by Bry Ann
I glare harder at my men.
“He is just a kid. Remember that. We will not be made fools of again by him. Understand?”
“Yes, Boss. Understood.”
“Good, I hope so. I do include myself in this, but it won’t happen again. Enzio, drive me home, now.”
“Yes, Boss,” he mumbles.
We both head to the car. I will not sleep tonight. Neither will Sven, Frances, Gioele and every other goddamn man I say. I want more answers than I have. This is ridiculous. I won’t have some teenager pulling things over on me and fucking with my family.
I. Will. Not. Have. It.
I throw the car door open. Lacey is there, tucked in a ball, staring out the window. Instantly, some of my rage dies.
“Lacey?”
I climb in the car quickly and pull her into my side. She immediately tucks her head into me.
“I wasn’t good enough. He got away. I tried so hard. Why do I always fail?”
Her nails are digging into my thigh, but I could really care less.
“Lacey, he’s been trained to fight since birth. Lace,” I hold her face, praying I’m making the right decision telling her this. “Even I underestimated him. He was in the house that day we came to get you out. He was so young, I thought… fuck, Lacey, I’m sorry. I thought he was just a kid. I think it was Sven’s call to spare him, but I’m the Boss and—”
“No,” she shakes her head several times. “It makes me happy to hear you gave a teenager the benefit of the doubt. Hearing you have a conscience in there is something I’d never be angry about.”
She looks over her shoulder.
“You were incredible in there. So brave, and you fought well. He’s just better. Please don’t think it makes you any less. You definitely don’t ‘always fail.’”
“First I failed Rose, now this.”
Her face falls. I sigh. Now would be a great time to tell her that Rose is not dead. That she didn’t fail her, but I can only tell her the second part. The facts with no evidence.
“You didn’t fail Rose, Lacey.”
She turns to me with pleading eyes. Her soft fingers lace through mine before I can try to pull away.
Thump. Thump. I hear my heartbeat speed up in my chest as each finger curls through mine.
“What do you know about Rose? Back in the studio, you said I don’t know everything. What don’t I know? Please, tell me. What don’t I know? What have you been working on? Maybe I can help.” She glances down and then back up. “I think you’re gonna be busy enough with him.”
“Lacey,” I groan, “just let me finalize a few things. Be sure. Then I’ll tell you. I promise.”
Not a lie… grey area.
She sighs and squeezes my hand tight. Not for reassurance. It’s a way for her to get her own feelings under control.
“Fine, but I only say that because I know you, and I know that’s the most I’m getting right now.”
“I’m sorry.” I genuinely mean that. I hope she can see that in my eyes. “Lace, sometimes my job…”
“I know, alright? Just leave it. I’ll wait.”
Her legs curl back up. One by one, her fingers uncurl from mine and she wraps them around her legs.
“Lacey, are you okay? I will find out how Miguel knew where we were.”
I can feel my pulse hammering away. Lacey spins around, body still curled up, but eyes like steel.
“If you think I’m staying out of this, you are sadly mistaken. I won’t sit back while the ‘men handle this.’ I won’t.”
“Lacey…”
Lacey swiftly lifts her dress all the way up above her tights, as modestly as she can, and shows a large burn on the side of her body.
“He did this to me!” She throws her dress back down. “Two men held me down, mocked me and he held a burning rod to my side. I see it all the time in my nightmares. I won’t sit back while he tries to take me again. I won’t let him. I can’t go through it again. I can’t. And I won’t.”
“Rose,” I whisper, trying to remind her. “It’s too dangerous. We have a daughter. We can’t risk something happening to both of us.”
“Then we won’t be idiots and both go out to get him together, but I’m in just as much danger not doing anything as I am if I work behind the scenes.”
“Lacey, it’s me he wants. You’ll be—”
“Safe?” She screams, making both Enzio and I jump. “Safe, are you kidding me? Like I was in the restaurant or his father’s cell? I’m never safe, Ruston! Never. You’re an idiot if you think so. You don’t think he’ll want the woman his father died raping?”
