On The Ropes: Tapped Out Book 3

by Quinn, Cari

  “At least Dante stayed on the side of right. Giovanni is as good as dead. Worst of all, the fool never even figured out who tried to take him out. Disloyalty is bad enough, but willful stupidity? His mother was no better.”

  Though I ached to tell this bastard to go to hell, to defend Gio and his mother’s honor, I didn’t make a sound. I wanted him to keep talking.

  I’d taken a class in deviant sociology once, one of those electives people take in high school just to pad the schedule. But I remembered my teacher saying that criminals almost always wanted to go to confession. Many of them didn’t get nearly the same satisfaction if they couldn’t tell someone what they’d done.

  Well, I was happy to be his confessor. And hopefully, if luck was on my side, I’d get to be his judge, jury, and executioner too, though I wasn’t yet sure how.

  “Anna, bless her, she never stopped nagging me. I don’t even know how I got it up enough to make those two boys, and then when I had, she grew ten times worse. Had to protect her precious babies from me, their own father. I listened to her for years. I even tried gently to get her to change her mind. I didn’t want to have to take the next step. In my family, marriage is forever. The only way out is in a casket.” He sighed. “She didn’t leave me much choice.”

  Horror wound through me, cold and numbing. I couldn’t stop the sound that escaped me, and he turned toward me, seemingly just realizing I was still there.

  His resemblance to Giovanni—and Dante—was chilling. He had more silver in his hair, and his eyes were pure black without the streaks of blue to lighten them like Gio’s. But the coloring, the bone structure, the bearing… Everything matched the man I loved.

  Whom I loved even more, after understanding he’d been through hell and had still come out the other side as the wonderful, sweet man I’d fallen for. Fucked up, for sure, but still, so very good.

  “What, you don’t like that? That offends your delicate sensibilities?” He rolled his eyes.

  “Bleeding hearts, all of you.”

  I didn’t say a word.

  He stepped closer to me, his eyes so dark that I couldn’t tell where his pupils ended and his irises began. “It’s only fitting your heart will bleed for real. I’ve decided I would enjoy making Giovanni suffer more than giving him the honor of a quick death.” He bent down to my level and rubbed his thumb over my cheek. “He has brought me no honor, so it would please me immeasurably to cause him pain. You, lovely one, may be the one who finally ends him.”

  I didn’t think, simply reacted. I swung up with my loosened arm, shocked that it could even move with all the pins and needles firing in it. My hand connected with his cheek and he jerked back slightly, more surprised than anything that I was free. I grabbed the dagger around my throat and jabbed with it, shocked to feel the dagger’s sheath snapping away to reveal a blade. I kept jabbing, screaming as he grabbed my arm and twisted it until pain blared through my head.

  Then came the sound of a single gunshot, the explosion so loud I would’ve covered my ears if my hand had been free. The pressure in my arm eased immediately, and Giovanni’s father dropped at my feet, blood gushing from the wound in his chest.

  He’d been hit in the heart.

  Nausea swarmed my belly, and quickly, I turned my face away. I was never good with blood under the best of circumstances. When I was still shaky with fear and adrenaline—oh yeah, and pregnant—it definitely wasn’t a good mix.

  Dante strode in front of my chair and tucked his gun in the back of his waistband. “What’d I tell you about not letting him know you were free, fasso?”

  “I’m sorry, this is my first kidnapping,” I muttered, yanking my other wrist free of the ropes. “Next time, I’ll be better.”

  He bent over his father and checked his pulse. “Soft, huh?” He said a few words in Italian, words I really wish I understood. Then he touched his father’s torn up cheek. “You had a blade on you?”

  I shook out my hands and held up Gio’s rosary with shaking fingers. “This. Apparently, it’s a blade inside a blade.”

  And I’d sucked on it, during sex. That could’ve been problematic.

  “Grazie a dio. I haven’t seen this in years.” He pivoted, still crouched, and reached out for it, still around my neck. “He let you have this?” He lifted his gaze to mine in a perceptive way that made me almost as shaky as what I’d just gone through.

