by Mae Doyle
He nods, his eyes still in the general area of Eva. There’s no way that she’s getting out of here without me knowing about it. Even the window has bars and a secure lock on it. We haven’t had to use this room like this very often, but Pops has always said that it’s a good idea to have a spare room set up, just in case.
Once the door shuts behind me, I walk down to the dining room. It looks completely different from dinner just a few hours ago. Not only is all the food gone, but the women aren’t invited. Ma is in bed, and the other wives are waiting at their homes.
“Okay,” I say, slipping into my seat next to Pops, “first things first, we have to figure out who ordered that hit. They came really damn close to making their mark, and I’m not exactly keen on dying quite yet.” We’re all going to die, and we all know that, but none of us are exactly racing towards the grave. Having a bullet come that close to me makes me a little jumpy.
Pops raps his knuckles on the table and we all look up. Arlo, Matty, Valentino, Ricky, and I are ready for whatever he’s going to tell us to do. What Pops says goes, and we all know it.
“I hate to say it,” he says, his voice level and calm, “but I’m pretty damn sure that this is the work of the cousins.” Ricky shifts in his seat, but nobody looks at him. He’s a cousin, but he’s not one of those cousins. In other words, he has nothing to fear. Nobody even looks at him, so I don’t know why the fuck he’s shifting in his seat.
We all need to stay cool.
“Can we prove it?” Matty always likes to get the facts. It’s something that we love about him, but right now I don’t want the facts. I want to spill some fucking blood and take out the idiot who thought that they could put a hit out on me. “Did you see him?”
He’s looking at me, and I hate that I have to shake my head. Even if it had been the middle of the day and bright as fuck out, I don’t think that I would have seen a damn thing. I was too caught up in enjoying Eva’s body. Sighing, I adjust myself below the table, glad that we’re not all sitting around in the living room so that everyone could see my cock twitch when I think of her.
“It was fucking dark,” I tell them. “And as soon as the bullet flew by, we ran. I didn’t really feel like sticking around to see who was on the other end of the piece, you know?” That seemed to settle them all, except Pops. That’s why he’s the don.
“Is this because you had to get your dick wet?” His tone is lighter than I would have expected, but I still raise an eyebrow at him.
“I didn’t have any reason to think that it wasn’t safe. How the fuck was I to know that one of the cousins would lose their shit?”
“Maybe because they didn’t show up at the Claw to pay respects? Did you not think about that?” He slams his hands down on the table, but none of us jump. Are we scared of Pops? Sure, everyone with a fucking brain should be at least a little afraid of him. But would we show him?
Fuck no, we’re not stupid.
He thinks that I fucked up, and when I look around the table, I can easily see that the other guys think so, too. Okay. I take a deep breath and hold it for a moment while I think.
It’s fucking hard for me to concentrate when I know that she’s in the other room, her hot little pussy just waiting for me to come sink my dick into it.
Yeah, right. I’m fucking crazy if I think that I’m getting anywhere near her cunt for a while after this. I bet that she’s hung up a sign. Closed for business.
“I’ll take care of it.” Even as the words leave my mouth, Pops starts to shake his head. I know that he’s not going to leave me out to dry, no matter how frustrated he is with me right now. That’s not how our family works. We may be mad as hell, but we don’t back out when someone needs us.
Before Pops can speak, though, Arlo pipes up, turning to Ricky. “You think that you can reach out to some contacts and see who in the family has enough of a beef to try to take one of us out? It’s kinda weird that they would have Roque in their sights if they want to take down Pops.”
It was weird, but I honestly hadn’t thought about that until just now. It would make much more sense for them to wait until they had Pops on his own and try to take him out so that the cousins could battle for the position of don.
“Unless they’re interested in taking everyone out, one at a time.” Valentino isn’t the one with great contacts but he has his phone out and is scrolling through it. Normally, Pops would go crazy that one of us wasn’t paying attention, but he’s probably the best bet for one of us finding out information quickly.
