That was hard to wrap her head around, but on some level it made sense. It still didn’t explain why he’d gone to such lengths to work for her family, but a horrifying scenario was forming in her mind.
“The thing is, I had to do something big to regain my father’s trust. Something that would make up for me walking away,” he said. “So my superiors came up with a plan…”
The realization made her fall back a step, staggered. “You’re trying to get back in with your family,” she whispered, disbelieving. “By taking mine down?”
“No,” he whispered, coming closer. “I’m just trying to prove the crimes that both of our families have been committing for years. I’m trying to bring justice to all the people they’ve hurt. People like your mother.”
“Don’t you dare bring her into this,” she warned, feeling her voice shake. “Your family is the one who put out the hit on her.”
Again, he shook his head. His gaze so full of pity and remorse. “That’s exactly my point. Some egotistical crime lord wants to send a message and innocent people, people with families are caught in the crossfire. Do you have any idea how many people Trey has killed? Or your dad?”
She didn’t want to think about that—she couldn’t think about that. They were her family and family came first. That had been drilled into her head for as long as she could remember. “What does any of this have to do with me?” she demanded. “Where do I fit into this plan?”
“You don’t,” he said. “I mean, you weren’t supposed to.”
She scoffed, shaking her head.
“I never knew I was going to meet you,” he said. “Or that I was going to fall for you. But once I did, all I could think about was getting you out. Out from under them. Out of this life you hate.”
She looked up at him. How could she trust anything that came out of his mouth now? She’d been convinced he was the only one who understood her, the only one who cared about what she wanted. How could she have been so blind?
“Everything…every single thing I’ve done since we met has been for you,” he said.
He said this with such conviction that she couldn’t help but begin to believe him. She felt her anger fading away, piece by piece.
“I love you,” he said. “And I want to be with you, but that can never happen as long as our families are free.”
“You want to put my brother and my dad in jail,” she said. “Do you honestly think I can forgive that?”
This took him back a little. He blinked a couple times. “No,” he said finally. “Not until you know the truth.”
The truth? she thought. There was more?
“Your father’s been lying to you for years,” he said. “About the way your mom died.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Haven’t you ever wondered what started the feud between our families? They used to get along, sometimes they even worked together. Until my dad had an affair with your mom and broke their code of honor.”
“This is crazy,” she said. “My mom wouldn’t—”
“I saw them together,” he said. “I don’t know why she did it. Maybe she was as lonely and ignored as you are. Maybe they were in love—I don’t know. What I do know is that your father found out, and he wasn’t happy.”
She started to realize what he was trying to say. She shook her head, trying to stop him, but he didn’t stop.
“Your dad ordered the hit,” he said. “Not mine.”
Turning from him, she felt sickened by the idea. “Stop it.”
“He had to have known that you would be there—that you would see it—and he had her killed anyway,” he said. “All because she dared to go against the code. Does anybody deserve to die for that?”
“Listen to what you’re asking me to believe,” she said.
“Look at me. Bela, look at me.” Reaching out, he took her hand gently. She couldn’t explain it, but the second he touched her, he reminded her of everything she felt for him. He reminded her of her trust for him, the loyalty. “Would I tell you something so horrible if I wasn’t absolutely sure? Would I do that to you?”
As she looked into his chocolate brown eyes—filled with love and compassion—she knew he would never hurt her like this unless what he was saying was true. Sure, he’d lied to her before. But—for some crazy reason—she knew he wouldn’t lie to her about this.
“I can’t prove it,” he said. “Your dad is so good at covering his tracks, but I know he did it.”
Pulling her hand from his, she backed toward the door. “I…I have to go,” she stammered.
“Wait,” he said. “There’s so much we need to talk about now that you know who I really am—”
“Do I?” she asked, gazing at him. “Do I know you, really? Because up until now I thought you were a petty criminal and now…now you’re a cop. Working with the FBI. Trying to put everybody I care about in jail.”
“They’re putting themselves in jail,” he said. “They chose this life, Bela. Shouldn’t they have to deal with the consequences?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “That’s not up to me.”
“I know,” he said, his face turning solemn. “It’s up to me.”
Raking a hand through her hair, she tried to fight off another batch of tears. The odds were stacked against them enough when she thought he came from a rival mob family. Now, he was on the other side completely. He was on the law’s side.
“Look, you need some time to think, I get it,” he said. “But please…don’t tell anybody about me.”
She would never do that—she could never do that. Even with how much this betrayal hurt, she wouldn’t put his life in jeopardy that way. But could she risk her brother’s freedom? Could she stay quiet about this secret, knowing it could land him in jail? How would she choose which man stayed in her life?
“You know what they’ll do to me if you tell.”
“And I know what you’ll do to them if I don’t,” she said, feeling helpless.
His expression moved with compassion. He nodded in understanding and let her leave.