  I nodded, biting my lip.

  “Then you must be truly special to him, for this was our mamma’s and she gave it to him when she was dying. He refused to ever take it off.” Still holding the rosary, he glanced back at his father. “Gio knew something was off with the way she passed. I refused to listen. He was right.”

  Not knowing what else to do, I closed my hand around his and squeezed. He glanced back at me, his features etched in shock. “I’m sorry. I lost my mother too young too and to know it didn’t have to happen…”

  He blinked, then nodded. His expression made me think he didn’t encounter empathy often, and he didn’t know what to make of it.

  He turned his hand over and squeezed mine before shifting back to his father’s body.

  God, those poor, lonely boys. Both of them. And it seemed that for years, they hadn’t even had each other to lean on. I would’ve died without Ame.

  Oh, God, Ame.

  “I have to get back.” I wiggled forward on the chair to untie my ankles and wondered if it was my imagination I couldn’t bend as easily as I once had. It must be, because I was barely pregnant. “Now.”

  He rolled his father’s sightless eyes shut and made the sign of the cross. Then he rose. “Yes. There’s nothing left for us here.”

  I swallowed hard. “Thank you. For saving me when you don’t even know me, and he’s your father.”

  “Obviously, I didn’t know him, either.” He began walking away, his footsteps echoing on the concrete. “I’ll be waiting outside.”

  Figuring he needed a moment, I gave it to him. Then I walked outside into the sunshine to reclaim my life.

  Twenty-Seven

  “Dammit.” I clicked off my phone and threw it in the stupid birdbath I’d broken. “I can’t get a hold of anyone. Dante’s phone is going straight to voicemail, and so is Marco’s.”

  I’d informed Dante where we were camped out just in case he happened to find Carly, but hope on that score was growing dimmer with every hour of no contact.

  I couldn’t lose her. I just fucking couldn’t.

  “Do you expect either of them to go to confession?”

  Fox’s mild question made me stifle a snarl. After pulling my whole sordid life story out of me, he’d gone in to check on Mia a few times, and suggested we call the police if the calls to Carly’s cell phone weren’t answered by the end of the day. He’d told her about the dog—and then I had—and she’d glared at us and shook her head.

  “She’s eighteen, and we have a note. She must want to start over someplace new with the baby.”

  The baby Mia either refused to connect with me, or refused to think about the origin of, period.

  I really didn’t want to think about the origin of it either. Even hours later, I couldn’t begin to wrap my head around its existence. Someone upstairs must be having a grand laugh at my expense.

  Or maybe downstairs.

  “I expect that I can’t fucking sit around here all day and do nothing.” I shoved my fingers through my hair. “At least Jenna’s back home, safe.”

  “Yeah. Maybe now Slater will stop leaving me messages that it’s all my fault for bringing a ‘wolf into our circle’.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “Dude, you sure cause a fuckton of problems.”

  I rose to pace the few feet around the patio. I couldn’t go back into that stuffy, airless building and lock myself inside with Mia’s pain and confusion any more than I could stand around out here and do nothing. It wasn’t the way I was wired.

  “Maybe we should call the police.” My statement surprised both of us. “Someone w
ith resources needs to be looking for her, and goddammit, that’s not me. I’ve been cut off from every network I ever had access to for years, and even if I could use the Andrettis’ contacts, this may be their work. The police are better than nothing.”

  “Mia blames herself, thinks she drove Carly away somehow. So she won’t want the police, and right now, I have to side with her. Not because I don’t want to call them, but because she’s right. Carly’s an adult, and we have a note in her handwriting. Until more time has passed, there’s no reason for the police to think she’s in danger.”

  “If more time passes, she could be—” I stopped and swore. I wouldn’t say it. Ever. No matter what.

  “This isn’t what happened to Emilia,” he said gently.

