Rough Around the Edges

by Ranae Rose

  “Why wouldn’t she? You don’t mean shit to her.” A twisted smile crept across the man’s face. “You’ve been played like the fool you are. You really couldn’t figure it out on your own?” He laughed a labored, wheezing laugh that was impeded by Ryan’s bodyweight. “Don’t believe me? Check my fucking pocket.”

  Sweat trickled down Manny’s forehead in rivulets. “Check his pocket.”

  Digging into the idiot’s pockets wasn’t at the top of Ryan’s to-do list, but it wasn’t above what he’d do in the name of someone’s dying wish. Even Manny’s. “Which one?”

  “Left.”

  The man’s jeans were baggy, which made it easy to reach into the pocket without moving much more than his hand. His fingers touched metal, and he pulled out a key ring. It hit the carpet with a muffled jangling when he dropped it.

  Three keys hung from the steel ring. So did a pink daisy-shaped keychain, the little flecks of glitter in its plastic petals gleaming dully.

  Manny stopped staring at his attacker and gaped at the keychain instead, his eyes creasing at the corners, as if the weight of his lids was too much. “Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck…”

  “You’re dying,” Ryan interrupted, eyes fixed on Manny. There was no time to be anything but blunt. It wasn’t the first time he’d watched someone bleed out. “Is that the last thing you want to say?”

  Manny shook his head, the motion weak but discernible. “Doesn’t matter.” He breathed hard, sweating harder. “Just let him up.”

  “No. I won’t let him go.”

  Manny’s brows plunged as he moved a hand, groping along the waistband of his jeans. “Let him up.” He pulled a .45 from his pants and held it with a surprisingly steady hand. “This is my right. Ally wouldn’t want you to kill for her, anyway. Trust me.”

  He was right about what Ally would want. Still, the important thing was keeping her safe.

  Manny carried his gun locked and loaded. He had to be using all his strength to hold it steady. Slowly, Ryan eased up off the other man’s back, simultaneously drawing his gun.

  Just in case. He raised the 9mm and trained it on the man who’d put two bullets in Ally. Under no circumstances would he allow him to escape the house, where he’d be a danger to her again.

  Manny’s attacker jumped up and ran for the door but hardly made it two feet before he fell, crumpling to the carpet as Manny’s gun’s report echoed loud and sharp through the hall.

  Either Manny had aimed true, or it had been a lucky accident. A bullet wound gaped in the man’s chest, over a lung and near the heart. Maybe even in the heart – it was hard to be sure. Manny fired another round for good measure before dropping the gun, his hand landing limp and bloody beside it.

  Ryan tucked his gun back into his jeans.

  Manny’s outstretched hand was the only part of him Ryan could get close to without stepping in blood. Kneeling, he pushed back the sleeve of Manny’s jacket and pressed two fingertips against the inside of his wrist.

  He caught the last fluttering pulse beat, a weak thump thump that wasn’t followed, though he knelt there, waiting, for what seemed like an eternity.

  He rose. Though the life was only moments gone from Manny’s body, there was an unmistakable lack of it. His eyes were open but clearly blind, dark and expressionless. He had to look away – looking into them was too much like looking into Ally’s eyes, and he’d sooner take the gun he was carrying and shoot himself than see her lying still and lifeless, gone forever.

  The thought of her caused his stomach to shrivel up as he retrieved the keys lying on the floor and exited the house through the partially open front door, elbowing it the rest of the way open. Inés’ keys were the only object he’d touched inside Manny’s house – he’d leave no fingerprints on doorknobs or the house’s other surfaces, and hopefully no one would think to search the scene for any other evidence of a third person.

  The crime scene would look like two rival gang members had killed each other, which was exactly what had happened. It would be like he’d never even been there, except he’d know. He’d carry the memory of Manny’s dying words and dead eyes inside himself for the rest of his life.

