City Of Sin: A Mafia & MC Romance Collection

by K. J. Dahlen

  It was a few minutes before ten when I punched in the code. Dante was sitting on the edge of the bed looking anxious. “Did you see Rita?”

  I nodded.

  “And you showed her the video? Did she believe you? Is she getting my stuff and coming to get me?”

  I didn’t want to lie to him, so I responded simply, “Everything is set, but you have to go now.” I opened the door and checked the basement. No one was there, nor on the stairs. I entered the second code to get up and out of the basement and walked him up the stairs.

  Right before we hit the top of the stairs, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me hard. “I love you baby girl. I’ll see you in two hours. Be safe.”

  I hugged him tightly for what might have been the last time and whispered, “I love you too. Head off to the left, go through the bushes and then to the street. Please be safe.”

  He gave me one final kiss and with that, he disappeared out the back door and into the darkness. The moment he was gone the insecurities crept back. He was literally gone. I’d helped him escape. Sure, he’d said that if he were caught he’d say he did it himself or that Vito helped him, but if it were all a scam, he’d tell everyone that he fucked me and tricked me into letting him go. I’d be the laughing stock, so would my father and I’d be broken hearted, not to mention the baby. I put my hands on my stomach and smiled. No...no...it was nerves. He loved me. He would be there I reassured myself.

  I closed the back door and snuck up to my room. No one saw me, and from what I heard going on in Marco’s room, he wouldn’t be checking on anything for a long time. Midnight was our magical number to meet up, but in reality, if Dante hadn’t been caught by now, he was home free. Sure, we had a security system, but it was for the house. We had hedges and a fence, but nothing he couldn’t climb. He was heading off to the side yard where there were few lights. Most likely, he was waiting in the bushes somewhere out there for his sister unless she was already there. If she was, he was in her car and moving safely away.

  I paced for an hour. The clock seemed to be going backward. It wasn’t that far of a drive to the docks. I wanted to get there early, but I couldn’t risk it. First of all, every minute I was out of the house was a minute someone could realize I was gone. Second, someone could see me at the dock. It was night, and probably vacant, but if any of my father’s men were there, they’d call him immediately. If they saw me with Dante, they’d probably think he’d kidnapped me and shoot him on sight.

  I wondered what my parents would think when they woke in the morning to find me gone. Would they think that he kidnapped me and forced me to help him escape? We’d be long gone, so they couldn’t punish him, but they wouldn’t know that. My father would think that they were keeping me prisoner somewhere. I imagined the war, the blood shed that would follow. I had to at least try to prevent it. Taking a piece of paper from my desk, I wrote a note.

  * * *

  Dear Mom and Dad,

  I’m so sorry, but I love him. I hope you can understand and one day you’ll forgive me. Please don’t try to find me. I’ll contact you when I can.

  Love,

  Annalisa

  * * *

  I considered warning him, but I had no way of knowing who would find the note first. What if I warned him about Vito and Vito was the one to find the note. He wouldn’t give it to my parents. I even had to wonder about Marco and Donnie. Were they in it with Vito? They couldn’t be. They had to be the two guys he was talking about that he couldn’t turn.

  I left the note on my bed, grabbed my duffle bag, and sneaked downstairs. Leaving with my car was going to be impossible. Whoever was up and on watch would stop me for sure.

  Lina, on the other hand, was allowed to leave. Vito was the one on duty, which was perfect if it did all go south, because my father would believe he let Dante go. He was in the living room watching porn on his phone. I walked past him into the kitchen at the back door and just like Lina had suggested, shouted loudly, “You’re an asshole Marco. I’m going home.” I quickly stepped out and slammed the door before Vito could turn around.

  My heart was racing as I moved quickly off the porch and to Lina’s car. I jumped in and started it up. Just as Vito was coming to the back door, I peeled out of the driveway.

  There had been a risk that my parents heard, but they would believe, like Vito, that I was Lina. The only person who would know it wasn’t her, was fucking her and far too distracted to hear anything going on downstairs.

