13. Zira
ZIRA
“Your brother?” Bradley’s head tilts slightly and he rubs at his jaw, never once taking his eyes off me. “What has your brother got to do with this?”
Spilling my secrets to this man I shot, who then kidnapped me, saved my life, and then drugged me doesn’t seem like the smartest decision I’ll ever make, but the alternative is torture at the hands of an Irish family. A detail Bradley spoke about so casually that it almost seemed like a joke.
Almost.
“Fuck…” I whisper, mostly to myself.
“Are you hungry?” Bradley asks suddenly. “Thirsty?”
“I don’t trust anything from you,” I remark hotly. “You’ll try and drug me again.”
“Why would I do that when I’m trying to learn about you, Zira?” His tone, still soft, laces slightly with sarcasm and a warm, foolish sensation enters my chest.
He’s right, but I hate that he’s right. My chest is all twisted up, and I want to push his buttons until he yells at me, until we’re having a full-blown, ridiculous argument that will make me feel better. Instead, Bradley remains kind and calm, as if we’re discussing the weather.
“Not hungry,” I reply finally. “Little thirsty.”
Bradley stands and moves to the fridge. When he opens it, I glimpse bare shelves and a few bottles of water alongside a couple of ready meals.
He takes one of the bottles and closes the fridge, but instead of handing it to me, he screws off the cap and takes a drink himself.
I watch his throat squeeze and bob as he swallows and then grow transfixed on a single droplet of water that latches onto his lip as he pulls the bottle away.
His tongue darts out and slowly licks it up, and a sudden heat lances through my chest as he hands the bottle to me.
“See? Perfectly fine.”
“Gross,” I mutter, making a show of wiping the rim as he hands the bottle to me. I won’t tell him that I actually appreciate the gesture. As I drink, Bradley returns to his seat and it creaks underneath his bulk.
“Tell me about your brother.”
There’s really no other option here, is there?
“My brother, Peter. He’s only twenty-six, a couple of years younger than me, but ever since I can remember, he’s always been caught up in something.
He’s drunk so much that the last time I could afford the bills, I learned his liver is struggling, but he refuses to stop drinking because he’s an alcoholic.
When he’s not drinking, he’s gambling with everything he has and most of what I have.
” Saying it out loud hardly paints the best picture, so I launch into my usual defense.
“But he’s my brother. He’s the only family I have left, and his alcoholism is a sickness. He can’t control it. Same with the gambling. He tries his best but he fails because he’s sick, y’know?”
Bradley doesn’t reply, but he’s watching me intently with his elbow on the table and fingers curled along his jaw and around his upper lip.
“Anyway, he got in some really bad gambling debt with Harris. Debt he couldn’t pay back or work back because he’s so sick, y’know?
And I was doing everything I could to take care of him, but the debt got so huge that Harris kidnapped him, and I was so scared he was going to kill him that I told Harris I would do anything. ”
Memories of our conversation flush through me, and a sickly heat twists in my gut.
I’m scarcely able to suppress a shudder as I continue.
“Anyway, that’s how he roped me into the heists.
My compliance was supposed to keep Peter safe, and eventually, my real job became the key to Peter’s release.
A last heist and my brother would be free. That’s when I met you.”
“And you shot me.”
I nod slowly. “I’m sorry. I really am. We’ve never taken a hostage before and never been caught by the cops so early, but Harris…
he didn’t trust me. He wanted to make sure I couldn’t go to the cops and work out a deal so he…
” My throat closes suddenly, and I fight to wash away the dryness with several gulps of water.
“He told me to shoot you or he’d shoot Peter. ”
“Harris was the one I shot?”
I nod. “Him and that stupid mask. I’m glad he’s dead, don’t get me wrong.
He deserved that and so much more.” My eyes close briefly and Peter’s face flashes in my mind.
“But when we left, Harris made us split up. I knew it was so he could force me to go along with his demands because he knew I’d do anything to keep Peter safe.
