Page 54 of Kingpin

He sighed. “No, Bonnie. I’m killing you because your allegiance changed. You fell in love with him. Which means you’re no longer part of this family. You’re a liability. A loose end to tie up. That’s all this is.”

I felt the world fading around me as I dropped to my knees.

“Please, don’t do this,” I said breathlessly.

“I don’t have a choice. And I think your father would agree with me.”

I hissed. “You don’t know shit about my father.”

“I knew him longer than you did, Bonnie. And I know he prized business over anything else. He did some unspeakable things in his life as a businessman. But that’s why he was so highly sought after. He did what had to be done, no matter the cost.”

I struggled for air. “My father was a good man. A man like you’ll never be. So is Israel. He’s a man you’ll never be!”

I shrieked the words before I fell onto my stomach.

“Goodbye, Bonnie.”

As smoke filled my vision, I let my eyes drift closed.

Maybe death was the only way out of his hell in the first place.

23

Israel

“Fucking hell, what now?”I grumbled.

I picked up my vibrating phone for the fourth time in fifteen minutes.

“This better be good,” I hissed.

“Sir, she’s left.”

I blinked. “Bonnie?”

“Yes, sir. She’s left the penthouse.”

I snickered. “Where did she go?”

“She got into a cab, Mr. Rossi. My men followed the cab to the outskirts of town, but then we lost them.”

I blinked. “You lost them?”

“Yes, sir.”

I felt my anger boil over. “How the fuck do you lose a bright yellow car?”

“There are a lot of them that travel all throughout Chicago. My guess is—”

I stood from my chair. “You listen to me, and you listen now. You fire whoever the fuck lost that cab, and then you check that penthouse again. She’s been chronically drunk since I left. Surely, she’s gone back.”

“That’s the thing, sir.”

“What’s the thing?”

“I’m standing in the penthouse right now. She’s not here, sir. She left an hour ago and hasn’t returned.”

My phone beeped. “Hold on. I got another call on the line. You stay put.”