Endings & Beginnings (New Mafia Trilogy #3)

by E. J. Fechenda

  Miguel didn’t waste any time getting down to business. He leaned forward with his hands clasped in front of him and held my gaze. “I’m going to be straight with you, kid. I don’t like change and I don’t like working with people I don’t know, but Gio vouched for you, so when I heard about your recent troubles, I couldn’t just take Gio’s word anymore.”

  “I understand. It’s good business.”

  He nodded and leaned back, crossing his left leg over so the ankle was propped on his right knee. “When bodies start appearing around my product, I get concerned. I understand it’s going to happen every once in a while. That’s the nature of the beast, but our first time doing business together and this shit went down?”

  “Believe me, that’s not how I like to do business either. I lost a good man that day.”

  “Did you find out who is responsible? I need assurances that this isn’t going to happen again.”

  “I’m not going to lie to you and tell you yes because I haven’t, not yet anyway, but it’s my top priority right now and everyone is working on it. I’ve narrowed it down and it has to be one of my associates, I just haven’t determined who. My cousin has hacked into the police computer systems and we’re waiting on their forensic results. I’m hoping that gives us a lead.”

  “And if it doesn’t?” Miguel asked, leaning forward again. It might as well have been only us in the room as everyone else faded into the background while we hashed things out. I could have gone back to Uncle Marco’s contact in Afghanistan for heroin, but it was more expensive so we got less of a cut. Miguel gave us a fair price and dealing with an arm of the Mexican cartel was easier on the conscience than contributing to the income of a person indirectly involved with the Taliban. He was the lesser of two evils.

  “I won’t reveal any drop details until the last possible moment to avoid anyone having prep time. The details won’t be revealed to all of my associates - only one on one for their particular drop. In hindsight, I should have done that the first time.”

  “You’re still green, Niño.”

  “He may be young and still learning, but he’s turned the organization in the right direction again. Marco was fucking things up. You know this,” my dad jumped in.

  Miguel lapsed into silence again and stared at me, not blinking. It was unnerving, but also a test. I returned the stare, not backing down. His lips slowly turned into a smirk and he looked over at Gio.

  “You and Rico stay, we have some things to discuss. Wait for us outside, Dominic.”

  I wasn’t about to be so easily dismissed so I stood up and glared down at Miguel. My dad placed his hand on my shoulder and I shrugged it off.

  “You’re doing business with me – not Rico. You either want this deal or I walk away. You’re not my only option.” My fingers twitched, itching to reach for the gun tucked in the back of my pants. Everyone in the room tensed up, their bodies hovering on the same tipping point. If I went for my gun, things would turn bloody really fast. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Gio shake his head.

  Once again another moment of uncomfortable silence passed between us. I felt sweat slide down along my spine in a slow crawl. Even though the windows were open, it was hot and dead still outside, making it hotter than fuck inside the cabin. Finally Miguel responded.

  “You’ve got cajones, Niño. I ‘ll give you that.” He uncrossed his leg and leaned forward, gesturing to the rocking chair I’d recently vacated. “Please, have a seat and let’s finish our discussion.”

  “Fine,” I straightened up and shook my arms, feeling the rest of the tension drain out. I sat down and my dad briefly squeezed my shoulder. I knew he had my back, but I had to prove that I was the boss here – not him.

  Over the next hour we hashed out the details. Miguel agreed to stay on as our supplier, but if anything went wrong again, he was out. We shook hands and to seal the deal, one of Miguel’s men appeared with a bottle of tequila. We each took a shot and then one more for good measure. By the time we left to drive back to Gio’s house, I was exhausted and could have easily fallen asleep, but thoughts of seeing Natalie kept me awake. Would she be happy to see me?

  Chapter 39

  By the time I followed someone in through the gates and Natalie’s apartment complex, I was so jacked on nerves and adrenaline that I could barely blink. The tequila and three cups of coffee I’d had earlier churned in my stomach like a hurricane. On unsteady legs, I climbed the steps to her apartment. When I reached her door a paper taped to it stopped me from knocking right away. It was an eviction notice. Natalie had three days to pay her rent, plus the accrued late fees, or she was out. Ripping the paper off the door, I knocked. There wasn’t any movement in her apartment. I knocked again, but knew she wasn’t home since her car wasn’t in her parking spot.

