by Amy Starling
“You've been planning this all along and never told me?”
Leo shifted uncomfortably. “Well, some of the guys think you've been going kinda soft lately. And now this, with your inability to control yourself around this woman... Folks are getting worried, is all.”
“Worried?”
“About how you'll be able to lead them. If I asked Lucas to take out a woman, he'd do it, no questions asked. Gender shouldn't matter. Your loyalty to the family does.”
The two of them stared each other down like bulls about to charge. I shouldn't have been in this room, sitting between them, because sooner or later I was going to get gored.
“I'm worried about you, Alec. You spend more time running that club of yours than doing work for us. You've missed more than a handful of meetings. And I must admit, your refusal to obey orders is very concerning.”
“I'm not going to hurt a woman,” he snapped. “Don't you remember what happened to mom?”
Leo spun around and stabbed the ashtray with his smoldering cigar. His face was red, his lips curled into a snarl.
“Don't you ever mention her again. You hear me, boy? She's gone and she ain't never coming back.”
Alec, defeated, slumped into the chair. I wished there was something I could do to comfort him, but knew he'd only push me away.
“So yes, I spoke with Lucas. Told him if you didn't shape up, I'd have to name him my successor instead.” He frowned. “But if what you say is true, then I can't trust him either.”
“You can trust me, damn it! I'm the best hitman this family has. You ask me to kill someone and I'll do it without blinking. I'll do anything for the Ciarellos.”
“Except for take care of her.” Leo nodded at me.
“Ceci is mine, and if anybody lays a finger on her, I'll tear their fucking head off.”
I was his, he said.
If I tried to deny it, I'd be lying.
Leo sighed. “This is all very unfortunate. We've got the Giseppis mounting attacks on us, and now I've got to doubt my own men.”
I beat back my fear. If I was to get our family out of this, I had to offer a tasty enough prize in return.
“Maybe there's something I can do.”
“Hmm, perhaps. You did say you'd do 'anything,' after all.”
Alec protested. “Ceci, no. Don't get yourself involved in this mess. Once you go down this road, you won't be coming back from it.”
“What other choice do I have? I'm not going to sit back and be weak and helpless anymore.”
“Both of you, quiet.” Leo's stare landed on me. “Lucas manages a seedy strip club on the outskirts of town. Miss Trenton, you go there and say you're working off the debt for me. Once you're on the inside, keep your eyes and ears open for evidence of what he's up to.”
“She is not going to work as a stripper!”
Alec was adamant. I wanted to agree with him, but wasn't in the position to argue.
“It ain't like you can do it, kid. Lots of shady shit goes on at that club. If Ceci hangs around the girls long enough, one of them's bound to slip up.”
“If I can do this, if I prove Lucas is after you, then you'll forgive what my dad owes?”
“...We'll talk about it when we get there.”
It was an awful non-answer. Alec kept pleading with me to reconsider, but what did he know? It wasn't his family's lives on the line.
“You have a deal, Mr. Ciarello.”
Out in the hall, Alec sulked.
“You can't do this,” he said flatly. “Not only are you putting yourself at risk spying on Lucas, but you'll be expected to act as a stripper too. You do know what that means.”
“So I've got to take off a few clothes. Small price to pay for freedom, wouldn't you say?”
“It's degrading, that's what it is.” His eyes, dark and intense, studied me. “I don't want anyone looking at you naked but me.”
Since when had he become so possessive? I liked how willing and eager he was to protect me, but worried that a push in the wrong direction might send him over the top.
“I won't be doing it for fun,” I assured him. “Look, the idea of baring everything for strangers freaks me out too.”
“I'll find some other way to get the information dad wants. If you go through with this, how can I look at you the same way anymore?”
I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and we lingered in the foyer, surrounded by the aroma of hot biscuits. The very smell of them almost made my life feel sane and normal again, if only for a few seconds.
