by Sam Mariano
After a few minutes, I hear a car and turn to see headlights. My heart drops clear out of my chest, because I don’t know if it’s a good guy or a bad guy. “Someone is coming up the road.”
“A silver car?” he snaps.
“I can’t tell.”
“I’m going to send you a picture,” he tells me. “This is the guy picking you up. Do not get in the car with anyone but him.”
I keep an eye on the car as it comes up the road. Sin’s picture comes through and it’s a dark-haired guy who looks to be around my age with dark hair, a strong jaw, and dark, bushy brows, slanting deviously so he looks like he’s up to no good. Not someone I would get into a car with, if I’m being honest. It occurs to me that given the side of society I’m on now, all my knights in shining armor from here on out will always be the bad guys. Good guys no longer have a place in my life.
“I texted him and told him to slow to a stop,” Sin tells me.
A few seconds later, the car slows to a stop. I breathe a little easier. “Okay. The car stopped. Should I approach it then?”
“Hang on.” There’s a pause, so Sin must be texting him. Then the car moves forward slowly. “Is he moving? I told him to move slow.”
“Yes. Okay, it’s him.”
“Stay on the phone until you’re in the car,” he tells me.
Gripping the phone tightly, as if Sin can protect me through it if shit gets dicey, I approach the car. It stops and I lean down to look in the window. Thankfully, it is the guy from the picture. Just to be safe, I say, “Name?”
“Rex Donati,” he offers.
“It’s him,” I tell Sin, opening up the car door and sliding in.
“Put him on real quick,” Sin tells me.
I hand Rex the phone. He takes it, calming me slightly because while Sin scared the fuck out of me, Rex seems relaxed, like we’re just going for a Sunday drive.
“Yeah?” he says to Sin. I can’t hear what Sin says, but Rex hits the locks and starts driving. His large hand grips the wheel naturally, like he was born with a steering wheel in his hand. His air of aptitude has me settling down a little bit. He doesn’t say much to Sin, just listens, then says, “Got it,” and hands the phone back to me.
As soon as I get the phone back, Sin tells me, “I’m sorry if I scared you. I just… I had this fucking flashback feeling, and I had to get you out of that house.”
“It’s totally fine,” I assure him. “No harm done. I’m out now, so we’re all good.”
“Text me when you’re inside Rafe’s house so I know you’re safe.”
“Are you safe?” I ask.
“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. Eat Rafe’s food and watch some Smallville or something,” he tells me.
Cracking a smile, I tell him, “I can do that.”
“I gotta go. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I end the call and flatten myself against the seat of the car, taking a breath and staring out the windshield. It takes a minute for the adrenaline to slow down, for me to get my bearings. Once I can hold my hand out without it trembling, I think I should probably introduce myself.
“I’m Laurel Price, by the way.”
He nods his head once like he already knew that, his gaze slicing my way before moving back to the road. “You okay? Everything good over there?”
“Yeah, I just… I don’t really know what’s going on.”
“Yeah, I think that’s usually how it works for the ladies,” he says casually. “Don’t worry about it. You’re safe now. I’m an excellent getaway driver. You’re in good hands.”
I don’t mean to look so surprised, but I still don’t think he could be very old. How does someone my age even get into this line of work? This guy was at breakfast this morning, so he’s one of the guys Alec brought with him. “Um, you’re from Chicago?”
“Yep. Well, New York way back, but Chicago now.”
“How are you old enough to have worked for that many crime families?” I ask.
He cracks a smile. “I’m not. I didn’t work for a crime family in New York, I was just a kid. I got away with some petty theft, but nothing that would impress a Morelli. I work for the Chicago family. I’m here to help with the clean-up. I’m the best driver, so I knew I could get to you quickest. I go where I’m needed.”
“How old are you?”
“Almost 19.”
My God, he’s even younger than me. That makes me think about when Sin got mixed up in all this. He said he has worked for the family since he was 21, so I guess he was just a couple of years older.
