Page 64 of Deliverance

I hung up the phone. "She'll be right up, sir."

"Thank you." He nodded and started to walk away but then stopped. "And please tell Madam to turn off the cameras."

"Yes, sir."

Saffron was going to lose her shit, and I fucking loved it. Zell might be her daughter, but it didn't matter when it came to the Russo men.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Erin

Zell was no longer a virgin.

None of us could have stopped her even if we’d wanted to. I hoped that Frankie's feelings were as genuine as I knew hers were for him. After his last visit, Zell confessed that they had sex, so the girls and I took care of her with aspirin and making sure she was okay. Surprisingly, she was, and it seemed to be just two teenagers having sex.

When Zell turned eighteen, all of us were worried Madam would make her work as one of the girls, especially since she was no longer a virgin, but it had been a week and it hadn't happened. Madam also never wished her daughter a happy birthday. We usually made a cake or something when someone had a birthday, but we didn't for Zell because we didn't want to draw attention to her age. I felt horrible, but it was better than the alternative.

Hearing a knock on my door, I looked up to see Ric in the doorway. The last few weeks had been good to us in the sense that we were back to talking a few times a week in the stairwell. I had missed him, and the more time that passed, it felt like we were both in this together again.

He nudged his head toward the stairs, and I followed him. "We need to talk," he stated.

My feet faltered on the steps. "Okay?"

He motioned for me to sit in my usual spot. I did, and he sat two steps above me. "My buddy from the Navy has a security firm. I'm going to reach out to him and see about getting us into witness protection."

I drew my head back. "Witness protection?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking. At first, I thought running was the way out, but the only way to be free of the Russos is if I go to the feds."

"That will get you killed."

He shook his head. "I don't think Frank has the FBI on his payroll, and I need to do something. Frankie is only going to take over, and there's no getting out until we're dead."

"What about Zell? She and Frankie are—"

"I'll figure something out. She'll learn Frankie is bad news."

"You better make it soon because I'm sure I'll be sent back to the warehouse this summer. Zell is eighteen—more or less a senior in high school—so that means her school year will end in about four months."

"Then, I'm going to go tomorrow."

"And tell them—"

"Come quick!" Leanne whisper-shouted from the doorway. I hadn't heard her approach. "Zell left, and Marcus is having a heart attack."

Ric and I both ran down the hall behind Leanne. Zell left without telling us? Without a goodbye? When we got to the main room, Marcus was on the ground near the closed elevator door, clenching his chest.

"Someone get me an aspirin!" Ric barked. "And make sure it's an aspirin." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called 9-1-1. I watched with the rest of the girls as Tifarah went in search of the medication, returning with water and pills.

"What is going on in here?" Madam asked as she came down the stairs. She was in her slippers and robe because it was after eleven at night.

"Marcus is having a heart attack, and Zell is—" Carla started to say.

"Paramedics are on their way," Ric stated as he hung up the phone. Marcus was awake but still lying on the floor.

"Zell is what?" Madam questioned.

"She left," Marcus answered before he downed the pill Ric handed him.