"How bad is it?" Des asked, his voice cracking in fear.
Gray stopped his pacing and looked at him. "Do you want truth or lies?"
Des swallowed. "Truth."
"They are plotting to kill him. Fuck, they've been trying to kill him for close to a year now. But this time, I think they mightsucceed. And the worst part is he knows he’s walking into an ambush."
Des gasped and clutched his chest. He had been hurting all day, but it grew increasingly worse the second he heard Othello might die.
"I can't lose him, Gray," Des said, his voice shaking as he spoke.
"I know," he said, pulling Des into his arms and kissing him on the top of his head. "He'll figure something out. I know him."
"Are you sure?" Des buried his face in Gray's chest, allowing his tears to fall. The answer he was expecting didn't come. All he got was Gray's arms tightening around him.
SCENE II
OTHELLO
Othello walked into The Mirage, ignored the patrons and staff, and headed straight to the storage room, where high and low shelves were filled with supplies and boxes stacked neatly against the walls. He locked the double door to ensure no one would interrupt him. Othello stood at the front of the room and tried to get into Roderigo's head. After leaving the docks, he’d walked to clear his head for a while before taking a cab to the club.
During his walk, curiosity got the better of him, and he played more of the recordings Emilia had given him. Othello had to admit the three men went to great lengths to kill him. When they couldn't get to him, they targeted his establishments, like the auction house.
Roderigo had given the cops information on the weapons he had hidden there, but it was all Iago's plan to have the cops raid the auction house. Ricci instructed the judge to sign off on the documents, and it didn't help that Detective Oz was on Greco's payroll. Othello had already suspected Ricci and Greco weregunning for his head. He never in a million years thought Iago was part of their pack.
He wasn’t sure how Emilia got the recordings without Iago catching her, but he was thankful she had. Iago, Roderigo, and Ricci were so confident that they even outlined their plan to kill Alessandro and Maria after finishing off Othello.
To be safe, Othello called the team assigned to his parents and instructed them to tighten security and keep their location confidential. If his parents asked, they were to say it was just a precaution. Othello knew he would have to call Alessandro and explain things, but he wasn’t ready.
Othello knew why Roderigo and the commission despised him but was at a loss about Iago. He loved Iago, the man he called brother, so much that he knew he would die for him. He scoffed and took a shaky breath to relieve his melancholy.
He couldn’t afford to break down again; right now, he needed to find the drugs and gold bars Roderigo bragged about. Othello's emotions were all over the place. He was missing Des, mad at himself for not noticing what was happening around him, and confused and unsure what he would do about Iago, but he was sure he would make the rest of them suffer.
Othello walked around the storage room and banged on the walls, wondering if he was losing his mind. However, he didn't stop, moving boxes and shelves out of the way and continuing to search. After moving at least twenty boxes, he reached the far end of the room and noticed something off about the wall. The room was painted gray, but this wall was a shade lighter.
He got the rest of the boxes out of the way, slid his fingers over the wall, and struck gold when he found a tiny button on thelower left side. Othello pressed it and watched as the wall slid open, where he encountered another door.
He almost gave Roderigo some credit for the ingenuity of the hidden switch, but he took it back when he saw the simple lock on the door. Othello scanned the storage room and smiled when he spotted a hammer.
"Someone is really looking out for me," Othello said to the empty room.
He grabbed the hammer, smashed the lock, and kicked the door in. Othello stepped inside, and the first thing he noticed was a pallet stacked with cash, making him wonder if it was counterfeit. He walked further inside and spotted the drugs on another pallet, with a few gold bars sitting on top of it.
A thought came to Othello, and he pulled out his cellphone and dialed Zoraki's number.
"What's up? Is it time for your execution?" Zoraki asked.
"Not for a couple more days," he answered. "Want to have some fun tonight?"
"What are you thinking?" Zoraki asked.
"I want to hire you and your men for a few jobs."
"I don't come cheap, my friend."
"I can match and triple your price," Othello said, looking at everything in the room.
"Alright, tell me what you want."