  Following signs for the leasing office, I entered and went to the first desk. An older woman wearing a white polo shirt with the complex’s logo looked up at me and blinked twice.

  “Sir, I’ll be with you in a minute,” she snapped and that’s when I noticed the two chairs in front of her desk were occupied.

  “I need to talk to somebody now,” I demanded.

  “Sir,” a voice said from behind. I whirled around and another woman in a matching polo took a quick step back. “How can I help you?” she squeaked.

  At 6’ 3” with my muscular build and bloodshot eyes from going on over 24-hours without sleep, I must have looked fucking intimidating because this woman looked at me like I was Frankenstein.

  “I’m here to take care of my girlfriend’s rent.” I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair, beginning to calm down knowing that Natalie’s problem was soon to be resolved.

  “Okay, come with me. I’m Val, the assistant property manager,” she explained and I followed her into a small office that had a view of the visitor parking area. Taking a seat behind her desk, she turned her computer monitor so it was blocked from my view and with her manicured hands positioned over the keyboard. “What’s your girlfriend’s name?”

  I sat down in one of the two chairs that were in front of her desk and gave her Natalie’s name and apartment number. Val typed in the information and her face went blank before she looked up at me with a fake smile plastered on her face. “Um, Ms. Ross is a little past due.”

  “I know,” I set the eviction notice down on her desk. It was a crinkled mess from being clenched in my fist. “What’s the total she owes?”

  “$2,250 sir, and that needs to be in a money order or cashier’s check. We can’t accept personal checks for late balances.”

  “Do you accept cash?” I asked, leaning back to pull the money clip out of my pocket. Val’s perusal of my body didn’t go unnoticed and she had the courtesy to blush before her eyes lit up at the wad of money I pulled out.

  “Um, y-yes,” she stammered. “Cash is fine.”

  I leafed through the money and left a stack of one thousand and one hundred dollar bills on Val’s desk. “I don’t need change. I assume the fifty dollars will be applied as a credit to Natalie’s account?”

  “Yes. Here I’ll print you a receipt.” A desktop printer located on a stand behind Val came to life and spat out a piece of paper, which she handed to me. Satisfied that all was in order, I thanked her and quickly left the office aware of the leasing agent’s stares as their eyes followed my progress out the door.

  I went back to the rental car to sit and wait for Natalie to return home.

  Chapter 40

  Natalie

  The lunch shift at House of Blues was finally over and it had been a busy one. I sat at the bar area counting out my tips, relieved to find that I had earned enough to avoid getting evicted with ten dollars to spare. I stopped for gas and money orders on the way home and even splurged on a Mounds bar. The extra sugar gave me a much needed boost. After working close to seventy hours the past week, my body was running on fumes, but I had done it, rent was the last of my bills…then I’d get to start all over again.


  It didn’t take long to get back to my apartment complex and I pulled into the visitor parking out front of the leasing office. Suzie was the only leasing agent in the front reception area, but she was busy so she directed me to Val’s office. They knew I was coming in since I called daily to update them on my progress as if that would hold off the eviction process.

  Val looked up from her computer with her usual smile in place, but it quickly faded to a confused expression. “Natalie, did you need to put in a work order?”

  “No, I spoke to yesterday and said I’d be in to pay my rent.” Reaching into my bag, I pulled out the money orders and tried to hand them to her.

  “But your boyfriend was just in here and paid it.”

  “My boyfriend? I don’t have a boy…wait, what did he look like?”

  “Well, he was tall with gorgeous dark hair and intense green eyes. Intense – that’s the best way to describe him.”

  I sunk down in one of the chairs. The money orders slipped from my hand and drifted to the floor. What the hell was Dom doing here? It took a few seconds for the shock to wear off.

  “Natalie, are you okay?” Val asked. She leaned across her desk, her fingertips lightly touching my arm.

