There was a knock at the door.
Lucia put hers behind her back, and Blondie put hers back in the bag.
“Hi there,” Clarissa said. “May I come in?”
“Of course, please come in.” Lucia looked a bit sad. “Mrs. B. You know my sister Blondie.”
Over the years, Clarissa had met all of Moretti’s legitimate and illegitimate children. She had given birth to one of them, Ralph. She had kept him a secret all those years. If Moretti had found out she had had a son, he would have assumed it was his and turned him into a mobster as well. That was the tradition. All children become part of the business one way or another.
“Yes, darling.” Kiss, kiss. “Good to see you again, Mrs. B.,” Blondie said. “It was fun messing with your ex-husband.”
You fucking bitch,Cole thought.This was all a setup.
“Thank you, hun,” Clarissa said.
“Don’t thank her yet, Mrs. B.,” Lucia replied.
Blondie lifted the bag, holding it with her left hand underneath and her right hand inside.
“Here, this is for you,” Blondie offered.
Clarissa’s eyes widened. Her eyes filled with joy. It was a very expensive purse. She put her hands on it.
“What’s inside?” she asked.
“It’s a gift.”
“Oh my, you shouldn’t have!” she exclaimed. “I don’t deserve this.”
“Yes, you do,” Blondie replied.
Two bullets followed each other, one after the other. They had penetrated her chest; two streams of blood gushed out.
What a mess,Blondie thought.
Clarissa’s life flashed before her eyes. She thought about all the secrets and lies she had kept from Cole. How she had betrayed his trust by sleeping with Moretti. Her regret of not being able to have the opportunity to save the love of her life, John.
Money can’t buy happiness! Her final thought.
Cole’s eyes had met Clarissa's; he knew he was next. Clarissa fell to the floor. Blondie knelt beside her and closed her shocked eyes.
“It’s a gift from my grandpa Moretti. He thought you’d appreciate it,” Blondie whispered.
Lucia turned to Cole as Blondie stood up. “Sorry, Mr. B. Change of plans.” She pointed the gun with the silencer Blondie had brought with her in her purse. One bullet between the eyes is all it took. Cole closed his eyes as the bullet penetrated his forehead between his eyebrows. He had made peace with himself and had a feeling the end was near when he saw Lucia’s gun behind her back but had kept his mouth shut.
Lucia turned to Blondie. “See, sis. You’re not the only one with talent.” A tear ran down Lucia’s right cheek.
“Don’t tell me you’re crying for that sleazeball?" Blondie asked.
“Nah, I have a speck of dust in my eye; it makes me sad when I can’t take it out.”
They both laughed.
“Let’s put these away before anyone comes in,” Lucia suggested. She took a hospital gown from a drawer, put the two guns inside, and put them inside a clear garbage bag that was on the floor next to the mops.
“Hey, what did I miss?” Michael asked as he came through the door with a girlie magazine as a surprise for his dad.
He dropped the magazine on the floor as soon as he saw both his parents dead. Michael dropped to the floor with a knife on his back.
