Chapter 16 – Sage
“ D o you want to tell me why you have two men following you around?”
I choke on my espresso martini, the brown liquid somehow making its way into my nose, burning as it drips out onto the table. I grab a napkin to clean up the mess I’m making.
Noah sits across from me, arms crossed, not amused.
“Someone’s following me?”
“Cut the bullshit, bestie.”
I roll my eyes. Nothing gets past Noah.
I was wondering when she’d figure everything out.
It’s New Year’s Eve. Nearly a week since Elias showed up at my parents’ house, killed two of Chase’s men, and captured about six others working with him. One week of being bored in the penthouse while Elias is out searching for Chase .
I’ve missed my bossy man.
He’s been coming in late, cuddling up with me in my half-asleep state, then in the morning when I wake up, he’s gone.
“They’re… uh… Elias’s men.”
“I gathered. Why are Elias’s men bodyguarding you?”
“Is bodyguarding even a real word?”
“Sage,” Noah warns. She casually sips on her vodka tonic while I sit across from her, having a panic attack about telling her the truth.
Will she hate me?
Will she kill me?
“Sage?” Noah’s voice has softened, and she reaches across the table to grab my hands. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
I gulp down the rest of my espresso martini and signal the waiter for another.
“Okay, wow, ordering another drink. This is serious—”
“I’ve been lying to you.”
She opens her mouth to respond, but I can’t let her. I have to get it all out while I still have the courage to do so.
“Remember I told you about my ex, how he stole my identity and ran up my credit? Well, it was a lot worse than that. He never went to jail—”
“Wait, why did you tell me that he did?”
I shrug. “I didn’t want you to judge me for not turning him in. I also didn’t tell you that he cheated. ”
“Oh, hell no! Where do I find him?”
“Yeah, look, I don’t care about the cheating.
And I didn’t turn him in because he scared me.
He threatened me not to say anything to anyone or quote, ‘I’d pay.
’ Well, you can judge me now, call me an idiot, because he moved on to bigger crimes.
When he turned to drug dealing, I filed for a divorce.
He just got worse from there. He’s, like, some wannabe crime lord now.
I changed my name so he couldn’t find me.
It didn’t matter. He found me anyway. He showed up at my apartment the day after your father’s Christmas party and hit me—”
“I’ll fucking kill him.”
“—then he threatened to kill my parents if I didn’t help him.
” I know I’m speaking fast. I hope I’m making sense.
I take a deep breath and continue. “He wants to take down the QBM and the Empire and start his own mob so he made me wear a wire to your father’s dinner—don’t worry it didn’t work—then he wouldn’t let me go visit my parents for Christmas without him, and his goons, escorting me.
Elias showed up right as Chase was leaving, and Elias proceeded to kill the two goons babysitting me.
For the past week, Elias has been trying to find Chase while I stay at his penthouse because I can’t go back to my apartment.
.. or back to work... or out in public without protection. Hence the two big guys back there.”
I point over my shoulder .
The waiter returns with my second espresso martini, and I down nearly half of it.
“Holy shit, Sage.”
“I know. And I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell you. I really wanted to, but Chase said if I told you or Elias, he’d torture my parents.”
“Where are your parents now?”
“Elias has them somewhere safe.”
Noah shakes her head. “Elias is so fucking obsessed with you. I should be pissed, but it sounds like this is a good thing. He’s taking care of it?”
“He is. Chase is behind a lot of the human trafficking that Elias has been busting lately.”
“Unbelievable.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to bother you or Del with this. You two already have a lot to deal with.”
“You will never be a bother. And don’t worry about us.
I’m just glad Elias is taking care of you.
He hasn’t mentioned any of this to Del or me, and I won’t tell Del shit either.
He and his brother need to work on their communication problems. If Elias wants to tell him about the woman he’s obsessed with and protecting, that’s on him. How the hell did he find you anyway?”
“Some real spy bullshit. Something about putting his phone next to yours and cloning it, which gave him access to the tracking app we use. ”
I refrain from telling Noah that I found this stalkerish behavior extremely endearing. Elias is full of red flags, but my delusional self only focuses on the green ones.
Is killing someone for me a red or green flag?
“Okay, don’t ever tell Del about the phone cloning thing... or the tracking app. He hates that I have a digital footprint.”
