CHOKE: A Dark Bad Boy Romance

by Ella Wolfe

  “Who exactly are you talking about?” Knox asked confusedly.

  I realized that I’d been ranting and raving inside my head for the past few moments, while Knox remained silent.

  “John fucking Cassetti. He was the one who stole my money. It has to be him.”

  Pacing the tiny space inside the dressing room, I was already coming up with plans of revenge, when Knox placed two hands on my shoulders and brought me to a stop.

  “You don’t know it was him. Why don’t you wait a little until you have proof? Who knows what he’ll do, otherwise.”

  I knew Knox was right, but I still didn’t cool down immediately. A few days ago, when Knox had warned me to be careful of Cassetti, I had dismissed him like a fool, and now it turned out he’d been right the entire time.

  Jesus, I felt like such an idiot.

  I knew what Knox wanted me to say. I knew that he was being reasonable and responsible, but it was still an insanely difficult pill to swallow, especially when I pictured the smug grin that would no doubt be plastered over his face.

  “Skye?” Knox prodded after a moment more of my silence.

  “Yes, fine, okay. I’ll be good, I swear.”

  Chapter Ten

  Knox

  Although Skye did a good job fussing over me, to the point where she was checking my bandages every thirty seconds, the only thing I wanted to do was leave, so I could sort my head out. A small part of me was loving all the attention she was giving me, only because I knew she wouldn’t do it often, and I wanted to appreciate it.

  “Skye, I’m fine. You don’t have to check on me every damn minute.”

  A part of me thought it was to take her mind off the fueling hatred she seemed to have developed for Cassetti. Of course, I would be angry, too, if somebody stole the money that I was planning to build a life with.

  “I was just trying to help,” she huffed, packing up the first aid kit and slamming it shut, so I could sense her displeasure.

  “Don’t be like that. Thank you for your help.”

  “You're very welcome. Are you sure they were masked? No identifiable features or anything?”

  I paused thinking back to the fight. There was something identifiable all right, but the fact that I recognized the fighting style of a potential robber seemed a strange thing to say. In all honesty, I had a very good idea of who had broken into the place, but I needed to try and find them before I told anyone about it.

  Growing up as I had, I was always told that it was no wonder that my childhood friends and I had turned into what we had. We were good at what we did; breaking into high security places, like it was a walk in the park. I didn’t care that we’d become criminals—the crew were my best friends, the kids I’d grown up with and spent my entire life with. That all changed when they framed me for something I didn’t do. Now the cops were after me, and all I wanted to do was just lay low. That’s why I took the shitty, low-paying job at G-stringer’s. Cassetti was the only one who would hire me.

  I’d tried to move on from what my friends had done to me, but it was so hard, and even the thought of them made my blood boil. But I knew there was nothing I could do. I knew I just had to keep my head down and move past it. It was even more difficult when they turned up at the place I worked and knocked me out. I wasn’t entirely certain, but I had a strong feeling that the guy that sucker-punched me in the face was my old pal, Sammy.

  “Knox?” Skye said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

  “No, nothing,” I said quickly. “Hey, I’m going to head off. I’ll see you tomorrow okay?”

  Without waiting for a reply, I walked off, trying to keep from hobbling so I could retain some form of dignity.

  I collapsed into the car and drove home without too much difficulty, the entire time my mind focused on my past and what the hell my old crew was doing coming back into my life.

  I woke up the next morning, sore and with a pounding headache. At first, I thought the ringing I heard was just in my ears, until I realized that someone had been trying to call me for the past few minutes.

  “Hello?” I said groggily.

  “Knox? Uh– Hey.”

  Is that who I think it is?

  “Donald?” I said, my complete shock evident in my tone.

  ‘Yeah. It’s me.”

  Well, that confirmed it. If I wasn’t entirely sure that my old crew had been the ones to attack me last night, this confirmed it. Don was my best friend growing up, and the fact that he was calling me now, after radio silence for so long, could only mean that he felt guilty for something.

  “You son of a bitch! You left me knocked out in an empty club. Who knows how long I would’ve stayed there before someone turned up!”

  “Knox, I’m sorry,” Don said quietly, with regret in his voice. “You know I don’t always agree with crew decisions.”

  “What decisions would those be,” I said sarcastically. “Framing one of your own and setting him up for the cops to find?”

  “Yes, that. But I really didn’t expect us to do this to you again, and I never would have agreed otherwise.”

  “But you did! Jesus, Don, we grew up together. I spent half my life at your house.”

  “It wasn’t … It wasn’t our idea.”

  Wait, what? Was he saying what I thought he was saying?

  “Are you– Did someone hire you to stage the crime?”

  “You know I would never willingly betray you, Knox. You know it.”