  The ghosts of Manny and his killer would keep those of Gibson and the other people he’d seen die in Afghanistan – brothers in arms, enemies and civilians – company. His mind was already a haunted house, shot full of holes. For once, he feared the future more than the past. Manny’s death didn’t break his heart, but telling Ally about it would.

  Chapter 21

  She lay still against her stack of pillows, eyes finally closed. There was color in her face again and she looked so peaceful he didn’t want to wake her. Still, it needed to be done. He couldn’t leave her hanging, even if she was asleep. And holy hell, he needed to touch her.

  He’d barely begun to caress the smooth curve of her cheek when she stirred, eyes fluttering open. As he met them he realized that he’d been wrong – Manny’s eyes hadn’t been identical to hers. Neither were Carlos’. Hers were a warmer shade of brown, one that put him at ease whenever she looked his way.

  “Ryan.” Her voice came out soft. Maybe she was still feeling weak, or maybe she was being careful not to wake her mother, who sat slumped and sleeping in a chair a few feet from the bed.

  Unable to resist the silky texture and promise of warmth, he buried a hand in her hair as he bent over her, pressing his lips against her jaw.

  She’d tied her hair loosely back with an elastic band. He pulled it away, freeing her waves to tumble over her shoulders. So pretty. Even the hospital lighting cast a dull glow around her head, one that her hair caught and reflected.

  “I love you,” she said.

  He kept kissing her for a few seconds, pressing his lips against her cheek, her closeness flooding his mind like a sweet drug, taking the edge off of everything, off of him. Combined with the effect of her words, he was almost knocked to his knees. Knowledge of what he had to do kept him standing, though he took the time to kiss her deeply.

  “What happened?” she demanded when their lips parted. “Tell me what happened. Where have you been?”

  The sheer relief of being in her presence faded, superseded by dread as he sank down onto the edge of her bed and prepared to confess. “There were three people in that car during the drive-by. Three men. They’re dead.”

  “You killed them?” Her eyes widened, like she hadn’t expected that. What had she thought when he’d left with Manny?

  “Two of them were already dead.”

  She stared at him with eyes that were still wide, her lower lip dented where she was clearly biting it from the inside.

  “Don’t look so sad. I didn’t kill anyone. I would, though, to protect you.” Anything, for her sake.

  She relaxed visibly, her shoulders easing down a little, but she never dropped her gaze. “Where’s Manny?”

  The air seemed to thicken, and he could feel the truth hanging over him like a storm cloud. He’d left Manny on the bloodstained carpet, dead beside his equally lifeless killer. There was nothing he could’ve done to help him. Still, he wondered. Had they been found yet? Maybe by the police, Carlos, Inés or even a neighbor, if any of them were brave enough to approach Manny’s home uninvited.

  Ally shot a quick look toward her mother, who was still asleep. “Where is he?”

  “He was killed.”

  The look that crossed her face nearly stopped his heart. Regret and guilt avalanched through him as his brain replayed Manny’s death over and over, the events looping in front of his mind’s eye. What could he have done differently? He’d asked himself that at least a dozen times already and still didn’t know.

  She blinked, eyes dry but round. “What?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You have to tell me what happened.”

  He sighed. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Tell me now, while my mother is asleep. Keep your voice down so you don’t wake her.”

  He’d already decided
how he’d summarize the events – he’d thought about how he’d tell her as he’d disposed of the gun Manny had given him and the keychain he’d taken. Both objects were somewhere at the bottom of the harbor now.

  “The men responsible for the drive-by were part of a rival gang. A new one and a small one – a little smaller than Casa de Ladrillos. They’d recently started giving Carlos some trouble. Your brother got those cuts in a confrontation with one of them. Killed the guy. The shooting was in retaliation for that. They wanted to send Manny a message to piss him off so he’d come looking for them in a rage.”

  “I’m surprised they didn’t go after Inés.”

  “Yeah. I’ll get to that. Anyway, apparently while Manny was here yesterday, several of them went after Carlos. Shot up his house. Didn’t kill him, though. Didn’t hit anybody. Just pissed Carlos off. So Carlos and the rest went after them.