Our food arrives, and we sit in silence while eating. It’s been way too long since Noah and I have had a chance to go out to brunch at Boqueria, our favorite spot in SoHo. The Barcelona-style tapas are to die for, and I always imagine I’m in Spain at some cute little cafe on the waterfront.
Except I don’t even have a passport because I’ve never been outside of the U.S. I’ve traveled across the country with Chase and his stupid band, but I never had enough money to go anywhere that required a customs check.
I wonder if Elias could take me somewhere in his private plane?
I frown at the thought. My poor parents are in hiding, Chase is still out there probably plotting my demise, and I’m thinking about escaping with the mafia boss who’s obsessed with me.
“I actually have something to tell you too,” Noah says the moment we’re done eating. She takes a sip of her vodka tonic before setting it down and crossing her arms to lean on the table. “I’m not just some mafia princess. ”
My eyes light up, and Noah holds up her hand. I’ve heard people use the word to describe Noah before, and I’ve read it in plenty of mafia romance books, but knowing my best friend is an actual mafia princess just makes me giddy as hell.
“I’m not really a princess. It’s just a term.
Anyway, when I started investigating my mother’s murder, I came across some vile humans.
.. I couldn’t let them live and harm more people, so I started killing them.
I gained a reputation because I was good.
Because no one expects the fat girl to be a contract killer.
I was invisible for the most part. People lowered their guard around me.
So, yeah, I’m a contract killer. They call me Colpa Sicario. ”
Wait.
Noah is a... contract killer. A... murderer?
Holy shit.
Is this real?
Am I having a nightmare or something?
I pinch myself until it hurts.
Okay. Real life, I guess. I mean, why not? My bestie is in the mafia, and she kills people.
“How… how many people have you killed?” I drink the rest of my martini and point at the empty glass when I get the waiter’s attention. At this rate, I’m going to need a keg of this stuff.
“Not as many as Del— ”
“Del?!?”
I know he’s Elias’s enforcer, a mafia hitman, but a contract killer too?
“Oh, yeah, he’s kinda my rival. He’s called the Marionette because of how he sets up the murder scene, including the bodies… like they’re puppets. He’s killed way more than me which is funny since people say I’m just as good as him.” She shrugs. “I lost count, but I’d say dozens.”
I must have made a face because she holds up her hands.
“They all deserved it, I swear.”
A maniacal laugh bubbles out of me.
Probably because my best friend just told me she’s a mother fucking contract killer—and apparently her mafia rival fiancé is too—yet I have no desire to run. I’m not even appalled.
I’m impressed because Noah has always been a badass bitch.
When my bestie laughs, I realize I said that last part out loud.
“It’s true. You are a badass bitch. Have been since the day we met.”
“So you’re not mad at me for not telling you? You’re not disgusted or scared of me?”
I shake my head. “I have no room to be mad, especially when I, too, was withholding important information from you. And maybe I’ve completely lost the plot, because no, I’m not scared. To be honest, I got that vibe from you. ”
“What vibe?”
“A murdery vibe. You always offered to kill Chase for me, and a part of me suspected you weren’t joking. I almost took you up on that offer too. You just make me feel safe.”
Noah’s eyes fill with tears. Her shoulders, which have been tense all throughout brunch, relax as she reaches out for my hand again. “I was so scared to tell you because I didn’t want to lose you. Thank you for being an amazing best friend.”
“Well, I should tell you then that my real name isn’t Sage Manilow.”
Noah laughs and it’s such a vibrant sound. A laugh that has only grown brighter the longer I’ve known her. I think that has something to do with Del.
“I assumed as much. I couldn’t find shit on you when I did a background check.”
“You did a background check on me?”
“Shortly after we met. Typically, learning someone has a fake identity is a red flag but, I don’t know, there was something different about you. I didn’t see you as a threat. Honestly, you seemed lost and broken like me.”
I frown because she’s right. I never knew how much I needed Noah in my life until we met. It’s as if my soul had finally found its missing piece. Well, part of my soul.
Is Elias the final piece I’ve been searching for?
“So, what’s your real name then? ”
“Sage Morgan.”
“It’s nice to officially meet you, Sage Morgan.” Noah checks her phone for the time. “Okay, it’s noon. We have two hours before happy hour ends. Do you want to get day drunk? Del and I are going to celebrate New Year’s on the couch later tonight, but I need more bestie time before sexy time.”
“Absolutely. Elias and I are also supposed to hang out tonight, but he said he won’t be home until closer to six.”
“Home? Wow. That sounds serious.”
“It’s not, I promise.”
It’s a lie. It feels serious, which terrifies me, especially so soon after my divorce to Chase, but this is different. Elias is different.
I realize I still had a lot of healing to do from my time with Chase. Elias might have been exactly what I needed to move on.
My new drink arrives, and Noah orders another.
“Question,” I say and take a sip. Noah must see the mischievous look on my face because she raises a brow. “What do you know about getting woken up with sex?”
N oah and I leave Boqueria sloshed, enough that my two bodyguards help me to the SUV.
Noah threatened them with bodily harm if I didn’t arrive back at Elias’s penthouse in one piece, then she sent me off with the best bestie hug.
Del showed up to escort her back to their place in Flatbush since Noah was just as drunk as me.
One of Elias’s men, whose name is Aaron, hands me a bottle of water, and I suck it down before taking a nap in the backseat.
I wake just as we pull into the horseshoe driveway at Elias’s building. He’s out there waiting, arms crossed.
Uh oh.
I’m in trouble.
“Okay, who told on me?” I ask the two guards. Neither of them makes eye contact with me.
Narcs.
Elias opens the door.
“Hello, stranger,” I say with a wink. “You’re home early.”
Elias leans in, and I close my eyes, licking my lips expectedly. His mouth tickles mine, but instead of giving me sweet smooches, he unlatches my seatbelt.
“Inside, troublemaker,” he says and pulls away.
“Yes, sir.” I giggle and give him a two-finger salute which I know he hates but do because it’s fun to make him bristle.
Elias helps me out of the SUV, his hand clasping mine before leading me to the building’s entrance. He’s walking fast, but I have long legs, so I easily keep up with him .
“Am I in trouble, daddy?” I say in a childish voice when we step inside the elevator alone. “Are you going to punish me?”
I stick the tip of my finger between my teeth but my attempt to woo Elias fails. He’s giving me the silent treatment. The elevator dings announcing our arrival on the penthouse level. The door opens, and Elias steps out. I rip my hand from his.
“Fine. Be mad at me. I’ll just go home,” I say as the doors begin to shut.
Before I can take my keycard out of my purse to get the elevator car moving, Elias’s large hand stops the doors from closing.
He slowly steps inside, backing me up against the wall and caging me within his arms.
“You are home.”
I scoff.
“And I’m not mad at you, Sage,” he continues, his voice low and dangerous . “I’m furious .”
“Why? Because I wanted to spend time with my best friend?”
“Because you got drunk. You let your guard down. What if Chase—”
“Your babysitters would have protected me, isn’t that why they’re following me around?”
He doesn’t answer that question. He looks up at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact with me .
“I’m not sorry about getting drunk. I needed to get drunk. Can you blame me? Chase returning in my life. This world I’m now a part of—”
Fuck. My voice cracked.
Oh, God, not the tears.
I blame the booze. It always makes me weepy.
“It’s intense and all too overwhelming. I’ve been losing my mind this week with you gone, and I’ve been bored, trying not to let my thoughts get the best of me.”
I’m full on crying now, and Elias cups my cheek before wrapping me in his arms. We stand there in the elevator, holding each other for several minutes until he pulls away.
He dries the tears off my cheek—I melt every time he does that. It’s such a gentle move from the big, dangerous mafia boss.
“I’m sorry. I was worried and overreacted.”
I nod, but I can’t say anything because I might start crying again.
“Let’s get you inside,” he says, his deep voice soft.
In the kitchen, he hands me a glass of water and stands there watching as I drink it all down. He refills it and leads me to his bedroom where he strips me of the sweater and leggings I wore to brunch. Then he puts me in one of his big t-shirts and sweatpants before tucking me in bed.
“I have to go take care of something. Sleep off all those espresso martinis—”
“Hey, how’d you know what I was drinking? ”
“Justin sent me photos.”
Justin’s the other bodyguard.
Fucking narc!
“I’ll be back later to make us dinner.”
Dinner?
Oh, right. It’s New Year’s Eve. Elias wasn’t even supposed to be home until six.
It’s three in the afternoon.
Did he ditch his responsibilities for me?
I really fucked up.
I wanted tonight to be special. Instead, I made the day all about me by getting wasted. Now I can barely keep my eyes open as the man who’s a green flag disguised as a red flag continues to save me.