“Nice to meet ya, Ms. Romano,”Kill Zone says after a nervous glance at me.
She nods, her jaw still rigid. She’s trying to figure out what’s happening. There’s no sign of Stephanos. Or Bruno.
She sits with her hands in her lap, the long sleeves of my coat draped past her fingertips. I didn’t offer to take the coat; she might feel safer in it, less exposed. And I like seeing her in my clothes. It’s a big change from the last time she walked in here wearing my coat. Now, no one looks at her bare body but me.
The back door opens and squeals closed. Everyone tenses, but it’s just Joe. He walks in. “Sorry, I’m late. Business.” He gives me a significant look.
Spiro pipes up. “I made sure the kitchen has their orders.”
“No trouble?” I ask, resting a hand on Lula’s rigid knee.
“Naw. They’ll be ready soon.” He picks up a wine bottle and uncorks it. “Something to drink while we wait?”
Lula doesn’t move, but I nod to her wine glass. He leans in to fill it, and the men around us relax a little. There’s still a readiness, an air of anticipation, but a few of them light cigarettes or take a sip of their drinks. Uzi relinquishes his hold on his gun and sets it on the floor, letting it lean against his chair.
One of the newcomers cocks his head at Kill Zone. “Kill Zone? That’s your name?”
“That’s what they call me.” Kill Zone shrugs. “I’m thinking of shortening it to Killz.”
“Killz?” Spiro snorts. “Isn’t that the stuff my ma had us paint the bathroom with? For mold?”
“Yeah,” says Kill Zone.
A raspy sandpaper sound echoes as Joe scratches his stubbly chin. “That shit is great.”
A server appears at the main entrance, pushing a food cart. A huge dish covered by a silver dome rests on top. Everyone’s eyes snap to it. The server is a young man with a long neck whose Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. Under the red stain of acne, his skin is blanched pale.
“I got it,” Joe says, snubbing out his cigarette and heading to take over controlling the cart. The server relinquishes it, and Joe pushes it right in front of Lula and me. “Go ahead,” I gesture to her. “The main course. I sourced it myself.”
Suppressing a frown, she reaches for it. Hesitates. With visible willpower, she lifts the silver dome.
For a few moments, she stares at the contents of the dish. Even though he knew about it beforehand, Spiro sucks in a shocked breath. Kill Zone and Uzi mutter quiet curses. One of the men, a newcomer whose name I already forgot, staggers to the corner to quietly retch.
Behind the cart, Joe is looking away.
But not Lula. Her eyes feast on the gruesome sight. Then she slowly lowers the silver dome to cover the severed head of Bruno, Stephanos’ right-hand man. It’s not as gory as it could have been. After I cornered and garrotted him, I let much of the blood drain away.
Lula twists to look up at me. She’s flushed and breathing hard like she’s run up the stairs but trying to control her emotions. I can see the question in her eyes.Why?
“Excuse us,” I say. “We need a moment.”
* * *
Lula
Victor ushersme into a dark room. A flick of the lights and I see it’s a bathroom. In case I have to throw up?
A quick inventory tells me I’m not queasy but numb. I brace my hands on the bathroom sink just in case. The place is cleaner than it used to be. Not what I expected, but nothing about today is.
I expected Victor to parade me in front of Stephanos, to put me on display like a trained submissive. I expected torture or humiliation.
Nothing could’ve prepared me for the sight of a man’s head on a platter. Victor stands behind me, much like he did the first time we fucked in his bathroom. I meet his eyes in the mirror. There’s no color in my face other than my red, red lips. “You could’ve warned me.”
“Would you have believed me?”
“Hell no.” I shake my head. This isn’t my reality. I have no idea what’s going on. “You killed Bruno.” At least, I think that was Bruno. It wasn’t easy to recognize the slack features, but the shaved head was huge. And who else could it be?
Victor doesn’t deny it, so I can move on to my next question. “Why?”