  “They tracked down the car and killed all of the men who’d been in it when Carlos’ house was targeted. Two of them were also two of the men who shot you. So that was already done.

  “Manny and I went looking for the third on our own while Carlos and the rest of the guys went after the man who’s reportedly leading the rival gang. We found the third man in the last place we’d expected to – Manny’s house. The doors were locked three times over and there were no signs of forced entry, so we didn’t expect him or anyone to be inside. But he was.”

  Ally’s fists were tangled in the bedsheets, the fabric knotted between her white-knuckled fingers. “How did he get inside?”

  “You know that woman your brother was supposed to marry?”

  “Inés?”

  “Yeah. Apparently she had a boyfriend in the rival gang. He was the third man.”

  Ally gasped. “What the hell? She was cheating on Manny?”

  “Yeah. She gave her boyfriend a key to his house.”

  “So she killed him. She plotted to murder him.”

  Ryan nodded.

  “Bitch. That bitch.” Her voice was almost a whisper, but there was nothing gentle about it. “It all makes sense in a sick sort of way. The way they got serious so fast. Making a show of planning a big wedding. God, what did she do to make him fall for her like that?”

  “I don’t know. But she had him hook, line and sinker, apparently.” Despite his hard exterior, Manny had clearly been in anguish when he’d discovered Inés’ betrayal.

  “He must’ve been so lonely – he must’ve wanted so badly to belong to a real family again.”

  Family. It was impossible not to think about what Manny had said about Ally – how she’d had a plastic nurse’s kit, how she’d begged him to play along.

  “Poor Manny.” Ally looked down at her hands.

  Ryan nodded. Whatever Manny had done and whatever he’d deserved, it hadn’t been pleasant to watch him die the way he had, with the knowledge of his fiancée’s betrayal fresh in his mind. But then, it was never pleasant watching anyone die.

  “What happened when you entered the house?” Ally asked when she looked up again.

  “He was waiting inside – he’d been expecting Manny. As soon as Manny opened the front door, he stabbed him in the gut. He said ‘this one’s from Inés’.”

  He kept talking – it was easier not to pause. “Manny was hurt. I wrestled his attacker off of him, but it was a bad wound.

  “The guy had been expecting Manny, but he hadn’t been expecting me. After I got him off of Manny I knocked the knife from his hand. We fought. Just for a few seconds. I won. Managed to get him down onto the floor and pinned him there.

  “He wasn’t a danger to Manny anymore, but the damage was done. The blade had gone deep. Manny was bleeding out, but he wouldn’t stop obsessing over what the guy who’d stabbed him had said. He begged me not to do anything else to the guy until he’d gotten the story straight. So I told the guy that if he didn’t answer Manny’s questions, I’d— Well, never mind what I said. He cooperated.

  “So Manny got to ask his questions, and the guy confessed about Inés and how she’d played Manny. I didn’t care about that, to be honest. I cared that the guy had shot you. That was why I was going to kill him.”

  “But you didn’t.” Her statement almost sounded like a question.

  He shook his head. “Manny begged me to let him kill the guy. So I did. Manny drew the gun he’d been keeping in his jeans. I let the guy up. Manny shot him before he could make it out the door.” Ryan turned up his palms and looked down at his hands. “I didn’t kill him, but I let Manny do it. I guess there’s not much of a difference, is there?”

  The entire sequence of events was only a few hours past, and already, the mental lines he’d drawn had blurred. Legally, he and Manny had defended themselves against a criminal who’d stabbed one of them. Really, he’d participated in order to protect Ally. But watching Ally’s emotions play across her face as he told her what had happened left him thinking about how her brother had died and how it obviously hurt her.

  “And then Manny died?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Lost too much blood. I’m sorry. It happened fast, and there was nothing I could do. He was definitely gone – I checked before I left.”

  “How long ago was this?”

  “A few hours ago. I made myself scarce for a while after that. Headed to a different part of the city. Waited until I was sure I hadn’t been followed or anything to come here.” There’d been no sign of witnesses or followers from the beginning, but he’d made sure and had also taken time to get rid of the gun and keychain.

