Rocco

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  “I…want….snacks!” she stuttered out around her tears. I picked her up and held her to me, rubbing her back with my hands. She had calmed down a little. At least now I could hold her. A few minutes ago, she was thrashing around on the ground so much that I would get kicked in the balls if I went near her.

  “Just calm down. We’re gonna eat dinner real soon.” I turned to Brooke with a hopeful look. “Right, Brooke?”

  “Sure,” she smiled sweetly. Fuck, something bad was coming. I just knew it. Either she poisoned the food or she wanted me to think she had so that I wouldn’t eat. Women were the devil. My phone rang and I pulled it out. Seeing that it was Cap calling, I couldn’t just dismiss it.

  “Brooke, can you take Evie for me? I need to answer this.”

  “Me?” she asked innocently.

  “Yes, please.”

  She walked out of the room, so I answered the phone, trying to talk to Cap over Evie’s cries. “Sorry, Cap. Hold on a minute.”

  Brooke walked back in the room with my rulebook, slipping on a pair of glasses that I didn’t know she owned. “Rule One: You will not go near my daughter at any time.”

  She slid the glasses off her face and held the tip of the frame to her mouth inquisitively. “I’m not one hundred percent sure on this, but I believe me watching Evie would be going against rule number one. I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline your request. I would hate to break the rules. Especially since I’m in all this legal trouble right now.”

  I glared at her, but realized I wouldn’t get anywhere with her if I was rude. “Please, I need to take this call. Will you please watch my daughter for me?”

  She gave me a frowny face and tsked. “I wish I could, but these rules were written with a lot of forethought and I couldn’t possibly think about breaking any of these rules.”

  I growled and snatched the papers from her hands. “They’re not even laminated. These rules were made to be bent and adjusted.”

  “Hmm. Yes, I see what you’re doing. The whole Friends ‘freebie list’.”

  “The what?”

  “You know, when the couples make lists of celebrities they can sleep with if they ever meet them.”

  I could hear Cap yelling at me from the phone, but if I wanted Brooke’s help, I couldn’t just blow her off either.

  “Sorry, what does that have to do with this.”

  “Well, Ross made a list. See, he was going to put Isabella Rossellini on his list, but decided against it because she was international. Then, when she walked into the coffee shop and Ross saw her, he tried to convince her that she was on his list and it wasn’t final. But Isabella pointed out that the list was laminated, so it was final.”

  God, my head fucking hurt just from having to listen to that. “Okay, so my list isn’t laminated. That means it’s not final.”

  “Ah, yes. I figured you might say that. So, I took the liberty of going online today and having your rulebook printed and laminated. Don’t worry, it’s all there, word for word.”

  “But it’s not here yet,” I argued.

  The doorbell rang and a grin split her lips. “Just in time!”

  She walked over to the door and opened it, laughing for a minute with the delivery man. I put the phone back to my ear.

  “Cap, I’ll be there. Just give me a chance to straighten out shit with Brooke.”

  “You have ten fucking minutes.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  I hung up just as Brooke was walking back into the room with a package. She tore it open and pulled out the laminated copies of my rulebook. “It’s all there. I knew how important these rules were to you, so I wanted to make sure that it was all there for both of us to see.”

  “Look, that’s great and all, but I have to get to work and I need someone to watch Evie. I can’t take a screaming toddler to work with me.”

  “Oh, I know, sweetie, but I’m afraid I’m just not qualified. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have put it down in your rulebook. But dinner will be waiting, just as it says under rule ten.”

  She grinned and walked into the kitchen, getting back to work on whatever she was cooking. There was nothing else for me to do but get my ass into work and hope there was someone that could watch Evie for me.

  Ten minutes later, I was walking into the conference room with my daughter on my hip and a diaper bag flung over my shoulder.

  “What the fuck is this?” Cap growled.

  “Don’t start with me. Brooke had my rulebook fucking laminated.”

