We sat there for a moment, neither of us talking, but the longer I sat there, the more I started to replay my dream in my head.
“Tell me something.”
“Like what?” he asked, his voice cool and distant.
“I don’t know. I would tell you something, but I don’t know anything.”
He snorted. “That’s still to be determined,” he muttered.
“You think I’m lying?”
“I think I don’t know you,” he said, his head snapping to face me.
“Why would I lie to you about not knowing who I am? What could I possibly gain from that?”
“I don’t know, Ciara. Why the hell were you driving through the mountain during a snowstorm?”
“If I knew that, don’t you think I would tell you?”
He sighed heavily, leaning back into the couch. This was getting nowhere fast. I shifted on the couch, trying to get comfortable, but my leg was throbbing, and sitting in this awkward position wasn’t helping. When I grimaced as I shifted, he stood and stormed off to the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water. I closed my eyes, wishing I could just go back to sleep.
“Take this,” he said sharply, making me jump again.
I glared up at him. His attitude was really starting to piss me off. “Why are you so pissy to me?” I took the pills he handed me and drank them down with the glass of water he was holding.
“Because I don’t like other people in my space.”
“I didn’t ask you to pick me up and bring me back here,” I snapped.
He was in my face so fast that I hardly saw him coming. Those cold, hard features almost made me shrink back into the sofa.
“Just say the word and I’ll drop your ass off at the women’s shelter.”
I could feel his hot breath on my face, his eyes blazing into me. There was something so terrifying, but so comforting about him, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Deep down, I knew if I gave him a reason to, he would hurt me in an instant. But the way he carried my bags and checked on me made me think that he wasn’t all bad, that there were still redeemable qualities to him. I just had to find a way to reach him.
He pushed away from me, cursing under his breath. “Do I need to stay up with you?” His question seemed nice enough, but the undercurrent of his tone was annoyed and angry.
“No,” I mumbled, not wanting to piss him off further.
He stormed off toward his room, slamming the door behind him. I jumped slightly, then took a deep breath. There was no way I was going to sleep tonight. With no TV, I got up and started searching for a book to read. Big surprise, there were no books, but I did find a magazine. It didn’t look like he’d even thumbed through it. It was probably something that was sent in the mail and he just hadn’t tossed out.
Taking it over to the couch, I propped my leg up and started flipping through it. The magazine was filled with articles about the best travel spots, and the pictures were amazing. I got lost in reading until my eyes finally drifted closed before the sun came up.
13
Antonio
The bang of the gun echoed in my head. My brother’s body flopped to the floor, the back of his head missing. His eyes stared off into nothing. He was gone. I slowly lowered my gun as I stared down at him. I’d done it. I’d killed the traitor, but why did it feel so wrong?
A hand landed on my shoulder and squeezed slightly. “You did what you had to do,” my uncle said solemnly. “No one could have known that he was working with the Russians.”
That should bring me some relief, to know that our problems were over, but I kept seeing his pleading eyes, begging me to listen to him. If I had listened, I would have only heard more lies.
“Get rid of the body,” my uncle commanded.
“No,” I said firmly, holding up my hand. He didn’t give the commands around here. This was up to me now. I was leading this family. As I looked up and met the eyes of every one of my men, they shifted their gaze from my uncle to me, nodding in a sign of respect. “I’ll take care of his body. Dino, please stay and help me.”
He nodded and stepped aside as the others filtered out of the room. My uncle, never one to keep his opinions to himself, cleared his throat. “Dino, give us a minute.”
Dino looked to me for permission. I nodded, waiting for him to leave. When the door shut, my uncle looked at me contemplatively.
“Son, you need to consider your next moves very carefully.”
I gritted my teeth at him calling me ‘son’. I had a father, and as much as I loved and respected Giuseppe, he could never replace the man that raised me.
“I’m well aware of what I need to do.”
“You need to make sure you choose the right person to be your Consigliere. You need someone that will advise you properly, who knows this business better than anyone.”
“And you want that person to be you,” I supplied.
He smiled slightly, “Well, I was your father’s Consigliere. I did everything I could to advise him to the best of my abilities. However, when your brother took over for your father, he went in a different direction, and we both know how that turned out.”
I understood completely what he was saying, and it pissed me off. My uncle wanted to take the Family in a different direction than I did. I was done playing games with the Russians. I wanted them finished once and for all, but my uncle wanted to take a more diplomatic approach. Still, it would be seen as a terrible slight to the Family and to Giuseppe if I passed him up for someone else. My first decisions in taking over the Family would be watched by everyone. He was right, I had to be smart about this.
I nodded to my uncle. “I’ll take that under advisement.” He nodded and walked to the door, letting Dino know I was ready for him. I had known Dino since I was a kid. He was a good friend, and who I had planned to step in as my Consigliere. Now I needed to think that through.
Dino stepped into the room, a hesitant look on his face. When the door shut behind him, he walked over to me, knowing we had cameras everywhere, he leaned in and lowered his voice.
“Something’s going on here, Antonio. You need to be careful. I have a bad feeling about all this.”
