Break For Him: A Possessive Mafia Romance

by B. B. Hamel

  Until one morning Owain stopped in front of my shop and grabbed my wrist before I could get out.

  “Sales start today.”

  I stared at him. “What?”

  “You knew it wouldn’t be this easy forever.” He stared and I thought I saw a hint of pity in his eyes.

  “Fine. Whatever. Do what you have to do.”

  “Men might come into the shop. They might ask for a shirt called the happiest shirt alive. If they request that, take their cash, go into the back, open one of the boxes my men dropped off, and give them one of the bundles. Do you understand?”

  I blinked at him. “How much money are they going to give me?”

  “Don’t worry about that. Just keep the money at the bottom of the register. I’ll collect it at the end of the day.”

  “And what bundles?”

  “They’re wrapped in shirts. Also don’t worry. They’re all the same.”

  I chewed my lip. “Are you sure about this?”

  “You can handle it. If they ask for more than one shirt, get more than one bundle.”

  “Right. More than one bundle of drugs.”

  He didn’t smile. “I’m trusting you, little diamond. Don’t let me down. If you need something, there’s a phone hidden at the bottom of the top box. It has one number inside. Call that number, but only if it’s an emergency.”

  I looked away and he released my wrist. “I can handle it.

  I climbed out of the car and didn’t look back. He lingered there as I unlocked the door and slipped inside. I stood in my empty showroom, my heart racing in my chest, as I looked around at all the shirts I’d spent so much of my life designing and selling.

  Today was the day it all changed.

  The first guy came in around noon. He was younger than I expected. Patchy facial hair, sweatpants and a t-shirt. “Uh, do you have the, uh, happiest shirt alive?”

  He looked nervous, like he wanted to throw up.

  I smiled but I wasn’t sure why. I wanted to try and make him at ease, I guess.

  “Yep, we have it. Stay right here.”

  I walked into the back and opened the top box. It was full of tightly wrapped black t-shirts. I picked one up and felt the fabric: cheap cotton weave. Probably cost ten cents in bulk. I carried the shirt back out front and handed it to the guy.

  He took it and looked confused. “Uh, I didn’t think it was actually, uh, a shirt.”

  I stared at him like he was the biggest idiot in the world. Because he probably was. But I guessed drug addicts weren’t all brilliant people, and felt a strange pang of anger.

  “That’s what you paid for. Now get out of here.”

  He took a step back, hesitated, then turned and left. The door swung closed behind him.

  I sighed and rubbed my face.

  I wondered if someone thought about my brother like that at some point. I could imagine Jason, his goofy half smile, his endearingly dirty hair, his rumpled shirts, standing in front of some drug dealer begging for a bundle of pills and looking surprised when he got a t-shirt instead. I had to lean against the counter and breathe deep to keep myself for getting emotional.

  I was the drug dealer now.

  The kid that just came into my shop could be someone’s brother. And they might find him dead in his room one day, just like I found Jason. The thought made my heart race and made my stomach twist into knots.

  Owain was turning me into a drug dealer, and for a second I thought that might be worse than turning me into a whore.

  A few normal customers came in over the next couple of hours. But just when I started to feel steady, a man wearing a suit with bright eyes and a too-eager smile pushed open the door and approached.

  “I’m looking for the happiest shirt in the world,” he said.

  “Sure. Stay there.” I went into the back, got his shirt, and came out again. He took it from me, frowned, stared, looked back up.

  “What the fuck is this?”

  “The shirt. Now get out.”

  “I don’t want a shirt. I’m here for pills.”

  I stared at him. “First of all, you don’t say that, you idiot. And second of all, look inside the shirt. Now get the hell out.”

  He shoved his fist down the bundle and must’ve felt what he was hoping for, because a look of pure bliss spread across his face.

  “Adios, pretty girl.” He stormed back out again.

  I wanted to vomit.

