by Leah Holt
There aren't many men who do.
“Please, Gio. You know this isn't right, you've known the whole time that none of this was right. Do something about it.”
His eyes fell into mine, holding there as if he was contemplating what I said. Slipping his hand into his pocket, I held my breath.
Is he going to help me?
Yes! Yes, help me, help us!
But as his fingers fiddled inside the shallow hole, Gio tugged out a long white wire. Slipping the small round buds into his ears, he held up his phone, smiled, and rested his hands on the back of his head.
Fuck!
No. No. No!
He was choosing to ignore rather then help, he was willing to turn a blind eye instead of doing what was right.
Gio was under Remo's spell. Money was a great motivator to help you look the other way.
You weak piece of shit.
Sitting up, I looked back at Sesto. He was out cold, but I could hear his breaths rattle in and out through his nose. I wanted to run over and cut the rope, free him from being strapped up like a fresh kill.
Gio isn't going to touch me. He can't.
I was done sitting and taking orders, I was done listening to the men around me speak as if I didn't exist and wasn't worth even having a voice.
Exhaling, I pushed off the floor and stood up on my feet. Wiping the grit off my legs, I brushed the tiny rocks out of my hands. Gio was watching me, but I didn't care.
He had orders to not lay a hand on me. And he knew how serious Remo was about it. A small bubble of control rose up, lodging itself in my chest. My heart thudded against my ribs, each beat crushed against the bone, trying like hell to break free.
I was going to do something to help Sesto.
Remo only needed me. He didn't need to wear his power on his sleeve by killing another man. I wasn't going to stand for it.
I took a step forward, Gio's chair screeched across the floor as he jumped up. “Sit back down!”
Flicking my head over my shoulder, my lip curled in a heavy snarl. “Are you going to stop me?”
Fumbling with his phone, he started to walk at me. “Don't, Ivy, there's nothing you can do.”
“I'm getting him down, Gio, that's it.”
“No you're not.” His head clicked to his shoulder, brows dipping down hard. “You touch him—”
Cutting him off, I whipped around and threw my hands up. “If I touch him you'll do what? You can't do anything to me, Remo gave you orders. He's not a threat to you, look at him!” Pointing at Sesto, I turned back around and kept walking.
Gio stood there stunned, but he knew I was right. He wasn't going to do anything to me because he wasn't allowed to. It was that simple. He had been given strict orders, one rule that he knew damn well Remo would keep his word on.
Loosening the rope, Sesto slipped out and hit the floor. He didn't make a sound, he didn't grunt or groan in agony. He just fell to the hard ground, his arms landing awkwardly because he hadn't protected himself. His face was down, nose blowing out bursts of dust with each wilted breath.
Bending down, I rolled his head to the side so he could hopefully take in air better. Brushing the hair from Sesto's face, I whispered into his ear. “I'm sorry, I never meant for anyone else to get hurt.”
“Now get away from him.” Gio snapped, his teeth bit down on his lip as an audible growl whooshed out from his lungs. “Remo isn't going to like this, and I better not get flak for it.” Pointing his finger in my face, his jaw cocked to the side. “Because if I do. . .”
Standing up slowly, I waited for him to finish. Folding my arms across my chest, my hip kicked out, lips thinning. “Go on. If you do, then what?”
Slicing the air with his hand, he turned from me and dropped back into his seat. “Forget it, Ivy.”
POP!
POP!
My muscles shivered at the sudden gunfire, all my thoughts completely erased. My arms fell to my side as I stood stone still, unable to move.
What the hell happened?
Who was shooting now?
Twenty-Two
Dante
I can't find her!
Where the hell is she!?
I followed her voice, I thought I was moving in the right direction, but I was searching for a ghost. The sound was distorted, flowing in from one way and swimming out another.
I went room by room, hall by hall, but there was no sign of Ivy. Her screams had completely vanished. I was being met with silence and shadows.
There was no amount of words to explain how frustrated and angry I was. She was right at my fingertips and then she was gone.
Making my way back around, I stopped dead in my tracks. My head twisted side to side as I threw myself down onto my knees and swept the cement with my fingers.
My brother wasn't there anymore. A small pool of blood was alone on the floor where Sesto had been, two long drag marks curled around the corner, only to disappear in a ripple of cleanliness.
Fuck!
Where did they take him?
That was it. My temper had swooped in, clouding my mind and sealing the fate of every man in this building.
I was done trying to be sly, I was finished trying to sneak around and find my family. This was war. I had to find her, I had to find my brother, and I didn't care how.
Sucking in a huge breath, I kicked in the first door I came across. The wood splintered off in every direction, the metal locks all snapped in, breaking away.
Storming through the doorway, I held my gun out, aiming it high. The room was quiet and empty.
Or so I thought.
Looking down at the floor, a body was slumped into a pile of blackened clothing, all mangled and dis-formed. Glancing over my shoulder, I stepped in and fell to my haunches. I knew the hair, I knew the small web tattoo in between the ring and middle finger on his left hand.
Vince.
If I hadn't known Vince for so many years, I don't think I would have been able to recognize him. His face had exploded like a fucking hot dog in the microwave. His eyes were sealed shut, his lips dripping long beads of saliva into a slick pool beneath his head.
