by Hamel, B. B.
My phone broke the silence. It rang with a shrill scream and I jerked it out of my back pocket, heart racing all over, sweat under my arms. I glared at the screen, then frowned slightly and answered.
“Mona?”
“Hey, Amber,” she said, sounding stressed and on the verge of tears. “Are you at the mansion right now?”
I glanced at Ren. He looked at me through narrowed eyes.
“Uh, yeah,” I said. “Where are you?”
“Mercy General Hospital,” she said. “Vincent’s been hurt.”
I sucked in a breath. “Hurt? How bad?”
“He’s alive. I don’t think it’s too bad, but they hurt him, Amber.” She sounded like she was about to explode, and I wondered why she was calling me—then realized there likely weren’t all that many women in the mafia she could turn to.
“What can I do?”
“I don’t know. I’m freaking out. I don’t know if anywhere is safe anymore.”
“Stay there. We’ll come see you.”
“No, it’s not necessary.”
“Mona, it’s fine. Stay right there. We’ll be there soon.”
She sucked in a breath and I could tell she was fighting tears. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Amber.”
I hung up and shoved my phone into my pocket then stared at Ren. “They attacked Vincent.”
He let out a shocked laugh. “Are you serious?”
“Mona says he’s okay, but—”
“Those motherfuckers.” He stalked away. “He’s coming at them from all angles. Taking any opportunity he can to fuck with Vincent. They’re going to win this war, Amber.”
“We have to go see Mona and make sure she’s okay.”
“We could skip town.”
“Ren, no, not right now. Mona needs me first.”
He stared at me. “What do you care about her?”
That got me. All my anger spilled out suddenly in a white-hot flare. “She was the first person to be fucking nice to me in this stupid piece-of-shit town. She was nice to me without needing anything, unlike you, so I’m going to the hospital to help my friend. You can sit here and be pissed off and get drunk if you want.”
He blinked at me and tilted his head. Neither of us spoke for a long moment before he grunted and put his glass down.
“Which hospital?” he asked.
“Mercy.”
“All right.” He pushed off the counter. “Come on. I’ll grab a cab.”
I hesitated then followed him outside.
15
Ren
This wasn’t how shit was supposed to go down.
First, the Dusters managed to get the drop on me. I didn’t know how, but they did it. And then they made some absurd offer that we all knew was utter bullshit, as if that piece of garbage Felix had any say over whether or not I left the city.
Then Vincent got his ass shot.
I stretched my legs out in the Mercy waiting room. The place looked like it was covered in a fine film of grit. The seats were rubber with foam padding and it smelled like sanitizer and lotion. The walls were all a comforting beige color, and the little accent details were a faded teal.
I wanted to get the hell out of there. I hated hospitals.
But Amber paced around in front of me, waiting for Mona to come out of Vincent’s room. We weren’t allowed back there, since we weren’t family and he wasn’t taking visitors, which was a relief. The last thing I wanted was to see Vincent Leone in a goddamn hospital bed.
“What’s taking so long?” Amber asked.
“Come sit down. You can’t do anything about it right now.”
“I have too much nervous energy to stop.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m on edge.”
“Vincent’s going to be fine. He’s got every doctor in the whole city looking after him right now.”
“That’s not always a good thing. And anyway, I thought you mob guys all had private docs making house calls?”
I hesitated and shrugged, keeping a smile on my face. “Probably a precaution.”
“Probably.” She looked over toward the door, her expression going distant again.
Truth was, Vincent coming to the hospital was a bad sign. The Leone family really did have their own private doctor on the payroll, a well-regarded guy named Chen that treated more or less any underworld rat that could pay. If Chen wasn’t up to the task of treating Vincent, that meant whatever happened to him was pretty serious.
I wasn’t going to tell her that, though. Clearly Amber had a lot on her mind at the moment, and I wasn’t exactly Vincent’s biggest fan. I was sure that if I opened my stupid mouth, I was going to make things worse.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait too long. Mona swept into the room looking haggard and upset, her hair askew, her eyes puffy and red, but she managed to smile and give Amber a hug.
“Thanks so much for coming,” she said. “I didn’t know who else to call.”
“Is he okay?”
Mona nodded. “Shot in the leg and the shoulder. Barely missed an artery, the doctor says. He’s lucky.”
“Lucky,” Amber echoed. “Doesn’t seem too lucky.”
“How’d this happen?” I asked.
Mona looked over at me and shook her head. “I don’t know the details. His guys wouldn’t talk.”
“You’ve got to know something.”
“Ren,” Amber said, her tone hard. “Save it.”
“No, it’s okay.” Mona walked over and slumped down into a chair. “Vincent’s recovering right now so he hasn’t told me anything yet. You’ll have to deal with Dante if you want to know the whole scoop.”
I nodded and tapped my foot. Dante was a decent guy, better than Vincent at least, though neither of them were great. They were mafia bastards, after all.
“What can we do for you?” Amber asked, sitting down next to Mona.
“Nothing, really. I shouldn’t have asked you to come all the way out here, I just didn’t know what else to do.”
