Love and Sacrifice: The Pierce Family Trilogy #2

by Chelsea Ballinger

  “Look, it’s Ella’s friend!” the friend says.

  “Here to ask us what she’s like in bed?” James laughs.

  They both stand up, tall and mighty, thinking they’re gonna kick my ass.

  “That’s really funny,” I say calmly as I walk faster towards them.

  Once I get to James, I jab him right in the nose. His head goes all the way back as the blood splatters across his face. His friend swings at me, but I duck and throw my right fist into his stomach, then give him a left hook to the face.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you, man?! You broke my nose!” James holds his nose with both hands.

  “Oh, did I?” I pull him up. “I’m sorry.”

  His friend gasps for air while he holds his stomach. “All this for a bitch?”

  I throw James on the ground next to his friend and pull out the gun that is tucked in the back of my jeans. Both of their eyes jump out of their skulls when they see their death sentence staring them in the face.

  “Hey, man, please! Don’t do this!” James begs while his friend starts crying and screaming like the pussy he is.

  “You see, guys like you really get to me. You can have anything you want, you’re rich, good looking. You didn’t grow up the way I did. So I just don’t get why you act like shit.”

  “I don’t know why either, man.” Now James is crying too. “Listen, we’re sorry!”

  “Say that you were lying. Better yet, tell me what all happened with you and Ella?”

  “What?” James looks confused.

  I press the gun against his head. “Tell me.”

  “It was just sex!” James yells.

  I pull the trigger. “AHH!” The sound of the click sends James in a spiral.

  “You see James, every chamber isn’t loaded, so you better start giving me details because who knows when it might just…” I pull the trigger. Click again. “Go off.”

  He shakes and all of a sudden a wet spot appears on the front of his khaki pants.

  “Did you piss yourself, James?”

  “Yes!” James has the ugliest crying face.

  “Details,” I demand one last time.

  “I lied! After Eric Anderson hooked up with her, he said she was easy. I took her on a date and tried to get her to give it up. She didn’t want to. We kissed, but that was it!”

  “Oh, so she isn’t a whore?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, well from now on, I want you to tell the truth.”

  “Okay.”

  “And James, if I hear that pathetic and bitch ass lie come out of someone’s mouth again, I will come for you.”

  “Alright,” he snorts.

  I pointed my gun at his friend. “And you. What’s your name?”

  “L─Li─Lionel,” he stutters.

  “Well, Lionel, you made fun of a girl who got shot and almost died. Have you ever been shot?”

  “No.”

  “Do you want to find out what it’s like to be shot?”

  He shook his head frantically. “No!”

  “Then I suggest you grow up.”

  I squat down in front of them. “Go to college boys. Join a fraternity, fall in love, treat people right. Because Karma is real… and a real bitch.”

  I pat both of them on their heads and walk away.

  I’m amped up now. I’m pissed too. I enjoyed messing with those pricks, but I’m pissed that I did it for Ella Pierce. Why the fuck did I do that?! I flashed a gun in their faces, showed my face. I’ve told Ella Pierce I’m an ex-convict and what I went in for. I mean, even if anyone did a background check they wouldn’t link me to Mickey, they’ll just see I’m a low-level thug. Mickey has always kept me in the dark from people. His important soldiers, he calls us. The ones that run the small lucrative businesses. I ran the heroin and meth labs. I was good at it too.

  I have a problem now, though. Ella Pierce mildly affects me. So maybe I shouldn’t call her.

  Chapter 5

  “Don’t Stay Away”

  Ella

  He hasn’t called.

  It’s been a week and he hasn’t called. Why do I care? Getting worked up over a guy I barely know is not my usual thing. I am Ella Pierce, damn it! Guys thirst for me, not the other way around. Well, not since Eric. Ugh! He still makes my skin crawl. This is stupid. Obviously, the guy wasn’t feeling it, so time to move on. Maybe I should move to the city this summer. It will be better than staying here and being bored.