Ricky takes the hint and pulls out his phone. Matty, Arlo, and I wait for instruction from Pops.
“You,” he says, turning to me, “need to calm down that hellcat you brought into the house. I don’t know what you’re going to do to get her to simmer down, but we can’t have her screaming and causing a scene while she’s here.”
“I have something for that.” Arlo reaches into his pocket and pulls out a baggie with some pills in it. “They’ll just put her to sleep, but they won’t fuck her up or anything. You want one?”
I don’t want one, but the look on Pops’ face tell me that I better get over that really fucking fast, so I take the baggie from him when he slides it across the table to me. There are four small white pills inside, each stamped with a letter on one side, and I’ve never seen them before.
“What are they?” I ask him, unwilling to give my sweet Eva anything without knowing exactly what it is. The thought of drugging her at all turns my stomach, but Pops is right. She can’t be causing a fuss while she’s here, not if we’re going to be able to think through what we need to do and take care of this threat.
“Just a sleep aid.” He shrugs and looks away.
A sleep aid. Right.
I leave the pills on the table, swearing to myself that I’m not going to use them unless I absolutely have to – and then I’m only going to use them after I’ve looked up what they are. I don’t get the feeling that Eva takes meds for anything, but I’d hate to be the reason that she had a bad trip or something.
Ricky slams his phone down on the table. “Got it,” he says, looking up excitedly at the rest of us. We’re all waiting to hear what he has to say, and he probably fucking loves the spotlight, but now is not the time, and he knows it. “Mutual friend, more mine than his, says that Vince Lanetti was the person hired to do the hit.”
We’re all silent and turn to Pops, who nods. “You guys know what to do.”
We do. Fuck yeah, we do.
My finger has been itchy ever since that bullet came flying at our heads, and I can tell by the look on everyone else’s face that they’re ready to find Vince, too.
“The girl?” Pops asks, reaching out and putting a hand on my arm as I stand up. I hesitate. The best thing would be to give her one of those pills, make sure that she passes out, and then go hunting for Vince, but I’m a little nervous to do that without knowing what they are.
“She’ll be fine.” I’m surprised to hear Arlo stand up for me, but I try to keep it off of my face. “The rookie will keep her under control, Pops, and we won’t be gone very long, okay?”
It takes a moment, but Pops finally nods. Arlo flashes me a smile and I walk out of the room with him, Matty, Valentino, and Ricky. We’re going hunting, and there’s no way that we’re coming back until we’ve handled our shit.
That’s what the Torenti family does. We handle our shit. That’s why everyone knows not to fuck with us, and when people make the mistake of thinking that they can try something without repercussions, they quickly learn that they’ve made a big fucking mistake.
I don’t know what rock Vince crawled out from under, but he better fucking go hide again, because we’re coming, and nothing can stop us.
Chapter 9
Eva
I have no intention of stretching out and taking a nap, which is something that Roque wants me to do. There’s no way that I’m going to lay down on this bed and close my eyes, no matter how tired I am or how comfortab
le the mattress is.
Bouncing a little on the bed, I try to wake back up, but it starts to squeak and I stop right away. I have no idea where Roque is, but I saw him and a lot of other big guys, and I don’t really want to call them all back in here.
The driver by the door manages to glance at me without actually looking at me, and it makes me shiver. I still can’t get over how young he is, and I realize with a start that he may be my best bet for getting out of here.
“Hey,” I call out. My voice catches, probably because I’m terrified, so I try again. “Hey, what’s your name?”
I swear, I know that he’s not deaf, because I’ve talked to him before, but he does a damn good job of not looking at me. Instead, he keeps his eyes locked on the window behind me. Rather than leaning against the doorframe, he’s standing straight and still, his hand resting gently on his hip.
Nope. Not on his hip. On his gun. I don’t know how in the hell I missed that before, but he’s got a gun holstered on his hip and his fingers are resting lightly on the handle.