Long after she arrived back at home, Bela was in a daze. She felt like a zombie as she sat on her bed and tried to sort out all of her confused and betrayed thoughts. She tried so hard to put herself in Vincent’s shoes, but she just couldn’t understand how he could lie to her all these months. Had he wanted to come clean sooner? Had he wanted to be honest with her? How could he listen to her wonder about her mother’s death and not tell her the truth sooner? Could she ever forgive him for this?
It had been a long night at the club and Mandi was grateful for the quiet of the night. It was dark, and the streets were nearly deserted as she walked herself home.
The smell of rain hung in the cool air and fog lingered just above the streets. The pathway a head was illuminated in an amber glow from the street lights and it created a peaceful ambiance.
Out of nowhere came three men, all dressed in black. They surrounded her, one behind and one on each side. Fear quickly mushroomed inside her as she picked up her pace.
“Where you goin’ baby?” The one to her left called out.
“Get lost,” she quipped.
“We just wanna talk,” another one said.
One of them tried to grab her by the arm and she turned around and slapped him across the face.
An ‘ooo’ rang out from them, as if they were daring her to fight back some more, as if they like the fight in her. The man who had been behind her was now standing in front of her and he looked her dead in the eyes. She backed up and turned to run away but he grabbed her by her hair and effortlessly tossed her into the middle of the empty street. She landed with a hard thud, smacking her head against the pavement, a sharp pain shot through her head and her ears started to ring. They began to blur as they closed in on her. “Now that’s not very nice.”
The simple fear was gone now and replaced with complete and total terror. What were they going to do? Why wasn’t anybody stopping the
m? A fist hit her jaw at what seemed like a hundred miles per hour and she felt the blood spill into her mouth. Another one grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. She wouldn’t let them hear her scream, or see her cry; they weren’t going to break her. In that moment she retreated into a place she’d left behind years ago. The place she’d discovered when she was a teenager. A place where she wasn’t there anymore, she was lying on a beach in the tropics or skiing in the Alps. She was curled up in bed with Trey, safe in his arms. She retreated into the elsewhere place.
Chapter Fourteen
Trey was in the middle of a meeting when he got a frantic call from Mandi. She sounded upset and asked him to come over—which in and of itself was strange enough. She’d never asked him for anything before so he dropped everything and went straight to her apartment complex.
When he knocked on the door, it took her a minute to answer. As she pulled open the door, he saw why. Her face was all discolored, marked with bruises and scrapes and running makeup. There were tears in her eyes as she opened the door just enough for him to slip inside and then locked it behind them again.
He wasn’t prepared for the amount of rage and concern that flooded through his body. It washed over him like a tidal wave, taking all logic and reason out the window. He could do nothing but stare in total outrage as he spotted more bruises on her arms, her legs, and fingerprints around her neck. “What the hell?” he asked, taking her face gently in his hands. “Who did this to you?”
Her hands trembled as she brought them to his, trying to push him away. “I’m fine,” she insisted, though her voice trembled, too. “Really. I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not. You’re shaking.” He guided her to the couch and she sat down. He sat down on the coffee table in front of her. Her body was still trembling like a leaf, but her tears had stopped. “What happened?”
“I was walking home and these guys came out of nowhere,” she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her shaking hand. “I told them to get lost and one of them hit me, knocked me down.”
She winced, as if reliving this, and he felt his heart go out to her.
“Then they just started…hitting and kicking me right there in the street and nobody did anything,” she said, her voice thickening with tears once again. “I thought they were going to kill me.”
He was quiet as he finished listening to her story. More than anything, he wanted to reach out and hold her, offer comfort, but he was afraid she wouldn’t want it. She looked shaken up and weak and Mandi was always so concerned with being tough and independent.
“Finally, they stopped,” she said, taking a slow breath in. “And they told me to give you a message.”
Trey felt something in his blood turn ice cold. All this time, he’d thought she was attacked because she worked and lived in a bad neighborhood, that something like this was bound to happen eventually. The idea that it was because of him hit him like a sucker punch to the gut, vacuuming the air from his lungs.
“They said…” she took another breath, trying to calm herself. “They said you don’t own this city and you never would. What does that even mean?”
She kind of whispered the question to herself, as if she’d been doing this since the attack. Wondering why.
The reason why was simple: because Trey cared about her. Because she was his only weakness—and now his enemies knew it.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, taking her hand. “But I promise you…I won’t let anything like this happen again.”
She nodded and he could see her struggling to hold back more tears, struggling to keep face, but she couldn’t. Her composure disintegrating fast, she covered her face with her hands and started to cry quietly. He took her into his arms and held her tight while she buried her face in his chest and let the tears run free. After awhile, she pulled away and announced she needed a shower. He promised her he’d still be there when she got out; he’d already decided he wasn’t leaving her side for the rest of the night and probably tomorrow, too.
