Bend: A Dark Mafia Romance

by B. B. Hamel

  “But Vince will help you, right? I mean, he is the father and knows it now.”

  “Yeah, he knows it.”

  “He’ll help. He has to.”

  “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “He’s not the type of man to be a father.”

  “Shit. I have to go.”

  “Okay.”

  “Stay there, Kaley. Stay safe. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Bye.” But she had already hung up.

  I took a deep breath. I hadn’t really considered what was going on back home yet. I had assumed the men were preparing for this war and life was going on otherwise unchanged.

  But now I realized something more important. My father had disowned me.

  Sure, he acted like everything he was doing was to get me home. He pretended like this war was to save me or something like that.

  But he had my cell number. He could call me any time.

  Instead, he talked a big game about bringing me home but never mentioned Alexei. And he knew I wasn’t coming home without my baby.

  I was finished at home. It sank in and hit me hard all at once. I was finished at home and I was never going back.

  The first shots had been fired, even if they were digital shots. But the war was on, and I had no home.

  I stood there breathing deeply, trying to keep myself under control.

  Suddenly I had a huge urge to go see Alexei.

  I pushed myself up off the wall and walked quickly back to my room, to my son, the boy I would never, ever abandon.

  Chapter 18

  Vince

  War needed money.

  That was just a fact.

  If you wanted to run a successful war, you needed money. You needed guns and loyalty and the ability to pay off the cops and the mayor and much, much more.

  But you couldn’t do a thing without money. That was what kept the troops loyal, the blood flowing, the bullets flying.

  We drove in a convoy of three big black SUVs. Rafa was driving our car, with me up front and two thugs in the back.

  We pulled up to the drop site. It was late, around one in the morning, and the parking garage was completely empty. We pulled our cars up and got out in force, armed to the teeth and ready for any shit.

  The Latino gang, they called themselves the Rollers, and they were late. Under normal circumstances that wouldn’t be a big deal, but we were in a war, and who knew what the Russians were going to do.

  So my guys were edgy when the Rollers finally showed up.

  They came in two beat-up muscle cars. They pulled in slowly and parked and then climbed out. I recognized their leader, Carlos, but not the two other guys.

  I stepped forward. “Carlos, you’re late.”

  “Whatever, man. We had car trouble.”

  I laughed. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah, man, seriously.” He gave one of his guys a look. “Fucking asshole forgot to get it inspected.”

  I laughed, shaking my head. “Glad you made it at least.”

  “You got what we came for?”

  “We do. You have the money?”

  Carlos gestured at the guy next to him, who was carrying a briefcase. He popped it open.

  It was full of cash.

  “Good,” I said. I gestured to Rafa. He walked forward with a duffel bag and tossed it over to Carlos.

  Carlos caught it and opened it up. He pulled out a kilo brick and smiled. “This is why I like you fucking white boys,” he said. “No jokes, just the shit in a bag.”

  “Money,” I said.

  Carlos nodded to his boy, and the guy slid the briefcase over to us.

  I stopped it with my foot and then picked it up. I checked it quickly, and it looked to be all there.

  “If you’re short, we know where to find you,” I said.

  “Same to you, man.”

  I smiled at him. “Nice doing business with you.”

  Carlos nodded, turned, and the whole group got back into their shitty fucking cars. They pulled out and left.

  “Easy,” Rafa said.

  “Yeah, it was.”

  I had a strange feeling in my gut, but it was over. We had the cash, and the Russians hadn’t made a move. I gestured at the guys and they got back into the cars.

  We pulled out, heading down the garage. Our car was in the back, following the other two.

  That feeling kept nagging at me. Why had that been so easy? Even when we weren’t in a war, Carlos always made shit difficult. But this time he had been accommodating as hell.

  I shook my head. It didn’t matter. We were done and we had the money. I glanced down at the briefcase at my feet.

  The caravan got to the bottom of the garage and started to turn back out into the street. The first two glided out into the street, and we began to follow.

  Then I heard the scream of wheels. I had enough time to look up before a truck smashed into the side of us.

  I was rocketed forward but was saved by my seatbelt. One of the assholes in the backseat wasn’t so lucky, and he went flying forward, smashing his face into the front dash.

  My ears were ringing and I felt completely dazed.

  “Boss,” Rafa yelled.

  There was the pop of gunfire. I watched Rafa pull out his weapon and start shooting. I was dazed, my head spinning. The other thug in the backseat pulled his weapon and began to fire as well.

  “Vince!” Rafa yelled, getting out of the car.

  I came back to myself in that moment.

  The truck that had rammed us was a few feet away, and four men were spilling out of it, guns firing at the car. I scrambled over the body of the unconscious thug and rolled out Rafa’s door, putting our car between me and the guys coming at us.

  I pulled my gun. The other thug crouched down at the one end of the car and began to fire back at the guys. I realized they were yelling in Russian, and it quickly became obvious what was happening.

  They had ambushed us. They had attacked our car because they knew which car to go over. Fucking Carlos had sold us out to the Russians.

