Chapter 32 #2
This time, it’s not nine to three, the vote is in my favor eleven to twelve. Since Chet is not present, his vote is counted as an automatic no. Fine by me. Even Mrs. Redmond votes yes in the mayor’s name.
“Excellent,” Scarlett replies for me, pressing her mouth against mine as she runs her palms up the red fabric of my suit.
The rings on her fingers clink against the Empress Elizabeth cuff links when I grab at her hands, taking both of those beautiful wrists in my fingers. “Today’s meeting is adjourned.”
The space empties out in a second.
Everyone thinks we’re crazy, and crazy people are unpredictable.
Also, I’m wearing cuff links worth twenty-thousand dollars, gifted to me by the mob.
There aren’t really a lot of choices for these people.
My arm sweeps the papers off the table and onto the floor, lifting Scarlett up to sit on the edge of the desk. We’ll fuck here and take our time leaving.
It’s best that we spend at least some time in the office, to prove we’re serious.
“Correction,” Bohnes says loudly, as my hands slide up underneath my wife’s blouse. “Nine members are scared shitless. Two are still friendly. And the other…well, shhhk.”
He draws a finger across his own throat, making the point quite clearly with onomatopoeia.
Shhhk.
Emma Jean releases the video that Hype borrowed from the security server at the Borisov Group building. It’s plastered across the internet, further humiliating Chet. He’s forced to sell his shares evenly amongst the remaining members of the board, and he makes a lot of money in the process.
Right before we kill him, we’re going to transfer that money into Jonas Kelly’s account and show Chet the proof that he’s lost everything to a backstabber.
I’m looking forward to it.
I’m standing in front of the full-length mirror in our room, one hand in my pocket, studying the red suit and the gold and orange cuff links. This outfit is nothing my father would’ve worn to the office.
“There’s not a day that Papa didn’t wear gray,” I say, finding difficulty in admitting that the father I loved so much had a flaw. “He was not a fashionista. My mother was. That’s why their relationship surprised everyone so much.”
“Do you think I’m a surprising pick for you?” Scarlett asks, appearing beside me and eating an apple. She’s changed out of her suit into some sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. Casual. Relaxed. “Would Pavel have been shocked?”
“That I was interested in romance at all would shock him. Just that.” I unhook one of the cuff links and then the other, putting them in a jewelry box that I bravely fetched from Papa’s bedroom.
It’s not sterilized the way his office was.
I can still find pieces of him in there, like this box and the act of storing my cuff links here.
“He would’ve been relieved that I found someone to help me navigate the family. ”
“Chet may not go to the club at all now.” Ash lifts his hand to tug at his hair and then sees me glaring at him in the mirror. He stops and sighs, dropping his arm to his side. “This might send him running. He’s got enough cash to do that.”
“He’ll go when the rumour I just spread starts to gain traction.
” Scarlett helps me out of my jacket, reminding me of my mother so intensely that I almost fall to my knees.
She used to help Papa out of his jackets this same way.
But my wife goes a step further, putting the dry clean only jacket into a plastic garment bag and zipping it up so that it doesn’t contaminate the closet while waiting for a cleaning.
I’m speechless.
“You make a lot of assumptions with these plans,” Widow says, going through the new clothes that his crew picked up for him.
“Not assumptions: calculated risks,” she says. “People are very predictable, Adrian, even you. I scented a good boy from moment one and you delivered.”
He throws a bundle of socks at her that she catches.
“Oh, these are mine,” Scarlett says, reaching around me to open her drawer. It’s just below mine, like Mama’s was with Papa. I offered to switch places with her, let her have the top, but she refused. “I told the girls to buy me six pairs, so there should be more in there.”
“Waiting this long to handle both Chet and Jonas is making me nervous. I’d have killed Chet today.” Bohnes has one arm crossed over his t-shirt. His opposite hand rests on his chin while he stares at Scarlett in thought. “I can snipe him, easily. Give me one day of slinking and I’ll have him.”
“A spider builds a web, Bohnes. Remember: you said I couldn’t do it without leaving a mark?” Scarlett begins to unbutton my shirt, and I can’t breathe. I witnessed this scene so many times in my life, my mother and father smiling at each other while she helped him dress down after work.
My hands find Scarlett’s, taking hold of them. She has other responsibilities. She doesn’t need to do this.
Scarlett slaps my hands off.
“Stop that. I’ll do whatever I want with you, whenever I want.
” She keeps unbuttoning me, not even pausing to look at Ash when he appears from the bathroom with wet hair and a towel around his hips.
“People are creatures of habit. Chet was fired, but he isn’t poor.
It’s not over for him yet. He will go to the club, especially after hearing the rumor.
If he doesn’t, I’ve got a dozen back-up plans. ”
I drop my hands reluctantly, watching her fingers and memorizing the hypnotic movement of them down my stomach. When she gets to my pants, she parts the fabric of the dress shirt and places her palms against my skin.
“You have the video of him and Polina arguing. Why wait to release that? Her father might take care of him for us.” I almost lose the words when Scarlett begins to undo my pants.
Now. This? I never saw my parents like this. I can only do what feels right and trust that they taught me well.
“You’re all so bloodthirsty, goddamn.” She unbuttons me but then steps back, shifting the direction of the afternoon.
I shove the rest of my clothes to the floor, put them in the hamper or inside a plastic garment bag, and I do all of that while entirely naked.
Scarlett’s eyes follow me. “I don’t need the four of you to handle this.
My crew is handling this. I’ve explained that many times.
Dealing with Chet gets justice for Lemon, and Lemon is our business. ”
“Don’t we at least get to help?” Bohnes asks, sounding sour.
He stands up from the edge of the bed and then grunts in pain, doubling over and pressing his hand to one of his wounds.
Scarlett stalks over to him, slaps his hand away, and rips his shirt up to check.
Everything seems fine, so she smooths his shirt back down—suggestively.
“No.” Her eyes turn to Ash, watching him sit on the couch in his pajama pants, fingering his sword with agitated fingers. “You can provide security and backup. Want to shoot a goon? Fine. Chet belongs to us.”
“You can have Chet.” Ash looks up, meeting my eyes instead of Scarlett’s. “But I want a piece of Jonas. Even if it’s just a tiny piece. Maybe…a finger? A heart? Something like that.”
“You want to keep evidence of a murder on you?” Widow retorts, like he’s annoyed with the mere suggestion. “Absolutely not.”
I think about Papa’s finger, about Chet handing it to me with a smile on his face.