  Fuck. This was worse than I thought. I wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t come back to the club and interrupted them. I would’ve surely been framed for another crime that I didn’t do, and this time, there was no way I could escape going to prison.

  Who could’ve set me up, though? I felt like Skye last night, when she immediately jumped to the conclusion of Cassetti, but there was really no other option, if what Don was saying was true.

  If Cassetti really did want to get rid of me, the only reason that I could think of was because I’d seen him getting beaten up by Skye’s regular in the back alley. Maybe he didn’t want anyone to know what had happened to him.

  “Who was it, Don? It was John Cassetti, wasn’t it? It had to be him!”

  “Knox, you know I can’t say anything. You know how this works. I could get in serious shit, just for calling you.”

  He was getting nervous now, backtracking from what he’d said earlier, and I knew he was worried about saying too much. I couldn’t even blame him, but I had to press for more.

  “You’ve always had my back, Don. Always. Please help me out.” I was pleading him for his help now, but I didn’t care. I had to know who was setting me up, and why. I couldn’t let this happen to me again. I refused to.

  There was silence on the other end of the line, until a barely heard, “I’m sorry,” and then the line went dead.

  “Fuck!”

  I knew Don wouldn’t say anything to betray his crew. He was in way too deep to do something like that. I also knew that I should count myself lucky for even getting any kind of information from him. Pressing him so hard wasn’t a good idea, but I couldn’t help it.

  Finding out if Cassetti really was the one after me was so important. I had a sneaking suspicion that, because my old crew had failed their task, Cassetti might turn to other people to get rid of me. Who would he ask next? The cops? The mob? There was no way to be sure, and that was the worst part.

  Chapter Eleven

  Skye

  I was furious. Absolutely and completely fueled by a rage that I had never really experienced before. It wasn’t even just the fact that I had been robbed. It was the fact that I’d been robbed by someone like Cassetti—a slimy liar and all-around sleaze that I’d had to put up with for years. I’d thought he was harmless, too. I’d even told all the girls that whenever they mentioned to me their concerns about him.

  Jasmine had asked me about him once. “Skye, is it just me, or is Cassetti a little creepy? Should I be staying away from h
im?”

  I’d laughed her off at the time. “Cassetti’s fine. He hits on all the girls, but he never does anything about it. Avoid him because he’s a pain in the ass, but not for anything else. Trust me.” Little did I know that the ‘pain in the ass’ would turn into my biggest nightmare.

  If it weren’t for what Knox had said last night, then I might’ve already gone storming off to find Cassetti and demanded the dirty thief give me back my money. As it was, the more responsible side of me was keeping the impulsive, angrier side of me at bay, though I wasn’t sure how long it would last.

  Knox was right when he said that I didn’t have proof—even I could admit that. That didn’t mean that I didn’t know it was him. It had to be. He had motive, opportunity, and whatever the hell else detectives used when identifying a suspect.

  Cassetti had been a thorn in my side ever since I started working at G-stringer’s, and now that I was finally trying to leave, he’d gotten infinitely worse. It was like a lifetime’s worth of bad luck had escalated to this point, and here I was, unluckier than I’d ever been.

  I pulled into the parking lot at work and shut off the engine, rage throbbing in my veins as I tried and failed to calm myself down.

  Deep breaths, Skye. Don’t be an idiot.

  My pep talk did nothing to compose myself, and I was unable to get my anger under control. It had happened to me once before, when I’d had my entire life planned out ahead of me and, in an instant, it had gone down the drain. Instead of seeing a future full of what I had dreamed, all I saw was the loss of everything that I’d worked so hard for.

  Sure, I could get the money again. But that would mean years of either working under Cassetti, or finding another job that took me away from my passion. It was a lose-lose situation for me. The only thing I could hope for now was the off chance that Cassetti would give me back my money, but I would bet my life that that smarmy dirt bag wouldn’t even dream of doing something like that.

  “Dammit,” I muttered under my breath. I knew I was about to do something incredibly stupid, but I was too far gone to care. There were times when you had to sit back and watch as your life crumbled before you, but this wasn’t one of those times.

  Storming into the club, I didn’t spare anyone a second glance and marched straight into Cassetti’s office, slamming the door shut behind me.

  Cassetti didn’t even flinch at the sound of the door, but just looked up serenely and raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes?” he said cockily. Just the sound of his voice was enough to push the anger in me to higher levels. I could’ve done as Knox said and been calmer and smarter about it, but faced with the devil himself, I knew there wasn’t a chance I’d be up for that. I guess I would never be the bigger person, but there was a chance I’d be the richer one.

