Becoming Carter (The Carter Series) (Volume 2) (27 page)

After tonight, my life would never be the same again. It was already seven-thirty in the evening, and our plan was for Kelvin and I to make it to the restaurant by nine, so that Ivan and his wife of two years would already be seated and eating. So, that gave me an hour and a half to go over this in my head for the millionth time, and remind myself that we absolutely had to do this if we wanted to be safe.

After my dress was secured, I sat down at the all-white vanity table on the side of the room. I looked at my hair in the mirror and made sure that it looked right, and that the pins that were holding it all in place hadn’t come loose and all my curls fallen out of place. Then, I applied a dark magenta lipstick to my lips, and inserted the black and silver dangling earrings that I always wore with this dress. The next thing I knew, I was just staring at myself in the mirror with a dejected look on my face. I looked myself in the eyes and asked myself over and over again—
is this what you want for your life?
Every time I asked myself that question, the same answer kept coming to me—
I want Kelvin for my life, and I want us to be safe.
But, what if doing this didn’t change anything? What if we killed Ivan, and somebody else just stepped into his place and continued to try to kill us to avenge him? Was there ever an end to something like this? Was there ever a way to get away from the danger of this mob lifestyle? Or, does it haunt you forever?
Is this what you want for your life?

Suddenly, I felt doubt beginning to creep into my head. The sudden fear of Ivan’s replacement being even more dangerous than he is took a firm grip on my heart and I instantly felt overwhelmed. I felt tears slowly climbing their way to my eyes as I thought about it all. Yes, I wanted to be with Kelvin more than anything in the world, but what if being together meant that we could never be safe? What if we were only able to be together if we were having to run from mob bosses, and hoping that our car wouldn’t explode when we started it? What if it just wasn’t meant to be? And if it wasn’t meant to be, then how could we have made it this far? How could we have gotten through all the ridiculously crazy shit that we’d been through? There was no way in hell we went through all that for nothing.
Is this what you want for your life?

“Are you okay?” I heard Kelvin say from behind me.

I looked at him through the mirror and marveled at how sexy he looked in his black tuxedo. He even switched it up and wore a black bow tie. He was gorgeous.

“I’m okay,” I answered hesitantly. “I just have a lot going on in my head. All of this is just really intense.”

Kelvin sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned forward on his forearms. “I know it is, Babe, and I know you’re scared. So am I. This definitely isn’t something that I’m used to, and I wish we could just go on with our lives, and not have to worry about the Baskovs trying to sneak up on us, but we can’t. They’ll never go away, Lilliana. Not unless we do something to stop them.”

“But what if this doesn’t stop them? What if we kill Ivan tonight, and somebody else steps in his place tomorrow? What then?”

Kelvin took a second to glance down at the floor before answering me. “I’ve thought about that myself, to be honest. But, there really isn’t anything we can do to prevent that. Sure, somebody probably will step in Ivan’s place, but that doesn’t mean that they’re gonna want to kill me. I like to believe that this agenda they have is being ran by Ivan, and hopefully it’ll die with him tonight. All we can do is hope that after tonight, all this crazy shit comes to an end, and you and I can move on with our lives together. After all, that’s all I really care about. I just want to be with you.”

I looked into Kelvin’s beautifully dark eyes, and in them, I saw hope. He didn’t know if anybody would replace Ivan any better than I did, but all we had was the hope that after this—after we went this far—it would all be over. There really wasn’t anything else that we could do, except hold onto hope. I knew he was holding onto it, so when I smiled at him, it was my way of holding onto it with him.

“I have something I want to give you,” Kelvin said with a grin as he stood up and walked over to the nightstand on the side of the bed he’d been sleeping on for the past few days. I watched him open the drawer and pull out a black box, then he walked back over to me, and I couldn’t help but smile as I noticed his shoes. He was wearing the ones he wore on our first date together—my favorite pair.

“Okay, now close your eyes,” he said with a bright smile as he stood behind me.

I did as he said, and I heard the sound of the box being opened, and then being closed again and placed on the table in front of me.

“Okay, I guess you can open your eyes now,” Kelvin said.

