I clenched my fists trying to remain calm. “No, she did not.”
“Do you want a drink?” He motioned to a bottle of Chardonnay.
“No, honestly, I’d rather we cut the pleasantries.”
“That’s a shame, seemed like you’re a man who knows his drink. What can I do for you?”
“Who are you guys working for?” I decided on asking that first.
Demarco laughed. “Really, you expect me to just tell you?”
“No, I didn’t. But here’s hoping.”
“You know what, I’m in a real good mood, so I’m going to give you a few tips, only because this is all so good. It’s the most interested I’ve been in years.”
“I’m listening, but what do you want?” No way was he going to tell me anything without wanting something in return.
“To be left alone. We’ve done our part. Don’t need the next leader of the Chicago mafia on my back.”
“That all?” I narrowed my gaze and inclined my head to the side.
“Yes.”
I didn’t believe it. Something was up. Not sure yet what, but something was up. I could almost guarantee that before the night was out, he’d try to kill me.
“Okay, start talking.” I smiled.
“We don’t know who hired us, but we received a million each.”
“A million?” Unbelievable. Where the fuck did anyone get that kind of money to hand out? And each?
Sure, our circles were rich, but we didn’t hand out that kind of cash.
“A million each, for what exactly?”
“Find Raphael’s daughter and bring her in unharmed.”
“Unharmed?” I leaned forward. “How come unharmed? Is she needed for something?”
“You know, I think I’ve said enough. The thing is, we were also told to remove any obstacles, and you’ve been one preventing us from getting her.” The placid look on his face suddenly changed. I heard the clicking sound on the chair even before the manacles popped out from the arms.
Asshole, he didn’t know who he was dealing with.
I moved before he did and launched myself over the desk, gun in hand, then at his throat, making him drop that damn cigar. I was too quick for him. Here… right here, I could end him and kill him. Pop one right in his neck and end him now.
But that wasn’t my style.
“I thought you said you’d heard of me.” I chuckled close to his ear. He froze and went rigid. “You should at the very least know not to fuck with me.”
“You have less than a minute to escape. I’d take the warning if I were you.”
“Nah, man, the way I see it is this. You have less than a minute to tell me more.” I pressed the barrel against his throat and rubbed over his Adams apple. His breath hitched. “So, talk. Why do you need Amelia alive?”
Silence. He didn’t budge.
Maybe it was my cool demeanor. He must have been fooled and thought that I wouldn’t mess him up if I had to.
I hit him in his head with the back of the gun and pulled the trigger.
“Okay.” He winced. “Raphael has something they want. They want her as leverage to get it.”
“What is the something, asshole?”
“I don’t know, but it’s worth giving us a million dollars each.”
Fuck, I was going to have to go to Chicago sooner than next week. I needed to go and get to the bottom of this fucking mess.
Raphael had screwed me.
“Good boy.”
“You know, you talk big, but you don’t have an ounce of a brain. Did you really think I’d allow you to just do this to me?” he taunted.
“I have you, man,” I informed him.
He raised a hand to my chest, pointing out the red dot that hovered there.
It was a laser, someone—a guy on the balcony—had me targeted.
Like that was supposed to faze me.
“One move, and you’re dead.”
“Oh yeah, once again, you made the mistake of fucking with me.” I did move, just not the way he thought, and Mr. Gun Man above played right into my trap.
He thought I was moving to harm Demarco, so he fired his gun. Instead of catching me, it went straight in Demarco’s neck. The place I was aiming.
Blood spurted from his neck, then sprayed out from the artery. I jumped back, so it wouldn’t catch me, then aimed at the gun man, but he was gone. Either he’d fled because he knew he’d be dead if any of Demarco’s men came in and saw what he’d done, or he was calling for backup. I didn’t stay to find out. I took that door to the back entrance and went straight back into the room where the auction was being held.
It was still going on. I nearly bumped into one of the auctionees, who was completely naked except for a flower in her hair. The things people did.
I continued my escape until I was off the yacht and back on the dock, where I’d parked my motorcycle. It was times like this when I was grateful for it. It provided a quick escape.
I heard some commotion behind me coming from the yacht. It could be nothing, or it could be Demarco’s cavalry.
No matter.
I jumped on my bike and gunned the engine, taking off into the night.
I tapped the phone on the dashboard and called Roose. He answered on the first ring.
“Hi, I was wondering when you’d call,” he said.
“Present for you onboard the Belle Lamont. I think you’ll like it.”
Chapter 4
Amelia
Was I supposed to think this was some sort of miracle?
I came in this morning to find the guys in full-blown celebration. Demarco had been found dead onboard his yacht last night.
Roose had called me then, but as it hadn’t been necessary for me to come in I’d waited until morning.
Jefferson and Holloway were arguing over the bets they’d cast, and Sinclaire was lapping it up. On my desk was a large take-away coffee cup from Starbucks I knew he would have placed there.
When he saw me go into my office, he rushed inside, picked me up, and spun me around.
