by K. S. Adkins
Reaching for my bag, he pulls me into bed again and the whole thing feels wrong. “Stay,” he mumbled. “I’m not done with you yet.”
Pushing away from him, I roll my eyes. “Maybe not, but I’m done with you. Later, Julian.”
“Wait,” he said, pressing me against the door. “You said it yourself, you don’t do repeats, but here you are in my bed. That tells me you have feelings for me.”
“Whoa,” I said, pushing him back. “You keep invading my space, home slice. If it wasn’t you, it would be someone else, so don’t make this into something it isn’t. Trust me when I tell you this means nothing to me.”
“It means something when you’re coming all over me.”
“I can make that happen with or without you,” I reminded him. “Now move.”
“Lina, please.”
“You just went from repeat to shuffle on my play list. Now get the fuck out of my way.”
He did, but barely. I didn’t do clingers, especially clingers who think they’re doing me a favor. Climbing into my truck and flooring it, I got a couple of blocks away when I started shaking. Every time I hooked up with him, I shook after, like I’d done something terribly wrong. Like I’d broken a promise I don’t remember making. Vowing to myself right then and there, I swore no more Julian, ever. Not a big loss really considering there was something off about him. I just didn’t know what it was and wasn’t sticking around to find out.
A few things were bothering me. The executions for one, the fact that they increased after I put in for a leave of absence made no sense. If it was about getting my attention these men would be left for me to find. For instance stuffing one in my car with a note or, outside Anthony’s house as warning. This escalation wasn’t following any patterns I had ever seen before. My absence was supposed to signal that I was backing off but whoever this is didn’t buy my bullshit. Second, the fact none of this shit storm ever hit the media when it was happening in broad daylight for everyone to see had me concerned too. Anytime something happens here, the media eats it up with a spoon. ‘Oh, look what happened in Detroit again.’ The media lives for that ‘I told you so’ bullshit because the drama they cover is job security for them. Maybe in the beginning I was being toyed with until he realized that I was a real threat. Now these deaths are my warning that he noticed and would retaliate. Whoever he is gets high off of his own power. He loves corruption and forcing otherwise decent men to do his bidding in exchange for life and a few bucks. By escalating the body count you increase the risk of getting caught. So why risk the exposure? Simple. Because he wants me to find him.
This tells me we know each other. Lighting a cigarette, I knew a history lesson was in order so I started from the top.
Grabbing the flash drive from the drawer to look over what Jules had on Hank again. I felt a sudden urgency to read what was on here. My gut was telling me I fucked up by not treating this as a real lead. In the midst of all the chaos, I thought Jules wanted me to have it for Max’s sake. She dedicated years to tracking Hank and all his illegal bullshit. Jules knew Hank couldn’t be trusted and right now I’m kicking myself for being too caught up to look at all the angles. Deep down it was nagging me that maybe Hank Allen wasn’t the dead-end I thought he was. Well, I mean he was dead, but I needed to figure out what got him that way. As I scroll through her data I couldn’t figure out Hank’s motivation at all. Until recently, Hank wanted no part of Lush then almost overnight taking it from Max was priority one. He had seen Jules as a threat from the start and when she married Max he fucked with her constantly. But the shit he pulled to get her out of the way recently was extreme even for him. Which means Hank wanted Jules out of the way for a specific reason. Hank needed full control over Lush and couldn’t as long as Max had a wife. Over the years Jules had collected dozens of photos of Hank, but I never saw past him. With fresh eyes, I look in the background. Taking note of buildings, landmarks and people, especially. In most of the photos, Hank is on his phone, or he’s coming and going from his home in West Bloomfield.
Shuffling through them, I’m getting pissed that I can’t find anything useful until I finally find one where a man is at least offering a profile view. Zooming in I see it. Saving the shot, I grab Detective Cross’ file, a file he kept and shared with only his partner, Detective Gryza, Anthony’s father. Angelo Russo was a drug dealer, this we know. He, along with his brothers Orlando and Antonio, started off small but quickly grew with the help of their cousin’s connections. Once the Russo’s joined forces with the Carna family, they were seriously close to taking over the city. That is, until a small team of Detectives successfully ended their reign with the most impressive raid the city had seen at that time.