Silence. It rings so loudly in the car that we can hear the subtle scraping of the car driving down the highway. No one says a word.
My heart is in my ears. Rape. Rape. Rape. My teeth are grinding so hard into each other I can feel them scraping against each other as my jaw ticks.
“So yeah, you try to keep me away from this, Adam, and I swear… I swear I’ll…”
I feel my eyes darken and my hammering pulse start to shift to a steady, focused thump. “You’ll what, Lacey? You’ll do what?”
Lacey’s cheeks heat and her body starts to vibrate. I’ve never seen her like this, and I’ve seen her furious before. She’s like a whole ‘nother person. So when she turns to me and pins me with those steel grey eyes of hers, I know I’m not getting Lacey the prisoner, wife, or mother. I’m getting Lacey the survivor, the genius, the woman who bypassed all my security clearances. The Lacey who poses a very real threat to me and my empire.
“I’ll leave, Adam,” she whispers, so only we can hear. “I’ll grab Rose, I’ll pack my bags, and I’ll leave you. I’ll leave this life. I’ll leave all of this.”
Rose
“Rose, bring table eight their meal, then you can go.”
“Okay, Dalton.”
Why am I here? Why. Why. Why. I think that for the millionth time tonight, like I do every night I work in this dump.
The sound of heels clicking along the tile floor catches my attention. I spin around to see Maria standing there with her hip cocked to the side. Maria moved here with me, to bumfuck nowhere, Iowa. Somewhere no one would think to look. She downgraded her work environment from a fancy private treatment center to a tech in a local hospital psych ward. I desperately wanted to work there with her, but it was too risky. It’s the first place someone would look if someone did come looking for me. So I’m here, in the most upscale restaurant in this small Iowa town, but I’m free. I’m getting help. I’m healthy.
No one knows who I am.
“When are you off? I still don’t know why you work at this place.”
She glances around the place with her nose all scrunched up. She stands out like a sore thumb in here, with her skin-tight purple dress and black heels. She stands out in this whole town, really. She’s meant for way more than this.
“Maria,” I hiss, sprinting over and tugging her to the side. “You’re gonna get me fired.”
“Well, you’re welcome.”
Rolling my eyes, I turn away from her. “Give me two minutes.”
I quickly bring the couple at table eight their dinner and grab my bag from the back.
“I’m out,” I shout, before running out of there.
Maria looks me up and down. Displeasure is written all over her face. “Since I’m picking you up, I say where you go. You are going to my house to change. We’re going out.”
“Are you trying to make me look like a slut?”
I try to sound upset, but really, she’s about the only bright thing in my life right now, and she knows it. I have no clue why she decided to follow a fuck up like me to the middle of nowhere.
“Not a slut.” She shakes her head back and forth with a grin. “Just more like me.”
“So slutty, but not quite a complete slut.”
She slams her door as we both climb in. Fingers wrap around my knee and squeeze tight.
“Eeeek!” I squeal. I lean my upp
er body over the console and tickle her neck.
“Rose! Stop! My boobs…” More uncontrollable laughter. “They aren’t made for this dress. Rose!”
Grinning, I pull away. “Don’t mess with me, Maria Vasquez.”
“Oh I know, Rose Bellemore.”
We’re both smiling to ourselves as she drives off.
“Maria,” I whisper. “I don’t know how to thank you…”
“Shhh….ah...” She waves a hand through the air. “Don’t be ridiculous. You got shot, chased by the mafia and your serial killer father, and now are going through recovery. I know I seem like a bitch, but my big secret is that I’m actually not. Don’t thank me again.”
And because Maria’s Maria, queen of avoidance...
“Besides, this town needs more women who show skin and wear heels, and the guys in Illinois were getting boring. It’s a win-win.”
“Whatever you say, girl.”
“Damn right.”
The ride is silent the rest of the way. I shouldn’t have thanked her. That was my bad.
