Tristian (The Doherty Mafia Book 5)

by Kasey Krane

  I remembered the address on those postcards from recent months. She had a new job in the city and now lived alone in what she had described to be a ‘tiny loft’. Which, she said, was the only thing she could afford in New York.

  This time when I left Tristian’s apartment, I was prepared. I headed straight for the subway and before long, I was headed in Libby’s direction. I just hoped I had the right address and she’d be home.

  Operating without a personal cell phone was difficult, but it had to be done. I had no other option.

  While I rode the crowded subway, with people squeezing into me on all sides—I thought about how far I’d get from Tristian. Inching farther and farther away from him. Getting lost in the crowds of New York, just like I’d planned to.

  If I kept my head down, even Aldo and his men wouldn’t find me. And maybe Libby was the only person I could trust now.

  She was more than just a little surprised when she opened the door of her loft and found me standing on the other side. I held my breath, waiting to see who’d open the door. If anyone was even home.

  I hadn’t seen Libby in person in years, but I would’ve recognized her anywhere. Frizzy red hair and narrow green eyes to match her narrow nose and freckles. She looked even taller now than I remembered her.

  “Elsie Harlow! What the hell are you even doing here?” She pounced on me, pulling me into her bony arms.

  “I’m really glad to see you, Libby, and I hoped I’d be able to crash here for a few days. Not very long I hope. I just…need a place to stay. I promise I won’t be a bother.” I was breathless trying to get all the words out.

  She smiled at me and gave me a tighter hug.

  “Of course you can stay here with me, hon! Oh my God, we’re going to have so much fun!” she squealed, clapping her hands excitedly.

  I smiled as I was led into her apartment, but I wished I could also explain the truth to her. I wasn’t here to have fun. In fact, I didn’t know if I was even capable of it. I was just here because I needed to hide out and nobody in the mafia world would know to look for me here.

  But I didn’t say any of that to her because I didn’t want to scare her. Instead, I just smiled and nodded. I was glad I managed to get away.

  “It’s my night off, hon, and we should go out and party!” Libby declared when I came out of the shower.

  I’d spent a long time in there, trying my best to get rid of Tristian’s touch and smell off me. But no matter how hard I scrubbed, trying to wash him off me, I still felt him there. Everywhere around me.

  “I’m pretty tired, so maybe not tonight,” I said, to which Libby pouted her lips.

  “Oh come on, Elsie! We haven’t seen each other since we were teenagers. And now we’re independent and adults, we have to make good use of this time.”

  Libby was already pulling clothes out of her narrow wardrobe.

  I wasn’t sure what more I could tell her to throw her off the idea.

  “I’m unprepared. I don’t have any clothes to wear for a night like that.”

  “Well, it looks like you don’t have any clothes to wear at all. Are you sure this was a planned trip?” She didn’t sound suspicious even though it was definitely a curious situation for me to be in.

  It didn’t seem like Libby cared.

  “Didn’t I tell you? I lost my bag. Left it on the bus. It had my wallet and phone, everything. Which was why I couldn’t call you or anything. I’m glad I at least remembered your address,” I said.

  Libby pulled two flashy looking cocktail dresses out of her wardrobe. She almost seemed too lost in her own thoughts to care about what I said.

  “I’m sure you’ll get a hold of your bags. What do you think of these? You can have the black one,” she offered, holding one of the dresses out towards me.

  I’d never been a ‘partier’. I rarely ever wore clothes like this one. I knew I wouldn’t enjoy myself if I went out with Libby tonight, but I didn’t want to disappoint her. I felt indebted to her for welcoming me into her home, out of the blue.

  “Thanks. It’ll fit. It’s lovely,” I mumbled.

  Libby smiled, looking pretty proud of herself.

  “Good. You can use my makeup and stuff if you want to. I’m going to get dressed and then we’re going to go.”

  “Where?”

  “Somewhere we can get shitfaced and meet some guys. I’m so excited we get to hang out like this, hon.”

  I felt guilty.

  I couldn’t help but flush red with embarrassment and sadness to see how excited Libby genuinely was to see me—when all I was doing was using her as a resource. Was that who I had become now? Someone who used well meaning people to their advantage?

  “I’m excited too, yeah, let’s go get shitfaced,” I said. But I wasn’t sure if I meant it.

  I couldn’t afford to get shitfaced because it could cost me my life.

  I didn’t know how easily Libby got drunk.

  It didn’t take much for her to get shitfaced. Exactly the way she wanted to.

  We hadn’t been at the club even half an hour before Libby was all over the place.

  I was already self-conscious. I wore a ridiculously shiny black dress, the kind I never would’ve picked out for myself. The last thing I wanted was to draw any attention to myself, and it wasn’t just the dress but Libby too, who drew eyes towards us.

  She wanted to dance, and not just with me, but with every guy who looked in our direction. I tried to keep her in control and close to me, but she barely even registered my presence anymore.

  She threw herself at men who came up to us, or those she bumped into on the dance floor.

