Those Boys Are Trouble: Valetti Crime Family Box Set

by Winters, Willow

  It feels like forever, but it must only be a few minutes until both the zip ties around my wrists and ankles have snapped. I don't move yet. My limbs are screaming at me to take off. But they don't need me alive, they just want to make it hurt that much more for Tommy. If I run, they could shoot to kill me and there's no reason they'd hold back. Even worse, if I did run and they caught me, I don't know what they'd do to me. But I'm sure they wouldn't let me get out again.

  So I wait. My skin prickles with anxiety, and the only thing I can hear is my heart beating loudly in my ears. I remember my phone in my back pocket and I struggle to keep my movements slow. Every time one of them looks at me, I freeze and try to remain as still as possible.

  I should call the cops. I need help, and I know they could possibly come in time to save me, but they may also find Tommy. I don't want him to get caught in the middle of this, but I have to do everything I can to save myself and our baby. My skin feels like ice as I dial the numbers 9-1-1 behind my back. But I've done it.

  I can faintly hear the dispatcher speaking, even though I can't give her any verbal confirmation that I'm on the line. I hit a button every few seconds, hoping she'll catch on.

  “Are you unable to speak?” I barely hear the words. I don't hit any keys.

  “If you can hear me, dial a number.” My thumb presses down. I barely hear a faint beep. I keep my eyes on my captors. They show no signs that they can hear anything.

  “Assistance is on its way. Is there a threat in your immediate vicinity?” she asks.

  The phone slips from my hand as I try to push a number. It falls to the ground with a faint thud. I watch them, but they don't hear it. I can't hear her anymore.

  There's no one else.

  All I can do now is wait. There's nothing else left that I can do to save myself. I need Tommy.

  Tonya

  Time passes slowly, yet nothing happens. I keep my eyes on the road and then on the men. My heart won't calm, and my skin sweats with anxiety. He's coming. I know he is. But what if he isn't? What if the cops come and the men hear? It'll only take a single bullet to end my life before they take off.

  I'm relying on someone else to save me. And I fucking hate that.

  I think I hear a car coming through the trees and closer to the entrance, and it distracts me. It also gets the men's attention and they raise their guns. No, no! I can't let them shoot. I start to stand, but the deafening sounds of guns being fired stops me in my tracks.

  Bullets ring out from my left and right. But I can't see where they're coming from. They ricochet off the cars, and I instantly scramble back behind the shed to find cover.

  I turn my body to run, but I slam into a hard, unmoving chest. My eyes flash to a set of light blue eyes, but before I can react, the man's pinning my arms down and carrying me toward the back of the shed. I kick out as hard as I can and land a blow to his shin. I try to push him off me as he curses and nearly drops me. I hear bullets hitting the metal of the cars. I hear men shouting and yelling. The sound of a man getting shot and falling to the ground fills my ears.

  “Left, left!” someone calls out. These are the sounds of an ambush.

  Fear overwhelms my body, but I force my limbs to push him away. I didn't come this close to escaping, just to be taken again. I refuse to stop fighting.

  “Jesus, woman, I'm here to protect you.” He pushes me against the shed with all of his body weight. I try to move my arm so I can get an uppercut in, but he leans his entire body against me, rendering both of us useless. I continue to struggle. I won't give up. “Calm the fuck down! Tommy sent me.” My body stills as I hear a few men call out. “On the passenger side!” A bullet and then another.

  “Tommy said stay here.” He pulls away a bit. “He'll fucking kill me if you go out there.”

  I turn my head to face him as the sounds die down and see a kid. He can't be any more than in his early twenties. He's got shaggy hair and an uneven patch of stubble. He backs his body away slowly, looking at me like I might take off.

  “Don't move,” he says with his finger pointed at me. If I was in a different situation, I'd roll my eyes. But right now, I'm full of nerves and apprehension.

  “Can I have a gun?” My body heats as I ask.

  “Tommy said you'd ask for one.” He laughs and slowly hands me a gun. The first thing I do is check for bullets. It's loaded. He eyes me warily. “You think he'd short you on ammo?”

