He nodded. “He said home is where the heart is. Or some bullshit like that.”
Dom rubbed his cheek and caught my eye. “Pull over, Vic.”
Vic slowed down the car. The tires pumped and screeched on the asphalt grooves. He pushed the button to open the back door and slammed on the brakes. When he accelerated again, Scott went flying out and landed on the side of the road with a loud thud. Calm as could be, Vic put on his turn signal and merged onto the traffic again.
I checked the safety latch on the gun and replaced it under the seat. “Is this a new game of his?” I rested my head on Dom’s shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around me. He held me tight, making me feel safe.
“No, it’s the same goddamn game. He controls everything. He knows about you, about Nikki and all her problems. It’s why he chose Scott to deliver his message.”
“His message.” My heart raced. I didn’t like the idea of being hunted like this.
“I’m glad you came tonight.”
“Is he at the suite?”
He cradled my face and kissed me hard, his lips bruising mine. “It’s where you are. So yeah, that’s where I would call home.” His hot breath brushed my cheek. This pressure in my chest, this taste of fear, it had never felt like this. Like it could crush my chest plate if I didn’t push it down. Tears stung my eyes. Dom cocked his head to catch my gaze. “Hey. He won’t hurt me. That’s not what he wants. I think it would be best if you stayed with your mom tonight, though. Vic will drive you.”
“You trust him?”
“Who? Vic? Yeah, why do you ask?”
“He spied on me when I was undercover at the bar. Before you even knew I was there.”
Dom pursed his lips and turned to Vic. “You knew where she was, and you didn’t think to tell me?”
“You didn’t ask.” He shrugged. “I went back because if I found her, it meant Mickey was already on her track. Him and I, we think the same. He knew, same as me, that if you ran into her again, you wouldn’t let her be. You were a mess when she turned you down the first time.”
Dom trusted Vic blindly, and this was why. The old man knew him better than he knew himself. And in his own way, he loved Dom. Vic kept his eyes on the road. I regarded his face, and something inside me told me I could trust him too.
“I’ll go with Vic.” I kept my eyes on him and spotted a ghost of a smile on his face. I wouldn’t say this meant I was growing on him, but at least he didn’t hate me like I’d first thought.
“As soon as I’m done with Mickey, I’ll come meet you.”
I pressed my forehead against his. I hated goodbyes. “Maybe we could do brunch tomorrow. There’s a…” I swallowed my tears. “Mom says there’s a cute French restaurant with the best brunch in town. You can sit by Oak Creek and…”
“You like making plans with me?” He relaxed against the seat and tilted my chin up with his finger.
I glanced up and met his hot blue eyes as my heart drummed fast in every part of my body. “Yes. I really do.”
24
Only Whiskey And Cigars
Dom
I had Vic drop me off at the front entrance. No sense in going through the laundry room anymore. That had only given us a false sense of security. This was more my speed. Out in the open with balls on the table.
Emilia squeezed my hand when the valet opened the door. Her eyes showed a kind of fear I’d never seen registered there. She was afraid for me in a way that she’d never been afraid for herself. How about that? Little Miss Proper was in love with me.
“I love you,” I whispered on her lips before I kissed her goodbye. “I’ll see you later. Okay?”
“Okay.” She nodded.
I glanced over to Vic. “Don’t let her talk you into anything crazy. Go straight to her mom’s.”
“Get on with it. And tell that old man I said to fuck off.”
I chuckled. “I will make sure to deliver your message.”
With one last kiss, I climbed out and shut the door. Emilia’s nerves were putting me on edge, and I didn’t like it. Female intuition was like dark magic to me. I didn’t understand it.
As soon as I crossed the threshold, Mickey’s guys met up with me.
“Mr. Moretti, this way.”
“I know where my suite is.” I rolled my eyes but let them have their moment. This kind of mind game I could handle. Messing with people’s livelihoods, that was a different deal. We got on the elevator car and rode in silence to the top floor. At the end of the hallway, two other guys guarded the door to the grand suite.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care to see Mickey again. For many years, the formative years, he was like a father to me, incapable of doing me harm. I believed that everything he did, he did for our family.