  I feel my cell phone buzz in my bed. I look for it under the covers. I find it and see that it’s Dina.

  “Hey, babe,” I say.

  “Hey, so I have some gossip for you.”

  “I thought I told you that the minute graduation happened, I didn’t want to hear anything relating to high school.”

  “Well, you are gonna want to hear this. It’s about Lionel and James.”

  “What? Did they finally reveal their hard on for each other?”

  Please let that be it.

  “Better, the night of the carnival they got their asses beat. Okay, so Lionel supposedly told everything to Mimi Sherry. They’ve been hooking up for like six months.” Dina always adds something irrelevant to the gossip. “So anyway, apparently, Mimi told Kylie, who told me while we were getting mani/pedis, that Lionel came through Mimi’s window, crying like a girl and with a black eye. He said he and James were beaten up and that James pissed his pants.”

  “What?! By who?” Forgive me God, but I can’t help the smile, spreading across my face.

  “That’s the juicy part, even though given the ex-con thing we shouldn’t be shocked, but Lionel said they got beat up and taunted with a gun by the mysterious guy who was with Ella Pierce at the carnival.”

  My mouth drops. “What?!”

  “Yep, also, he got James to admit that he lied about sleeping with you. Maybe we should be worried he had a gun though, but given our parents, we were raised on them,” she says nonchalantly.

  “No, Dina. That’s not a good enough reason.”

  “But knowing you, it’s enough. I know your feels are like all over the place now.”

  I bite my lip to keep myself from smiling, but I can’t help blushing. Right now it is enough for me, at least, for me to look into. If he really did do that, I have to know why. For me? Then why the hell didn’t he call?

  Tommy

  I haven’t called her. I haven’t even been following her. I’m a little off. Mickey asked me if I’m doing well and I just keep saying that I am. I need to rethink this whole thing. Maybe just go back to the city, do what I do best. This undercover crap is not working for me, especially when there is a beautiful woman involved, the same beautiful woman sitting at the top of the stairs outside my apartment right now. What the hell is she doing here?

  “What are you doing here?” I ask her.

  “Well, I went by that catering company you work for and this guy Russell told me where you live.”

  “I thought you would get the hint, seeing that I didn’t call,” I say as meanly as possible.

  “Well, I’m stubborn… and I don’t believe you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I mean you did beat up James and Lionel for me. Oh, I mean, threaten their lives with a gun.”

  The oddest thing about this is that she’s smiling. Is this girl insane? I can’t help but to smile and shake my head.

  “Does it help that the gun wasn’t loaded?”

  “Yep, it means you’re not a complete psycho. Also, it means I’m not a total nutcase for seeking you out. Or maybe it does, but… ” She shrugs.

  I can’t help but laugh. “You want to go on a date with me? Now?”

  She smiles. “Do you want to take me on a date? Now?”

  I laugh again. “Yeah, I do.” It’s been a while since I’ve laughed.

  Ella

  I’m sitting at Kelly’s Diner across from the guy I’m probably supposed to stay away from. It’s like there is this pull coming from him. I can’t h
elp but to be intrigued and curious by the mysterious and hidden danger of him. Never in my life would I have thought I would use those words to describe a feeling about a guy.

  “So,” I say as I sip my chocolate milkshake. “Where do you come from?”

  “Hell’s Kitchen.”

  “Interesting.”

  “You ever been to that part of the neighborhood?” he asks me.

  “Nope. You have any brothers or sisters?”

  “Not that I know of when it comes to my father.”

  “What do you like to do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean for fun. What do you like to do?”

  “I don’t really do a lot… I don’t really have fun.”

  “Well, that’s depressing.”

  He chuckles. “I suppose it is.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty.”

  “How did you get that scar above your eye?”

  “Don’t want to talk about it,” he says with calm and ease, but his eyes show a lot pain.

  “My bad.” I hold my hands up.

  “So, what do you like?”

  “Fashion, music, Vogue magazine.”

  “And milkshakes.” He smirks at me.