Donnie Carna had one son, Donnie “The British” Carna Jr., however, Angelo Russo had two sons. Benjamin “Benny Boy” and, of course, Julian Russo. Lighting another cigarette, I pull the file on Juliette Russo whose given name was Perret. The Russo’s and Carna’s were extinguished, their sons, years later by Karma herself.
But one son survived.
He changed his name to that of his deceased mother, put himself through law school, and became a very well-respected but slimy criminal defense attorney. All the while he had his eyes set on finishing what his family started. He was buying cops off, getting criminals off and nearly killed my friends. He still wants to kill my friends and he’s been working behind the scenes for ten years with no one the wiser. This was a man that was trusted by many people for all the wrong fucking reasons. This man snowed us all.
He is also currently with Anthony.
Pulling my hair up, lacing my Chuck’s and lining my eyes the blackest they’ve ever been. Climbing into my truck quickly, for the first time ever I don’t sync my music. Eminem hasn’t written a track for this shit yet, but who knows, maybe someday he will. Grabbing my phone, I dial one number. “Come home to me Lina,” was all he said before disconnecting.
Putting it in drive, I lit another cigarette preparing for war.
A few days ago I finally felt settled. Watching her change her own oil wrecked me, in a good way. She may not need me for auto repair or grabbing dishes, but when she said, “You could love me,” thinking I couldn’t hear it, I knew I finally had gotten through to her. For her, my love was enough. If she needed something, she’d ask. Wanting my love in return meant everything. She hadn’t come out and said it directly, but she didn’t have to. Fuck, she never had to and I’d still know it.
She may not be overly affectionate, but when she is, it’s fucking amazing because it’s rare and she means it. I’d asked her where she goes when she floats, then I asked her what brings her back. Her answer to the first was, “a quiet place all her own” and the second was me. I brought her back.
Puffed chest much?
My only thought upon waking was of her. I’ve never been one to pray, but today I did. I prayed that she didn’t come here. His end game wasn’t me, it was her. This is my fault. I put her in his path the day I asked him to watch her when I couldn’t. Of course he figured out what she could do and wanted her for his own. I trusted him with her safety when I should have done it myself. I trusted the devil and look where it got me. Trapped in hell. Opening my eyes is a struggle. My body is still heavy, but it seems as though my brain is working again. Looking around the room, I’m in the corner of a bedroom. The pain in my shoulders and wrists tells me I’m tied to the radiator and that my ankles are bound too.
I can hear voices inside the house, but I don’t recognize any of them. Dozing off, I’m jolted awake by what sounds like a jet plane hitting the house, followed by Lina screaming my name. God no, I think to myself, closing my eyes. She shouldn’t have come here. But it’s Lina. Did I really expect any different?
Minutes later, the door opens and she’s thrown into the room with the door slamming behind her before she can get back up.
“Anthony,” she says, breathlessly scrambling to get to me on her hands and knees.
“You’re hurt
,” I growl, seeing her eye starting to bruise.
“I’m okay,” she whispers. “Julian that piece of fuck.”
“He hit you?”
“No he’s too much of a bitch,” she mumbles, trying to release me. “That fucking cop Carlo did though and I’ll be kicking his sac in later for that one.”
“Lina,” I beg her. “Look at me.”
“I’m kinda busy right now, coach,” she says, pulling on the ties securing my ankles. She breaks one free and struggles with the other. “Fuck! I left my escape kit in the truck.”
“Lina,” I groan. “Please.” When she looks up and into my eyes, I realize I never I said the words. Not the right way, anyway. Lina takes her cues from me and I should have seen that and done something about it.
“They’re coming,” she whispers. “Fake sleep.”
Then, wrapping herself around me, I feel her tense, then hold me tighter as they try prying her away from me. “No,” she growls, swinging blindly and catching one in the jaw.