I opened my eyes and immediately noticed the beautiful silver necklace with round, black stones hanging from it. It almost matched my earrings perfectly, and I knew from the look of it that it must’ve cost a fortune. I watched in the mirror as Kelvin placed it around my neck and clasped the back, and there was something about this moment that seemed to give me strength. Something about that necklace fortified my hope and belief that Kelvin and I were meant to be together. The moment he put it on me, I knew that everything was going to be okay, and all I needed to do to ensure it was stick by him. So, as I looked in the mirror at my gift, it became official that I wasn’t going anywhere, and I wasn’t backing out of this.

“It’s so beautiful, Kelvin,” I said as I stared at the gorgeous jewelry. “This really must’ve cost you a fortune. You didn’t have to.”

“I know. I just wanted to. I’ve had it for a couple of days, but tonight just seemed like the best night to give it to you.”

“Well, I think you have perfect timing,” I replied. “I love it.” I turned around and got up, wrapping my arms around Kelvin’s neck and kissing him softly on the lips, careful not to mess up my lipstick, of course. “I love you, Kelvin.”

“I love you, Lilliana,” Kelvin responded. “So, are you ready?”

I took a deep breath, and then finally answered “Yes. I’m ready.”

It was a part of the plan that Kelvin and I arrive at the restaurant
without
Mikey, so we took Lauren’s dark gray Jaguar, while Mikey planned to arrive later, more than likely it would be in a car that we’d never seen before, and would probably never see again.

As Kelvin and I drove down the highway, I found comfort in how calm he was. Every now and then he’d look over at me and smile, without saying anything, and it made me feel so much more at ease. We held hands the entire ride, and I took in every second that Kelvin was rubbing my hand and smiling at me, just in case I wasn’t able to see it again for a while after tonight. My comfort, however, went out the window when I saw the bright green lights of the Alinea restaurant.

As usual, Kelvin used the valet, and a sharply dressed white man with a sparkly purple suit took the keys to the Jaguar as Kelvin and I made our way inside.

The clock read nine o’clock on the dot when we walked through the entrance doors, and the placed seemed to be starting to clear out, as there were many seats available and no waiting list.

I short black woman approached Kelvin and I with menus already in hand. “Welcome to Alinea. Just two for tonight?”

“Yes,” Kelvin answered. “Just the two of us.”

“Great. Would you like a table or a booth?”

“A table, please. In fact, how about that table right over there by the window.”

“Sure. Follow me,” the server said as she began leading us over to the empty table.

When we took our seats—and our menus—I looked out the window and noticed that we had a perfect view of the entrance to the restaurant, and it donned on me why Kelvin chose to sit here—he wanted to see it when it happened.

I glanced around the restaurant and I was surprised that I didn’t see Ivan anywhere. So, I scanned the seats and tables thoroughly, but I still couldn’t see him, which sent my nerves into overdrive.

“I don’t understand. I thought he was supposed to be here. I don’t see him anywhere,” I complained to Kelvin, who didn’t even look up from his menu as he answered me.

“He’s here. In the far back corner of the room, away from all the lights. He’s wearing the black suit with the black shirt and tie. His young wife is wearing the tightest red dress I think I’ve ever seen on any human being. She has long blonde hair, and her back is to us, which is the opposite of how I thought they’d sit. I figured he’d be the one to sit with his back to the rest of the restaurant so that he wouldn’t be seen so easily. Then again, he’s probably a paranoid guy and doesn’t want anyone to have the chance to sneak up on him.”

I looked around the room once again, focusing on the corners, and then I noticed him. Just the way Kelvin described it, and I felt my mouth drop when I saw how young Ivan’s wife was. It looked like Ivan was
at least
twice her age. Maybe more.

“Holy shit! How old is his wife? I take it she’s out enjoying Christmas break like the rest of the elementary school students.”

Kelvin chuckled and took a sip of the complimentary wine that was given to us. “Yeah, she looks a little young.”

“How old is Ivan?” I asked quizzically.

“If I remember correctly, Ivan is fifty-nine,” Kelvin said, laughing once again.

“Damn. There’s no way that woman is over twenty-five. Wow. Mob cradle robber.”