  “Not him, no,” I say, taking a step toward the edge of the shed.

  “Don't. He'll kill me. For real,” he pleads with me, rocking on his feet. “Just stay here.”

  He takes a peek around the corner and grins. “They really only sent four.” He shakes his head and smiles from ear to ear. “Fucking idiots.” He turns to face me, leaving his body exposed, and I yank him back to the safety behind the shed.

  “Take cover,” I practically yell at him. Dumbass kid.

  “They're done,” he says defensively, with his forehead scrunched up.

  “Stay back here until you hear otherwise.” I feel like I'm back at the academy. This kid's gonna get his ass shot.

  He smirks at me. “No wonder Tommy likes you.” It's silent all around us; I think it's over. “You really a cop?” he asks.

  Before I can reply, I hear the answer behind me.

  “No, she's not.” I turn and immediately wrap my arms around Tommy's neck. I have to stand on my tiptoes. His large arms wrap around my body as he lifts me up. He buries his head in my neck.

  “Is it over?” I ask him, looking around to see something, anything, but I'm still in the back, so I can't see shit.

  “It's over. Probably a little overkill,” he says with a huff of a laugh.

  “Really, only four?” the kid says from behind me. I lift my head up in Tommy's arms to face the shaggy kid.

  “Well, they thought it'd just be me,” Tommy explains.

  “Dude, you should take offense to that.”

  “Get outta here, Brant.” The kid takes off as Tommy turns me in his arms.

  “Are you alright?” he asks me, as his eyes roam down every inch of exposed skin. He touches the small gash on my forehead and it makes me wince. “I’m so sorry, baby,” he says in a voice so soft and sincere I can feel his agony.

  I shake my head, “don’t be. It’s not your fault.” He tries to object, but I give him a small kiss and try to distract him, but when I pull back there’s still pain in his eyes.

  He gently brushes the pieces of rock and glass off of me, but I fall against his chest and hold onto him. “It's alright baby, I'm right here.” He pulls back from me and takes my chin in his hand. It feels so good to just be held by him. He gives me a soft, sweet kiss and it soothes every part of me. “Is the baby okay?” he asks, looking down on me with worry in his eyes.

  Tears prick at my eyes as I say, “Vincent told you.” My heart stops beating, and the world seems to blur around us.

  “Yeah,” he says, putting a hand on my belly as he asks, “Tell me you're alright?”

  I push the words out through my sob, “I'm okay.” I bury myself in his chest, feeling completely safe and secure. But then I remember, the cops will be here any minute. “You need to go. I called the cops.”

  At the word cops, the noise around us stops and I realize the other Valettis are still here.

  “You called the cops?” Vince comes up to our left, and Tommy angles his body so that his shoulder is between me and Vincent. I hold onto him as my body heats and a wave of nausea hits me. I had to. I didn't know they were all coming. I never would've guessed that.

  “What was she supposed to do, Vince?” Tommy asks. “We've got enough time to get out of here anyway.”

  Vince looks between the two of us and then says, “She has to stay here so they'll find her. Or else they'll come looking.”

  Tommy nods his head slowly, but he's clearly not planning on listening. His grip on me tightens. “Don't be stupid, Tommy. She'll be fine. She'll be out in a few hours,�
�� Vince points out.

  “I don't wanna leave her.” His words are absolute.

  “I'll say I was inside the shed and I didn't see anything,” I quickly say. Vince searches my face, like he's not sure if I'm being truthful or not.

  “They touch you?” Vince asks. At first I'm confused, but then I realize what he's asking. I shake my head as my eyes fall and Tommy's grip tightens on me.

  “You did real good. Guess they taught you something right, huh?” Vince talks to me, and I struggle to respond. I don't want to talk about being a cop with him. Not now, not ever.

  I give him a tight smile in return and say, “Thanks.”

  “We saved your ass, remember that,” he says before turning away from me. He yells out to the men who are picking up the bodies and lifting them into the back of their cars.

