Double Edged Hearts

by Gray, Khardine

  I smirk. “I’ll tell them.”

  The Scarfonis aren’t known for their patience. They wanted to lease the hotel chain on the south side to start up business. Most crime families who want a hotel just use that as a front for the real business they’re covering up.

  “Good. They also need to make sure they fed proof their accounts. I’m not signing anything until I see that.”

  “I got it covered, Boss.” I tip my head.

  “Meeting adjourned.”

  Dante and Gio are the first to stand and make their way to the door.

  When I get up, Claudius clears his throat. “Alex, can I talk to you for a sec?” he asks.

  “Of course,” I reply.

  Both Dante and Gio look at me then at Claudius before they leave. It’s rare for him to ask one of us to stay back to talk in private.

  They leave, and I lower myself to sit back in my chair.

  Claudius gets up, and his long black hair swishes about his elbows when he sits on the edge of his desk.

  “Alex, anything else you want to tell me?” he asks. “Anything else besides closing the deal with the Scarfonis?”

  I gaze at him, and feel tempted to lie. I know better though. We live by a code amongst us, and if I lied, I’d be screwing myself over with a guy I can trust with my life.

  Claudius and I have been through too much shit for me to even contemplate lies. He’d know I was lying anyway.

  The way I move around knowing everything that’s happening is the same way he does. So, I’ll cut to the chase and get to the crux of his thoughts.

  I sit forward and stare at him. “You know about her, don’t you?” I ask, and the corners of his lips tip into a smile.

  Not one of humor. It’s more crude.

  It was Donny, who helped me get the intel on Cora after my street guy in the secret squad notified me that she went to the secret garden.

  “Yes, I know about her,” he answers. “What are you doing, Alex? She’s a fed.”

  My lips part, but I don’t know what to say.

  “She’s not the person we once worked with, and the fact that she’s a fed says all,” he points out. “It means she wants nothing to do with the criminal underworld. Ever. What the fuck do you think you’re doing sniffing around her when she hasn’t been in your life for years?”

  “I just needed to see her,” I explain.

  His jaw tenses. “Alex… you’ve seen, what now? You seeing her again?”

  I don’t know how to answer that question. If I said no and that was the truth, it wouldn’t take much for my mind to change by nightfall. This is Cora. I don’t know myself when it comes to her.

  Claudius seethes. “Alex… I’m not happy with this. I can’t be. Feds are always on our asses. Aside from that… man, I hate to say this, but Cora is the kind of person who’s difficult to trust. She’ll work for whoever can pay her the most. Fuck knows what must have happened for her to join the feds.”

  I can’t exactly refute him. He’s not wrong.

  “So… you’re telling me I can’t see her?” I raise my brows.

  At thirty-three, I’m the youngest of the group, and the lowest in rank. I also follow orders. I’m also the one who’ll be the first to get called into question if shit goes down. That’s what having a traitorous brother does for you.

  My brother, Jude, was the fifth member of our crew. He betrayed us all when he betrayed Claudius. I killed him to save Claudius, but even by doing so I always feel like they’ll never fully trust me because of all the evil Jude did.

  Claudius rises to his feet. “Alex, are you going to see her again?”

  I bite the inside of my lip. “I don’t know.”

  “I’m telling you now I’m not happy with it. I’m also telling you if the day comes when your association with her puts us at risk, I’ll be forced to be more ruthless.” His mouth twists wryly and his jaw clenches. “Even if I don’t want to.”

  A flicker of tension courses through me at his words. He means he’ll cut me loose. He fucking means he’ll kill me if he has to, and I accept that. I’m the one playing with fire here. If I get burned, I can’t bring the others down.

  I nod. “Okay.”

  “I mean it, Alex.”

  “I hear you, Boss.”

  * * *

  I meet Donny an hour later in my office at Rush, our racing arena.

  A few years back, the guys and I started up the place because of our love for motorcycles and daredevil stunts. While the others are busy with their own business ventures, I run the place. Quite often I take part in the races and crazy stunts people pay a pretty penny to watch.

