by Nana Malone
And then it struck me. I patted myself down for my wallet. It was still there, but when I opened it, I cursed.
My IDs were intact, but the cash was gone.
Son of a bitch, I’d been played.
By her? I started after the petite blonde headed for the front door, but a meaty hand pressed on my chest and forced me backward. Only then did I look up.
Roone. At 6’3”, the guy was barely an inch taller than me, but he had more muscle. If I wanted, I could evade him, but it was going to cause a ruckus, which despite the contrary, I really didn’t want. “Let go.”
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. He leaned around me to look at the guy on the ground. “That your handiwork?”
I shrugged. “He started it.”
“Mature, mate. Real mature.”
4
Bryna
One whole day in my new life and I was ecstatic, despite the evil roommate and the monstrous attack dog. She hadn’t been kidding when she said Rufus had gotten into my things. He’d eaten bags of plantain chips. And the home-made marmalade. He’d torn through my underwear and shredded it. How was I supposed to live with him for a month?
The doorbell rang, and Dana didn’t budge. She just sprawled on the bed. She was probably still pissed I’d insisted on taking my room. Rufus though, barked like someone had taken his bone. When I opened the door, I stopped short. The ice box I’d been begging for yesterday was on my doorstep.
“Mom? What are you doing here?”
My mother gave me her best narrowed-gaze, pursed-lip expression. “Did you really think you were going to move to New York for a grand adventure and we wouldn’t notice?”
I shifted on my feet, because, yes, sort of.
She waved a hand and rolled her eyes. “My God, darling. You always over exaggerate everything. This is not some nefarious scheme to keep you from living your life. Get your things. Let’s go. You’re not staying here.” My mother slid her gaze over my shoulder to Rufus, who Dana had apparently wrangled. “And is that a dog?”
“Mom—"
“Never in my day would they have allowed a dog in a flat.”
My mother had gone to Vassar for two whole years before she married my father. She never let anyone forget it. Vassar was an excellent educational establishment. She was not thrilled that NYU was my choice for post-grad school. Maybe she would actually have let me go to Vassar. “Mom, I’m not going anywhere. This is my choice. Besides, the money grandpa left me pays for housing too, so I don’t need to live in the apartment you rented for me.”
I should have been used to my mother’s best withering glance by now. I called it withering glance number seven. It was cold, direct, not meant to make you cry exactly, but still conveyed her extreme displeasure. It was a full pursed lip and a narrowed gaze, but not too narrow. And then she’d hold it on you, waiting for you to change your mind. Except this time, I didn’t change my mind. I just stared right back at her.
“Stop being stubborn, young lady. Get your things.”
I folded my arms. “I’m not being stubborn. Mom, you tried to force me into an engagement with the same guy who broke my heart by cheating on me. There he was as my plus one at the king’s wedding, and you guys acted like nothing had happened.”
She shifted on her feet. “Do you know how embarrassed we were when you didn’t return to the table? Braxton was willing to take you back after the unpleasant mess. I mean—"
I cut her off. “Take me back?” Yes, I had taken all his clothes, put them on his parents’ lawn, and set them on fire. But I’d caught him screwing two of my would-be bridesmaids. Charity had been one of them.
Then I’d posted the dick pics he’d sent to Charity’s phone on the projector at our rehearsal dinner before dumping him in front of everyone.
I’d blurred out most of them, but it was still apparent who it was in the photo. I’d just started to get over that whole embarrassment. Seeing him at the ball had been the last straw.
“If I leave here without you, you’ll be making a big mistake.”
I stood my ground. “Then I guess I’m making a mistake. I love you, but I’m not coming with you.”
Her lower lip trembled. God help me if she actually cried. I don’t think my mother had any teardrops left. But I guess we’d see.
There were no tears though. Perhaps the quivering lip was more wrath than sadness. As in, how dare I defy her? Well, it had just happened, so God help me. The problem was once I started standing up for myself, it was impossible to go back.