  “Uh, yeah, just surprised, I think.” I bent over and grabbed the money orders before standing up. “Thank you.”

  I was still in a daze when I parked in my spot and got out. A car door shut right after mine, like an echo, but I didn’t pay attention until I heard someone rapidly approaching.

  “Nat!” I recognized the deep voice and spun around to see Dom walking towards me and damn it, he looked amazing while I knew all of the seventy hours I had worked showed with my hair pulled back in a messy ponytail and the grease stained t-shirt I was wearing. That just pissed me off even more.

  “What are you doing, Dom?” I stood in front of him with my hands on my hips.

  “I came to see you.”

  “Obviously,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Why now? And who do you think you are paying my rent?”

  “I saw the eviction notice. Why didn’t you tell me you needed help?”

  Unbelievable! I snorted and shook my head. “Because I’m not your freakin’ responsibility! You sent me away, remember? I had it handled and was paying my rent today.” Fishing into my bag, I found the money orders and threw them at his broad chest. “There – I paid you back.”

  Dom ignored the money orders and glared at me, his green eyes sparking. “I don’t want your money.”

  “I don’t want yours either!” I yelled and felt the tears well up. Damn it, this always happened when I got angry. He read them as me being upset and pulled my resistant body against his.

  “Hey, I don’t want to fight,” he whispered in my ear, rubbing the small of my back and damn it, it felt good. I almost gave in, felt myself loosening up, but knew I couldn’t.

  “Stop!” He froze and I stepped out of his arms. A light breeze threatened to blow the money orders away so I quickly crouched down and scooped them up. “What are you doing here, Dom?” I asked, in a less hostile tone. I had tucked the money back in my bag and resumed my stance with my hands on my hips.

  He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut. He exhaled sharply and grinned, running a hand through his hair making it stand up even more. “This went a lot better in my head,” he finally said.

  “What did? Is everything okay? Where’s Grant – is he…”

  Dom cut me off. “He’s fine. Everyone is fine. Well, that’s not exactly true. I’m not okay, that’s why I’m here.”

  “What’s going on?”

  He hesitantly reached out and grabbed my left hand, pulling it off of my hip. His hand was warm and his grip strong. “Can we talk inside?” He tipped his head in the direction of my apartment.

  “No, say what you have to say.” I withdrew from his grasp and crossed my arms over my chest.

  “Fine,” he said, leaning back against the side of my car. “I fucked up, Nat. I shouldn’t have pushed you away.” He looked over at me and I nodded for him to continue. He took a deep breath. “You’re not going to make this easy are you?”

  “Nope.”

  His lips twitched like he was suppressing a grin and I narrowed my eyes at him. At that he did smile and chuckled, shaking his head. “I forgot how freakin’ adorable you are when you’re mad.”

  I bit on my lower lip, keeping a smile in check, and raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you know how much I love you, Natalie?” he asked and I released my lip with a pop when my mouth dropped open.

  “I thought I knew,” I said and moved closer to him, realizing this was turning into a personal conversation that was meant to be held in private, not in a parking lot. Besides, it was fucking hot standing out in the late afternoon sun. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

  Dom followed me upstairs and I was very conscious of how my ass looked in the khaki shorts I wore because I knew he’d be checking me out. I unlocked the two deadbolts and walked inside my cool apartment. The blinds were drawn to keep the sun out to help keep my electricity bill down. Without sunlight streaming in and heating up my apartment, the air conditioner didn’t run constantly.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” I asked.

  “Just water. It’s dry out here, huh?”

  I nodded in agreement and filled two glasses with ice then grabbed a gallon jug of water out of the fridge. Dom took a glass from me and we sat down on the futon.

  “Is this new?” he asked, observing the different color of the cover.

  “Yes. Um, Victor bled all over the old one.”

  Dom drank half of the water in one deep swallow and set his glass on the coffee table. “Right…I wish you felt like you could have told me about that, but I know we weren’t together. It’s just,” he paused and rubbed his face with both hands before looking at me. “You say you’re not my responsibility, but I want you to be. I need you in my life, Nat, I miss you. Only after I pushed you away did I realize what a dick move it was and what a lonely existence my life had become.”

