My mind heavy with worry, I climbed into the Hummer as my phone buzzed with an incoming text. Angel sent me a list of groceries he needed me to pick up so he could cook dinner. Since Markie’s surgery, the two of them only left the condo for doctor visits. Her doctor had told her to take it easy, and Angel was making damn sure she did. With family tensions what they were, it made my job easier since I only had to watch out for myself.
Somewhere between Carlo’s house and the grocery store, I picked up a tail. A black, newer-model Toyota Camry hung three cars back but followed my every move. I changed lanes, the Camry changed lanes. I turned, it turned. I made a complete circle, and it was still behind me. Knowing I needed to find out who was after me, I changed lanes again and made a sharp turn down a wide alley. Parking the Hummer on the other side of a Dumpster, I killed the engine, grabbed the gun in my pocket, and waited. Time ticked by and the Camry didn’t show. Wondering if the perceived tail had been some sort of bizarre coincidence, I got the hell out of there.
While in the grocery store, I ran into a club waitress named Trixie. After asking me about Angel and feigning sympathy for Markie’s surgery, she said, “Whatever happened with that douche bag in the condom wrapper?”
My ears perked up. “Matt Deter?”
“Yeah. That jerk. You know, he pinched my ass and asked me if I wanted to unwrap him. As if. The loser was kicked out of our club last month for pushing drugs in the bathroom.”
Trixie was a nice enough girl, but trying to get her to focus was a losing battle. “Have you seen him lately?” I asked.
“Not me personally, but one of the bouncers had to run him off the other night. He was dealing by our back door.”
I thanked Trixie for the first lead I’d had on Matt since Halloween, and she promised to pass the word and have everyone call the second he resurfaced. Feeling hopeful, I made a couple of calls on the way back to the condo, but nobody else had seen the illusive Matt Deter.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ariana
I ENJOYED WORKING breakfast at the diner because it was our busiest shift, full of friendly old people who tipped well. But today was busier than normal because, in addition to my duties, I was training our new girl, Piper. Piper had short, dark hair with blue spiked tips which went great with her nose ring and thick, dark eyeliner. Most importantly, Piper was talkative and interesting, melting away the hours with each entertaining story.
“What’s Los Angeles like?” I asked her as I filled up the coffee machine.
Piper shrugged. “Loud. Crazy. Lots of really great bars. And you haven’t lived until you’ve been to a Dodgers game.”
“And you’re close to the ocean, Disneyland, and Hollywood. Ohmigod, I would kill to see Hollywood. Did you ever meet any big stars?” Vegas hadn’t worked out like I’d planned, but Hollywood… I was certain Hollywood would be incredible. It was the place of stardom dreams after all.
“Didn’t make it out to Hollywood much. Not really my scene.” Piper wiped down a table and grabbed the water pitcher. “I did see J Lo coming out of a restaurant once, though.”
“Jennifer Lopez?” I asked, feeling like a star-struck small-town girl, which I basically was.
“Yeah. No biggie. You’ve never seen anyone famous in here?” she asked.
“No. Never.” Big stars probably stayed in the nicer hotels and had room service bring them their meals.
The coffeepot finished brewing. Piper filled a water pitcher and we floated around the restaurant, refilling drinks. Once we were done making the rounds, we broke for lunch. She headed outside to smoke and I made a beeline for my favorite seat in the casino, a stone wall beside a peaceful little pond. The spot was mostly hidden by a fake tree, allowing me privacy to eat or play on my phone. I’d only showed one other person my special spot, so I was shocked to see someone sitting there. Especially someone wearing a suit. Disappointed, I turned to leave.
The suit stood, catching my attention. “Hey baby.”
The familiar voice brought on a wave of mixed emotions: first relief because he was alive, and then anger because the bastard should have called me to let me know he wasn’t dead in a ditch somewhere.
“Matt,” I breathed, unable to believe my eyes. He looked good—real good. He’d been my agent and my boyfriend, but when I’d needed him most, he abandoned me. And now he was here, in my spot, breathing the same recycled casino air as me. The question was… why? “What do you want?” I asked, taking a step back.
His frown told me it wasn’t the reception he’d been expecting, which only pissed me off more. He’d almost killed me. What did he expect? For me to jump in his lap and lick his face like his faithful bitch? Not this chick. I’d trusted him, and Matt had royally screwed me over, shattered my heart, took my money, and left. Now he was back wearing a new tailored suit and shiny black oxfords. He’d cut his hair and shaved, like he was trying to pull off a respectable-man look. Too bad I knew the truth.
“Don’t be like that, baby. I missed you.”
I used to love it when he called me baby. Now it made me want to rip out his tongue. Unimpressed, I crossed my arms. “Cut the bullshit and tell me what you want.”
He held up his hands in the universal gesture for surrender and took a hesitant step toward me.
“Stay back,” I warned, afraid of what I’d do if he didn’t. This would be a bad time to practice the punches Bones showed me. If I attacked Matt, casino security would be called and I’d probably lose my job. A little voice in the back of my mind kept whispering that it’d be worth it. My job wasn’t all that spectacular anyway.