  I balled my hands into fists and pressed them into my eyes. “No. For damn sure, it’s not. She’s coming back here, and if she really is…if she really is…”

  “Pregnant? She is. I saw the stick. I held her while she cried.”

  The pain in my chest far exceeded the one in my jaw. “She cried?”

  “She’s eighteen and scared out of her mind. Of course she cried. But she didn’t stay crying. She got right back up and did what she needed to do.”

  “Which is what, exactly?”

  “Not have an abortion,” he said quickly, taking a guess at my thoughts. “You must’ve gathered from her note that she decided to have the baby. But she went back to work and school, and she got back to her life. She wasn’t depressed the last time I saw her, or if she was, I didn’t realize it. She’s a strong girl.”

  “Yes. She is.” So much stronger than I’d ever given her credit for. And I couldn’t even be angry at her for not telling me she’d discovered she was pregnant, because I’d brought her into a world that was so dark and dangerous her first thought was to protect her child.

  My child.

  “You haven’t done the usual panicky guy thing about making noises the kid might not be yours, so I’m guessing you were…active enough with her for you to have no doubt.” Fox looked away as if he wanted to be anywhere but there.

  “It’s mine,” I said quietly. “I don’t believe she was with another, but even if she was, it would still be mine. As she’s mine.” Swallowing deeply, I sat beside him on the rock-cut wall that bordered the patio. “The way we got together—it wasn’t good. We were forced into a situation by some of the men I was with and there’s a chance that was what led to this pregnancy.”

  He stared at his hands. “Do you expect me to kick your ass or absolve you?”

  “I just don’t want to lie to you anymore.”

  “Whatever happened, she fell in love with you, anyway.” When I stared at him, he nodded. “She told Slater she loved you, flat out. So I have to think that maybe the man you are with her isn’t the face you show the world. And maybe it needs to be.”

  I shut my eyes, forcing back the sting behind them. “I treated her so badly. I hurt her, over and over again. I don’t deserve her love.”

  “Then I guess you better start making sure you do.” He let out a long breath and reached over to pat my thigh. “I gotta go in, check on Mia. You all right?”

  “No. I won’t be all right until I see her again.”

  “I hear that.” He walked a few steps, then turned back. “The Anderson girls, they’re tough. So much tougher than anyone gives them credit for. Don’t count her out.”

  “I’m not.” I never would.

  Alone, I wandered to the edge of the lot. Someone had set a Virgin Mary statue there among the overgrown weeds, or maybe they’d tossed it out. But seeing it in the thicket of bushes almost as an afterthought made me stop and take a deep breath. It seemed like all I ever did was pray when I needed something, when I’d made a mistake or couldn’t face myself any longer.

  Now I was going to ask for one more chance.

  I kneeled in front of it and shut my eyes. I started in Italian in my head as I always did, but somewhere along the line, I started speaking out loud. Once I realized I was, I didn’t stop.

  If the whole world heard me, even better. I was through hiding how I felt about her.

  “She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and not just physically. She has a beautiful heart. She loves her sister so much, and she loves me. I’ve been broken for long that I didn’t think there was anything left in me worth love. But there is, for her. For her, I want to try again. I want to be the man she deserves, even if I’ll never be worthy of her.” I shut my eyes and the dampness there sealed them closed. “All I want is to get her back. Please. I’ll do anything, be anything. Just bring her back to me.”

  “Gio.”

  At first, I thought it was the wind scattering the leaves around me. But I stopped and waited, my heart pounding in my ears. I didn’t check to see if she was behind me because if I didn’t see her standing there, I didn’t think I’d survive it.

  “Gio.”

  The crunch of leaves made me jerk to my feet. I turned around and then she was in my arms. God, I didn’t know how she’d crossed the distance from there to here so fast but I just didn’t care.

  If I was dreaming this, I’d never wake up again.

  “You’re okay.” My mouth crushed onto hers, and with one kiss, I was okay again too. The air that had been jammed in my lungs for the last twelve hours finally loosened up enough for me to breathe again. “You’re okay.”