  “Yes, I do have a pure obsession with milkshakes. When I was little, my brother Christian used to say that if I exploded, there wouldn’t be any blood and guts, just ice cream.”

  “You were probably paranoid of dying from splurging on milkshakes.” I watch as he twirls the butter knife on the table.

  “Actually, it was kind of the opposite. I was more paranoid of dying… literally.”

  “Why?”

  “My father is Roman Pierce.” I chuckle to myself. “I realized who my father was at an early age and the type of danger we were in. Something happened to my brother Donovan when we were little. And my brothers and I, always, no matter how much our parents tried to hide it, we saw things… and I was scared. One day I was crying hysterically after hearing that one of the families of a crime boss was gunned down. I was scared that was going to be us. Gunned down, tortured, car explosion, any possible heinous death, I knew we were going to die that way. And I was telling Christian this and he said, ‘El, if we blow up, at least ice cream will spill out of you.’”

  Tommy’s teeth start to show as the corners of his mouth turn up.

  “That helped. I can’t explain it, but my brother had this ease about him. It was so magnetic that it rubbed off on you. I was the girl who loved dolls and shopping, Donovan was the brooder, even as a kid, and Christian was the… the person you couldn’t help but to adore. I was lucky to have him as a brother.”

  “And he was lucky to have you as a sister.” I stop fidgeting with my straw and focus on Tommy’s expression when he says that. It’s sweet the way he says it, even if it is probably a line to suck up.

  After a minute of intense stares, he breaks the connection and looks out the window of the diner. He seems angry.

  “I better get you back to your car. It’s starting to rain,” he says, still staring out of the window.

  I look outside and see the dark clouds appearing in the sky and light rain falling onto the ground. I can’t help but to feel disappointed. I hate this hard shield he puts up when he gets close.

  Tommy

  I’m trying to avoid eye contact by staring out of my car window at the rain that has gotten more aggressive since we left the diner.

  “So, when is the next date?” she asks me. I finally look at her.

  “You need to stay away from me.”

  She blinks at me and shakes her head. “You’re very indecisive, you know that?”

  “I’m dangerous,” I tell her seriously.

  “I know. Ex con battling his anger and trying to fix his life, I know.”

  I laugh to myself because she really thinks she has it all figured it out and she is far from the damn truth.

  “Listen, I don’t normally do this. I have trust issues and I can be a real bitch, but I don’t know, maybe I’m bored. Maybe I want to get to know the guy with the hazel eyes who stares at me like he’s conflicted with something.”

  “I think that was a compliment.”

  She smiles, and God is her smile a million wrongs. This is ridiculous, Tommy, you could easily have this girl. Make her fall for you, dump her, and let her father watch as she crumbles emotionally. Then when that is finished, you kill him. It’s supposed to be easy. It’s supposed to make sense.

  “Look, when you figure it out, give me a call.” She hops out and heads to her car.

  Let her go, Tommy. Just let her go.

  Ella

  What am I doing? I don’t even know this guy. I’m soaked from this damn rain and I’m confused and annoyed. That guy is weird. Like really weird, but I like it. Does that make me weird? No? Yes? Maybe?

  My car door flies open, startling me, and I watch as Tommy jumps in. He’s as soaked as I am and his eyes are sparkling and his wet shirt is glued onto his body. I think I’m drooling a little.

  He rubs his face and looks at me with sincerity. “I need you to stay away from me.”

  I can’t help but laugh at his words. I think I even snort a little. Usually, this back and forth flirtation would annoy me, but it’s just hilarious to me now.

  “You said that already,” I tell him. He rolls his eyes and licks his lips and I wish it was me who was licking his lips. “Do you want me to stay away from you?” I ask him point blank.

  He squints a little. I know his answer and so does he. Even if he tells me something different, I know the truth.

  I’m waiting for an answer, but instead of words, he reaches and grabs me by the back of my neck and pulls me, meeting me halfway until his lips press against mine. He’s not wasting any time with a sweet and tender first kiss, opening his mouth and pushing his tongue into my mouth.

