“You gotta live a little, Mia.” He exclaimed as he ruffled a hand through my hair.
“Hey!” I jabbed his shoulder. His mocking wide-eyed expression made us both laugh.
My laughter immediately stopped when I saw Gio stare over my shoulder. He straightened his position as his facial features went from humorous to stern in a nanosecond. Confused by his instant change in demeanor, I turned to see what had caused it. My heart dropped at the sight of Marcus storming across the dance floor. The look on his face caused my body to slightly tremble with fear. I’d never seen him that angry—the grimness in his eyes, the tightening in his jaw, the thin line of his lips, and the command in his stride. With every step he took, my heart pounded just as quickly.
Gio grabbed his beer and leaned back onto the counter smoothly, as if Marcus’s behavior didn’t intimidate him. I twirled in the barstool to fully face Marcus as he approached. Once he was in front of us, his eyes never left Gio. “Marky.” Gio said while lifting the beer bottle in salute and then chugging the rest down. Marcus didn’t respond, not even a nod in acknowledgment. He continued to grimace at Gio. Then Marcus slowly tilted his head and looked down at me. My chest heaved in and out from the angry stare-down. Why was he making me feel as if I had done something wrong?
To lighten the mood, I breathed out a smile, stood, and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Hey baby, I’ve missed you. How was your night?” I tried to sound upbeat and excited, but his continued glare left me uneasy.
He didn’t respond; instead, he wrapped his hands around my wrist and pulled my arms away from his neck. Still with a tight grip, Marcus turned and hauled me through a swarm of dancing drunks. He was walking so quickly, winding through the crowd that I had to practically run to keep up. Megan waved at me as we passed her. I didn’t have time to wave back as he pulled me up the stairs and toward the second level. The music died down the moment the door closed behind us.
Once we reached the hallway, he let go of my wrist but continued his way down the hall and into the VIP room. Following him, I shut the door behind me. Marcus paced back and forth in the room while staring at the wooden floors the entire time. I didn’t know what to do or say, so I leaned against the wall and waited.
Finally, he stopped by the table. Tightly gripping the back of the chair, he shut his eyes as his breathing became heavier. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going out?” His voice was in a low cruel tone.
My lips slightly trembled as I let out a shaky break. What brought on this hostility? “It was a sudden decision. I didn’t realize I had to keep you posted on my whereabouts.”
He laughed with no sound of humor echoing the room. “Here I am busting my fuckin’ ass to keep you safe, and I have no right to know your whereabouts? Fuckin’ perfect. As I try to better our future, you’re over here flirting with him!”
What did he mean keep me safe? When I was going to question him on it, I remembered his last harsh statement. “You cannot be serious about me flirting with Gio?”
“I’m. Completely. Fucking. Serious.” He ran a hand over his face in frustration.
“Marcus, I was not flirting with him. Not in the least.” I moved toward him until we were a foot away. “He was comforting me.”
His head snapped up at me with dark eyes. “Comforting you? Why would he be comforting my girl?”
Marcus sarcastic and harsh tone left me uneasy. “He was comforting me because I was extremely angry when I found out my boyfriend had been lying to me for the past few weeks.” I crossed my arms and dropped a hip, waiting for his response as his mouth slightly opened.
Then his eyes grew angry as his jaw clenched together. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“No? So you weren’t lying to me for the past few weeks? You were, in fact, on jobs for Lou? Or were you so busy at the firm that you had to stay extra late hours with Stephanie, I wonder?” I raised my hands in question with a mocking tone.
“You need to stop right there.” Marcus sneered as he turned his back on me and walked over to the bar area of the room. Grabbing a glass and a bottle of whisky, he poured a glass.
Anger rushed through me. Storming over toward him, I pulled the drink from his hand and dumped the liquor into the sink.
“What the fuck, Mia!”
I inched in and pointed my finger at his shoulder. “We have not seen each other in two weeks, Marcus. Two whole weeks! We were doing so well. Are we back to arguing and not discussing our issues? I know that you’re hiding something from me. I can feel it.” I reached my hand up to touch his beautiful face and stared into those damaged eyes. With a lower tone I went on, “Why are you not telling me? I don’t understand. Are we back to that now?”
