by A. L Long
“Thought you and your dad could pull one over on me,” he cursed as he kept his sights on me while he closed and locked the door.
“You won’t get away with this, Angelo,” I vowed.
When my phone began to vibrate in my hand, I carefully swiped the screen and pressed speaker. I was surprised that Angelo didn’t see it or hear the vibration. Tucking it behind my back when he wasn’t looking, I could only hope that the person on the other end wouldn’t say anything.
“See, that’s the difference between you and I. I’m a lot smarter than you think, and you, my friend, are a lot dumber than you look.”
“Here’s how I see it, Angelo. If you wanted me dead as badly as you say, I think you would have come after me long before now,” I argued, knowing I needed to keep him talking.
Before he could say another word, Romeo really needed to go, so he lifted his leg and before Angelo knew what was going on, peed all over his perfectly tailored suit. Since the gun he had was pointed at me, instead of shooting the dog, he kicked Romeo, sending him crying in the direction of the bedroom.
“First, I’m going to take care of you, then I’m going to take care of that fucking dog,” Angelo seethed.
Pointing the gun right at me, I knew my time on this earth was done. It was like everything went in slow motion. The gun went off. I could feel the air of the bullet pass by my ear. He fucking missed. When his body began crumpling to the floor, and the blood began spilling from the side of his head, I looked to my left to find Nikki standing there with my gun still pointing towards him. Her hand was shaking and her eyes were focused on nothing but Angelo’s body.
Moving toward her, I cupped the hand holding the gun and pulled it out of her grasp. Her eyes were still focused on his body. In a soft voice, she mumbled. “He hurt Romeo.”
I almost had to laugh. I knew she was in shock and probably didn’t realize that she just saved my life. Pulling her close to me, I kissed her on the forehead and whispered. “I love you, Nikki.”
Her eyes finally diverted my way and it finally hit her as to what she just did. Swinging her arms around my neck, she held me like I was the last person on earth. “He could have killed you, Sly,” she cried.
“But he didn’t. He missed,” I assured her.
As she pulled away, there was a long streak of blood on her arm. Placing my hand to my ear, I rubbed it lightly to find that he did manage to graze my ear. Nikki’s eyes filled with concern as she inspected the damage. When she took in a sigh of relief, I knew it wasn’t so bad.
It was then that I remembered that my phone was still on speaker. Pulling it from behind my back, I looked down at the screen and said, “Peter?”
“What the hell is going on over there?” he asked, unaware of what just happened.
“A problem that needed to be taken care of,” I responded. “You might want to call in a favor to the NYPD.”
By the time I filled Peter in on what happened and the NYPD were notified, Jagged Edge Security would be receiving a commendation for getting one of the deadliest Mob leaders off the street. It didn’t help with the situation with Carlos, but at least there was one less thug to worry about.
As we left the condo, I could tell that Nikki was still in shock from shooting Angelo. Even though she pretended to be fine, I knew she wasn’t. I was ready to call the whole thing off and suggest that we find a different way to get to Carlos. Nikki wouldn’t have it, though. She wanted, more than anything, to see the look on Carlos’ face when his empire began to crumble.
It was getting close to dark and we had gone over the plan at least a dozen and a half times since the initial plan changed. Carlos contacted Peter to let him know where he wanted to meet. Peter was a pretty good judge of character and he knew that Carlos wasn’t falling for us just handing Nikki over so freely. We needed to be prepared for anything and everything. That’s why we decided that Peter and I would meet Carlos for the exchange, while Ash, Cop, and Lou headed to Carlos’ home to rescue Nikki’s mom. We were pretty sure that his security would be minimal since his greatest threat would be the exchange.
~****~
Nikki was on pins and needles as we sat in the Jeep waiting for Carlos to arrive. Placing my hand over hers, her eyes met mine. “It will be okay, Nikki. You know what to do?’ I asked, watching her nod her head up and down.
“When I walk over to him, I’ll pretend that I stumbled and twisted my ankle. While he’s attending to me, Peter will be behind him, placing the small explosives on the back tires. Once I see that it has been done, I’ll stand and proceed to walk to the vehicle, keeping up my act and limping as I walk towards it.”
“Good girl,” I said, smiling at her. “The explosives should go off within two minutes of the vehicle moving. Do you have your watch on?”
I wanted to make certain that Nikki knew how long she had before the tires would explode so she could be prepared herself should the driver lose control of the car. The speed shouldn’t be excessive so she should be able to get out without any injuries.
Lifting her wrist, she showed me her watch and smiled. I knew she was nervous, but if everything went as planned, her mother would be safe and Carlos would be either dead or spending the rest of his life behind bars.
As I gave her a kiss, a black SUV came into view, letting us know it was time. We waited for it to come to a full stop before exiting the car. When the SUV stopped, Nikki and I got out of the Jeep. Just as we closed the doors, Carlos and one other man stepped out of the SUV. One thing we didn’t count on was them carrying weapons. Reaching for mine, I was halted immediately.
