“I hope you enjoyed your little tryst last night. I’ve sat back and watched you do whatever you want for years but from now on you’re under my control.”
“Never. Let me go, Angelo and we can talk about this reasonably.”
“We’re long past talking, Toni. There’s a reason your father is dead and it’s not so we can talk.”
“What do you mean? He died of a heart attack,” she sputtered.
“You’re not that naive, are you? He was poisoned, my dear. Under my direction from a guard who owed me a favor. The heart attack was just a cover-up.” He grinned at her and all she saw was pure evil.
“No. You’re lying,” she said with tears forming in her eyes.
“Hardly. Now it’s time for phase two of the takeover. Marrying you. Our plane leaves for Italy in an hour. You’re going to be a big girl and walk with me into the airport and board that plane. It’s simple. If you cooperate, you live and if you don’t you’ll be dead and missing before sunset. I’ve already concocted a story about you moving to Italy to start a new life, so no one will suspect a thing. In fact, I don’t think anyone will miss you. So what will it be? Are you coming with me peacefully or would you like to get up close and personal with Max?” His question rang through her. She spat in his face.
“You’re a monster. How could you do it? You were like a son to him.”
She detected a second of sadness passing through his eyes before he resumed a mask of evil.
“What will it be, Toni?”
Toni sighed. “I have no choice then, do I? What about my passport and my things?”
“All taken care of.”
“Fine, let’s go.” She tugged her arm away and began to walk toward the parking deck’s elevator.
He yanked her hair and pulled her in; his foul breath blew into her face. “Not so fast. Listen to me and listen good, you’re going to stay close to me. I mean real close. I want to feel the heat of your plump ass on my side the whole time we’re in the airport. If you don’t, if you make one wrong move, Max is under instructions to take care of you. And if you wait until we’re on the plane, I’ll sedate you with the syringe I have in my pocket and I promise you, princess, you’ll never wake up.”
He kept his fingers wrapped in the hair at the base of her neck and pushed her toward the exit. Toni stumbled a few times on the journey across the parking lot. Between the pain of the constant tug of her hair and being plastered along his bulky mass, she found it difficult to talk. They finally reached the single elevator on the parking deck. Max pulled the suitcases to the concrete wall and tapped the down button with a meaty finger. Swallowing hard, Toni’s mind worked on overdrive.
They stood in silence. The only sound was the elevator chugging slowly to the top floor. Finally, the doors creaked opened and Angelo’s body stiffened against her. He grabbed her hair tighter when two men walked off the elevator. Toni’s eyes flicked to the men and she tried to choke down her excitement. Brax and Asher. How the hell? She sucked in a breath as she searched Brax’s eyes. A mixture of sadness, hurt and what she’d hoped was love silently messaged her back. As if in slow motion, Brax yanked her arm, pulling her out of Angelo’s grasp; at the same time Asher pinned Max against the wall, his fist finding the goon’s temple before Max collapsed to the ground.
An arm snaked around her neck as a cold metal cylinder poked at her head. She was dragged backward. Brax held on and she suddenly became the rope of a tug-o-war game.
“Get your hands off of her or I’ll put a bullet in her pretty head right here and now. Don’t tempt me because she’s already pissing me off. You’ll just be giving me a reason to do it,” Angelo snapped.
Brax let go of her arm and held his hands up.
“Don’t hurt her. Let her go and let’s talk about this, Angelo,” Brax said slowly.
Toni yelled out in pain as Angelo loosened his grip on her neck to grab a fistful of hair. He yanked her backward into the elevator.
“Please, Brax. Just go. You don’t know what he’s capable of,” Toni pleaded.
“I know exactly what he’s capable of,” he sneered.
“Brax? Now why does that name sound familiar? Oh yes, the pool boy. You still have a hard-on for my plump little girl, don’t you? I should’ve taken care of you when I had the chance.”
“I’ll say it again. Let. Her. Go. You know she doesn’t want you. Let her live her own life.” Brax walked slowly toward the elevator.
“You’ve got some balls, boy, considering you’re throwing around orders and I’m holding the gun. Say good-bye to your boyfriend, Toni,” Angelo chuckled. The gun moved from her skull to point directly at Brax’s chest.
“No!” Toni screamed and lifted her booted foot, jamming it blindly in Angelo’s groin.
Angelo groaned loudly as a shot rang out and he pressed the button to the first floor. The doors closed while she flayed her arms toward Brax who lay lifelessly on the ground.
Her breath blew deep and ragged as she willed the bile down that rose in her throat.
She wanted to tear Angelo apart limb from limb. Hunched over with both hands on his crotch, the gun hung from his fingertips. His head rose slowly to reveal beet red cheeks lined with beads of sweat.
“Bitch,” he grumbled and lunged across the elevator car at her. She kicked wildly in self-defense. Her foot met his hand and sent the gun sliding along the floor. They dove for it, but Toni was faster. She turned her back on him to pick up the gun and cradle it into her hands. She detested guns but thanks to her father, she knew how to fire one. Angelo grunted and wrapped his arms around her chest, pinning her hands together.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened.
“CIA! Move away from her, Manzanno!”
