by Bethany-Kris
Tires screeched loudly. He refused to let Evelina up from the pavement as he kept his head tucked down and his arms snug around her frame.
He felt her shiver. The goddamn pavement was cold as fuck and all she had on was a wool dress and knee-high suede boots.
“Theo?”
“What?” he barked.
Evelina swallowed audibly. “It’s over.”
Yeah, he figured that, but he wanted to be safe. Tipping his head up, Theo glanced around. Sure enough, there wasn’t a black vehicle in sight and the road had all but turned silent. Traffic had stopped and sirens blasted in the distance. People were getting out of their cars, a few with stunned expressions and some others had phones pressed to their ears. A couple began to make their way closer to Theo and Evelina.
“You can move now,” Evelina whispered.
Theo met her green eyes and everything he thought he knew wavered in that split second. She was terrified with tears welling and her bottom lip trembling. Her fists had wrapped tightly into the sides of his leather jacket, holding him firmly against her like she didn’t want to let go. Theo had somehow managed to turn them both on their side with his back facing the road, but her legs were wrapped tightly around his waist.
Intimate.
Way too intimate.
But he could still see it in her eyes. The fear, the uncertainty. She didn’t want him to move. She didn’t want him to let go. Not yet.
“You’re all right,” Theo murmured.
Evelina nodded, but she fisted his jacket tighter all the same. A panicked, wild look colored up her eyes that were focused on only him.
“What is it, Eve?” he asked.
She wouldn’t answer.
Theo immediately went back to the last shooting Evelina had been involved in—her mother’s. He hadn’t seen the aftermath of Mia Conti’s shooting, but he’d heard enough to know it was violent, bloody and unforgettable. One side of the woman’s face had been unrecognizable, blown off from rapid assault gunfire.
Eve had been just seats away from her mother. Could she still hear the gunfire? Could she still smell the blood? Did she dream of it?
When it came to his own memories, Theo was a yes for all three.
He still remembered what it felt like walking up to his Melrose home to find police and a crowd gathering. He could still feel the uncertainty when he’d been shoved into a car and driven away from the scene of his parents’ murder.
And then there was Dino.
The heat …
The screams …
The bomb.
Theo glanced down at Evelina again as the voices of people got closer. How much time had passed? Thirty seconds, maybe a minute or two?
It felt like forever.
“You’re okay,” Theo told her.
He wished someone had told that to him years ago.
“Not okay,” Evelina replied in a breath.
Pretending was better. Nobody knew then.
Theo didn’t think Evelina would understand. She wasn’t quite like him. She didn’t have a history with a man who beat the fear out of a person. She didn’t have a job that labeled her a criminal and killer or the button in a family that demanded he never fail.
Evelina sniffed, trying to blink away the wetness in her eyes. It didn’t help. Her tears coated her bottom lashes, threatening to fall. Women shouldn’t cry; they deserved men who never caused them pain.
In this life, that was impossible.
Theo sucked in a hard breath, wishing he wasn’t so aware of how much of Evelina Conti’s tight, toned body was pressed to his against that pavement. He wished that her dress hadn’t ridden up and that the heel of her boots weren’t digging into the back of his legs. He really wished that her body didn’t fit so well with his.
But mostly, he wished she didn’t look entirely vulnerable underneath him. Like being under his weight put her in a weak position. Exposed. Unprotected. Fragile. Like he had control.
With her, he probably did.
Evelina wouldn’t know any better. He didn’t want to be that man; the one who would use someone like Evelina to his own benefit even if it was to the determent of her heart.
This was not the time. It was never going to be the time. They would be a bad thing.
“Oh, my God,” someone mumbled, coming closer to the car. “Are you two okay?”
Theo didn’t look away from Evelina, nor did he answer. Her lip was still trembling. Her eyes were still watery. She was still scared.
The sirens got louder.
“Fuck,” Theo groaned.
The very last thing he wanted was a run in with the cops. There was no hiding the fact he was heavily involved with the Chicago mob. This would be more attention on the families, and considering the drive-by that just happened, it wasn’t over yet.
“Who would do something like that?” the frazzled woman asked.
“We know nothing,” Evelina said.
Her words mirrored Theo’s thoughts. That’s how kids like them grew up.
You know nothing.
You saw nothing.
You heard nothing.
Walls didn’t talk and windows didn’t see. Learning how to turn cheek and be a blind eye had become a mastered art form for people brought up in the Outfit.
“Nothing,” he echoed.
Without another word, he pushed up from the ground and away from Evelina. She held onto him until she couldn’t anymore, but then he helped her up, too. Once she was standing, her dress was fixed, and they had a few inches between them, Theo felt like he could breathe.
Who had been the target, him or her?
“Who did that?” Evelina asked.
Theo didn’t have a clue.
But he intended on finding out.
Theo stepped out of the police precinct feeling dirtier than ever. He did a lot of bad shit on a daily basis. But when he stepped inside a police station and sat down with detectives? Theo shuddered and wiped his hands on his slacks.
Dirty.