“We can bring clothes, get you food—” Amber put a hand on top of Mona’s and held it. “Whatever you need.”
“Really, we’re okay. Vincent’s out of the woods and needs rest right now. I’m probably going to go to the cafeteria and grab some coffee.”
“I can do that for you,” Amber offered.
“I need the exercise.” Mona laughed a little. “I know this is crazy. It’s strange though, I’ve been with Vincent for a while, and I’m technically a part of the Leone family, but I don’t feel like a part of it.”
“You’re a journalist,” I said. “I can’t imagine they’d let you get too close.”
“You know, that was never an issue.” She chewed on her hair for a second, nervously bouncing her knee. “I think it was me, you know? I think they held me at arm’s length because they knew—” She stopped herself.
“Knew what?” Amber prompted.
“That I wasn’t like them.” She glanced at me, as if I should be offended.
“They don’t like being reminded that they’re a bunch of scumbags,” I said. “And you’re that reminder, whether you mean to be or not.”
“I guess that’s it, more or less.” Mona shook her head and spit out her hair. “I’m sorry, guys. I feel bad for making you come all the way out here for nothing.”
“Really, it’s fine.” Amber glanced at me, frowning, and shook her head. “We’ll stay, if you want.”
“No, please, go back to the mansion. I’ll be there in a few hours and I’ll check in then.” Mona squeezed Amber’s hand then stood up. “You’re a good friend.”
“I’m trying to be, at least.”
I could see the concern in Amber’s eye and it was obvious she didn’t want to end this conversation, but Mona walked to the door and held the handle in her hand for a moment, looking back over her shoulder.
“I know it’s hard, being in this place with all this crap happening. But you’re doing great.”
“Thanks.” Amber look
ed down at the floor.
Mona glanced at me, smiled, then opened the door and left.
The room was quiet for a long moment. I watched Amber carefully, trying to figure out what was going through her mind. I could only guess at the edges of her thought process, but I wanted to know more, wanted to understand why she seemed both energized and ashamed all at once.
“What are you going to do about the Dusters?”
I’d been waiting for that question, but it felt abrupt in the otherwise empty waiting room. I tilted my head slightly and leaned toward her. “What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
“I’ll be honest with you. I’m not particularly married to any course of action, if you know what I mean.”
She laughed softly. “I get it. You’d gladly rip them off if it meant getting out of this alive.”
“If it meant getting you out of this,” I corrected.
“It would be dangerous, stealing from the family.” She spoke quietly, staring at her shoes, then looking up into my eyes. “Dangerous, and a lot of people might die.”
“You’re right,” I said. “If we give the Dusters the advantage, some Leone men might not survive what happens next.”
“Vincent won’t. We can be sure of that.”
I held her gaze as the unspoken thought passed between us: Vincent, and Mona.
“Like I said, I haven’t made up my mind.”
“I hate the Leone family.” The words came out drenched in bitterness and anger. “I really hate them.”
I moved closer to her, switching to the seat Mona had been in a moment before. I sat closer and took her hand in mine, holding it between my palms and running my thumb along her knuckles. Her skin was smooth and soft, and her palms were warm and slightly sweaty from nerves.
“I know you do.”
“No, you don’t. I don’t think you can understand just how deep my loathing goes.”
“You’re been inside your whole life.”
“And now I’m realizing exactly what they are.” She squeezed my fingers. “If it was up to them, they’d sell me out in a heartbeat.”
“You’re probably right.”
“But I still don’t want to see Mona get hurt. Even if they didn’t touch her physically, she’d be broken if Vincent got killed.”
I nodded slowly. “You’re probably right.”
“I can’t do that to her.”
“So you want me to back out of the deal?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice was soft and twisted in the end.
“What do you care about, Amber?” I leaned closer to her, breathing her in. “What do you really want?”
“I care about—” She stopped herself. “I don’t know what I care about.”
“They’ve taken so much from you. So who are you trying to protect?”
“Mona’s innocent. She doesn’t deserve any of this.”
“She knew what she was getting into when she married that man.”
Amber let out a frustrated breath. “I know. But still.”
“You don’t owe her. You don’t owe any of them. You were nearly killed twice, shot once, and they’d do worse to you, I’m sure of that. They’d do worse if you let them.”
She was quiet for a long moment, staring down at her intertwined hands. I wished I could read her mind and understand what she was thinking. If I were in her place, I’d be ready to burn the whole house to the ground. After everything they’d put her through, they’d deserve it and so much worse. And yet she still hesitated, all because of this one friend she’d made, a woman she barely knew.
I truly didn’t care which way we went, so long as we found a way to keep her safe. I didn’t care if the Leone family burned to cinders and they all died in the conflagration, or if we turned our back on the Dusters and managed to escape on our own. None of that mattered, because to me there was only Amber.
“We can’t betray them,” she said finally, after an agonizing pause. “I can’t do it. I won’t do it.”
I released her hand and tilted her chin up toward me. “Then I won’t make you.”
