by Ann, Bry
Nia is in front of Radar, eyes flaring. Her hand flies up and swack! It flies across his face so quickly that neither of us have time to react.
“Nia!” I scold, even though I wanted to do the same thing. Radar scowls at her.
“Do not lay your hands on me, mute,” he hisses.
I spin on him. “Do not call my daughter a mute.”
He meets my eyes, unflinching. I hate this kid. Why does Rose like him so much?
“Seven, can we talk?”
I look over my shoulder to see Lacey standing there, fidgeting, but her eyes are steel. I nod, but first glance over to my daughter. Her nostrils are flared but her eyes look almost watery.
“Nia, you cannot hit people. That is not okay.”
She flounders for a moment, looking increasingly upset. Her lips slide open and my heart temporarily stops.
Is she gonna talk?
I don’t realize ‘til this moment how much I’d love to hear her voice. But she doesn’t. She grabs my hand furiously and starts tracing so fast I almost have trouble keeping up.
R.
O.
S.
E.
.. and points angrily at Radar.
She scowls at him, then me.
Sighing heavily, I crouch down.
“Nia, I know he was being mean, but hitting is not the way to handle it.”
With a harrumph, she grabs my hand. I flip for her to trace, but she shakes her head and turns it the other way, curling my fingers into a half fist. I watch, enraptured, as her little cold fingers lightly trace over the scars lining the center of my knuckles.
My scars.
Correction. The scars I’ve gotten from doing exactly what I just told her not to do. Hitting people. Or knocking them out cold with my fists rather.
“Nia,” I sigh. She raises her eyebrows pointedly. This is why people like me shouldn’t be parents.
“You’re a kid, sweetie. I’m trying to raise you better than me.”
The unfamiliar sensation of tears push to the surface.
“You already know more than I wantcha to. If I could go back and never hurt anyone again, I would.”
But it’s too late for me.
I blink hard several times as I flash back to the moment one of my bullets went through a human being. I was just a kid, fresh in the military. No one that young should have to bear that burden.
Nia squeezes my hand tightly and flips it.
O.
K.
“I love you,” I whisper.
She draws a heart and squeezes my palm. Half smiling, I push to my feet to go talk to Lacey about her daughter.
* * *
“Sorry to make you wait so long,” I tell Lacey in my most even, respectful tone.
“Of course. Is Nia okay?”
I shrug, but can’t help the shocked words tumbling out of my mouth, like Lacey and I are two parents gossiping, not the boss’s wife and a capo.
“She hit Radar.”
Lacey’s eyebrows shoot up then furrow.
“Why? What did he do?”
I run a hand through my hair.
“I promised Rose I wouldn’t tell you.”
“But…”
I fidget. I really don’t want to betray her feelings, but I think it’s the right thing here.“Look, Seven, I get it. Really, I do. I’m not an overbearing mom. I really work hard not to be because it would be so easy for me.”
She fidgets with the end of her sleeve. I know that right underneath, an array of scars lie. Rumor is, they’re real bad.
“I know. Lacey, Rose is being bullied.”
Lacey goes ramrod straight. I can tell she’s trying not to get too pissed off, but she is. I’d get pissed, too, if someone was bullying Nia.
“Who? For what? Radar? Ugh, please not Radar.”
“No, not Radar. He didn’t stop kids from bullying her the other day like he usually does though, and Rose’s feelings are real hurt. I think she copes with the other kids ‘cause she doesn’t much care for them, but Radar…” I trail off.
“She likes.”
“Yeah.”
“Damn it. Is it bad I want to hurt a child?” She laughs a little uneasily. “Adam’s gonna flip when he finds out.”
Now she sounds stressed.
“It’s for her lisp, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, Lacey. It’s for her lisp.”
“Damn it!” She pounds a knuckle on her thigh and slides her teeth over her lower lip. “I knew I shouldn’t have been so selfish. I thought we had more time. She’s so precious and I didn’t want to instill the idea that something was wrong with her voice at such a young age. Why wouldn’t she come to me?” Her voice sounds pained. “I-I would never judge her.”
Ugh! This is the part I was avoiding.
“I don’t know,” I mumble.
“Yes, you do!” Lacey snaps, shuffling on her feet like she’s gonna attack me if I don’t tell her. And, well, she could. The woman is a trained fighter and badass.
“I do, but I think that information is for another time.”
“I don’t. I’ll pull the ‘my husband is boss’ card on this one. I hate it. That sickens me, but this is my daughter and I have to know why she wouldn’t come to me.”
I hate that I’m about to break Lacey’s heart. She doesn’t deserve it.
“She didn’t want Boss to find out. She— Lacey, she was scared of what he would do when he found out and knew you’d tell him.”
Lacey rears back like I shot her.
“I’m sorry, Lacey.”
She sucks in a deep breath and leans over, clutching her stomach.
“I just want the best for her,” she whispers in a tiny voice from her hunched-over position.
“I know. I know that.”
Like the weight of her body is too much, she falls back on her heels. I crouch down with her and her shoulders start to shake.
“Lacey, can you look at me?”
“Oh God. I’m not ready. She’s still so little.”
“I know, Lacey,” I murmur as voices echo behind us.
“Frances, I need you to look into… Lacey!”
Boss comes running over, not caring that he’s dressed to the nines and in front of his two highest-ranking men. He crouches down in the grass in front of where I’d just respectfully moved.
