Starlet: A Dark Retelling - Cora Kenborn Page 0,113
is sympathy, then it can just get the fuck out. Kids are resilient. They’ll survive. They’ll have their little trust funds to take care of them. Those brats will never know what real suffering feels like.
Joey swings his gun toward me, the barrel inches from my face. “You don’t call the shots around here, kiss ass. You might suck Luciano’s dick, but I rank above you. Don’t forget that.”
He hates me because I’m half his age. He hates me because this job is considered an honor, and Luciano gave it to me. He hates me because I have Irish blood in my veins and not Italian. But mostly, he hates me because he can’t do anything about it. Because if he touches one hair on my head, Luciano will put him in the ground.
I know it, and he knows it. That’s why I don’t bother giving a shit about the gun pointed at my face as I grab a pair of binoculars and scan the perimeter. “So, what did the king and queen of Hollywood do to end up on Luciano’s shit list?”
“Pissed off the wrong people.”
“I’m serious.”
“And you’re seriously getting on my last nerve. Those two are just like every rich fuck in this town. They pretend to be these upstanding role models but it’s just a mask. The Romanovs are coke snorting, hooker fucking, kid touching, silence buying, pieces of shit.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Luciano told you that?”
He doesn’t answer. He just tucks his gun away and climbs out of the car. “Grab your shit and try not to fuck up.”
“Wait,” I call out, racing to catch up with him. “Aren’t we going to cover our faces?”
“Why? It’s Christmas, not Halloween.”
“But the kids will see our faces. They can ID us, Joe.”
“Yeah,” he says, spitting on the ground. “I guess you’re right.”
Joey’s words bother me as we cross three streets toward the Romanov estate. That bad feeling comes back. A raw, churning in my gut that warns me things are about to go really wrong. But letting Luciano down isn’t something I’m willing to do. Therefore, I keep my mouth shut as Joey punches in the access code.
It’s late. Almost two o’clock in the morning. Most of Bel Air is sleeping, but there’s a light or two on in the Romanov estate. I start to ask Joey about it, but he silences me with his hand.
Again, I say nothing.
We sneak around the back where a spiral staircase leads to the second landing balcony. Joey gazes up at it, excitement flickering in his eyes.
“Are you just going to break the glass?”
“No. We’re walking in.” Reaching in his jacket pocket, he pulls out a key and slides it into the lock. I watch shell-shocked as it turns without any resistance, and he opens the door.
I wait for an alarm that never comes.
This is too easy. Things are going too textbook.
As we step inside the dimly lit house, I whisper, “Where did you get a—”
A glass hits the floor and shatters. “Papa!”
My heart slams against my ribcage as I turn to my right, and that’s when I see her. The girl with the bright green eyes and short dark hair. She’s standing frozen in terror, a shattered glass of water at her feet.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Why is she up? This wasn’t supposed to happen. It wasn’t supposed to go this way.
I catch a flash of metal out of the corner of my eye a fraction of a second before Joey pulls the trigger. The girl’s chest blooms dark red seconds before she hits the floor.
I can’t speak. I can’t breathe. All I can do is stare at this kid, barely a few years younger than me. I don’t think she saw it coming. It was a clean shot, so she didn’t suffer.
That’s something. Right?
It has to be something.
We’re no longer hidden by the shadows. Joey’s rogue bullet has caused every light to flicker on like scattered dominoes. My hand shakes as sweat drips down my temples.
He just killed an innocent kid. He fucking shot a defenseless little girl.
Joey walks past me. “Come on. It’s showtime.”
“What the hell are you doing? She was a kid! That wasn’t part of the plan!”
“New plan.”
“Oksana!” I barely have time to look up before another Romanov kid comes barreling toward her fallen sister. This one is even younger. Even more innocent.
She doesn’t see us.
Please see us.
Joey pulls the trigger again, and another little girl falls only a few feet from her sibling. “Two down, five to go.”