“You little cunt,” he says, backhanding her hard. When she crashes to the floor, I can feel my skin tearing at the wrists in an effort to get to her. Slowly she stands up, wipes her knees off, spits blood and stares him down. “You are going to be so sorry you did that.”
“Enough,” Julian says, entering the room, looking only at her. “Christ, I said not to hurt her, you fucking idiot!”
“She fucking clocked me!” he defends and before he can utter another word, Julian raises his pistol and shoots him right between the eyes.
“Shit, Julian!” she yells, jumping up and down. “Warn a girl first!”
“My apologies,” he says, approaching her, checking her for more injuries. “But no one puts their hands on you.”
No notice was given. One second she was standing completely still, and the next she cold cocks him square in the jaw. “My apologies,” she says, jumping from foot to foot ready for more. “But no one takes my fucking man from me either.”
“What is this?” he asks, laughing. “You’re going, to what? Fight me for his freedom?”
“Fuckin’ a right I am, Russo,” she growls. “You plan on shooting both of us? Me first, I’m right here bitch.”
“Jesus,” he says, rolling his eyes. “I’m not the villain here Lina, he is.”
“Yeah? How’s that? He wasn’t the one going around plugging cops in the head. You were. Actually, you’re a pussy and threatened other cops to do it for you. Couldn’t let the past go, could you? Had to take over Daddy’s business. Well guess what, we’re in a recession dickhead and Detroit can’t afford to invest in your brand of fucked up. Changing your name was slick, kudos for that, but you should have just stuck with being a sleazy attorney. I could almost respect that.” When he makes a move toward her, she squares off. “I’m warning you fucker, you take one more step and I’m going to drop you, hard.”
“It’s hard to see you as tiny when you puff up like this,” he chuckles. “Then again, most of our time together was spent with you on your back and me dishing out pain the way you liked it.”
“It was a phase,” she says, looking amused, only I can see she isn’t. “I’m totally over it.”
“You were over it when you asked me to choke you? Or was it when you wanted your wrists bound to the point of breaking? I was there, Lina. I remember the look of rapture on your face when I hurt you.” My blood was boiling hearing him taunt her like this. He did to throw her off balance and destroy me in the process. Lina can’t take any one else getting in her head right now, especially someone she trusted at one time. Watching his face and listening to his words I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. All these years I considered him a friend. He wasn’t a friend, he was a monster and I was fucking helpless to stop him.
“I see what you’re doing here,” she says, with a wicked smile. If you knew what to look for, you’d see Julian’s words were affecting her even if she refused to let him see it, I could. I’ve wondered here and there if my brand of sex was enough for her, but after hearing this bullshit, I knew it was. Lina doesn’t lie. She also changed, just like I did. We gave each other what we needed and that’s what mattered. Julian wanted me to doubt her, he wanted to rub their brief time together in my face too. Nothing Julian could say would alter the way I see Lina. Focusing solely on her, one second she looked fragile and the next her look morphed into one I hadn’t seen before. Fuck. Lina was feeling cocky.
“You don’t possess the means to fuck with my head, Julian. You did as you were told because you got off on that shit, not me. Hell, let’s be real here. There’s only one man who ever brought me to my knees with just his mouth and sorry it wasn’t you,” she says, looking directly at me. “It was him.”
“You lie!”
“I don’t and you know that,” she says in a firm voice. “I knew that if I met that guy, the bullshit I asked you, and countless others for, would fade away and it did, Julian. You’re a memory. Any memories before him aren’t worth my time.”
“I could kill him,” he says, approaching her, “right now and then what would you do?”
“I’d kill you in return,” she says, bracing herself. Renewing my struggles was useless but, I needed to rip his fucking head off. Paying me no attention when he approached her, she met him half way and her body language made it clear she fully intended on taking him on herself. Not only was she feeling cocky, she was going to get herself killed. Lina is as territorial as they come and nothing short of a bullet was going to stop her. Even with the odds against her she wouldn’t back down from a fight. It was that moment with death knocking on both our doors; I realized that Lina loves me so much that she would die on my behalf and she’d do it proudly.