Leaning in, I let my ear hover above his mouth. A faint wisp of air crossed my face, tickling my skin with a scale of heat.
He's alive.
I had mixed feelings about him laying there. I wanted to kill him myself only days earlier, but now, staring down on his body that was barely hanging on. . .
I wanted him to survive.
Remo had used him, and Vince had taken the bait.
There was no right or wrong answer to what got him there. He needed shit, Remo needed shit. They were two hands that fed each other.
But he didn't deserve this for what I had done.
Resting my hand on his back, I closed my eyes. Vince had needed me when the world around him fell apart. When my father died and I abandoned my life completely, he lost something too. Security, money. . .
Family.
We were all he had. And I genuinely felt sorry for having taken that from him. All the shit I gave him, all the threats and heavy verbal assaults, that was just business.
I'll make this right, Vince.
I'll make this right.
My muscles went into overdrive, convulsing under the skin and trying to break out. They were ready to finish this, they were ready for blood. And it was time I gave them what they wanted the most; Remo.
Jumping to my feet, I tore off down the hall. Room by room I searched for that fucking scumbag, I was going to leave no stone unturned. And I wasn't leaving until he was dead.
I heard soft music coming from another room. Throwing myself through the door, I found two guys counting money at a small round table. I didn't even give them the chance to look up, my gun went off, one round in each.
Their bodies slumped over, spilling the mound of cash onto the floor. Had I been there for different reasons, I probably would have grabbed the money. It would have been a nice little bonus to a job
like this.
But today I didn't give two shits.
This wasn't a normal job, this wasn't an order I was carrying out. All of this was to get back the woman I loved.
A small closet at the end of the next hall I entered held Del. His body was all scrunched up, folded in on itself. But he was already gone, there was no life left in him. I wasn't surprised, that guy had a short shelf life regardless of what he did. I actually expected Remo to get rid of him sooner, he had been lucky to last this long.
Fuck!
Where is she?
Where's Sesto?
I was ready to tear down each and every door by the hinges. Trolling the halls, I found several empty rooms that held merchandise and an arsenal of weapons. But my muse was still gone, her screams still fresh in my skull and holding me hostage.
My chest was stretched out, taking in so much of the tainted stench in Remo's building, I couldn't breathe. The thought of Ivy being hurt made my body ache, my heart pound, and all the nerves in my brain convulse.
I didn't want my head to go there, I just couldn't stop it. I heard her cry, I heard the fear in her voice. Over and over those screams played in my brain, making me fucking crazed. It fueled my muscles, it scarred my memory.
This wouldn't happen again, her pain and fear was going to die here today.
Rounding another corner, a soft glow of light caught my eye. The door was closed like all the others, but I could hear noises coming from inside.
If I hadn't been so enraged, had this been a normal order I'd taken from my father, I would have taken my time. My feet would've been lighter, my breathing less pronounced and smooth. I wouldn't have been nervous or angry or upset.
I had no control left.
Everything was heightened. I was standing on the edge of insanity, about to lose my fucking mind if I didn't find Ivy soon.
Standing outside the door, I heard a voice I knew. I tried to hold back and listen, just stay quiet and pace myself so I didn't screw up and get her killed.
My heart tore at the thought of losing her and our baby. I couldn't deal with that.
Then I heard Remo. His voice was rabid, foaming with each word. “It's your fault.” A single shot rang out, buzzing through my ears and turning me frantic.
Kicking open the door, I had my gun up high, aimed straight at his face. His eyes lit up in excitement, burning in fire red and hot orange. “Look who came to join us.”
I didn't want to take my eyes off him, but I couldn't stop myself from looking for Ivy. There was a body at Remo's feet, folded back on his legs, eyes open and cold. It was the voice I had recognized, a man who I'd done business with several times before; Gio.
A single hole penetrated his forehead, a thin trail of blood had started to trickle out and pool around him.
“Dante!” Ivy screamed, jumping off the back wall and trying to run at me.
“Don't you dare!” Remo yelled at her, his face twisting up, nostrils flared. Lifting his gun up, he held it level with mine.
She stopped in her tracks, eyes glossy and fixed on Remo's hand. She was calling for help, screaming from just her expression for me to end it right then.
But if I fired, so would he. That was too risky. I couldn't risk him hitting his mark, and taking me away from her. . .
From my baby.
“Did you really think that you could just come in here and take her from me?” Remo's head rolled to his shoulder, one lid twitching as he stared down the barrel of my gun. “You don't scare me, Dante, you never have.”
Chuckling, I curled my finger tight around the trigger. “Oh yeah, you were never afraid of me?” Running my tongue over my teeth, I smiled. “That's bullshit and you know it. You practically pissed yourself the last time I was here.”
I watched his muscles tighten, hand shaking to keep the gun level. “Fuck you. I should kill you just like I did your father. You know he cried for your mother right before I blew his fucking head off. No balls that one, he had no balls, Dante.”
I wasn't going to let him get under my skin. I knew his games, I knew how he worked. He wasn't going to shake me up from some fucking story he created.
