The Syndicates: A Dark Mafia Romance Collection

by Raven Scott

  It took a lot of time and effort to get a straight answer out of her. I was always surprising myself with how much patience I had with Illya. Her vague, dodgy replies and general lack of understanding of herself was something I’d grown accustomed to. After all, she never had an opportunity to know herself, and that’s what this whole trip was supposedly about.

  “I don’t know. I just have this . . . this vague sense of doom. Like something is going to happen.” Anything that’s not a direct threat to her, she doesn’t know how to handle. “Things have never gone this good before. Maybe, I’m just overly pessimistic.”

  “Illya.” Pausing to take a turn at a green arrow, I scanned for any fast food place as her self-doubt distracted me from the fact that we’d fought instead of having breakfast. “Okay, I’m not saying you shouldn’t be cautious and thorough, but the whole doubting yourself bullshit has to stop. If you feel like that, there’s usually a reason. You should trust yourself a little more when it comes to personal shit. I mean, you held your own against Carlyle the first time you met him, and he blindsided you and is generally pretty menacing regardless. Where’d that go, huh?”

  “He can kill me. That’s straightforward, Theo.” I couldn’t argue with that point, and Illya ran her hand through her hair absently with a groan of frustration. “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I just accept that I’ve got it as good as it can be and not trying to ruin it by psyching myself out?”

  “Fuck if I know.” Flicking on my blinker, I reached to rub my jaw absently as my mind whirred. “Make a decision and stick to it, for better or worse. That’s my best advice.”

  “It was a lot easier when I did things out of necessity instead of just wanting to do it.” Illya sat up straighter at her own grumble, and I turned into McDonalds smoothly as she slapped her hands together. Arching a brow quizzically, I pulled up into the drive-thru lane before casting her a look. “That’s it, isn’t it? I can do whatever I want now. I don’t have to do anything if I don’t want to.”

  “You’ve never done anything, like, at all, just because you wanted to?” Skepticism thickened my tone, and Illya frowned under furrowed brows for a long moment before shaking her head. “Seriously? Are you fucking with me right now?”

  “As an adult, no. I only did what I had to. I worked, slept, woke up, repeat. Until I moved here, I never had downtime. One time, I worked three jobs— that was while I was at the women’s shelter.” Scowling darkly at that, I covered my mouth as disgust coated my tongue. Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry, but I was in line, so . . . “Carlyle must’ve known that. That’s why he gave me two whole months with nothing to do. I’m not used to doing nothing.”

  “He gave you time to go crazy with boredom? So you’d want to do something you like?” I mean, that sounded like something Carlyle would do. He talked all the time about Illya being so pathetic and how he felt sorry for her. Why would that be limited to after meeting her if he really did do all he could find out all about her? “It took you long enough to figure it out.”

  “This is the first time I’ve left my apartment since moving there, though.” No wonder he feels that way. She is kinda pathetic. “All I’ve done is hang out with you or watched TV or tried on clothes. I have so many clothes, and I’m not even done yet.”

  “I’m flattered that I’m the defining factor on your sanity.” Still, it seemed like such a simple concept, and Illya was looking for the one farthest from it. Downtime? Rest and relaxation? She smiled as I inched my car up the lane, and I gripped the wheel with my good hand to reach over the center console. “Even if that was the reason, how does that help you now that your time is up? You start on Monday.”

  “I-I don’t know that, yet. Maybe, just the realization is enough. I mean, it took me two months to figure it out, right?” Rubbing her smooth cheek, I pursed my lips and simply accepted that. Illya looked for the worst of the worst in most situations, so ignoring the most mundane reason wasn’t so out of character. It might’ve made her feel like an idiot, but . . .

  That was something I liked about her. Now if I can just get her to be a little more self-confident.

  34

  Illya

  Music pumped through the house, and I leaned on the driver’s side door of Theo’s car as I stared from across the street. That gut-churning, sinking feeling hadn’t gone away, but it’d lessened enough not to make me projectile vomit. Scratching my head as anxiety tingled my fingertips, I inhaled a deep, calming breath. Vehicles lined this section of street and crammed in the driveway, but everything looked exactly how I remembered.