Handle? Is that what you call it? I can’t remember. I feel dangerously tired, and even though I have a sudden urge to rush him and try to knock him out of the way, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t make it across the room before I fell over in a dead sleep.
My eyes are painfully heavy and I have to focus on blinking. When I reach up to rub them, I hear him shift his feet, and I look up at him through slits.
“Why don’t you just rest? There’s another blanket on the bed to help you stay warm,” he says, finally looking at me.
He’s right. I should rest. “You think that that’s okay? I don’t want anyone to get mad.”
I swear, I see him relax a little and I have to hold back a smile. Poor kid thinks that I’m honestly going to willingly lay down and just close my eyes when I’m in this strange house. Hell, I feel like a kidnap victim, and I have no intention of becoming a homicide victim.
“I think that you’d make Roque very happy if you were rested. He’ll be in to check on you in a bit.” It’s a lie, and I can tell. He’d checked his phone earlier and I didn’t miss how he’d raised his eyebrows in surprise. I can’t help but think that maybe Roque has left the house.
If he has, and if he left me here alone with this kid…then I’m golden.
“Thanks…uh, what’s your name? I forgot.” Nope, I’ve never heard his name, but part of my plan involves getting him to relax. It’s really my best option for getting out of here.
He smiles at me. “I’m Johnny. Now, Eva, why don’t you sit back and relax? Here, I’ll even get the blanket for you.”
I grin at him and start to lie down, but I have no intention of relaxing. “Thanks, Johnny,” I tell him, keeping an eye on him as he walks over to me. When he lets go of his pistol to pick up the blanket at the end of the bed, I act, grabbing the pillow from behind me and shoving it into his face, pushing with all of my might as I stand up and make a run for it.
I’m wrapped up like a fucking burrito, but that’s not going to stop me. Pulling my blanket up, I run for the door, lunging for it and grabbing the handle. All I have to do is get out of the room. I know I can find my way out of the house as soon as I’m free from here.
The handle turns easily and I feel a thrill rush through me. I honestly hadn’t been sure if the door would be unlocked or not, but it swings open easily to me on silent hinges. Johnny is behind me, and I hear that he’s off of the floor from where I knocked him down and coming for me, but I don’t turn around to look at him.
I have to get out of here.
Holding the blanket tightly around my body, I start out into the hall. This room is just one door on a long hall of doors, and I frantically try to remember which direction when came from when Roque brought me here.
Right.
No, left.
I turn my body, but it’s that one moment of indecision that does it to me. Johnny hits my body from behind, taking me down in a full tackle. I scream and reach out for something to grab onto to keep from falling, but there’s nothing there and my hands close around empty air.
We land with a thud and Johnny grabs my wrists, quickly pinning them behind my back. “Don’t move.” His voice is low and threatening, and even though I want to try to buck him off and run for it, I can’t help but think about the fact that he has a gun on his hip.
“I’m sorry,” I squeak out. My ankle is throbbing from how I landed, and I have a sick feeling that it may be rolled, but I can’t even reach down there to touch it. He has a knee in my back and he sighs. “I thought…” I begin, but I don’t finish the thought.
I thought what? That you look like a little kid and I could easily sneak past you without you being able to stop me? Yeah, I probably shouldn’t tell him that.
“Get up.” He shifts off of me and I stand slowly, using my hands to help me push off of the floor since my ankle hurts so badly. I groan a little as I try to put pressure on it. Yep, definitely rolled.
“I don’t think I can walk – ” My words fail me when I look up and straight into the face of the most mafia-looking guy I’ve ever seen. He’s obviously related to Roque. They have the same thick dark hair and deep eyes, but this guy doesn’t look nearly as friendly. He’s not smiling, and he has his arms crossed, making his muscles pop out under his button-up shirt.
“Um, hi?” I’m terrified. There’s nothing about this guy that makes me think that he’s friendly, or won’t hurt me, or even that he’s happy to see me in his house at all. I have the very distinct feeling that he’s probably Roque’s dad, and if there’s one thing that I’ve never been good at, it’s meeting the parents.