“Not so fast, Capelli. Throw your weapon down or Nikki dies along with you right here,”
Carlos cursed.
I had no other choice but to throw down my weapon. “We’re here, Carlos. No need for weapons,” I yelled towards him.
Carlos began to laugh. “You think I am going to believe you are just going to hand Nikki over? How dumb do you think I am? Kick your weapon over to me.”
Taking a step forward, I kicked the gun in his direction. I watched as it slid across the pavement, stopping short of hitting his foot.
“Okay, now you, Nikki,” Carlos demanded.
Looking over to Nikki, I gave her a reassuring nod and watched as she began walking over to Carlos. Counting to five in my head, I waited for her to fall. Just like clockwork, she pretended to twist her ankle and stumble to the ground.
“Ouch, holy crap,” she cried.
I watched as Carlos’ man walked up to where Nikki had fallen. Even though Carlos didn’t move from his spot like we had thought, he was still so focused on what was going on with Nikki that he didn’t notice Peter putting the explosives in place.
“Enough,” Carlos shouted. “Pick her up and let’s get out of here.”
Just as his sidekick was ready to lift her from the pavement, Nikki cursed, “Get your slimy hands off of me. I can walk.”
I was doing a high five in my head. I had to hand it to her, she was definitely made for this line of work. Not that I would ever admit that to her. Pushing herself from the pavement, she began hobbling over to the SUV where Carlos was waiting by the door already open for her.
I waited until the SUV was out of sight before I got Peter and made a U-turn in the same direction that they were headed. Looking at my watch, I figured that there was about a minute and a half left before the explosives went off. Staying far enough behind the SUV, Peter and I began counting down the seconds when Peter’s phone rang.
“Hewitt,” Peter answered.
Looking at his expression, I could tell something was wrong. Ending the call, Peter slammed his hands against the steering wheel. “What’s going on Peter?” I asked concerned.
“Ash and Cop got to Giordano’s house. Turns out Nikki’s mom was none other than a look-a-like that Carlos had been fucking for years. I guess he really was obsessed with Nikki’s mom.”
Within a second, the mini bomb went off and the back end of the SU
V lifted from the ground. Just as we suspected, the driver lost control of the SUV. The one thing we didn’t take into consideration was the possibility of the driver ending up in the water. Pressing my foot on the brake as hard as I could, I held on to the steering wheel as the Jeep skidded to a stop. Watching the Escalade take flight, it hit the water and began sinking, fast.
As Peter and I ran as fast as we could toward the sinking SUV, we watched it go completely under. Removing my boots while still running, I wanted to be prepared to dive into the cold water. Reaching the edge of the pier, I dove in as Peter called the police.
The water was like ice as it hit my body. Getting my bearings, I surfaced long enough to take in a couple of deep breaths so I could fill my lungs with air. Going under, the water was so murky that I had a hard time seeing anything, and with the SUV being black, it was even harder. Looking around, I noticed a few air bubbles in the distance. Swimming over, I could see the vehicle more clearly. I knew I was on the wrong side of the SUV when I spotted Carlos’ dead body through the window. Swimming over the top, I placed my hand along the top so that I didn’t lose track of where I was.
Looking in the window, I could see Nikki pounding on the glass. I tried to open the door, but the pressure of the water made it impossible to move. There was a little air space inside the SUV, but it was filling up fast. Signaling her to move back. I found the weakest part of the window and began thrusting my elbow against the glass.
It was no use, I needed something stronger to break the glass. I was running out of air too. Swimming to the surface, I once again took in a couple of deep breaths to fill my lungs. Diving back under, I noticed that the back window of the SUV was already cracked. It must have happened when the bombs went off.
Holding onto the frame, I used the heel of my foot and kicked the glass free. Within seconds the SUV filled with water, taking away any air that may have been left. Pulling the on the broken window, it finally came loose and floated away. Reaching inside, I grabbed anything I could to pull my body inside.
When I got to Nikki, she was still buckled in. I tried to free her, but the latch wouldn’t budge. Pulling a knife from my pocket, I began cutting the strap. I don’t know where the extra strength came from, but I pulled the strap until it finally tore completely apart. Pulling Nikki free, I got her out of the SUV as fast as I could, I knew she couldn’t hold her breath much longer, and my air was running out as well.
We finally reached the surface. All I could see were red and blue lights. I held on to Nikki as I swam to shore. The rescue team was already lowering a ladder into the water. My body was so exhausted that I could barely move, but I knew I needed to push on. When a hand reached for me, I knew we were safe.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Nikki
“Sly, Romeo needs to be let out and I did it the last time,” I yelled, pulling the covers over my head to block out the light that was coming through the window.
“Yeah, yeah, I heard you,” he yelled back as he walked up to the bed. “You know we could take care of this problem.”
“We are not getting rid of Romeo. He is the only family we will ever have.”
“I wasn’t talking about that, baby, I was talking about moving. I could sell this place and we could buy a house. Something outside of the city where Romeo could run. Maybe we could even get him a playmate.”