“What is it with you? You're acting as if I'm your girlfriend when I'm not. You can't tell me what to do.”
He cursed in frustration and hurried outside. In the driveway, I found him sitting askew on a motorcycle.
“You don't get it, do you? Do you realize how hard it is for me to talk about this kind of stuff?”
He didn't need to say a word. Both of us had feelings we didn't know how to cope with. Being together with him was crazy, stupid, impossible.
But I couldn't be without him either, because that would hurt even more.
“Look, I know jack shit about commitment. Never cared for it before. Never needed it.”
Yeah, and with his good looks, it was obvious why. In fact, what the heck did he want me for? I wasn't the kind of girl you'd expect a mobster's son to chase.
“Why are you telling me this? So you've got plenty of women to choose from. I get it. If you're trying to make me jealous –”
“No, I'm telling you the truth. I haven't been with another woman since the night I met you, and I don't want anyone else anymore.”
His confession took my breath away.
I don't want anyone else, either. That's what I wanted to say. But I couldn't.
“What exactly do you want out of me, Alec? Just sex?”
He lowered his head. “I... I don't know.”
“Well, I need more than that.” Trying not to tear up was futile. “I need love. A man who shares my goals and dreams in life.”
“Love,” he repeated, wide-eyed, as if the word was a foreign concept to him.
“I want a family in the near future. I can't have a baby with a criminal.”
He backed away from me on his bike. It was probably the baby comment that did it – which kind of hurt for reasons I couldn't figure out.
“You should go home,” he said quietly, his voice barely audible over the rumbling engine. “Let me drop the bike off and I'll take you back.”
By the time I made it to the house, all the lights were off. Mom was nowhere to be found. I discovered dad passed out on the living room floor, an empty bottle of vodka tipped over beside him.
My parents usually prided themselves on a clean, welcoming house, but things had changed. A pile of filthy dishes was stacked in the sink. The laundry, usually neatly folded and put away, sat crumpled on top of the washing machine. The drawers in my bedroom had been turned inside-out as if by a robber.
Maybe I lived here, but this place didn't feel like home so much anymore. It felt lonely.
Only when I thought of Alec, of the safety and comfort I found in his arms, was I finally able to fall asleep.
Chapter 16 - Alec
A woman pushing a stroller waddled down the sidewalk, her face buried in some inane text message on her phone. I followed her with the rifle's scope and zoomed in to read it, just for fun.
“He left for work,” I read aloud. “Come over. Meet U in bedroom. Can't wait to... Ugh, okay, never mind. Now I wish I hadn't been snooping.”
Nico chuckled and lay on his back on the grassy hill. “And that's why I'll never get married. What's the point? Shackle yourself to some crazy harpy just for her to cheat and take half your shit in the end.”
“You ever gonna stop being so cynical?”
“It's not that. It's being smart.”
I went back to spying on the woman. She'd stopped to buy ice cream at a stand, but it was that stroller I couldn't take my eyes off of.
Ceci said she wanted a baby, too, didn't she? When she told me that, I almost pissed myself.
With her, sex was better than I'd ever had it before. It was more than that, too – in her company, I felt good. Cared for.
It was a deeply addicting feeling, one I never wanted to be without.
But she craved love, marriage, a kid. Those three things rarely crossed my mind. I was too busy running the club and screwing random chicks to worry about growing up. Thought I had all the time in the world.
Had I been wrong?
“See anybody yet? Those Giseppi guys were supposed to show at dusk.”
I surveyed the empty parking lot where they were going to meet. Nobody was there yet, save for a flock of birds picking at empty fast-food wrappers.
“You sure your intel was right? The sun's nearly down.”
“Man, I'm never wrong,” he replied, cocky as ever. “And when a bunch of their gang's biggest players are getting together, you know it's a show you don't wanna miss.”
The full moon steadily rose higher over the black mountains, and stars twinkled in the rosy twilight sky. I wasn't the sort to normally think such sappy shit, but it would have been nice to have Ceci here watching it with me.