“So glad I found you, Ari. I have great news,” Matt said. Apparently he intended to pretend like I didn’t want to kick his face in. “I went to the apartment to find you, but you’d moved out. By the way, what did you do with my stuff?”
Everything Markie and I hadn’t taken to Angel and Bones’s condo was in a storage unit. Everything except Matt’s crap. “I left it in the apartment.”
“You abandoned my stuff?” he asked.
I snorted. “Technically, you did. Had I taken it with me, it would have been considered stealing. I should have sold it all to pay for the security deposit you owe me, though. Turns out the apartment was conveniently only in your name. I paid for everything, but I couldn’t even change the locks. I couldn’t give notice. All I could do was move out.”
“We talked about that, Ari. Remember? Since the place was such a dump we decided it would be best if we kept your name off it.”
Having no recollection whatsoever of that conversation, I stared at him, wondering again why I’d trusted him so much.
He kept talking. “That way, when you got your break… Oh yeah. That’s why I’m here. I did it, Ari! I finally did it!” He lunged forward and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me as he laughed.
My exhausted brain couldn’t follow him. He was too close, too personal, too overjoyed. Probably hitting the blow early. Wondering what I’d ever seen in him, I shrugged him off and stepped back. “Did what? What are you talking about? And where did you get that suit? Is that what you did with the last of my money?”
Smile faltering, he patted down his jacket. “This old thing? No, I had this in my closet. I have to look slick when I’m out representing you. I gotta look good to make you look good.”
God, he sounded like a salesman.
“Which is what I’ve done, Ari. Are you even listening?”
No. Kinda. My subconscious kept picking up on key words and phrases, but none of them seemed to make sense. “Your closet? What closet? Did you go back to the apartment after you flipped me the bird and rode off into the sunset, wearing a giant condom wrapper?”
That condom wrapper Halloween costume had probably been the closest thing to a suit hanging in his closet when he’d lived with me. But even if there had been a suit, didn’t he just ask what had happened to his stuff?
He had the decency to lower his head. “Yeah, that wasn’t my best moment. I was messed u
p, you were messed up… But hey, I found a way to make it up to you. Oh God, Ari, I got you a gig!”
“A gig?” I asked. As my manager, Matt had been trying to get me on a stage—any stage—since I’d moved to Vegas a year ago and handed him an outrageous sum of money.
“Well, not a gig exactly, but I landed you an audition.”
I’d suffered through enough of Matt’s “auditions” to last me a lifetime. “Right. An audition. What’s this one for? Pole dancing? Twerking in front of perverted old men?”
He looked genuinely offended, which was weird since those were both “auditions” he’d sent me to.
“I already told you, I’m not singing with my clothes off.”
“No, this one’s legit. A local nightclub is looking for singers and I talked the manager into giving you a try. This is it, Ari. Trust me.”
And now he was asking the impossible. I didn’t trust him. How could I? “Last time you told me to trust you, I almost died.” I would have died had Angel and Bones not come looking for Matt. “You almost killed me.”
He stepped forward again and reached for my hand, pleading. “It’s not like that. You make it sound intentional.”
I pulled away. “Don’t touch me.”
“You know I’d never hurt you on purpose. I took that shit too, remember? I had no idea you’d… You must have been allergic to something in it.”
“You could have stuck around to make sure I was okay.”
“I was messed up. We were having fun before your sister showed up and you got all pissy. I didn’t want to get into some big fight with you, so I bailed.”
And he stayed gone for almost a month and a half without checking to see if I was okay. Didn’t even answer a single text or phone call. Before I could point this out, he continued.
“We’ve done all kinds of shit and it’s never kicked your ass like that. Remember when we got high while hiking the Red Rock trails? I’ve never seen you laugh so hard… thought you were gonna pee your pants. We had so much fun that trip. I wanted Halloween to be like that. Us laughing and having a good time like we used to. I miss that. Don’t you?”
Memories of the Red Rock hike tickled the corners of my mind, but I refused to give in to them. Refused to let Matt in. “It’s too late for that now, Matt. You shoulda called. I gotta get back to work.”
I turned to go, but he grabbed my hand again. Paper slid against my skin. I looked down to see digits scrawled across it. “My new number.”
His new number? He must have ditched the old one when he was sick of my texts and voicemails. Awesome. “I’m not gonna call you, Matt. That ship has sailed and sunk.”
“It’s for when you change your mind. You better hurry, though. I don’t know how long my contact will wait. He’s already got several auditions lined up, but I assured him you’re the best.”
“Oh, I’m the best,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “That must be why you wouldn’t stop calling me. You just couldn’t stay away.”
“Don’t be like that, baby. This is for real. Can’t you see I’m sorry and I’m trying to make it up to you?”
He sounded sincere, but could Matt really have gotten me a legitimate audition? I’d convinced myself he was nothing more than a conman. But what did I have left for him to con me out of? He’d taken it all. “If it’s so real, why don’t you just give me his number?”
“He’s a professional, babe. Only agents can contact him.”
