“Yeah, he’d make me feel safe, I guess. I’m going to worry about you, honey, but I think you’re right. We need to get back to our lives, our jobs, and living free.” I try to give him an encouraging smile, but I know it falls short.
“It’s gonna be okay. We can’t live in fear forever.”
“Okay, we’ll start after the weekend. I’ll call Rocco and ask him to put me on the schedule. If you want to go back to work now, that’s okay with me. I can stay here with Mr. Cop at our door,” I say, trying to be brave.
“I’ll go in for a little bit, catch up with my assistant and see if there are any fires to put out. I’ll just reconnect with my kids and I’ll be right back home. You good with that?” Jack smiles sweetly.
I pray that everything’ll be all right. I don’t know for how long the Cribs will look for me. I might be looking over my shoulder for a good long time, even the rest of my life. Detective Black has been back to tell us we need to be careful, but he can’t keep the 24-hour protection up much longer. They told him another week at best.
Fuck! How do we stay safe when we don’t know this ChuckD or how pissed they are at me? Maybe they’re biding their time. Maybe they’re patiently waiting to get me alone. I could be dead by their hands as soon as I show my face.
But I can’t live in hiding much longer. I need to be around people, and I need to make money. Jack and I have agreed to live together, but there’s so much to do to pack up my old place, and I just feel overwhelmed with everything coming at me at once.
“Hey, did I tell you? Rocco called. He got your place packed and put everything in storage. He gave your notice to move out and everything there is handled. We can start looking for our own place, baby!” He’s so excited, like a little boy.
“Wow, that's amazing. That takes a huge load off. Let's start looking for our new place. Go looking right away?” I’m thrilled to move into our own place.
“Definitely,” Jack smiles. “We can look over the weekend. I’m gonna get ready to go, baby. I’m jumping in the shower. You want to join me?”
Jack grabs me in the shower and starts washing me with his vanilla scented soap. The room is steamy, and vanilla permeates the air.
“Come here, you sexy thing,” Jack whispers in my ear. He holds tight onto me as he snags a nipple and rubs my clit. I come with a loud crash against the shower wall, shouting, “Jack!” while my body spasms over and over. I drop to my knees and push his dick in my mouth, sucking as hard as I can. Jack hammers his hips until he’s yelling, “Baby!” and his come spurts into my mouth. Jack reaches down and pulls me up from the floor, sliding his arms around me where I feel safe. I’m safe in his arms, and we both moan together.
“You rock my world, baby,” Jack whispers as he pulls me back to look into my eyes with his own steely blues.
After the shower, Jack dresses in some low-slung jeans and pulls a cotton button-up shirt over his muscled shoulders. I love watching him dress. He’s the hottest man I’ve ever known.
“While you're gone, I’ll check out apartment listings, maybe look at houses. Just tell me where in the city you want us to land, and I’ll look while you're busy.”
“Okay, baby. I’ll live anywhere you want. Find a sweet spot for us?” He grabs me up off the couch and hugs me tightly to him.
“Be safe, hon, for me. Be safe,” I whisper in his neck.
“I’ll be careful, I promise.” Then Jack is out the door.
I pour a cup of coffee in my mug and grab his laptop. I sift through listings, looking at places for rent. I hope I can find a house we both love. I’d really like to live in a house this time.
By the time Jack gets back to the apartment, I have a short list of places I want to go see. There’s one house in particular that I’m really excited about. It’s in Marin. Well, actually Sausalito, and I can’t wait to go check it out. I hope we love it as much as I do from the pics.
“I promise we’ll go see it tomorrow, baby.” Jack looks through the pictures and adds, ”Yeah I like it a lot. I’m happy if you’re happy.”
Then we race to the kitchen and make some dinner. Life couldn’t get better than it is right now.
Honestly, anywhere Jack goes, I’m going too. Nothing’s going to ruin our happy life.
I’m so ready to start our life together.
Chapter Sixty-Three
Jack
I spoke to Detective Black today. He says he has to pull the surveillance off our door. He’s still worried, but he says he hasn’t heard anything on the street about Alex. Rocco called, and he said there was no news. He put the word out, but nothing has come back. Well, I hope that’s a good sign.
Alex and I decide to start living our lives. I go to my office and Marge is there. “Jack, great to see you.” She enthusiastically welcomes me back. She catches me up on everything I’ve missed. It wasn’t so much.
I look up from my desk to see Derek standing in the doorway. “Jack, it’s so good to see you. What happened out there? Last thing I heard you were asking me for that favor for Norris. I heard he’s dead,” Derek said. Damnit, I forgot to call him to tell him what happened in all the flurry of activity.
“Yeah, he is. I should have called you. Alex escaped...” I go on to tell him the entire story.
“How can you be here right now? It doesn’t seem safe,” Derek says, looking around like someone’s going to jump me in my own office. “I mean, those Cribs could still be out there, looking for you.”
I start to laugh and point to him. “What, you scared?” Derek laughs. “So, what have I missed?”
“I got one of the Triple-A scouts to come out and see Charles pitch. He wants to sign him!” Damn, I knew that kid was destined for greatness.
“That’s amazing. What did he say?” I am beyond excited for this kid. I think of all the games Jeremy and I can go to support him from the stands.
“He’s over the moon. I’m so happy for him. He’ll be able to start a good life, right?” I nod, agreeing with Derek.
“I looked in on your kids, and everyone is doing fine. I hope you being back here in the office means you’re back for everything? Meals, games, and coaching?”