  “So, are you gonna go inside?” Grunting at the question, I nodded even though I just continued to gaze, and my lips twisted in a frown. “Don’t make me drag you in there, Illya. I drove all the way here because ‘why not,’ so you better get something out of this.”

  “It looks the same as it did ten years ago.” If I held up a picture from back then, the only difference would be the car in the open garage. The suburb itself hadn’t changed much, either— a few trees here and there, a new sign. Focusing on the house, I exhaled slowly and nodded again before pushing myself off the door. “They’re having a party. Let’s go crash it.”

  Striding across the street, I could picture my cousins when I blinked— when they were eleven, of course, and pudgy-faced and happy when their mom bought their attention. Walking up the concrete path, I clenched my hands into tight fists as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. The music was loud, bracingly so, and I had to bang on the door to get any sound to come back at me, let alone inside.

  Pressing his palm against my back, Theo stole some of the tension gripping my spine, and I rolled my lips between my teeth to gnaw hard. The door swung open with no warning, and I stiffened as my uncle’s bright smile filled my field of vision. It took him a moment to recognize me, and his smile dimmed but didn’t disappear as I awkwardly held up my hand.

  “Hi.” His bushy, greying brows rose at my greeting, and I cleared my throat roughly. “I was in Springfield, and I was hoping we could talk, but if you’re busy . . . ”

  “Uh . . . n-no. Of course not.” Sputtering slightly, my uncle glanced over his shoulder briefly before stepping to the side, and surprise prickled the bridge of my nose. “Come on in. It’s funny you decided to come today— Jack just got back from his deployment. You didn’t know he went into the Army, did you?”

  “No, I didn’t.” Stepping over the threshold, I blinked hard, and I gestured to Theo as his hand slipped from my back. “Um . . . this is Theo, my . . . my boyfriend.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Jack. Senior, of course.” My uncle had a beer in his right hand, and Theo automatically stuck out his mangled palm. Jack grabbed it without thinking, and I held my breath as slight discomfort rippled across his features. “Come on in. I never thought you’d come back here after what happened, Illya. I wouldn’t blame you.”

  “Me either, to be honest. I . . . I got a new job, and I went to my parents’ graves, so I figured, you know, since I was here . . . ” Shutting the door behind us, my uncle nodded in understanding, and I silently wondered if he was so . . . so mellow. “How have you been? It’s been a long time.”

  “Ah, yeah, about that . . . it’s a story. Do you want a drink? Congratulations on your job. What do you do?” People I didn’t recognized filled the house— and a few people I did— and I nodded as we entered the kitchen. Rounding the wall, I paused as a memory of my aunt sitting there, with her purse and her mail spread out around her, gripped me. A soft touch on my arm dragged me back. The reverie was a fraction of a second, and I shook my head vigorously.

  “It . . . it's just an office job. I work as a translator.” Straightening my shoulders, I followed my uncle to the fridge, and he opened the door with astounding ease. “What about you guys? Jack went into the Army?”

  “Yeah, he just got back from his second deployment.” Nodding awkwardly, I took the dark-bottled beer my uncle offered me as a sense of surrealism swept through
me, and he leaned on the counter to sigh heavily. He scanned me slowly, through shrewd, narrowed eyes, and I held my breath when he licked his lips in preparation. “You look good, Illya. I’m not gonna lie, I always hoped you’d come back so I could apologize properly.”

  “You look really great, too, Uncle Jack. I don’t know what I was expecting, but . . . ” He smiled fondly, like he did when I was younger, and my heart ached as my words failed me. Running my hand through my hair absently, I glanced around the kitchen, but everything was the same. Jack even wore the same brand of cargo shorts. The same spatula was sticking out of the drain. “It’s weird.”

  “Well, not a lot has changed on the outside, except the kids. They’re all grown up, now. So are you.” His eyes caught mine, soft, brown, and warm, and my lip twitched in a frown. “Why’d you go to your family’s graves? You don’t necessarily believe they’re listening, still, right?”