  I glanced at the thug firing his gun and watched his head explode. He fell to the ground, not moving, his skull a twist of blood.

  “Fuck,” Rafa yelled. Our two soldiers were down. I quickly got off a few shots, clipping one of the Russians in the leg. He dropped to the ground, but he wasn’t finished.

  “We need the money,” I called to Rafa. “Cover me.”

  “You fucking crazy?”

  “We need it, Rafa.” I dove back into the car and started reaching over the body of the thug.

  The Russians opened fire like crazy. Bullets slammed all around me, filling up the car with debris and explosions. I reached over the body and grabbed the handle of the briefcase, barely getting my fingers on it.

  Rafa returned fire and managed to hit one of the Russians in the stomach. He dropped to the ground, bleeding and screaming curses. The other two split up, one going to the front of the car, the other toward the back.

  I had to fall back as the guy up front shot at me through the windshield.

  I dropped and rolled toward the back, bringing my gun up.

  Just then, I heard the roar of another SUV. It was our guys, circling back. They screeched to a halt not far away, and the Russian up front brought his gun around to fire at them.

  But too slowly. He was covered in bullets in a second from the guys in that car. They spilled out, running toward us, taking shots at the Russian in the back.

  But he took off. He didn’t bother trying to fight a losing battle. He simply turned and ran.

  Some of our guys went after him.

  I leaned up against the car.

  “You okay, boss?” Rafa asked.

  “I’m good. You?”

  “Fine.”

  I looked around at the twisted metal of the two smashed cars and the bodies of our two men. The two Russian guys were still alive. I walked around toward them.

  I put my boot on the stomach wound of the one man. He
screamed in pain. I put a bullet in his head.

  I walked over to the other one.

  “Think your guy can get away?” I asked him.

  “Fuck you,” he said.

  “Wrong answer.” I shot him in the skull.

  “We could have used them alive, boss,” Rafa said.

  “We’ll catch the guy on foot.” I walked over to the SUV, opened the door, and grabbed the briefcase from the floor. It was dented and covered in blood from thug who hadn’t bothered with a seat belt, but otherwise it was fine.

  “What the fuck was that?” Rafa asked. “Why just one car?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe they were going after the money. Or maybe they didn’t know we’d be out in force like that.”

  “Shit,” Rafa said. “Bastards.”

  “They just made this war real,” I said. “Come on.”

  I walked toward the other SUV. I pointed at two of my soldiers. “You two, go make sure that Russian guy gets hunted down.” They nodded and ran off to join the chase.

  Rafa climbed into the driver’s seat of the now-empty SUV, and I got into the passenger side. We had four trained guys out hunting for that Russian; he wouldn’t last long.

  Rafa pulled out, and the last SUV met up with us at a stoplight. We drove together back toward the compound.

  My heart was fucking pounding. That had been an incredibly close one. We were lucky that last SUV came back to check on us, otherwise we might have been dead in the street.

  But we’d made it, and with the money, half of what we needed to make good with Bao and his people. Hopefully Arturo would front the other half, but you never knew with that cheap bastard.

  I felt fucking amped from all the adrenaline flowing through my body. It was almost as good as how I’d felt after fucking Kaley earlier that day.

  But I couldn’t think about her. She was just a distraction. This war was real and getting more dangerous every day. I’d figure out what I wanted with Kaley soon enough.

  But first, I had to get money and fund this damn violence.

  Chapter 19

  Kaley

  My head was buzzing as I walked through the hallways, Alexei in my arms. He was squirming more than usual but seemed content and happy to get a ride around the plush halls.

  And I felt like I needed to be moving. After watching what had happened with Louisa, this war was becoming suddenly more real.

  It was early the next day, and I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept well the night before, mostly because I was so worried about Vince and about my own family. I’d never wanted any of this to happen, never wanted a war between my family and the Italians.

  I stopped walking and leaned up against the wall, looking down at Alexei.

  “What do you think of your daddy, Alex?” I asked him. “Think he’s big and strong? You’ll be big and strong one day.”

  He just kept squirming and looking around, and I smiled. Every day he seemed to get more and more interested in his surroundings, smiled more, laughed sometimes, and just seemed like he was learning. He was growing so fast, too. Every time I felt too stressed and worried, I needed to just think about Alex and remember why I was doing this.

  It was for the future, for his future and for my own, too.

  Just then, a door near us pushed open and two staff members walked out. They were clearly maids, both pushing carts. One was tall and the other was short, both woman, both probably in their forties. They stopped in the hall and huddled together, talking quietly but still loudly enough that I could hear what they were saying.

  “How much blood?” she asked.

  “A lot. Tons of it.”

  “Wow. That’s scary. I mean, I knew we worked for the mob, but seriously, blood?”

  The taller one nodded. “I know. I think there was some sort of attack last night.”

  “Really?” the shorter one asked. “These guys always seem so nice. I mean, tough guys and all, but nice.”

  “I know. I think someone died. Can you believe it?”

  “Geez.” They began to walk slowly down the hallway, and their conversation faded out of earshot.

