“She’s good. Crankier than usual.”
“Keep her away from her gun,” I say with a snicker. Heaven is famous for her red-hot Irish temper and has been known to let off steam by firing off a few rounds whenever she gets the urge. She’s controlled herself throughout the pregnancy, but it sounds like she might just snap like a rubber band, and it’s only exacerbated by the fact that she can’t down whiskey right now either. “But keep your fridge stocked with those chocolate tarts she loves so much from Bouchon Bakery.”
“I know. She can eat her weight in those damn things.” He chuckles for a second. “How’s everything going with the clubs? You haven’t had any issues with the suppliers, have you?”
I let out a small sigh of relief. He obviously isn’t plugged into what’s been happening out here.
Looks like my actions against Salvatore, Dario, and Frankie—rash and vicious as they may have been—gave my crew the jolt they needed and resurrected some respect for me and my role. Maybe there is something to be said for using brute force to command respect.
“No issues,” I say because there was no issue with the suppliers. They brought exactly what we agreed upon. The issue is with the bastards who are still faceless and nameless until I can get my pal Frankie to sell them out.
But what Matteo doesn’t know won’t hurt him. It may kill me, but that’s not for him to worry about. It’s for me to fix.
“Good. I was afraid I’d have to crack some skulls. I know I’ve been gone for a lot longer than I originally said, but it’s been good to build relationships out here. And I know you’ve got things covered in the city.”
“Yeah,” I say, my throat tight.
“By the way, there is another reason for my call. There’s an event tomorrow night and I need you to go in my place. It’s some charity ball sponsored by a bunch of stuffy politicians who we need to keep in our back pockets. It’ll be good for you to get out there and network. I know you’ve spent a lot of time behind the scenes, but it’s time to get you out and rubbing elbows, you know?”
I nod. “Yeah, sure.”
“I’ll text you all the details. You think you can find a date between now and then?”
My eyes unconsciously flicker over toward Marchella, who is about to shoot another finger of tequila. Jesus, I need to get some food in her or she’ll be hanging over my railing, puking her guts up within the hour.
“Never had a problem finding one before.”
Matteo snickers. “No, you haven’t. Okay, I’ll talk to you in the next couple of days.”
“Sure,” I croak, clicking off the phone.
“Doesn’t sound like you gave him the scoop,” Dante quips.
“He was preoccupied with Heaven,” I mumble.
“And what have you never had a problem finding before?” Dante asks.
“Christ, man. Do you have to eavesdrop like a fucking spy all the time? Do you ever just tune shit out?”
“Nah, not when it gets your dick in a twist like this.” He grins. “So. What does he have you doing for him this time?”
“He wants me to go to some charity event tomorrow night. He asked if I could find a date.”
“Ah,” Dante says with a nod. “So, kidnapping with a purpose. Nice.”
Marchella narrows her slightly drunken eyes at me. “Are you thinking that I’ll go with you to this thing?” she screeches. “Because, oh hell fucking no to that!”
“You don’t have a choice,” I growl.
“Really?” she snaps. “Then you’re gonna have to shoot me with another dart to get me anywhere near that event!”
“That can be arranged,” I say darkly.
“Why in the world would I ever do you any favors? You’re holding me captive! What kind of sick and twisted person would even think it’s okay to ask me to go? I mean, hello! I’m your fucking hostage! Taking me out in public isn’t an ideal scenario.”
“She does have a point,” Dante says. “It is a little weird. She’s not your employee, she’s your ex-girlfriend.”
“Stop saying that! Whose fucking side are you on?” I yell.
“Well, to be honest, I don’t know. You show up here with the chick you pined for back in Sicily who claims you beat the shit out of her brother, your former best friend, and kidnapped her. That to me screams a little hard up for some female companionship, but hey, I don’t judge.”
I clench my fists tight, my pulse throbbing against my neck.
“Yeah, why don’t you tell him the whole sordid story?” Marchella seethes. “Let him judge for himself!”
