“You’ve been whorin’ again,” he slurs.
Shaking my head, I lift my hand and touch my still tender cheek. “I haven’t. I’m leaving, Da. I’m moving away and I’m not coming home.”
He takes a step toward me, and I move a step backward. He doesn’t stop and neither do I, not until my back is pressed against the wall next to the door. Pinching my eyes closed, I try to be brave, but I fail.
“What do you mean you’re not coming home?” he growls.
“I’ve met someone. I’m leaving,” I whisper.
He growls and I don’t even have a chance to cry out before his fist slams against the side of my head. Then his hand wraps around my throat and I open my eyes and my mouth, this time to cry out, but it doesn’t work. No sound comes. He shakes me, the back of my head bouncing off of the wall.
I claw at his arms, trying to stop him, but he won’t stop. My vision starts to blur, then it starts to fade. I look into my father’s blue eyes, he grins at me.
“It should have been you, Siobahn. It should have been you. Emilyn was better, she was so much better than you. She would have taken care of me. I wouldn’t have fallen apart if you were taken. You are nothing.”
Those are the last words that I hear as everything goes completely black and I pass out.
RENZO
My phone rings and I glance at the screen before I slide my thumb across. It’s Siobahn, and I freeze. Clearing my throat, I answer. Except before I can say anything, I hear yelling. It sounds like a man, then her two friends in the background.
My heart starts to race. “Renzo, we’re on our way to the hospital,” a man’s voice shouts, then I realize that it’s her male friend, John’s voice.
“Where, why?” I bark.
There is some muffled sound, then a woman begins to speak. She tells me the name of the hospital, half of which I can’t even understand. “Her father. It was awful, she wouldn’t wake. We’ve called the ambulance and they’re taking her now,” she explains. It’s Kathleen.
Then it registers. Her father. He hurt her, again, this time at her work. I left her there thinking that she was safe. I had planned on checking on Sullivan, then going to her. I have a line on Orin’s schedule and tomorrow I’m going to take care of him, tonight it was Sullivan, and then a quiet evening with Siobahn after getting her shit from her father’s place.
“Send me the address and name in a text,” I instruct Kathleen. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, where is her father?” I demand.
There is a moment of silence, then she clears her throat. “He went out the back door, nobody saw him leave. We were a little worried so John checked and when he walked into the kitchen she was just on the floor. Renzo, she wouldn’t wake up,” she cries out, then begins to sob.
I tell her that I’ll be there soon, then remind her to send me a text with directions on how to get to the hospital. Turning away from Sullivan’s home, he hadn’t answered the door anyway, I head back toward my car. I’m a bit delayed now and will have to deal with both Sullivan and Orin tomorrow. At this point, I want out of this town as soon as fucking possible.
The phone buzzes with a notification alert and I nod to myself when I see that Kathleen has texted me the name of the hospital and the address, just as I’ve asked. Opening the driver’s side door, I sink down in the seat as I start the engine.
Once I’ve put the hospital’s address in the GPS, I grip the steering wheel tightly and start to drive toward my destination. I’m going to kill her father. I’d planned on it anyway, but now I’m going to do it with a goddamn smile on my face.
I’m almost to the hospital when something catches the corner of my eye, someone walking down the street. It’s him. Doyle himself. I would recognize him anywhere, mainly because I studied his picture and it’s my job to never forget a face that I’ve recently studied to kill.
Orin and Doyle’s face and physical features are burned into my brain right now. When they’re gone and dealt with, I’ll forget about them, and wipe them from my brain so that I can do it all over again with my next hit.
Following him, I watch as he slips into the pub, as if he didn’t just try to murder his own child. Pulling around the back, I park the car. Climbing out, I walk toward the back of the pub and slip inside. I don’t bother going into the actual bar, instead, I make my way into the men’s room to lie in wait.
Standing against the wall, I don’t have to wait long for him to stumble in. I didn’t think that I would. He snarls at me as he turns toward the urinal, and I watch as he whips his minuscule cock out and starts to piss.