I stepped into the room, and my gaze zeroed in on his form. He sat at the head of the table, a big steak in front of him, drinking a glass of Valpolicella. A lump churned in my stomach. That was Emilia’s wine. I breathed out and forced myself to let this minor detail go. That had always been my relationship with Mickey—letting go of the minor details. Details that over time became a huge deal to me.
“Dom, my boy. I thought you’d skip our meeting.”
“You’re in my suite. It would’ve been hard to miss.”
“Come here.” He stood and hugged me. His bald head barely reached my shoulders. To his credit, the hug felt real. “Join me. I ordered your favorite. Steak Florentine. Wait ’til you taste these potatoes. It’s like they filled them up with cheese or something.”
I played along. Well, sort of. Instead of sitting to his right where Emilia used to sit, I took the chair on the other end of the table. After a few breaths, he nodded to the server, who sprung to life to move the place setting and my steak over to me. It was like he used to say ‘The devil is in the details.’
“I need a whiskey first,” I said to the server before he placed my covered plate in front of me. He nodded and scurried to the kitchen to make my drink.
Mickey braced his elbow on the table and shook a big steak knife at me. “Whiskey. A man knows his drink.” He regarded me with curiosity. If he’d been keeping a close watch on me all these years, he only knew of my comings and goings, not the minor details. He took the time now to really see me.
After the server placed my whiskey on the table, Mickey raised his wine glass. “To family.”
I shrugged and swigged from my glass. “What do you want?” Like I’d said, balls on the table.
“That’s what I like about you, Dom. Even as a kid when your dad passed, you wanted facts—a plan for the future. Remember that day when you came to me? Begged me to let you join my crew?” He eagerly cut the big chunk of meat on his plate and placed a bite in his mouth.
“Yes, I remember.”
“Thought you might.” He washed down the florentine with his wine.
I’d gotten so used to Emilia’s graceful movements. How well she fit in this space, in my new life. I glanced around the room at the four oversized men who looked like they were one nose scratch away from knocking over a side table or the sofa. They were out of place. They didn’t fit in my life, no more than I fit in theirs. Neither did Mickey. Even if in my previous incarnation, I’d begged him to take me in.
“How about that lady lawyer? Where is she? I had hoped to meet her in person today.” He glanced over at his bodyguard and pressed his lips together when he didn’t get confirmation she was on her way here. Vic knew what he was doing. I trusted him. “She’s very pretty. A little too brainy for my taste, but I can see why you like her.”
I knocked back the rest of my whiskey. Bringing up my past hadn’t gotten him the reaction he wanted, so now he was trying his luck with Emilia. Vic had warned me about this. No doubt it took Mickey two seconds to figure out she was a way to get to me.
“You crossed the line when you went after her.” I signaled for the waiter to bring my dinner. No idea how I was going to scarf down this food.
“Dear bo
y, you crossed the line when you left. And so, now we find ourselves in this unpleasant situation.”
“You don’t own me.”
“What?” His entire face puckered into a frown. “This isn’t about me. This is about family and what’s good for you, for all of us.”
I cut through my steak and took a bite. Eating served as a distraction. If I kept focused on my plate, I wouldn’t have to worry about Emilia. At this point, I was certain his men were out there looking for her. Would they know to go as far as Sedona?
“I agreed to meet you because we never got to finish our conversation five years ago.”
“No, we didn’t. Did we?” He pushed his plate forward. When the server reached over to pick it up, he asked for dessert. “Another surprise for you. These cannoli arrived today. Just for the occasion.”
The server cleared the table and brought a tray of treats big enough to feed twenty people. He prepared new drinks for us. Sambucas with three coffee beans floating in the clear liquid. How long did it take for Mickey’s people to organize this feast? This wasn’t something he could just get the concierge to do. I fisted my hands. How long had he known we’d meet tonight—in my suite?
