by Naomi West
“You’re in the business of taking risks, right?” I challenged. I leaned forward, knowing that my cleavage was nicely exposed. I was willing to use any tactics necessary to get out of this damn apartment. “Then come and take a risk with me. Live a little bit, Lorenzo. I’m dying in here, and nothing’s going to happen. I mean, it hasn’t happened yet. If someone was going to kill me, wouldn’t they have done it already?” Only a week ago, I had been terrified of what might happen with the Morettis. Now, I was too aggravated to care. Let them shoot me if it just meant I didn’t have to be miserable anymore.
He set down his work and looked at me levelly. “Fine. You want to go outside? Then go.”
“Wait, what?” I straightened, not sure that I’d heard him correctly. “Right now?”
“Now.” Lorenzo flicked his fingers toward the door, as though shooing me away. “Go for your walk.” He bowed his head back over his work and began reassembling one of his guns.
My heart pounded, either with excitement or nerves, I wasn’t sure. “By myself?” I hadn’t been without him for over two weeks, except for the rare occasions that he left me alone in the apartment. He was a part of my life now, and I hadn’t completely forgotten that it was because of him I was even alive.
“You’ve deemed it safe, right?” he asked, one dark eyebrow raised in challenge. “You don’t think anything could possibly happen. So go. Enjoy yourself.” His hands worked quickly and the odd pieces that had been lying on the towel were magically transforming back into a pistol.
I pursed my lips, trying to decide how to respond. It was a dare, and I knew that. He wanted me to admit that I was too scared to be on the other side of that door without him. He didn’t think I would ever take the bait. Lorenzo was confident that I couldn’t do it. “Fine.” I snatched up my purse from the hall table and shoved my feet into a pair of sneakers. “I’ll be back …later.” I made sure to slam the door on my way out.
It wasn’t so bad crossing the hall to the elevator and I charged through the front lobby to the main doors like the hounds of hell were after me. I just knew that Lorenzo would show up behind me at any moment, ready to grab me by the wrist and drag me back upstairs. Outside, the sun dazzled on the sidewalk and glared off the passing cars. I craned my head up to find the window to Lorenzo’s apartment, expecting to see him hanging out of it with a rifle in his hand. I saw no sign of him.
“Good. It’s just me. I’m free again.” I turned back to the scene before me, looking left and right and trying to decide where to go. I’d never really had a chance to get to know this part of town, since Lorenzo was always rushing me off somewhere in that slick little car of his. People and cars surged up and down the street and sidewalks, hurriedly getting where they needed to go without paying attention to each other. I was surrounded and yet completely alone.
A shiver ran down my back despite the warm air, reminding me that I needed to get moving. I headed down the sidewalk with no destination in mind. I just needed to go. “I’m going to enjoy this. It won’t take much time; I just need to know that I’m allowed to leave.” But my feet moved too fast and the middle of my back arched as though someone was poking the muzzle of a gun into it.
“You’re ruining this for yourself, Alexis. Just calm down. Enjoy it.” I tried to focus on the bright green of the leaves on the trees and on the fresh breeze that blew through the town. But all I noticed were the numerous strangers. They were everywhere. A man across the street dropped a letter in a mailbox; was he one of the capos who had been at dinner at Jianna’s? Was that tall man waiting on the bus the same one who had served as chauffer when I had gone to the street market? Everyone was strange and yet familiar. I looked at each one of them in turn, expecting one of them to recognize me and give a shout of alarm. But they went on about their business as though I didn’t exist.
Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that Lorenzo wouldn’t have let me come out here if he truly thought I was in danger. He was just keeping me trapped in his place because he was a control freak. Everything was fine and it was quite possible that he was tailing me. I turned quickly, ready to catch him.
Lorenzo wasn’t there, but a figure suddenly turned into a doorway.
I swiveled back around to continue my walk. “Keep it together. Nobody is watching you. They have their own business to take care of.” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I had seen the same person before. Where had that been? I racked my brain.
Turning the corner to go around the block, I studied my peripheral vision. Was that the same person who had ducked aside? Was it someone else? I couldn’t tell. My breath shallow, I tried to think of just who would be following me. If it was one of Matteo’s men, they probably wouldn’t do anything yet. They had no proof and they would want to wait until Lorenzo was around so they could give him the ultimate punishment of watching me die. And Calzoni? Did any of his men have a reason to kill me? All the top men in his mansion had been killed, and whoever remained had no reason to come after me unless they thought I had something to do with the hit. Lorenzo had mentioned that some lower members were planning to continue the family business, but it was doubtful that they even knew who I was.
I passed a cart selling bratwurst. The scent of roasted onions and cooking meat tantalized my nostrils. Any other time, I would have jumped right in line. At that moment, though, my stomach was too busy churning to even think about a greasy sausage. With my heart in my throat, I remembered the other person who could be watching. Dino. I could imagine the fit of rage he’d had when he discovered I was gone for good this time. I had threatened to leave numerous times before, but he had always talked me out of it. No, he had intimidated me out of it.