  Cap rolled his eyes to the ceiling and took a deep breath. “I knew that fucking rule book was going to get you in trouble. What was it that got to her?”

  “I said that she wasn’t to go anywhere near my daughter.”

  “In your own fucking house? She lives there. You had a fucking built-in babysitter and you told her she couldn’t go near your daughter?”

  “Hey, she doesn’t even like kids. Besides, I’ve always worked around it in the past. It’ll be fine.”

  “Except, in the past, Cara has always watched after Evie. She has the fucking flu. What are you going to do now?”

  “I don’t know, alright? It’ll be fine. I can work with Evie here with me.”

  “Not when you’re going out on a fucking job,” he said as he slid paperwork across the table to me. I groaned and flipped through the pages. It wasn’t a long job, but I would be out of town.

  “Can’t someone else take this one?”

  “Everyone else is committed to something. Derek and Hunter are loading up the SUV as we speak. You leave within the hour.”

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  “Just leave her with me. Go home and pack some stuff for her. I’ll take her home with me and make sure some of the girls help Maggie out tomorrow.”

  “Is she up for this?”

  He sighed. “Not really. She’s fucking exhausted. Who knew having triplets would be so hard?”

  “Like, every fucking woman that’s only had one kid,” I said as if he was fucking stupid. “How did you think this was going to go? You’d knock her up again, when she’s barely just finished shooting out the last kid, and her body would just bounce back and be ready for more?”

  “Hey, you lost your daycare over a fucking laminated rule book.”

  “Potential daycare. And that’s a worst case scenario.”

  “Whatever. You’re a fucking dumbass. Go pack your shit. Just leave her here with me.”

  I got up and handed her off. Luckily, she knew Cap well enough that she didn’t mind being left with him. She actually giggled when I handed her over.

  “Oh, and Cap, she didn’t take a nap today, so she’s been throwing temper tantrums since Cara dropped her off.”

  “Fucking perfect.”

  “Hey, you offered.”

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  “Cap said ‘simple job’,” I shouted over the sound of gunfire. “He said this would be a fucking easy job!”

  Derek popped up from his hiding spot, popping off a few rounds before shouting, “And you fucking believed him? How long have you worked here?”

  “I thought at least one time he would be fucking serious when he said a job was gonna be easy!”

  I reloaded and fired off my clip, hitting my targets as planned. The problem was, we were fucking pinned down under heavy fire. Something we hadn’t been expecting when we were tasked with installing security for a new tech company. This wasn’t even a protective services job. It was just a fucking install. But apparently, someone hadn’t been very forthcoming with information. The problem was, we were pinned down on the fucking fourth floor with nowhere to go. Except through the fucking glass, but that was a long way down.

  “Cover me,” Hunter shouted as he darted out of his position and slid across the floor to one of the supporting columns in the room. Derek and I covered him as he worked to tie off a rope. As he took cover once again, I turned and shot out the window behind us. Hunter tossed the rope to Derek who turned and ran
for the window, jumping through the broken glass.

  “Go,” I shouted to Hunter. I had the best cover position, so it was only logical that he be the next one out the window. I pulled another clip and quickly reloaded, then fired as Hunter ran for the window. Taking one look back, I saw he was clear and fired off just a few more shots before making my move. Keeping low, I ran for the window, pulling out a baseball slide and snatching the rope in my gloved hands as I fell through the window.

  Releasing my grip slightly, I let my weight pull me down the rope quickly while Derek and Hunter laid down cover fire. When my boots hit the ground, we took off running, abandoning the equipment we had brought with us. There was no point going back for it now. Within seconds, we were back in the SUV and tearing out of the company’s parking lot. Heavy breathing was the only sound that filled the space.

  “Well,” I said after a minute. “That wasn’t what I was expecting when Cap said they’ve had some problems with hackers.”

  “I’m guessing the hackers couldn’t get what they were after remotely.”

