Mafia Rules (Mafia King #1)

33. ASH

33

ASH

T he day was a blur of meetings. Some in person, on the phone, or in a videoconference. Each deal so far has closed, meeting or slightly undershooting our minimum profit margin. We still had to meet with the heavy hitters, but we were ahead of schedule. Having Hardy here is helping this go much faster.

I can’t stop thinking about Eve and how she’s feeling. She still has me fucking blocked. I tried sending a text message using Hardy's phone, but she also blocked his number. It’s hard to keep my head straight, thinking about her and how she’s doing. How much she’s crying. I should have never left her like I did. Why the fuck were we both so stubborn?

“Harvey is done.” Hardy crosses another name off the list. “Well, I need to be fed.”

“Yeah, it's about that time again. Everything is blurring together.” I check the clock on my phone. It was already late afternoon, and we hadn’t stopped all day.

“Did you get Cooper?” Hardy asks, flipping through the paper with the names we still had to contact.

“I did. A little under what we were going to offer. He owes me.” With a groan, I massage my throbbing temples, desperate for any contact with Eve. This torment would be over if she hadn’t fucking blocked me.

“You doing okay?” Hardy pushes the papers away, clearing the space in front of him.

The bristle of my unshaven chin against my fingers feels as rough as my current emotional state. “I’ll be better when I can talk to her.”

“When we get back, this will all be worked out. No more working with Sasha. You’ll be back with Eve.”

“Yeah, like our father is giving up on the idea of me and Sasha.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Hardy runs a hand through his disheveled hair, moaning, “He’s hell-bent on more power.”

“You wanna marry her to get him off my back?” A laugh escapes me as I picture them as a pair. It would be fatal.

“I don’t want our father’s approval that much.” Hardy pulls out the trusty menu. “I think I’ve fucking eaten everything on this paper.”

“I’m not hungry.” I take the computer and check my e-mails to see if any more replies came in.

“Where’s the devil?” Hardy asks, “I bet she’ll order that fucking chicken pizza again. I swear I’ve gained 15 pounds in this room.” With a disgusted shake of his head and a grimace pulling at his lips, Hardy rubs his aching, full belly.

“She’s in her room on the phone with a client.” Sasha’s been unusually quiet and withdrawn today, staying away from me. Something was off.

“How’s her pile doing?”

“I haven’t seen her since lunch.” I check the active list on the computer to see how many deals she’d closed. “Ten today.”

Hardy raises his eyebrows, satisfied with her contribution. “That’s three more than me. As annoying as she is, she’s got a mouth on her.”

I look up at Hardy, unsure if this is one of his wisecracks or a compliment for Sasha. “Let’s keep this pace up. We should get to the difficult ones tomorrow.”

“Why don’t you go home to Eve and let Sasha and me deal with the rest? We’ve made a good dent in this.”

“I can’t.” I wanted to see Eve, but I couldn’t let our father down. And this was my deal that I fucked up.

“You gonna marry her?” Hardy asks, his voice serious. “Eve’s a good girl.”

“She is.” I smile. The thought of her walking down the aisle to me made me very happy. Waking up to her every morning, spending vacations together, making babies…

“Don’t let this trip fuck that up,” Hardy says, reaching behind him to grab a bottle of rum. “I need a drink.”

“Do you?” I ask, concerned at how much he’s been drinking lately.

“I know. I know. I’ve been laying it on thick lately.” The ice clinks in his glass as he defends himself, taking a slow sip of the dark, potent rum.

“How are you doing?” I lean back in my chair for the first time and ask Hardy this question. Hardy was the glue and calm to our dysfunctional family. He added fun to everything and took care of any situation. He also kept us safe. He’s a hardass.

“Just tired of the game.” With a slow exhale, Hardy lets out a deep breath, then takes one quick gulp, and the glass is empty. “It’s fucking never-ending.”

“Collections going okay?”

“We’ve had some issues. But they got ironed out.”

“Anything I can help with?” I ask, waiting for him to reject my offer. Hardy was the one out on the streets, seeing people face-to-face for the family. And into the worst of the worst for the family.

“All under control. I just need a vacation.” Hardy takes a drink straight from the bottle this time. “I wouldn’t even know how to take a vacation.”

“What’s a fucking vacation?” I laugh, thinking back to the last time I was on vacation, probably in college.

“I’m famished.” Sasha declares as she walks into the kitchen with her laptop hugged to her chest.

“Pizza?” Hardy holds up the menu. “Chicken?”

“I’m gonna take a walk and check out what’s close. I need to get out of here and away from you both.” She mocks like we wanted to be here.

“I guess I’ll eat it alone,” Hardy says under his breath, scanning the menu again even though he had it memorized by now.

“I’ll be back soon,” Sasha says, putting her shoes on and avoiding me altogether.

“Wait.” I stand up and hold my hand up to her. Something wasn’t right here. “What’s going on? You’re held up in your room and not giving us a hard time or checking in on our deals.”

“You’re two grown-ass men. I don’t need to babysit you.” Sasha rolls her eyes, speaking to Hardy and again avoiding me.

“Something is going on. Spill it.” I follow her to the door. She ignores me.

“I need some space,” Sasha says, facing me.

“You can have space when you tell me what happened. Something with a deal? Are we in trouble?” I will grab her and hold her here if I have to.

“No.” She turns back to the door, then stops. “Oh, Eve was here.” She says over her shoulder as she opens the door.

I'm behind her in seconds, slamming the door shut with a loud thud, trapping her inside the room with me. My hands braced on the door, keeping it closed, with her between me and it. “What?” My voice shakes with anger that she didn’t tell me earlier.

“Eve stopped by earlier when you weren’t here,” Sasha says again. “I forgot…”

“You didn’t fucking forget,” I say in her ear, removing my hands from the door before I hurt her. “Get the fuck out of here, Sasha.”

“I’m sorry…” She whips around to face me.

“Get. The. FUCK. Out!” I scream, my anger raging in my body. I didn’t know what I could do to her if she didn't leave.

Sasha yanks the door open and bolts, leaving me speechless.

“What happened?” Hardy rounds the corner in the hallway to see what’s going on.

“Eve was fucking here today, and Sasha never fucking told me.” I grab a delicate porcelain vase from the small, ornate table beside the door and hurl it against the wall, hearing the sharp crack as it shatters.

“So someone was here.” Hardy looks confused. “I thought I heard voices in the shower, but Sasha said there wasn’t anyone here.”

“Fuck!” I ball my hands into tight fists, the veins in my arms pulsing, my knuckles bone-white as I fight back the overwhelming urge to hit something.

“Go home, Ash,” Hardy says, slapping my back.

Fuck this deal. I need Eve. She can fucking tie me up and do anything she wants to me after this.