“I just hope I don't have to kill anybody tonight.”
“Why the hell not? You're great at it.”
“I just do it 'cause I have to, not because I enjoy it.” The affection welling in my chest surprised me. “There's this girl, and she kinda doesn't like that I'm a hitman.”
Nico sat up with a gasp. “You serious? Is she, like, a fling or something more?”
“That's the question I keep asking myself. I've never met a woman so amazing as her.”
He snorted. “That's what they all say. You're probably just infatuated because she's good in bed.”
“No, it's not just that.” Although she was divine in the sack. “I kidnapped her, and she managed to escape – twice.”
His jaw fell. “Okay, I take it back. Any lady who can escape your clutches is pretty awesome.”
I set the gun down and stared up at the sky. God, how I missed her. She hadn't spoken to me for two days, but it felt like it'd been two years.
She'd made that crazy deal with dad to work at Lucas's strip club, but I'd been keeping tabs on the situation and doubted she made the move yet. Sooner or later, she would, though. Her family didn't have much time left.
I had to figure something else out for her before that happened.
“So, guessing you're not going to be a bachelor for much longer,” Nico grunted. “I can see she's sunk her hooks in you deep. Soon enough, you'll be buying her a fancy ring and she'll be popping out little rugrats.”
“I think it's a tad too early to be talking about marriage.”
Just as I said that final word, an idea struck me like a lightning bolt. Why hadn't I thought about it before now?
Marriage could solve all her problems – theoretically, at least.
When someone married into the family, we promised to protect them from harm like our own flesh and blood. Dad wouldn't go after Ceci then; his honor wouldn't allow it.
This could really be it, our way out! I mean, yeah, the thought of marrying her did make me nervous, but –
“Damn it, Alec, pay attention!” Nico kicked me. “There's people showing up down there. Look.”
I snatched my rifle out of the dirt and adjusted the scope until I could see them. Far below, a half dozen cars began to file into the parking lot.
“That's got to be them. Make sure your earpiece is in.”
I flipped on the directional microphone he had brought with him and pointed it to the southwest. It took a bit of tweaking until car doors slamming and the voices of men were audible.
“I count at least twenty guys down there, every one of them packing heat. This could get ugly if something goes wrong down there.”
“Then it's a very good thing we're up here, isn't it?”
A silver Bentley rolled into the lot. I froze, hardly believing my eyes. Was it really Tommy Giseppi, the family's top brass? He was known to be reclusive and nervous, so he rarely showed himself in public like this.
“Would you look at that,” Nico said with a whistle as Tommy climbed out of the car.
“Get some photos. This could be very important.”
Tommy's thousand-dollar suit and fancy car were highly out of place in this part of the city. He wore dark glasses and kept glancing this way and that for threats. No fewer than five armed men stood around him at all times.
“He's paranoid. Thinks someone's watching him.”
“Smart man.”
I could have shot Tommy clean in the head even from this distance, but that would have started a war – especially when our families were already nearly at each other's throats. So for now, at least, all I could do was watch and wait.
“Where is he?” Tommy growled. “It ain't like I got all the time in the world here.”
Tires squealed on pavement as a new car whipped into the lot. Actually, it was a very familiar car.
“That's Lucas's.” I increased magnification. “No, it can't be.”
But then he stepped out of that old green Camaro, and it removed all doubt from my mind.
“Lucas is working with the Giseppis?” Nico rubbed his forehead. “The hell? I thought he was one of your dad's most loyal crew.”
“He was. Or at least, he used to be.”
Lucas held a white foam cooler that had no identifiable markings. Two other men got out of his car; but thankfully, I had never seen them before. Don't know what I'd do if we had more than one traitor in the family.
“Took you long enough,” Tommy yelled across the lot. “Hector, bring him the money.”
