26
Logan
It’s nighttime when we stop. By now, we’re far away enough from Coltello that it feels relatively safe. Not that safety is anything but an illusion at this point. I’m aware it’s only a matter of time before we’re found.
I’m also aware that I still don’t have a plan.
There was no way to hide from the family that I’d lost Lia a month ago. The don figured it out the very next morning, when I wasn’t able to deliver her to his son.
I was helpless to prevent the cascade of events that followed. Him deciding to give Coltello the responsibility of finding Lia, and sending me off instead with Damien, Vale, Igor and Everest to hunt down the faction of men who’ve been plotting against him.
I have a vague notion that we managed to find some of them, but not to uncover their leader’s identity. I was far more focused on trying to get to Lia before Coltello, though.
Luckily, I had Everest on my side. He got attached to Aurora, what with all the babysitting.
His thing is tracking, and he managed to pick up her trace after a while.
But less than an hour after I’d entered the diner, planning to wait there until Lia showed up, Coltello waltzed in.
Everest and I must have been a lot less discreet than we’d figured.
He clearly realized I wasn’t planning on leaving her alone, and rather than try to find her, he’d decided tracking me would be easier.
Even before I escaped from under Coltello’s nose, I was in hot water, because I knew that the moment our talk was over, he’d be going to Moretti and telling him just how bad I had it for Lia.
Now, the water’s boiling hot.
And the temperature turns up even more when I walk into the hotel room with Lia, Everest and a toddling Aurora. My phone rings, and I see Damien’s name flash on the screen.
There’s no point in even trying to ignore the call. I sigh, sitting down heavily on the bed, hooking a hand around Lia’s wrist and pulling her down with me.
Now that we’re not in the car anymore, I’m not letting her put that wall back up.
Well, I guess I can’t control that. But I can control her movements.
I pin her hand between my legs, and latch onto her hair.
I tug on it a bit, just so I can get some reaction out of her, but she merely sits passively beside me.
Feeling more than a little annoyed, I bring the phone to my ear.
“Yeah?”
“Hi, stupid.”
“Fuck off.”
“So what’s the plan?”
I stand up again, forcing Lia to follow me by keeping my hold on her hair. Everest is in the other room with Aurora, and I check that the door between us is closed. I don’t want him to realize just how badly we’re fucked.
“There is no plan,” I hiss into the phone, pulling her back to the bed. “So you’d better stay the fuck away, Damien, because I am not taking you down with me.”
He scoffs. “Idiot. It’s a good thing nothing gets by me, huh?”
“What do you mean?” I ask wearily.
“You planning on killing Carmelo?”
Lia shifts uncomfortably beside me.
“Probably not,” I admit. “Since I’m kind of hoping not to die.”
“Good boy,” he says in the condescending way I usually don’t mind, but which makes me want to punch him right now. “Listen, I’ve done you a favor, so from now on, you’d better worship the ground I walk on. Got it?”
“Fuck off, Damien.” Now that my adrenaline has died down, the realization of how screwed we are is starting to weigh heavily on me. And the way Lia is sitting passively beside me, no matter how hard I try to get a reaction out of her, isn’t helping matters.
“Well, jeez,” drawls Damien. “That’s not a nice way of thanking me, is it?”
Fine. I’ll bite. “Thanking you for what?”
“For getting you a nice little place in Wyoming. You’re gonna be a good boy and stay there with Lia, while I deal with Coltello.”
There’s a sharp intake of breath beside me. Lia doesn’t know Damien half as well as I do, though. I smell the bullshit a mile away.
“Sure,” I answer. I know he’s good, but no one’s that good. I’m also aware he’s much better at talking than at doing. “So let me get this straight. Your plan is to outsmart the entire mafia? Just you, against the whole family?”
“No,” says Damien unexpectedly. “You have the don’s blessing.”
“Stop fucking with me,” I sigh. “I’m tired, and I’ll be dead tomorrow. So just leave me alone, Damien, okay?”
I feel Lia tense beside me at those words, and maybe I should feel bad for scaring her, but I’m mostly glad to see her react to something.
“You really are an idiot if you think I’d ever let anything like that happen to you,” he snaps.
“I know you don’t want me to die, Damien. But you can only do so much.”
“I can do a lot,” lashes out Damien, sounding annoyed.
“I can remind Moretti that since he’s got his hands full with a mutiny, dealing with a runaway daughter-in-law shouldn’t be his priority right now.
I can promise him you’ll have Lia nicely locked up for him until the storm blows over, so Carmelo can give his entire attention to the shitfest going on in the family right now.
Oh, and I can also call in that favor he owes me. ”
“What favor?”
“None of your fucking business. Just know that I used up the one leverage I have with Moretti to get you out of the shithole you’ve put yourself in. You’re welcome.”
“Fuck off,” I say feebly, still unwilling to believe any of the words that are coming out of his mouth.
“I mean it, Logan.” His voice grows serious. “I don’t have any leverage anymore. So you’d better behave from now on, because if you fuck up again, I won’t be able to do a thing to save you. It’ll be a fucking shipwreck, and you’re crazy if you think I’m not going down with the ship.”