Kill Order Kiss novel · Chapter 2 of 16

Chapter 2: The Wolf Ring

At her restaurant the Riccis and Grecos seize the building, Gemma humiliates her in front of her staff, and Carmine's ring tells Mariana who shot her father; he knows her too.

I didn't go in.

I walked backward down the hall until my heels hit the stairs.

Then I walked out the front door, got into my car, and drove.

The guard at the gate waved and smiled.

"Morning, Miss Cordero."

I waved back.

My hand looked normal on the steering wheel.

That was the strangest part.

I drove to the only place I had ever felt safe.

Casa Cordero sat on the corner of Van Brunt Street with its blue awning and its hand-painted sign.

My father painted that sign when I was six.

He was shot behind the counter when I was nine.

My mother closed the doors and never opened them again.

I opened them four years ago with every dollar I had.

The lunch crew was already there.

Paloma was at the pass, yelling at the fish guy about the size of the snapper.

She took one look at me and put down her knife.

"What happened to your face?"

"Nothing."

"Liar. You look like you saw a ghost."

"I need to take something home," I said. "My father's picture. The one over the register."

"Why? Mari, what's going on?"

Then the front door opened.

The little bell over it rang.

Aurelio Ricci walked in first, leaning on his black cane with the silver top.

Two of his men came in behind him.

Then a man I didn't know, heavy and bald, with a gray beard.

Then a young woman in a white suit and red lipstick, her black hair so straight it looked ironed.

Aurelio smiled at me.

"Mariana. I hoped we'd find you here."

"Mr. Ricci."

"This is Carmine Greco, from Philadelphia. And his daughter, Gemma."

The woman in white looked at me from my shoes to my hair.

She didn't say hello.

She said, "This is the cook?"

"This is the chef," Paloma said from behind me.

Gemma didn't even glance at her.

"It smells like onions in here."

"It's a restaurant," I said.

"It was," Aurelio said gently.

He nodded to one of his men.

The man took a folded paper from his coat and laid it on my counter.

"Mr. Greco bought this building at nine o'clock this morning," Aurelio said. "Your lease is terminated. You have until the end of the day."

The kitchen went dead quiet.

Somebody dropped a pan.

"That's not possible," I said. "I have six years left on my lease."

"You have six years on a lease with a landlord who sold," Carmine Greco said.

His voice was thick and bored.

"Take it to court, sweetheart. Oh, wait."

Gemma laughed.

Then she held up her left hand so the light from the window hit it.

A diamond the size of a sugar cube sat on her finger.

"Rocco picked it himself," she said. "Aurelio said you'd want to know. We're getting married in three weeks."

I looked down at my own hand.

The emerald was still there.

Gemma looked at it too.

"You can keep that one," she said. "I hear it's a nice size. For a cook."

Paloma came around the counter with her tattooed arms folded.

"Get out of our kitchen."

Gemma smiled at her.

"It's my kitchen. By tonight it's a parking lot."

One of the line cooks started taking off his apron.

Aurelio held up one finger, and the man beside him opened his coat.

The line cook put the apron back on.

"No one needs to be dramatic," Aurelio said. "Mariana is going on a trip tonight. A long rest. Isn't that right?"

He looked at me with his pale gray eyes.

He knew.

Of course he knew.

He was the one Rocco reported to.

I reached for the counter to steady myself.

Carmine Greco reached for it too.

He set his right hand flat on the wood, right beside mine, where my father used to cut limes.

There was a ring on his middle finger.

It was gold, and it was shaped like a wolf's head with its mouth open.

The room went away.

I was nine years old and under the counter, curled up on the tile.

A radio was playing merengue.

My father said, "Please, I have a daughter."

Then the loud sound.

Then a hand came down on the edge of the counter, right above my head.

A man was leaning over to look at what he'd done.

A gold wolf with its mouth open.

I had never told anyone about that ring.

Not the police.

Not my mother.

Not Rocco.

I pulled my hand back.

Carmine noticed.

He looked at my face, and then down at his own ring, and then back at me.

A slow smile went across his beard.

"Well, look at that," he said softly. "You were the little one under the counter."

← Chapter 1 · All chapters · Chapter 3 →

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