After the Dust Settles (California Dreaming Book 3)

by Stacey Johnston

  I was fucking devastated the day Sean left, it took everything in me not to run after him. Yeah, I believed at the time that we probably could have stayed hidden for a while, but in the end, my padre would have found me. I spent hours, after he walked away, just sitting toward the back of Milk and Roses reading, drinking the endless supply of cappuccino’s Mrs. Zegarelli placed in front of me. She never said a word, she just kept replacing my empty mugs until I’d had enough, and was ready to go home. That’s the one thing I’ve always loved about that woman; she knows what you need without ever having to ask.

  To keep him safe, I haven’t tried to make contact with Sean since he left. I know that if my padre gets any clue we are in contact, he will kill him. There will be no threats made, I’ve already been warned. He promised that they would find him, and shoot him, it’s that fucking simple. Once padre dearest was happy with the knowledge that Sean had left Brooklyn, he removed me from the job I had been working on – Sean being said job ̶ and put me to work overseeing his brothels instead. I know why I have been placed here, it was punishment for disobeying him. He knows how much I hate watching my madre whore herself to the highest bidder every night.

  To him, personally, she is worthless, but to his business, she makes him the most money each night. For a woman in her fifties, she still looks good and he exploits that. Her olive complexion and soft brown hair give her an exotic look, driving the numbers up each week. This job will be the death of her one day, but she won’t stop, she loves him that much.

  “Hadley darling, what troubles you?” madre asks as she enters my office. I shut myself in here when I first arrived, shielding myself from the senseless slavery my padre commits in this building. I have Maria to take care of the day to day shit out front. It’s more her thing anyway. She’s mid-twenties with tits that fall out of her too small corset tops. She is all curves that girl, and the men love that. Add a bubbly personality and business is booming.

  I have always found my madre’s voice to be sickly sweet and loving - you know, like a normal madre’s voice, and although I don’t doubt she loves me, it’s just not the way I need her to. If she did, I wouldn’t be sitting here working on my plan to kill off the head of the Alexandria family.

  Her love of that man and the choices she has made since, brought both me and Gerrick into this world, and into the life of a narcissistic control freak.

  “Nothing that would concern you, madre,” I snap at her in return.

  Her ‘shift’ here at my padre’s more elite brothel started a couple of hours ago, and will finish somewhere around dawn. Night after night, she opens her legs, allowing a string of men between them, without question or complaint. I’ve never understood how she didn’t grow tired of it.

  I’m happy to admit, I love sex, especially when I am experimenting, but I couldn’t live the life she has all these years.

  “Since when do you treat me with such disrespect?”

  Looking up from my keyboard, I find it amusing that she’s attempting to fight back. Normally, this would be considered a good thing, as it would mean that some kind of emotion is finally starting to seep through the void behind her eyes.

  “I’ve never had any respect for you, madre, only ever tolerance.”

  I know that gets her, since I don’t hear the door shut as she leaves the room. With her gone, I can concentrate on the best way to remove my padre from his throne without drawing attention to myself. If I do it, I will be hunted for the rest of my life. I need to find a way of doing it and disappearing without a trace. Gerrick is going to be my hurdle as he idolizes our padre. This life suits him. He is more like my padre than I would like to admit.

  Picking up the burner cell I purchased months ago, I type in Sean’s number. If I send him a one off message won’t draw the attention of my padre since he is targeting phone calls between our other numbers. He isn’t as smart as me, he’s still very old school.

  Me: Get a new cell phone, call this number. Hads xx

  I’m hoping he responds. Every move we make now needs to be like a chess game, carefully thought out, and one step ahead of my padre. Although I don’t want to give my padre any reason to suspect the number I’m using, I need to be smart about what I am doing. I’m positive they are still watching the Valentine’s as much as they are watching us. For now, though, I think it’s best we travel down this path, just because I don’t want to imagine how I would feel if my padre actually followed through on his threat.

  Chapter Six

  Sean

  Why does it feel like months instead of weeks since I last saw Hadley? Maybe it’s because she haunts my every waking moment. Each memory that floods my head always involves her touch, hardening my cock instantly. I’ve never felt a need like this before, and since returning, I have been obsessed with finding a way to save her from her father without it involving a shootout.

  Just after I returned from Solana Beach, I opened up to my mom, using her as my sounding board to work through my confusion. I think she was more excited that I was finally talking to her than about what I needed to say. When I headed back here, I wasn’t sure what the fuck was going on with me. All I knew was this was the happiest I had been in a long time. The final few days before leaving, I used my time reconnecting with Stephen, Ben, Kyle, and Luke, something that I desperately needed to do. I also spent a lot of time with Stephen reminiscing, breaking down the wall of awkwardness I had constructed. I refused to allow it to stop me from spending time with the people I considered my brothers, my family.

  The emptiness I felt after arriving back here dissolved quickly when their daily messaging started. Not one of those dicks were going to let me fall off the face of the earth again. They started bombarding me daily with an endless supply of crap. I loved it, I won’t deny that, as it brought a smile to my face every day. I’ve missed the hell out of them all, I just hadn’t realized how much.

