by Grace Risata
“Get in,” I snarled way too harshly, fighting to regain control of myself. Once I was in the driver’s seat and could focus all my attention on the road instead of the tantalizing woman sitting next to me, things might cool off a little.
Leandra seemed to be in a pensive mood this evening, thankfully, and she busied herself with conspiracy theories instead of trying to flirt with me.
“Let’s go over all the facts one more time, Samuel. When I talk things out, it becomes clear in my head. Someone…or more than one person…is trying to test my role as commander of this whole operation. You’re loyal, Bennie would never fuck me over, Angela always has my back, and that’s about it. Shorty and Fritz have never given me a reason to doubt either one of them, but who knows? I’m questioning everything right now.”
“What about Ian?” I asked, daring to mention her piece of shit brother.
This earned me a raised eyebrow and a shake of the head.
“I know you hate him, Samuel, but I’ve never really been able to figure out why. The drugs?”
“I don’t need any other reason. Addicts get sloppy. He can’t be trusted.”
The idiot was a low life leech that did nothing but sponge off his sister. From what I heard, their dad ran the whole show and his son never lifted a finger to learn the family business. Once Jimmy Donahue got caught after some shady activities came into the light, his daughter was left holding the bag. Why did the children always end up paying for the sins of the father? I asked myself that question every fucking day.
We rode in silence for the rest of the drive to her brother’s apartment. It was on the way to Angela’s party, so it’s not like I could bitch about having to take a detour and add extra time to the trip.
“Behave yourself,” Leandra demanded once we arrived at our destination, sticking a finger in my face and trying to look bossy. Most of her minions fell in line after receiving a direct order, but I purposely disobeyed. I tried to rebel and do my own thing at every opportunity. I think that’s why she chased me with such determination. Everyone wants what they can’t have.
Ian lived on the fourth floor, and I chose to take the stairs instead of the fucking elevator. I knew it would annoy my boss.
“Every single time!” Leandra complained, huffing and puffing as she climbed the steps behind me. “I’m only doing this because it’s an amazing workout for my thighs and also for the opportunity to stare at your ass!”
Making a mental note to let her go first next time, I chivalrously held open the stairway door once we arrived at Ian’s floor.
“What kind of a scene are we going to walk in on?” I asked uneasily, in no mood to find out. Let’s just say that the relationship I had with Leandra’s brother was full of tension…and leave it at that.
“I’ll go in and scope it out for you, big baby,” she muttered in amusement. Under normal circumstances, I would always survey the room first and check for threats before letting her enter. However, all bets were off when it came to Ian.
“Wow,” Leandra exclaimed, face instantly lighting up as she entered the apartment after knocking with the secret code. One of the first things I learned was the danger in simply knocking and walking right through the door. That was the quickest way to have a gun pointed at your head.
I swiftly followed and forced myself not to show emotion at the events taking place inside Ian’s apartment. A pair of naked ladies were currently in the act of groping each other’s breasts and moaning in fake delight while staring into a video camera.
“CUT!” Ian shouted in annoyance. “You ruined my scene, Lee! They finally said their lines correctly and now I have to start all over!”
Yes, Leandra’s brother was a coke addict with a penchant for filming porn movies. Kill me now. Please.
Chapter Six
Leandra
Taking in the sight of two sexy Russian prostitutes fondling each other got me a little worked up. Dark silky tresses flew in every direction as the women writhed around in mock ecstasy. Toned limbs wrapped up in contorted positions, eliciting exaggerated gasps of pleasure. While it’s true that the ladies were being paid to perform, and that they were not the best of actresses, at least someone around here was getting some action.
“What were their lines?” I asked curiously, making sure to be supportive of my brother’s latest cinematic endeavor. Ian never showed much interest in anything life had to offer, but put him behind a movie camera and he just glowed. We shared the same pale complexion, light brown hair, and desire to succeed once we put our hearts into a project. It could not have been more obvious that this was his passion.
“Does it matter?” Samuel questioned snidely. I think my bodyguard considered the whole porn industry beneath him, but I found it to be fascinating. Ian didn’t produce your average run-of-the-mill skin flicks. Nope, not my brother. He added a special artistic flair with an elaborate storyline.
“Nadia is a spy trying to infiltrate the Communist army to bring down the Soviets during World War II. Svetlana just wants to get a piece of ass because she’s sick of banging all the male soldiers and prefers pussy to dick.”
While I mulled over the intricacies of the plot, the actresses decided to throw a fit.
“I am not spy! I do not bring down Soviets!” Nadia shouted, most likely out of deep patriotism for her country.
“Shut up, cow!” Svetlana replied in disgust. “I rather fuck healthy male Russian soldiers! I never give up Soviet Secrets!”
These two were becoming less and less attractive the more they spoke. I dared to check Samuel’s reaction, just in case he might show any desire for one of them, but he remained neutral.