“Salvatore Giaconne and Frankie Amante robbed us last night,” I grunt. “Worked with a crew to ambush us. They got away with five hundo worth of blow.” I jerk my head toward Marchella. “My ex-best friend fucked us up the ass just like his father did to Pop back in Sicily. The grape doesn’t fall far from the vine.” I glare at Dante. “So, yeah, I took her as leverage while Frankie gets our drugs back.”
“Damn,” Dante mutters.
And he doesn’t know the half of it, the rest of the blood staining me from head to toe. The hairs on my arms prickle as I crack my knuckles one finger at a time, a throbbing sensation between my temples making my head ache.
Dante looks at Marchella. “Your brother was always an asshat.”
“S-screw you! Your family is a bunch of scumbag pigs!” Marchella staggers over to the couch and leans against it. “But whatever. So now you have me and I can’t work so I’m just going to s-sink further into debt. I’ll probably lose my job, the only job I could even get after everything hit the fan with Papa…”
She keeps rambling and I don’t know what any of it means, but one thing sticks.
She’s my bargaining chip, yeah. But she didn’t have anything to do with the stunt her brother pulled. And she didn’t have anything to do with what her father pulled years back. She’s been the one to suffer through all of it. I don’t want to fuck her for his bad judgment.
I mean, yeah, I wanna fuck her, but not that way.
I rub the knot forming at the base of my skull. “Just stop talking, okay? You’re giving me more of a goddamn headache right now.” A frustrated sigh slips from my lips. “Dante is right. I should pay you if I want you to come with me.” I can see his eyes widen and he probably thinks I’m off my nut, but I keep going. “I’ll pay you for your lost work time, okay? In return, you come to this event with me.” I walk to the couch. “You be the perfect date and I’ll make sure you have the money you need for your bills.”
“Oh, so what is this-s, Pretty Woman with a little gangster twist?” she mumbles. “I’m not gonna screw you, Romo. And I don’t kiss on the mouth.”
“Yeah, well, that ship’s kinda sailed.”
She leans back against the couch, rolling over the top of it and landing face-first into the seat cushion with a little yelp. “You lost my puppy. My Bella,” she murmurs. “Jerk.”
I peer over the top of the couch and sure enough, she’s passed out in what seems like seconds.
“Cheap date,” Dante says. “You sure know how to pick ’em, bro.”
“Tell me about it,” I groan.
“What’d you do to her puppy?”
I roll my eyes. “That’s the only question you have for me?”
“We can start there.” Dante saunters over to another couch and sinks into the leather, draping an arm over the top.
“Are you gonna get dressed tonight or what?”
“Hey, I usually air-dry at home, so consider yourself lucky that the towel is still on.”
I let out a frustrated sigh and collapse into a chair opposite him.
A loud snore comes from the opposite side of the room and I sigh, pushing back my hair. “I guess I can talk freely since she’s on another planet right now.” I lean forward, my head in my hands. “Frankie stole those drugs. He hooked up with Salvatore Giaconne, who had a beef with us. But he claims he can’t get the blow back, that ‘they won’t let him have it.’ He also said they fo
und him and not the other way around. He says he doesn’t know how to get to the drugs or the dipshits who have them.” I let out a sigh “Sal didn’t give me any names either. It’s all on Frankie. I think he’s full of shit. He’s working with an enemy of ours. I know it.”
“Maybe you’re looking too deep,” Dante says. “Maybe it really was a revenge plot, Sal getting you back for firing him, Frankie getting you back for running them out of Sicily and humiliating their family.”
“I don’t know. But I don’t trust Frankie,” I mutter.
“So what’s that got to do with Sleeping Beauty over there?” Dante’s forehead creases. “You kidnapped her as leverage, but for what? Is it just to get the drugs back?”
I shake my head. “I want the drugs, yeah. But, for all I know, we’ll never see them again. The bigger problem is taking care of the bastards who made off with our stash. I need to make sure they never pull the same job twice.”