  I kept waiting for someone to follow me, for there to be lights behind me, but none ever came. The entire thing was pretty much uneventful.

  The dock was dark too. I pulled into the parking lot and turned off my lights. I looked around and didn’t see anyone. Had he stood me up?

  I looked at the clock in the car. I was early, fifteen minutes early. I didn’t see any activity. Each minute that ticked by, I doubted even more. When it was five of twelve, I decided I had to get out and go see. What if Dante was down there, somehow, waiting for me? He might have been here a long time, wondering why I wasn’t coming.

  I walked down to the dock cautiously. Standing under the amber glow of the dock lighting, I fidgeted nervously. I wondered how long I should wait for him when a man stepped from the shadows and walked up to me.

  “Annalisa?” he asked. My heart was in my throat. Had something happened to Dante? “Where’s Dante?” I could barely form the words I was so nervous.

  A slow grin spread over the man’s face. “Dante isn’t coming. Well he’s probably coming all over some slut right now, but he’s not coming here. I was sent to take care of you.”

  My heart sank and my world started to spin. This couldn’t be happening. I started to back away from him but hit a wall of shipping crates. I gasped when he pulled out a gun. Dante using me to get free was one thing, but killing me? Why did he have to do that? The emotional pain I felt at this moment was so strong I’d have welcomed death, but it wasn’t just about me. I had a baby to think of.

  “Don’t shoot,” I whispered, holding out my hands in front of me, as if that would stop a bullet.

  “I’m not going to shoot you,” he sneered. “Well, as long as you cooperate. Fair is fair. Your father had Dante for a while, now we get to have you. I bet your father would pay quite a lot of money to get you back.” He touched my cheek making my skin crawl. “Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun first.” His hand went to my top and he began to unbutton it exposing my bra.

  I sobbed as he slid his hand inside the cup of my bra and fondled my breast, squeezing my nipple. “Please don’t hurt me.”

  “Oh, this won’t hurt. It’s going to feel really nice.” He pulled his hand out of my bra and started unbuckling his belt. “Yeah...real nice.”

  10

  Dante

  Leaving Annalisa was a lot harder than I thought. If you’d have told me when I’d been captured that I’d have a chance to escape, but I’d be torn about doing so, I’d have told you that you were crazy. Yet, there I’d been, standing in her kitchen, wanting to hold her for a moment longer. I nearly grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into the night with me. The only reason I didn’t was because I wasn’t sure it would work. What if Rita didn’t come? What if I got caught trying to get off of the property?

  No one saw me, which I found odd and might have even thought it was a trap, especially because of the look in Annalisa’s eyes when I left her. She was torn, conflicted. At first, I thought it was because she was worried about me going, but as I ran across the lawn in the dark, the doubts crept in. Maybe they’d let me go, so they could shoot me escaping and then still take the shipment. That thought raced through my head as I climbed the chain link fence and found myself by the side of the road.

  Half a block I could see a car parked on the side of the road. This neighborhood had driveways, so I knew it had to be Rita. I ran up to the car in the shadows of the trees. When I got closer, I saw Rita sitting in the passenger seat. Jimmy was dr
iving. I didn’t like it. I had no idea who the traitor was on my side, and at this point, I trusted no one.

  I walked up to the car and opened the door to the backseat on the driver’s side. I got in, closing the door quickly to turn the light off that had come on when I opened the door.

  “I can’t believe you really escaped,” Rita said.

  “Me either, honestly. For a while there, I didn’t think I’d make it out.” I looked over at Jimmy and motioned with my head. “What’s he doing here?” I couldn’t remember if I’d told her not to tell anyone in the video. I thought I had, but I’d been so rushed. I wanted as few people to know as possible. I hoped she hadn’t mentioned Annalisa.

  “I told him about how you tricked that chick into letting you go. Jesus you must have a wonder dick.” Rita laughed.

  Tricked? Oh shit, she thought I’d been playing Annalisa. In her defense, I probably would have thought that too, given my history. I sighed loudly. “Rita, it wasn’t a trick. Please tell me you grabbed my stuff.”

