"Are you sure?"
"Yeah." He leaned down and kissed Des deeply. "Everything I have now belongs to you, Tesoro."
Des wrapped his arms around Othello's neck and pulled him down on top of him. "I won't forgive you if you die."
Othello tightened his arms around Des, not responding. They stayed like that for a few more minutes before Othello kissed him again, leaving with more than just Des's heart.
Othello openedthe door to Iago's home. When he stepped inside, he didn't expect to see the house in disarray, as if there had been a home invasion, but his instincts told him it was Iago's doing. He closed the door and followed the trail of torn paper, broken furniture, thrown clothes, and other things to the twins' bedroom, where he found Iago sitting in a corner with a piece of paper between his fingers, staring out the window.
"You warned me, didn't you?" Iago said, not looking at him. "You told me to pay attention, to stop cheating, to get my shit together, or one day, Emilia would leave me. Why is it you're always fucking right? Why can't you be wrong for one damn time in your life?!"
"Don't blame me for your fuck-up," Othello growled.
"Do you know where she is?" Iago asked, glaring at him.
"No."
"Are you lying to me?" Iago asked.
"I can't believe you just fucking asked me that," Othello snapped.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Iago shouted.
"Do you hate me, Iago?" Othello blurted, getting right to the point. Othello hadn't planned on bringing things up, but since he threw it out there, depending on Iago's answer, he knew what he would do.
"What the fuck are you asking me?" Iago said.
"Answer my damn question. Do you see me as your brother? Would you still take a bullet for me? Would you stay by my side and stand against the world that would want to tear us apart?"
"Are you fucking kidding me right now? My woman just took off with my children to god knows where, and you're asking me if I would die for you. I knew you were selfish, but this is too much, even for you."
Othello looked down and let Iago's words wash over him. Iago couldn't answer the question. Othello knew that if he were asked, the answer would be yes; there would be no hesitation.Othello mentally shook his head and realized he had been a fucking fool.
He'd put so much blind trust in Iago, for the man to use it against him. Othello knew that Iago could be calculating and sneaky, but that was always used against the ones they saw as rivals. Othello never thought Iago would count as one of the enemies, or maybe he did, and he pushed the thought down deep inside that he was easy to play with.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his head and looked at Iago. "Emilia's not coming back, Iago, and you must deal with what you've done. You didn't give a fuck about her when she was here, and now you want to wallow in your damn guilt."
"Fuck you, Othello," Iago roared and rushed toward him, but Othello blocked him with a hard kick to the stomach, pushing him back and to the ground.
Othello looked at Iago with disgust. "I’m meeting with the commission in two days. You can stand by my side as my brother or face me as my enemy. The choice is up to you, Iago." With that, Othello walked out of the house, stood at the front door, and noticed the sun was peeking through the horizon.
Othello was exhausted. Other than the time he spent with Des, he hadn't gotten any sleep, and he still wouldn't be able to until it was all over. His cellphone vibrated, and he looked at the screen, seeing a text from Zoraki telling him that Roderigo's body was taken care of and wouldn't be found for a few days. And that he was waiting for Othello's following instructions. He pocketed his phone and walked to his car. He had plans to make.
Two days later, at eight in the evening, Othello pulled his car up to the Black Anchor warehouse. He got out of the car, but beforehe could close the door, Tallen joined him on his left, along with a few others, leaving the right side where Iago usually stood empty.
"What are you all doing here?" he asked, having never told them what was going on.
"Boss, did you really think we would allow you to enter the lion's den alone?" Tallen said.
“How did you find out?” Othello asked.
“Consig Iago called us all together and told us what was happening,” he explained. “Boss, why didn’t you tell us? Don’t you trust us to protect you?”
“I didn’t want to involve you,” he said.
“We’re a family,” Tallen responded. “When one walks into the fire, we all jump in.”
Othello chuckled and shook his head. Tallen’s analogy was a bit suicidal, but he had a point.