  My cell buzzing next to me shatters my daydream. Thinking it was one of them, you can imagine my surprise when I swipe the screen and read the waiting message.

  Unknown: Get a new cell phone, call this number. Hads xx

  A surge of happiness suddenly floods through me, it’s about fucking time she reached out to me. Where the hell did Hawke hide those burner cells? Searching the room, I find them neatly stacked in his cabinet with other weapons and accessories. You have to hand it to Hawke, he is ready for anything. Well prepared is the polite way of describing his communications room here in his fortress. Grabbing a cell phone, I check for charge before typing in the number.

  “Sean,” her sweet voice all but whispers.

  Just the sound of her voice takes my breath away.

  “Hads, fuck I’ve missed your voice.” I can’t help but smile as her giggle echoes through the speaker.

  “I’ve missed more than just your voice, lover boy, but soon, we will be together.” The smile on my face grows, there’s my dirty girl.

  “Oh, I’ve missed more than just your voice babe. My cock has stopped talking to me in protest.”

  A loud eruption on the other end startles me until I realize it’s just Hadley laughing out loud.

  “God, girl, what the fuck was that? You scared the living daylights out of me for a minute there,” I complain, causing her to laugh even harder.

  “I’m sorry Sean, but that was fucking funny,” she stutters.

  After she calms down, there is silence, which worries me. Is there someone there with her preventing her from talking openly to me? Wait, that can’t be the case, because she asked me to call.

  “What’s going on, Hadley? You asked me to call and now you’re not speaking to me. What’s wrong?” Her sighing on the other end only heightens my worry.

  “I’m sorry, Sean, it’s just I don’t want to be here, but I can’t find a way out right now. My father is suffocating me with his presence. He is everywhere I go, I think he knows I’m up to something.”

  I need to step up my game and get her the fuck away from him,
but how? “I’m working on it babe, just a little bit longer.”

  “I have to go, Sean, I love you.”

  With no chance to reply, she ends the call, leaving me to the silence that has taken over once more.

  Hadley

  Just the sound of my boy’s voice was enough to entice just the smallest of smiles to my lips. Nothing of late has given me a reason to be happy, until now. I’ve missed him so much, and didn’t want to end our call so brashly, but I also didn’t want my padre to catch me. It’s like he has a second sense, choosing that particular moment to walk through my office door. I ended our call as quickly as I could, throwing my cell into a drawer with the hope that he didn’t see anything. Slumping in the chair in front of my desk, he says nothing, eyeing me suspiciously.

  Do I have a guilty look on my face, is what I want to say?

  “What is it you want?” I ask, tired of the mindless head fuck games he likes to play with me.

  Nothing but silence answers my call, but I have come to expect that. It’s always to been the game where he draws out the suspense to use it as an intimidation tool. This may have worked on me once upon a time when I was younger and more impressionable, but not anymore. I outgrew his childish games a long time ago.

  “Am I not allowed to visit with my only figlia?” he finally communicates, drawing out his words in a long, matter of fact, dull tone. The one he usually reserves for his enemies.

  Now you would think that should raise some sort of alarm, but I don’t care. Well, not in the way he is expecting me to anyway.

  “If you want something, spit it out and then get out of my office,” I reply flatly.

  I will not allow him to spark any kind of reaction in me.

  I know it’s the whole point of his visit right now. He no doubt believes that I’m in need of some reasserting and that he is the only one who can do that. His response, which I know is meant to be threatening, boomed and echoed throughout the room.

  “That’s no way to speak to me, Hadley, anyone else would be dead by now. Be thankful you are my figlia.”

  Little does he realize, inside I am already dead, the only lightness in my life is thousands of miles away.

  “Being your figlia means nothing. If you wanted me dead, it would have been done by now. I know what you did to nonno.”

  That gets the reaction I was looking for. There is no longer a look of disinterest in his eyes, just a look of fear, which for a flicker of a second, shines brightly.

  And we are back to the silence…

  “Tell me, padre, when did you decide that nonno had outlived his usefulness, and are you not worried that Gerrick and I will do the same to you?”

  Holding my statue, keeping my game face on, I watch as he visibly cringes.

  “I’d ask how, but I can guess,” he replies.

  This time, there is nothing in his tone, no spitefulness, just a man acknowledging he’s been beaten.

  “How long have you known?” And just like that, the wall is back up.

  Sitting back up in his chair, it doesn’t surprise me that he is now only reflecting the harshness I have become accustomed to. There is no gentleness to this man, especially when dealing with his own children.

  “It doesn’t matter how long. That information is irrelevant. Answer me, why?”

  It doesn’t matter that I already know the answer to my question, I am just trying to prove a point. I watch as he straightens and takes me in, like really takes me in, as though I am now his competitor.

  “Yes, the old man did outlive his usefulness,” he starts. Holding his gaze, I see nothing but blackness, a dark color that occupies his heart as well.

  “I knew I was better equipped to handle the family business, so I took it from him. You of all people should understand how our world works.”

  Yes, I do… I understand completely.

  This world is the only one I have ever known. I was born into a dark world of power hungry, money stealing murderers. My padre topping that evil list as the most power hungriest of them all.

