“Yeah, thanks,” Bella muttered.
“You’re welcome,” Victoria responded dryly, without looking at her.
Jack placed his hand on her back and led her out of the small room. Once the door closed, Taylor looked over at Bella and grinned.
“She saved your ass,” Taylor teased.
“And I save yours,” Bella shot back.
“Yeah, but you like me,” Taylor pointed out through laughter.
Bella rolled her eyes and mumbled, “I did.”
Taylor leaned forward, squinting as if she had something on her mind.
“What?” Bella asked, impatiently.
“You and Victoria…”
Bella huffed loudly. “Here we go again,” Bella complained.
“Don’t you think this beef between the two of you is kinda petty?”
Bella crossed her arms and glared at her friend. “And just what do you know about my beef with Victoria?”
“I know that Donatella is an adult and she can make her own decisions regarding her relationships.”
Bella frowned. She was utterly confused. And, by the look on Victor’s face, so was he.
“Tay, what the fuck are you talking about?”
Taylor’s expression turned to puzzlement. “I thought that you and Victoria fell out because of her breakup with Donatella.”
“What?” Bella exclaimed. “Are you serious?”
“Umm, Iwas.”
Bella leaned back in her chair and crossed one leg over the other. “Taylor, I don’t sit around worrying myself about who my sister fucks. I could give less than a damn. You’re right, Donna is a grown-ass woman. Besides, she wasn’t that fuckin’ heartbroken by Victoria leaving. She has a tendency to recover remarkably fast.”
“Then what is it with you two?” Taylor asked.
Bella stood and turned away from Taylor. She closed her eyes and rested her hands on the wall. “She killed my cousin,” Bella whispered.
“What?” Victor gasped.
Bella could hear Taylor’s approach. Then she felt her hands on her shoulders. “What did you say?”
“Shekilledmy cousin,” Bella said through a harsh breath.
“Bella, what are you talking about?”
Bella turned around and looked Taylor in the eye.
“Victoria was kidnapped by some Russians. But that didn’t surprise me. Hangin’ out with them Sicilians, ain’t no telling what kinda shit she’s into. But, somehow, my cousin got involved. So, they kidnapped him too.”
The look on Taylor’s face was that of pure shock. It was the exact same expression that Bella had as she’d watched her cousin’s death from the iPad that was mysteriously left on her aunt’s front porch.
“Robert, my cousin, was a concierge at the Four Seasons. Apparently, something happened to Natasha. We don’t know the whole story, but some kinda way, he was involved. The Russians took him, and some Russian chick forced him to fight to the death, in some makeshift ring. His opponent was Victoria, and she killed him.”
