Chapter 4
FOUR
Sable
Walking down the street that led to my apartment, a light snow dusted the sidewalk. I stared up at the gray sky, wishing it didn’t match my mood. But even if it were sunny outside, I still wouldn’t have been cheery.
I had been a disaster for days. If I had a path forward, it hadn’t presented itself. I hadn’t seen or spoken to Milo in over a week. It wasn’t that I had expected to hear from him, but my heart was still hopeful.
As the snowflakes dampened my hair, a bitter wind kicked up, enhancing the ominous sensation that came over me. I ignored it. Chalking these dark feelings up to the emptiness and loneliness I had felt over breaking up with Milo.
We were over, and there was nothing I could do about it. I didn’t want to think about him. Every time I did, my mind managed to wander to Camila. I didn’t want to believe that Milo would move on so quickly, but what would stop him?
I’m doing it again! Stop thinking about him with her.
Heavy footsteps pounded the pavement, growing louder with each step. When I approached the corner, I hurried my pace as my building came into focus. It was cold and I wanted to get inside and forget the world existed.
I had barely made it across the street when a strong grip on my shoulder forced me to turn and face the man who had been behind me for the last block.
“Why do you walk so fast?” Romeo Bello asked. “Running from something?"
“No. It's cold out and I want to get home.” The chill that shuddered across my skin had less to do with the snow and much more to do with Romeo. I hadn’t seen him since that night Milo drove a knife through his hand. “What are you doing in this part of town?” I asked.
If he was here to see Chance, I would freak out. I’d warned my brother to stay away from him. Romeo had caused enough problems.
“I had business to deal with,” Romeo said.
“I’ll leave you to it.”
The streetlights blinked on as the sky darkened. I glanced around, realizing that no one paid any attention to me and Bello.
“I have to go.” I lurched forward but a quick escape wasn’t in the cards for me.
“I’m glad I caught you.” He snaked his arm around my waist and nudged me into the alleyway that was steps from my building.
“Where are we going?”
“I have a message for Milo.”
“You’re going to have to give it to him yourself.” I wiggled away from him, but he grabbed my arm and yanked me deeper into the dark space, out of sight of any witnesses.
“You’re in no position to negotiate.” He pushed me against the wall and blocked me with his intimidating frame.
“It’s just that I…” Shut up and be smart. Don’t offer any unnecessary information.
“I don’t want any problems between us.”
You could have fooled me.
“All you have to do is tell your boyfriend that he needs to convince his father to attend a meeting between the families on the east coast. It’s going to be beneficial for both of you.”
“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”
“Milo will know,” he replied.
I flinched when he traced his finger down my cheek.
“Am I that repulsive to you?”
“Let me out of this alley.”
“If you would have come to me when your brother couldn’t pay back that debt, I would have worked it out with you.”
I cringed when he continued to trail his rough fingers along my skin. His intrusive touch made my stomach sick.
“Instead, you made shit a lot worse for me. Because of you, I have the Accettis in my business. Milo is now an enemy, and I need to find a way to get his father to this table. I don’t like the position I’m in.”
“I can't help you.” I clenched my fists when he leaned into my face. “You’re going to have to figure this out without me.”
“Didn’t I just tell you that you have no leverage?” He yanked on the ends of my hair. “If you don’t convince your deranged boyfriend to cooperate, Chance is going to suffer the consequences.”
“Leave my brother alone.” I shoved him. “Haven’t you done enough?”
“I’m just getting started.” He slammed his hands against the wall, caging me in. “Milo is going to pay for what he did to me that night at the bar. He has no idea what he’s unleashed.”
“He isn’t scared of you.”
“He should be.” Romeo chuckled. “But one thing at a time. You tell him that taking this meeting is imperative for his family’s survival. This is no time for him to double down. These men will spare no one.”
“Tell him yourself.” I gritted my teeth. “I’m not your messenger, and I’m not getting caught in the middle of this.”
“You’re already in it, so much more than you know.” He stepped closer to me, leaving no more than an inch between us. “You did that when you went to him and pretended to be his girlfriend.”
I turned my head so I didn’t have to look at him. I didn’t need him to see that farce in my expression. Milo and I may have started out as a fake couple, but that didn’t last long.
"That's right, Sable, I know about your charade. You sold yourself to Milo and he paid your brother’s debt.” He placed his hand on my throat. “Your brother has a big mouth.”
Damn it, Chance! I swallowed back the fear and glared into his twisted gaze.
“You should have come to me first,” he said. “I would have taken the deal you offered Milo.”
“I would rather die.”
“Be careful what you wish for.” He put pressure on my throat. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’ve always liked you, but your taste in men is lacking.”
“I’m not going to get in the middle of this because I can’t.” I kept my voice calm and steady despite the fear that crested to the surface. “You’ll have to deliver the message yourself.”
“I’m going to send a message,” Romeo said as he pinned me against the wall with his tight hold on my neck. “I wanted to do this the easy way, but I can see you aren’t interested in that.” He shook his head. “Your boyfriend is going to wish he injured my right hand.”
“What?”
“I don’t need my left hand to do my job.”
“Wait!” I held my hands up over my face when I realized what he insinuated. Would he hurt me?
“I thought you might change your tune.” He let go of me. “Just do what I’m asking and then I’ll leave you alone. I’ll even make sure your brother stays out of trouble.”
