“I’m sorry, my chief thought it would be a good idea to have two agents in here, so Ellis muscled his way in. He’s got a lot of beef with the mob.” Mike sighed. “Be that as it may, Ms. Fiore, that’s quite a case you’ve laid out. The problem is testimony. Very few people have been willing to stand against the Ruffinos, especially Emilio. But you seem to think these girls, if freed, would?”
I nodded. “Yes. Like I said, a couple of us talked about it.”
“If you’re right, this could be a major break.” Mike scrubbed a hand over his face. “We’ve a lot of stuff on Ruffino already, but he’s always managed to stay a step ahead. But with your information – his contacts, his hideouts – we can get him.” He grinned, looking at me with eager anticipation. “Let’s get to it.”
He started asking question after question, taking extensive notes as I rattled off names and addresses. I started to feel a vindictive kind of pleasure. This was for every time Emilio had slapped me or told me no one cared about me or dragged some poor girl off to be thrown to the wolves.
Every once in awhile, Axe spoke up – but it was as though the words were being dragged out of him. Even though he desperately wanted to take out the Ruffinos, trusting the FBI was taking a lot out of him, and I could tell he was getting frustrated and tired.
Agent Ellis slunk back into the room after awhile, handing over three water bottles to Mike. To my relief, he leaned against the wall and remained quiet.
Finally I finished, listing the last warehouse I could think of – one that was used as a holding pen for some of the girls, as well as crates full of electronics.
Mike ran his pen down the list. “There’s a lot more here than I even realized. First tip we’ve gotten about Volkov, too – that guy is bad news, can’t believe he’s out,” he muttered, deep in thought.
“Volkov sure as hell would’ve never felt bad for a hooker,” Ellis said, and Axe tensed up again. I laid a hand on his arm and squeezed it.
Looking steadily at Agent Ellis, building on the strength I’d found giving this interview, I said, “I am not, and never was, a hooker. I told you – that was the appeal. From what I heard, the men were restless – its novelty had worn off and he wanted what he called ‘fresh meat’.” I swallowed hard as the words stuck in my throat, but I pushed on. “He won’t stop with me. They’ll get younger and younger. Don’t do it for me. Do it for the next girl.”
My heart was pounding as apprehension filled me. What if the rest of the FBI was like Ellis and dismissed what I had to say? What if we’d risked our lives by coming here for nothing?
There was a long, tense pause and finally Ellis spoke.
“Okay, sweetheart.” He smiled dourly at me. “Have it your way. But you want him? Testimony isn’t going to cut it. Witnesses go missing and the ones who don’t have their characters destroyed. Judges get payola and jurors get threats. There’s only one real way to put Ruffino away and dismantle his operation and that’s with something irrefutable. We need him dead to rights or we’re all wasting our time.”
“And how do you expect to get that?” Axe demanded.
He was taut as a wire next to me, but I was staring at Agent Ellis, who finally looked at me. His eyes were filled with cold contempt. I saw his mouth move. And his words rang in my ears.
“She wants Ruffino, we set her up with a wire and send her back in.”
Back in. To the belly of the beast...
Axe
“Nope.”
The blood pounded through my veins and it took everything I had not to leap over the table and strangle Agent Ellis with his own tie.
“Not gonna happen.” I tried to keep my voice even, but I was shaking with rage. Gripping each arm of the chair, I somehow stayed seated. “One more word about anything like that, we walk.”
Mike waved a dismissive hand at Phil. “I agree. No way we would risk her like that. Ruffino isn’t stupid, but he is angry and vindictive. And he’s been insulted. Word on the street is that he’s been getting more reckless and violent lately. Sending Brenna in would be a death sentence.”
My heart twisted in my chest and I let go of the chair.
“Exactly,” I said, trying to calm down. Agent Ellis was a huge dick, but this Mike guy seemed pretty smart and was willing to get the job done. Decent enough, for a Fed.
Brenna shifted in her seat. “He does think I’m worth a lot of money, though…” she began, sounding thoughtful.
Like she was actually fucking considering it.