  Her head whipped around and she looked at me in shock. “What stuff?”

  It wasn’t until then that I realized that we weren’t even headed in the direction of the dock. “JESUS FUCK! Take me to my house. So help me God if something happens to her, if she gets hurt, if she thinks I’m not coming....”

  Rita stared at me, her eyes wide. She was giving me that big sister stare down.

  I stared right back.

  “Holy shit! You love her, don’t you?”

  It was nice she was finally getting it. “Yes Rita. I love her like... oh fuck. I just, I can’t even describe it. Jimmy, hurry please.”

  After Rita and Jimmy dropped me at my place, I ran inside to grab my duffle bag and spare cell phone. This was the number I’d programmed into Annalisa’s when I had it this afternoon so she could call if there was trouble.

  I changed my clothes, grabbed my lucky deck of cards and my pack of smokes on the dresser. As I picked them up, I realized I didn’t even smoke anymore. I’d quit cold turkey. It had been two weeks. I set them back down and turned to go.

  I took one last look around my room. I wasn’t sure if or when I’d be back. A wave of panic hit me. Was I doing the right thing? I was free. I could warn my father, stop the deal, figure out who was a traitor and everything would be fine. Well, everything would be fine for me. Annalisa would be fucked. Maybe she could pin the escape on Vito, but maybe he’d have an alibi. What would happen to her if they found out? What would happen to her if they didn’t know it was her but Vito or some others killed her father? What if, literally, everything worked out fine for both of us and we just went on with our lives? Would I be happy with her living across town never getting to see her, hold her, make love to her? Could I even be happy knowing she was with another man? The answer was simple, no. I couldn’t live without her.

  I focused again on leaving. It still bothered me that I didn’t have my wallet. There was plenty in the duffle bag, fifty grand, but it was five bands of hundreds. It was hard to be inconspicuous with that. I always kept cash around. Occupational necessity. In my business, most people didn’t accept MasterCard or Visa.

  I walked over to my dresser where I kept some extra cash. As I reached into the drawer for the wad of twenties, my knuckles brushed against a box of condoms. Thoughts of Annalisa’s warm pussy gloving me perfectly made me glad I hadn’t needed these. She’d said she was on the pill. I wasn’t sure how hard it would be to get those where we were going, so I threw the box into the bag to be safe. Living without Annalisa would be impossible, but living with Annalisa and not being able to make love to her would be hell on earth. I grabbed two more boxes and closed the dresser drawer.

  On top of the dresser sat my jewelry box. I know most guys don’t have jewelry boxes, but I was Italian and there was nothing wrong with a little bling. It wasn’t one of those jewelry boxes with the little ballerina or some shit like that. It was a small wooden box that had a few gold chains in it, my pinky ring, and another ring I couldn’t stop thinking about. I grabbed them both and put them in the duffle bag.

  My car hadn’t been started in two weeks, but she jumped to life when I turned the key. I wanted to take her, but we weren’t taking a ferry. I’d buy some beater car when we got there and worry about the rest later. I had plenty of money in offshore accounts if the money in my bag ran out. What I wanted to focus on was getting to Annalisa and getting both of us out of town safely before all of the shit went down. I’d thought about going to my dad, but I wasn’t sure he’d believe me. Rita hadn’t. It was too dangerous to attempt it.

  I drove the quiet streets toward the dock. I had plenty of time to spare. Things were going fine on my end. My heart was racing though, for Annalisa. She would be leaving right about now. What if someone caught her trying to leave? I wished I would’ve told her to text me as soon as she got out of the house and not just in case of emergencies.

  As if she knew, I was thinking about her, my phone vibrated. I looked down and saw an unknown number. I didn’t know Annalisa’s number. It had to be from her. I clicked on it my heart in my throat, hoping it was an “I’m safe” message rather than an “I was caught” one. It was neither.

  I changed my mind. I’m not coming. - Annalisa

  My heart sank. I stared at the phone, blowing through a red light, nearly missing a car who honked angrily at me. I pulled over to think.