  They must not have noticed me standing there. I was partially hidden by a big plant and they had turned away from me. Otherwise I couldn’t imagine they’d say that stuff in front of me.

  But I was glad they had. I felt terrified as I moved back down the hall, walking fast. Fear ran up along my spine as I pictured the worst-case scenario.

  What if my baby’s father was dead? He could be lying in the street, stiff and dead, all because of me. Even if it wasn’t him, someone had died because of this war. The shots were no longer digital, clearly.

  I practically jogged down the halls and finally stopped outside Vince’s room, my heart hammering in my chest. I knocked hard on his door, gently rocking Alexei to keep him calm.

  No answer. Panic began to rise up through me as I knocked again, louder and more insistent.

  “Hold the fuck on,” I heard from inside. “I’m coming.”

  Relief washed over me as Vince pulled open the door. He was wearing only a tiny pair of black workout shorts, and I couldn’t help but stare at his muscular chest.

  “What a surprise,” he said.

  “I heard about the attack,” I blurted out.

  He stared at me for a second and then sighed. “Come inside.”

  I followed him into his room, still gently rocking Alexei. Vince hadn’t even given Alex a second look; he just collapsed onto the couch. I sat down on a chair across from him.

  He looked exhausted, but still absolutely handsome. I was glad I had Alexei with me, since he would act as a buffer between the two of us. Ever since I’d given in and slept with Vince, I couldn’t get him out of my mind, and now seeing him without his shirt on was driving me crazy.

  I couldn’t believe how badly I wanted him again, even despite all the madness and violence happening around us. It was pure animal lust, and I felt my pussy soaking through my panties already.

  “How’d you hear?” he asked.

  “Staff was talking,” I said. “I overheard them.”

  “Damn,” he said. “I was going to tell you eventually. I needed sleep first.”

  “Did I wake you up?”

  “Yeah,” he grunted.

  “Sorry about that.” I bit my lip. “Someone died?”

  “Yeah,” he said again, looking away. “Just some guys from my crew.”

  “I’m sorry, Vince.”

  “It’s war. That shit happens.”

  “Were you involved?”

  “I was there,” he said.

  “What happened?”

  He sighed, stretching out on the couch. He seemed strange, maybe a little distant. He was usually so fast to make some kind of comment, but maybe it was because of Alexei that he was holding back his normal dirty banter.

  “Your family ambushed us when we left a deal.”

  “The whole mob isn’t my family.”

  He shrugged. “Fine. Call it whatever you want. The Russians shot first, but we’ll shoot harder.”

  “Vince,” I said softly, “this is crazy. I never wanted a war.”

  “Doesn’t matter what you wanted, does it?” he asked. “It’s happening, probably was going to happen eventually no matter what.”

  I sighed, bouncing Alex slightly. “I don’t want people to get hurt because of me.”

  “Nobody is getting hurt because of you,” he said. “This is because your mob doesn’t respect its superiors.”

  I clenched my jaw. “They may be mine, but I don’t feel like I’m one of them right now.”

  “Fine. Is this all you wanted, to ask me questions?”

  “No need to be an asshole.”

  He shrugged. “Been a long fucking night.”

  “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I’m okay.”

  I stared at him and then stood. “You don’t have to keep protecting us. I never asked for a war.”
>
  “He’s my son.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, he is.”

  I walked past him, opened the door, and then left.

  That man was so infuriating. He couldn’t see past his own wants and desires, and he seemed to think he was the center of the world. So what if he was tired? He could at least take a second to talk to me. I’d thought he was dead.

  But he didn’t owe me anything, and he was doing the best he could. I sighed as I opened my own door and went into my room, annoyed that I was pushing him, and annoyed that things were spiraling so far out of my control.

  I walked over to Alexei’s little bouncy chair and set him down. He seemed more tired than anything else, and so I let him lie back and bounce around while I got out my phone and dialed Sophie’s number.

  She answered on the third ring.

  “Hey,” I said. “How are you?”

  “Hi, Kaley.” Her voice sounded tense.

  “What’s going on?”

  “There’s a lot happening right now,” she said. “I can’t really talk much.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  There was something going on here, too. I had no clue what it was, but it had to have something to do with the attack.

  “Is everyone else okay?”

  “Look,” she whispered, “I heard some attack happened. Some guys got killed—nobody we knew—but things are really tense here.”

  “Things are tense here, too.”

  “I have to go. Don’t call again. Just stay where you are. I’ll call you when I can.”

  “Soph, I just wanted—”

  But she had already hung up.

  I stared down at my phone, surprise running through me. Soph had never been that short with me before, never hung up on me. Obviously this war was taking its toll on both sides, and I was stuck right in the middle.

  I had no place in the Italian mob. I didn’t know anyone, except for Vince, and he seemed to barely tolerate my existence. He hadn’t really said anything about wanting to be a father to Alexei, though he did say that he’d keep him safe.

  Since I had left my family and run to the Italian mob, I had never really felt too isolated. I knew I had made the right choice, even if I did miss living back with my own people.