  But another guy came in a minute later. Long hair, light brown skin. And another, ten minutes after that, a guy with tattoos and a black tank top, and another. I handed out their shirts and fortunately none of them questioned it.

  I was exhausted by the time I was ready to close. I hoped Owain would show up soon, because I wanted to get back to his house, hide under the covers, and cry until I threw up. Maybe I’d take a shower so hot it melted off my skin, but I doubted I’d ever feel clean again.

  I prepared to go lock the door when two guys came in. I frowned at them as they looked around the shop. Each was dressed in dark denim. One was tall, broad, and wore sunglasses even inside. He had a thick beard and biceps the size of my head. The other was shorter, thinner, with a gaunt face and a missing front tooth.

  “Hey girl,” Sunglasses said. “I’m looking for something.”

  “We have lots of shirts,” I said, gesturing at the wall.

  Tooth walked over and grabbed one. “Huh, looking at this. Eat My Shorts. Like from the Simpsons?”

  “Put that back,” Sunglasses said.

  Tooth threw the shirt on the ground.

  “Uh,” I said. “Sorry, would you mind putting it on the shelf?”

  “Would you mind fucking off?” Tooth sneered at me like he wanted to show off his gap. “Listen to this bitch.”

  “We aren’t here looking for shirts,” Sunglasses said. “We’re here looking for something else. Something you probably don’t want to admit you got.”

  My heart started racing. I walked backwards toward the counter as my mind raced. I didn’t know what to do if these guys got violent or aggressive with me. They were both way bigger and stronger, and I had a feeling they were used to hurting anyone that got in their way.

  Owain didn’t prep me for this.

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Sure you do.” Sunglasses pulled out a fist full of shirts and dropped them on the ground. Tooth laughed and started yanking out more shirts, throwing them onto the couches. “I know Owain’s been coming here. Seen him more than a few times.”

  “Who?” I asked, desperation taking over.

  “Come on, girl. Don’t fuck around here.” Sunglasses walked over and leaned up against the counter.

  Tooth kept ripping out shirts and laughing with delight. They piled up on the floor in all different colors, a small mountain of laundry.

  It would take all day to fold and restock them.

  Then again, I wasn’t sure I was going to survive this moment.

  “I’m not playing around. I don’t know who you mean.”

  Sunglasses sighed and shook his head. “Listen girl. I been following Owain around for months. Then he starts coming here, dropping you off, and some of his fellas bring some boxes into your back room. Yeah, we saw that, so we know they’re back there. I’m trying to do this all civil like, but if you keep playin’ dumb then there’s gonna be trouble.”

  I opened my mouth then shut it again. I didn’t think I could form words.

  He knew everything.

  “Fuck the girl,” Tooth said. “Punch the bitch in the mouth. That’ll get her talking.”

  Sunglasses stared at me with those dark reflective lenses. I could see my face in them, pale and pulled into a mask of fear.

  “You want that?” he asked. “My friend here will gladly hurt you, girl. You owe Owain some shit or something? You loyal to him?”

  “No,” I said. “I’m not.”

  “Then take me to where those damn boxes are.” Sunglasses stood. “C
ome on now. Don’t make this hard.”

  I nodded and stepped toward the back. “Okay. Okay. Just… don’t hurt me.”

  Sunglasses spread his hands. “If I don’t have to, I won’t.”

  “I might,” Tooth said. “He don’t speak for me.”

  Sunglasses grinned but didn’t contradict him.

  I turned and ran. Sunglasses came after me, but I didn’t have far to go, and he had to come around the counter still. I reached the back room and threw the door shut, slamming the lock home. Sunglasses rammed against the door.

  “Open up you fucking bitch,” he said. “You’re making a god damn mistake, you fucking bitch.”

  He slammed against it hard again and again. The door flexed, but the hinges held.

  I ran to the box and threw it open. I dug inside down past the wrapped shirts until I felt something hard and plastic.

  The phone.

  I ripped it out and powered it up. I paced back and forth, trying to stop a scream.