  Donny works with me as my right-hand man taking the bookings for the nightly races we hold, and the bets. He loves money far more than me, and the look on his face now tells me he’s making a good deal with whoever the poor bastard is he’s talking to on the phone.

  He’s grinning like an idiot and nods at me as I shrug out of my jacket.

  “Let’s cap it at twenty grand, shall we,” he says into the phone with a chuckle. “I’ll send you the info.”

  He hangs up and beams at me, running a hand through his dark brown hair.

  “You look happy,” I state.

  “Fuck, I just love our job. That was Antonio De Mario. That fucker wants to throw down twenty G’s on Luca.”

  I widen my eyes. “Fuuccck.” I understand his happiness now. We take a twenty-percent cut on the bets on the races.

  Lucca is the only biker who takes part in our races who can jump his bike through the ring of fire. I give him credit for his fearlessness. I don’t do fire, but I do heights. When push comes to shove, I can make whatever vehicle I’m in fly.

  “I know right,” he beams.

  “That is why I love my job.” I take a seat.

  When seriousness washes over his face, I know he’s about to ask me about Cora.

  “So, did you see her?” he asks.

  “Yeah.”

  “What now?”

  “I don’t know. I need to leave well enough alone.”

  He looks surprised. “Alex, I don’t want to freak you out, but I think the feds are in over their heads. They won’t catch Matvey. He’s just playing with them and playing Pied Piper so they can follow him around like a bunch of vermin. Know what he does to vermin?” The seriousness deepens on his face.

  I don’t need to know specifics. The man works with terrorists of the worst kind. It’s not hard to guess what he does to those who cross him.

  “I wouldn’t want my girl mixed up in that. I’d at least want to make sure she’s safe,” he adds.

  This is so fucked up. When I left her bed this morning, I knew I’d be back. I just didn’t know when. It doesn’t sit well with me that Claudius doesn’t want me mixed up with her, but then, what did I expect?

  Bad enough she’s a fed, but this isn’t the first time we’ve had black market arms dealers in our city. I don’t know if Claudius knows that part yet, if he doesn’t he’ll know soon. He hates people like Matvey, worse than he hates feds.

  Six years ago, the notorious arms dealer Goliath came back on the scene after a ten-year absence. Goliath killed Claudius’ first wife ten years prior to that, and he’d been looking for him. Goliath came back to Chicago for another heist and with Cora’s help Claudius was able to take him down. The worst part of it for me was Jude. He was working with Goliath, playing double agent. That’s when I killed him.

  Nothing can quite express how hard that was, so I know a thing or two about making difficult choices.

  I always knew it would come to that with me and Cora.

  I can’t leave her alone though.

  At least not until I know she’s safe.

  Chapter Three

  Cora

  Lyndsey was definitely right. We were in for a long day.

  It’s just gone eight, and I’m still nose deep in my work.

  Earlier we got called away to a crime scene. There was a murder on the north
side of town in Little Hell. It had similarities to the types of murders we’ve seen associated with Matvey. He always gouges out the eyes of his victims.

  I knew this job would be tough when I took it, and it has been. Normally I can deal with the rough stuff. What always gets me though is the twisted shit that can only come from bastards like him.

  Lyndsey threw up. I skipped past the nausea and landed on the psychological impact. You don’t forget things like that. The sight of a man sitting in a chair with no eyes, face and body covered in blood will always be embedded in my mind. The sight was worse than what you’d see in a horror film. Because it was real. The police said the whole ordeal seemed drug related.

  Drugs again, just like the first murder that alerted us to Matvey’s presence.

  We spent the last few hours at the coroner’s office and the police station trying to get information on the victim, looking for anything that would help us with our investigation.

  When we got back to the Bureau’s office we hit our work hard. Lyndsey’s taking a break, which means she’s talking to Owen. I think she needed to hear his voice to help her calm down. The crime scene experience was the most intense we’ve had in a while, and even the worse one we’ve been to wasn’t as vile as today.