This is not how I want to meet someone’s dad. I’m wrapped in a blanket, I can barely stand up, and I’m pretty sure that I have sticks and twigs in my hair from hiding out in the woods after I fucked his son in an alley.
A great first impression? Not really.
He doesn’t respond to me. Instead, he looks past me at Johnny. “Give me that and get some rope,” he tells him, reaching out. I gasp as Johnny hands him his gun. Was that pointed at me?
Johnny hands him his gun and slips silently past us to walk down the hall. Out of the corner of my eye I see him open another door and dig in it. It must be a closet, and after just a moment, he comes back to us with a length of rope in his hand.
“Back to the bed, Eva. And let’s hope like hell that you’re worth all the trouble or we’ll have to deal with you. Don’t make me deal with you before my son gets back.”
I was right. He’s Roque’s dad. That doesn’t give me any peace as he stares down at me over the pistol. I turn, holding onto the doorframe, and grit my teeth. The bed is a long way from here and I don’t know that I can make it.
Before I can turn and tell him that my ankle hurts, however, something small and hard presses into my back. I’m not stupid. I mean, I’ve never had a gun pressed to my back before, but I know exactly what it is without having to turn around.
“Bed, Eva. Now.”
My face flushes and I take a deep breath before starting to hobble across the room. Every single time I put weight on my foot, pain flares through my body and I gasp a little. The edges of my vision are getting fuzzy and I focus in on the bed, trying to keep it in sight as my vision slowly goes.
The edge of the mattress hits the front of my thigh and I tip forward, catching myself with my hands at the las second. Roque’s dad doesn’t wait for me to swing my body up on to the bed. He grabs my legs and flips them around, turning me so that I’m stretched out on the bed.
My ankle throbs, and I’m in the exact position that I would have been in if I had just listened to Roque and not tried to make a run for it. Mentally, I berate myself, but I know that given the chance, I would do it all again.
I just can’t stay here. Not with guys who point guns at you willy-nilly.
“Tie her up.” The dad turns to Johnny, who gives me a sad look before stretching my arms above my head and lashing my wrists
to the bedframe. When he reaches for my ankle, I twitch it away from him.
“I think I rolled it,” I tell him, not wanting to meet his eyes. Carefully, Johnny lifts the blanket and the two of them look at my ankle.
“Get her an ice pack and tie the other one down.” Johnny scurries off at the command and I’m left alone with Roque’s dad. The gun he’s holding never wavers and I swallow hard.
“I’m Eva.”
At this, he laughs, and the sound makes me nervous. It’s not the same friendly laugh that Roque has when he’s pleased with something that I’ve done or wants to get me naked. It’s the laugh of someone who is simply doing what needs to be done and is bored with what they have to do.
“We all know who you are, Eva.”
That’s it. That’s all he says to me. Johnny comes back and wraps my ankle with an ice pack before tying my other ankle down.
“You need to take this, Eva.” The dad gives Johnny back his gun and pulls a small baggie from his pocket. After he shakes out a small white pill he reaches out, obviously intending to put it in my mouth.
I shake my head. “What is it?” I manage to ask, keeping my teeth tightly shut.
“Take the fucking sleeping pill, Eva, or I swear to you, when Roque gets back, there won’t be any Eva for him to fuck.”
Surprise makes me drop my mouth open, and he pops the pill onto my tongue, waiting until I swallow it and show him that my mouth is empty. Tears burn at the corners of my eyes, but I don’t let them fall. There’s no way that I’m going to give in to them, not with the two of them here watching me.
He turns and leaves the room without another word and Johnny goes back to stand by the door. I try to keep my eyes focused on him, but whatever the pill was, it was strong.
After a few minutes, my eyelids are so heavy that I can only keep one open at a time. I feel like a little kid trying to stay away during a movie, but the stakes are much higher.