I glared at his guys again. They’d changed their stance, not relaxed but not frigid like before. A pressure gripped my chest. I grabbed my phone from the inside pocket of my suit coat and sent Vic a text.
Are we good?
I waited for his response as the spike lodged in my ribs twisted deeper, cutting the air to my lungs. Fuck me. How long did it take to type a yes?
Yeah, we’re good. I’m staying.
I sent a quick thanks and dropped my phone back in my pocket. This conversation needed to end soon. I missed her. Two hours was a long time to wait to see her again.
“Joey’s mom sends her regards.” He bit into the cannoli, catching the excess vanilla cream with his finger and licking it off.
“What?”
“You know what.” He chuckled and turned to the server. “Let’s get some whiskey and cigars in here. Why don’t you boys join us?” He waved at his crew as if he’d suddenly gotten some good news.
His guys gathered around the table while the server helped Mickey light up his cigar. To hell with the no smoking signs. That was how Mickey lived. Life on his own terms with little regard to the people around him or all the damaged he caused.
“The day you left.” He puffed out smoke. “You didn’t give me a chance to explain. To tell you that your friend’s family would be taken care of. I made that promise to him, and I’ve kept it ever since. She’s wanted for nothing.”
“Do you realize how insane that sounds? Maybe you didn’t pull the trigger, but you’re sure as fuck the reason her son died.”
“Are you saying I should just throw her out?”
“That’s not what I said. Definitely not what I want you to do.”
He leaned back, taking a couple short drags from his Cuban cigar. “So what do you want me to do? To say that I went too far? That I misjudged you and your ability to prove your loyalty to me? Because if that’s what it would take, you got it.”
Was that a fucking apology? If it was, it didn’t sound like one. Not that I cared. Why in the hell did he think this clusterfuck of a dinner would make me change my mind about him, about the kind of person I’d managed to become without him?
“What do you want, Mickey?”
He peeked at his men over his cigar and furrowed his brow. “Dom, we’re here to take you home. Don’t you think it’s about time you do that?”
The pain in his eyes made my stomach churn. I drank from my glass until it was empty. The server refilled it, and I reached for it again but stopped midway as memories of my childhood played in my head. I pushed them away, buried them, but it didn’t make the familiar feeling go away. I hadn’t forgotten that not long ago I craved Mickey’s approval. Like any child trying to gain his parent’s favor, I aimed to please him. That kind of embedded behavior was hard to shake.
I ran a finger over the rim of my glass and thought of Emilia. Her laugh and the way her eyebrows shot up whenever I did something that impressed her. Like this suite, like me. She had a lot of power over me, but she never used it for her own gain or to control me. She’d said she couldn’t love me, but she showed me what love really was.
“No.”
“I’m sorry, boy?”
“I’m not coming with you, Mickey.” I sat back in my chair. “So what are we going to do about that?”
He looked at his bodyguard, and the guy shook his hand once. Mickey had gone through his entire arsenal to try to change my mind, but I could see it in his eyes now, the realization that Emilia was the key. So Vic had been right, no matter how hard I tried to ignore his warnings. What he’d said would come to pass was here, staring me in the face. Mickey was planning to use Emilia to get me to go back.
I didn’t think I’d ever stop being grateful for what Mickey did for me. He was there when I needed him the most. This bullshit of using Emilia to get me to jump through hoops for him, that I couldn’t stand. I wasn’t his fucking puppy.
“Are you really this selfish?”
“Family doesn’t make you do things you don’t want to do.”
“I’m talking about Emilia Prado, the cartel princess who’s been on the run for the last ten years. I gave your girlfriend her life back, and now you’re going to throw it away because you’re sweet on her ass. I thought I’d raised you better with family morals and to do for others.”
Cold sweat covered my body. The answer to his question lingered in the front of my mind before I pushed it away. Emilia wanted to be with me. She loved me. Me.