Fucking filthy right down to his core. He couldn’t get that feeling off no matter how hard he tried. And God knew he tried damn hard. It wasn’t normal for people like him to be making nice with police in any sort of way.
Stay away from cops.
Don’t talk to cops.
Never involve cops.
Pretty goddamn simple.
How his father had ever turned rat all those years ago and made nice with the officials like they were old friends, Theo didn’t know. Of course, he knew why his father had done what he did, but Theo just couldn’t relate to it.
Sighing, Theo took the stairs leading down from the front entrance of the precinct two at a time. The faster he could get away from the police station, the happier he would be. He wondered how Evelina had fared in her interview with the cops.
Because his car was still over in Wicker Park, Theo needed to catch a cab. When the detective offered him a drive to wherever his vehicle was parked, Theo laughed in the man’s face. What did the guy want, to get Theo killed?
No fucking way.
Theo didn’t get the chance to hail one of the cabs across the street. A black Mercedes pulled up to the side of the road with windows tinted so dark, Theo couldn’t see inside. He recognized that car as it was the source of debate over the last few months between the Rossi and Conti family.
It belonged to Serena Rossi. Serena was not the person inside, however. When the back passenger door was pushed open, Theo found Tommas Rossi waiting.
“Get in,” Tommas demanded.
Theo hesitated. “Why?”
“I didn’t realize my requests were up for debate as the front boss for the Outfit, DeLuca. Get in the fucking car.”
That was that. Theo jumped in the backseat and before he’d even gotten the door closed completely, the car was speeding away. Tommas was the kind of man who barely let an emotion flicker across his features. He was serious in all things—business, family and life.
Tommas wave
d his hand at the driver, catching the man’s attention in the rear-view mirror. “Nate, take us around the block a few times. I’ll let you know from there.”
“Will do, boss.”
With the driver’s attention focused back on the road and not the two men in the back seat, Tommas turned to Theo again. For the most part, Theo liked Tommas. The two weren’t all that far off in age and had been friends when they were younger men in the Outfit. Plus, the guy was Damian’s first cousin, so Theo afforded Tommas a little more trust than he would to others in la famiglia.
“Isn’t this your mother’s car?” Theo asked.
Tommas scoffed. “I took the car away from her when she tried to drive it into one of Laurent’s old restaurants in one of her many spells since his … unfortunate end.”
Unfortunate end. That was one way to put it. Another would be to tell it like it was and say Tommas killed his father.
“I might as well put it to use,” Tommas added. “And Nate prefers driving this instead of my two-seater.”
“Makes me feel like an actual fucking driver,” Nate muttered from the front. “How am I supposed to act as a driver and enforcer for you when you’re sitting in plain view in the front seat, huh? Christ.”
“Shut up and drive, Nate.”
“Got it, boss.”
Theo shifted in the seat, wondering why in the hell Tommas had shown up at the police station. “What is this all about, Tommas?”
“We’ve got a problem,” Tommas said simply, never taking his gaze off the front windshield. “Well, you’ve got a problem and I’m here to explain some of it to you. Evelina is now at a dinner with her brother and his fiancée, by the way. I had someone pick her up and drive her over there.”
“Her car—”
“Is being held by police, of course.”
“Figures,” Theo muttered. “This problem you mentioned.”
“Things were settling down, Theo. People had quieted about Riley and even the little feud between your crew and the Conti crew had stopped these last few days. Everything was perfectly fine.”
Tommas growled the final word. Theo didn’t blink at the show of anger. Tommas was not a man to cross. He could be cold and calculating, but mostly, Tommas liked to spill blood to make a point. He’d done that a few times over the years with his own crew and family. He’d earned respect by instilling fear. The man wasn’t all mouth. He was a hell of a lot of action, too.
“I’m not sure I get—”
“What in the hell were you doing with Evelina Conti?” Tommas interrupted.
“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Answer the goddamn question, Theo.”
“I had business in the Park and happened to run into her. We had a coffee. I figured instead of acting like an ass, I would walk her to her car. Then, someone decided to shoot it and us up. What more do you want, Tommas?”
Tommas’ jaw tightened. “Her car wasn’t shot up.”
“I beg to differ.”
“I saw the car. There wasn’t a single bullet hole in it. All the cars around hers? Yes. The cement wall at the far end of the lot? Littered with bullet holes. Evelina’s car didn’t take a single one.”
Confusion settled heavily in Theo.
“That was rapid assault fire, Tommas,” he said quietly. “Like a fucking Uzi or something. Someone with very terrible aim had to have fired that gun and missed her car.”
“Or someone with very good control,” Tommas replied.
“I feel like I’m missing something here.”
“You know you’re getting the blame for this, right?”
Anger flared in Theo’s gut. “I was there, too! Why in the hell would I order someone to light up a place with me right there, huh?”
Tommas shrugged. “Maybe that’s why the car didn’t have a single bullet hole in it, Theo.”
“Or maybe someone wanted it to look like something else, and they used someone they knew would really get to Riley. Someone like his daughter. It works just the same way, all right.”
“Still could have been you.”
Theo clenched his fists against the leather seats, willing away his irritation. “Are you fucking serious right now?”