“Lacey, what’s wrong?”
I watch as she takes a deep breath and meets his eyes.
“Later. I need to be alone.”
She plants her hands on the grass, stands, and runs off. Boss’s dark eyes meet mine, flaming and demanding.
Stellar.
This is why I keep my distance from his wife.
* * *
Explaining to a mafia boss after he saw his wife nearly fall apart in front of you that it isn’t my place to say what’s wrong and he really needs to talk to his wife and daughter was not easy, and most definitely used up a bit of the trust bank I have stored with him.
I’m not worried. I’ve already built my wall back up. Lines won’t be crossed again. I just… Rose was hurting. Radar was hurting her. Nia hit someone. The kids had me a mess and I got too friendly with Lacey.
I’ve reflected on my time in the armed forces, nauseated, and I’ve steeled myself.
Boss stares at me and Frances from across his desk, twirling the glass between his fingers. I suspect Lacey’s told him about Rose by now, so the fury in his eyes is something I pray to God Frances doesn’t try to rile up.
“This ‘Ben’ guy is a contract worker. I’ve used some of my contacts to get information based on the descriptions she gave us. His job is to essentially draw people in, like he did with Isla.”
Boss stares at his drink some more.
“The other man, the man she called ‘ice man’,” he states as his lip twitches, “I haven’t got shit on.”
… And this clearly pisses him off.
“We’ll find Ben and bring him in. Frances, I’ll let you take the lead on th
at. Seven, you can take over once we have him.”
Boss lightly smirks at me, knowing I’m gonna lose my fucking mind when I meet Ben for what he did to Isla.
“He has a son,” I chime in from the corner. Boss turns to me, and so does Frances. “Isla met him.”
“Mother?” Frances questions.
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, I’ll take all that into account, but we need Ben. Bottom line. I’ll go to hell for taking away that kid’s father. Amongst other things,” he mutters.
“I don’t think the kid will be crushed. Isla suspects abuse.”
Frances rolls his eyes, but I know it’s a cover and the abuse pisses him off.
“Okay…?”
“I’m just letting you know, we have to be careful and make sure the kid doesn’t get drawn into this mess by us or otherwise.”
“Right. Thank you, Seven. Now, speaking of kids,” Boss’s hands form a fist around his glass. “It’s come to my attention that some of the kids are becoming more aware of the violence in our lives. This is not okay with me,” Boss hisses. “And I don’t know how it’s happening. I’m aware I shoulder a lot of that responsibility, but I’m going to be giving out an order that we are a child-friendly bunch if there is so much as one pair of eyes within one room of where we are working.”
His glass slams down on his desk.
“Clear.”
“Yes, Boss,” Frances and I mumble at the same time.
“Good. Now,” he pushes up to stand, “Frances, find Ben. Take some men with you. Find out his real name. Have Lionel and Fester find out his son’s location, if there’s a mother, and, if not, options for him. Seven, check on Isla. She’s been alone at your place all day. I don’t want her suffering serious long-term consequences from this, mentally or physically. Watch a movie with her or something.”
He tilts his head down and adds nonverbally, ‘Don’t fall for her.’ This is the first time in my life I want to punch him. Really? He wants me to go hang out with her and not catch feelings. He’s an asshole.
“Yes, Boss.”
“We’ll call you when we get ‘Ben.’ It’ll be tomorrow at the latest.”
He gives Frances a look.
“Oh, and Seven, I see you fisting your hands. I can always have Frances hang with her. You can dig through the mud to find Isla’s ex.”
I grit my teeth as Frances laughs.
“The current arrangement will be fine, Boss,” I grind out.
“Good to hear. Now, go check on her. Tell her the doctor’s coming over at seven to follow up with her. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”
We all kinda laugh at that.
Chapter Thirteen
Isla
I throw my hands up over my head and sigh. Ahhh… I’m off today. I’m… Pain hits me like a Mack truck. As well as the feel of clothes on my body. I don’t sleep in clothes. There’s hardwood beneath my feet.
I’m not on the bed, right?
What’s going on? Panic constricts my throat. I push my shaky legs to stand and that’s when I notice it.
A pink princess book with smooth, shimmery rocks underlying the word and the bag of Kit-Kats. My current reality comes slamming back into me.
Seven.
Nia.
His apartment.
I rip Seven’s black shirt up to look at my cut. Yep, still gross. Still infected. Still… bad. I feel really bad. Yesterday, I felt like my heart was beating out of my chest. I thought it was all shock, but apparently not. I feel cold and nauseous. My head is swimming with confusion. Shivering, I crawl on the bed and slip under the covers. I need a hospital. That cut is bad. I’m at high risk of having septicemia.
I grab my phone. I need to call for help. I scroll through my phone and choke when I find three contacts.
Danny Boy. Keisha. My boss.
I’m pathetic.
I can’t even call Seven. I could call Danny, but I’d be putting him at risk. My brain flashes to the written threat and I resist the urge. As if he can read my mind from miles away, my phone buzzes.
Danny Boy: I need to hear from you that I have to stay away, bug. Love you.
I can almost see his puppy dog eyes staring at his cell phone, waiting for my reply.
Me: I’m a wanted woman, Danny boy. You gotta stay away.
Danny Boy: ISLA!