He exhaled at my touch and shut his eyes, contemplating, and then he lifted his eyelids open. “Do you trust me?”
With all my heart, I trusted him, but he obviously didn’t trust me. “Do you trust me?” I shot back.
His eyes focused on mine as if the question was difficult to answer. I couldn’t believe him. I’d never for one second given him a reason not to trust me. I’d stuck by him through all of his decisions, good or bad. I’d accepted his lifestyle, because I knew deep down it wasn’t what made him who he was. Whether he believed it or not, he was a good man.
My eyes blurred as he continued to stare at me but didn’t answer my question. Removing my hands from his face, I studied his features. “Wow.” I couldn’t believe it. He didn’t utter a word, but, judging from his actions, it was clear that he did not trust me.
“Mia, listen.” He reached out to grab my arm.
I pulled away, stepping back. “No. I get it.”
“Mia, no, you don’t.”
“I’ve done everything in my power, Marcus, to show you what you mean to me—that I love you more than I care to breathe. It hurts me, and I mean a terrible heartrending pain, for you to stand there, look me in the eyes, and basically admit that you don’t trust me.” Sniffing back, I couldn’t keep the hot tears from streaming down my face. His expression broke at my words. “What do you want from me? What else can I give you?”
He leaned into me and stared down. We were so close I could feel the heat from his body against mine. With his unsteady breathing, his tortured eyes danced along my face. For a moment, it looked as if he was going to crack, but then he contained himself, took in one deep breath, and shut his eyes. “I need you to trust me when I say it’s important for you to grab Megan and go home.” His eyelids opened, and my heart swelled in pain at his words. He reached up and grazed my cheek with the back of his fingers. I was beyond angry. He was pushing me away when he should’ve been able to confide in me. Before the warmth of his touch seeped through my skin, I tore my face away and stepped back again.
“Mia.” He tenderly whispered.
“Whatever you say, Marcus. I’ll just go home with Megan and sit around and wait for whenever I get to have my Marcus back. Because the one in front me at this very moment . . . I have no idea who he is. I want my Marcus: the loving, caring, and passionate one.” His face was broken, but I needed to say how I felt. “Let me know when he’s back.”
With my back turned to him, I stormed out the door, dragged a highly intoxicated Megan off the dance floor, and grabbed a cab.
Something deep down within me knew that Marcus was involved in something deeper than he had disclosed. It left me nervous and unsettled. Guilt began to seep through me as I thought of the way we had left things. I should have kissed him and held him tightly against me. My deepest regret that night was that I didn’t pull him in and hold him, even if it was just for a few seconds.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
MARCUS
“Marcus. Marcus. Yo, Marcus!” I broke out of my daze as Jimmie hovered over my desk, snapping his fingers. “What the hell? I’ve been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes.” His brows bunched together, concerned. “You alright, Bro?”
Having had no sleep, I blinked my dry
eyes and ran a hand over my face. There was nothing that could rid me of the exhaustion I felt. When Mia left the club the night before, I wanted to tell her everything that was going on, but it was better to keep it from her for now. It was the only way I could keep her away from the Club and the only way I knew to protect her. It was the day of the bust, and I would be fucking lying if I wasn’t running all the possible scenarios of what could go wrong through my mind: the thought of possibly not coming out alive, never having a chance to express the love I had for Mia, to show her that it was always true, and that my reason for everything was her.
Then I thought of my niece and mother as I looked into Jimmie’s same fearful eyes. “Sorry, Jimmie. When will Vinnie be here?”
He slumped back in the seat of my home office. “Soon. I told Mom that you and I were dealing with inventory at the Club today. She took Elle out for breakfast and then a trip to park since it’s nice out.” He quickly glanced at his watch. “It’s still early, only nine. Vinnie said the bust will happen at two this afternoon.” He nervously ran his hands along the thighs of his jeans. “Marcus, I need to ask you something.” Jimmie looked up at me. “If anything happens to me, I need you to take—”
“Don’t talk like that!” I slammed my hand against the desk in frustration. The last thing I wanted to hear was my brother being weak. “We are going to get out of this. You’ll be home with Elle, and I’ll be home with Mia. It’ll all be okay. We are going to be okay.” It felt as if I was trying to convince myself more than him.