“What’s going on out here?” Shorty asked, running into the room carrying a tray that seemingly held an assortment of jello shots. He was one of my favorite employees and held a special place in my heart. The guy was extremely good natured even though he got picked on due to his height. It’s true that he was only five feet five inches tall, but it was solid iron. No one got past Shorty if he was trying to stop them. Due to his resemblance to a certain famous Irish actor, and those irresistible dimples, there was no shortage of woman vying for the man’s attention. I, however, was not one of them. Been there, done that.
“My sister ruined the scene and now the ladies are about to get into a catfight.”
“Those two are the farthest thing from ‘ladies’ that I could ever imagine,” Samuel suavely declared, causing a fresh round of bitching from the naked actresses.
“Enough!” my bodyguard bellowed, pointing at the women. “Leave the room and go put some clothes on. Ian will call you when he’s ready to resume filming.”
They scurried off and left the four of us alone at last. Seizing the opportunity to deliver the merchandise, I pulled out a very large package of drugs and handed it to my brother.
“Thanks, Lee,” he replied, leaning over to give me a hug and nonchalantly shoving the cocaine in a drawer as if it were a phone book instead of quality narcotics. For some odd reason, he never showed much interest when I made his monthly delivery. “Put it on my tab.”
Samuel growled, as he usually did whenever he was in the presence of my brother. I assume it was annoyance over Ian’s lack of payment for the drugs. I didn’t really give a shit. It’s not like I needed the money.
“We need to talk, sis,” Ian continued, leading me over to the television where he raised the volume so the Russian whores wouldn’t hear our conversation.
“This better not be more bad news,” I warned. “I’m having a day.”
“I heard that,” my brother admitted with a nod of his head. “It’s about to get worse.”
“What do you know?” Samuel snapped, also not in the mood for more shit.
“I know Leandra got confronted by some random guy at her gym this morning. Did you figure out who he is?”
“Yeah,” I replied, “he’s the cousin of the bartender I fired last night. The asshole threatened me about messing with his family
.” I hated when Ian thought he had one up on me. Being younger by six years made him a wiseass with something to prove.
“Yes, but did you figure out the identity of his family?”
“Not yet, but I have people working on it.” I’d know by the end of the night. Word travels fast around here. Especially when you paid for information.
“Antonio’s last name is Barsotti, Lee.”
“What did you just say?” I asked Ian, eyes widening in astonishment. This was obviously some sort of mistake. It couldn’t be true. Shorty groaned in alarm, his expression of horror mirroring that of my own.
“No, Leandra, your brother must be hearing fake rumors,” he reassured me just as his phone began to ring at the same time that mine started to ding with incoming texts.
I nodded my head that he should answer, eager to find out what information might be coming down the pipeline.
We both checked our devices to see what the hell was going on..
“Seamus is compromised. He’s going around talking shit at Angie’s party. Get your ass over here.”
That was from Hawk. Like I believed a word he’d say.
“Hey boss,” Shorty began with hesitation, putting down his phone and turning pale. “The Barsotti family would like to have a word with you. One of their higher ups just paid a visit to Fritz.”
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah, he wasn’t dumb enough to meet them down in your lobby. He made them talk to the doorman and leave a message.”
Fuck.
I turned to Samuel as my world fell apart, and he raised an eyebrow.
“Leandra, please tell me we’re talking about a different Barsotti family. Please tell me Angelo Barsotti is not related to the bartender you fired last night. Tell me the ruthless Italian gangsters that own half this fucking city are not currently looking for you.”
“I would never lie to you like that,” I replied, desperately trying to convey an air of disinterest when I was about to throw up every single item I’d just eaten for dinner.
“You’re in deep shit, sis,” Ian remarked casually. “What’s the plan?”
“Nothing has changed. I’m still going to Angela’s party. Most of my allies will be there and I need all the help I can get. Safety in numbers, right?”
“Be careful. I’ll see what else I can find out.”
I faked a smile and got the hell out of Ian’s apartment. I needed time to think and plot a new course of action. Unfortunately, time was one of many things I didn’t have right now.
“I don’t like this, Leandra,” Samuel complained as he led the way back down four flights of stairs. “I don’t like this at all.”
Handing over my phone so he could read Hawk’s text, I reiterated the severity of the situation.
“I got trouble from outside and inside. If one more thing blows up in my face, I’m going to lose my shit.”
Obviously the universe chose that moment to send another fun surprise my way…
Chapter Seven
Leandra
Fuck everyone. As I dug through my purse looking for some aspirin, I cursed my lack of preparation. Who packs condoms, a 9mm handgun, extra ammo, a switchblade, four hundred dollar bills, a cell phone, and no pain relievers? You’d think I’d have learned by now to carry a couple pills around with the frequency of headaches I get. It’s not like I’m dying of a tumor, it’s just so much fucking stress ever since I was put in charge of this whole operation.
“Not to add to your problems, Leandra, but we’re being followed,” Samuel casually remarked, hands tightening their grip on the Audi’s steering wheel.
“How many, how long?” I asked, needing to know the depth of the shit I was currently swimming in.
“At first I only thought one, but there’s more. I count two black Range Rovers hot on our tail. One is braver than the other and has made it obvious what he’s doing. The other is more subtle and trying to hang back. They’ve been with us since we left Ian’s apartment.”