A young Mexican man came forward with a briefcase. He and Lucas met in the middle of the lot. All of Tommy's men stood around them looking real twitchy, as if they thought a shooting might go down at any minute.
“It took me a while to get this one.” Lucas opened the cooler. “I was able to get you double the amount, but –”
“Give it to me!”
Hector dropped the briefcase and snatched the cooler from Lucas before he could even react. Tommy reached inside and pulled out a clear vial containing some kind of red liquid.
“Is that blood?” Nico wondered. “Or a drug?”
“Yes, good. Finally.” Tommy pulled a syringe from his coat pocket and filled it with the stuff. “Sorry, death. Not today.”
Death... Come to think of it, he did look a bit unwell. His skin had a yellow tint, and his hair had fallen out in sections. His eyes were glassy and bloodshot. Reminded me of a zombie from one of those popular TV shows.
He stuck himself in the neck with the needle, pushed the plunger, and sighed. After the liquid had emptied into his vein, he dropped the syringe and fell into his guard's arms as if asleep.
“You could have let me count the money first, at least,” Lucas grunted.
“Have I ever given you any reason not to trust me?” Tommy's question was slurred, his voice like a drunk man's.
“Mr. Giseppi, now that this nasty business is out of the way, there are other matters we have to discuss.” Lucas stuffed his hands in his pockets. “The scientist who was working on the drug has been fired. It will be difficult to get my hands on more for you soon.”
“What? What do you mean, fired? You don't understand, boy. I will die without it.”
“Take it easy, sir. I'm sure I can come up with an alternate arrangement. It will just take some time.”
Nico and I exchanged disbelieving looks. Lucas had been working with Tommy to sell him some experimental drug that saved his life?
“Jesus. Sounds like the plot of a sci-fi thriller.”
“Shh. They're fighting.”
“Unfortunately, that isn't all,” Lucas continued. “Leo suspects a traitor.”
Tommy thrust his finger in his face. “If you get found out, you're dead to us.”
/> “Oh yeah? How are you gonna get your special medicine then?”
Mr. Giseppi looked as if he wanted to punch him, but was too weak to make it happen. Whatever weird sickness he had, I sure as hell did not want to catch it.
“Everything's a mess right now. The scientist who got canned, Trenton, had a daughter. His stupid kid was supposed to be keeping her locked up as ransom bait, but she got out.”
It felt as if ice was flowing through my veins. The scientist who had been supplying Lucas with the drug was Ceci's father!
“I don't give a shit about your personal problems.”
“Well, you should. I'd almost convinced her father to kill Leo to get his little girl back. Without her, he's got no motive. You want me to work with you, I need him out of the picture.”
Tommy, seemingly recovered, lit up a cigarette and puffed away. “So get some other lackey to do it. Lots of kids in this town would take a shot at him for big bucks.”
“That ain't something I'm willing to risk. If this gets out to the wrong people, I'm done.”
I turned to Nico. “You're recording this, aren't you?”
“You kidding? I'd never pass up a chance for some easy blackmail material.”
That, at least, was a relief. With this footage, I had all I needed to prove to dad what Lucas's intent had been all along.
I had to play it just right, though. Lucas was a wild card, a loose cannon ready to pop. If I spooked him, who knew how he'd react?
They stood around talking before everyone piled into their cars and sped off. When the lot was empty, I packed up my gun and started down the hill.
“Hey, man, wait for me. I'm the one with the video, you know.”
“Send a copy of that to my phone. I've got to find Ceci and stop her from going to degrade herself at the strip club.”
Nico's eyebrows wiggled. “Your girlfriend works at a strip club? You, my friend, are one lucky guy.”
“Shut up before I push you over this cliff.”
Once dad saw the video, it would all be over for Lucas. Then he'd know we were telling the truth, and Ceci would be safe.
And if that didn't work, I still had one more trump card. Marrying her was insane – we'd only met a few weeks ago – but if it had to be done to save her life, so be it.