If I were a different man, I would wait for him to finish up, give him the dignity of putting his mini-dick back in his pants, but I don’t. Taking my gun out of my holster, I’m glad that I keep my mini-suppressor permanently affixed for cases like this.
Ideally, it would be nice if they were actually silent, but they aren’t. I’ll have to quickly slip out, because though the music is on in the pub, someone will no doubt hear the gun go off.
“Doyle?” I ask, gripping my gun in my hand.
“Who wants to know?” he slurs.
Lifting my hand, I place the barrel of my suppressor against the back of his head. “The man who is taking your daughter.”
“Taking her?”
I grin as I lean forward. “Taking her. Claiming her. Owning her. She’s mine now, Doyle. I’m going to fuck every hole in her body, and she’ll beg me to do it. I’m going to fill her with my babies. She belongs to me now, you useless fuck.”
I don’t let him respond to my words, not a single fucking word. Pulling the trigger, I take a step back and leave the bathroom without ever looking backward. I hear his body hit the floor with a thump and I hurry out of the back of the pub and toward the car.
Shoving the gun back in my holster, I start the engine and leave. I don’t rush, driving and moving too quickly would cause someone to notice me. There is no need for that. I’m just a guy with a beard and dark hair in a suit, driving a dark rental.
I’m nobody. I’m nothing. I am not memorable, at least not right now.
It doesn’t take me long to pull into the parking lot of the hospital. Climbing out of the car, it’s now time for me to rush. I hurry toward the desk and I demand to see Siobahn. The woman behind the counter stares at me, her lips parted in awe and she just watches me.
“Renzo,” a voice calls.
Straightening, I look back in the direction the voice came from and it’s Kathleen, Andrea, and John. Clearing my throat, I hurry toward them. They’re all huddled together, their faces pale with shock and shaking in fear for their friend.
“Have you heard any news?” I demand.
Kathleen shakes her head. “Not yet. She was breathing, they didn’t have to use anything on her in the ambulance,” she explains.
“Thank fuck,” I grunt.
“That fucking father of hers, I knew it. I knew he wasn’t right,” John growls. “I shouldn’t have let her go in the back with him. She was having the best day, she was so happy,” he rambles.
Holding up my hand, I decide that I can’t let them blame themselves. “I didn’t think he’d come to the shop. I thought with you all there she would be safe. I should have known,” I sigh. “Drunks aren’t predictable. He’s losing his paycheck. He’s losing his free and easy life. I should have known he would be angry and take it out on her again.”
“What do we do now?” Andrea asks.
I shake my head once. “Nothing. I’ll take care of Siobahn. You’ll take care of her clients?” I ask. “She won’t be coming back.”
They look from one another, then to me, and nod their heads in agreement. “When do you go? We want to see her before,” Kathleen whispers.
“Not for a few days. I need to make sure she’s okay here and wrap up my work, then we’re on our way,” I explain.
They nod, and John opens his mouth, no doubt to ask me what my work is, when I’m saved by the sound of a doctor calling for th
e family of Siobahn Doyle.
All four of us begin to make our way toward the doctor. They need to hear that she’s okay and so do I. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long, I’m not a patient man and I was about to find out how she was after talking with her friends.
Chapter Seventeen
SIOBAHN
My throat feels scratchy, dry and sore. Really sore. There is beeping in the distance and the lights seem really bright. I’m not at home, I’m not at the salon, and I’m not back at Renzo’s hotel. I’m afraid to open my eyes, because I know exactly where I am and I’m scared of what this means.
“Cuoricino,” a deep voice murmurs.
It’s soothing and I only know one deep voice that speaks Italian. Slowly, I open my eyes, turning my head to the side and that gorgeous amber gaze is staring right at me. He smiles, though it doesn’t reach his eyes.
He’s sitting next to me and he takes my hand in his, gently, far too gently as he watches me for a moment.
