“I have a plan to put an end to all of this, but I’ll need your help.”
"How about you give me my daughters back and I don't break you in half. Then I'll give you a one-minute head-start before I bring the weight of the entire fucking bureau down on you and your family. You fucking promised your family would stay away from them if I delayed the case, and I've delayed it."
“I know,” I say. “But I didn’t have time to contact you and get you involved. It was a matter of hours, maybe less, between me taking them in and my father’s men taking them in. And trust me, if my father got them, he wasn’t planning to negotiate this time.”
"What more do you want? I've already got the case on ice." He sounds more reasonable now, but there's still the glint of violence in his eyes, like he'd happily beat me to a pulp if given half the chance.
“I want you to push the case through, as fast as you can.”
Crowley raises one of his big eyebrows. “What?”
“I don’t know what your witness knows, but my father has his hands in so much shit that there’s no way he’d miss a long, long prison sentence. It’s the only way to get him out of the picture and keep Neela safe without a bloodbath.”
“And what about you?” he asks. “You think you, your brothers, and your friends are going to come through this clean?”
“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about…”
17
Neela
Enzo went out on another mystery errand. I’ve come to dread them, because it leaves me wondering if he’s okay or if he’s going on some kind of final stand shootout with his dad. The only consolation I have is that he left me at the club with Chase and Luke. For some reason, I don’t think he’d leave the two of them behind if he was getting involved in any kind of violence.
Chase and Luke both seem tense tonight. It’s a little after dinner, and we haven’t even put our plates up yet. Enzo said he’d be back tonight, but with the way he tells time, that could be well past midnight.
Chase gets up to grab himself another beer. “Want one, Luke?”
I still haven’t been able to see how Chase fits in with these guys. For all the world, he just seems like some high school jock who probably got good grades and was a good friend. I remember Enzo saying he got involved because of his little brother, but I haven’t wanted to dig up his past and make things uncomfortable.
Despite spending a lot of time with these guys, I haven’t actually spoken much with them for fear of Enzo breaking their arms when I’m not looking. As kind-hearted as he is around me, I’ve seen glimpses of the man they all seem to respect and fear. When he’s gone though, they do loosen up and stop treating me like some fancy vase they’re afraid of breaking.
“I’ll take one,” says Luke.
“You want anything?” he asks me. “Oh, shit,” he says, slapping his forehead. “Sorry, I forgot about the—” he pats his stomach.
“It’s okay. I’ve never been a big drinker, anyway.”
Chase hands Luke a beer and sits down beside me on the couch. “So what are you into, you know, when you’re not being kidnapped?”
I laugh at that. “I read books, I guess. I used to keep pretty busy with work, before all this. I’d take up extra shifts to try to make a bigger dent in my student loans, that kind of thing.”
“You still have student loans?” he asks, eyebrows climbing up his forehead.
I give him my best glare. “Exactly how old do you think I am?”
“Oh shit,” he says, covering his mouth and laughing, nearly spitting his beer on the couch. “I just thought veterinarians made so much that’d you be able to pay it all off right away.”
“If only.”
Luke makes a sound between a laugh and a snore, and I notice his head tilting back, eyes drifting shut.
Chase watches him with a strange look on his face before darting his eyes back to me and giving me a smile that feels slightly off. He moves his leg out from under him, but in doing so, adjusts himself so that he’s sitting a little bit closer to me on the couch now.
I try to shake off my growing discomfort. Chase has never been anything but nice. Even if I do find myself wishing Jess hadn’t let Angelo talk her into going down to the club for drinks. He insisted that he’d keep her safe if any of his father’s men happened to sneak their way into the club and try anything.
“Did Enzo ever tell you the story of why they call him The Beast?” Chase asks.
There’s a cruel look in his eye I’ve never seen before as he asks, and I don’t like where this is headed, but I don’t want to risk yelling for Luke to wake up and escalating whatever is happening. If I just keep my cool, I can feel out the situation and avoid making it awkward if I’m misreading things.
“Yep,” I say, trying to sell the lie by sounding relaxed. Enzo hasn’t told me, but for some reason I don’t want to hear the story from Chase. Not right now.
“Oh yeah? He never told me, what’s the story?”
I flash an uncomfortable smile. “He asked me not to tell anyone.”
“Come on. You can tell me, Neela.”
"Hey, I'm actually getting really tired," I say, putting my arms up over my head and doing my best to stretch and yawn convincingly. "Sorry to cut things off, but I should get some rest." I start to stand, but Chase catches me by the hand, pulling me back down. His grip is just soft enough that I could still be misinterpreting things, but my body is already fully into fight-or-flight mode, and I can barely think straight. I’ve never seen Chase drink more than a beer or two, maybe he just gets really awkward and creepy when he’s drunk… but he doesn’t seem drunk enough to justify the change in his behavior.
It feels more like it has to do with whatever he and Luke were arguing about a couple hours ago, and whatever drove them to drink so much more than usual.
“I should really go. Dom might be back soon,” I say, smiling even though I feel like screaming and slapping his hand away. I mean it as a threat. A not-so-subtle reminder that if Enzo comes back and sees Chase’s hand on me, he’ll probably rip Chase in two.