“That’s how some of them do it.”

Our waiter finally made his way over to our table, and took our orders. Kelvin ordered the king crab, and I ordered the scallops for myself. While we waited for the food to be prepared, I found myself glancing over in Ivan’s direction about every five seconds. I couldn’t help it. Just being in the same building as this man sent a chill up my spine, and I wondered how Kelvin could just sit there, knowing that the man in the corner of the room had tried to kill him on numerous occasions. To my surprise, however, Kelvin hadn’t even taken as much as a glimpse in Ivan’s direction. He was acting like he wasn’t even over there, so I figured it was in my best interest to follow suit.

It only took seven or eight minutes for the food to arrive, and Kelvin and I didn’t waste any time to start eating—besides Kelvin’s complimentary delay, while he waited for me to take the first bite of my own dinner, of course. We ate, mostly in silence for about ten minutes, and it was on my fourth scallop that the evening suddenly took a turn for the worse.

As I was raising my hand to my mouth, I unintentionally glanced over at Ivan’s table. When my eyes shifted over to the corner of the room, my heart damn near jumped out of my chest when I realized that he was staring right at me. He was sitting in a very dim part of the room, yet I could see those blue eyes piercing right through me, and his glare was one of the most intimidating I’d ever seen.

I didn’t see him say anything to his wife—because, what the hell was her young ass going to do?—but I immediately turned to Kelvin.

“Umm, Babe?” I said quietly for some reason I wasn’t aware of yet. “He sees us.”

Kelvin looked at me, put his fork down on his plate, and slowly turned his head to stare at Ivan. The look the two of them exchanged seemed intense enough to make the entire restaurant spontaneously combust from the inside out. Neither of them looked away, choosing to stare each other down instead. If looks could kill, they both would’ve died right then and there.

Suddenly, Ivan said something to his wife and stood up. I could tell that she didn’t like whatever he’d said as she gestured with her frail arms, but eventually she got up, Ivan paid, and they both began walking towards the exit. I felt fear taking ahold of me as I watched Ivan take out his cell phone and begin having an obviously heated conversation with whoever was on the other end, all the while staring at Kelvin.

When the two of them made it outside, I felt like my heart would just stop beating from all the nerves, and it only got worse as Kelvin and I watched them from the large window we were sitting next to. Ivan yelled something to the guys at valet, and one of them took off running—I assumed it was to fetch Ivan’s car. Ivan hung the phone up and placed it back in his pocket, and that’s when I saw Mikey walking across the street wearing a black suit with red pinstripes and matching hat that he had pulled down very low, obviously attempting to cover most of his face. I looked behind him and saw the brown, extremely rusty Chevy Spectrum sitting across the street, and I knew that it was the car he’d chosen to accomplish tonight’s task.

As he approached Ivan, I didn’t think Ivan noticed him at first, and neither did any of the other men standing outside. Nonetheless, it was like I was watching everything in slow motion, and I felt panicked and sick, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away.

Mikey inconspicuously approached Ivan and I held my breath as he reached into his jacket pocket. Then, I saw his eyes shift from Ivan, to something in the middle of the street.

I followed his gaze and heard myself gasp as I saw a black Mercedes slowly creeping up the street, and I immediately knew who it was, and what was about to happen.

“Oh my god,” I said, a little too loudly. “Mikey.”

Kelvin obviously saw what I saw, as he stood up from his seat and I thought for a moment that he was going to try to run outside and save his uncle, but then he stopped, apparently realizing there was nothing he could do. It was already too late.

“Fuck!” Kelvin screamed. “They knew we were here! Uncle Mikey!” Kelvin banged his hands on the window, just as the pale, tattooed hands made their way out the front and back windows of the Mercedes, each of them holding a nine millimeter, and aiming in Mikey’s direction.

“No!” Kelvin blared, but the sound of his voice was cut off by the loud
bang
of the first shot, and then the countless others that followed.

The glass in the window shattered in front of us and people in the restaurant began to scream and duck for cover. There was so much glass and so many gunshots, Kelvin and I had to cover ourselves as well. Kelvin fell down on top of me and covered both of our heads with his hands as the glass rained down on us.