“Any dessert for you, too?”
I paused. “Actually, yes. Two slices of your carrot cake and an order of your shepherd’s pie. With a side of steamed broccoli.”
“Yes, ma’am. Coming right up.”
After placing an order for Israel, I walked back inside. I backed myself into a corner and watched the front door like a hawk. Part of me wanted to call Israel, but the other part of me didn’t want to seem weak by asking him to come get me. So, I waited patiently for my to-go order.
“And another drink on the house,” the waiter said, setting down a glass.
I smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome back anytime, Mrs. Rossi.”
I made my way home afterward, but I was exhausted once I got there. All I wanted to do was shove the food into the refrigerator and take a nap on the couch. Between constantly being attacked, the fear of being watched, and always having to look over my shoulder, I didn’t have an ounce of energy left in me.
All I wanted was to collapse in Israel’s arms and take a deep breath.
But he hadn’t been around lately.
“Israel?” I called out when I walked in. I slipped out of my heels and picked them up. “You here, honey?”
Silence answered me.
I set the food on the counter and pulled my tired body up the steps, continuing to call out for him. “Israel.”
But only the sounds of my echoing voice made it back to my ears.
Disappointment filled my gut as I made my way down the hallway. Ever since the warehouse fire, Israel had me staying in his room. He hadn’t given me a choice in the matter, but it wasn’t a decision I wanted to fight either. I enjoyed laying with him. I enjoyed waking up to him. Even if we hardly talked, and even if he kept giving me side-glances, it still felt nice.
His warmth was nice.
And I wanted it more than anything right now.
“Israel?” I asked weakly.
I emerged into our shared bedroom, but he was nowhere to be found. The bed was perfectly made, and the smell of cleaning products wafted from the bathroom. The maid had been around already. But he was nowhere to be found. I tossed my heels in the corner and wrapped my hands behind me, tugging at the zipper of my pencil skirt.
When it fell to the floor, I kicked it off to the side. “Naptime,” I whispered.
Everything within me wanted to talk with him about this turf war. About what we’d do now that Pava had shown us exactly where he stood. I had some ideas on how to bring him down. I knew where some of the weak spots in his operations were. What I didn’t know, however, was how to take what I knew and execute a smooth plan with it.
I needed Israel for that.
“Oh, yeah,” I groaned, face-planting into the fresh sheets before I pulled the comforter down. I wiggled my tired body against the cool, satin sheets and rolled on my side. I gazed out the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined Israel’s penthouse. As I looked out over a city I loved so dearly, I wondered what it might be like to live somewhere else.
Like New York City. Or Miami. Or Dallas.
“Or Paris,” I whispered.
As my eyes fell closed, I ran down a list of my uncle’s supporters I could easily turn against him. That man had screwed so many people over and had blackmailed so many more that I was sure they’d turn on him. For the right incentive, of course. Israel had more money than God, but some of these men didn’t want money. Some were fueled by necessity, others by bloodlust. I knew some of the shops would take his monetary offerings, but I also knew others were fueled by something much deeper. Much darker. Much more permanent than an extra flow of cash for their support.
Some were fueled by revenge.
All I had to do was figure out how to tap into it without their fear of my uncle overwhelming them.
I laid there, running down their names, rehashing the sins my uncle had committed against them. Some of the things I remembered from being a young girl in Pava’s house even shocked me. I didn’t think I had retained a great deal of the information I thought I had. But, after living my entire life just above Pava’s office in my childhood bedroom, I suppose I became privy to things he thought his ‘sound-proofed’ walls kept inside. And I planned on using that knowledge to my advantage. I knew some of these business owners would be easier to flip than others. And some wouldn't be easy at all. That’s why I wanted to approach the easiest first. I’d never done anything like this before, and approaching the easiest would not only give me a chance to practice with very little fallout, but there was a higher success rate with flipping them even if I bungled things. And Israel needed me to succeed in my endeavors.
Because that lessened the risk of someone going back to Pava and blabbering about what we were doing.
“Get some rest first,” I whispered.
I felt my body drifting off for some much-needed sleep. I felt my body relaxing for the first time in, well, I wasn’t sure. And I didn’t have the time to count the days—no, weeks—it had been since I truly rested in peace. I felt my mind scattering to the four corners of the globe, as if it still had things to accomplish while I was asleep. As if only my body rested, but my soul and mind continued on its journey during whatever fitful slumber I might have. But something kept churning at the back of my mind. Something kept gnawing at me, like a rabid animal that wouldn’t let go of my ankle. I rolled over and let my eyes drift open. I stared at the pristine bathroom as the question tumbled