  I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed, angry or genuinely afraid. There could be Aldo Baron’s men around. Or even Doherty eyes. The mafia ran businesses everywhere in the state. I’d learned the hard way, and now I was suspicious of everyone and everything, and increasingly wary of Libby’s behavior.

  “Come on, hon, loosen up a little!” she exclaimed, pulling my arms up and jerking them around, forcibly trying to get me to dance when I didn’t want to.

  “Maybe it’s time for us to head back now,” I suggested. My eyes darted everywhere as I scanned the crowd for anyone or anything suspicious.

  “We just got here. Why are you being such a bore?” she snapped.

  It wasn’t the fact she just transformed into a loud nuisance, but Libby became downright mean when she was drunk. I wasn’t prepared for any of it and didn’t know how to handle it.

  “By the way, you see that blond hunk there?” Libby added, leaning towards me to point at a guy right in my line of vision. I recognized him as one of the first guys who’d approached us at the club. Libby had been dry humping him pretty much since we got here.

  “What about him?”

  She bit down on her lip suggestively. “He says he wants us to go back with him to his hotel room. Both of us.”

  “Are you insane?” I shrieked over the loud thumping music. Libby threw her head back and laughed.

  “Don’t be such a prude, Elsie. It’s just sex. And by the looks of him, it could be some really good sex. I’m up for it if you are.”

  I backed away from her, shaking my head.

  “I’m leaving. Now. I’m done here. I’ll find somewhere else to stay tonight,” I hissed while she rolled her eyes at me.

  The night had started off with me feeling guilty for using Libby and her apartment, but now I wished I’d never shown up at her door. This was a bad idea.

  Eighteen

  Tristian

  I had to double check with the informant who’d called me with the address to Christie’s place, because when I got there, I couldn’t believe she lived in this place. It was practically a dump.

  The town was in the middle of nowhere and her house was falling apart. It didn’t even look like anyone lived in there, but I knocked on the door anyway.

  When she finally appeared on the other side of the screen door, she had a toddler hanging off h
er hips and another kid was right there beside her.

  She was hesitant to open the door, and obviously didn’t recognize me.

  I wouldn’t have recognized her either if I saw her anywhere else. She was just a shadow of the person she used to be when I last knew her.

  Her blonde hair was now mousey brown. Her eyes weren’t big and shiny anymore. She looked too thin. Too frail. There were big dark circles under her eyes and I got the distinct impression she was a junkie.

  “Yeah?” she snapped, opening the screen door just an inch.

  I couldn’t make peace with the idea I’d once considered myself to have been in love with this chick. I wanted to get as far away from her as possible.

  “Christie?”

  “Who’s askin’?”

  The kid who was wrapped around her legs started whining about something. The toddler in her arms sniffled.

  What happened to her? What led her to this point in her life? Had she seduced other guys to their bitter ends?

  I got lucky and was rescued.

  “Tristian Doherty,” I replied. I had no intention of keeping my identity a secret.

  Christie’s eyes narrowed at first, then grew wide as she stepped back.

  “It’s okay. I’m just here to talk to you. I’m not going to hurt any of you,” I said, tipping my head towards her kids.

  “Mikey, go eat a popsicle or something. Go!” she yelled at the older kid. “And take your sister with you.” She handed the toddler over to him, and the two kids left grudgingly.

  “What do you want from me, Tristian Doherty? Why are you here after all these years? You want an apology or somethin’?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I’d love a cup of coffee and a chat,” I suggested.

  I had to work hard at putting her at ease. I didn’t want to be nice to her. It took every ounce of my strength to keep it together. But if I wanted some answers, I’d have to work carefully and not scare her off.

  Christie looked me up and down, still deciding what she’d do about me.

  “I don’t buy it. You’ve come all the way here for a cup of coffee?”

  “And a chat,” I insisted.

  “Chat about fuckin’ what? I have nothing to say to you.”

  I clenched my jaws and stepped up towards her. She moved back. Her hand flew up to the door to shut it but I got there first and pushed past her into her derelict house.

  “We can do this the easy way or I tie you up in front of your kids till you talk,” I growled.

  Her nostrils flared. Her shoulders rose and fell. Her face turned very red.

  “I’m not making you fuckin’ coffee,” she snarled.

  I waited until she put the little kid in a playpen next to the kitchen door and the child fell asleep. The older kid was sent out to play, and finally, Christie came over, taking a chair across from me. All the furniture in the house was run down and broken. I wasn’t even sure if there was any electricity.

  “What do you want to know?” she asked, lighting a cigarette. She obviously smoked too many of them because her lips and teeth were all nicotine stained.

  “I want to know why you did it.”

  “Did what?”

  I glared at her and she stared at me blankly for a few moments, drawing in a deep breath.

  “I had no choice, okay? My family owed them money and they said they’d kill all of us if I didn’t do it. I didn’t want to do it.”

  She tapped her cigarette on the side of the table. The ash collected on the floor.

  “And what did they give you in return?” I asked.

  Christie shrugged. “They let us live. We moved here to get away from all that. I couldn’t…I knew they’d take you and I had nightmares for a long time. I found out much later your family took you out. That they rescued you. I didn’t know what’d happen to you once you were taken.”