  “I don't want to leave you,” Tommy whispers into my ear.

  “Go, baby, please.” The danger is gone and the cops will be here soon. He needs to go. Him being here will only complicate things. It'll give the department leverage to use against the Valettis, and more ties to the Petrov case. The reminder of the case has me wanting to know if Petrov is truly dead. My eyes fly to Tommy's. I should ask him. I still don't know. The words are there, but I don't say them. The power they held before has waned. Before I can ask, I hear the sirens in the distance. “Go,” I tell him, staring in his eyes, begging him to listen to me.

  “I'll be watching and waiting, baby. I'll be right here for you.” He kisses me again as Vince's car pulls up in front of us.

  “Move your ass, Tommy! We gotta go!” he calls out, and I hear a door open.

  “I love you, Tommy.” I have to tell him. I can't hold it in anymore.

  Before he leaves, he gives me a small smile and brushes the hair out of my face as he says, “I love you, too.”

  Tonya

  “You sure you didn’t see anyone?” Jerry asks me, for the fourth time. He’s nodding his head and trying to get me to talk. He should know I’m not going to say shit. I haven’t for the last three hours. They found the blood at the scene. They ran tests and came back with nothing. All I told them was that I was taken against my will by men with Russian accents who wanted information.

  I shake my head with downcast eyes. I hate lying and putting them in this position, but I’m not going to give them anything to lead them to the Valettis. I told them I was blindfolded the entire time. I hate lying, but I need to stick with the story.

  The Russian mob is in deep shit, and there’s plenty of evidence on them. But nothing against Tommy or his familia.

  “Not a damn thing that could tie them there?” Jerry asks. He has a hunch it was the Valettis who came in and took the Russians out. All three of us know it was them. It makes sense. A Russian mob on their turf? It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.

  “You’re fucking one of them, aren’t you?” Harrison sneers at me from across the table. I fucking hate the way he says it. I also hate that he’s right. He doesn’t buy that I was taken in order to get information on the Valettis. That’s the story I’m supposed to give the cops. That the Russians wanted intel on their routines and addresses. Everything and anything I knew about them. But it doesn't make sense that I would be left unharmed. Not unless the Valettis needed me alive. Or if I meant something to one of them.

  Harrison can see right through that. I’m not a good liar. Jerry can as well, but he hasn’t said anything. I can see the disappointment in his eyes.

  “Get out, Harrison.” Jerry doesn’t yell, doesn’t even turn to look at him.

  Harrison clenches his fists and mutters an apology before stalking out of the room. There’s no love lost between us. As the door closes, Jerry leans forward and asks in a low soothing voice, “Are you sure you’re alright?” Concern is written all over his face.

  “I’ll be alright.” I cross my arms over my chest and take a deep breath. I’m still a little shaken up. A lot shaken up maybe, but Tommy’s there waiting for me. I close my eyes and I can feel his lips kissing my neck and his arms holding me close to him. He’s my happy place. I need him, and now I have him. I'm not letting him go. I can't. He better know that.

  “If you’re in any trouble, you know to come to me. Don’t you?” he asks, and I know he means it.

  I nod my head. There may be times I don’t agree with him, but I know he’d help me if he could. Right now I don’t need help though. At least not from him.

  “Are you sure you wanna go through with this?” He puts his hand on the table, offering it to me in a sweet gesture of comfort.

  I accept and put my hand in his, and he squeezes. “I dug into you a bit after you left the conference room and found out about your sister. You may have joined for the wrong reasons, but you're a good cop. It's not too late to stay.” He emphasizes the last line. If only he knew. It’s too late for so many things.

  “My mind's made up.” I pull my hand away and breathe in deep.

  “As long as you know what you’re doing,” he says, leaning back in his seat.

  A short laugh erupts from my lips. “I have no clue what I’m doing,” I confess. I run my hands through my hair and lean back, shaking my head. “I just want to be happy.”

  “You deserve to be happy, Tonya. Don’t let him hurt you. And when the time comes, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “He’s not going to hurt me, not ever.” I don’t know when the conversation changed, but we both know who we’re talking about. I won’t say it though. I won’t name him.