  He looked down at his hands, which were gripping his knees tight and I noticed his left leg was bouncing. “Do you feel the same way?” he asked in a lower voice, barely a whisper, and captured my gaze. His eyes were bottomless green pools and I saw the vulnerability in their depths. This was a side of Dom his men could never see; emotional and exposed.

  I held his stare and swallowed hard, my mouth dry despite the recent sips of water. “Yes.” Relief washed over his face and a trace of a smile curved his lips. “But, I’m afraid,” I admitted.

  “Afraid of me?”

  “No, definitely not of you,” I leaned over and placed my hand on his forearm, giving him a reassuring squeeze. “I’m afraid of getting hurt again. Your lifestyle is dangerous but, and I can’t believe I’m going to say this, my mom pointed out to me after the mall shooting that violence is everywhere. It’s just your world has a greater concentration of violence.”

  “This is true and I understand. You know I will do my best to keep you safe though,” he said, taking my hand in his. He ran his thumb alongside in soft, soothing strokes. I wanted to give in. It felt so good being near him again. Every once in a while I caught a whiff of his cologne; spicy and masculine with a hint of pine, a smell forever engrained in my memory and one that instilled a calm over my nerves. The past few weeks had been tough. I was physically exhausted from working long hours, but also felt isolated. While I was around people every day, the rest of my life was solitary. Chelsea was busy and our schedules didn’t mesh. Collin created a hostile work environment so I didn’t linger after hours at Dirty. It was just me, my apartment and monthly bills. Was it possible to go back to Dom? Chelsea told me if I loved him, I needed to accept all of him. Aside from the whole organized crime thing, he’d had a more conventional upbringing than me and I had my own flaws.

  “I need time, Dom.”

  He gently squeezed my hand. “Okay.” He paused and grinned at me.<
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  “What?”

  “I was hoping to stay here tonight? I’m flying back to Philly tomorrow since the business part of my trip is already taken care of.”

  “Uh huh and I take it I’m supposed to be the pleasure part?” I withdrew my hand and inched away from him, leaving a wider gap between us.

  “No! I didn’t mean it like that, okay, maybe I hoped.” He flashed his dimples at me and I shook my head, but couldn’t help smiling back.

  “You’re such a guy!” I smacked his arm. “You can stay here…on the futon. It’s quite comfortable.”

  His grin faded, but didn’t disappear completely. “As long as I’m in the same place with you, that’s all I need, Nat.” Leaning forward, he kissed my forehead and then stood up. “I’ll go grab my bag. Are you hungry? Let me at least buy you dinner in exchange for your hospitality.”

  My stomach growled at the suggestion of food. Dom heard and he laughed. “There’s my girl,” he teased before leaving to get his things. He’d be upset if he knew the only thing I’d eaten that day was the candy bar and half of a bagel with cream cheese. Scraping enough money together for rent cut into my grocery budget, but the stress had also impacted my appetite. I wasn’t going to turn down a free meal. I’d set the boundaries and knew Dom respected me enough that the dinner wasn’t going to come with strings attached.

  Instead of picking a fancy sit-down restaurant, I chose my favorite taco stand. We took my car with the convertible top down. Dom drove while I gave him directions. Less than an hour later I was stuffing my face with carne asada tacos. Juice from the Pico de Gallo dribbled down my chin and Dom chuckled when he handed me a napkin. “This is fucking delicious,” he said. Dipping a chip in the habanero based salsa. A light sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead after a few bites.

  People came and left, but we sat there for a while enjoying each other’s company. We didn’t have to talk and the long stretches of silence weren’t awkward. We stared at each other a lot, mainly because I liked looking at Dom. The sun setting was at an angle and illuminated the green of his eyes. He had taken his sunglasses off to look at me and they hung off the collar of his shirt. His dark stubble covered the scars on his neck from where he took a bullet that almost killed him.