “We’ve got a long night ahead of us,” he said. “We should have brought something to eat. That party won’t be over until midnight or so—maybe even later.”
“Here’s my promise to you,” she said. “When we kill them and if we get out of here safely? I’l
l buy you a slice of pizza somewhere.”
“That’s what you’re offering?”
“Fine,” she said. “Once we’re out of the States? I’ll treat you to dinner at a five-star restaurant. How’s that?”
“Now we’re talking.”
“Thanks for being the best brother a sister could ask for. Whatever comes from tonight, I want you to know how much you mean to me.”
“We’re going to be fine, Gia.”
Were they? They’d certainly planned well for their escape, but nothing was certain, especially in the wake of what Rowe had pulled on them that morning. She didn’t answer him.
“Why do you look so worried?” he said. “We’ve run through this drill at least a dozen times. The building has a side entrance. We just need to get to it and get out of here before the cops get here. We can do that. Hell, we’ve planned for that. We’ve dressed like a couple of lovebirds out on the town for a reason,” he said. “You’re in a pretty dress. I’m in a casual suit. If anyone questions us, we’ll be walking hand-in-hand and looking as if we’re in love. No one will question us, so relax.”
When she remained silent, when she couldn’t remove the tension from her face, he squeezed her foot again. And when Carlo did that, she looked up at a ceiling she couldn’t see before she joined her brother and looked out the windows next to them.
The next few hours would feel like forever to her, but Carlo was right. She needed to get her head back in the game. They could do this because they had to do this. They had a job to finish. And so, with a loving pat on her brother’s leg, she joined him in settling in to wait for the next several hours for the moment when they would end the evening with two carefully placed shots into two very wanted heads.
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