“Brad Sinclaire, if you open up your stiches, I’ll put you back in the hospital,” I joked.
“Amelia Taylor, we just closed an eighteen-month long investigation. We have to celebrate.” He beamed, still holding me after he set me down.
“Yes. It does deserve celebration,” I agreed with a smile.
He looked me over and shook his head. “You busted your ass on this case. I got a bullet in my chest and lived to tell the tale. Why are you not happier about this?”
“I am,” I tried. I might have sounded ecstatic if I didn’t know that there was more to the investigation than what we’d just closed.
Also, I had to wonder if Demarco’s death was Luc’s doing. It was weird. We’d tried to track down this guy and his minions that whole time, never getting close to him at all. Then Luc came on the scene, and that’s it. Demarco practically got handed to us on a platter, and the way I heard it was, Roose was called in to come and pick him up.
“Let’s go out later. To dinner or something. We can go to that burger place you like.” Sinclaire beamed, running a hand through his hair.
“Yeah, let’s.”
“Hey, if there’s talk of food, we’re in,” Holloway interrupted at the door. Jefferson followed.
I noticed the slightly defeated look on Sinclaire’s face. It seemed he was hoping for the celebration to be just the two of us.
The rest of the day was easy. We tied up a few loose ends and did paperwork. While the case was practically wrapped up, we agreed that we needed to still bring in Montgomery. Plus, there was still the issue of the rat amongst us. I had no thoughts on who it could be. The guys however thought it was Luc.
With all that had happened with him he was the obvious choice, and there was nothing I could say or do to refute the belief. What I did however decide to do was have an open mind, and not trust anyone.
At six, we left the station and headed to Greasy’s, my fa
vorite burger place.
The name sounded vile, but I swore they had the very best burgers I’d ever tasted. They were of the good old-fashioned meaty type, and they did chili curly fries.
I ordered a feast.
Sinclaire and the others ordered triple what I ordered and gobbled it down.
“I’m going to hurl,” Holloway mused, pressing his thin lips together. His face was red like fire.
“Don’t you dare, man. Don’t be a pansy in front of the lady,” Jefferson taunted.
“You made him eat too much,” Sinclaire said, throwing a fry at Jefferson, who caught it with his mouth and laughed.
I’d forgotten how much fun it was to hang out with the guys.
It was nice that they were themselves around me and didn’t modify their behavior for me.
They started arguing about how much Holloway had eaten. While they did that, I allowed my mind to drift away.
Drift to Luc, drift to my father, drift to the situation I knew was waiting to come to a bursting point.
Nearly a month had passed since I’d found out what was really going on. Yet nothing more had happened. It didn’t mean that it was going to stay that way.
The rat at the station had to do with me; it all had to do with me. Finding out who I was to get to my father.
Normally I thought, in cases like this, I’d be dead already, but I was being kept alive.
My thoughts ran over eating with Luc at the Italian restaurant just before we’d gone to watch the ballet. Until we discovered that someone was watching us, that night had been magical.
I’d enjoyed every minute I spent with Luc.
Now I had to wonder if any of that had been real. He said it was real for him. It was real for me, and I’d allowed myself to feel for him. I’d opened my heart to a man I couldn’t be with.
Imagine the lifestyle I’d have with him. Knowing he’d killed people, knowing more would be dead if they crossed him the wrong way. I’d shot a few people before, but it was in self-defense. None of them had died. I didn’t know what it was like to actually kill a person. Take their life away from them.
As a cop I knew that if it came down to it, I’d have to, and the way I’d been acting during my time as an officer was probably dangerous. Sometimes you had to take people down to protect yourself and others.
Being a cop was, however, completely different from being a mobster.
They lived dirty, played dirtier, and everything was outside the spectrum of being right.
That was why, no matter what, I had to forget Luc.
I thought it was safe to assume that I probably wouldn’t see him again.
I just wished my heart didn’t ache every time I thought that.
There were decisions I needed to make but was avoiding.
He was one of them, and so was seeing my father. I said I would never go back home. But was I really going to let him die and never see him again?
“Holy hell, look at that,” Holloway gasped. His voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
His eyes were hooked on a beautiful dark-haired woman who’d just walked into the diner.
Jefferson and Sinclaire both looked too.
The woman wore a super, skin-tight body con with her tits practically popping out of the dress. It screamed attention, which she totally got.
“That’s what you call a fuck-me dress.” Jefferson smirked, slicking his hair back. He stood up to go after her, but Holloway grabbed his arm.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you think, meathead? Going to get her.”
“I saw her first.”
The two were so comical to watch sometimes.
“Fuck that. You said look at that, so I looked, and now I’m going to take.”
“Screw you.” Holloway punched him in his side, and the two scrabbled out of the booth and over to the other side of the restaurant, where the woman was.
I looked at Sinclaire to find he was already staring at me.
I would have made some comment or asked him if he wasn’t going to go too if I didn’t know why he stayed.
“Those guys are crazy,” he stated with a nod.
“That’s why we like them.” I lifted my shoulder into a shrug.