“Renzo,” I breathe.
He dips his head. “You’re awake. You’ve had us all worried, Siobahn.”
“I have?” I rasp.
He dips his chin, his eyes never leaving mine. “You have. The doctor says that all you need is some rest. I’ve assured him that you will get it,” he states.
Shaking my head, I open my mouth, but he holds up his hand to stop me. “Kathleen, Andrea, and John have all offered to make sure your clients are taken care of. Nobody will be left with bad hair, they’ve assured me. You’re done, cuoricino.”
Frowning, I wonder why I feel not only relieved, but excited about his words. I should be angry, tell him he can shove it and I’ll do what I want, but I don’t. Instead, I squeeze his hand with mine and smile weakly at him.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Okay?”
Nodding my head once, I lick my dry lips. “I’m ready, Renzo. I’m ready to move on.”
My words feel final.
They are.
My father coming into my place of business, his hateful words, his violence. I’m done. If he hates me so much, he never has to see me again. Things may not work out between Renzo and me, but I’ll be damned if I live my life for the man who wishes I were dead.
His lips curve up into a small smile, his eyes searching mine and he leans down. His mouth brushes mine and he inhales a deep breath before lifting his head.
“Good. I just need to finish up a few things here, maybe a couple of days and we’ll be on our way,” he explains.
My lips tremble into a small smile and I nod my head once. “I would like that.”
He lifts his hand, cupping my cheek before he slides his thumb across my bottom lip. I watch as his eyes follow the movement, a smile playing on his mouth the entire time. Then as sweetly and quickly as the moment came, it’s gone.
Renzo clears his throat and rises to his feet. “Your friends are outside the room waiting. They want to see you.”
“Renzo,” I whisper as I call out. He looks down at me, his brow furrowed as he waits for me to speak. “I’m falling for you,” I admit.
His lips twitch and he shakes his head once. “I see that, cuoricino.”
I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that. Without another word, he turns around and walks toward the closed door. My heart cracks a bit at his lack of declaration in return, but I attempt not to quibble. Though, as soon as he’s out of sight, I cannot promise that I won’t shed a few tears.
All of my worries disappear when the door opens and my friends swoop into the room. For the next hour, my friends talk, they make sure I’m okay and then Renzo appears again and tells them to leave me alone so that I can rest.
Kathleen leans over me, taking my hand in hers and her eyes find mine. “You’re going to be okay,” she whispers.
“I am,” I agree.
She shakes her head once, her lips turning up into a grin. “You’re going to be good. He cares for you. More than he’s letting on I’m sure.”
I don’t know why she says what she did. He hasn’t even been here. As soon as they came into the room, he left. Kathleen doesn’t give me an opportunity to ask any questions. Instead she straightens and gives me a wink before she turns and slips from the room.
Renzo has a cup of ice water in his hand. I watch as he wriggles it as he makes his way toward me. He sinks down on the bed next to my hip and reaches out, holding the cup to my lips. I take a small sip and sigh as the cool water slides down my raw throat.
“The doctor wants you to stay here tonight just to make sure you’re okay,” he explains.
Pressing my lips together, I bite the inside of my cheek as I give him a small nod. “Okay,” I whisper.
He hums, his eyes searching mine before he decides to speak. “We’ll pick up your things the day after tomorrow. You’re spending the entire day in bed tomorrow. Hopefully, I can be done here in a couple of days. I’m truly hoping that I can be finished by tomorrow, but I don’t like to put a timestamp like that on my work.”
“And you’re still not going to tell me what it is, are you?” I ask.
His lips twitch into a small smile. “You know that I won’t, cuoricino.”
Licking my lips, I give him a small nod. “What about him?” I ask.
Thankfully, he doesn’t make me clarify who him is. My tongue slides across my bottom lip again nervously as I wait for his answer.
“You won’t have to worry about it, Siobahn. I warned him off, he won’t be there when we go by and you don’t have to hear from him again.”