Given the lifetime sentence this job is, though, it’s almost sad to think of guys getting involved so young. Then again, Vince got involved at the same age.
If I have a son, will he be expected to get involved in this shit when he’s my age?
My phone chimes and I check it. It’s Sin. I must have got in his head when I mentioned Rafe holding the gun to my head last night, because now he sends me a text that reads, “Tell Rex he needs to stay with you. I told him to leave you with Rafe and come back, tell him I changed my mind.”
“Okay…?” I send back.
“Do you trust Mia?” he sends back.
I frown at the phone. “Yes. Why?”
“Text her. Tell her to send you a text that says this. Rex, your main priority is keeping Laurel safe at all costs.”
“I got in your head about Rafe, didn’t I?” I ask.
“Just send her the damn text. Then show Rex. If Rafe does try any shit, Mateo’s wife’s word will hold more weight than Rafe’s. Rex is only here because Mateo told him to be.”
God, this is going to be so awkward to explain. I type out a quick text to Mia, begging her not to make me explain why I need this right now, then I copy and paste Sin’s message.
A few minutes later, I get a video message. I tap it and Mia’s face fills the screen. “Hi Rex, this is Mateo’s wife, Mia. I just wanted to make sure you understand that your main job right now is to keep Laurel safe at all costs, all right? Top priority. Thanks!”
Rex grins over at me. “Wow, your boyfriend is a paranoid motherfucker, isn’t he?”
“He’s had some bad experiences,” I explain. “When we get to Rafe’s, he wants you to stay there with me.”
“So, I’m your bodyguard now.”
“Yes. Against everyone, Rafe included. Not that it will come up,” I rush to assure him. “I’m sure it won’t. Things have been a little rocky lately, so Sin just wants to make extra sure.”
“Got it. So, I’m there in case Rafe turns on you?”
Grimacing, I say, “No, not… I don’t expect that, I just—”
“You don’t have to tiptoe,” he assures me. “My lips are sealed. Just trying to understand the situation I’m walking into so I know what to be prepared for.”
Placing a hand on my tummy, I tell him, “I’m pregnant. The baby is Rafe’s. But now I’m obviously with Sin. It caused a little bit of friction. We are in the early stages of rebuilding.”
“Got it,” he says with a nod. “So, Sin gave him that shiner, huh?”
I bite my tongue, remembering Virginia’s earlier words about not trusting everyone I meet. This new way of life is going to have a learning curve, but I would rather be safe than sorry.
Instead of sharing, I tell him, “They’re supposed to be working together, but since the truce is so new, Sin just wants to be sure. It’s possible that during a prior dust-up, Rafe may have grabbed me and put a gun to my head. We don’t think he would have actually pulled the trigger, and we don’t think he is in any way involved with whatever is happening tonight, but just in case we’re wrong, we aren’t going to bet my life on it.”
“I understand,” he says, like a good soldier. “You’ll be safe with me, don’t worry.”
48
Laurel
The wait is agonizing.
I don’t even know exactly what we’re waiting for, and it isn’t the most comfort
able wait in the world, because Rafe tried to dismiss Rex with a handshake and a “thanks, now you can get back to work” but Rex refused to leave.
Rafe saw right through it, so he knows Rex is here to make sure I’m safe from him. I’m sure it’s at least faintly offensive, but I refuse to feel bad. If he doesn’t want me to have a bodyguard around him, then he should have never pulled a gun on me in the first place.
So, it’s just me and these two gangsters, waiting.
Juanita makes us all dinner, but I’m too nervous to do more than pick at it.
“This isn’t how I thought you’d next visit me, kitten, but if you want to keep yourself busy, you can pack up the rest of your things. Obviously you left in a rush last night, so you left a lot here,” Rafe tells me, stabbing a piece of asparagus.
“Oh, yeah, I suppose I should do that,” I murmur, my face flushing faintly. It’s weird that I’m already so thoroughly Sin’s, but I still have stuff at Rafe’s house.