  I could rush out the back door. It was right there. But a voice in the back of my head said I needed to stay until I talked to Owain. I had to make sure it was safe to leave.

  The phone turned on. Sunglasses rammed into the door and a screw popped out of the wall. It hit the tile floor and bounced toward my shoe.

  I kicked it and screamed in frustration.

  The phone had one number in it. There wasn’t even a name attached. Sunglasses hit the door again and another screw popped. It looked like the door might burst open at any second.

  “Leigh?” Owain answered on the first ring like he was waiting for my call.

  “Men, in the store. Trying to break down the door.”

  “Slow down.”

  “Two guys. With like denim jackets. Like motorcycle guys. One had sunglasses. They know you, Owain. They’re trying to break down the back door.”

  “Are you in there? Right now?”

  “I’m still here.”

  “Get out the back. Run. Go.”

  But the door burst open with a loud bang. I screamed and threw the phone. It hit Sunglasses in the chest as he stumbled into the room. He let out a grunt and a growl of anger as he came at me. I tried to get past him, running for the back door, but he caught me and threw me up against a shelving unit. It teetered and fell into the rack next to it. Shirts and packing equipment scattered onto the floor.

  I lashed out with my fists and nails. I caught skin along his face and he shouted with rage. I felt something hard slam into my gut and doubled over, all the air shoved from my lungs. I wanted to throw up but all I could do was groan and gasp as Sunglasses grabbed my hair and pulled me back up.

  “Should’ve made this easy, bitch,” he said.

  I smelled smoke drift in from the other room.

  “Asshole.”

  “Where’s the pills?”

  “What pills?”

  He hit my stomach again. I coughed and moaned. He yanked me up again.

  “Don’t make me hurt that pretty face,” he said, thumb running down my eye and along my cheek. “I don’t want to cut you bitch, but I will. Where are the pills?”

  More smoke, thick and black, billowed into the room. Tooth cackled as he came in.

  “This place is going up,” he said. “Fuck you should see it out there. These shirts really burn.”

  “God damn, Lenny,” Sunglasses said. “You can’t do shit without burning something.”

  “I just loves me some fire.” Tooth grinned at me.

  “Last chance,” Sunglasses said. “Where are the pills?”

  I opened my mouth to tell him as more smoke rolled past. I breathed it in and started to cough as the caustic black stuff wrecked my lungs and throat. Sunglasses grunted and pushed me down, turning to Tooth.

  “Go put that out you dumb fuck,” he said. “If this whole block goes up, we’re fucked?”

  “Aw, come on.”

  “Go put it out.”

  “Asshole.” Tooth shook his head then plunged back into the smoke.

  Sunglasses bent and hauled me up to my feet.

  “Pills now.” His fist cocked back. “Or I break your pretty nose.”

  A gunshot reverberated through the room. It was a burst of explosive force from the front. Sunglasses released me, body turning around. He stumbled backwards, toward the back door, hand reaching for something in his belt.

  Owain flew into the room, smoke curling around him. He dropped to one knee and fired twice, the shots like explosions. I covered my ears as bullet holes bloomed in Sunglasses’ chest. He staggered back then slumped down to the ground as red pooled around his legs.

  I opened my mouth to scream but coughed instead. Owain turned to me and shoved his gun back into his belt. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded through my coughing. He pulled me to my feet then whipped out his cellphone. He dialed a number as he walked me toward the back door.

  “Rolan. Get all the guys. Fire at the store.” Short pause as he shoved open the door. “Get over here and put it out.” He pulled me into the alley behind the shop and flipped his phone shut.

  I doubled over coughing. He stood and looked around, arms crossed over his chest, waiting for me to get it together. I leaned against the cool brick of the buildings across the alley and coughed until my stomach muscles couldn’t take it anymore.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “I think so.” I took a big, gasping breath of fresh air. “Yeah. I think I’m okay.”

  “Fire isn’t bad. It’s mostly just shirts, but it’s going to be a fucking mess.”