As I chewed on that little piece of information, Matt turned and left me standing there. The bastard glanced back once, just to make sure I was watching him. Caught, I looked away, but felt my cheeks redden. I still didn’t trust the slimeball, but I was desperate. Singing in a nightclub? I’d be all over that, but chances were it was just another lie. Angry with myself for even considering it, I stuffed his number in my pocket and headed back to work.
Piper was clocking in when I got there. She took one look at my face and asked what was wrong.
“Run-in with the ex.”
“Tell me all about it,” she said.
The restaurant was experiencing a bit of a lull, so we refilled sauces and napkins while I gave her the rundown on my failed relationship with Matt. When I finished my tale of woe, she said, “Sounds like a real d-bag. You stayed with him for a year?”
It was a reasonable question, but it made me admit, “It wasn’t all bad. We had some good times too.”
“Oh really?” Piper asked.
“I have a pretty screwed up past. I came to Vegas to get away from it all and start over, but it was harder than I thought it would be.”
“Reality sucks,” she said, nodding.
“Yeah, and Matt had everything I needed to escape it.”
The sound of his laughter floated through my memories, accompanied by the smell of smoke and lines of powder. Truthfully, I missed the escape, but not enough to risk my life.
“All in the past, though. That little near-death experience helped me realize I didn’t want to escape reality that much.”
She smiled. “I’m glad you didn’t tap out.”
The hostess signaled us toward two families she was leading in.
“Because then you’d be missing out on all this glorious fun,” Piper added.
Feeling better, I laughed and grabbed the water pitcher.
CHAPTER FIVE
Bones
I DIDN’T TRUST Ariana to wait for me after work, so I arrived early and met her by the door. When she came out, I could tell something was wrong. She had a piece of paper in her hands and her forehead wrinkled as she looked at it. When she saw me she stuffed it in her jacket pocket.
“Everything okay?” I asked, searching her face for clues as to what was on that paper.
She waved me off. “Yeah, fine. Just tired. Long shift and I didn’t sleep so well last night.”
“So I guess you wanna go straight home?”
“Depends. What are Mom and Dad up to? Baking cookies to solve world hunger? Adopting rescue kittens?”
“Cooking dinner, not baking cookies. Although there probably will be some sort of dessert involved.”
She wrinkled her nose. “As long as it’s not the kittens.”
I laughed. She was so funny, bordering on inappropriate at times. I loved the way she always knew how to make me laugh. And judging by the smile she beamed at me, she enjoyed the experience too.
People were watching us, no doubt wondering what to think about me in my suit walking beside her in her waitressing uniform. Ariana seemed to notice the looks we were getting and decided to ramp it up. She closed the gap between us and slid her arm into the crook of my elbow, giving me a conspiratorial grin. “Wonder if they think I hired you or you hired me?”
I could never tell if Ariana was legitimately flirting with me, or just screwing with my head. Lately it seemed like she was looking for any excuse to touch me, though, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the contact. Neither of us had been exactly open about our pasts, but she’d dropped enough hints to let me know she’d been through some pretty tough shit. I was thankful she hadn’t lost her sarcastic sense of humor in the process.
As we walked out into the fading sunshine, she leaned over and stage whispered, “You should probably pay me up front for my services. Just so there’s no confusion.”
It was just loud enough for the young couple walking past us to hear. The woman’s eyes widened as she led her partner away from us, whispering and casting glances at us over her shoulder.
I eyed Ariana, trying not to laugh.
“What?” She gave me her best innocent smile, blowing me away with the seamless transformation she went from sexy to sweet. Ariana had both looks mastered. “That was providing free entertainment to the tourists. I’ll tell you what, tomorrow when you pick me up, wear sweats and drink from a paper bag, and we’ll give them a real show. Got it?”
And man, she loved to screw with people. As she released my arm, I couldn’t help but admit she wa
s probably doing the same to me.
As we climbed into the Hummer, my phone buzzed with an incoming call from Ma. I started the engine and answered.
“Franco, I’m sorry to bother you, but...”
I groaned. She started all her conversations this way, throwing my busy schedule in my face to make me feel like the worst son on the planet. “Ma, how many times do I gotta tell you you’re no bother?”
“It’s just that I know you’re busy.”
Here we go.
Wondering if we’d ever get past this opening and on to what she was angling for, I said the same thing I always did. “Never too busy for you. What’s up?”
“A light bulb in my kitchen burned out.”
Had Ariana not been with me, I probably would have beaten my head against the steering wheel. As it was, I had to struggle to keep my composure. Ma was far from helpless. Hell, she was one of the most independent women I knew. She wouldn’t be calling me for a burned-out light bulb. “Did you call the maintenance guy?” I asked.
“My own son lives in the same city as me, and I’ve gotta call a maintenance man to replace a light bulb? I don’t want to bother him. I’ll just climb on the ladder and fix it myself.”
The guilt was so thick I could almost see it streaming out of the phone and threatening to choke me. Still, I didn’t want her climbing up a damn ladder. Especially not alone. “Where’s David?”
“He’s at the library, studying for a big calculus exam tomorrow. I’d rather not interrupt him if I can help it.”
My useless little brother probably was studying all right… studying one of the girls in his calculus class.
Breaking Bones (Mariani Crime Family #2) Page 3