“I packed up your books last night,” he tells me. “You can take them with you when you leave.”
“My books?”
“Your Brontë books,” he specifies.
“Oh, no, I can’t take those,” I tell him, shaking my head. “They’re too expensive.”
Smiling faintly, he says, “I’d have to unpack them now. Seems like a hassle. Just take them with you. I won’t miss them, trust me. Besides, I bought them for you.”
“When you thought I would be...” I trail off, since Rex is sitting here, and I feel weird talking about this in front of him, given he is a complete stranger to me.
“It’s fine, Laurel,” Rafe assures me. “I bought them for you, no strings attached.”
As I stare at my plate, I’m suddenly hit with a horrible mental image of Rafe all by himself in this giant house. I had abandoned him to run off with Sin, and while Sin and I were finally making love for the first time, Rafe was here all by himself, packing up books he bought me when he thought I would stay with him and we would have a family together.
Both men are equally alarmed when I suddenly burst into tears.
Rafe’s eyes widen and he looks around, as if for something that would have caused this. “What’s wrong? What’s happening right now?”
“I didn’t mean to make you lonely,” I blubber.
He blinks, thoroughly confused. “What?”
“That’s so sad,” I bawl, grabbing the cloth napkin in my lap and wiping my face. “That makes me feel horrible. You packed up my books. Oh, my God, why am I crying so much?”
Looking more lost than he ever has, Rafe tells me, “I haven’t the faintest idea.”
Rex was initially concerned, but now he resumes cutting into his fish filet. “Pregnancy hormones. One time I met Mateo in his office, and Mia burst into the room, sobbing hysterically. Just sobbing her head off, talking about how horrible she felt for some woman and how lonely this woman would be. Mateo rubbed her back and tried to comfort her, but he had no fucking idea what was happening, you know? He’s just standing there like ‘tell me who I have to kill to make these tears stop’. Finally, she explains it was a commercial. There was a fictional couple on an insurance commercial, and the husband died in a car crash right before they bought their first home. She was so upset, I thought someone she knew died, so when she said it was a commercial, I just thought she’d lost her fucking mind. Crying over these fucking people that aren’t even real. They live in a 90 second commercial. Who cries over shit like that? Adrian explained the situation. The hormones make women emotionally unstable. Apparently pregnancy is pretty hardcore.”
“I am not emotionally unstable,” I say, scowling at him, while also still crying.
Rex lifts an eyebrow and nods at me. “Right. Clearly not. My mistake.”
None of this makes me feel better. Instead of being a normal human being, I get off the chair and go over to hug Rafe. He is understandably surprised, since last night I wanted to stab him, but now I’m crying because he packed up my books all alone in his giant library.
“Kitten, it’s okay,” he assures me, kissing the top of my head and rubbing my back. “You just live across town, not in another country. You’ll see me all the time, for God’s sake.”
Sniffling, I tell him, “I want us to all be friends. I want you and Sin hanging out like you did before you met me, and I want to take the baby in the pool. I don’t know why I’m so attached to this pool scene in my head, but I am. Also, our baby in my head is adorable.”
“You can bring the baby to the pool anytime. My pool is your pool. You’re still the mother of my child, and obviously I’m stuck with Sin, that asshole isn’t going anywhere. We’ll all see as much of each other as we want to see. More than we want to see, probably. We’re good. Everything is good. I promise.”
“I don’t want you to be lonely,” I say, looking up at him.
“I’m never lonely,” he assures me, dragging his thumb across my check to wipe away tears. “You know that. It was one of our problems.”
“I don’t mean stupid, empty hook-ups. It sounds like packing up my books was sad.”
Tenderly brushing my hair behind my ear, he tells me, “You’re making it sad in your head because you want to feel guilty. Don’t feel guilty. I don’t want that. I’m glad you’re with Sin if he makes you happy. I certainly didn’t. It’s not sad. We didn’t even break up; we were never really together.”