My father wouldn't have ever called for anyone, I knew that. He would have taken the hit with dignity, holding his head up to help make sure the shot didn't miss. That's the type of man he was.
Staying silent, I made sure to keep my arm even with the bulls-eye between his forehead. He didn't deserve a response to his weak attempt at rattling me.
“Maybe your brother will scream for her too when I blow his head off. What do you think?” His head cocked to the side, eyes falling over a lump on the floor behind him.
Looking down, my insides became a living inferno. Sesto was on the ground behind his feet, face bruised and streaked in red.
Licking his lips, Remo turned the gun from me to Sesto. “I'll just take care of him now, put him out of his misery. You can hear it, can't you? The way he can't breathe anymore because we broke his ribs, the way his tongue is vibrating against the roof of his mouth because Gio slammed a gun down his throat. It's a pretty sound, Dante, I kinda like it. But it's his time now. Do you want me to wake him up first?”
“Don't.” Growling under my breath, my lip arched high to bare all my teeth.
My brain had shut down, the world around me going fuzzy. I saw three things in that room; My woman, my brother, and the man who wanted to destroy it all.
He's dead.
“Why not? He shouldn't even be out right now, he got lucky. The fucking cops didn't get there in time to catch him the way I wanted. So, he's got to go at some point. I can't take what's mine if you're all here.”
I saw his thumb start to lift to kick back the hammer, his finger was tightening around the trigger, ready to fire.
Screaming at the top of my lungs, I charged forward. “No!” Slamming into his back, Remo flew forward, tumbling over my brother and hitting the ground.
I didn't think about the gun, it didn't matter. I either threw it or dropped it, but my hands were just as deadly as any piece of cold metal.
Remo rolled to his back as I jumped on him, wrapping my hands around his neck and squeezing down. His face burst, flushing red and slowly morphing between purple and blue. This was what I wanted, to feel his life beat out of his chest.
My hands were going to sell his life to the devil, my muscles were going to force the last breath from his body.
And all of it was going to travel through my bones, burn into my memory and make Ivy's life livable again. She wouldn't have to watch over her shoulder, she wasn't going to have to worry about our child living a sheltered life all because some asshole had a piece of paper that claimed her as his.
The world around me went soundless, a soft humming filled the space between my ears as Remo gagged and bucked beneath me. I didn't look up at Ivy, I couldn't hear if she was screaming or cheering me on.
I felt the small veins in Remo's neck start to pop one by one as my fingers dug deep into his skin. His eyes expanded, the white taking over as his lids retreated into the sockets. The black of his pupils seeped into the dark brown, opening an abyss for his soul to fly free from.
Thunk.
Blackness consumed me, stealing the moment.
I was a ghost, slipping between the lights and falling away.
Twenty-Three
Ivy
I was standing in shock.
Dante was on Remo, strangling him to death. My heart was racing, anticipation creeping in as I watched Remo struggle for air. I wanted him to shut down, go limp and exhale his final breath.
That was the first time I saw real emotion on Dante's face. The pulse in his neck beat with such ferocity, I could see it from ten feet away. Sweat was dripping down the bridge of his nose and hanging for a flicker in time before it broke free and fell off.
Remo was struggling, kicking his legs and wiggling his torso under Dante's weight. I though that was it, I expected him to finally take his punishment and be g
one forever.
He deserved to fear for his life, he deserved to feel what he cast on others. He was never the wholesome keeper he claimed to be.
He was about to die and pay for all the sins he thought he had the right to enforce.
Except, that's not what happened.
Remo kept fighting, moving and dancing on the floor. I watched it all in slow motion. Remo lifted his hand, still firmly holding the gun.
I tried to scream, I tried to warn Dante. He didn't hear me.
With one wild swoop, Remo nailed him in the side of the head. And Dante went down, falling to the floor with a heavy thud.
“Dante! No, no, Dante!” I heard my voice, I felt my lungs, and as everything washed over my body, I collapsed.
My hands were on the floor, my body shaking as the tears consumed me from the inside out.
We had come to end this, all of this. All the misery was supposed to be gone, all the pain was supposed to disappear. I was going to leave on Dante's arm, grow our family and finally get to enjoy life again.
All those images of a world built on happiness wiped clean, breaking into chunks and falling away. Cradling the life tucked away in my belly, defeat started to press my shoulders, weighing me down.
Remo pulled himself off the ground, wiping the dirt off his chest with a smirk. “Who's coming to save you now?” Coughing hard, he cleared his throat and stared down at Dante. “Looks like you're on your own, Sweetheart.”
Sniffling, I scrubbed the water off my cheeks. The tears weren't for him, they weren't for his pleasure or enjoyment. They were for Dante, they were for me, and they were for our baby.
“Fuck you.”
“You know I've heard you say that so many times now, but I'm still waiting.”
Curling my lip, my fists clenched. “I'll kill you myself if you even try to touch me.”
“Honey, even these two couldn't help you. What the hell would make think you'd be able to stop me yourself?”
All the hatred and anger I'd been bottling up and holding in burst through me. Adrenaline had swarmed my veins like a cloud of locusts. I changed.