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It was lucky that she got any information out of his very chatty assistant, Gina. She caught the woman in the ladies’ room at the Sloth Syndicate and found out that Victor was out of the office for the morning, meeting with two other syndicate family members. Gina even told her that he was meeting Bowie Wrath, and she knew exactly where they’d be. Bowie was a creature of habit and loved the new Italian place downtown, Angelo’s.
When Trish got to the restaurant, she peeked in to find the guys sitting around a table in the back of the room and she knew that all she had to do was be patient and she’d get her chance to get to Victor. God, he looked just as handsome as she remembered him to be. She had a crush on Victor Sloth since she was just a kid. He’d come home from university for the summer and Trish would follow him around like a stray dog. She was five years younger than him, and Victor didn’t pay her any attention. Their families being in some stupid alliance didn’t help her either. She’d show up at one of the mandatory functions for the families that her father demanded that she go to, and try to talk to Victor, only to have him completely ignore her. It hurt her feelings, but she wasn’t going to let hurt feelings stand in the way of her saving Victor’s life. If her father wanted him dead, he and his goons were going to have to go through her.
She sat in her car and slouched down when Carter Lust and Bowie Wrath left the restaurant. Trish saw no sign of Victor and she worried that he slipped out without her noticing him, but that would be impossible, right? As soon as the guys drove off in Bowie’s car, she got out of hers and made her way to the restaurant. She peeked in again to see if she could spot Victor and found no sign of him. The waitress walked over to the table they were all sitting around and put the check on the table. If Trish had to guess, she’d bet that the guys left the check for Victor while he went back to the bathroom. And if she was lucky, that would be exactly where she’d find him now.
“Hi,” Trish said to the hostess at the door, “I need a table for one, but first, may I use your restroom?” she asked.
“Of course,” the woman agreed, “it’s in the back to the right.”
“Great, I’ll be right back, thank you,” Trish said. She walked to the back of the restaurant and felt as though she was holding her breath as she pushed her way into the men’s bathroom on the left, double-checking that no one was watching her.
“Um, wrong bathroom, honey,” Victor said, looking her over. “Do I know you?”
“Yes,” she breathed, “I’m Trish Gluttony—Bruno’s little sister.” God, she sounded like an idiot telling him that she was Bruno’s kid sister. Yeah, not her finest moment.
“Oh, yeah,” he said, recognizing her. “Well, you’re still in the wrong bathroom.” He washed his hands and pulled down some towels to dry them. “The ladies’ room is across the hall.”
“I know,” she admitted, “but, I don’t have to use the ladies’ room. I need to talk to you.”
“Well, you picked a strange place for a meeting, but I’m sure if you call my assistant, Gina, she’ll put you on my schedule.” He was trying to push her aside again. This was a step up from the way that he had treated her in the past. At least this time, he was actually speaking to her.
“Gina is the one who told me about your meeting with Carter and Bowie. It’s how I found you,” she admitted.
“Son of a bitch,” he growled. “I knew that she’d tell everyone about my meeting. If my father finds out—” He didn’t finish his sentence, but she had a pretty good idea of what his father would do to him.
“I get it. In fact, my father has found up that you’re meeting with other syndicate families, and he’s taken out a hit on you, Victor,” she said. “I’ve come to warn you that it’s going to happen tonight. I’m here to help you get out of town. I can keep you safe.”
Victor chuckled and if she wasn’t mistaken, it was his way of dismissing her. “I think that I can manage my own safety, honey,” he said. “But I appreciate the heads up about your father coming for me. I’ll take it from here.”
“You don’t understand,” she insisted, reaching for his arm. Victor pulled it free from her hand and she gasped.
“What is it that I don’t understand?” he spat. “You expect me to believe that your father would let you come to warn me? How do I even know that you’re telling me the truth and not trying to trap me now?” he asked.
“You don’t,” she said. “My father wouldn’t suspect me of doing anything brave. Hell, that man believes that I’m a timid mouse with no backbone—his words, not mine,” she said when Victor had the good graces to wince at her words.
“So, what is it that I don’t understand then?” he asked again.
“Your father is in on the hit. He knows what my father has planned for you, and he’s agreed with the plan,” she said.
“Shit,” he breathed. Trish didn’t know how a father could agree to off his own kid, but she also knew how ruthless the Gluttony and Sloth families could be. It’s why she played dumb and weak around her family. If they didn’t perceive her as a threat, they’d leave her alone. She could slip in and out of the shadows without much notice and that served her well.
“So, do you believe me now?” she asked.
“I—I have to go,” Victor stuttered. “I need to go see my father and find out what’s going on here. It can’t be true.” She could see in his eyes that he believed her. He just didn’t want what she told him to be true. She didn’t want it to be true either.
“You can’t do that,” she insisted. “If he’s in on it, he might turn you over to my father himself. You don’t know what you’re walking into, Victor.”
“I’ve already told you that I can handle myself, Trish. Thanks for the heads up, but I’ve got things from here,” he said. There was no way that she was going to let Victor go. He’d be walking right into a trap, and she had already stuck her neck out too far for him to go and get himself killed now.
Victor turned his back on her, underestimating her as everyone else did, and she used that as her opportunity to do what had to be done. She grabbed the syringe that she had stowed in her clutch and stuck it into Victor’s neck.
“What the fuck?” he asked, turning on her. His speech was already starting to slur, and Trish knew that if she didn’t get a move on, she’d be dragging his body to her car. That would garner too much-unwanted attention—something that she didn’t need.
“Sorry about that, Vic,” she breathed, “but, you left me no choice.” She pulled his arm around her neck, holding up most of his weight. “God, you’re heavy,” she whispered. Trish walked him out of the men’s room, noting that people were staring at the two of them.
“My friend had a bit too much to drink,” she loudly announced. She walked him past the hostess who politely smiled at her. “Put his bill on Bowie Wrath’s tab,” she said back over her shoulder. The hostess nodded and smiled as Trish left the restaurant with a very disoriented Victor Sloth.
“You can’t do this,” he slurred.