  I always know when she calls Owen. Not because she’s happy after. It’s the lightness in her eyes after she speaks to him that reminds me of how I used to be with Alex.

  Naturally, when I was asked to go to Chicago on this case I thought of him straight away and what I would say to him if I saw him again. The way I left him was terrible and I know I shouldn’t have done that. He was owed an explanation at least. Anything besides the nothingness I gave him. He never asked me about that last night, then again we didn’t do any talking.

  He’s been on my mind all day, and it’s been difficult to concentrate. I’m finding it difficult to concentrate now because I’m exhausted from the night I spent with him as opposed to the long day of work.

  I’ve been in the office I share with Lyndsey for the last few hours going over the files I was working on yesterday. The words are all starting to blur and jumble around on the page. I should go back to the apartment and get some rest but I just don’t want to have another fruitless day. What I’m looking through is all the evidence that was collected from the victim in the first murder. Just like the victim today, the first guy was a drug dealer. I was trying to compare the intel we got today to see if I could see any correlations or clues. But, so far I’m drawing a blank. I’m not seeing anything we can use to establish why Matvey killed the men other than they must have had a deal gone wrong and they pissed him off. There’s also nothing that sheds any light on what he’s doing here.

  One event doesn’t seem synonymous with the other. My personal feelings are that us knowing he was here was a fluke. I think Matvey had some drug dealings he took care of and he slipped up. In the first murder it was footage from a CCTV camera he didn’t know about that caught his image. The murder occurred in the back office of an auto repair shop. All the other cameras were shot up.

  Today’s murder was in an auto repair shop too. That suggests the business was a front for the drug dealing. Those are all reasonable assumptions but neither helps me in any way.

  Someone hired him. That’s for sure. It’s the one thing I know and everyone can agree on.

  But why?

  What’s here in Chicago for him to want?

  What is he here to get?

  A little tap sounds on my door. It’s already open, so I lift my head, and a smile instantly fills my face when my gaze lands on Richard. I gasp and practically fly over into his arms as he comes in. I never expected to see him until at least a month. We agreed that we’d meet up for thanksgiving either here or in LA if I was still on this case. That’s a month away.

  “Richard, oh my gosh. I can’t believe you’re here.” I bubble and he does his customary thing by holding both my hands as he looks me over with pride.

  He chuckles, and his salt and pepper brows lift when he gives me a hearty smile. “My dear, please humor me. I just needed to see how my favorite girl is doing.”

  He’s always called me that. As I hear the words tonight I think of how my father used to hate it. He never said as such, I just knew. The same way I knew Dad never liked him. I think it was because he suspected Richard was secretly in love with Mom. I’ll never know if that was true, but knowing the truth I now know I wished Richard had done something about his feelings if my suspicions were correct.

  Maybe Mom would be alive today if he had. Seeing Alex has dug up so many reminders of my father. Things I truly don’t want to remember.

  “I’m rushed-off-my-feet busy,” I answer, and concern fills his pale blue eyes.

  “I can see that.” He glances over to my desk with the mountain load of paperwork. “Is everything else okay?” he asks.

  “I’m okay,” I answer, knowing he’s probably worried I’ve seen Alex. “I miss L.A,” I add, hoping to reassure him.

  “God knows LA misses you too.” Worry clouds his eyes. “Cora, you know if it gets too much, you can always come back.”

  “I know. But I’ll be okay.” Despite the goriness, this is the kind of job that will keep me on my toes. I guess it resembles something close to the kind of work I thought I’d be doing if I’d started up my own P.I company. With all my skills and unusual abilities I wanted the tough cases. Honestly, it was the most legit thing I could think of doing with my hacking abilities.

  “I won’t lie, I do wish Giles had consulted me first before he approached you with this assignment,” he scuffs with a deep frown.

  Giles heads the office here and is like a mini version of him. I have no doubt I’ll be in good hands, but what worries me is the way this case is shaping up.

