Kill Order Kiss novel · Chapter 3 of 16

Chapter 3: Get on the Plane

Rocco refuses to defend her in front of the families and admits he wrote the order, then kisses her goodbye on the jet stairs as Beppe carries a body bag aboard.

Nobody else heard him.

Aurelio was busy with his cane.

Gemma was busy with her ring.

Carmine leaned a little closer over my counter.

He smelled like cigars and cologne.

"Your papa kept a tin," he said, low. "A blue one. Where is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You were nine. Nine-year-olds see everything."

"I saw the floor," I said.

My voice came out steady.

I didn't know where it came from.

He studied me for a long moment.

Then he straightened up and patted the counter twice.

"She knows nothing," he said to Aurelio. "That's what your boy says."

"Then that's what she knows," Aurelio said.

The bell over the door rang again.

Rocco walked in.

He had on a dark suit and no tie, and his hair was still wet from the shower.

He looked at me.

For a second his jaw tightened.

Then it closed.

"Father," he said. "Carmine."

He kissed Gemma on the cheek.

She leaned into it and looked at me the whole time.

Paloma made a low sound.

"Rocco," I said.

He didn't look at me.

"Rocco, they're taking my restaurant."

"It's business, Mariana."

He had never called me Mariana.

Not once in two years.

"My father died in this room," I said. "You know that. You sat at that table and I told you."

"I know."

"Then say something."

Gemma laughed softly.

"He is saying something, sweetheart. You're just not listening."

I walked around the counter.

My whole crew watched me.

The line cook, Paloma, the two dishwashers, the new girl on salads.

I stopped in front of Rocco, close enough to see the tiny cut where he'd shaved too fast.

"Did you write it?" I said.

His father's head turned.

Carmine's eyebrows went up.

Rocco looked down at me for a long time.

"Yes," he said.

I heard Paloma say, "Write what?"

Nobody answered her.

I took off the emerald.

It stuck at the knuckle.

I had to twist it.

It hurt going over the bone, and I didn't care.

I held it out on my palm.

He didn't take it.

So I tipped my hand and let it fall on the tile between his shoes.

It made a tiny sound.

Gemma clapped her hands once, delighted.

"Oh, that's perfect. Can I keep it for my maid?"

Rocco bent and picked the ring up.

He put it in his inside pocket, right where the order had been.

"The car will be outside at seven," he said. "Get on the plane, Mari."

There it was.

Mari.

Like a slip.

Then he turned and walked out with his father, and Carmine, and the woman in white.

The bell rang behind them.

Paloma grabbed my arm.

"You're not getting on any plane. You hear me? You're staying at my place."

"If I stay, they'll come to your place."

"Let them come."

"Paloma. They'll come to your place."

She looked at me.

Then she looked at the door where the men with coats had stood.

Her mouth shook, and she pressed it flat.

We spent the afternoon carrying my father's life out to the curb.

The picture from over the register.

His knives.

The radio.

At seven a black car pulled up, and Beppe Arcuri got out.

Beppe had driven Rocco for fifteen years.

He was bald and huge and always had a peppermint for me.

He didn't have one tonight.

"Miss Cordero," he said, and opened the back door.

Teterboro was lit up white against the dark.

The jet waited on the tarmac with its stairs down.

I climbed out of the car, and Rocco was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

Alone.

"You came to watch," I said.

"I came to say goodbye."

"You already said everything you needed to in my restaurant."

He stepped forward and took my face in both hands.

I could have pulled away.

I didn't.

He kissed me hard, like he was angry at my mouth.

Like he was trying to leave something inside it.

The engines were so loud I felt them in my teeth.

He put his lips against my ear.

"Don't come back," he said. "Whatever you hear. Don't ever come back."

Then he let go and walked to his car without turning around.

I stood on the stairs.

Behind me, Beppe opened the trunk of the black car.

He lifted out something long and heavy and black, folded over his arm.

It had a zipper running down the whole length of it.

He carried it past me, up the stairs, and into the plane.

It was a body bag.

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend