28. Noah
Noah
D el is a man true to his word. He fucked me until my pussy ached and every time I moved, I thought about how he filled me, bruised me, claimed me. We spent two days together, forgetting about the world, the mafia, and the fact that someone wants me dead.
Now it’s time to get back to work trying to figure out if Finn blew up my apartment, or if he was set up, and if he’s the person responsible for our mothers’ murders.
“I’m going to the Harlem office today,” I say, walking out of the closet dressed in a crop top sweater and high-waisted jeans.
Del takes in my body, his eyes lighting up with lust like they always do when he sees me.
“He’s going to let you inside his most protected space?” Del asks.
I shrug. “He doesn’t know I’m coming. He can’t cover anything up if I arrive unexpectedly. Besides, he’s at the gun range today. Do you want to come with me?”
“Oh, I’m not missing this. Let me get dressed.”
After about fifteen minutes, Del and I are on his motorcycle, weaving through lunchtime traffic.
We enter Manhattan, heading up FDR Drive toward Harlem when Del makes a sudden exit.
“Where are you going?” I yell, but he can’t hear me through my helmet and over the motor.
Then a bullet flies by my head and lodges in the rear frame of the car in front of us.
What the fuck?
I glance over my shoulder and see a black SUV with tinted windows speeding up to us. We merge onto First Avenue, only to be met with heavy traffic.
I reach into Del’s jacket for his gun and start shooting behind me. All three bullets hit the SUV, causing it to swerve. It veers off the road, jumps the curb, and crashes into an outdoor dining shed.
Those extra sessions at the gun range with Del really paid off.
Del parks his motorcycle nearby as people approach the driver and passenger sides of the SUV, trying to help the people inside. From what I can tell, no innocent bystanders were injured by the crash. Hopefully, it stays that way.
“Get the fuck out of here,” Del growls at them and waves his gun around.
A woman and man take off immediately. A few other people linger either in shock or because they’re not seeing a big gun in Del’s hand.
But the moment someone inside the SUV fires a shot at us, the area clears.
Police sirens wail in the distance.
“We need to get out of here,” I say, ducking behind a parked car on the street.
“Cover me,” Del says and runs toward the SUV.
“Dammit, Puppet!”
I take a stance, ready to shoot, but whoever’s inside the SUV must be injured, or they didn’t see Del approach the passenger side. I assume the driver is dead, because Del returns with only one man, dragging him by his shirt.
“We can’t take him on my bike. Do you know how to hotwire a car?”
“No. Do you?”
“Yeah, here, hold him.”
Right before Del hands off his hostage, tires squeal behind us. I twist around and point my gun, ready for another attack.
An SUV comes to a stop and Matthew jumps out of the passenger side. He opens the backseat door.
“Get in!” he yells.
I don’t hesitate and run to the vehicle, crawling in and sitting on the far side of the backseat. Del follows, but I can see uncertainty cross his face.
“Either get in or get arrested,” Matt says, clamping his hand down on Del’s shoulder.
I spot police cars a few blocks away, thankfully slowed down by the congested streets of Manhattan.
Del shakes off Matt’s hand and curses before shoving his hostage inside.
Once Matt and Del are in the SUV, we take off.
“I need rope,” Del says and within seconds, Matthew is handing him some.
Del cuts off a long strand with the knife he keeps hidden somewhere on his body and aggressively ties the man’s hands together.
“We need to go back to my father’s townhouse,” I say, and the driver nods. He takes the first side street off First Avenue and away from heavy traffic.
Del gives me a questioning look.
“Gio has torture rooms in the basement.”
The man between us squirms and squeals. Del punches him in the temple, causing him to pass out.
“Is this him?” I ask.
Del doesn’t need me to clarify.
“It’s hard to tell if it’s the same guy from the explosion video since they were wearing masks, but he has the same build as one of them.
“This was messy. Whoever they are, they aren’t professionals,” I say.
Del grunts in agreement.
I glance at Matt in the front seat. “Were you following us?”
Matt doesn’t even turn around to answer.
“Lenetti’s orders.”
Del doesn’t like that answer and punches the seat in front of him.
Matt launches forward, only for his seatbelt to stop him from smashing his head into the windshield.
My father’s head of security reacts by pulling his gun and pointing it at Del’s head.
Del’s just as quick, his own gun in his hand and aimed at Matt’s chest.
“Do it, blondie!” Del seethes.
“Can we not with the foreplay?” I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Both of you, lower your guns. Matt, you know Del is an asshole.”
Matt keeps his eyes on Del, the two playing a game of chicken. But I know Del won’t back down, so Matt takes the high road and lowers his gun first.