  “Not the way you’re thinking.” He walks to his door and locks it before shutting the shades. “What are you going to do when he gets charged with something, and it sticks?”

  I shake my head, “I’ll figure it out when it happens.” My hand subconsciously goes to my belly. I jerk it away before he has time to see. I know he loves me; I know I love him. And he’ll take care of us both.

  “I hope he treats you right, Tonya. I really do. But if he ever does anything, or any of them ever do anything,” he looks at me with absolute sincerity, “I’ll be here for you.”

  “Thank you, Jerry.”

  “Don’t thank me,” he says bluntly. “You’re asking for trouble.” I know what he means, and I understand it, I really do. But I can’t help what I want.

  A sad smile plays at my lips as I say, “I’m good at that, apparently.”

  He looks at me for a long moment and I don’t know what he wants from me.

  “I’ll be alright, Jerry. I promise you.” I stand up and walk over to give him a quick hug.

  He walks to the door and unlocks it, but before he opens it, he adds, “I just hate to see a good girl like you wind up with a man like him.” I can’t help the smile that grows on my face. He has no idea that I’m really a bad girl at heart.

  Tommy

  That was intense. I'm shocked at how fucked up I am over that shit. I scouted it out first. It took everything in me not to run to her as that prick put his hands on her. I got that fucker. I took him down first. I've been in worse situations though. Vince brought everyone. It feels so fucking good to know he still had my back.

  Those Russian pricks didn't stand a chance, and only two of 'em even got a shot off. They aimed at nothing. They couldn't see us in the dark. The one that took cover--fuck, if I was him, I would've just killed myself. Instead now he's sitting there, chained to a chair with a gag in his mouth. He should've known this was going to happen.

  “Whatcha gonna do with him, boss?” I ask Vince.

  “Well, we got the information we need, so I couldn't give two fucks. Figured you may wanna take some aggression out, since it was your girl he took.” Vince walks over to the sink in the back room. We're in the basement of the safe house. It's fucking freezing down here. The fucker in the chair has bruises all over his face. His one eye is swollen so bad his face looks inhuman.

  Anthony's drying off his tools. I instinctively look down and see three fingers on this fucker's right hand have been rem
oved. That's usually Anthony's first move. They're easy to cut off, and it makes a pretty bold statement.

  “So you got everything you need?” I ask Vince as he dries off his hands. He turns back to me.

  “Yeah, they aren't going to fuck with us unless they want their entire operation shut down. Thanks, Nik!” Vince slaps a hand on the man's shoulder and he doesn't even react. He's so close to death.

  “Alright, I'm good. Just kill the bastard,” I say.

  Vince looks at Anthony and he nods as we turn to leave. Anthony's not talkative when he's on the job. Never has been. I used to take offense to it. But now I get it; he has to be in the right headspace, and that doesn't include saying a fucking word.

  “There's one more reason I called you down here,” Vince says as we climb the stairs.

  “I figured there was.” And it's about Tonya. I know it is. I waited at the station and followed her home last night. I just held her all night; I needed to feel her. Knowing I almost lost her fucking hurts. I'm not letting her go. I can't.

  “I understand that you wanna be with her. And truthfully, she's a nice broad.” We walk into his kitchen and he grabs me a beer. The faint sounds of a chainsaw can be heard coming from the basement. It sends chills down my spine.

  “I'm not leaving her, Vince. I can't do that.” My stomach drops, knowing that what means. I don't wanna leave my family. The familia is all I know. But I'm not letting her go.

  “I get that. I do.” He passes a beer to me and shuts the fridge.

  Leaning against the counter, he pops the cap off his beer with his keys. “She's still associated, Tommy.” I put down my beer and shake my head as he tries to pass me his keys. I can't drink right now. “You know we can't have that shit.”

  “Yeah. I know.” I do know. I wouldn't be a smart move to have that shit known.

  “Good,” he says with finality. “I'm sorry, Tommy.”