Lucas…
“Remember that thing that I said about not giving your security a slip, and keeping a low profile?”
Sebastian’s face filled the video screen on my laptop.
He clearly wasn’t thrilled. But, I’d kind of figured that with the way Roone looked.
“Yeah, about that… I didn’t exactly mean to give Roone the slip. I mean, he just couldn’t keep up.” That was weak. I knew it. “Like on a scale from 1 to 10, exactly how mad are you?”
He sighed. “Lucas, this isn’t one of those times where you can flash your cheeky smile and get away with it. This is bloody important.”
He was right, but it still chafed. “Look, no one even knows I’m here. No one knows who I am, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“So you, little brother, are telling me, the king, what is and isn’t a big deal?”
I snorted. “Well, look who became a pompous asshole the moment he became king.”
“Shut it. I’m trying to keep you alive.”
I sighed. “Look, I get it. I’ll be more careful.”
“More careful won’t cut it. You went to a bar and got yourself fooled by a little slip of a thing with some gigantic tits?”
I slid a glance toward Roone, who chuckled to himself and became suddenly very interested in his magazine. I wasn’t sure I liked him anymore. “Look that, was unfortunate. I’m pretty sure that she and her boyfriend were in on it together, the one-two punch, so to speak. They were working as a team.”
“And do you realize that if the turd had gotten your ID, it could have been really bad? That quiet life you wanted wouldn’t be possible. It would make your protection difficult.”
So dramatic. “I mean, it doesn’t even say anything. It just has some crest on it.”
His eyes narrowed. “Do you care? This is important. I’ve already lost enough family. I hope you don’t mind if maybe I could enjoy my honeymoon and not worry that my brother is trying to kill himself.”
Shit. “I’m sorry, okay? Won’t happen again.” He was right, but I was feeling petty.
He sighed. “Lucas, why do you do this?”
Because I was waiting for it all to come to an end. To find out I was in a dream. You don’t deserve this. Deep down inside, I was terrified this would all disappear. If I didn’t stop, my past was going to fuck up my future. I needed to change.
And not just bullshit change, real change. Sebastian was right. I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I’m committed. All in. The job, the girl, whatever you need. I’ll stay with Roone and Marcus. I swear it.” It was time to be the guy I wanted to be.
5
Lucas
“So, your brother asked you to babysit a debutante?” Roone’s laughter filled the tight space at Prohibition Bar as the happy hour crew rolled in.
“It’s not that funny.”
“Yes. Yes, it is.” He slapped his palm on the ancient wood bar. “It’s hilarious. He does recognize that you basically lifted nearly a quarter million dollars from Tressel, right?”
“Yeah, well, the guy was acting like a prick. He deserved it.”
Roone lifted his hands. “No argument there. The guy is a full-on twat. I have been on his service more than once when there was some delegation or something. He still acts confused that I should dare to speak to the king. He’s a total cunt, and a social-climbing twat at that. But now your king demands that you help him, so what are you going to do?”
�
��I don’t like those words, ‘demand’, and ‘king’. I have no king.”
He chuckled. “Actually, technically you do.”
“Okay fine, technically, I do. But more than that, Sebastian is my brother, and he changed the course of my life. So if he needs something, I need to figure out how the hell to get it done.”
“So, you’re going to do it?” He assessed me as if I’d just told him Snuffleupagus was real.
I took a sip of my beer. “I don’t think I have much choice. Besides, how bad can it be?”
Roone’s chuckle was more than jovial as his shoulders shook. “You have clearly not been around enough debutantes. There are the wild-child debutantes. Those are the ones who make your life miserable. They love to fuck you, fuck up your life, run around, do drugs, drink far more than they should, fuck all men at random, and you’re supposed to keep them out of trouble. They are my least favorite kind of job.”
My eyes went wide. “Aren’t debutantes supposed to be like, boring and have sticks up their asses?”