“You’re her only way out. Everything she ever wanted in life, she can have now.”
My head snapped up at him. I swallowed my tears. How could I have been so selfish? Was this the reason for the fear I saw in Emilia’s eyes when we said goodbye? Did she know this would be Mickey’s offer? Her life for mine.
Mickey had wanted Emilia here so he could give me a live demonstration of what would happen to her if I didn’t agree to return home. However, the picture in my mind was more powerful than whatever physical damage his crew was capable of.
I imagined Emilia in a new house. No panic rooms and no secret tunnels. She’d get up in the morning and go to work, save women like her cousin, children, and just be the lawyer she always wanted to be. I saw her walking to the store or the park, holding hands with someone who deserved her love. Someone incapable of hurting people. Someone who could give her the luxury of a future together. She, more than anyone I knew, deserved that life.
If I left the room now, Mickey would make sure the cartel found out Emilia was alive. Levi would be forced to tie up loose ends. He wouldn’t even have to do it himself. Mickey would already have a guy lined up for the job.
“Do this for her. You’ll be like her dark angel, her secret protector. She will always be safe because of you.”
My heartbeat spiked. Wasn’t that what I wanted for her since the beginning. How all this got started? The desperate need to keep her alive kept me from walking away. I rubbed the angel wings tattooed on my torso, feeling Emilia’s lips on me as she traced every line with her kisses.
I braced my elbow on the armrest and dropped my head into my hand. The warmth of her skin and her scent assaulted my senses as if she were here in front of me.
If I believed in wishes, I would’ve wished for more time with her.
I took in a deep, calming breath and forced my pulse back to a normal beat. I focused on my toes, letting the numbness take hold there before I dragged it up my leg, my core, and straight into my chest. I let it swallow me until her hands on me turned to wisps of smoke and I couldn’t feel her anymore. Until the air no longer smelled of vanilla, only whiskey and cigars.
When I met Mickey’s gaze, he smiled. A genuine gesture that showed he was pleased. Yeah, Mickey should be pleased to see me do “the right thing.”
“How soon ca
n you move back home?” he asked.
“Give me two weeks.” No point in dragging it out.
“I promise you. We will watch over her as if she were family.”
Yeah, we would, because she was.
25
Stop Saying This Is A Choice
Emilia
“Hey, baby.” I hugged Izzy when she slid off Jess’s knee to hop onto mine.
In a handful of days, Jess had made great progress in detoxing herself of Levi. No, she wasn’t over him because that would require way more time—years even. But for now, she’d stopped defending him and begun to be honest about all the emotional abuse she suffered while they were together.
Izzy didn’t seem to mind her new living arrangements in Sedona. Although soon she would no doubt start asking what happened to her dad. A pang of nerves twisted in my belly. I brushed her cheek and hugged her. Dom had been right all along. Whatever made me think I had the right to take another’s life? To deny Izzy the right to grow up with her dad.
She hugged me tightly, choking me until she decided she had enough and jumped off.
“Why are kids always so bouncy?” I laughed.
“It’s all the cookies and hot chocolate your mom has been feeding her.” Jess sat back in her chair, her hand resting on her stomach.
“How are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m fine. I’m good at being pregnant.” She chuckled. “Hmm. My one skill.”
“Don’t say that. You have plenty of skills.”
“And you? Are you going to be okay with Levi’s lawyer?”
“His name is Dom.”
I hadn’t exactly explained to Jess and Mom the extent of my relationship with Dom. As far as they knew, he was just a hot guy from law school that would be a good distraction for me. At least that was what Mom had said.
Jess rose to her feet. “I should get the munchkin back to bed. Oh, wait.” She went back to the kitchen and grabbed a wooden spoon. “I almost forgot my monster swatter. Those pesky things camp out under her bed unless we show up fully armed.” She waved the spoon like a lightsaber.
Ignite You: A Second Chance Mafia Romance (Cole Brothers Series Book 0) Page 19