“Absolutely not,” I snarled, twisting to look at her, and grabbed her hand, my heart pounding even faster. “Get that out of your head, now.”
For the first time since I’d met Brenna, I felt a flash of real anger at her. Why couldn’t she have just listened to me and kept her mouth shut? I’d spent nearly an hour in the car going over how careful she had to be – never agreeing with them, making sure we talked everything through before agreeing, watching her step…
Then she goes and does exactly what I told her not to do. What the fuck, Brenna?
Mike rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes, looking weary. He shot Agent Ellis a look. “We’ll come up with something else. We’re not putting Ms. Fiore in more danger.”
We’d been talking for almost two and a half hours by that point. My head hurt, my body hurt, and I was starving. It was hard to think, never mind come up with an idea that wouldn’t tip off a livid and paranoid Emilio Ruffino.
“What do you suggest, then, Mike? A wired sit down? Like a Capestrana would agree to that,” Agent Ellis said, sarcastically shaking his head. “This isn’t Donnie Brasco. This is real life.”
“No shit.” Mike’s voice was flat and irritated. I could tell his patience was all but gone with Ellis and it made me like the guy a little more. “Anyway, I’m thinking a raid, honestly. Find out when the next auction is, go from there.”
“No,” Agent Ellis interrupted. “Too dangerous for our agents.”
I clenched my jaw. What about the girls, you asshat?
I was out of patience, out of ideas and, soon, we’d be out of time. The words came out before I could even think it all through.
“I’ll wear a wire for a sit down.”
The room went silent, as Mike and Agent Ellis looked at me in surprise.
“If we can convince Emilio not to shoot me at first sight, that is,” I added sarcastically.
Come to think of it, though, Colt and Pop could probably talk Emilio into it. And if I riled up Emilio enough, he’d probably spill everything. Thinking out loud, I said, “If we got my brother and father to calm Ruffino down, say we want to discuss options to avoid a war, it might work.”
I could practically see the gears whirring in Mike’s head. “There are meetings like this all the time. And killing you outright would be a declaration of war. This could actually work. If something goes funny, we’ll have SWAT ready in the area as backup… ”
“Wait, n-no. No way!” Brenna interjected and I looked over at her. She was white to the lips, which were trembling, and there were tears in her eyes. I felt a dull pang of guilt. “Axe, no. No, I can’t let you do this. Please, there has to be another way.” She struggled for a moment and uncertainty flashed into her eyes. “You’ve already risked too much.”
Agent Ellis chuckled, apparently over his shock that I’d volunteered. “You’re wasting that sympathy, sweetheart. Even a self-righteous gangster is still a gangster.”
“He saved my life,” Brenna flashed, standing up. “And I’m about sick of you judging us – you’re just like those cops who ignored me. Who gives a damn about the fate of a welfare brat, right? Can’t believe a pretty woman when she says she’s not a hooker, right? Can’t believe a gangster can be a good man underneath, right? Well, I think you’re just too stupid to see that the world isn’t black and white, Agent.”
Mike and I both had our jaws on the floor. Brenna’s voice was low and dangerous and Agent Ellis looked like someone had punched him in the di
ck. I wished it were me.
Brenna crossed her arms looking around the room. “I’ll take back all my testimony if you go through with this.” She tilted her chin up. “Axe saved me – he’s not going to die because of me.”
“Brenna, sit down,” I grumbled. No matter how much she blamed herself, this situation was of my own making by not thinking things through that night. Surely, there had been a better way to save her that didn’t involve raining down some hellish destruction on my family, and even my city. Now I had the chance to make it right, and no one—not even Brenna—was going to stop me.
Brenna and I faced off, both breathing hard now.
“Hey, let’s call it a day.” Mike’s voice was gentle, but firm. “It’s been a long interview, we’ve got a lot of information, and like I said – I can start putting together plans and we’ll see what you think, okay? I’d beg you to keep an open mind, though, Ms. Fiore. You’ll be in danger as long as Emilio Ruffino is free, never mind that he’ll keep doing what he’s doing to those girls.”