  “What changed you, my angelo?” Ugh, I hate it when he calls me that-his angel.

  I haven’t been that since he threw me out to the wolves when I was sixteen. That was the day the man I loved, the one I looked up to, became the man I hated.

  “I changed padre dearest when you whored me out to those Columbians all those years ago. I stopped being your figlia when I was sixteen years old, and I became a bargaining chip.”

  I was hoping for some kind of reaction when I threw that charming fragment of information in his face, but still nothing. My padre is nothing more than a calculating piece of shit, a man void of emotion and no one is safe from him.

  Not even his children.

  “You used me back then to broaden and strengthen your hold on the market, for your greed.”

  I’ve read about these standoff moments in books, this is supposed to be the part when he begs me for forgiveness, and wallows in his regrets. Unfortunately for me, that isn’t going to be the case. The man who spawned me, just stands and glares back at me with his cold, black eyes. This is exactly what I expect from him.

  “I made you the person you are today, my love, don’t forget that. You and your fratello are strong and capable of handling yourselves in any situation…because of me.”

  And we are back to that again… I have heard that same spiel many times over the years and before it would have had an impact. In the past, it always brought me back to him, and made me feel guilty for attempting to rebel, but not today. I am stronger… piu forte, than I have ever been and his words will not desecrate me. As if to dismiss me, I watch as my padre moves toward the door.

  “You still haven’t told me why you are here,” I callously call out. Slowing his pace, he turns slightly to engage me.

  “I came to tell you, figlia dearest, that you need to stay away from that boy. He will be the bringer of death.”

  I knew he was here about Sean. “Take care, mio angelo, I’ll be seeing you real soon.”

  When the door closes, I slump in my chair and start to relax. It’s always tense when I have to address my padre and I can’t wait for the day when I am rid of him from my life for good. Pulling the hidden cell phone from my drawer, I smile when a message from my love lights up the screen.

  Sean: We will be together soon, beautiful girl. Remember that I love you.

  I know my smile is growing, but that’s just what that boy does to me. I can’t believe I even contemplated killing him. My days within my padre’s organization were numbered, when I didn’t pull the trigger. Finding out that I bedded him instead, only cemented my fate. Eventually, either he or Gerrick will be forced to take care of me, or I will have to agree to my arranged marriage. Neither of those outcomes appeal to me at all, meaning I am going to have to strike first.

  Me: The sooner the better, lover boy xx

  Sean: Why did you hang up?

  Fuck! I wasn’t expecting him to still be awake. Shit, I will need to find out if we are even on the same time zone. I wouldn’t imagine we are, but then again, I have no idea where he is hiding either. The only locations we have for the Valentine’s is their home in Solana Beach, and the apartment they resided in here in Brooklyn. I didn’t ask Sean where he was hiding, because I didn’t want to place him in danger if my padre tried to extract it from me.

  His interrogation methods are inhumane, and I should know, I have used them myself. The success rate for extracting vital information has always been extremely high. No one ever lasts more than twenty-four hours. Well, there was one… one of those Columbians who my padre whored me out to. Once he had his fun, I turned the tables on him, and had some of my own.

  I tied him to the bed in the sleazy motel room he took me to, and spent the next seventy-two hours perfecting my skills. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t survive, but I became a useful tool for my padre, bumping me up the food chain ahead of my fratello.

  After that day, I never allowed anyone to w
alk over me ever again, and that included my padre. I’m just better at manipulation than the rest of his puppets. My madre and fratello never understood my reasoning for such a drastic transformation, but I also never wanted them to be concerned for my wellbeing. I may be my padre’s figlia, but I am smarter then he will ever be, and that will eventually be his demise.

  His death, though, won’t be as merciful as my beautiful nonno’s.

  That’s a man I miss daily. Don’t get me wrong, he was a ruthless son of a bitch and a mean old bastard, but never toward his grandchildren. He and my nonna made it a habit of spoiling Gerrick and me, much to the irritation of my padre. When nonna passed, he was never the same. She was his only love, and her death was a revenge killing.

  My nonno executed a Russian family in cold blood. It was a vicious, calculated attack to take over their territory that bordered on our own. Nonno was all about expansion, and wanted to have a majority claim on the drug trade. He succeeded, but it came with a cost. He lost my nonna and my zia in that hit and it left him a broken man. That was when my padre and my uncle took it upon themselves to eliminate him, staking their claim on his livelihood, the foundation he built from the ground up. A couple of years later, my padre’s greed led to him killing my uncle as well.

  What I don’t think my padre ever expected was Silo filling me in on the gruesome details. He admitted to me one drunken night, that he committed the hit on my nonno. He told me the burden of carrying it around all those years was too much to bare anymore. To say I was upset at first is an understatement, until he told me that my padre had originally organized for Vincent Salvatore to do it. Silo couldn’t and wouldn’t allow that to happen, his loyalty to my nonno was stronger than that of my padre. One final thing he mentioned was that nonno knew it was coming, and had been relieved that it was Silo carrying it out.

  He died quickly and peacefully.