  “What the fuck do we do now?” I asked Derek.

  “We call Cap and regroup,” Derek answered.

  We pulled into a motel forty minutes away and parked around the back where we wouldn’t easily be seen. Hunter went to rent a motel room while Derek called Cap and filled him in. I stood watch around the corner of the building. I had a feeling we hadn’t seen the last of whoever we had fought off.

  “Got the room key,” Hunter muttered in my ear piece.

  “I’m staying here,” I said. “Let me know when we have a plan.”

  It didn’t take more than two minutes for a few black, nondescript vehicles to come rolling in the lot.

  “We’ve got company.”

  “Seriously? I just got the fucking room,” Hunter muttered.

  One pulled up to the motel office, while another parked off at the edge of the lot in the dark. The third vehicle looked to be headed around to the back of the building.

  “You might want to haul ass to the SUV. One is heading around back.” I slipped further into the shadows of the building and pulled out my gun. “I’ll take out the other two and meet you out front.”

  I slipped into the darkness and over to the edge of the property where one of the vehicles was idling. Hiding in the tree line, I pulled out my silencer and attached it to my gun. Lining up my shot, I quickly fired off two shots, first breaking the glass, and second taking out the driver. Before the passenger could pull his weapons, I placed a shot in his head, leaving me with one less vehicle that would be coming after us.

  “One vehicle down,” I murmured as I made my way over to the idling vehicle by the office. I walked along the sidewalk as if I was a paying customer, and checked out the vehicle discreetly as I passed. No one else was in the vehicle. Glancing at the office, I saw the guy still chatting with the person behind the desk. Dropping down to the ground, I slammed my knife into the rear tire where it wouldn’t be visible to the driver. I had to leave my knife behind, but at least he wouldn’t be following us anywhere.

  “Ready for pickup,” I said as I stood and started walking for the road. I heard yelling and running, but I didn’t turn around. Derek pulled up beside me, rolling down his window.

  “Your chariot, m’lady.”

  “Why, thank you, good squire,” I grinned, climbing into the backseat. Derek took off and I glanced out the rear window, seeing the guy kicking at his flat tire as we drove away. “Those guys weren’t in a rush. They knew we’d be there. We need to check for trackers.”

  Derek pulled off on a country road, and twenty minutes later, we were back on our way.

  “What did Cap say?” I asked, almost forgetting that we had a job we were supposed to be doing.

  “He said they could go fuck themselves.”

  “Well, it’s not the first time we’ve gone in without all the information,” Hunter said. He let out a big sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe Ice had it right a couple years ago. Maybe we are getting too old for this shit. Maybe it is time to hang up the guns and retire.”

  It was silent for a minute and then we all burst into laughter.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Brooke

  Seriously, I had been here not even a week and I was bored out of my mind. What the hell was I supposed to do with myself all day? I spent the morning looking up ways to make money online, but all I found were very mundane tasks that would pay me five cents. I wasn’t interested. Maybe in another few weeks when I was ready to slit my wrists I could take that option.

  There was a knock at the door, and I instantly stiffened. It was probably Cara. She was here to drop off Evie early. I couldn’t take her though. I was the least qualified person on the planet to care for another human being. I had heard that Rocco was on his way home from a job, but that didn’t mean that I could watch the kid. When the knock sounded again, I shot up from my seat and dove over the couch to hide behind it.

  “Brooke, I know you’re in there!”

  My head shot up and a smile split my face. Racing to the door, I flung it open and squealed when I saw Reese standing there, and flung myself at her. I gripped her so tight that she actually started to choke.

  “Oops, sorry. I was just so excited for some company. I’m going out of my mind.”

  “I figured, since you’re the last person in the world to give someone a hug.”

  “I know, right? If I spend any more time here alone, imagine all the sappy shit I could get up to.”

  “Bored already?”