  “Should we call the fire department?”

  “My guys will handle it. And they’ll make that dead fuck disappear.” Owain turned from me and I could see his body tense.

  “Who were they? What was that? The guy you killed—”

  “They’re nobody.” He bowed his head and took a deep breath.

  “They said they were following you.”

  He turned again and I saw the rage in his eyes. “What else di they say?”

  “Just that they were following you and knew you brought stuff into the back room.”

  His jaw clenched. “Fuck. I didn’t expect this.”

  “Who were they?”

  “Members of the Jackals motorcycle club.”

  “A motorcycle club? Like a freaking motorcycle gang?”

  “Yeah, like that shit you see on TV.”

  “Jesus, Owain. What the hell?”

  He shook his head. “Me and their leader go back a while. And we don’t get along.”

  “I see that.”

  “But this is too far. He’s never come at me like this before.”

  “They were going to kill me.”

  His eyes softened, just a touch. I straightened and took another shuddering breath then stepped toward him. The alley was damp and narrow. A pile of trash bags leaned against a dumpster to the left. Cars moved past on the street twenty feet away.

  “I wouldn’t let that happen.”

  “If you hadn’t come—”

  “But I did.”

  “You didn’t tell me you were bringing me into a war.”

  “I didn’t know.”

  I clenched my fists. “They burned my store.”

  “We’ll fix it.”

  “Owain. This is too much.”

  “You want to back out now, little diamond?” His eyes were like fire as he came closer. I too ka step back and stomped into something damp. I chewed on my lip as my back pressed against the brick wall.

  “I… just think it’s dangerous.”

  “It was always dangerous.” He stood inches away from me, his body rippled with muscle.

  He killed a man in front of me two minutes ago.

  “I tried not to give you up.” I looked away, down toward the ground. “I tried to stall them.”

  He softened a touch. “I see that. You locked yourself in the back and called me.”

  “Yeah. I thought it was the only way.”

&n
bsp; “You could’ve given them the stash. I would’ve have blamed you.”

  I shrugged a little. “I need to earn my cut, right?”

  A smile slowly spread across his face. “Little diamond. You somehow manage to impress me more and more every day.” He leaned down and I could smell his body, a mixture of grass and smoke.

  I tilted my chin toward him. Maybe it was the smoke, maybe it was my gut still aching from where I got punched.

  Or maybe it was the fast that he just saved my life. There’s no doubt in my mind that those two men would’ve killed me.

  They weren’t the kind of men that left witnesses.

  His lips came toward mine. I reached out and touched his face. I thought I was stopping him.

  Instead, I guided him closer and let him kiss me.

  It spread through my body like a wave. Desire, confusion, revulsion, anger. I held him there and returned that kiss as his tongue and taste flooded my lips. I wanted more, felt my heart racing, my body aching and reacting in a way I’d never experienced before.

  It was pure hatred and need and disgust and desire.

  I broke the kiss off.

  “This is messed up.”

  “And yet you like it, my little diamond in the rough.” He touched my cheek, thumbed my bottom lip, then gently took my arm. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”

  “We should stay and make sure the place is okay.”

  “Like I said, my guys will handle that. I want to get you back and let you unwind. You just went through something hard.”

  I chewed my lip and let him lead me away from the alley.

  That kiss lingered in my mouth on the way back. I kept glancing at him and wondering if I was going insane. I hated him, I knew I hated him. There was no question in my mind that I despised him with every single inch of my being. He forced me into becoming a drug dealer and almost got me killed because of some feud I didn’t even know about.

  And yet that kiss sent waves of pleasure through me, and just thinking about it made me hungry for more.

  I thought I was going insane.

  Maybe it was just shock from watching a man get killed before my eyes.

  I didn’t know. I didn’t care.

  When we got back to his place, I locked myself in the bathroom and sunk down into a tub full of water, my eyes closed, trying to forget what had happened and failing.