“And that’s why you went insane, drugged your ex, and snatched her off the street?” Dante lifts an eyebrow.
“No,” I say tersely. “I did all that to prove to my guys that I’m not some pussy who’s gonna let anyone walk all over me. I did it as a show of strength, as a way to keep their respect since I lost a ton of it when this went down.
Dante nods. “Okay, so where’s Frankie now?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I gave him one week to get me what I want.”
“And you restore everyone’s faith in you and you jump into Matteo’s number two spot because you’ve made the empire whole again.”
“Exactly.”
Dante shakes his head. “Romo, what if you’re spinning your wheels looking for an enemy who isn’t there? What if you miss the real ones, Frankie and Sal, because you’re chasing a fucking figment of your paranoid imagination? You always think people are trying to cut you down, to undermine you because you’re the youngest. Matteo left you out here to run things because he trusts you. Don’t fuck with that, bro. Do your job. Don’t make problems where none exist.”
“I’m not imagining it!” I say, standing up and pacing across the floor. “And now I need Frankie to get me the guys who were behind this. Once he does that…” My voice trails off as I sneak a glance over at Marchella’s limp body.
“You give her up? Again?”
I swallow hard. “Yeah. That’s how the story ends, Dante. I close the book on the Amantes for good.”
“Can we talk about the puppy now?”
I groan. “Bobby got Marchella with the tranquilizer dart while she was trying to help a stray puppy. Same one she was chasing in the…” My words drift off as I recall my arms wrapped tight around her in the park, right after she almost wiped out on that rock. “…in the park.”
“In the park. And is that where you, ah,” he grins. “Sexually assaulted her?”
“I admit, it wasn’t my smartest move,” I grumble.
“This is your problem, Romo. You don’t think. You just do.”
“Says the guy who takes his sniper rifle to bed almost as often as his whores.”
“Easy, bro. No need to judge.”
“Look, you run your life and I’ll run mine, okay?” I shake my head. “In the meantime, I have to figure out how to make the next week as painless as possible for myself.” I nod at Marchella. “She can be pretty brutal.”
“Judging by the way she sucked back that tequila, I’d say you should stock up if you want any peace.”
I nod, staring out at the skyline.
There might be something else I can do.
You know, for the sake of keeping peace.
I hold open a bag of some horrid-smelling things called Nudges that I found in the pet aisle of a nearby Key Food supermarket, hoping the scent alone will have Bella running to eat out of my hand. I grabbed a few other necessities like a leash and some wipes because stupidly, I was hopeful I’d actually be able to find her. But now it’s been three hours since I left my apartment and it’s starting to get dark. Pretty soon, I won’t be able to see her even if she is skulking around these streets.
I wander up and down the streets around the park, knowing that once darkness falls, I’ll be fucked in this neighborhood. I’ve got my gun, but if I get jumped by a group of thugs with something to prove, it’ll be damn useless.
I wind up back in the spot where Bobby shot Marchella because the little alleyway is the last place where I saw Bella. I guess I’m hoping she’ll come back around. I sink to the concrete next to the old brick building, tall, overgrown weeds on either side of me. My shoulders slump and I lean my head back against the side of the wall.
Why in the hell am I even here?
Do I really think that I’m A) gonna find the dog, and B) gonna be able to ingratiate myself with Marchella even if I get lucky and she comes sniffing around?
My cell phone buzzes and I grab it. “Is she up yet?” I ask.
“Nah. In fact, I think she’s actually drooling a little. You finish your little errand?”
“Not yet.” I sigh. “I’ll be home soon. Hopefully.”
“Okay. Don’t forget the Jack.”
Jesus Christ. “Is that all that’s on your mind right now?”
“Nope,” he says. “My mind is on your little captive right now. She’s got some mouth on her. I’m thinking about what else she can do with it.”
“Did you put on pants?” I say through gritted teeth.