His eyes clouded over as he cleared his throat. “You’re right.”
“Listen, Jimmie, I want you to stay here, okay? There’s no need for both of us to be there.”
“No.” Jimmie shook his head adamantly.
“Jimmie, just stay here.”
“I said, ‘no.’ We got in this together. We’re going to leave it together.”
“You’re a stubborn fuck, you know that?”
“Yeah? Well, it’s a trait I picked up from my little brother.” He gently laughed and sniffed. Then he stood from his chair as he turned his back to me. He didn’t want me to see the emotion prickling his features. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
Jimmie walked over to the door of my office. He froze with his hand on the knob. “Marcus?”
“Yeah, Jimmie?”
He bowed his head as he opened the door. “I love you, Bro.” He whispered and left the room.
“I love you too.” I whispered into an empty room. I let out a heavy breath and sank against the chair.
***
Half an hour later, I had my brother, Vinnie, and his two men in my office. Jimmie stood by the door listening for Elle and our mom. Vinnie’s two men, Eric and Liam, sat on the chairs in front of my desk. Vinnie stood beside me hovering over the desk and pointing his finger on a plan that showed the entire layout of Club21.
“Okay, so you see this entrance right here?” He pointed to the left side of the building. I nodded and he continued, “This is where Lou is planning on bringing the shipment in a few hours. Since there are double doors, they open flush against the brick wall outside. Lou plans to have his men back the truck in as close as possible and unload the drugs here.” He pointed to the wall inside next to the door. “Once his men unload everything, the truck will leave, and they’ll await Salvatore Lombardi and his men.”
“When are they expected?” I asked, hovering over the club’s layout plan.
“An hour after Lou arrives. He wants to make sure everything is set and ready. Lou will have his men surrounding the building.” He pointed two fingers at the entrance. “He’ll have Buddy and Rich at the main entrance, fully armed.” His fingers traced down the back of the building where the parking lot was. “This is where two of Lou’s guys and I will be. My men here,” he nudged his head at both Liam and Eric in front of us, “will handle those two; they’ll be in custody before the bust begins.”
Vinnie straightened his position. “Obviously, Lou will have Gio with him for the exchange, but he’s also called in some backup. Lou made an agreement to have some of Rick Boyle’s men there.”
“What the fuck, Vinnie. How many are there?”
He crossed his arms and pinched his lips together, as if lost in thought or calculating in his head. “I’d say a total of ten, maybe twelve, men of Lou’s. Salvi agreed to bring the same amount, not to overpower Lou during the exchange, but if I know Salvi, I’m sure he’ll have a few men close by, just in case.”
“How many men do you have in your team for the bust? Are we outnumbered?”
“We have enough, Marky.”
“Bull fuckin’ shit!” Jimmie spat out, all heads turned in his direction. “You expect us to risk our lives out there with only a handful of your men who we don’t even fuckin’ know? Do you realize who you’re fuckin’ dealing with here? Lou Sorrento is not some fuckin’ Joe from down South, and Salvatore Lombardi? You’ve all lost your fuckin’ minds.”
Vinnie grew agitated. With his arms spread wide, he glared at Jimmie. “Maybe we have, but at least we are fuckin’ trying. If you ever want to do something in your life, do this, Jimmie. Think of your little girl.”
“Don’t you ever bring up my fuckin’ little girl, you fuckin’ bastard. I’ve been thinking about her since day fuckin’ one! We’re all signing our death warrants as we march into that fuckin’ club, and you know it, Vinnie!” Jimmie pointed, as he tried to catch his breath, his shoulders heaving up and down from his heavy breathing.
“So what? You want out? Just like that? Fine, be a fuckin’ coward. The one thing I never expected was a DeLuca brother backing down, especially you, Jimmie.”