Del tucks his gun away in a holster and leans his head back on the headrest. He closes his eyes, finally relaxing.
My nerves are on edge, and I try to calm down by focusing on the landscape out the window.
I suck in a sharp breath. “Where the fuck are we going?”
“We’re going to your father’s,” Matt says.
“This is not the way to the townhouse.”
Matt turns his head, a vindictive smile spreading across his face causing my stomach to dip and my heart to drum in my chest.
“I wasn’t talking about your father, princess.” His eyes trail to Del, whose head is still leaned back, eyes closed, and mouth hanging open.
He’s asleep?
No... he’s been drugged.
By Matt?
Betrayal slams into me headfirst.
“Who the hell are you? What did you do to Del?” I try the handle of the door, but of course it’s locked. Not that I would have jumped out. The driver is speeding, and I would never leave Del.
Matt laughs and pulls his gun on me.
“Just sit back there and look pretty. This will all be over soon.”
It takes us about thirty minutes driving through traffic to Queens... QBM territory... before coming to a stop in front of a large three-story home painted an ugly shade of yellow green with dark forest green sidings.
“I'll bring Rainbow Bright inside,” Matt says to the driver. “Untie Baron, and tell Percy his son is here.”
Percy?
Del’s father? He’s alive?
My door opens and the muscular driver grabs my upper arm, his fingers digging into my fat. Great. He’s going to leave a bruise.
He hands me off to Matt, who grinds a gun into my side, making sure I don’t fight back.
I wouldn’t even try, and it has nothing to do with Matt being taller, and probably stronger, than me. I’ll play along so I can figure out how the hell Percy Carter is still alive.
Was Del playing me this whole time?
Fury ignites in the pit of my stomach.
“Why, Matt? You’ve been a part of the Empire for twenty years. Why are you betraying my father now?”
Why are you betraying me ? I silently ask. I slap on a strong face because my heart is hurting.
We walk down a long sidewalk covered with snow on either side. The home next door has a snowman in the front yard, and I can only hope there are no kids nearby because this place is minutes away from turning into a bloodbath.
“Betraying your father? Seriously? After everything I told you?” Matt scoffs and shakes his head. “Princess, I’ve been wanting to do this from the moment he imprisoned me in this godforsaken mafia.”
Fuck! I’m going to die today.
Matt shoves me inside the front door and the place reeks of piss and mildew. There’s no furniture inside, clearly an abandoned home.
“Look, I know he did unspeakable things to you—”
“Not just me. He killed my mother and sister.”
“Oh, Matt—”
“Don’t. You’re not allowed to feel sorry for me. You’re just like him, Colpa Sicario .”
What the fuck? How did he…? My chest aches with how fast my heart is beating. Am I having a heart attack? Panic attack?
“No. I’m not like him. I’m on your side. Let me go, and we can help you get vengeance.”
He doesn’t believe me. After everything we’ve shared, me telling him I would give him an out. A new life. Does he need money? I’ll give it to him. But I say nothing because the Matt I’ve come to know is no longer here. Here is a man full of rage and retribution.
“Not going to happen, princess.”
I really wish he’d stop calling me that.
We descend creaky and unsteady stairs into a creepy basement that’s probably full of spiders and ghosts. A single light bulb hangs from the ceiling, and there’s a solo chair in the middle of the room.
How cliché.
Matt sits me in the chair and pulls zip ties out of this pocket. He secures my hands behind my back, then binds my ankles to the chair.
When he stands, he cups my jaw and skims his thumb over my bottom lip. He grabs his cock with his other hand.
“You look devastating tied up like this. Can you see how turned on I am?”
I snap my teeth, attempting to take a chunk out of his thumb, but he jerks his hand back just in time.
The move pisses him off, and he slaps the shit out of me, which causes me to bite down on my tongue instead. I spit blood on his shoes.
I can’t believe I let him put his cock in my mouth.
“No playing with my toy, Matthew,” a deep voice says.
I turn my head toward the stairs and see a large man with silver and gray hair—who looks eerily like Elias—standing on the bottom step.
Percy Carter.
Two men, holding up a still passed out Del, emerge right behind him.
“Del!” I squirm in the chair, but all it does is tighten the zip ties around my wrists and ankles.
“Aww, how precious.” Percy says, walking toward me. “You really do love him, don’t you?”
He pulls a gun from his jacket and points it at my head.
I try to hold in the tears, but they’re falling now.
“Good, because I plan to kill him first. Let you witness and feel the pain of losing a loved one.”