“Stay.” Chase tries to use my hand to pull me toward him. On top of him.
It’s the last straw, and there’s no denying his intentions anymore. “Luke!” I shout.
Chase’s eyes dart to Luke, who stirs but doesn’t wake. He turns his attention back to me, pressing a hand to my mouth and shoving me down roughly on the couch. “You know what Enzo is planning?” he asks, leaning over me with eyes that look equal parts scared and desperate. “He’s going to make your dad push the case through. The witness is going to implicate us all.”
I try to scream against his hand but he’s pressing too hard against me. The sound is just a weak hum. I can’t even bite down because his grip is too tight to pull my jaw open.
“He’s going to fuck everybody who was ever loyal to him over just because he thinks it’s the safest way to get you and your baby out of this.”
What?
Chase laughs at my expression. It’s a cruel, but sad laugh. “Yeah. We’ll all be in jail if he gets his way. Then you and your sister won’t have to worry about anything. But maybe he won’t be willing to sacrifice so much for you if he knows you’re damaged goods. Once he finds out I fucked his girl.
I kick my feet against the couch, trying anything I can to make some noise and stir Luke. It seems to work, because his eyes blink open and he lifts his head suddenly, seeing Chase on top of me.
He tries to jump to his feet but stumbles drunkenly, bumping the coffee table and causing Chase to turn his head sharply. “Just lay back down, Luke,” Chase says. There’s an edge of nervousness in his voice. It doesn’t surprise me. Even when he’s planning something like this, Chase never liked conflict. He just thinks he’s backed into a corner with no other way out. He’s desperate.
“The fuck are you doing?” Luke slurs. “Enzo is going to murder you, man.”
“I’ll be gone before he finds out,” Chase says.
His jaw set as he stares at Luke.
Luke reaches to pull Chase off me, but Chase grips him by the shirt and punches him viciously across the jaw. Luke’s eyes go heavy and he sways, falling hard and catching the coffee table on his way down.
During the distraction, I manage to yank Chase’s arm free from my mouth. “Stop!” I shout, scrambling to think of something, anything, that will buy me time. Enzo has to be coming back soon. All I need to do is buy some time. “He’s going to be back soon,” I say quickly, before he can cover my mouth again.
"You think I don't know that?" Chase sneers, irritation plain in his tone.
“You could leave now. I’ll lie and tell him you did whatever you’re planning. I don’t want him to go to prison, either.”
Chase actually considers this, but then he starts to shake his head slowly. “No. He’ll know you’re lying.”
“Chase, you’re drunk,” I plead. “You don’t really want to do this.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I wanted to do it since I saw you walk up to our car that night four months ago.”
Something inside me starts to break. It doesn’t completely snap, but I feel it bending, grinding and straining until it could snap in two at any moment. My sanity? My innocence? My self-respect? I can’t say which. Everything is too muddled, too confused.
“Please,” I whisper.
He pushes his hand back down on my mouth and reaches for his belt.
And then the door opens.
Before I even have time to comprehend what’s happening, the weight of Chase’s body is suddenly off of me. Enzo lifts him by the back of his shirt and his belt, then throws him several feet to the side where Chase rolls painfully into a wall, head thumping back as he lands.
“Enzo, wait,” he says. “She came on to me, man. I kept telling her that—”
Crack.
Enzo’s right fist slams into Chase’s face, snapping his head down and to the side. He looks back up at Enzo, raising his hands to plead for mercy. Enzo is already kneeling with a fistful of Chase’s shirt in one hand and a gun pressed to Chase’s forehead.
His face is pure rage, and for a moment, I want him to do it. I think of whatever it was inside me that Chase was only moments away from breaking forever and I can’t see why he deserves to live. But sanity creeps back in just in time.
“Enzo!” I shout. “Wait!”
Enzo shifts his eyes toward me, but doesn’t move. Chase is crying now, eyes closed and body trembling as sweat beads across his forehead.
I can sense that this moment is a sort of crossroads. It’s a chance for Enzo to either continue down the path that will lead to more violence and more danger—to a world that isn’t fit for me or our baby to be part of. Or it can be the point when he turns his back on that life and starts leading the way into something new. Maybe it won’t be perfect, and maybe there will still be danger that follows him, but it will be enough. I believe that. I have to believe it. If he chooses to spare Chase. If he doesn’t pull the trigger...
“Come on, Enzo,” whispers Chase. “Please, man. I did it, okay? I forced myself on her, but it was the only thing I could think of to stop you. You’re going to get us all locked up. I can’t go back there. You know what it did to me. Please.”
There’s real pain in Chase’s voice, and I can’t help wondering what happened to him in jail to make him so scared of going back.
Enzo pushes the gun harder into Chases head, forcing it back until it thumps against the wall behind him. “Give me one reason,” he growls through gritted teeth.
“Our baby,” I say.
He looks to me as if surprised to hear me speak. Chase’s eyes are squeezed shut, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Come on, Enzo. Listen to her,” he urges.