“You would really do that? Sell all this?” I asked, waving my hand in the air in a circular motion.
“Yeah, why not?” he responded with a smile.
Throwing a pillow in his direction, I playfully said, “Take the dog out.”
Getting out of bed, I knew it was going to be impossible to go back to sleep. As soon as Sly got back with Romeo, he would be on the bed wanting to play. That was how it was every morning.
As I turned the water on in the shower, I thought about what Sly said. Maybe it was time to get our own place. With his income and my new job at Jagged Edge, we would be able to find a pretty nice home. A home I knew we could never fill with children, but we could have lots of animals.
Hearing the front door close, I didn’t realize I had been in the shower that long. Turning off the water, I grabbed my towel and began drying myself. Wrapping my wet hair in a towel, I headed to the bedroom to get dressed. Romeo was already laying on the bed making himself at home in the spot I just vacated. Walking over to him, I gave him a little pet before I began getting dressed.
I could hear Sly out in the kitchen, probably cooking one of his famous dishes. Out of everything I loved about this man, his cooking was one of them. Pulling my t-shirt over my head, I walked out to the kitchen to find my man slaving away at the stove. Giving him a small loving pat on the ass, I reached above my head and pulled out two coffee mugs.
Sipping my coffee, I watched as he expertly flipped over the eggs without breaking the yolk. Something I was never able to master. With a smile, he kissed me on my forehead and turned his body, placing one egg on my plate and two on his.
Taking a bite of the wonderful meal, I got lost in my thoughts, thinking back to when Sly and I first met, how much we had been through over the past month. I guess there is a reason why things happen. I guess I needed to stop over-thinking things. Even though Sly knows how much I care about him, I still haven’t shared the ‘L’ word with him.
Grabbing my plate, I walked over to the sink and rinsed it off before placing it in the dishwasher. Just as I was about to finish getting ready for the day, Sly came up behind me and gave me a sweet kiss on my neck. His kiss was so tender that it sent a wave of electricity from the tip of my tongue to my core. There was always something about his touch that always had me undone. Pulling him closer to me, I deepened the kiss as our tongues mingled together, tasting the essence of each other.
Sly moved his hands down my body, sending a tingle to my core. Placing his hands on my butt, he took it in his grasp and lifted me closer to him. My arms tightened around his broad shoulders, locking our bodies closer together. Lifting me from the floor, I could feel his hardness as it pressed against me. The thought of what was to come heightened my arousal, leaving a rush of pleasure through my veins.
Heading in the direction of the bedroom, our lips once again reclaimed each others. The kiss was soft, yet persuasive, as my lips parted for him. Sly couldn’t have settled me on the bed quick enough. My hands were on his clothing, ripping and tugging it savagely, until it was completely off.
Breaking our kiss, his eyes were on me, devouring every inch of my clothed body. Leaning over me, he said in a hushed voice that turned my senses inside out, “I think you have way too many clothes on.” Lifting my t-shirt over my head, my breasts fell free, full of life as my nipples were erect and awaiting his touch. Watching him intently, his eyes were focused on my exposed breasts. I could see the satisfaction in his stare as he lowered his head and captured my taut nipple between his lips. Swirling his tongue, a tingle of excitement radiated down my body. With a gentle tug, he took my nipple between his teeth while placing circular movement with his tongue. My back rose from the bed as heat rushed between my legs.
Slowly Sly moved down my body, kissing every inch of my sensitized skin. With a sweet whisper, he gazed up at me saying, “I love these,” as he moved back to my breasts, kissing and licking my hard peak. “And I love this,” moving his mouth to my stomach. “I really love this,” he claimed, dipping his tongue inside my navel. “But of everything, I mostly love this,” he breathed, placing his tongue over my clit. Just his words alone sent my body skyrocketing. Before I could feel him inside me, my orgasm took flight, coating my folds.
Sly’s mouth moved lower, lapping up the juices my body offered him so freely. Lifting his head, he looked up to me with glistening lips and said with contentment. “I love you, baby.”
Turning my head to the side, my heart swelled with warmth, because I knew that I loved him too. While I bit down on my lip to keep my sobs at bay, Sly moved his body up mine, filling me with his fiery brand. Every
thing inside me broke. It was then that I knew there was truth to my feelings. I loved him more than anything in this world. Screaming his name, my floodgates broke and my secret was revealed.
“What is it, Nikki? Did I hurt you?” he asked in desperation.
“No,” I said silently, unable to speak.
“What is it? What did I do?”
“You loved me,” I confessed. “You showed me what it feels like to be loved.”
“I have always loved you.”
“I love you too, Sly.” I cried, looking deeply into his soul.
“I will never get tired of hearing you say that,” he said, brushing the tears from my cheek. “Say it again, baby.”
“I love you, Sly Capelli.”
“I love you too, Nikki Jennings.” he replied before lowering his mouth to mine and kissing me with a tenderness so soft that it sent another spiral of ecstasy down my body.