As soon as he heard the shower turn on, he took out his cell phone and called Johnny. After quickly filling him in, he put out the order for every available man to hit the neighborhood and find out who’d attacked Mandi and who they were working for. One thing he knew for certain: heads were going to roll for this.
After two days of avoiding Vincent’s phone calls, Bela finally agreed to meet him on the rooftop.
“I’ve had some time to think about it,” she said as she leaned against the ledge. Honestly, to her it seemed messed up to ignore all of his criminal acts when she thought he was a mobster, and then suddenly get angry with him when she found out he was a cop. That was the same kind of double-standard her family would employ, and she didn’t want to be like them. Besides, weren’t cops—technically—supposed to be the good guys? “And honestly…I have a ton of questions.”
He leaned against the ledge next to her, peering at her while she debated this. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” he said.
“Did you know who I was when we met?” she asked.
“Yes,” he admitted. “I knew who you were.”
That led her into her next question, “Was there ever a time when being with me was just to get close to my family?”
“No.” He shook his head. “No, Bela. I swear. It was never about that. Call it curiosity or whatever, but I wanted to get to know you…I wanted to find out if you were like the rest of them. And once I found out that you weren’t…I couldn’t walk away. Even though I probably should’ve, I couldn’t.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked. “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”
“I wanted to,” he said. “Every day. Why do you think I hit the brakes on your birthday? I couldn’t be with you knowing there was this huge secret between us. I almost told you that night, but knowing this…it just puts more weight on your shoulders. I didn’t want to do that to you.”
That, she could understand. It was a huge weight to carry, but it was one she would willingly bear to be with him. “I’m not going to tell Trey about you,” she said finally. “I mean, I can’t. I won’t. I can forgive you for lying, for keeping secrets, even for trying to go after my family. I can see past that.”
“Thank you,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“But I have to ask you to back down,” she said, turning to him. “Please. If you love me, don’t go through with this.”
“Bela, I would do anything for you,” he said. “But I can’t do that.”
“Please,” she repeated. “If Trey finds out who you really are and what you’re trying to do, he will kill you. Whether I love you or not, he’ll put a bullet in your head.”
“I’m good at what I do.” The soft tips of his fingers caressed her cheek, filling her with warmth and peace. “He won’t find out.”
“Like he didn’t find out we were together?”
He sighed gently, his lips setting in a straight line that made him look like he was worried too.
“I’m really scared,” she said. “I’m scared for you.”
He cradled her face in both hands, his fingertips brushing across her skin and giving her a sense of comfort in spite of her fears. “I’ll be fine,” he whispered, his voice somehow soothing her. “I promise.”
Looking into his eyes, she tried to believe him, to let herself cling to his promise.
Pulling one hand away, he reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out a small floppy disk. “I brought this for you,” he said. “So you’ll understand why I can’t walk away.”
“What is it?” she asked.
His thumb grazed across her cheek as his eyes drank in the sight of her, never breaking away from her face. “The truth.”
Chapter Fifteen
Mandi stood in front of the bathroom mirror and examined her reflection. The bruise around her left eye had faded to a pale blue, yellowed around the edges. The swelling on her bottom lip had gone down, but she was pretty
sure she’d chipped a tooth during the attack. She tried to hold her head up high, but she couldn’t help but feel knocked down a peg or two. She thought she’d escaped this kind of shame and self-hate long ago, but this recent attack had brought it all back. She suddenly felt exactly like she did when all of the no-good boyfriends and all of the creepy foster dads had hit her, and she began to wonder if there was something about her that attracted violence. Was she wearing some invisible sign that said she was an easy target?
And now, on top of all of those worries, a new threat was emerging. Turning away from the mirror, she began to pace a slow line in front of the bathroom sink, listening to each tick of the kitchen timer she’d set for two minutes. She tried to convince herself that the pregnancy test would be negative—she’d only been with Trey a couple of times and they’d been careful. She’d had pregnancy scares before, and each time she took a test, it seemed to take forever for the results to come in. Each moment passed like an hour while she waited to see what her future held.
Finally, the gentle buzzing of the timer made her jump. Turning to the sink with dread and anticipation, she picked up the small oblong stick. In the results window, she saw two pink lines, but her mind came up blank as to what the result meant. Did two lines mean pregnant or not pregnant? She couldn’t remember, so she picked up the box and checked the back. Her heart dropped when she read the results—two lines meant positive.
Sinking to sit on the edge of the bathtub, she felt dizzied and weak. How could she have let something like this happen? And so soon into a relationship? Had she learned nothing? Was she completely stupid? Her breathing quickened as panic set in.
She should’ve been on the pill, she scolded herself. It’d just been so long since she’d been with anybody, and she never planned to be with Trey in the first place. He was just so damn stubborn and irresistible that all her logic had gone out the window. Still, she should’ve gone on the pill after their first night together. What had she been thinking? What would she do now?
Men of Honor: Cosa Nostra book 1 Page 9