Enzo waits for a long, agonizing few seconds, teeth clenched and hand tense around the gun. He finally takes the gun away from Chase’s forehead, flicking the safety and tucking it back in his jacket. He lets go of his grip on Chase, who closes his eyes and starts muttering his gratitude.
Enzo straightens, looks at me and the tears smearing my mascara, and then turns back to Chase. He kneels down and punches Chase three vicious times in the face until Chase slumps over, unconscious. “You deserve so much worse,” he growls to him.
I go to Enzo then and hug him tightly. “Oh, Enzo,” I whisper into his chest, fingers digging into his back.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” he says, chin resting on top of my head. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” I say. “You stopped him. Nothing happened. He just pushed me down. Luke tried to stop him,” I say, words spilling out of me in a jumble.
He hugs me tighter, shushing me. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Is it? Chase said you were going to turn everyone in to protect me.” I pull back from him to see his eyes. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“Chase doesn’t know the entire plan. But it’s too late to turn back now. I need you to trust me,” he says, putting a hand to my cheek and pulling me closer. “Trust that I’m doing what’s best for you and the baby. For us,” he adds.
I lean into his hand, eyes closed. I want to trust him, but the thought of him going to jail? I’d be on my own to raise the baby, for who knows how long? “Isn’t there some other way?”
He shakes his head, solemn. “No. Unless my father is behind bars or six feet deep, he’s going to keep coming after you. And killing my own father to start a bloodbath is no way to bring my son into this world.”
I grin a little at that. “It could be a girl.”
He smirks. “We’ll see about that. Maybe I need to send some backup sperm in there to convince it.”
“I’m definitely sure it doesn’t work that way,” I say, surprising myself by laughing, despite the unconscious forms of Luke and Chase and the lingering darkness of what almost happened.
“I’m not. So why don’t you let me take you out of here. One last time before everything happens. We can finish the date we started four months ago. Maybe we’ll even make a little small talk before I end up finding a place to fuck you.”
I blush and bite my lip. “What about Chase?” I ask.
“Good question,” he says, stroking his chin.
A few minutes later, Enzo stands up, brushing his hands together with satisfaction. Chase is tied firmly to a chair by his ankles with his arms wrapped behind his back and taped together. His mouth is taped shut too, and a piece of paper that reads “I tried to rape Enzo’s girl,” is taped to his chest.
“That does seem like it’ll do for now,” I say.
He nods. Both Chase and Luke are still unconscious, but I don’t think Chase is at risk of going anywhere, unless one of Enzo’s brothers comes in and finds him before we get back. Then he might have a few more bruises to add to the ones that are already forming on his face.
18
Enzo
We’re back at the restaurant where we first met for our blind date, where I took her into the manager’s office and knocked her up, and where I eventually dragged her through the parking lot and kidnapped her. We’re even sitting at the same table, the one with the view, except this time I made us a reservation so we didn’t have to kick anyone out of the spot.
We’re working on dessert in a happy kind of quiet. We’ve talked of inconsequential things throughout the dinner, but there have been more quiet moments than moments of conversation, more meaningful bursts of eye contact and subtle facial expressions that say more than words could. We’re both shutting out what’s coming, and what might happen so that we can enjoy this moment.
It’s the first time things have felt anywhere close to right, like they could actually work between us. Except of course, there’s the looming knowledge that I’m almost certainly going to prison right along with my father, as soon as the informant’s case goes through trial. I didn’t tell Neela this, but I made a testimony with her father, taking the blame for everything I know my men could
’ve been implicated for. The mole they got may still try to implicate some of them with his testimony, but my own admission of guilt should carry more weight than his accusations. The only people taking the fall should be myself and my father’s side of the crew.
“It doesn’t feel fair,” she says after we’ve finished dessert. She looks beautiful in a black dress with her hair let down, large eyes glistening in the candlelight. “I finally feel like things could really work out between us, and they’re probably going to take you away from us.”
I can see now that she’s been holding back emotion, because her last few words falter and tears well up in her eyes.
"We'll get through it." I may have done the honorable thing by covering for my men and taking the path that led away from bloodshed, but I'm still no saint. I also made sure the FBI's witness knew how much money would find its way into his accounts if he shifted the blame for anything myself and my men were involved into my father. I was also careful in my own wording to Neela's father so that I wasn't actually admitting anything explicitly, just accepting blame for anything that might be admitted. It was a delicate dance of words, and I’ll have to hope I pulled it off. I’ll also have to hope the witness can be bought. Everyone has a price, and I made sure to pick a price no one would refuse.
She nods, smiling sadly. “You never did tell me why they call you The Beast,” she says.
“Because I’m not proud of how I earned the name. I never was.”
She lowers her eyes, seeming to understand all too well. “I won’t keep asking you. I’m sorry.”
“No. You deserve to know the truth. All the truths I’ve kept from you. Like the fact that I lied about never speaking to your father when I kidnapped you four months ago. I did. I blackmailed him into stalling the case because I knew my father would come back for your sister as a last-ditch effort if he heard of any progress, no matter how much I convinced him your father had refused to help us when we kidnapped you.”
Hate at First Sight Page 48