  She gripped my face and pulled back, gasping, and this time, I didn’t want to chastise her for making that sound. Now it was like heaven. “You were praying for me.”

  I grabbed her hands and brought them to my mouth, kissing them while my gaze roamed her face. Her eyes were damp and bright flags of color were high in her cheeks, but other than a few faint bruises, she looked untouched. “And they were answered.”

  Her throat moved. “Because of Dante.” She glanced over her shoulder. My brother stood a few feet away, and behind him stood Mia and Fox, arms locked around each other’s waists. Mia’s face was blotchy with tears, but she was smiling wider than I’d ever seen her.

  “She did a damn good job defending herself with Mamma’s dagger.” Dante stepped forward, his eyes grave. “I know the timing is bad, but we need to talk.”

  I shifted Carly against my side. “Whatever needs to be said, she can hear too.”

  She glanced up at me and smiled faintly. “Whoa, did I get a concussion or something? Because it damn sure feels like I got knocked out and woke up in a fairytale.”

  “This is how it’s going to be from now on.” I tilted up her chin. “You and me, no secrets.”

  “Easier said than done, buddy.” Fox held up his hands when Mia elbowed him in the side.

  “Father’s dead.” Dante didn’t so much as flinch. “And I killed him.”

  Twenty-Eight

  I eased away from Gio’s side. “I’m going to leave you two alone.”

  “No, I want you to stay.”

  I looked between the brothers. “You need to discuss this. And I already know how this story ends.”

  Gio frowned. “How can you, when I don’t?”

  “I don’t mean our story, silly.” I forced back the lump in my throat. “I mean the one with your dad.”

  Truth was, I didn’t know what the elder Costas’s death would mean for Dante, or the organization. Or what Gio would do now. Dante would tell him the culprit behind Emilia and his mother’s murders, but I had no idea if Gio would just walk away from the Andrettis. Or if he even could. Men like that weren’t real cool with making the choice to split.

  But whatever he decided, I would be by his side. I’d been prepared to fight for the place that was rightfully mine, but from what I’d just witnessed, I didn’t think I’d have to fight all that hard.

  Maybe, just maybe, he loved me too. My hand crept toward my pancake-belly. Maybe he’d even learn to love us.

  But before we figured that all out, he needed to talk to his brother—and I needed to talk to my sister.

&n
bsp; “I’ll be right inside.” I leaned up on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

  He gripped my elbows and held me to him for another moment, searching my eyes. Then his thumbs brushed the sides of my belly, and I swear, my heart tried to explode through my chest.

  “I love you.” He lowered his head and spoke the words right against my mouth. “I love both of you.”

  “You know?” My voice shook. It wasn’t too surprising someone had spilled it, what with all that had gone on. “Who told you?”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. “You did.”

  Before I could puzzle that one out, he nudged me gently toward my sister. “Go on. I know you need time alone with her. And we have all the time in the world.”

  I nodded, still shaken by the fact my big reveal had already happened. “I love you too,” I said finally, sneaking a peek at the sky in case the heavens opened up and sent a torrential downpour or a plague of locusts or buckets of hail down upon our heads for daring to be so cheeky.

  But the sun continued to shine, and he continued to look at me so steadily, taking his time to drink in my features.

  “I’ll never get tired of hearing those words,” he said softly.

  “Good, because I’ll never get tired of saying them. Come find me when you’re done, okay?”

  “I will.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead before glancing at his brother. “Thank you. Whatever you did to bring her back to me, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  On the way past Dante, I impulsively popped up on my tiptoes to give him a quick hug. And shocker of all shockers, he hugged me back. “Both, huh?” he whispered in my ear, proving he must have super human hearing. “Congratulations.”

  I blinked at him and eased back. This was the first time someone had seen my pregnancy as something worthy of celebration. I hadn’t either. To hear the word congratulations associated with it was like a bucket of water to the face.

  In a very good way.

  I glanced back at Gio and smiled weakly. “Thanks.”