8. Maximo
CHAPTER 8
Maximo
My fist hits the side of John’s cheek with a crushing blow, one that travels up my arm and into my chest. This is the first time I’ve touched him since I’ve had him tied up and locked away. The news is going insane with security footage of Rocco and me. Albeit grainy, it’s still out there in the world. There must have been a camera that we missed when doing our recon.
I mean, what did the cops and newscasters think would happen?
It’s funny to think they truly believed that people would be sad about this man going missing. He’s disgusting, vile, and completely deserving of what’s coming to him.
“Please,” he babbles, “just let me go.”
“I thought about that,” I reply darkly. “But then I remembered what a fucking piece of shit you are.”
“I have a wife,” he cries.
“And all the people you denied the right of healthcare to did too. Kids, husbands, fathers, and sons. Women and children that were someone’s wives, daughters.”
“Max, can we just kill him already? I have Love Actually to get home to.”
My phone starts blaring from the table behind me.
“Who’s Julia?” Rocco asks with humor lacing his tone.
Shit.
Turning around, I storm over to him and snatch it out of his hand. I slide my thumb along the screen and answer it.
“ Bella —”
“Bella, huh?” Rocco chuckles.
I smack him on the back of the head, putting some distance between us. “I’m kind of—” That’s when I hear her crying. “Julia, what’s wrong?”
“He...fuck...I just got fired.”
“What?” I exclaim, shocked.
“I was late from my second job, and he...fuck!”
I turn to face Rocco, my eyes flicking between him and John. This really isn’t the right time for me to be taking this call. Shit.
“That motherfucker fired me and then had the audacity to ask me out on a fucking date!”
My body stills at her words.
“God, he’s such a greasy ass?—”
“Julia, what did you just say?”
“My boss, Ned, he fired me. Are you busy? Did I?—”
“You didn’t interrupt anything. You’re more important than what I have going on. But I got the part where you said he fired you. It was the second part I want you to repeat.”
“Oh...yeah, uh, he fired me, and as I was getting up to leave, he grabbed my wrist and asked me out. Slime ball. He claimed I’d been flirting with him for a while. What is it with men? Why can’t a woman just be nice without them thinking there is something behind it, as though they’re entitled to?—”
Her babbling filters off into the distance, and my whole body goes rigid. That prick fired her and then thought it would be a great idea to put it on her like that was going to make her feel better. It’s only when my cousin walks beside me, resting his hand on my shoulder, that I realize how tight I’m clenching my fist.
The pinch between his brows tells me he’s just as confused as I am at this moment. How can I be so possessive over this girl—correction woman—that I’m filled with rage thinking about another man touching her.
“Max?” Her sweet voice brings me out of my rage-filled stupor.
“I’m right here, Bella. Where are you now?”
The faint honking of New York traffic blares in the background, and I hope she’s not standing outside the coffee shop crying.
“I’m heading home. I need to figure out a way to?—”
“I’m on my way. I’ll meet you at yours, don’t go anywhere.”
“Wait, Max, I?—”
I don’t let her finish, ending the call and shoving my phone in the back pocket of my black jeans. I rush over to my backpack and snatch the black coat from the back of the wooden chair.
“Sorry, but where the fuck are you going?” Rocco calls from behind me.
“I’ll be back.” I groan. I’m pissed, not because she called me, not because I have to leave here without finishing this cunt off, but because the overwhelming need to hold her in my arms is scaring the fucking shit out of me. I barely know anything about this woman, and I’m ready to beat the shit out of some guy for her.
“You have got to be shitting me!” Rocco bellows, “You’re leaving here for a piece of ass?”
I turn around, and the look on my face is enough to make him back off. Holding up his hands, he takes a step back in surrender. Glancing at my watch, I see it’s 6 p.m. “Give me a couple of hours, stay here,” I point, “watch him.”
“Where the fuck is he going to go?”
“Just…look, I’ll be back at ten.”
“I’ve never seen you like?—”
“I’m not interested.” I brush past him, shucking on my coat and throwing my backpack over my right shoulder. Fishing the keys to my Mercedes out of the pocket of my black coat, I press the button, unlocking the car before I slide inside and slam the door shut.
I knew this would happen.
But not a single part of me hates that I’ll be with her soon enough.
I lock the car as I jump out of it, jog across the road to Deja Brew, and walk inside. The bright smile of the teenage boy standing behind the counter does nothing to quell my frustration.
“Hello sir, welcome to Dej?—”
“Can I speak to Ned?”
“Y-yeah, sure.” He turns to the back room in search of him. After waiting a few moments, he finally emerges with Ned hot on his heels. “This is the manager.”
“Yes, how can I help you, sir?” He presses his hands to the counter, and before I have a chance to second guess my actions, both my hands fist into the gray-toned white shirt he’s wearing and I drag him over the counter. His body flails and knocks off the cake stand and the tip jar. Coins scatter to the floor as I hang him halfway over the wood.
The few people in the coffee shop remain stock still, and the three workers gawk at us both. “Do you know what pisses me off, Ned?”
“N-no…”
What a fucking pussy.
“When you fire someone, then ask to date them…knowing she’s working two jobs, and you won’t even give her a little…leeway?”
“Listen, I-I?—”
“Shut up!” I shout. “You’re gonna call her.”
“She’s been late s-six times…I c-can’t keep letting her?—”
I chuckle then, but none of this is funny. I’m doing something I really shouldn’t be, and if the cops get called on me, my whole plan goes to fucking shit, but I can’t seem to stop myself.
“Call her!” I bellow.
Frantically, Ned reaches for his phone, going into the contacts list and scrolling until he finds Julia’s name. “What do you want me to say?”
“You’re going to tell her you made a mistake, that you’re sorry…and that she can take the week off to rest. Put the fucking call on speaker, too, while you’re fucking at it!”
He calls her, pressing the button so I can hear the call. “What, Ned?”
“J-Julia…I made a mistake.” He eyes me warily, my hands gripped even tighter in his cheap cotton shirt. “I’d like for you to come back. I was a little bit hasty and…yeah.”
“Fuck you, Ned. You’re an asshole!”
I smile at her foul language, clearly done with his shit.
“Look, I’m in a tight spot right now, and I’m…I’m sorry, okay,” he blinks profusely, and I nod once. Raising an eyebrow at him. “Oh, and take the week off…as an apology…f-full pay, of course.”
“I want a raise.”
“Julia, I can’t?—”
I shake him, bringing my face so close to his that I can practically smell his fear, and he panics.
“A-all right, we can talk about it when you’re back off your uh…break.”
The line goes dead, and I drag him the rest of the way over the counter. I stand him up straight, run my hands over his shoulders, and straighten his now-crumpled shirt.
“Let me tell you one thing, Ned, if Julia mentions any more bullshit to me about you touching her, flirting with her, or even being in the same room with her alone…” I lean in closer to his ear, speaking as low as possible, “I’ll burn your fucking shop down.”
Ned begins to nod profusely as I step back, his eyes wide and panic-stricken. I turn to the rest of the workers. “He touches any of the women here. Tell Julia and she will relay it back to me.”
Flashing them a decadent smile, I walk backward until my back hits the glass door, and I walk out onto the street.
Now it’s time to cheer up my girl.