Toni turned toward the opened doors to find a man in a dark suit holding a badge and a gun. Angelo stepped back, pulled a second shotgun from his waistband and pointed it at Toni. She hooked her finger around the trigger and swiveled to point the barrel at his face.
“You asshole. You destroyed everyone I’ve ever loved. First my father and now Brax. May you rot in hell,” she shouted through tears. Her finger hovered over the trigger.
Clamping her eyes closed, her finger applied pressure to the cool metal as she heard a loud bang followed by a thud. She swallowed hard and her eyes fluttered open to see Angelo slumped in the corner with blood flowing from the side of his head. She dropped the gun, drew her knees up to her chest and sobbed into her hands.
The man in the suit entered the elevator car and strode to Angelo’s body. He held his fingers to his neck.
“He’s dead, he can’t hurt you,” he said as he walked to her and crouched at her knees.
“H-he killed my father and Brax and now I’m no better than him because I killed him.”
“Hey, hey,” the man pulled her hands from her face.
She looked into his deep brown eyes.
“First, you didn’t kill Manzanno. I did. Your gun didn’t fire. Second, Brax isn’t dead. The bullet grazed him thanks to you kicking this asshole in the balls. You saved his life.”
Toni smiled through her tears. “Thank you—” she looked at his badge. “Reid?”
He smiled and his light mocha cheeks reddened slightly as he helped her to her feet. “It’s Jackson. Jackson Reid.”
“May I see Brax?”
“Mia’s taking care of his wounds in the car. Come on, I’ll take you to him.”
Epilogue
“Another round of French Kisses, Jake!” Brax shouted from their table. His bandaged arm hung casually over Toni’s shoulder and he held an empty glass in his other hand. “These are delicious, where did you learn how to make them?”
“You think you’re the only mixologist in the joint, Brax?” Jake laughed. “Actually two new members, Emily and Mel, showed me how to make the French Kiss last night. It’s our new featured seasonal drink.” Jake walked a tray of the bubbly concoction in served in sleek champagne flutes to the table.
&nb
sp; “Thanks, Jake.” Mia said taking a sip. “Oh, I think the second one is better than the first.”
“A toast,” Asher said holding his glass toward the middle of the table.
“Luck has shined on all at this table, may it follow every one of you throughout your lives. Especially you, Jackson.”
“Yeah, I can’t believe you’ve kept your profession a secret all this time. You do know if it leaks, you’ll be the most irresistible Dom in the joint,” Brax said with a wink.
Jackson chuckled. “I already am, Brax, and don’t you forget it. Asher’s been the only one who knows what I do so let’s keep it under wraps. You never know when you and Asher will go all vigilante on me again and I'll need to bail you out of trouble. What were you thinking, going up against a notorious mobster unarmed?”
“I only had one thing on my mind,” Brax said and tugged a lock of Toni’s hair.
“That reminds me, how did you guys know where I was?” she asked looking from Asher to Brax.
“You can thank Asher and Jackson for that. I tried to go after you this morning and bumped into Asher in the hallway. He was already one step ahead of me.” Brax nodded at Asher.
“We protect each one of our members at SRE. Mia told me about your predicament and we had a feeling he would try to kidnap you at some point. I consult with Jackson on complicated privacy and safety issues. He traced the signal from your phone right to JFK.”
Toni rose from her seat, strode to the back of Jackson’s chair and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Jackson. You saved my life.”
Jackson patted her arm. “It’s my job, darling. But it was my pleasure.”
Toni stepped to her side and stood between Mia and Asher. “And you two. How can I ever repay you?” She hugged them both.
“Just be happy and safe, sweetheart,” Mia said with a smile.
“And take care of this guy,” Asher added and jerked his head toward Brax.
Toni held her hand out to Brax. He stood and took her into his arms.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking. There’s a certain intriguing chair in my suite to finish exploring,” she said with a wink.
Mia turned to Jackson. “How’s Ty? We miss him.”
Jackson waved his hand and leaned back in his chair. “He’s in St. Louis with Brooke again. I guess I lost my partner in crime, huh?”
“Maybe it’s time to settle down, Jax.” Asher chided as Jackson’s phone rang.
He chuckled as he pulled his phone from his jacket pocket and looked at the display.
“Excuse me,” he said, stood up and left the table as he answered his phone. “Hey there, love.”
“I think Jackson is one step ahead of you, Ash,” Mia said and swatted his arm.
The End
Signature drink recipe from the SRE lounge:
French Kiss
.5 oz. Crème de Framboise (raspberry liqueur)
.5 oz. Cointreau (orange liqueur)
1 oz. pink grapefruit juice
4 oz. champagne
Pour the crème de framboise, grapefruit juice and Cointreau into a shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a champagne flute. Top off the glass with champagne. Stir and serve.
Recipe and drink name submitted by Mel B. and Emily W.
www.sandrabunino.com
Other Books by Sandra Bunino:
http://www.evernightpublishing.com/sandra-bunino/
If you enjoyed this book, you may also like:
A Lotus for the Regent by Adonis Devereux
Dark Tales Diaries: Volume One by London Saint James
Love Unbound by Angela Castle
Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com
The Submission of a Mafia Princess Page 8