My gut churned as he confirmed my own fears. “You think I made a mistake.”
“I don’t know. I can’t say for sure, but something about this feels off. Don’t trust anyone.”
I looked down at my brother’s corpse. Now that the anger had simmered some, I regretted not taking the time to look further into the video, to question why he would do such a thing to our sister. But it was too late for regrets. I couldn’t undo the damage I had done. My last remaining brother was gone by my own hand.
“I don’t plan to,” I said as I kneeled down beside my brother and closed his eyelids. Silently, I said a prayer for him, apologizing for taking his life. But most of all, I prayed for his forgiveness.
I sat upright in bed, my whole body shaking and sweating. My breaths came in heavy pants as the remnants of my dream wore off. I rubbed at the ache in my chest. My family was dead, all but Carly. Giuseppe, the man that betrayed and used me, was dead. Dino, the only man left in the Family that I still trusted had died when Carly broke into the compound. I had gotten everyone killed, all because I did the one thing Dino warned me against. I trusted the wrong person.
Flipping off the covers, I stood and headed for the hallway to take a shower. I listened for Ciara, but didn’t hear her moving around yet. Stepping into the shower, I let the cool water wash over me. I couldn’t let what happened to me in the past control my future. I had to find a way to move on. What kind of life I would have from here on out was still up for debate. I had enough money that I didn’t have to work, but after having purpose in my life for so long, I couldn’t just sit around.
After showering, I wrapped a towel around my waist and grabbed my clothes, stepping out of the bathroom and running right into Ciara. Her hands landed on my wet skin, slipping down my arms.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just…” She shook her h
ead and stepped back, her face taking in every inch of my chest. I could feel water running down my skin, dripping from my hair. Her eyes were locked on my muscles, and for the first time in a long time, I felt my cock stir beneath my towel.
“Did you need something?” I snapped. I was losing control, all because of a hard-on.
“No, I was just coming to use the bathroom. I didn’t hear you in the shower.”
She looked better this morning, a little groggy, but more rested. It must have been the sleeping pill I drugged her with. I grunted and stepped around her. I could feel her eyes on me as I walked into my bedroom. For some reason, I didn’t shut the door as I walked over to my dresser. I dropped my towel, my cock now at half mast all because of the woman in the hallway that was still staring at me. Tugging on a shirt first, I dug around for some boxers, grimacing when I tried to pull them over my hard cock. Next came my jeans, and when I turned, sure enough, she was still standing in the hallway staring at me. But when she realized that I was now facing her, she ducked her head and darted into the bathroom.
I pressed a hand to my cock, willing it to go down. It didn’t work, but after a few deep breaths, at least I didn’t feel like I was about to go maul the woman. Tugging on socks, I headed down the hallway, my towel flung over my shoulder. As I waited for her to come out of the bathroom, I started the coffee and pulled out some bacon and eggs. It snowed overnight, but the storm was nothing like they had predicted. It must have passed over us, which meant that I could take Ciara into town and be rid of her. I had enough money. I could just give her enough to get by for a while, maybe set her up in an apartment in a nearby town. Then I wouldn’t wake up to her screaming in the middle of the night.
Nodding to myself, I decided that after breakfast, I would gather her shit up and find someplace for her to stay. My life would go back to the way it was. I could check in on her from time to time, just to make sure she was okay, and find out if she remembered anything. There was still something off about her, and I needed to find out.
I was finishing up the eggs just as she came out of the bathroom. She was still limping slightly as she rubbed at her eyes.
“Did you get some sleep?” I asked with a smirk.
“Yeah, it was weird. I just suddenly felt tired and…” Her gaze snapped to mine. “Did you drug me?”
“It was better than listening to you scream.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Don’t ever do that again. If I want to take medication, I’ll decide that for myself.”
“And would you have taken them? You obviously needed them to sleep, yet you didn’t even go for them last night.”
Her lips pursed. “I don’t like the way they make me feel.”
“You’re not supposed to. They’re supposed to knock you on your ass so you don’t do something stupid, like move around on a bad leg that you’re supposed to be resting.”
She glared at me, but moved around me, grabbing her own coffee. It was clear that if I got her an apartment in town, she wouldn’t do what she was supposed to and take the damn pills. She was too stubborn. Which meant that she would do too much and wouldn’t heal as quickly as she could. She also wouldn’t get much sleep, if last night was any indication of what would happen. She’d wake up screaming every night, and then there would be complaints by the neighbors. She’d get kicked out and end up back here anyway.
Crap. I’d have to give her a few days to get back on track. A week tops. Then she’d be fine and ready to go out on her own. Besides, she still had the head injury, and sometimes the symptoms of those were delayed. It was really best if someone kept an eye on her right now. And a bonus for me, I could try and dig into her some more and figure out if she was hiding anything.
“Breakfast is ready,” I grumbled, a little pissed off at myself that I had just talked myself into keeping her around. I finished up the bacon and put it on both plates, then walked over to the table, setting hers down. I grabbed her pills and some water, then set it down in front of her.
“Are these more pain pills?”