He looked at my plate, which was squeaky clean. “I didn’t think you were going to finish your burger.”
“I can’t resist a good burger, and it would be rude if I didn’t finish it, especially from this place.”
He chuckled. “I hear you.” He gave me a contemplative look, then asked. “Do you want to go for a walk?”
I held his gaze. It was just a walk, probably just there in the park across the street from us. It was a nice park to walk around at night because of the lake and the lights. It was fine. I could go with him. It didn’t have to mean anything.
But what if it did? Would it be so bad?
Luc was gone and clearly not coming back. I didn’t want to be one of those women who waited around indefinitely without a word or a promise. That was what I was fast becoming.
Plus, I needed to forget him. Forget Luc.
“Yes.”
He looked relieved to hear that and stood with his hand outstretched to take mine.
I took it and didn’t protest when he placed his hand at the small of my back as we walked out.
The cool night air kissed my cheeks. It was a little colder tonight than it had been, and there was dampness in the air, like rain was approaching.
I hated the rain, but the period just before where the air seemed much cooler was always nice.
We walked together through the park, in silence. Out of the corner of my eye I caught him watching me a few times.
We stopped by the pond and sat on the bench under the amber glow of the lamppost.
The mingle of the moon and light from the lamppost made the water’s surface look like gold leaf.
Sinclaire leaned into me, bumping against my shoulder.
“Do you remember when we used to talk when something was bothering us?” He smiled that warm smile that reached his eyes.
“There’s nothing bothering me.” Nothing I could talk about with anyone. Not even to Luc. There were things I’d never spoken about ever.
My father killing Agent Peterson, my father being involved with whatever plan that killed my mother. Both had weighed heavily on my mind, and it was heavier now with everything going on.
“You’re a terrible liar, you know, Taylor.”
Taylor.
Sometimes when people called me that it bothered me. It annoyed me even because it wasn’t my name.
I was Amelia Rossi, not Amelia Taylor.
This person I’d conjured up wasn’t me. But that was who Sinclaire knew.
I turned to face him properly and smiled, deciding I’d try to evade questions about me.
“I’m not lying. Is something bothering you?”
He laughed. “Yes. There’s a chance I need a vacation. Doctors said I went back to work too soon.”
“No way, they didn’t.” I couldn’t hide the sarcasm in my voice because he totally did. “You totally went back to work too soon. What’s happened?”
“I’m fine, just need rest.”
“So, rest. Take the time off. Go ice fishing or snowboarding.” He loved anything snow or ice related.
“Taylor, I think they sort of meant bed rest or the kind of holiday that has a beach and nothing to do.”
“Sounds like you have somewhere in mind.”
“Nope. Just saying. Plus, I wouldn’t go anywhere until I knew you were okay.”
How was I supposed to overlook the genuine concern and care I saw in his eyes and felt in his words?
When things turned ugly—when Luc and I found Cole’s dead body—Sinclaire had left his hospital bed to come to my aid. That was the kind of guy he was.
Max had been my partner and was a friend to me in every essence, but I knew Sinclaire would always have my back.
“I’m okay,” I assured
him.
“You’re not. I think I’ve known you long enough to know when you aren’t yourself.”
I pulled in a steady breath. What was the best thing to say?
“It’s just everything. It’s been a strange time. Maybe I need a vacation too.”
“No way.”
We both laughed at his sarcasm because we both knew the last time I was on vacation was the year before last. Gigi and I went to Barbados, had a fantastic time, and planned to go back. We, or rather me—it was me—was always busy and up to my neck in work. I hadn’t had the chance to plan to go anywhere.
Look at me laughing. It felt nice.
He continued to stare as the laughter faded, and my cheeks heated from the intensity of his gaze.
“What?”
“Can’t believe I forgot how much more beautiful you are when you’re laughing.” Sinclaire continued looking at me.
I should… leave, or something. I should… I didn’t know. I’d kissed him once, but I’d been drunk. I hadn’t forgotten what that felt like, and as he moved closer, I remembered fully, and my stomach clenched at the thought.
He reached out and brushed the edge of my jaw, making my skin tingle.
Then… he lowered his lips to mine, pressing his mouth to my cautious lips, kissing me. But in an instant, an image of Luc flashed into my mind like I’d been zapped by lightening, and I jumped back. Literally jumped and shook my head. My head that felt like it was going to explode.
“I can’t.” Guilt washed over me even though the damn kiss was so brief it was almost like it never happened. It did though.
It happened and I felt awful. I could still see Luc in my mind and now I could hear the last words he said to me like he was right in front of me screaming them.
“It is real for me.” That was what he’d said. That was what he’d said to me and it was what my heart clung on to.
“Amelia.” Sinclaire said my name.
I narrowed my eyes at him. He’d never called me by first name before, and it was the strangest thing to hear it because apart from Gigi, only Luc called me that.
It was strange to hear another man call me that, and I felt worse. Like I’d cheated on Luc somehow.
Mafia Scars (The Accidental Mafia Queen Book 2) Page 4