Her chin went up and she wouldn’t meet his gaze.
Not a no, though, so it was a work in progress. I had to be satisfied with that for now. Maybe I’d convince her tonight once we were alone…
“I’ll set you up in a safe house nearby. No one knows you’re here, but better safe than sorry. Let me bring you to Martha, who handles that. And I’ll be in contact tomorrow with a firm plan – just gotta talk it over with my superiors.”
I nodded, clenching my jaw and folding my arms. “Thanks,” I managed to grit out.
I blew by a sneering Ellis without slowing as Mike led us to Martha, who was a smiling older woman. She gave us a key and instructed us to follow her.
Driving through Boston with red sunlight weaving through the old city, leaves swirling down, and happy people crowding the sidewalks – it should’ve been a romantic sunset drive.
It was the complete opposite.
Neither of us broke the tense silence. I kept waiting for Brenna to speak, but she kept her back to me, staring out the window.
We would hole up in a nice, unobtrusive house in an area just north of Boston called Cambridge. Martha led us inside the house and showed us around, leaving shortly after. Once we were alone again, the silence seemed worse. All I wanted to do was lie down. I marched upstairs and put both our bags down in the hallway, suddenly unsure if we were sharing a room or not. As much as I wanted to keep her close, I wasn’t about to suggest it with the tension snapping in the air. I still couldn’t get past the fact that she’d all but offered herself up like some sacrificial lamb.
“Axe.” Brenna stood in front of me in the hallway, the sunset light blushing her face pink, and her teal eyes flashed at me. It took me a second, but I realized she was pissed.
At me.
I blinked in shock. “How could you?” she accused me in a low voice. “Why would you do that?”
My anger ratcheted up again at her tone. Somewhere, I acknowledged our bad moods were probably a mixture of fear and hunger and just the toll of the past few days, but right now, she was itching for a fight and I was happy to give it to her.
I should’ve walked away.
But my temper was too busy cracking into a thousand pieces.
“Don’t test me right now.” I gritted my teeth and folded my arms.
“Oh, no. You’re not gonna go all macho-man and shut me up. That’s not how it’s gonna work. I didn’t leave one crime family just to get bossed around by another.” Brenna put her hands on her hips, scowling.
Anger pounded sharply in my chest as I tried to take a deep breath. “Last I checked, pecorelle, I saved your ass from the Ruffinos. And I asked you to follow my lead. To trust me.”
“I trusted you not to be so stupid,” Brenna snapped. “Then you let that Agent Ellis goad you and injure your precious ego! And now you feel like you have to prove shit to him? No, Axe. You’re not doing this. It should be me. In fact, I’m going to tell them tomorrow to use me. Or it’s off.”
“I don’t have to prove ‘shit’ to anyone,” I said in a low voice.
“Except your Daddy.” Brenna’s eyes flashed. “Let’s call him up then, see what he says. And it will be me. It makes more sense, I should—”
“It’s done,” I cut her off. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. God, you’re so fucking clueless. Do you even know what you did back there? What did I tell you in the car before we got there?” My voice was rising and I tried to lower it. “I said, don’t let them catch on to the fact that we—” I faltered. This is not how I wanted to bring last night up.
“That you took my virginity? That we had sex? Why?” Brenna finished for me, and I felt as though a bomb had gone off, as I gaped at her. I was floored. “Why does that even matter, Axe? I think you’re the clueless one. You’re the one who let your pride and your stupid male ego play right into their hands.”
Rage swept through my body and locked up my muscles to the point of pain. “Do you know what he would do to you if he got his hands on you?” My voice was getting harsher. “You’re not going back – and you’re never going to wear a wire. That’s final. End of discussion.”
“Like hell it is!” Brenna exploded, opening her eyes, and glaring over at me. “Why the fuck do you get to put your life on the line and not me? Why do you get to risk it all and not me?”
“Don’t you get it?” I roared. “Risking yourself is risking it all to me. I’m scared – like I’ve never been before. I’m fucking terrified for you, Brenna.”
