"One of my guards, Ivan," Eric explained, following my gaze. "He helped me take them down."
The guard nodded once, professional and detached, like shooting people in a park was just another normal evening for him. Maybe it was. I wanted to make some sarcastic comment about his casual evening activities, but my throat felt too tight.
"Who were they?" I heard myself ask.
"I have a suspicion." Eric's jaw tightened, but his grip on me remained gentle. "But I need to confirm before?—"
My phone rang again, vibrating in my hand. Elena's name lit up the screen.
My hands shook as I answered. "Elena?"
"Ivy, thank god. Where are you? You need to get somewhere safe right now. We're on our way, the Donatis are with me. We think the Malatestas are targeting you."
"They were, I guess." I looked at the two bodies that Eric's guard was now standing by, feeling that familiar defensive humor creeping back in despite everything. "Eric just saved me. Him and his guard. Apparently I'm this season's must-have accessory for every criminal organization in the city. Should I start charging admission?"
The joke fell flat even to my own ears, but it helped steady my breathing.
Silence on the other end, then muffled voices as Elena shared the information with someone else.
"Jackson wants to talk to Eric." Elena's voice sounded strained. "Can you put him on?"
I held the phone out to Eric, who took it and stepped a few feet away, though his eyes never left me entirely. His voice dropped lower as he spoke.
"Jackson. Yeah, she's fine. Shaken up, but unharmed." A pause. "I followed her from her apartment. Wanted to be close in case she needed me, and I was worried someone at the club might have leaked my involvement with her. Given what's happening with the alliance, I didn't trust the Malatestas to play nice."
Another pause, longer this time. Eric's expression darkened.
"Right. If the Malatestas were called to a meeting with the Donatis and the Hales, they'd put two and two together quick enough." He glanced at me, then back toward the bodies. "How they learned about it is the real problem. Someone talked."
He nodded at whatever Jackson was saying. So it was the Malatestas. Again. And it was because of Eric's connection to me apparently. Not my connection to Elena. Wonderful.
"Good. Definitely vet everyone who was at the club that night. Find the leak before this gets worse."
Eric ended the call and handed my phone back. He moved to his guard and said something, too quiet for me to hear, then walked back to me.
"Let's get you to your car," he said, his hand finding the small of my back again.
"What about them?" I bobbed my head at the bodies, my voice gaining some of its usual edge despite the tremor running through me. "Are we just going to leave two corpses decorating the park? Because I'm pretty sure that's frowned upon by the city planning committee. Bad for property values."
A ghost of a smile crossed his lips, there and gone again. "Ivan will keep an eye on them. It's late, not many people around now. I'll grab something from my car to cover them until the Donatis arrive. Someone may have reported the shots too," he said quietly, guiding me up the path and back to the parking lot.
"Here." He opened the driver's door and helped me inside, his hand lingering on my arm. The touch was warm, steadying. "You're going to be fine," he said, though I caught the way his eyes searched my face, looking for cracks in my composure. "I'll be right back. Just sit tight for a minute, okay? You don't have to think about anything right now except breathing."
He disappeared across the parking lot toward another vehicle, a dark SUV with tinted windows. He returned a moment later with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, heading back toward where his guard waited.
I sat in my car, hands gripping the steering wheel, and stared at nothing. My thoughts raced in circles, fragments of panic and disbelief crashing together. Body-dealing duffel bag. Did he justhave one of those ready to go? Was that a thing people in his world kept on hand? Full of tarps and whatnot?
A weak laugh bubbled up from my chest. The sound felt wrong, borderline hysterical, but I couldn't stop it. Nothing about this was funny. Nothing. But the laughter kept coming anyway, shaky and thin.
"Get it together, Ivy," I whispered to the empty car. My voice cracked on the words. "Just breathe. You've handled worse than this."
Sure, I'd been kidnapped and dealt with dead bodies once before, but twice? This was pushing it.
"This is insane," I said aloud, pressing my palms against my eyes. "This is completely insane and you're talking to yourself because apparently that's what you do now when people try to kidnap you."
I forced myself to take a deeper breath, then another. The panic was still there, coiled tight in my chest, but at least the hysterical laughter was fading.
I could drive away. Right now. Start the car and leave all of this behind. Leave Eric and the Donatis and the whole goddamn mess.