“How’s treatment going?”
She rarely asks, but she has to sometimes. Her kind side wins out over her fun side once in a while.
“Good, I guess.”
“You guess?”
I shrug.
“I’m still a tech, girl. You were too. You gotta know I won’t let you out of this conversation with a shrug. Why the change in mood?”
“I’m just struggling,” I mumble.
Literally, Maria being the psycho she is, she pulls the car over to the side of the road so suddenly that my side slams into the car door and throbs as she puts the car in park on the shoulder.
“Maria, seriously!”
I hold my shoulder and glare at her for effect.
“What are you struggling with?”
She’s in full badass tech mode. Maria’s never been a delicate, gentle tech like me. She’s serious and business-like. She needs to get to the root of the problem and solve it so she can move on.
“Just forget I said anything.”
“Not gonna happen. I’m focused now, pulled over and everything.”
“Seeing him again...” She doesn’t need to ask who. She knows I mean the mafia boss. “Seeing him again just made me miss… Look, I know I’m an idiot, okay? But he said that Sven was drinking because of me. Lacey had a baby. I feel guilty. Then, my body... I don’t stand out. All I had was my beauty. I didn’t realize it, but I sure do now. All I had was that, and now I’m just average. I feel empty. Like a fire after it’s been extinguished.”
Maria’s eyes go soft, which makes me feel worse. I’m so fucking broken.
“You got close to those people under very bizarre circumstances. You have every right to miss them, but don’t you dare feel guilty. I’m gonna sound like a bitch here, but when don’t I? Sven made his choice. He knew you cared about him, but weren’t comfortable with the life he lived. He could have quit for you. And Lacey wants to be with that man. It’s not your job to make sure she has a friend inside the walls of the life she’s now chosen. As for your body… girl, seriously? You got boobs, an ass, fucking curves! Your skin glows. Glows!”
She shouts that like I’m seriously misunderstanding something huge.
“Your fire will come back. You just gotta build your life back up. You’re in college, which I am, mmm, so proud of you for. You’re gonna be a damn good therapist.”
Her manicured hand gently splays over the console. She drops her tone, like it’s not her saying it if it isn’t at her usual volume.
“And that’s why I try to take you out so much,” she whispers. “It all makes you feel alive: the attention, drinks, men. You don’t feel so empty inside in those moments.”
I gape at her.
“Maria, do you…?”
“This isn’t about me!” She snaps so suddenly that I’m taken aback. “Sorry, this isn’t about me. It’s about you. See, I’m not trying to make you a slut.”
She winks and starts the car. As we drive down the desolate Iowa road, my mind is free of my problems and fully focused on Maria’s words.
And that’s why I try to take you out so much. It all makes you feel alive: the attention, drinks, men. You don’t feel so empty inside in those moments.
I knew Maria had some sort of issue since she’s so keen on avoiding any moment that could bare any sign of emotion, but empty? The last thing Maria seems to be is empty. She seems so full. Full of everything: life, beauty, fun, humor. How can she be empty? I’m once again reminded that appearances aren’t everything.
They’re nothing.
A smoke screen.
A carefully constructed picture.
A. LIE.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Both of us jump slightly, since we are so lost in our heads.
“It’s yours,” she mumbles.
“Great.”
I frown and glance at the screen.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
“It’s unknown.” My eyebrows pull in tighter. I stare at the ringing phone. “Should I answer it?”
I turn to Maria. She thinks for a moment before nodding.
“Yes. I’m here. If it’s a weirdo, hang up. If it’s not, then don’t stay on long enough for them to track you.”
I nod. Shakily, I grab the phone.
“This is Rose,” I squeak in that voice solely reserved for strangers and unknown phone calls. Most people have one.
“Rose.”
Chills run up my spine. The Boss. I still don’t know his freaking name! Does anyone?
“What do you want? We settled everything.”
“We sure as fuck did not!” He sounds manic, crazed. The most unhinged I’ve ever heard him. I have the suicidal urge to hang up on him.