  “Um . . . it’s been really hard these past few years, so I figured that coming back would help me get some perspective. Plus, I had thought about it in the past, but I never had the opportunity. I actually was living in southern California these past couple years.” The admission earned me a hum, and my uncle’s gaze shifted to Theo to fill with questions. Gesturing to him, the sense of an almost out of body experience intensified, and I cleared my throat heavily. “Theo actually helped me get the job. I start on Monday. It’s been a really long time since I had a stable job, so maybe it’s freaking me out.”

  “I bet. Your mom came over when she got approached by someone about working for the government. Funnily enough, it was whenever Carol wasn’t around . . . or, maybe not so funny.” My eyes widened at the fondness that tenderized Jack’s expression and he twirled his beer in his hands, unopened and forgotten. “I would have to listen to her go on and on and on about the job over and over again. She never shut up until she decided she was out of stuff to say, and then she’d just walk out. One time, she was here until two a.m., almost.”

  “I didn’t know that.” My dumb answer earned me a low chuckle, and my uncle twisted to grab the bottle opener with memories dancing in his eyes. “I’m not here to complain, Uncle Jack.”

  “I wouldn’t mind it if you were, Illya. I . . . ” A soft knock interrupted him, and I twisted as his gaze slipped past me to a middle-aged woman I didn’t recognize. “Ah, Illya, this is my wife, Marley.”

  She was pretty, with wrinkles in the right places, and her greys were just the right shade. Smiling politely, she stepped into the kitchen, and I nodded curtly as tightness tingled the smeared skin on my chest. Something cold touched my arm, and I turned back to Jack as he held out the bottle opener for me.

  “Like I said, it’s a long story, but I think it’s about time you heard the whole thing.” Leaning back, my uncle took a deep swing of his beer, and I clenched my jaw hard as I tightened my grip on my bottle. “We were getting divorced. Carol was always worried about bills because her lawyer was consuming her money. I couldn’t stand her doing what she did to you, and there were a lot of problems for a long time beforehand, but the deaths of your family were what pushed me to take that step.”

  “You said you didn’t know she was stealing?” Uncle Jack gave a guilty, grim smirk and slight shrug, and I lifted my beer to my lips. I hated beer, but even it couldn’t wash the sour taste from my tongue.

  “I didn’t know the extent, but I knew the moment she took the property managers to court that she’d waste it all and leave nothing for you. I wasn’t in a position financially to stash money for you or I would’ve done that. We tried to keep it up for the kids and for you, Illya, but when Carol started remodeling the house, I knew you’d know that she was up to something. At the time, it seemed like the less horrible option, for you to hate me instead of hating yourself. I wasn’t expecting you to sue her for it, and I wasn’t expecting her to commit suicide, but I was really proud of you for it at the time.”

  “I don’t hate you, Uncle Jack. I don’t even hate her. That’s just using energy I don’t have.” Marley popped open the refrigerator out of the corner of my eye, but I focused on my uncle as a sigh rattled my sternum. “It is what it is, I guess. It took me a long time, but I’m on track, now.”

  “After she died, I wanted to offer you your room back, but you’d disappeared. I hired a private investigator, but you’re really good at blending into crowds, always have been. Needless to say, things stabilized after a few years. Jack was having a lot of problems in school, so he decided to go to a reform camp on his own. He’s flourished. Grant is a senior now. He’s doing well. I’d talked to them about divorce long before I actually did it, and I got lucky they were starting to get to that age where they had contention with Carol. Of course, her death hit them hard, but for what it is, if possible, I believe in the right way.” Nodding in understanding, I licked my lips heavily as my mind whirred furiously. Maybe, at the time, I’d just been so disinterested in anyone but myself that I’d never noticed. Maybe, because it’d been like that since I arrived, it was just normal to me. To be honest, the ‘why’ didn’t matter anymore, and I lifted my beer to my lips to neck the contents before inhaling deeply.

  Whatever concoction of words my mind was about to belch out was cut off by a shout, and I twist as my heart leaped into my throat. Jack, in his full Army garb, stood in the mouth to the kitchen, and the fine hairs on my arms stood up. He wasn’t pudgy-faced anymore, even as shock reddened his features. My mind raced— what did he know about me? He was young when my parents died and I’d moved in.