“Negative. I figured easy access, you know? If she wakes up horny,” Dante adds with a snicker. “I mean, she clearly hates you, but I figure I’m fair game.”
I grip the phone tight. I will kill him if he lays a finger on Marchella. Kill him fucking dead!
“Relax, Romo. I know you still like her,” he sing-songs. “But ya know, it’s gotta be her choice. That’s only fair.”
“Screw you,” I hiss. “And I am long fucking over her. You think she’d be interested in you, go for it. I don’t need her brand of hell in my life.”
“Thanks for giving me your blessing,” he says. “My dick appreciates it.”
I hate him. I hate him. I hate him!
My stomach rolls as I raise the bag of Nudges to my nose. I’m starving but not dying.
“I’ll see ya later,” I snap, clicking off the phone.
My brother. What a dick. He rode my ass incessantly about her back in Sicily because he was the only one who actually paid attention and saw what everyone else missed.
Of course he’d try to make a run at Marchella just to fuck with me.
Like he needs to. The guy can get any woman he wants, whenever he wants.
But he also loves a challenge.
And Marchella is just that.
I stagger to my feet. This manhunt is useless. I’m not gonna find—
Something winds around my ankles and I jump, looking down at the ground. I really hope it’s not a sewer rat. They’re the size of cats here in the city, with thick tails about a mile long.
Scary as fuck, not that I’d ever admit that.
But whatever it is nuzzles the side of my leg without making a peep. I lower myself to the ground and the ears perk up, standing at attention. Big bug eyes stare up at me…or rather, the bag of Nudges in my hand.
“Bella,” I whisper, a smile tugging at my lips. I didn’t spend too much time studying the dog Marchella was with, but I remember small, black, and those big eyes. This has to be her.
I reach down to stroke the underside of her chin but she backs away, creeping back toward the small alleyway between the buildings.
“Shit,” I mutter, pulling a Nudge out of the bag and holding it out, whistling at her. Her eyes widen and she takes a few steps toward me. She moves gingerly and I don’t make any quick moves, just in case she gets spooked and takes off like a shot.
Speaking of shots, we need to get the hell out of here.
Immediately, if not sooner.
Bella inches toward me and turns her head up toward the steak-like looking thing in my hand. I fig
ht the bile rising in the back of my throat.
It sure as hell doesn’t smell like a side of beef to me, but hey, it got her out here.
She must be fucking starving.
I look around, hearing faint yelling in the distance. I start to back away from the brick, urging Bella to follow me out far enough that I can scoop her up. I tiptoe backward, holding out the treat, whistling at her as she creeps closer.
“Come on, girl. Just a little more,” I murmur. My car is right around the corner, my gun tucked into the back of my jeans. She finally makes her way out into the open and I hold out the treat to her. She jumps for it, capturing it with her teeth so fast, I almost think I imagined it.
She must swallow it whole because it’s only a split second before she puts out her paw, looking for more. I take a quick look around and hurriedly hand over a second one. This time, I put it on the ground and gently put my arms around her as she scarfs down the treat. She wiggles like crazy, but I don’t really have time to comfort her. I’ve got an expensive car sitting out on a street known for gang violence and general obliteration of anything out of the ordinary.
She can eat the whole damn bag in my front seat, but we’ve gotta go now.
I hold her as tight as I can without squeezing her too hard and start hoofing it back to my parking spot. Just as I’m about to round the corner, a loud shattering sound pierces the otherwise still air. I jump back with a gasp, peering around the side of a building. A car alarm sounds and I turn away from the mess of shards glittering on the concrete around my Bentley.
Why in the ever-loving fuck did I take my own goddamn car?
I could have found a piece-of-shit Honda or something to drive up here but no.
Take the Bentley!
Make yourself a target!
I let out a frustrated breath. Can’t very well go to it now. They’ll fucking skewer me for whatever I have on me, which includes a lot of cash and my grandfather’s Rolex.
Savage Beast: A Dark Mafia Enemies to Lovers Romance (Sinfully Savage) Page 12