“I still feel icky.”
“Stop feeling icky,” he commands, like it’s just that simple.
“That’s not how this works.”
“Well, pregnancy sounds terrible,” he informs me. “I apologize.”
“I’m still mad at you for trying to kill Sin,” I tell him, frowning at him now.
“I know. I won’t do it again. Does that help?”
I shake my head. It should help, he’s taking away the logical basis of all the reasons I’m sad, but I still feel terrible. “Why are you being nice? You’re an impossible man to trust.”
“I know,” he murmurs, rubbing my back. “I’m being nice because I like you, and I don’t want to make you sad anymore. That’s simple, right?”
“You didn’t care about making me sad yesterday,” I point out. “What changed?”
He taps the discolored skin around his eye. “Remember this?”
“You gave up because Sin punched you?” I ask skeptically.
“No, I gave up because I lost. Only a fool keeps fighting once the fight is over. The wise man moves on. You let a man sneak into my house thinking he was here to kill me yesterday, kitten. You knew he was coming and you didn’t warn me. I remained interested in you when I thought there was still something to work with, but there’s nothing left. You aren’t loyal to me, and that means you and I have no romantic future. It couldn’t be clearer. You can’t build a relationship with a woman who tries to kill you. If someone wants to disagree with me, fine, but I never would. Not in a million years. Once a woman tries to help someone else kill me, strangely enough, I don’t want to pursue a romantic relationship with her anymore.”
“Now you’re just making me feel mean again,” I tell him, my face crumbling.
Sighing heavily, he hugs me tighter. “That was not my intention. I’m not mad; I understand why you did it. I was only trying to explain so you know you can trust my retreat. There’s plenty of blame on me for this not working out, too. Like you said, it just didn’t work, that’s all. There’s no need for either of us to feel badly about it. We’ll still have a relationship, just not a romantic one.”
“See, now I’m back to worrying you’re lonely.”
“How about a distraction?” Rex suggests. “You got any playing cards? Let’s play some poker.”
“I don’t know how to play poker,” I mutter, still a little peeved at him for calling me emotionally unstable.
“Good idea, Rex. I’ll teach you,” Rafe tells me.
“I don’t have any money, either. I spent it all on groceries.”
>
“I’ll give you some money, too. Who knows? Maybe you’ll beat us both and take home all the winnings.”
“I wouldn’t count on that,” I tell him.
“I wouldn’t either, you’re a shitty liar. I’m just trying to make you less irrationally upset. Is it working at all? I’ll pay you to stop sniffling, if that will help.”
So, after dinner, we play poker. I lose all the money Rafe gave me to play with, but they’re both so afraid I’ll burst into tears again that they spot me enough to play one more hand, then shamelessly let me win so it ends on a positive note.
I feel ridiculous, but my nerves have just had it. Between the hell of yesterday, the high of last night and this morning, and then the fear of tonight—plus not knowing where Sin is or what is happening even now—I just can’t take anymore. After poker, I curl up on the couch and Rex keeps watch while I drift off.
49
Laurel
My eyes fly open with some kind of urgency, like it’s my first day of work and I’ve slept past my alarm. There’s movement in the living room—a lot more movement than when I went to sleep.
My heart leaps at the sound of Sin’s voice. “Put it right there.”
I blink and smile, relief washing over me as I see him standing in the living room with his back to me. He’s safe. Everything must have gone according to plan.
Rex’s voice joins in next. He sounds unsure. “I don’t know what to do with it.”
“Her, not it,” Sin snaps. “Just fucking hold her, what do you mean?”
Her? I look over at Rex and see him looking down at a baby on his chest like he expects her to bite him. She’s starting to fuss at him, because he is not working Sin magic.
Wait, why is Skylar here?
Pushing myself upright, I say, “You’re back.”
Sin turns around at the sound of my voice, smiling faintly and coming over to tenderly caress my face. “Yeah, I’m back.”