  “Did you do it?” I bit out. There was no use being sly or artful now. Partly because I was terrible at it and partly because my rage was occupying too much of my mind.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” he said. “Is everything okay?” His faux sincerity was rubbing me the wrong way and entirely not amusing when I was so mad.

  “Don’t play dumb. I know you know what I’m talking about. I just need it back, okay? Then there’ll be no harm done, and we can move on.”

  I wasn’t sure if he realized it, but Cassetti was treading dangerous ground and whatever he said next would be the determining factor in whether or not I reached my breaking point.

  “Skye, are you feeling okay? You're not really making any sense. If you want the day off-”

  “I know you stole my money, you smug bastard!”

  “I’d watch what I was saying, Skye. You know I like you, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were accusing me of something. You wouldn’t be doing that, now would you?”

  I could see exactly what Cassetti was doing, but I wouldn’t back down. I’d already tipped past the point of no return, and I wasn’t about to stop now.

  “I am accusing you! You stole my deposit, Cassetti. You’re a dirty thief, and I want my money back!”

  “Now, hold on. That’s no way to speak to your boss.”

  “I don’t care who the fuck you are.” I strode forward quickly and placed my palms on the edge of his desk, leaning forward so my face was close to his. “Give me back my fucking money.”

  “Skye, I must say that this is completely unacceptable behavior. If you don’t apologize right now, then I’ll be forced to take drastic measures.”

  There was no way he was serious. John Cassetti was the kind of man that bluffed his way through life, and there wasn’t a chance in hell that I would back down now.

  “Apologize? Fuck you. Do your worst, you pig.”

  “All right. You’ve forced my hand.”

  Cassetti got up from his chair and walked to the door, opening it wide and yelling, “Knox!”

  Perfect. He wouldn’t know what hit him. Knox and I would team up, and Cassetti would be begging for my forgiveness in no time. I almost laughed at the arrogant look on his face. Little did he know that he’d be overpowered in mere minutes.

  Knox arrived a moment later, stalking in silently and frowning at the scene before him. When his eyes reached me, I could almost see him suppressing an eye roll. He’d warned me that I had no proof and shouldn’t confront Cassetti, but now that Knox was at my back, it didn’t matter. We could handle Cassetti together, I could get my money back, and Cassetti would be out of the way for good.

  “Yes, boss?” Knox said.

  I scoffed at his tone. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Knox was nothing more than a loyal puppet. I would so be teasing him about that later.

  “Knox, please escort Miss Richards out of the building. Make sure she gets in her car and leaves.”

  Laughter was bubbling up in my throat. I wondered what Knox would do. Send a firm punch to Cassetti’s face, or just flat out refuse and make a fool of him. The door was left open, and though I could hear no sounds of any of the staff, I knew they were all paying close attention.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Wait, what?

  I gasped when Knox enclosed his hand around my upper arm and dragged me to the door.

  “What are you doing?” Was he really removing me from the building? What on earth was he thinking? Cassetti was about to get away with a crime, and Knox was doing nothing to stop him. In fact, he wasn’t even looking at me.

  “Knox, stop.”

  He kept pulling me towards the exit, and I was both too shocked and too weak to pull out of his grip. Once we were out of the building, his hand loosened slightly, and I jerked out of his hold.

  “What are you playing at?” I demanded angrily.

  “I’m sorry, but I had to do it,” he said unemotionally.

  “Are you serious? We can’t let him get away with stealing my money. Come with me, and we can figure something out and get back at him. You can’t just listen to him and force me out of here.”

  “Look, Skye. You won’t understand this, but I have unfinished business here. I can’t come with you. Now, get in your car and go home. Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

  “Harder than it has to be?” I repeated in disbelief. “How could you say that?”

  Knox didn’t reply, but walked to my car and opened the door, holding it out for me to climb in.

  “You know what, Knox? Fuck you.”

  I climbed into my car and slammed the door shut, speeding out of the lot without a glance backwards. In my eyes, Knox had betrayed me, right when I needed him. But this wasn’t the end. No way. I’d get back at Cassetti, if it was the last thing I did.

  Chapter Twelve

  Knox

  John Cassetti was slowly killing me. At first, I thought I could handle him, stay on long enough to find out what I needed, and set him up like he’d tried to do to me. It was barely a day before I realized I was sorely mistaken.

  I’d tried to contact Don again, but to no avail. In fact, I’d tried to con
tact everyone in my old crew, just to talk to them, and found that I wasn’t able to reach a single one, If that wasn’t bad enough, I realized that Cassetti was my only connection to my old crew and the only way I could reach them. Ironic, since I wanted to talk to them about him.

  So, there I was, stuck with Cassetti and refusing to leave until I’d solved all the mysteries going on in my life. I hadn’t lied when I told Skye that I had unfinished business with him.