Fear pounded through my body now, as my imagination ran rampant with the idea of Brenna going back. I knew Emilio wouldn’t kill her on the spot… No, he’d have her begging for death in the end. He’d torture her, rape her, destroy her… My vision went black.
It scared me so much, I thought I’d calm down.
Instead, I lost my fucking mind. “You want to walk in there and get yourself killed after I put my life and family on the line to save you? You want to make this all for nothing? Over my dead body.”
Brenna’s eyes were shining. “That’s exactly what I’m worried about, Axe.”
She burst into tears, grabbed her bag, and fled into a room, slamming the door behind her.
My stomach lurched with aching guilt but I shoved it aside. Instead, I focused on how I could have torn through her door with my bare hands, but instead I grabbed my own bag and stalked down the hall, letting my fury consume me.
I forgot I was hungry, I forgot the earth was turning, and I forgot that I meant to calm down, apologize, and be a rational adult. I just lay there, simmering with rage for hours.
Somehow, I just closed out all the guilt and pain and everything else. My focus was solely on the days ahead and meeting Ruffino. Planning out every last detail – down to my clothes, my shoes, and my gun.
Finally, when my brain was nothing but pounding, numb mush, I fell asleep, just as the sun rose, dreams of icing Ruffino – whether or not the Feds came through – dancing through my head.
The bastard was going to wish he’d never laid eyes on Brenna Fiore when I was done with him.
Chapter Sixteen
Brenna
Axe and I had exchanged maybe ten or so words all morning. Now, halfway through breakfast, I tried to distract myself to avoid looking at him. Gazing around the restaurant, I instead focused on the coffee pot, the other guests, the busy street, the stack of pancakes…
Well, I better lay off the pancakes, huh?
The whispered memory stabbed through my heart like a hot dagger and I flushed.
God, what was wrong with me? Why did I keep torturing myself like this?
It didn’t help that my nightmares had come back last night and I’d barely slept. My mind was all over the place – dancing between memories of the fevered bliss of sleeping with Axe and the assault of horrific dream after dream of him dying.
First I’d seen him beaten by Ruffinos, left for dead on the side of the road. In the next
instant, he was okay, hugging me on an empty street, and promising me he’d leave that life. Just when I’d thought it was over, a new, far worse nightmare crept in that ended in Axe getting killed by a single bullet from a shadowy assailant.
I’d woken with my throat raw and eyes streaming tears. I wanted more than anything to go to him. To climb into his bed and hold him tight and never let go. Instead, I’d curled up in a ball and waited for what seemed like hours until my eyes grew heavy again.
When I’d finally fallen back asleep, I’d dreamed again, clear as day. I held Axe’s body just like I’d wanted to so badly when I’d been awake. Only, in my dream, his skin was cold and eyes were wide and unseeing. I woke with a start, so full of pain, I couldn’t even cry.
Catching my breath, I forced my mind away from those dark thoughts. I’d been so naïve. I’d dived in too fast, too recklessly. A bitter anger rose inside me as the truth became as plain as the nose on my face.
I was the one who had caused all this chaos. I was the one who’d given my virginity, and my heart, to a mobster. Now I was ripe for the deepest, most profound pain imaginable.
The anger subsided into a hollow ache in my chest. My head pounded as I tried to muddle through it all. Knotting my hands together under the table, I bent my head, staring at my shaking fists. All I knew was how stuck I was – caught in a tangled web between my fear and love for Axe. Caught between the need to be with him, the ecstasy of actually being with him, and the pain of our shared anger. He’d already risked so much for me. How could I allow him to risk this?
Not to mention – I wasn’t a hundred percent sure why he was so mad at me…
Or whether we could ever forgive each other.
The ache spread up into my throat, choking me, and my eyes swam.
I had never been buffeted by so many conflicting emotions and it seemed he was feeling the same. He looked like shit. Dark circles under his eyes mirrored my own, and a sullen morning had become a sullen breakfast, with no end in sight. Axe was picking at his food, when his phone rang. He answered it in a low voice.
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