14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Henny
“ A ll right, so what’s the game plan?” Luca strode alongside me down the hallway with Nico and Essa following close behind.
“We let him sleep it off while we handle this shit.” I waved the index cards I’d poached from Marco's coat pocket while helping him undress the night before. Thank God for Damiano’s old school organizational methods—every job on the list was written out in chronological order with names and addresses included.
“Luca… wait, no.” Nico’s hand appeared, latching onto Luca’s bicep and stalling our progress. “We talked about this.”
“Yeah, but it's Marco. I gotta help.” Luca’s free hand flew to his hair with a rough sweep through the shaggy curls. “I gotta.”
“Babe… please?”
My gut twisted with guilt. I glanced between my best friend and his husband as they got locked in the feedback loop of silent conversation carried out through eye contact alone. Gianluca had made it clear he was getting out of the game. Nico was a huge driving force behind that decision. And here I was, pulling him right back in.
“It ain't forever. Nico, I promise, we’re done. After this is settled, we’re out. But I gotta help him. It's Marco.” Luca settled his hands on either side of Nico’s neck and pressed their foreheads together. “He's my brother, babe. Our brother.”
“Fuck you for that,” groused Nico in reply. “Low blow.”
“Nicky, baby, honey,” I interjected, tugging him from Luca’s hold and turning him to face me. “One day. It's just one day. We’re just driving around and talking to some shit heads and then we’ll be back.”
“You seem to forget that every time you all drove around to ‘talk’ to people, someone ended up hurt. Every. Time.” Nico fought my grip for all of two seconds before relenting with a sigh and folding himself into my arms. I loved this man like he was my own flesh and blood. My arms tightened with affection as I held him close.
“Dead ass, hand to God, I won't let anything happen to him.” I kissed Nico’s temple and gave him another squeeze.
“This family is so fucked up.” Despite his bitching, Nico squeezed back just as hard. He stepped away with a pissy sigh. “How can I help?”
“Distract Ma and Pa. Take them to lunch or something.” Luca pulled his wallet out and retrieved a black credit card. “Ma loves shopping. Pops loves making Ma happy. We just need to handle today’s shit without them realizing Marco’s lost his fucking head.”
“I'm buying myself something too,” Nico muttered with a huff as he snatched the card, scowling in that way that only he could make look sexy as fuck.
“Bitch, that’s the whole point.” Luca rolled his eyes and scoffed. They were exactly what I had always wanted in a relationship but never allowed myself to hope for. The hope was there now, though. It was shaped like a certain surly member of the d’Ambrosio family who clung to me just a few hours earlier as if his life depended on it. Part of me wondered if it did.
Luca gave me a knowing smirk before ravishing his husband with a kiss that was too racy for this time of day. Only once Nico was completely breathless did they part from one another. Glances were exchanged all around before Luca and I turned one way and Nico turned the other. I paused for a second as the dog loped away, hot on Nico’s heels.
“Wait, she's not coming?” I turned to Luca with an arched brow.
“Hell no. She never leaves his side.” Luca tracked Nico and Essa as they disappeared down the hall with a dopey grin on his face. “Wouldn't have it any other way.”
I cocked my head and grinned. “Bro, you have no idea how happy I am for you two.”
“I do. You say it all the fucking time.” Luca captured my neck in his arms and jostled me down the hall in a headlock. “You're next.”
“Yeah, when it rains cows and I shit kittens.”
“Bull-fucking-shit. Despite popular belief, I ain't stupid. I saw you two together last night. And I know you've been in his house before. You knew where everything was. Did he finally admit he ain't as straight as he claims?” Luca finally let me go at the elevator.
“Um… no. Not technically.”
“Close enough?”
“Man, I really don't know.”
Luca squinted at me like I held the answers to the world’s greatest questions on my forehead. “Well, he sure as shit didn't seem eager to let you go, so take it as you will. I've never seen Marco that fucking clingy with anyone.”
I shrugged, playing it cool even as my heart did some stupid fucking skippy thing. “He was drunk.”
“Henny… you've been halfway in love with him since we were ten. Quit the shit. Take the win. Get your man. When you get married and have babies and shit, we’ll be brothers for real.” Luca shoved me as the doors of the elevator opened, sending me staggering inside as I laughed.
“Did you really just say babies? We are talking about the same Marco, right? If ever there was a man who wouldn't want kids, it's him.” I rolled my eyes at the very thought of it.
“You weren't around when Selene was a baby. I mean, I was real young but as we got older… God, he was like a fucking mother hen carrying her around all the time. Bitch, she refused to start walking until she was three ‘cause he was always carrying her so much.”
“Huh.” I shrugged and turned my eyes to the numbers on the display as we rode the car to the garage. The last thing I needed to be thinking about was any sort of future with Marco, especially one that involved things like marriage and family and, God forbid, kids. Those were dangerous and potentially damaging thoughts when I was lucky if I got a begrudging hug from the traumatized man with violent tendencies.
“You're all fucked in the head.” I glanced toward Luca with a grin.
“Yup. So are you, though. It's why we love each other.” He grabbed my head and smacked a loud kiss against my cheek. “Now let's go fuck some shit up. I been itching to throw hands for fucking weeks.”
“I swear to God, if Nico comes after me, it's your funeral.” I pulled out my phone and keys as we sauntered through the garage toward my car. The one that I called mine but had apparently ceded to Marco.
“Yeah, yeah. Ain't gonna get hurt.”
“Famous last words,” I goaded, swinging into the seat and pressing the call button on Jericho’s name. It rang twice before his groggy voice came over the line.
“What?”
“I'm gonna text you an address. Meet us there at nine. Bring the crew.”
“Henny, fuck. It's barely seven.”
