I saw her two black eyes, and I promptly looked down at Pava. “I hope your wife is prepared to die for one of those bruises.”
He grinned. “She’s prepared to die for anything. That was part of our wedding vows.”
Bonnie sneered. “You’re disgusting; you know that?”
I held up my hand. “Bonnie, take a break.” Mostly, I needed her to take a couple of steps back. The only reason she was still holding the gun so close to Pava’s head was because the man was allowing it. The question was why.
Pava chuckled. “Yeah, Bonnie. Take a breath.”
I knew there was something wrong when I siphoned his money into my own accounts and Pava didn’t call me out on it. I had an inkling there was something afoot when I emptied the bank account he filled up at the beginning of all this and I wasn’t called out on it. But in all my days, I never expected to find Bonnie holding a gun to his damn head. Both Pava and his wife had their hands tied behind their back. They sat in comfortable chairs in what looked to be a reading room, with books settled in their rightful spaces along the inset bookshelves. It was a sight to behold, and it made me wonder just how much I had been underestimating Bonnie this entire time.
This was my chance, though. My chance to get everything I could recorded.
So, I switched my tactics around a bit. “Well, since you’re here, I might as well ask you some questions of my own.” I picked up a chair and swung it around before I sat in front of Pava.
“Bonnie, keep that gun steady but take six steps back. And if I give the command, pull the trigger.”
Pava barked with laughter. “Good luck. She couldn't even kill the guard downstairs before she got up here.”
Bonnie took the steps backward. “I didn’t need to. I promised him a job working with the Rossi family once we settle this. I hope that’s okay.”
That was quick thinking on her feet. “I’ll find a place for him. It’s fine.”
Pava’s face reddened. “What the fuck do you want?”
I held out my arms. “A conversation. That’s all.”
“Well, whatever it is you’re seeking, I don’t have it.”
“Oh, I really think you do, though.”
He bared his teeth. “Ask me anything you want, but I’m not going to answer.”
I crossed my leg over my knee. “Fair enough. Did you kill Bonnie’s parents?”
“Yes, he did,” Bonnie said. “He admitted it to me in the basement.”
Pava smiled. “No. I didn’t.”
Bonnie gasped. “Yes, you did!”
I held up my hand. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Let me handle this.”
Pava’s face fell. “What did you just call her?”
I folded my hands in my lap. “Did you arrange to have them killed?”
“No,” he said.
“Did you play any part in how they died?”
“Not one single bit.”
Bonnie sniffled. “You’re lying, and you know it!”
I looked up at her. “Bonnie, my love. You really need to take a deep breath.”
Pava lunged at me. “What the fuck did you call her?”
My eyebrows rose wondering just how far he’d take the chair. “You don’t like that, do you? That I could get one of your family members to love a monster like me. What you didn’t count on, though, were my emotions in the matter. What it might do to me and how I might end up feeling.”
Pava sank into his chair, confused.
I slowly stood and stalked over to him.
“Israel?” Bonnie asked softly.
I put my hands on my knees and dipped down, careful to stay out of Bonnie’s shot as I gazed into Pava’s furious glare. “I’m really glad to know you didn’t kill Bonnie’s parents because I think I’ve figured out who has. And I have to admit that kill is going to give them a lot of street credit. It takes balls to kill off someone like that. To pay off police officers and make it look like an accident when we all know it was anything but.”
“What?” Bonnie asked.
I shot her a look.
She frowned but slowly nodded, finally jumping on board with me.
“Who the hell’s claiming responsibility for that?” Pava demanded.
His wife whispered something to him, but I didn’t catch it. And it didn’t matter. Because I knew this man’s pride and hubris would bury him before we ever could.
I shrugged. “Why do you care? Now, you can avoid all the heat that would’ve dropped down onto your shoulders and, well, Carmela Esposito—”
“You really think the Esposito's carried out that hit?” Pava demanded, spittle flying from his lips. “You really think that’s what happened?”
“It’s the only logical explanation at this point. Also, it’s the word on the street. We all know you wouldn’t kill your only brother. I mean, come on. You’re not that good at what you do.”
He lunged at me, his chair almost tipping over. “That’s what you think. That’s what you all think. But you rest assured I did pull that off.”
“Pava, shut up,” his wife bellowed.
“I killed that man and his wife. And Bonnie should’ve been with them that night. All of them should’ve been in that car, except my wimpy brother had to go and make it a bullshit date night. I swear to fuck, it took me forever to get that damn bomb built.”
“Bomb?” Bonnie asked.
I grinned. “I never thought you’d be so intelligent as to craft your own bomb, Pava.”
He chuckled maniacally. “Make my own? Hell, no! I outsourced that shit. But you’ll never be able to prove it. I destroyed all the contracts. I took care of all the recordings. I paid police officers so well that most of them have already retired and moved out of the country to live there on my dime. And if it hadn’t been for that pathetic, fat-ass wife of his, my plan would’ve gone off without a hitch.”
“So, you did kill your brother. And his wife.”
Pava snarled. “And I’d do it again to usurp his business in a heartbeat. What that man built has made me
