Chapter 49 Bullet in the Alley

Chapter 47 Unexpected Brutality at the Noire

LUCA -

Luca and Louis locked eyes for a split second before Louis lunged for a pistol on the nightstand, but Luca was faster.

He vaulted the bed, shoving the barrel against his forehead. “Up, you bastard,” he growled, hauling Louis to his feet and pushing him face-first against the wall, clear of Carmela and Eveet.

He shoved Louis' face hard against the wood paneling, and when he grunted, something inside Luca sent waves of pleasure coursing through him. He liked causing the little fucker pain.

He would have pressed harder, but he heard Eveet move closer to them, so he turned Louis around to face them. He pulled back enough to give the man room to breathe, but kept his gun raised to his head.

Louis' eyes were filled with venomous rage, and his lips were raised in a snarl, but as Eveet moved her own gun up to his head, he lifted his hands, palms out.

“What you been pulling on the sly, Louis?” Eveet's tone was smooth.

He clamped his jaw shut, eyes burning, but a noise from the bed pulled Eveet's attention. Not Luca's. His eyes were locked onto the traitor in front of him.

Carmela's small voice whimpered at first as she clutched the sheets to her chest, but she gained confidence the longer she spoke. "You oughta know. He had a visitor tonight. Some goon outside the door. I eavesdropped. They slipped him a letter, asking for more on Eveet’s moves. The other guy said-"

Louis’s face twisted. “Shut the fuck up, you nosy tramp!” he roared, but Luca jammed the gun harder into his cheek.

“Quiet,” Luca hissed.

"Go on," Eveet encouraged, her voice soft, surprising Luca.

Once more, Carmela sounded fearful, but she answered Eveet anyway. Her red curls were fussy from her time with Louis, and her cheeks flushed red as her mouth grew tight. "They said they were gonna grease the Matranga bitch before the weekend.”

"Shit." Louis said under his breath.

"Where'd he put the letter?" Eveet asked her.

Louis tried to step forward as he said, "Don't you fucking dare!"

Not waiting to give Louis any chance to get close to the gun on the nightstand, Luca gripped his neck in his hand and squeezed before shoving harder on his pistol. "Give me a reason."

Louis glared hatefully up at him.

"In his coat." Carmela gestured to the jacket hanging on a hook by the door.

Eveet walked over and pulled the letter from the front pocket, and from the sound, he could hear her unfolding it.

After a moment, she inhaled a sharp breath through her nose. The sound causing him to tense. "What is it?"

"It's payments, dates, and..." She paused and walked up to his side. She lifted her gun once more to his head and handed the letter to Luca.

He skimmed through the first part, confirming the payments and shipment dates, but it was the seal at the bottom that made his blood run cold.

The Lafitte seal wrapped around the letters of Eveet's name. A jagged red dagger sliced through it, the Lafitte sign for a paid hit.

“Is this right?” Luca demanded, pressing the barrel under Louis’s chin, forcing his head up. Trying to calm his tone, he finished with, “Tell me true, and I won’t shoot.”

Louis swallowed loudly, sweat beading, then nodded slowly.

Luca's heart hammered hard against his ribcage. He wanted to rage. Turn the room inside out in his destruction. He could even imagine it. The bed ripped to shreds, the windowpanes broken, with a dead Louis lying at the bottom.

And then, like some kind of morbid fantasy, instead of Louis, he saw Eveet. Lifeless and surrounded in blood at the entrance to the club, her long curly hair extending out like a beautiful halo. Like some kind of switch, he lost his control.

He holstered the Colt, the click seeming to echo loudly.

Then, in a flash, he drew his stiletto, and the blade was singing as it sliced Louis’s throat. Blood gushed, hot and sticky, spraying the room. Before the bastard could gurgle, Luca twisted the knife and jammed it into his eye. The pop was almost sickening as Louis’s body went limp, thudding to the floor. As it fell, the blade slipped from his face in one swift, gruesome motion.

Eveet stood frozen, gun dipping, eyes wide on the corpse.

While she had killed plenty of traitors and lowlifes, she'd never truly been so close to the type of brutality that Luca had just shown. She'd delegated rough decisions, like cutting off limbs or losing heads, but to be within arm's reach of it wasn't normal for her.

Carmela’s wails filled the room, but Luca ignored her, wiping the blade on the sheets. He tried to ignore Eveet's demeanor as well, but he couldn't. It mattered to him. She mattered to him.

The jazz below throbbed on, a mocking pulse. He stepped to her, voice soft. “I had to, Eveet. He’d have sold you to the Lafittes.”

He hadn't meant to use her name, but it fell from his lips all the same.

She turned to him, and he saw for the first time that Louis' blood had sprayed across her body and face, and his stomach churned at the sight.

Her gaze lingered on his hands, blood-smeared, and he saw the uneasiness trickle over her features, the horror mixing with confusion.

"It's fine." Like the words were some kind of magic, he watched her eyes slide close to all emotion, and she lifted her blood-soaked chin. "I need to get the bastard's blood off me. Watch the dame while I clean up."

Then she was moving to the single bathroom in the corner of the bedroom. It was one of the luxuries that came with Carmela's room upgrades. Only two rooms in the whole building had their own bathroom. This one and the Matranga Suite, which was on the other side of the top floor. It remained empty most of the time, unless they were hosting guests and needed to provide them with some privacy.

He listened to Eveet running water and moving around in the bathroom.

"That... You didn't have ta do that Luky. I-I-I can't believe you just did that."

His heart clenched. Carmela was sweet, if not selfish.

Did I go too far?

Eveet opened the door and walked up to him. Her blouse was still splattered with blood, but her skin had been scrubbed so hard it was red.

With hard eyes, she said, "Have the boys clean up the mess." Then she turned to Carmela and said, "I need a shirt."

Luca had to give Carmela props, she didn't waver. Still clinging to her sheets, and on wobbly legs, she moved to the dresser against the wall and pulled out the first blouse she found.

Eveet ripped her shirt off, sending buttons flying in all directions, and held her hand out for the shirt.

Luca didn't allow himself the pleasure of looking at her exposed breasts. He didn't deserve it. Instead, he did as he was told and left the room to find the boys.