  I knew it was a lot to ask of her, to leave her friends and family, but I’d hoped she felt the same way about me as I felt for her. I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes. “Get it together Ranetti,” I said aloud to myself. “She’s just a chick.”

  But she wasn’t just a chick, and I wasn’t giving up that easily. I fucking loved her. I needed answers. I texted her back. “What happened? What changed?” I pushed send and waited for her response. A minute went by, two, then five. I texted again. “Annalisa. Talk to me. What’s going on?” There was no response. “Annalisa,” I texted again.

  Finally, I got a response, though it left more questions than it answered. “Look Dante. It was fun, but it was just a fling. You were good but I’ve had better. Stop messaging. It makes you seem like a pussy.”

  I read the message over three times. It made no sense. I mean, besides the fact that it seemed like more than a fling to me, I was the only person she’d ever slept with. And her word choice, calling me a pussy. I’d heard her drop the “F” bomb more than once, but it didn’t seem like her. My stomach turned over. It wasn’t her. Someone had caught her and was messaging me.

  It still didn’t make sense. Why bother messaging? Why not leave me standing at the dock? Why not show up and capture me? Maybe they’d caught her trying to leave and she was texting me a warning? There were too many what ifs. And the truth was, I’d already decided that I wasn’t running without her and I wasn’t staying and living my life without her either. I wanted her and she was worth whatever risk I was taking.

  I pulled back onto the street and headed back to the place I’d spent the last two weeks trying to get away from. I didn’t care if I got caught. I just wanted her.

  My plan was to try to sneak in the way I came, then rather than go to the basement, try to find her in the house. I counted on the fact that me coming back was the last thing I’d do since I’d just escaped.

  The house was dark except one room on the second floor. I saw a female figure move in front of it, the sheer curtains blocking a clear view. Changing my plans, I threw a pebble at the window taking a chance it was her. The curtain was pushed aside and the window opened.

  “Annalisa,” I whispered into the dark from behind a tree.

  “Dante?” a high pitched voice asked. It wasn’t Annalisa. It must have been her friend Lina, she talked about.

  “Where is Annalisa?” I whisper shouted, hoping she’d know.

  “She’s at the dock. It’s almost midnight, why aren’t you there?” It was good to hear she knew about our plans, but not so good that she didn’t know
where Annalisa was.

  “She texted me that she wasn’t coming.”

  Lina looked confused. “She left a few minutes ago. When did she text you that?”

  “About fifteen minutes ago,” I answered.

  Lina looked even more confused. “She was with me then.” Her eyes went wide. “And she couldn’t have texted you. She doesn’t have her phone. She left it with your sister.”

  My sister? My sister wouldn’t have texted me like that. Who else...

  Jimmy.

  Rita had told me that she’d played my message for him. I’d told Rita that I loved Annalisa in the car and he’d heard it. If he had her phone, he knew our entire plan. But why keep me from the dock? I felt all of the blood drain from my face. He had Annalisa at the dock all alone. I looked at my phone. I had ten minutes.

  “Lina, I need your help. Annalisa needs your help!” I shouted up to her, not caring who could hear me. Fuck the consequences. “Get Marco and tell him everything. Tell him to get to the dock. Tell him not to trust anyone.”

  “Lina, who the fuck are you talking to?” I heard him say from in the room. Marco appeared at the window and looked out. I was still behind the tree. I didn’t have time to waste.

  “She’s talking to me Marco,” I said stepping out a bit. I had no idea if he had a gun.

  “Dante? The fuck?” he asked, squinting.

  “I don’t have time. Annalisa is in trouble. I need to get to her. Meet me at the dock and don’t fucking trust anyone. I don’t have time to explain more.” I took off running across the yard toward my car.

  “Why should I trust you?” he shouted after me.

  “You don’t have to,” I called back. “Just get to the dock and help her.”

  I knew Marco was a good guy and even if he would hurt me, he would die to protect Annalisa and that’s all I cared about right now. I was counting on him to be there. I raced towards the dock breaking every traffic rule. I had to get to her.