“Lina,” I growl. “No.”
“I got this, coach,” she says, winking at me. “You just stay put.”
“I don’t have time for this,” Julian says, banging on the door. It opens and two men come in, assumedly cops. She crouches low, but they subdue her easily. Kicking and thrashing she’s only hurting herself, but she doesn’t seem to notice. Turning to me, Julian puts his pistol under my chin. “What’s it going to be old friend?” he asks. “Would you like to watch what comes next or do you prefer the humane thing and to be put out for this?”
“I trusted you,” I growl. “Let her go, god dammit.”
“Let her go? After I went to all this trouble to get her here?”
“Don’t,” I warn him. “She’s done nothing.”
Kneeling in front of me he whispers, “She’s done everything, my friend. I’m afraid I can’t let her go this time. I told you she was it. She belongs to me, my secret weapon. I’ve spent a lot of time and resources to make this happen. After all, wasn’t it you who didn’t want my leftovers?”
“I will fucking kill you,” I vow, then he takes the butt of his pistol and slams me in the temple with it. The daze and pain doesn’t compare to the torture of hearing her screaming for me. Looking up and seeing her trying to break free to get to me, guts me deep. Veins are popping out of her neck and she looked like she could dislocate her shoulders at any moment. “Lina,” I whisper. “Don’t fight.”
“Listen to him, Lina,” Julian suggests. “I don’t want you hurt unnecessarily.”
“Fuck you, murderer!” she screams. “There’s a special place in hell for your ass and I’m going to put you there!”
Approaching her, he gets in her face. “Cease this now or I will slit his throat while you watch. Do you understand me?”
“Oh I understand,” she says calmly. “I’ll make you a deal. Let him go and I’ll pinky promise to kill you without smiling.”
“I can’t do that, sweetheart,” he says. “He was never meant for you, Lina. You live for pain; he lives to make his dead parents proud. You and I have something in common, let’s show him shall we? ”
Grabbing her breast hard, she goes ballistic, I go ballistic and that sick fuck gets off on all of it. At that moment I know what he is going to do.
He would do it too, I knew he would. He would rape her in front of me. Wrapping her hair in his fist and yanking hard, she lets out a small scream but doesn’t stop fighting. Pulling as hard as I can at my bindings, I have to stop him. Right now I’d chew my god damned arms off if I could.
“Julian, god dammit no!” I scream, hoping to get his attention. When he turns to face me, pulling her with him, I don’t see tears in her dark eyes. I see fury.
Both men hold her while she strains to get to me. Looking me dead in the eyes, she seems to know what’s coming and wants to spare me from it. “I love you,” she says in a powerful voice. “You, Anthony Gallo, no matter what they do to me, it’s you. You’re my truth and I’m fucking coming back for you.”
“Do not look at him!” Julian growls, dragging her to the floor where they continue to hold her down. “He’s your truth? He was using you!” he screams, ripping her shirt from her body. “But you liked being used, don’t you?”
Fighting him them all, she screams right back at him. “Fuck you, pussy!” He’s fighting to remove her jeans next, she’s fighting to keep them on and the blood dripping in my eyes is akin to waving the red flag at a charging bull. But I’m not charging anything. I’m attached to a god damn radiator forced to watch the woman I love fight to keep from being raped by a mad man. “You want this? You’ll have to fucking kill me to get it!” The fear I felt right now was too much. I refuse to stop yelling even when my voice starts to give out. I needed his attention on me, not her. I needed him the hell away from her. God dammit, I needed a fucking miracle.
I’m a junior when my fifth hour honors sociology teacher asked me to stay after class. I was more than happy to. She was a super cool lady with an open mind and understood me on a basic level most people didn’t. She was also very honest. Staying in my seat, she comes over with a piece of paper and an envelope. “Take this home, fill it out and bring it back to me tomorrow.”