“You shouldn’t set your expectations so fuckin’ high, Vinnie. People change all the damn time, especially when it involves possibly never seeing their loved ones again.”
Frustrated by the change of events, I spat out, “Okay, enough of this shit.” I stood from my chair, “We’re doing this, Vinnie.” I turned my head toward Jimmie, and his head snapped in my direction. “Yes, Jimmie, we’re doing this.”
Laughing once, Jimmie waved his arm exaggeratedly and bowed down to me. “Whatever you say, boss.”
“Come on, Jimmie. Don’t be like that. You said it yourself. We started this together, and we’re ending it together.”
Jimmie stared at me as he took in the words I threw back at him. He leaned back, crossed his arms, lifted one leg, and pressed his foot against the wall to keep balance. After a few minutes, he nodded at me and then at Vinnie to go on.
Vinnie let out a breath in relief and turned back to me. “Okay, you and Jimmie will be in this VIP room.” He pointed back to the plan on my desk. “That’s where the surveillance will be set up. You two will radio every detail of what’s going on: a play-by-play. Once you spot both Salvi and Lou in the same room—the moment Salvi arrives and Lou is there—you let us know and we move in.” Vinnie looked around the room at each and every one of us. “Do you all understand the plan?” We all nodded in response. “Good, let’s get going. I want you guys set up in the surveillance room before Lou’s men show up.”
Vinnie and his two men grabbed their things and walked out of the office. I stood up from my chair and adjusted my jacket before reaching into the drawer and removing two guns. I put one in the back of my pants underneath my shirt and the other in the front of my pants, adjusting it by my hip.”
I grabbed another two and walked over to Jimmie and handed them to him. “Are you sure you can do this? It’s not too late to stay here with Elle and Mom. I can handle this, Jimmie.”
He uncrossed his arms and straightened his shoulders. Grabbing the guns from my hand, he adjusted them on him as I did mine. “I’m with you all the way.”
Relieved in a way, I bowed my head. “Jimmie, I just want you to know the only reason why I want to go on with this is because of Dad.” I looked up at him as his brows pinched together in confusion. “Don’t you see? If we keep on going as he did, little by little we
’ll break, and before we know it, we’ll end up like him. It just proves that there’s no easy way out, well, at least not without a fight.”
Jimmie’s expression relaxed, indicating that he had understood what I had said, and then he gently slapped the side of my face and nodded.
Not another word was spoken as we walked out of the house. We all hopped into the same car and drove off.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
MIA
All night, I couldn’t stop thinking of Marcus and the uneasiness I felt when we had left each other. I wasn’t able to take it anymore. I knew it was still early that Sunday, but I had to drive to his house and talk to him. During the entire drive, the past few months sprinted through my head. These last few weeks, we hadn’t spent much time together, but I knew it was because of our busy schedules.
I missed falling asleep in his arms and waking up next to him. Maybe waiting until the semester was over to move in with him was ridiculous. I could simply move my clothes over to his house, and everything else could wait. I felt guilty that I might have led him to believe that I didn’t love him enough to want to spend every possible minute together.
When Megan and I arrived back at my apartment the night before, Jeremy was there waiting for us. She was completely intoxicated from the tequila shots she’d thrown back. Jeremy guided her into his bedroom and came back out. Then, he filled me in on what happened between the two of them. Apparently, Megan said, “I love you,” and it scared Jeremy. He was thrown off by it and wasn’t sure how to handle it. Megan had gotten upset because he just froze and didn’t respond, which caused her to walk out the door. Jeremy said that, after we left, he took a walk around the neighborhood and that’s when it dawned on him that he did love her. When he came back, we were already gone. Needless to say, they were back to being Megan and Jeremy by the morning.
As I pulled into Marcus’s driveway, Theresa was pulling in at the same time. I turned off my ignition and hopped out of the car. “Mia!” Elle shouted as she jumped out of the passenger side of Theresa’s vehicle. She ran up to me and wrapped her tiny arms around my hip.
Cautious (Sequel to Disastrous) Page 20