  “Richard, I’m going to be fine. This is the most interesting assignment I’ve ever worked on in the Bureau.”

  “And the most dangerous. An old man can worry himself to death.” His brows knit together.

  I laugh. “You aren’t old. You’re barely sixty.”

  He just turned sixty and is still what anyone would call one of the tough guys. I’ve seen him in action many times, fighting better than a twenty-year-old.

  “That’s not the point. If I’m worried I’m worried. You’re exactly like Lily though so I shouldn’t be surprised.” Although he’s smiling, sadness lurks in his gaze. He misses her too. Sometimes I can’t believe she’s gone. “I look at you and I can tell straight away that you are your mother’s daughter. Lily was just like you. Strong willed.”

  “I guess I am like her. She called it adventurous.” It’s taken me a long time to be able to talk like this.

  He nods knowing what I mean by that. “Adventurous. Yes, that’s her. She’d be proud of you Cora. I’m proud of you.”

  “Thanks. This case is tough. I’m just hoping we can get some form of lead I can use in some way.”

  He sighs. “I hope you do.”

  My next words fade when Giles appears at the door. I smile at him, but my stomach clenches when Zack walks up to him.

  Zack has that smug-as-fuck expression on his face that I can’t stand. It’s the I know I’m hot shit look that grates on me.

  “Hey, there,” I greet him, remembering my manners. I focus on Giles and ignore Zack although I can feel Zack undressing me with his eyes.

  “Hi Cora,” Giles answers, then looks at Richard. “We thought we’d meet you half way. I also thought I’d come to assure you that Cora is a fantastic addition to the team.” Giles nods.

  “Thank you. That means a lot,” I tell him and the proud look comes back to Richard’s face.

  “Happy to hear that,” Richard says to him. He turns back to me with a hopeful smile. “No rest for the wicked. I agreed to kill two birds with one stone tonight with a meeting. Dinner tomorrow?”

  “Absolutely.” I smile.

  “Good, see you then.”

  He makes his way over to Giles, and wh
ile the two of them leave, Zack hangs back just like I expected. He walks in and looks me up and down.

  “Something I can do for you, Zack?” I ask. Really, I want to tell him to fuck off and leave me alone, but I have to remember he’s in charge of me.

  “I’m just wondering when you’ll say yes to me.” He eyes me with curiosity.

  “I’m not sure what you mean,” I answer, playing dumb.

  An easy smile dances across his lips. “I think you do. You and I have been playing this game for years. I’m not sure if you’re playing hard to get or if you’re worried about something else.”

  Guys like him really irritate me. The fact that I’m just not interested isn’t even entering his head.

  “I’m not dating right now,” I say, hoping that will stop him in his tracks.

  It doesn’t work. His smile brightens and spreads across his thin lips. “Maybe we don’t have to date. I’m happy to skip that part and head to what happens next.”

  The salacious look he gives me burns my cheeks, but not in a good way. He wants me to sleep with him.

  “I’m not interested in that either.”

  He leans closer, too close, and my heart speeds up. This is the guy who can worm his way out of situations. He’s making an overt pass at me, and I’m damn sure if I reported him, he’d get off free. He’s one of the bosses here.

  “Maybe you should be. It’s something to think about.” He chuckles and walks away.

  Fuck, what an asshole. I sigh with frustration after he goes through the door.

  It’s time to go home, back to the apartment.

  I need sleep. I was hoping to see Lyndsey before I leave, but I think she’ll understand if I go.

  I switch everything off and shut down my computer. After gathering my stuff, I make my way down to the parking lot. I parked on the second level this morning because all the spaces on the first level were taken up. It’s practically empty now.

  Empty and quiet, so the roar of the motorcycle engine I suddenly hear pierces through the silence and goes straight through me. Before I can even turn around, the motorcycle leaps down from the level above me and skids to a stop. There’s only one person I know who can do that, and it’s the one guy I shouldn’t be talking to.