  Christie’s voice softened as she spoke. She teared up, but I found it difficult to feel pity for her. I didn’t give a shit how my kidnapping affected her psychologically.

  “What happened to you there? What’d they do to you?” she continued.

  “I don’t remember. I choose to not remember. I was safe when they found me. I was fine. So I guess they didn’t do much.”

  She blew a big plume of smoke in the air and it looked like she was relieved. Her hand shook as she tapped more cigarette ash on the floor.

  “I guess you want me to apologize,” she murmured.

  “I’m not here for an apology.”

  “Then why are you here? You must’ve known I was threatened to do it. You knew I had nothing personal against you.”

  “I wanted to see you again,” I replied

  She smirked, shaking her head. “To figure out if I’m still the girl I was from a decade ago?”

  “Eleven years,” I corrected her.

  “You want to figure out why you were attracted to me.”

  I clenched my jaws tightly. Angrily.

  Christie stared at me and then sighed.

  “It wasn’t real, Tristian. None of it was real. We were both kids, and whoever you thought I was, I wasn’t.”

  “They wanted me to be all sweet and dolled up for you. They even sent some woman over to our house to get me to look the part. Straighten my hair, buy a few outfits in case I had to see you a couple of times,” she continued while I sat across from her behind a cloud of smoke.

  “Did they tell you what to say too?”

  She shrugged. “They told me to say as little as possible. To keep you guessing.”

  “So they had me figured out. They knew what kinda chick I’d fall for,” I growled under my breath.

  “I guess so. What I’m trying to say is it was all an illusion.”

  “I thought I’d been sucker punched when we met.”

  “Like you had met your perfect dream girl?” she asked, smirking.

  I said nothing. I couldn’t admit it aloud, but it was true.

  “Well…this is your dream girl,” she said, waving a hand in the air and laughing. “Do those exist? Dream girls? Dream guys? The perfect partner?”

  She suddenly had a faraway look in her eyes and I wondered how many times she’d been fucked over by guys of her own? What about the fathers of the kids?

  I didn’t ask her because I didn’t really want to know. I had her pretty well figured out by now.

  Dream girls did exist.

  I had met one, and I was very close to losing her now if I didn’t get my act together.

  “Why’d it take you so long to come find me?” Her voice cut through my thoughts.

  “I’ve been avoiding it, I guess. I didn’t know what I’d find when I found you.”

  “And now?”

  When I didn’t respond for a while, she broke into a laugh. “You met someone, haven’t you?”

  “It’s none of your business,” I snapped.

  “You think I can still hurt you? You think I’d get to you somehow? Are you afraid of me, Tristian Doherty? You? A Doherty, afraid of little ol’ me?” she snarled. There was a shrill laugh in her voice making me want to punch the wall.

  I stood up from the chair.

  “I’m not afraid of you. I fuckin’ hate you. What you did made me lose my trust in every girl and woman out there.”

  She was still smiling and I wondered if she was high. It wasn’t worth it to stick around. At least I knew one thing now. I had never been in love with Christie, and what I felt for Elsie now was in a league of its own.

  I stormed towards the front door and she followed after me.

  “Hey! You can’t just leave like that. You can’t just go. You’ve made me late…”

  I stopped, spinning around to face her. She came right up close to my face so I saw the way her teeth were rotting.

  “Late for fuckin’ what?”

  “For my job.”

  I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t. She didn’t have a job. She probably hadn’t worked a day in her life.

 
“I’m going to lose money because of you today…” She continued to talk but I shut her up when I pulled a wad of cash out of my wallet and threw it at her.

  Nineteen

  Elsie

  I managed to make a grab at Libby just as she was about to follow a guy to the back of the club.

  I’d already threatened her with leaving. I didn’t want to be here anymore, even if it meant she’d kick me out of her apartment—but then I realized she was completely out of it. She was too drunk, too high to know what she was doing. Tonight was the prime night for her to make terrible decisions.

  And what kind of friend would I be if I just let her go ahead and make them?

  “We’re going back to your place now, Libby. That’s enough,” I said, weaving my arm around hers, leading her out of the club.

  She tugged and pulled at my arm trying to break free.

  “You’re not the fuckin’ boss of me, Elsie! Let me fuckin’ go!” She screamed and people turned to look. But I kept a strong grip on her. If I could manage to get her into a cab somehow, we’d be safe.

  I didn’t feel safe anymore.

  I hadn’t felt safe since I left Tristian’s apartment, and being out here without him gave me the chills. Once again I had the feeling of being watched.

  “We can talk about it when we get back,” I said, dragging her out of the place.

  “You’re such a fuckin’ bitch!” she yelled, finally managing to slip away from me. “You know, I felt sorry for you when Sonya dropped you. I tried to be friends with you because you had no friends but all you ever cared about was yourself. Your grades. Your college essay. Your fuckin’ tests.”

  She spun around to face me, her breathing was ragged. I stopped walking because I was surprised to hear her say these things. Initially I thought she was just behaving erratically because she was drunk, but I had the feeling now that she’d always had something personal against me.