“You haven’t been around enough debutantes.”
“Guess not.”
“Yeah, those sticks-up-their-asses ones, they’re boring mostly, going to museums and those kinds of things. But the way they look at you? Icy as hell. It’ll almost make you wish for a wild-child debutante to keep things interesting.”
“Oh, fantastic. Maybe I’ll hope for that kind. Then I won’t have to do much. She’ll barely want to leave her house.”
Roone shrugged. “Who knows? I’ve seen their daughter once or twice. I’ve never been on her service though. She’s pretty, but she never looked particularly happy. It’s like every time I’ve seen her, she was staring off into space thinking about something else entirely. Never had a peep or a problem out of her, though, so she’s tops in my book.”
“I don’t know why I agreed to do this. This is stupid.” I scrubbed a hand down my face.
Roone stopped with the laughing then. “You did it because Sebastian asked you. And you know he doesn’t ask for much, or anything really, so you’ll do it… babysit this girl, take her to a couple of bars, show her a good time. Obviously, don’t show her how to pickpocket. She’ll be easy-peasy.”
“I fucking hope so because I—" The hairs at the back of my neck stood at attention. I don’t know what it was, but something had me turning around quickly.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I swore I saw someone familiar… Someone I had shaken a long time ago. Someone from the past I’d rather forget.
Roone noticed my silence. “Mate, are you okay?”
I ignored Roone for a moment, forcing my senses to focus. Something was off. There was something or someone that wasn’t supposed to be here.
I took my wallet out and slapped some cash on the table. “Let’s head out.”
“Fuck, I’m barely done with my beer.” Roone groaned, but he quickly chugged the rest of what was left of his beer and stood with me. He then went before me and waded through the crowd at Prohibition and pushed open the heavy doors of the exit into the spring night. “All right. Let’s head back.”
Roone studied me for a long moment and then shrugged. His job was to keep me safe. And I was pretty sure it was also to keep me out of trouble.
Once we reached the apartment again, Roone went in first, checked the rooms, and came back out with Marcus. They had a two-bedroom apartment across the hall. It was sort of ridiculous that we took up a whole penthouse, but it worked. Marcus nodded in greeting. “What’s up? I’m on already? I thought you guys would be out later.”
Roone angled his thumb toward me. “That one’s a lightweight. He wanted to get home and get some rest. Who is this guy?”
I rolled my eyes. “Beats me. Good night, buddy.”
Roone headed into the apartment across the hall and flipped me the middle finger.
I just chuckled. Once they were both back in their apartment, I studied the exits. I knew full well they’d know if I left.
Unless you leave your phone here.
This might not be the smartest thing, considering I’d already had an earful from Sebastian about the whole ‘murder of my father – attempted murder of my brother’ thing. But I couldn’t shake the feeling. Something was off. I needed to know what the hell it was, and why the hell my past was coming back for me. Two attempted lifts in a night.
That didn’t happen.
I waited another hour until things were definitely quiet, and then I knocked on their apartment door and poked my head in.
Marcus was up studying. “You need something?”
“Nah, I’m good. I’m just going to run down to the vending machine. Do you want anything?”
Marcus eyed his gun and pushed to get up, but I waved him off. “Man, I’m going to the vending machine. You can watch me on my phone. I swear.”
He sighed and nodded. “Okay. But seriously though, let me know when you’re back.”
“Sure thing.” I knew things would not take very long because I had a sinking intuition that I knew who was tailing me. Also, I was glad I didn’t have to break my promise to Roone. I’d sworn to him I wouldn’t make him look bad. But I’d made no such promise to Marcus. Sorry dude.
I took the elevator down to the fourth floor from the Penthouse. It took a moment, but then I reached behind the vending machine and left my phone there so Marcus would know that I actually did go to the vending machine. And then I took the back exit with the stairs all the way down to the first door and out the front door. I kept my head down, my focus on, and it didn’t take long. There it was, that feeling again.