  Jack started towards me, and I tensed when I realized he was going to tackle me. My heart stuttered, and the anxiety in my gut spread to my fingertips and toes.

  But, in about the time it took to blink, Jack was on his back. There wasn’t even the slightest thump against the tiles or faintest shudder of the floor. In one fraction of a second, he was standing, and then, his knees were up against his chest, and he was staring at the ceiling.

  “Don’t touch her.” Standing over Jack menacingly, Theo frowned darkly, and my cousin gasped stupidly as he caught up with events. My brows rose as surprise dried my mouth when Theo stuck out his good hand, and he helped Jack to his feet to pat his back hard. “Welcome back.”

  35

  Theo

  “You were right— this is way too good to be true. Something bad is gonna happen.” Grumbling in Illya’s ear, I tapped my feet on either side of the outdoor lounge chair and glanced around the back yard. “I have a feeling you’re spot-on, Illya. This is the calm before the storm. Just when everything’s going perfect, it’s gonna fuck up.”

  “I realize that. I’m just gonna enjoy this for now, though.” I grunted as I scanned the backyard, full of people I didn’t know and didn’t care to know, and Illya sighed as she hunched a little. “I didn’t expect things to go well at all, let alone . . . ”

  “You expected them to hate you for their mom committing suicide?” Nodding slowly, she leaned back into my chest, and I rubbed her hip as my gaze flickered around and around. “I guess it’s not unexpected, all things considered. Do you want to leave?”

  “Not really. Jack’s got a crush on you. It’s kinda cute.” Frowning at Illya’s cheeky smirk, I sat back in the chair and propped my arm under my head. Jack hadn’t seen a lot of action, that much was clear, but I didn’t think he’d be so starstruck. “What?”

  “I guess that just goes to show you why being a Marine is better than the Army. Dude’s a baby. He’s only two years in. That’s a lifetime.” I could remember my first deployment like it was yesterday— a lot of fucking sand, a lot of downtime, and a lot of training. Now that we weren’t actively warring with the bad guys, kids in the military had it easy. Firefights were simple things, after all, and being in one didn’t make Jack a badass. “He’s a good kid, though.”

  “I bet he’s gonna come over and ask you to show him some moves.” Rolling my eyes at that, I only shook my head, and Illya giggled a little as she twisted to face me. She lo
oked good— fresh and glowy and happy, that happy of a person experiencing something unexpected. “Would you show him something if he asked?”

  “I’d have permission to beat the fuck out of him, why would I turn that down?” She laughed again, and I savored the sound as it twinkled against my eardrums. Licking my teeth, I glanced over at Jack to find him mustering up the courage to approach me, and I hoisted myself up with a grunt.

  Truth be told, I just wanted Illya to experience all the greatness that she could while she was here. Jack sized me up, and I could practically smell the tension thrumming through him under his uniform. Not gonna lie— seeing that hurt. I hadn’t put on my dress in ages, and I wasn’t even sure where they were at this point.

  “Wanna get punched?” Jack obviously didn’t expect my straightforward question, and I couldn’t help but smirk when his brows rose in surprise. His face flushed, and he handed his beer to his friend as I rocked back on my heels.

  “How long were you in for?”

  “I’d still be in if I didn’t get my fingers blown off.” Holding up my hand, which I knew he’d noticed a long time ago. I shrugged lightly, and Jack shuffled in discomfort. “It’ll happen to you eventually, thoughmaybe not physically. The ones with missing limbs are the lucky ones.”

  “I’ve heard. Once I do my four years, I’m just going into college.” Nodding absently, I scanned this kid from top to bottom, and he straightened a little and clicked his heels. “You look like you’d do well in a fight.”

  “Are you gonna try to find out?” I took a moment to think on that before shaking my head. My hand-to-hand combat skills were shit now. Jack looked a little disappointed, and I exhaled a big breath as I watched him deflate noticeably. “So, why’d you come over here?”