“You are coming here. You will tell Lacey that you are alive in person. This isn’t a question.”
My fear turns to fire.
“No, I won’t! I’ve built something. Something free. A life I can actually survive. I can’t give that up for anyone, not even her. And trust me when I say that if I was going to give it up for anyone, it would be Lacey.”
“Oh, hell no!” I hear beside me. The phone is jerked from my my hand before I can tighten my grip.
“Listen here, asshole!”
“Maria!” I shout. Oh my gosh, does she have a deathwish? She knows who he is. She twists to the side so I can’t grab the phone, driving with one hand.
“My friend over here is alive, no thanks to you. I don’t plan on that changing anytime soon, so you can, like, lose this number.”
I’m having a panic attack over here. I’d reach for the phone, but Maria would kill us in this car before handing it over. I know this side of her, and it’s not one I’m willing to mess with while she’s operating a vehicle.
I hear mumbling on the other end of the line. I wish I could hear him! She’d better not be dumb enough to give her name. What happened to not staying on long enough for him to track it?
“Oh hell to the no, you will not be blackmailing my friend!”
“Maria!” I screech.
“Shhh…” She hisses, glaring at me. Her eyes have a fire I’ve never seen in her before. Let’s just say I shut up fast.
“You want a deal? Get a fucking lawyer!”
She slams her finger on the blaring red end button and slaps the phone back down on the console. Holy shit, what did she just do?
“Maria!” My eyes are bugging out of my head. “What did you just do? Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.”
“Relax, will you?”
“Relax!” I shriek. “Have you lost your stupid, idiotic, beautiful mind, you dumb girl? A mafia boss. You just said that to a mafia boss!”
She shrugs. “I didn’t give him a name. He has no clue who I am. No clue where we are. I hung up before he could track us. He deserves to have his ass handed to him. He’s a bad man, Rose.”
Oh my god. Is she delusional? I run my hands through my hair and tug, hard!
“I know that, better than most, Maria! But… but… you’re underestimating him. He will find us one day. He’ll—”
Ring! Ring! Ring!
“It’s him. I know it is. I’m gonna have a nervous breakdown.”
My heart is beating too fast. My mind is spinning too much. This is too risky.
“I’ll handle it.”
Maria reaches for the phone, but I snatch it before she can stir up any more trouble. I glare at her as I put the phone to my ear.
“Hello,” I whisper. There’s a long pause, where I presume he works to get his temper under control.
“Can we talk now? Or does anyone else have a death wish I need to hear out?”
“Please, my friend, she—”
“Come see Lacey and it will all be settled. To be honest, I don’t give a fuck about your friend. Lacey really needs to see you. She needs to know you’re alive. I can’t keep lying to her. I can’t. It’s killing us.”
“What do you mean? Is she okay?”
“Agree to come and I’ll tell you.”
“I can’t. Please, I can’t.”
I’m gonna cry. Sob. I’m gonna break down. It’s not just Lacey there. It’s Sven. I… can’t.
“You are so fucking selfish! Lacey is struggling! Sven is broken. He drank himself stupid for a year straight. I told you he’s in therapy... because of you! Sven. I can’t believe we named our daughter after you. That thought literally makes me sick.”
Daughter? After me? Any control I was holding onto, I lose. They named their daughter after me. Lacey named her precious baby girl Rose, because of me.
“Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll do it.”
The sigh that erupts from him lets me know there’s a whole hell of a lot going on. That was the sigh of a desperate man. And if I know anything about the Boss, it’s that he is never desperate.
“I’ll text you the address. I won’t say a word ‘til you get here. You have my word on that. You can let people know how you’d like. But Rose, be here. You won’t like my backup plan. Maria’s your friend’s name, right?”
Chills run down my body. I can’t speak. Can’t respond. I can’t even stutter up a halfhearted response. I’m simply frozen. Not Maria. Not my passionate, complicated, beautiful friend.