I rounded the corner at the park and got yanked into the nearest alley just off the street. When I saw who pulled me in, I rolled my eyes. “What the fuck do you want?”
Lucas
“Oh, it’s good to see you too, kid.”
Tony Mendoza.
I twisted out of my stepfather’s grip and then shoved him back hard. Just a little reminder that I was stronger than he was. There was a time it wasn’t always so, a time when he’d knock me around if my mother wasn’t there to be a punching bag for him.
By the time I hit fourteen, I’d grown several inches and gained some muscle strength. It wasn’t so easy to knock me around then. But still, I didn’t really fight back because if I did, that meant bad things for my mother. And, as I’d learned pretty early on in the relationship, she was never leaving him, so I stayed to keep her safe, and to do that, I had to behave.
But given all our underworld contacts, I learned to fight along the way. I preferred more peaceful means of getting out of scenarios, but if I had to, I could do it. I had seen enough violence in my life to choose not to inflict it if I didn’t need to.
“What do you want? Why are you here?”
“Imagine my surprise when, a year ago, I came back from my little business trip down to Mexico City to find that you’d taken our cut from the Pelaski job and split.”
“You’re such an asshole. I told you the Pelaski job was my last one. I only came back because Mom begged me. I put my life on hold and helped you pull that off. I took my cut and made a clean break.” I’d maybe also taken his cut and my mother’s.
“Here’s the thing kid, you don’t seem to realize that there is no break. You are part of this family, and it’s one of those life-long membership things. I call, you come.”
I leaned back against the brick in the alley, letting the cold seep into my T-shirt. “No, you don’t seem to get how this works. I left. My mother, she’s on her own. I want nothing to do with you. I’ve been living peacefully on my own for over a year now.”
“Yeah, about that. Your digs, they’re nice. What con are you running? Rent boy? Down on his luck college kid? Are you shackin’ up with some rich co-ed?”
This was what I’d tried to warn Sebastian about, but he’d been insistent. He’d said that Tony wouldn’t be able to find me. He’d said he’d worked with the guys at Blake Security to really scrub my cover and my trail. But stil
l, here was a blast from my past, insistent on tainting my future. “That’s none of your business. You and I, we’re done. We’ve been done a long time.”
“You keep believing that. But let me make it very clear, we are never done. Real soon, I’m going to want part of whatever you got going on here. Let’s assume I’m getting my two-thirds cut.”
“Over my dead body, because there is no scam. I’m just a college kid.”
“A college kid with a penthouse?” He shook his head. “You don’t really think I’m that dumb, do you? I know you’re a college boy and all. But I got smarts too. Street smarts. Real soon, I’m coming to collect. Either I get a piece of what you’ve got going on here, or you do a job for me. It’s big. Not that penny-ante shit we’ve been running for years.”
I shook my head. “I’m not interested. Whatever you’ve got going on, it’s your gig. I’m not getting pinched on American soil. Are you joking?” Especially not now that I knew who I was. I wasn’t bringing the shame down on Sebastian. Not for anything. This was my shit. And I’d deal with him.
Tony stepped in real close. He knew by now not to touch me. If he put his hands on me, it wasn’t going to end well for him. Much like the last time.
Last year, when my mother had called me to Mexico, begging me to come because she was ill, I’d discovered that she’d been diagnosed with stage-two breast cancer. The drugs and booze certainly didn’t help with her recovery.
When I arrived, she was thin, and ill, the chemo doing a number on her. But the thing was she hadn’t called me home because she was sick and wanted to see me or wanted me to take care of her. Oh no. She’d called me because she was too sick to pull a job with Tony. And it was a two-man gig. It was then that I’d realized my mother was long gone.
Somewhere, her life had taken a drastic turn, and she couldn’t right the ship. I’d also learned somewhere along the way that it wasn’t my job to right it for her, despite the niggling, gnawing urge to do so.