“I know. Hurry up, Princess.” I hung up and started the car with a grin. It was good to have Luca along for one last day of jobs. For old times sake, I cranked the stereo as the Bluetooth connected and started playing one of our old hype songs. He whooped and smacked the dashboard with a chaotic beat as I chirped the wheels at the entrance to the garage before peeling out in front of a taxi. Yeah, I needed this. This shit was simple. Fuck around, get money, and have fun. This shit I could handle.
Adrenaline was pumping and I was flying high as we pulled up to the final stop of the day. And what a great day it had been. We’d smacked around a few stubborn thugs, busted more than a few registers open, and made one guy piss himself with Jer’s dog. I couldn't wait to get home and tell Marco.
Home ? What the fuck? Since when did I think of Marco’s place as home? I'd been there all of three times and two of those involved caretaking for drunks—first me and then Marco. Fuck, I needed to get my head in line before I said something dumb out loud. I physically shook my head and squeezed the steering wheel tighter as I turned the car onto a narrower side street.
“Yeah, fuck this place.”
“Huh?” I glanced toward Luca with an arched eyebrow.
“This is where I got shanked by Moretti’s men.” Luca lifted his hips with a thrust and pulled the gun from the waistband at his lower back. “Still haven't gotten them back for that.”
A chill settled in my stomach as Luca checked the chamber of his weapon and tucked it against his abs before readjusting his shirt.
“You told your Pops this was the spot, right?” I double-parked the car and examined the front. It was plain and unassuming, just like every other hotspot we’d hit that day.
“Yep. I'm ready to roll. Jer’s here.” He jerked his chin toward the rearview mirror with a grin. “Let's go fuck up some assholes.”
“Hold on,” I cautioned, tapping the brakes a few times to signal Jericho. We needed to be smart about this one, knowing how hot it was in the past. Hell, we’d been smart about every location, but I was suddenly anxious for so many more reasons. “I think you should sit this one out.”
“Nah, fuck that! I ain't fucking waiting in the car—”
“Do you want Nico to have to see you in a hospital bed again?!” My temper flared as I whipped around in my seat to glare at my best friend. He wasn't a stupid man, but fuck if his impulsive nature didn't make him act like one, sometimes. “We might need a fast break. Stay in the car, and be ready to go. Not a suggestion, Luca. Dead ass, I refuse to be the one to tell Nico what happened if shit goes sideways and you know how you are. The second something pops off in there, you'll be the first to dive in.”
“You know what, fuck you for that. Fuck you for dragging him into this.”
“Sorry to break it to you, but he's already in it. Those are his father’s men and they already tried to kill you both more times than I want to remember.”
“Fuck you.” Luca huffed and slammed his back against the seat like a pissy little kid, arms folded over his chest and everything.
“Yeah, been there, done that. Went with the other brother.” I winked and reached for the door handle. “Seriously, just watch our backs, bro.”
Despite his irritation, he snickered and cracked a smile. “You're a sick fuck.”
“Love you too, sweetie pie.” I hopped out and slammed the door behind me, lingering long enough for the rest of the crew to join me before we stepped up onto the sidewalk. With a nod, I led the way to the door and walked in like I owned the joint. Confidence was key. I felt anything but.
“Welcome, gentlemen. Welcome.” The air was full of cigarette smoke and the scent of stale liquor. Through the dimly lit fog, I clocked six men in a loose semicircle facing us at the door.
“Glad to see you were expecting us.” I sauntered in with my guys at my back. “I'm here to collect the dough. I hope that's ready, as promised?”
A faint ripple of laughter echoed through the room and set my already anxious nerves into hyperdrive. I was instantly relieved that I won the battle of wills with Luca as I scrutinized the surroundings to discern what had them laughing and me feeling so on edge.
“Silly boys playing grown up games. I figured you would have learned by now.” The oldest man, a familiar face in the underworld, snapped his fingers with a grin. “Ah well. It's a shame, really.”
Movement out of the corner of my eye had my spine stiffening and my mouth opening without conscious thought. On pure impulse, I shouted. “Go! Back to the car!”
Footsteps scurried behind me as the same sprinted from the side. I backtracked and crashed straight into a body that smelled of rich leather and warm jasmine. Fucking Jericho. Of course he would be the one to ignore my call and stay behind. King was nowhere to be found. I could have laughed if I weren't so shit scared. Of course he’d send his dog to safety and stay behind. Self-sacrificing fucker. We were going to have words after this.
“NYPD! Hands up!” We were surrounded in seconds that stretched like eons. I was no fool. My hands shot skyward so fast, I felt my shoulder pop. Behind me, Jericho did the same.
“On your knees!” Staring down the barrels of half a dozen NYPD pistols was not how I expected to spend my evening, and I definitely wasn't planning on getting to my knees for anyone but Marc. Nevertheless, that's where I was—on my knees and hating every fucking second of it.
“The others got away, Sarge.” Relief flooded my system as a voice called from the front door. We sent Samson and Hughes in squad cars.
“Call’em back. I don't want to waste the manpower. Cuff these two.”
“Say nothing.” Jericho’s whisper was just the faintest breath over the chatter and clamor filling the room.
“No shit, Sherlock.”
“Pleasure doing business with you, Officer.” The bastard in charge had the nerve to wink at me as he handed a bundle of bills to the cop everyone had been calling Sarge. My blood boiled, even as I kept my expression cool as a cucumber. I hated cops. I hated dirty cops worst of all. Even when they were on our ‘side.’ Frankly, even that was iffy at best, especially when I thought back to the asshole that put Marco behind bars. I turned my gaze to the officer who was holding our money and seared his features into my brain, even as my arms were jerked behind my back and the cold slap of metal squeezed around my wrists.
This fucker would pay. One way or another, he was going to pay. Just like the last one that fucked over my family.