Page 67 of Deliverance

Ricardo Montoya

11:20 AM

Thank you.

* * *

By lunchtime, there was still no word from Zell. Frank was wherever he was, and Madam was pissed. She was in the main room, pacing as though Zell and Frankie were going to walk off the elevator at any moment. I was sitting in one of the red eggshell chairs, pretending to read the newspaper while Tyler was out on his lunch break. What I really wanted to do was take a nap.

"When that little shit comes back here, I'm going to wringhisneck," she seethed.

Him? She was mad at Frankie?

"He thinks that just because his father is the boss, he'll be running my girls," she continued with a sarcastic chuckle. "Over my fucking dead body." She went to the bar, poured a shot of vodka, and downed it. "I'm going to go call Frank. You ring me if they want to be buzzed up."

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, looking over the top of the newspaper at her.

I started to actually read the paper until I heard a noise. "Psst." I looked up to see Erin peeking her head around the corner. "Any word from Zell?" she whispered.

I shook my head. "No. Saffron just went to call Frank to see if he's heard anything."

"Let me—"

The elevator intercom buzzed, and I rushed to it. It was a client—one of Leanne's regulars—and after I got his membership number, I buzzed him up. Turning back to Erin, I said, "Tell Leanne a client is here for her."

Erin went back down the hall while I waited for the elevator. When it dinged and opened, it wasn't only Leanne's client. I drew my head back, surprised. "Zell? Ah, boss?"

"That's right," Frankie seethed. "I'm your boss. Now, I'm here to take all the girls with me, and we'll be on our way." He pushed the client into the room, and Leanne rushed toward him, pulling him.

"I … What?" I questioned. Zell's long blonde hair was cut to her shoulders, and I almost didn't recognize her. The women slowly entered the room. Had they'd heard the commotion? Had Saffron?

"Look, man, I like you, so don't make this more difficult than it needs to be." Frankie pointed a gun at me, and I held up my hands in surrender. I wasn't going to fight him because I wanted him to take all the ladies.

Saffron, of course, wouldn't let that happen. "You're not going anywhere!" I looked up to where she stood on the glass staircase, pointing a gun at Frankie. "I had a hunch you'd show up."

Frankie moved his gun to point it at Saffron instead of me. He pulled Zell behind him, protecting her. She was looking between us, questioning if I were going to pull my weapon.

"Please?" Zell begged me. "You know all of this is wrong."

Of course I knew, and if she knew I was going to get her out, maybe we wouldn't be in a room with guns drawn.

"Beg all you want, little girl, but he works for me, and he'll do as I say," Saffron stated, walking down the stairs, still pointing the gun at Frankie. "And what the hell did you do to your hair?"

"Wrong," Frankie argued, ignoring the hair question. "He works for the Russos. He will do asIsay."

Saffron chuckled. "And what do you think I am?"

Zell drew her head back slightly. Did Zell not know her last name, or was she not Zell Russo?

"Excuse me?" Frankie asked.

Saffron gave a sinister laugh again. She stood on the main floor. "Why do you think your father trusts me so much to run his whores? I was married to his twin brother."

"Yeah, right." Frankie laughed. "My father never told me you were my aunt."

"Your uncle died before you were born. There was no reason to tell you."

Frankie paused for a moment and then said, "Doesn't matter. My father was teaching me everything to take over. Therefore,Iam the boss."