“Yup, I’m back for sure. Alex and I are moving. I’ve just got to get this cast off, it’s slowing me down.” Derek looks at my cast for the first time, and I can tell it concerns him. His eyes are scrunched together and his brow furrows.
“Don’t worry, we’re fine. I want to thank you for wanting to help us when I came to you. It all worked out. Alex is great. Just wanted you to know I appreciate you.” I clasp his hand in mine for a shake. This dude’s awesome.
When I get back to Alex, she’s all over the place with excitement. She’s jumping up and down.
“They can show us the house today! Come on, Jack, say yes. I really want this one, and if we wait you know someone else is going to snap it up.” She’s begging, and how can I say no? She’s about jumping out of her skin.
I take her down to my car and open the door. As she’s about to slip inside, I notice a limo in the parking lot. It glides up to block my car in, and the driver gets out. He motions for both of us to get inside as he shows us his holster with a big fat gun strapped to his shoulder. I grab Alex’s hand and we slide inside; Alex’s expression shows deep concern, and I’m fucking worried as hell. Alex slips over the seat; I get in behind her, keeping her hand tightly grasped in mine.
There's a gentleman in the back seat with us. He’s in his fifties with short, cropped silver-gray hair. His deep-set dark eyes take us in. He's wearing a slick black suit with a skinny tie knotted at his throat. He wears a diamond ring on his pinkie, and he’s holding a lit cigar in his right hand. In the other hand he holds a glass of what looks like bourbon. The ice clinks on the side of the glass, and my heart leaps into my throat.
“ChuckD, I assume?” I say as sharply as I can. My heart thrums inside. Alex and I are face to face with the head of the Cribs. What the fuck? There’s nothing I can do to protect h
er, but I slide a little forward in my seat just in case. My hands are clammy, and sweat breaks out all over my body. From my pits to my brow, I feel pinpricks stabbing me in my arms. Sweat pours from my forehead. Shit! This is exactly what Detective Black warned us about. Exactly what wakes Alex up in the middle of the night with this frightening nightmare. We fucking got carried away and acted without thinking of our safety.
Goddamnit. If we die here today, at least I had her for a short time.
I clear my throat and wait.
And wait.
Finally, ChuckD says, “Miss Giovanni, Mr. Winton, I wanted to speak to you privately, I hope you don’t mind. Please excuse me for the ruse.” What the fuck? Excuse him for…what the fuck is he talking about? We both give him a quick nod. Confusion must show on our faces.
“Miss Giovanni, I had a man on my payroll, an untouchable. He was the most annoying fuck I ever had the displeasure of knowing. I hated his guts. I just wanted to thank you for putting him down like the fucking dog he was.”
What? What the ever-loving fuck? Is this really happening? I don’t know what to say and look over mutely at Alex. She’s struck with the same problem. We both sit there dumbfounded. Really, whatever this is, it’s beyond our capacity of understanding. We are speechless.
“I can see this surprises you. That I would hate one of my own men. Meh, it happens. Anyway, you’ll find that I’m a most generous man. Take care of yourselves, both of you. You won’t ever have to worry about us. We’re good.” ChuckD knuckle bumps Alex and gives me a curt nod. Then the limo driver opens our door and helps us out of the car.
“One more thing, Miss Giovanni.” Alex turns to look at ChuckD.
“Enjoy your new home.” Then, ChuckD gives us a sneaky as fuck smile and the limo driver is in the car, driving away.
Alex looks at her hand, where the driver shoved a piece of paper.
It’s the note to the house we were rushing to see.
Turns out we’re homeowners now.
I grab Alex and kiss her with all my love pouring from me to her. I deepen the kiss and then whisper, “Let’s go home, baby. Let’s go home.”
* * *
THE END
Acknowledgments
My book is finally finished, it’s hard to believe I’m finally here at the end of a long winding road. I loved writing this one. I started thinking about what John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” Someone told me that once after something bad and big and unexpected happened to me and I was trying to make sense of it all. Yep, that’s what she told me over 25 years ago and it stuck with me all these years later. So that’s where this book began, and Jack came along to teach me who he is. Writing a book is a real discovery of my characters, some I fall in love with and some like Norris, still haunt me. I’m not ever really sure where I’m going until I get there.
I have some wonderful people to THANK. They stick by me, no matter what.
Charity Bailey, thank you. You listen to me go on and on while I’m working on my plot line. You listen through my frustrations, my braggy moments and really just about everything. You beta read, which is invaluable to me, and have taught me the fundamentals of writing. I trust you 100.
Faith Rabbiosi, you are such a great friend. I love having a girlfriend to hang out with. You’ve given me tons of support and I love you mama! Can’t wait to meet the new member of your family coming in just a few short months.
Casi McLean, You’ve taught me so much about the business of being an author. I appreciate you so much for all our long chats. And you being my partner is a dream come true. You are like a sister to me.
Elysian Fields, my ride or die.
Eveyln Summers, thank you for the awesome Proof-Reading job you did. You are a crack editor for real.
I want to thank my Goldwyn Girls, who keep me going whether I’m up or down. When I don’t think I should write another word they cheer me up, they route me on. Thank you, lovely girls, for that and all the fun we have. What would I do without you?
But there would be no reason for me to do any of it without readers. Thank you for taking the time to read my work.
If you, the reader, would like to stay in touch join my group Goldwyn Girls on Facebook.
I read a ton and every single author says the same thing at this point. They ask for reviews on Amazon. I didn’t realize how important reviews were until I published my first book Beautiful Boy. Of course, I was crushed under a load of books by well-known authors. But rankings, turns out to be just about everything. So, I hope you want to contribute.
The Call Page 28