I kissed her, slowly at first, but she responded with a shocking hunger. I pressed her tight against me, drinking her in, and held that kiss for a while. I wanted her to know that she was my answer. She was the only thing important to me right now, not the families, not this damn city.
There was just her.
I broke off the kiss then stood and helped her to her feet. “Come on,” I said. “We should get back. I think we have some planning to do.”
“If we’re not going to steal from the family, what are we going to do?”
“I have a thought,” I said, taking her hand again and leading her back out into the hallway. “How about I explain it on the way back?”
“Works for me.” She leaned against my shoulder as we walked, her arm linked through mine, her cheek pressed against my arm.
16
Ren
The mansion was dead quiet when we got back from the hospital. Mona headed up to the room to shower and I lingered downstairs, casing the place. The muscle was still there: big guys in dark clothes packing heat, the unmistakable bulge of handguns tucked into their belts, dark-eyed men that would sooner punch you in the teeth than say hello. The muscle in any mafia family was unpredictable, violent, and generally not very bright, but good at following orders and very well paid. The Leone family needed muscle like any good crime family, and I had a feeling their muscle was some of the best.
And yet, the Dusters managed to get the drop on Vincent. I couldn’t imagine what he’d done to put himself out there like that. It didn’t seem like Vincent to get exposed and shot up. As I walked down the hall, I made note of the quiet spots, the dark corners, the security cameras and the gaps in their vision. I couldn’t help myself really—even if I wasn’t going to rob the place, casing the joint was second nature.
I went back upstairs without a single question. The thugs gave me looks, but I was a known entity by then, which meant I had the run of the house. So long as I didn’t try to go somewhere off limits, they didn’t care about me one bit, which was probably a mistake. If I wanted to rip the place off, it wouldn’t have been too difficult.
Amber stepped out of the bathroom as I closed the door to her room behind me. She was wrapped in a towel, but didn’t seem self-conscious like she had before. I was tempted to go and rip the thing off her body and palm her gorgeous, still-wet breasts, but kept myself under control.
“We should talk to Dante,” I said as she disappeared into the bedroom to get changed.
“Do you know where he is?” she called out.
I walked to the bedroom door but didn’t push it open. For a moment, I caught a glimpse of her naked back: smooth and muscular and beautiful. She turned to the side and caught me looking in, but only smiled and didn’t move to cover herself. I smirked back then leaned against the wall outside the door.
“Downstairs somewhere,” I said. “It’s quiet, but he’s here. I’m guessing the library.”
“Think he’ll listen?”
“I’m not sure how he’ll react, honestly. I don’t know him well.”
“He’s the second-in-command, right?”
“Vincent’s best friend and right hand. Some people think he’s the real power in the family, but I think he’s more interested in his own little kingdom and neighborhoods than he is in running the whole show.”
She came out a moment later wearing a tight black shirt and a pair of jeans, her wet hair down around her shoulders. “Then I’m guessing he’s not happy about this current situation.”
“Probably not.”
“Good.” She got up on her toes and kissed my cheek. “Then he’ll be amenable to our plans.”
I laughed and let her lead the way back out into the hall and downstairs. She backtracked along the path I’d walked earlier and headed to the large double doors that led into the library. A single thug stood outside, arms
crossed over his chest.
I raised a hand in greeting. “We need to talk to Dante.”
“He’s busy. Fuck off.” The thug glared at us like a monkey in a cage.
I rubbed my face. “Look, I know he probably told you not to disturb him—”
“Look, I said, fuck off.” He stared at me.
“I know Vincent’s in the hospital, and I know Dante’s in charge. I need two minutes of his time.” The thug went to say something, but I spoke over him. “I swear, if you tell me to fuck off again, there’s going to be a problem and I promise Dante won’t be fucking happy about it.”
He glared at me, and I could practically hear the hamster wheel in his skull spinning. “What do you want?” he asked.
“Tell Dante I spoke with the Dusters, and he needs to hear what they said.”
The thug frowned but knocked on the library door and slipped inside. I glanced at Amber and rolled my eyes. These guys had to make everything difficult and turn even normal conversations into a goddamn dick-measuring contest. Which he would lose, I was sure.
He came out a second later, looking cowed. “Go in,” he grunted. “And be quick.”
I smiled pleasantly and slipped past him into the library. No use in being rude about it. Amber followed, sticking close.
Inside, Dante sat at a table with several other men. I recognized one of them: Steven, another prominent capo in the family. Dante sat at the head of the table, a tall man with dark hair and light eyes with a pissed-off scowl on his face.
“Ren,” he said, standing as I stood a few feet from the table.
“Dante. Thanks for seeing me.”
He tilted his head. “You say you spoke with the Dusters. I’m not really sure how to take that.”
“Take it in the spirit it’s meant, considering I’m here to tell you about it.”
He laughed. “Fair enough.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, this is sort of—” I hesitated, glancing at the other guys around the table, then back at Dante. “It’s a little sensitive.”
There was a long, tense moment before Dante grunted and waved a hand. “Everyone out.”