“You had better be here when I get back,” he’d threatened every time he thought I was getting the idea to run away again. “I pulled you out of that homeless shelter and changed your life. You owe me.”
“What are you going to do?” I had challenged. I had been drunk and angry, and I had thrown caution to the wind. We’d had these same arguments over and over again, and I was tired of them. “I’d rather be dead than have to live here with you anymore!”
He had lunged forward and slapped my face, the sting sending sparks up in front of my eyes. “You step one foot over that threshold, and you will be.” Dino had grabbed my arms and pressed them to my sides, his fingers digging into my flesh as he stared me down. His eyes blazed. He would do whatever was necessary to keep me.
When he had left, I had packed. I wasn’t going to put up with him anymore. I didn’t deserve to be his sex slave, kept in that dingy studio apartment so he could do what he wanted with me. Even someone as lowly as me didn’t deserve to be tossed around one minute and fucked the next. Dino didn’t even care if I got any pleasure out of sex. He would fling me down on the bed and take me from behind, his fists grinding into my shoulders to keep me in place. Other times, he demanded that I suck his cock while he watched porn from his dirty recliner and told me he wished I looked like the girls on TV. I was out of there.
Except I was too scared. Time after time, I had threatened to leave. Time after time, I was still there when he got back, ready to apologize. He let me know he accepted my apology by throwing me down on the bed and fucking me until he was satisfied.
The memory made me shudder despite the warm sunshine on my shoulders. It hadn’t been like that with Lorenzo. I didn’t know what had made me throw myself at him like that. He was a killer and my life was in his hands. But he was so damn sexy and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I had spent too much time watching those dark eyes and that hard jaw—being too close to his wide chest and his capable hands. He was a real man, one who commanded respect but gave it generously in return. No matter how dumb I had been and how rough I knew he could be, he had been kind to me. Lorenzo wanted to make sure that I enjoyed myself as well, or it wasn’t worth it to him. No, he wasn’t anything like Dino.
With another backward glance, I looked for anyone who seemed
to be following me. My heart leaped when I saw a man in a suit, ready to believe that Lorenzo really had come after me. He had the dark hair, but it was much shorter, and he spoke rapidly into a cell phone before hailing a cab and taking off.
Further down, a man sat on a bench reading a newspaper. With the heat of paranoia burning my brain, I tried to remember if he had been there when I had passed that bench. I had been too caught up in my memories of Dino to know. But it certainly could have been the same man who had turned into a doorway earlier …
Telling myself that I needed the exercise, I picked up my feet and jogged the rest of the way around the block, stopping myself from running full-speed with only the smallest bit of self-control. I didn’t bother looking behind me anymore. Someone might have been there or they might not have, but I didn’t need to know. I just needed to get back to safety. By the time I came back in the door, I was breathing hard. I could feel the flush of exertion in my cheeks.
Lorenzo was right where I had left him, cleaning his guns. He looked up at me with a smirk. “Did you enjoy yourself?”
I stormed down the hall to take a shower.
Chapter Thirteen
Dino
“You’re certain?” My hands shook around the phone. He had found her. I knew that hiring the best private detective in the city would pay off eventually. The man was expensive, but it would be worth it. Alexis had been out of my grasp for far too long. She needed to be back where she belonged, and I had plenty of plans for her once she was with me again.
“Yes, Dino.” Marco Rossi’s voice was raspy. The rumor was that he’d been injured when he had gotten too close to the person he was tailing and his target just happened to know jiu-jitsu. He’d been choked within an inch of his life, but he had hung on long enough to continue his investigations. “She’s been hard to follow, since she stays holed up in Lorenzo’s apartment most of the time. But it’s definitely her. I got much closer yesterday and there’s no doubt in my mind. And you weren’t lying. She’s pretty hot.”
I nodded, trying to keep myself from getting too excited and willing to ignore Rossi’s remark in favor of the work he’d done. Part of me knew I should have just let the whole thing go. Yes, Alexis had been the best lay I’d ever had, but that had been way back at the beginning. Somehow, she’d forgotten everything I’d done for her. Things had continued to degrade between the two of us until she just decided she didn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore. But she was mine, and I was going to have her once again. I would make her understand what a big mistake she’d made and she would never get another chance to leave me. “And what about everything else? Were you able to confirm your other suspicions?”
Rossi sighed. I’d asked him this more than once. “As much as I can. There’s no way I can get in the Moretti mansion, so I don’t know what has been said in there. But she’s living in Lorenzo’s apartment, she’s been to dinner with him at Jianna’s, and I even saw her out shopping with the old lady. There’s definitely a connection, but I’m not sure what it is.”
“That’s all right. I have my own suspicions. I’ll get you the money the usual way.” I sat down in the ratty recliner and stared out the window over the city. I was going to be busy over the next few days. I had to be careful with a man like Lorenzo Rizzo. He was dangerous, but I had a feeling I wanted Alexis more than he did.
“Anything else you want? Or is the case shut?” Rossi was impatient on the other end of the phone.