  Shit.

  I reciprocate as I slide my hand around his neck and push my tongue against his. I feel like I’m getting swallowed by this kiss, but not in a gross kind of way. It’s more of a heated and passionate way, if you get what I’m saying. People don’t really understand until they experience it for themselves. I grab his wet shirt and pull on it as he grips my thigh, sending shockwaves through my body.

  I’m hungry for more as we stop and he sits back, breathing heavily. I can’t help but smile. I haven’t been kissed like that since well, I hate to say it, but since Eric Anderson…. ew. But unlike Eric, something tells me Tommy Dumas wouldn’t be disappointing when it came to sex. And I want to find out.

  “You should go,” he tells me as he stares at my lips, reliving what just happened.

  “You should text me,” I smile at him.

  He laughs and shakes his head and it’s probably the first real smile I have seen from him. An extra bonus is that I brought it out of him.

  “I’ll text you,” he says with a smirk and leaves the car.

  Driving off, I can’t help but touch my lips and relive that kiss over and over again. A kiss that was well worth the wait.

  Chapter 6

  “Under Control”

  Tommy

  "So how is everything going with the Pierce girl?" Mickey asks me as we sit in Heart's Pub. We are the only ones here because Mickey likes to dine alone or in the midst of his trusted people. I also think he likes the fact that he has the money and intimidation to buy every seat in a restaurant.

  "Good. She likes me," I inform him.

  "Of course she does." He cuts his steak, then points at me with his fork. "Don't get too close. Get close enough for her to like you, but not for you to get emotions."

  I chuckle. "How is that?"

  "Women and men are on different levels when it comes to feelings and bullshit. You give her a guy who brings flowers, says the right words, even if it's ‘you’re beautiful’ or ‘nice haircut’ and she falls on the table with her legs wide open, but when it comes to men, it takes a whole lot. Especially men like you, men who don't s
how love because they have witnessed firsthand what it will do to you."

  "You don't have to worry about me with that, Mickey." Telling him this, I almost believe it myself. I’m just like Mickey in that way. I believe my own bullshit.

  "I know you wouldn't betray me, but this isn't like the other times, Tommy. There is no fairy tale ending for this family. Roman Pierce put a death sentence on himself and his family when he killed my baby brother in cold blood."

  "I know that."

  "Good." Mickey continues chewing his steak and for some reason I'm wondering if he knows more than he’s letting on. Like he already knows that I might have some type of genuine interest in Ella. I'm trying to tell myself I don't, but ever since yesterday I can't stop picturing her face in my head or that kiss. It's probably just a phase. I pray it’s just a phase.

  "So how is the investigation going?" I ask him.

  Mickey scoffs while he chews. "Not fast enough. This new detective, the precinct got, thinks he's a real big hotshot, but he doesn't have any witnesses. My guys on the inside tell me they’re sweating their nuts off. But this is also why we have to stay still with taking care of Roman Pierce. I don't want to give them any reason to come after me. Pierce family gets killed, the cops will rejoice, but they will also use it as an opportunity to come after the people that did it."

  "Why do you think that?"

  "I know so. Remember Carl Brass? Guy kills Francisco Lugotti and his whole damn family, even his grandchildren; cops nab Carl Brass a month later."

  "Mickey, why do you we have to hurt the whole family?” I’m taking a risk asking this right now. “I’m only asking because you know how I feel about hurting women and children. I’ve never lied to you about that.”

  “You’re right, but Tommy when you mess with family, everyone has to go. You have to let the son of a bitch, who had the audacity to take what you love, know that he made the worst mistake of his life. Besides a man like Roman Pierce doesn’t care if he lives or die, he only cares about one thing and that is family. So to fully bring Roman Pierce to his knees, begging me to kill him is to hurt the thing he loves most, and that my boy has always been the Valentine way.” Mickey gives one of those sinister smiles again. The smile he has every time he kills someone.