“I don’t have any influence over Milo because we're not together anymore.” I wanted to be out of this life. I wasn’t going to let Bello and Medina use me to get what they wanted Milo to do. I would not be the reason Milo had to bend to Medina’s will. “I can’t help you.”
“That’s unfortunate.” He sighed. “If that’s true, you’ve got bigger problems than you think.”
“I'm not involved in any of this. Neither is Chance. Please leave us alone.”
“You naive girl.” He stepped back. “Accetti is an idiot to have let you go, because Medina is going to seize this opportunity.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you’re no longer under Milo’s protection, you better watch yourself, because Medina has his eyes on you. Do you know how many enemies the Accettis have? You’ll go for top dollar in an auction.”
“You’re vile,” I said. Milo would never let that happen to me. Unless he didn’t know. What if Bello took me away now? How would Milo ever find me?
“I didn’t get you into this situation. You insisted on helping your useless brother and you got into bed with the wrong gangster.”
“I can’t help you!” I shoved at his chest, knocking him out of the way, but I wasn’t fast enough. He yanked me by my hair and slung me back against the wall, knocking the breath from my lungs when I slammed into the bricks.
“Here is that message I was telling you about.” He drew back his arm and hit my face with the back of his hand, knocking me to the cold, hard ground.
Shit! That was harder than I had expected. I hadn’t felt that kind of pain since… Don’t go there.
“Tell Milo to get his father to show up to that meeting.”
“Tell him yourself.” I wiped the blood from my split lip and glared at him, trying to salvage any dignity I had left. “I’m not your messenger.”
“Got to love your spunk. I should have taken you home with me on New Year’s Eve.” He tugged on my arm, pulling me to my feet. “Make sure your boyfriend knows how much someone else is going to enjoy your fire, because it’s only a matter of time before you're auctioned off.”
I snapped out of his hold and backed further into the alley.
“All you had to do was agree to deliver the message,” he said. “Make sure you do it, or the next time, I’m going to make you really understand.”
He turned away from me and strolled back onto the snow-covered sidewalk, leaving me trembling and bleeding.
I ran my hand through my hair as I willed my unsteady legs to get me out of the dark, urine-smelling alley. How long had Bello been watching me? Were there others? How could I keep myself and Chance safe?
I scurried into my building, not wasting my time with the elevator that wasn’t going to work anyway. I took the stairs up to my apartment and hustled inside, locking the door behind me. My heart pounded against my chest and my frozen fingers threatened to crack from my hands.
“Sable,” Chance said from behind me.
“What!” I spun to face him, trying to catch my breath. “You scared me.”
“What the hell happened to you?” He turned the old lamp that came with the apartment up a notch, making it brighter in the room. “Are you bleeding?”
“It’s okay.” I wiped the blood that had trickled down my jaw with the back of my hand. “It’s nothing.”
“Who did that to you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Fury clouded my judgment, and if my brother pushed me too far, I would lash out at him. Most of the problems we had were his fault. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Sable.” He followed me down the small hall that led to my bedroom. The boxes of clothes, shoes, and accessories that Milo had sent from the main house were stacked to the ceiling. “Did someone hit you?” Chance asked.
“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” My voice shook with anger—a rage I hadn’t experienced since we lived in my father’s house. The shame and humiliation of being smacked and belittled slammed into me. I thought I had suppressed all of those memories when we fled. I was wrong.
“What happened?”
“Chance, I’m not in a good place right now and I can’t make it better for you.” I grabbed a towel from the small linen closet. “Not tonight.”
I wanted to shower, crawl into bed, and forget all of it. My father, Bello, Chance, Milo…
“I’m not asking you to make it better for me. I just want to know what happened to you.” He touched my shoulder, stopping me from heading into the bathroom. “Who hurt you?”
I closed my eyes and didn’t dare to turn and face him. Because if I was being completely honest, it was him who hurt me. If I wasn’t always looking out for him, I wouldn’t be in this situation. Because of his choices, I had to sacrifice myself to save him.
If he hadn’t borrowed money to sell drugs in Milo's club, I would never have gotten my heart broken. If he hadn’t betrayed Milo to work with Medina and Bello, I would be with Milo instead of here, alone and afraid.
I was so close to saving Chance. But then he had to agree to transport a woman who was being sold to a man she didn’t know. All of my brother’s decisions these past few months had been epic failures.
But could I really blame it all on Chance? If I had allowed him to become a man and stopped bailing him out at every turn, maybe I could have chosen Milo.
Should have, would have, could have…
“Was it Milo?” The agitation in Chance’s voice grew. “Did he do that to you?”
When the tears streamed from my eyes, I violently blinked them back. After everything Milo had done for us, Chance had the audacity to accuse him of hurting me? As if Milo hadn’t done everything in his power to protect me and make me feel valued and safe?
“You don’t know anything,” I whispered. “And I don’t have the energy to explain it to you.”
“Let me fix this for you,” Chance said. “Let me show you I can.”
“You’ve done enough.” I swung open the bathroom door. “Leave it alone.”
I hurried into the bathroom and turned the faucet on. When the apartment door slammed shut and I was alone, I let out a strained sob. I’d give myself the length of this shower to feel sorry and then I would figure out how to move forward.
Like I always did, even if nothing ever seemed to go my way.