There’s a bit of relief that slides through me, then sadness fills my belly. A girl shouldn’t have to hear those things from her father, she shouldn’t have to feel the back of his hand or the way his fingers squeeze around her throat.
There are many things that my father has done over the years that I shouldn’t have had to suffer, but that doesn’t make him any less my father. Renzo lifts his hand, tucking some of my hair behind my ear as he continues to take me in.
“I’m falling for you too, cuoricino.”
RENZO
Pool of blood.
That’s how I find Sullivan.
He’s lying in a pool of his own blood.
As soon as Siobahn’s friends showed up, I slipped out to finish checking on Sullivan. I didn’t expect to see him dead. Drunk maybe. High? Sure. Being a traitor? Perhaps. But dead? Not at all.
Now that Siobahn is fast asleep, and won’t be waking up anytime soon due to the painkillers in her system, I call Gavino. He answers almost immediately, probably worried after my texts about Siobahn and her situation.
“You good?” he asks before I can even say hello.
Clearing my throat, I glance over to Siobahn again, just to make sure. She’s curled on her side, her lips parted as she breathes heavily in her sleep. I can’t help but smile at her. I don’t know how it happened this way, but it has, and I’m not sure I would give her up for anything at this point.
“I am,” I grunt. “Sullivan, not so much.”
“Fuck, what happened?”
I tell him about his offer to keep tabs on Orin Murphy, then about how I hadn’t heard from him. I explain what happened with Siobahn and her father and how I couldn’t get to check on him earlier. Then when I finally could get away, the state that I found him in.
“Cazzo,” he curses.
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Are you compromised?” he asks.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I shake my head. “With the father, not at all. With Orin, I’m unsure. I had a gut feeling there was something off about Sullivan, but I doubt that I’ll ever know now,” I admit.
Gavino is quiet for a moment. Then he clears his throat. “Get rid of Orin, ask him what you can. He won’t tell you anything, but you can try. Come home.”
“Sullivan?”
There’s another moment of silence. “Sullivan made his own bed, no doubt he created his issues. Clean up what you can, if you’re unable to,
then count it as a loss and move on.”
“Vino,” I grunt.
“This is our life. He knew what he was doing and he was not innocent. You know that he wasn’t only in bed with us.”
“Who?” I demand.
Gavino lets out a groan, then finally decides to let me in on everything. “He was involved with the IRA and gun trades. If it wasn’t Orin and his group that found him, it was someone else.”
Letting my head fall back, I look up at the ceiling and let his words sink in. I hadn’t known, but I did know that something wasn’t quite right. I recall him speaking about his wife, and his children, daughters.
Something causes me to pause. Children. A wife and children. I could leave Siobahn a widow and a single mother just as easily as he just did.
“Renzo?” he asks.
“Orin will be taken care of tomorrow night, hopefully. Siobahn will be released in the morning. I have to take her to gather her personal items, then Murphy is my sole mission.”
Gavino doesn’t say anything right away. He’s quiet and I’m sure he’s thinking of ways to punish me for fucking up, because in reality, I have. I’m supposed to go in and out, unseen, unknown, never thought about again.
I’ll be remembered here. Not only because I’ve been seen all over town with Sullivan, who is now dead, but also because of Siobahn. Her father is dead, her friends all know my name and they will have contact with Siobahn long after we leave here.
As much as I would like to tell her that she can never see or talk to them again, I’m not that man. It would be far safer if she never spoke to them again, but she’s lost so much in her life already, I wouldn’t take that from her. Not when they saved her.
“I’m not worried, Renzo. I trust you as much as I trust Arlo. You’ve had my back since the beginning. You’ve protected our famiglia and you deserve to find your own happiness. Truth be told, I was planning on getting together a dossier of potentials for you anyway. This is good that you found someone, cugino.”
Becoming the Hitman (Zanetti Famiglia Book 5) Page 12