“As a heart attack.” Tommas sighed heavily, leaned forward, and tapped his driver on the shoulder. “Take us to Wicker. Theo can direct us to wherever his car was parked. We’ll drop him off there and follow him down to the other end of Chicago.”
“Sounds like a plan, boss.”
“Follow me down to the other end?” Theo rubbed at his forehead, willing the headache away. “I need a babysitter now?”
“No, you need to stay at your end of Chicago.” Tommas turned to face Theo again with a grim frown. “When the boss got word of this shooting, the first person he blamed was you. I was on the phone with him while his little bride giggled in the background. Nice thing, that was. Nonetheless, I didn’t even finish getting the words out and you were the one he put the responsibility on. Your issues over the last couple of months with the Conti crew is coming back to bite you, Theo. Today was just the final straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.”
Theo swallowed hard, forcing himself to stay quiet. He hadn’t been the one to cause those issues on the Conti streets against Adriano’s crew. Walter had done it and Theo let the man put the blame on him because at the time, he hadn’t cared.
Theo couldn’t out the fact he’d killed Walter. As far as Theo knew, no one was aware of Walter’s dead body in his home office while his wife was still away in Florida. The woman was due home within the week, so it wouldn’t be long before Walter’s corpse was found. To keep from getting killed over whacking a made man without the boss’s permission, Theo needed to keep all suspicion off himself for that nonsense.
“I’m giving you a heads-up, basically,” Tommas continued, seemingly unaware of Theo’s silent war inside his head. “This is your one pass, Theo. At the moment, you’re on Trentini territory and Joel has already put word out that if even one man from the DeLuca crew steps beyond their lines, he’ll light them up like New Year’s Eve.”
Jesus.
“And to make matters worse, Riley was extremely annoyed to be getting a call like this while he’s away on his honeymoon,” Tommas added, a bitterness twisting the final word.
Shit.
“When is he getting back?”
Theo was not looking forward to dealing with that. He had enough shit to deal with. Riley Conti was not supposed to be one of them until Theo was ready to deal with the man.
In a very permanent way.
“He’s not,” Tommas said, smirking. “He’s finishing out his honeymoon with his wife like he originally planned to, and he hopes that whatever this is will be settled and everything will be back to normal by the time he returns.”
Theo almost laughed. “Really?”
“His words, not mine.”
“He’s so concerned about his family and his daughter being shot up, he’s pissed off at me like nothing else, but he can’t manage to crawl out from between his twenty-something-year-old wife’s legs to handle it?”
“Careful, Theo. Respect, remember?”
“I was there today, Tommas,” Theo said again.
“I’m aware.”
“I didn’t put myself in the middle of a shooting, for Christ’s sake!”
Tommas didn’t act like Theo had said a thing. “As of right now, Adriano is staying quiet on his end of things. But the kid is always like that and better for him, I suppose. He’s got a pregnant fiancée and he’s never been very active in this feud.”
“Your point?”
Tommas laughed dully. “Thank your lucky stars that your territory lines straddle his.”
Theo clenched his teeth so hard, his molars ached. “This is ridiculous.”
“Maybe so, but you have no one to blame but yourself. What in the hell were you doing on this side of Chicago, anyway?”
“Business, like usual. What do
es that matter?” Theo had no desire to out the fact he had been checking on his nephew. Since Dino was dead and couldn’t look after his son, Theo was left to the task. He didn’t mind, but Dino hadn’t wanted J to be dragged into the Outfit’s games. “I do business up here all the time.”
“Actually, you don’t,” Tommas replied. “You have very little reason to be on this side of Chicago, which was the first thing Joel spat out when he found out you were on his territory.”
“I’ve not had any problems with Joel.”
Well, Theo hadn’t before. Now that he knew the truth … he’d get to Joel one way or another.
“This is your one pass from me, Theo,” Tommas said coolly. “Things were calm, they were okay. If anything, you’ve just given certain people in the Outfit a reason to blow it all up again.”
People like Joel. Theo didn’t miss Tommas’ unspoken words for a minute. Rage simmered through Theo’s veins on low, but it was getting hotter with every passing second. How likely was it that Joel had been involved somehow with the shooting today?
Very.
“He’s going to start a war with me just to get at Riley,” Theo said.
“I have no idea what or who you’re talking about,” Tommas murmured. “Be careful about who you run your mouth to, Theo. You never know who you can trust in this family.”
Right.
His one pass.
Yeah, Theo got it.
“You know I won’t take this shit lying down, right?” Theo asked, a dangerous edge sharpening his tone. “If Joel comes at me or even one of my guys, I will slaughter him, Tommas. He’s asking for it then. Joel Trentini isn’t ready to go to the mattresses with a crew like mine.”
“You’ve got two other crews’ territory to get through before you hit Joel, Theo. And you won’t find a lot of sympathy from the Rossi crew at the moment, considering we’ve got our problems with the Bastoni side of the Conti crew.”
“Then you better get out of the way. I won’t be someone else’s fall guy or their way to the top. Someone already used my brother for that.”
Joel.
Again.
“Have you ever thought that maybe your brother is the reason for all of this?”