“They can’t follow us to Angie’s party. I’m not bringing my drama right to her doorstep. It could literally be anyone at this point. Cops, Barsotti douchebags, Hawk and Seamus trying to put me in my place…who even knows anymore?”
“It’s not Hawk,” Samuel insisted, speeding up and beginning to weave in and out of traffic to put some distance between us and our new friends. We were lucky it was Sunday night and not rush hour on the interstate or there would have been a hell of a lot more cars on the road slowing us down.
“What do you know about him?” I questioned, getting the sinking feeling there was information not being shared.
“I’m going to tell you something, but I don’t want you losing your temper.”
“That means there’s a roughly ninety-nine percent chance that I’m about to have a fit.” Great. What next?
“You’ll find out tonight anyway. They were planning to tell you at Angela’s party,” he replied, glancing in the rear view mirror and hitting the accelerator.
“Who are ‘they’ and what are you talking about?” I urged, making sure my seatbelt was tightly secured in preparation for a high speed car chase. I hadn’t had this much excitement in quite a while. Nothing got the heart pumping like rocketing down the freeway while trying to evade danger. So thrilling.
“Stay low in case they start shooting,” he ordered. “I think I can lose one of them up here…”
Sure enough, Samuel got in the exit lane and began to slow down as though he planned on getting off the interstate. A black SUV got directly behind our car with the intent of following us down the ramp.
At the last possible second, my bodyguard swerved the car and floored the gas pedal, propelling the Audi back onto the highway. Our new friend was not able to change course in time, thus being forced to exit and no longer an immediate threat.
“Don’t worry,” he offered reassuringly. “I know how to drive. We’ll be fine. One down, one to go.”
“I’m not worried. This isn’t my first time, sweetheart. I got into quite a few incidents with Ian during his ‘grand theft auto phase.’ We ran from the cops and some other unsavory characters that didn’t appreciate him borrowing their cars. That was a long time ago, though.” In addition to making movies, my brother had a thing for stealing. He’s multi-faceted, what can I say?
“Keep giving me reasons to hate that fucker, Leandra. He puts you in more danger…”
“Eyes on the road,” I demanded, not appreciating the way Samuel gave me a dirty look when speaking about my brother. Primarily because now was not the time to get distracted. We still had one more car to outrun, and it was not going well at all.
“He’s getting closer,” Samuel advised. “I’m not going to be able to lose him. This guy is smarter than the other one.”
“Slow down and let him catch up. Maybe we can get a glimpse of the driver.”
This turned out to be a fucking brilliant plan. Not only did the SUV have black tinted windows leaving us completely clueless to the identity of our assailant, but the bastard took the opportunity to turn his vehicle into a weapon and side-swipe us! I cringed at the sound of metal on metal as the vehicles made contact.
Maintaining complete control of the situation and not exhibiting any signs of panic, Samuel stomped on the gas in an effort to put some distance between us and create time to come up with a new strategy.
“They’re going to keep on coming,” I predicted. “Even if we lose this guy, I’m sure the next one is right around the corner. We’ve got to ditch the car and go incognito. Whoever is behind this…they mean business. If it was a scare tactic, they never would have rammed into us.”
“What are my options?”
“Get off at Bronx and Pelham. We don’t have time to set the car on fire…we’re going to let her have a burial at sea instead.”
“What?” he asked in concern. “What are you planning on doing to my Audi?”
“Cars are like women,” I explained. “Another one will come along
and you’ll like it just as much. Nothing is irreplaceable.”
“I beg to differ. Sometimes you find one you like and want to stick with it,” he argued, concentrating intently on the upcoming exit ramp and trying to make every move count. It wasn’t going to be easy.
“Oh yeah? Have you found one to stick with?” Yes, I should be focused on staying alive and not preoccupied with his words, but I couldn’t help it. What if another woman had already claimed his heart and soul, and this was the reason he continually rebuffed my advances?
“Not me,” he replied absentmindedly while paying close attention to the rear view mirror, “but some people have. That’s what I’ve been gently trying to explain. Hawk has been seeing Angela for several months. They planned on coming clean at her party tonight, but were worried you might cause a scene.”
Before I could have a fit about the fact that my best friend was in a clandestine relationship with one of my back-stabbing employees and had kept it a secret for months, Samuel sprang into action. Speeding down the interstate and making no attempt to take the exit I suggested, he suddenly slammed on the brakes and veered over two lanes of traffic. We made it down the ramp with seconds to spare, narrowly avoided a major accident, and somehow miraculously lost the black SUV in the process.
“What next?” he shouted, hyped up on adrenaline and ready for anything.
“Keep driving to any one of these streets that leads to the water. We’re gonna jump out, put it in neutral, and give her a little push. The Audi goes for a swim and sinks to the bottom. No car to chase, no way to find us.”
He did as he was told and that was the end of Samuel’s favorite vehicle.
“Now we make one last call and go off the grid,” I advised, pulling out my phone and dialing while walking in the direction of an aging Honda Accord. After the call connected, I began speaking immediately.