  “I’m sorry. That all sounds so horrific. I can’t believe you went through all that to protect me and mamá.”

  He leaned over the bed, craving her closeness again. “I’d do anything if I thought it would protect you. But I’m afraid things still aren’t safe. Carlos is on a witch hunt for anyone affiliated with that rival gang, and they’re retaliating. I don’t even like the thought of you in this city, let alone in your home, where they know you live. Manny is gone, but still…”

  He’d spent hours thinking about it, racking his mind for a solution as he’d made his way across the city. Carlos was still alive and was still Ally’s uncle even if she didn’t want him to be. Living in the same city as him would always pose a threat to her.

  A tear spilled from one of Ally’s eyes and trickled down her cheek, hanging on the edge of her jaw like a tiny crystal. “I don’t know what to tell you. This is where I live. This is my life.”

  “I know. Ally, don’t cry. I’m not asking you to come up with a solution. But I have one.” He did. It was the only possible plan, but it was a good plan. It would mean a safe life for her – a safe life with him.

  She wiped the tear away with the back of her hand.

  “I want to go back to New York,” he said. “And I want you to come with me. You and your mother.”

  “But you said—” She simply stared for a few moments, silent as her eyes shone with unshed tears.

  “I know I said I wasn’t interested in my parents’ offer, but things have changed. Drastically. I want to accept it, in part – I want to take a job at the company. As for the rest, they can keep it. I don’t need them to pave the streets in gold for me. But with a good job, I can support us and get your mother on her feet in a new city, too. I can even take care of your hospital bills, given some time. Everything will be fine.”

  He gripped her good hand, the one that was still wet with her tears. “Trust me.”

  * * * * *

  Five days and the veil had finally lifted. He couldn’t say what exactly was different about Ally, but something was. It was the way she’d looked at him that morning, without glaringly obvious anxiety. And it was the way she stood in front of the dresser, her bare shoulders more relaxed than they’d been at any point since the shooting. It was everything about her, and it was what he’d been waiting for.

  He crossed the room and the smell of her freshly-washed skin drifted to him, sweet and clean. She wore jeans, but nothing else
– everything from her waist up was bare, her skin smooth and gleaming here and there where a few beads of water lingered. Before she could lift anything from the drawer where she kept her things, he reached out and touched her, running his fingers over her spine, between her shoulder blades.

  She relaxed instead of tensing beneath his touch, and it was so good to feel her soften that way, like she wanted more. She’d worried a lot since being discharged from the hospital five days ago – worried that he’d somehow be implicated in the deaths of Manny and his attacker, worried about the plans they’d made for a new life, worried about her mother… She’d worried about everything, and he couldn’t blame her.

  He leaned close, letting his mouth come within a hairsbreadth of her neck. “Need help?”

  She was gripping the edge of the open drawer with her right hand and was still staring down into its depths. A couple of her outfits rested where he’d placed them – that seemed ages ago. “Just getting dressed.”

  He was tall enough to see over her shoulder, and his gaze was drawn irresistibly to her naked breasts. Her nipples were hard and little beads of water were scattered around the soft brown edges of her areolas, glistening against her skin and making his mouth water. He wrapped his good arm around her waist and touched her, but not her breasts – not yet. He let his hand rest on her belly instead.

  “I could help you into one of those tops. Or I could help you out of what you’ve already got on.”

  His palm tingled as he imagined cupping the lower swell of her breast. He hadn’t meant to get worked up, but his cock was already hard – he couldn’t look at her like this without it stiffening.

  She softened a little more, removing her hand from the edge of the drawer and letting it hang at her side. Her other arm was immobilized in a sling, and bandaged beneath that. He was careful not to bump it as he took her breast in hand, letting the warm weight of it rest against his palm. When he drew his thumb gently across the nipple, she made a breathy sound that sent anticipation rippling through him. “Help me out of these things.”