“No.”
“Sleeping pills?”
I sighed and cut into my eggs. “They’re just the antibiotics.”
She looked at them hesitantly, like I would trick her, which I actually might try.
“Check the damn bottle if you don’t believe me.”
She hesitated for only a moment before swallowing the pills. “Thank you.”
I grunted, digging into my breakfast.
“So, what are your plans for the day?”
“Work,” I muttered.
“What kind of work?”
I put a piece of bacon in my mouth and ignored her question.
“I was thinking that I could do some cleaning today…you know, to help pay you back in some way.”
I grunted again. It was becoming my immediate response to anything she said. What I really wanted to tell her was that there were other ways for her to pay me back. She could get down on her knees and blow me.
“So, what kind of stuff do you do? Do you have a job?”
Sighing, I shoveled eggs into my mouth so I didn’t have to answer. I wouldn’t even know what to tell her.
“I’ve been wondering about what I did, you know, before the accident. Why was I driving through here? Was it on the way to a job or to see someone? I mean, I only had two suitcases, so that doesn’t exactly scream I’m moving to a new place. But then again, maybe I didn’t really have much. Maybe I had just run out on a boyfriend I was living with. But wouldn’t I have been going to stay with my parents then? Wouldn’t I have been listed as a missing person?”
“Maybe your parents don’t miss you.”
Her mouth dropped. “That’s mean.”
“Well, you talk so damn much, maybe they didn’t want to hear about your break up.”
She huffed in irritation, and I almost smiled. Almost. “You know, you’re really rude.”
“I call it like I see it.”
“And you see it that my parents wouldn’t want to see me because I talk too much?”
I spread my arms wide. “Do you see me? I’m trying to eat my breakfast in peace. I didn’t ask for you to talk to me. I don’t want to have idle chit chat about my day, and frankly, I don’t give a shit why you were driving through the mountains. And as soon as you’re better, I’ll drop your ass off at the women’s shelter and move on with my life, as if you were never here.”
Well, most of that was true. But as her bottom lip started to quiver, it just pissed me off even more. I wasn’t good with women in any way. I didn’t know how to talk to one, and frankly, in the Family, they weren’t viewed as anything other than a bargaining chip. At least, that’s the way most people saw women. Carly, however, had been trained with the rest of us. She was different. This woman had probably never even held a gun. She wasn’t from my world, and whatever shit she got herself into, it was nothing compared to what I had been through. She was nothing but a distraction, a very beautiful distraction.
Her face scrunched up, and I was about to stand and go try to comfort her in some way, maybe pat her on the back or something. But then she snorted and broke out in laughter. Shocked, I watched as she threw her head back and laughed harder than anyone I’d ever seen.
Pissed, I shoved my chair back from the table and took my plate to the sink.
“I’m sorry,” she laughed. “Really, I’m…sorry. It’s just you’re all…grumpy. All the time! Is there ever a time that you just relax?”
“No,” I growled.
“See!” she pointed at me. Lowering her voice and making her face drop, she grumbled “No,” mocking me. “I’ll drop your ass at the women’s shelter and move on like you never existed.”
She started laughing again, wiping away tears from her eyes.
“You find this funny?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, I try to take you seriously, but it’s hard when you’re always trying to be so tough.”
“There’s no trying about it
.”
She nodded, biting back a grin. “I can see that.”
Well, there was nothing left to say. Stomping to the door, I walked out and slammed the door behind me, not realizing until I was already outside that I hadn’t even put on shoes.
14
Ciara
I had to stop laughing at Antonio, or I would wound his poor, stubborn heart. I didn’t know the man, which was something I was trying to rectify, but it was hard to take him seriously when he was so angry all the time. I thought maybe it was weird that I wasn’t more scared of him, that I wasn’t flinching from his touch or watching my mouth around him. But the fact that it pissed him off only made it more fun.
I brought my dishes over to the sink, running them under the water, which only made me think about Antonio walking out of the shower in a towel and the water running down his body. I shouldn’t be thinking about him and sex. I didn’t even know if I’d had sex before. I had a feeling that it would be second nature to me, but I didn’t know why.
But why shouldn’t we have sex? We were strangers living together in a cabin. He was single, as far as I knew, and I was single. At least, I thought I was. What would be the harm in it? Maybe I could work out some of his anger.
The door flung open and Mr. Grouchy himself walked through the door, glaring at me as he shoved his feet into his boots. I licked my lips, doing my best not to laugh at him.
“Don’t,” he said harshly.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were going to.”
“I really wasn’t.”
He pulled on his coat, so I rushed over. It was now or never. “Hey, where are you going?”
He sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m going outside to do some work.”
“What kind of work? Is it something I can help with?”
He threw me an incredulous look. “You have a broken wrist and you’re hobbling around on one gimpy leg. What the fuck do you think you’re going to do?”
I huffed, irritated that he was pointing out all my flaws at the moment. “Well…I can…hand you stuff or something.”
Dead Man's Hand: A Small Town Romance (A Good Run Of Bad Luck Book 1) Page 8