  “You have no idea. You know how people always wish that there was absolutely nothing they could do for the day? No errands to run, no people to see, no jobs to go to? Well, if that was actually taken away from them, they’d be running out their door so fast.”

  She shoved past me and sat down on the couch. “It can’t really be that bad.”

  “It is. God, I’m so bored,” I whined.

  “Well, I’m here now, so you can tell me all about this mess and how you ended up with Rocco.” She waggled her eyebrows at me and I smacked her.

  “Thanks for telling me about him, by the way.”

  “Hey, you said you searched the website. It’s not my fault you missed him.”

  I flopped my head down in my hands. “It’s just not fair. He’s so hot.”

  “Did you already sleep with him?”

  I glared at her. “What did you think we did while we were on the run? Do each other’s hair?” She stared at me in shock. “Don’t give me that look. Craig kidnapped you and you slept with him.”

  “Well, yeah, because I took your advice! You said that I should sleep with him to lull him into trusting me.”

  “And it worked. The problem is, Rocco isn’t obsessed with me.”

  “But you slept together.”

  “Yeah, but he gave me this stupid rulebook that I’m supposed to follow for ‘sexual encounters’. Then, before he left for work, he gave me another rulebook with all these ridiculous things like, ‘don’t go near my kid’. Or, ‘no feminine items on any counters. Everything has to be stored in a bin under the sink’.”

  “Well, just give him some time. I’m sure he’ll come around.”

  “I don’t really want him to come around. Did you know he has a daughter?”

  “Yeah,” she said in her best ‘duh’ voice.

  “Well, I didn’t, and now I’ve slept with him and I know what it’s like to have those hard muscles rippling above me. And to have his hands brush against my skin, so soft, but with killer instincts. And don’t even get me started on the size of his cock. I swear to God, when he thrust inside me that first time, I thought for sure-”

  “Okay, okay, okay! Geez, I do not need to know how big Rocco is.”

  I sighed and plopped my chin down in the palm of my hand. “He’s just so sexy. It’s a shame he has a kid. I could really see myself taking down a man like that.”

  “Right, because he has no say in it.”

&n
bsp; “Not really. Let’s face it, even when you weren’t wanting to be with Craig, you had him eating out of the palm of your hand. He was chasing you when you didn’t even want it. That’s what I want with Rocco, minus the kid.” I thought about it for a moment. “You know, I could still have that. I mean, I don’t actually spend time with her. And we are going to be living together for the next year. Why shouldn’t I get my kicks? It’s not like I’ll be meeting another guy anytime soon. And even if I could, it’s not like Rocco would let me invite him back here to fuck.”

  “No, I don’t like-”

  “That’s what I have to do. I have to push him to the limit, until he throws his rulebook out the window.”

  “That’s a terrible idea.”

  “I’ll drive him crazy sexually, all the while tearing down the walls of his stupid rulebook. Everything that he throws at me, I’ll disregard until he finally sees that there’s no way he can win.”

  “Brooke, you can’t do shit to drive him insane. He’s not going to throw away the rulebook. He’s going to pull out his gun and shoot you. Then he’ll tell the cops that he shot you while you were trying to flee the premises.”

  I waved her off. “He won’t shoot me. At that point, I’ll have him wrapped around my finger.”

  “And just how do you plan to wrap him around your finger?”

  “I’ll be so damn clingy that he’ll have no choice but to fall for me.”

  “Oh God, I’m gonna find you buried under the house.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. The foundation is already set. He can’t bury me there.”

  “What am I gonna tell Grandma?”

  I started pacing, ignoring her question. “I’ll have to be really careful that I keep us separate from Evie. I don’t want him thinking that suddenly I’m up for child care and stuff.”

  “He has a killer robot!” she shouted.

  “I have a baseball bat,” I countered. “What’s your point?”

  She grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me hard. “Don’t you see how insane this plan is? He’s not going to fall under your spell and give you anything you want. He’s going to fucking kill you!”