I laughed a little. This wouldn’t be over—not really—until I had Alexis back in my grasp. “Keep on doing what you’re doing. Don’t lose track of her. Things will be critical over the next few days, or possibly a week. If you find out anything else, let me know.” I hung up and flung my head back. I had spent so long wondering and waiting and it was all finally over. I only had one more phone call to make and that would be it.
* * *
It was hard not to laugh to myself as I waited for Lorenzo to show up. I had the upper hand. Lorenzo was a powerful man and part of a powerful family. He had money and numerous allies, and the fact that he was a successful hitman was no small advantage. But I had information that meant more than everything he had.
I’d picked one of the darkest, most secluded bars in the city. We would be harder to track here, and there was a nice quiet booth all the way in the back. Numerous people went in and out of here. They came in sober and left drunk. They came in single and left with some random woman they’d just met. Some of them came and never left, listing further and further toward the edges of their barstools as they drank themselves into oblivion. There were several discreet exchanges of cash for small packages, made with furtive glances and muttered agreements. It was a seedy joint and that only made it more perfect for the kind of business we would be doing.
I knew him the second he walked in. There was no mistaking a man like Lorenzo, especially in here. He’d laid aside the fancy suit for jeans and a t-shirt, but he still didn’t belong amongst this crowd. He was too tall, too broad, and too aware. He watched everyone in this place as though they might be ready to jump up and attack him. The confident set of his chin said that he knew he could take any of them down, but that didn’t mean he was going to be caught unaware.
“Dino?” he asked when he approached my booth.
I grinned up at him. “Lorenzo? Glad you could join me.”
“It didn’t seem as though I had much choice, by the way you sounded on the phone.” I thought he might try to act like he had the upper hand by remaining on his feet, but he slid into the booth. A skinny waitress in a tiny skirt immediately flocked to our table and took his drink order. “You want to tell me what this is all about?”
Picking up my glass and taking a sip of whiskey, I kept my eyes on him. “I know who you are.”
“Oh?” Lorenzo raised one eyebrow as he accepted a drink from the waitress and waved her away when she tried to ask him if he wanted anything else. “And who is that? I’ve been different things to different people over the years.”
“But I know who you are to Matteo Moretti.”
Lorenzo paused, but only for a microsecond. “I don’t think that’s much of a secret. Everybody has to work for someone. If you think that’s worthy of blackmail, then you’ve done nothing but waste my time.” He stood up, prepared to leave his drink on the table and go.
“I also know who you are to Alexis.”
He stopped, turning to look at me once again. The lighting was dim, but I could see the way his eyes glimmered as they watched me. He was armed, and I knew that, but I wasn’t afraid. Not in here. Not once he heard what I had to say. “Excuse me?”
“Sit down, Lorenzo. We have a lot to talk about.” It felt incredible to order around a man like him. I’d spend most of my life scraping by, working the black market to make a few dollars but never hitting it rich. I would never be able to have a fancy apartment or an expensive sports car like he did, but I would have Alexis back. I wondered if she was as important to him as she was to me. Perhaps the exchange would go smoothly.
Lorenzo sat. He leaned forward, his elbows on the table and his beer ignored. “I think you should know that I don’t negotiate with lowlife scumbags. Whatever it is you have to say, no matter how important you think it is, I highly doubt that I’ll enter into any dealings with you.”
I allowed myself another grin. “You’ll change your mind soon enough.”
“All right. Get on with it. I have things to do.” He rolled his hand in the air, getting impatient.
I took another long, slow sip of whiskey, feeling the satisfying burn on the way down. It was fun to make him wait. “Listen carefully. It’s taken me a few weeks to put all this together and it’s only right if the story gets a little time to breathe. You see, I used to date this girl. She’s the kind who gets herself into trouble a lot. Blame it on a troubled childhood or daddy issues or what have you, but she’s never quite been able to hoist herself out of the rut she must have been born in. I was doing e
verything I could to help her out, but she got away from me about six months ago. Her name is Alexis Reid.”
Lorenzo’s big hand wrapped around his beer bottle, but he didn’t lift it off the table.
“I spent a little time trying to find her on my own. She isn’t smart enough to know how to hide very well. It was time I brought her back. Not surprisingly, I discovered she was dancing regularly at some strip joint called The Corral. She was the star act. For Alexis, that’s a pretty good gig. I figured I had her; I could just walk into the bar and take her home. After all, I couldn’t let my woman go on dancing for other men. Then, surprisingly, she disappeared.” My heart pounded at the memory. I’d gone into The Corral once I’d heard she was dancing there. She hadn’t even bothered to use a different stage name, and I had taken that as a sign that she didn’t really want to hide from me. Maybe she liked being pursued and captured; there was no telling with her. I had watched her dance, jealousy writhing in my heart as she twirled those sexy hips. It had been bad enough to see her onstage, but it had been so much worse when I’d seen her grinding against strange men for a lap dance. She was mine and she had no right to share that body with anyone else.