Peter went in one car and I went with the other. ”
“The other members of your group, who are they?”
“I’ve no idea. When I first met them, they always had their masks on, and Harris said it was so I couldn’t rat any of them out.
Last night, we met at an abandoned gas station and everyone was there, I think.
Harris handed out masks, gave me the fancy one and made my brother wear a Volto mask.
I assume the other guy was there and had been helping Harris load the cars with the diamonds. ”
Bradley nods slowly and his attention drifts down to his phone. He starts texting quickly. “Your brother is wearing a Volto mask?”
“He was, yeah.”
“Can you remember the address of the gas station?”
I nod and quickly recite the address. “The two who helped with the robbery, I don’t care about them.
But my brother… Everything you said about the Mafia scares me, but what scares me the most right now is I fear that Harris knew and he made my brother wear the Volto mask to make him look like one of us from the heist so that anyone who came looking would just shoot him and I…
” Warmth stings behind my eyes and I swallow hard.
“Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve always done has been to protect him and care for him.
That’s been my job for the past fifteen years and I’m not perfect at it, I’m not amazing or anything, but I do what I can, so please…
I’ll do anything you want, but please make sure no one kills him.
He’s innocent in all of this. He’s just sick. Please, I just want him safe.”
Bradley falls silent and remains that way for a long time.
My heart races like a rabbit and I grow far too nervous to speak again, acutely aware of how my reasons sound like excuses, but there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel.
If I gain Bradley’s protection by helping him, we can find the diamonds, return them, and Peter and I can live free without Harris’s disgusting influence.
Bradley finally sighs deeply. “I want to ensure I understand everything,” he says. “Just so I am clear. Did you ever meet the second team Harris worked with?”
“No. Not once.”
“Did you know about them?”
I nod. “After the second robbery, I overheard Harris talking about working up for a distraction. Eventually, he told me that he had a second team that was going to score big, but I didn’t have to worry.”
“And you don’t know the identities of the other two men who helped with the heists?”
Again, I shake my head. “I’m sorry.”
His brow dips faintly. “Never apologize for not knowing. I understand your motivation. Your brother must be very dear to you.”
“He’s all I have,” I whisper. “My parents died when I was fourteen and he was only eleven. We…” I shake my head and grimace.
“We were supposed to go into the system, but we just slipped through the cracks and somehow ended up all by ourselves. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him so I worked hard to get us through school, and I got a job as soon as I could.
My entire life…” My chest shudders suddenly, and I place my hand below my throat.
“Sorry. I constantly wish I’d done a better job so that he didn’t turn to drink, but I couldn’t.
So I’m doing everything I can to keep him safe now. ”
“Fourteen,” Bradley repeats softly. “You raised yourself and your brother all by yourself.”
My shoulders lift. “It’s easy when you don’t have a choice.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” He lifts his chin slightly and then a warm smile curls his lips. “I will do everything I can to keep you and your brother safe, although I must warn you that his survival may be tied to whether we can reclaim the rest of the diamonds.”
My heart lifts and I clasp my hands together on the table. “Thank you. Thank you. I can’t…” Shaking my head, my gratitude that Bradley will at least try to help suddenly fades, and I squint up at him. “Just like that? You’re not asking for anything in return?”
Bradley looks faintly surprised. “Not everything is a transaction. And what you’ve become involved in is bigger than a robbery, so the return of the diamonds is what I get out of it.”
That can’t be right. I know men and they never do something for free, even quiet, seemingly kind ones like Bradley. The man’s embroiled with the Mafia yet somehow takes me at my word that I’m telling the truth?
No. There has to be a catch. Something I’m not seeing. There’s always a catch.
Then again, he is a man. Attractive, hot-blooded men like him always want one thing, and if it means getting ahead of his demand and securing my safety along with my brother’s, I’m not opposed to it.
“I can’t thank you enough,” I say, softening my tone while swallowing my stress and fear down into the dark pit of my gut where I store all my anxiety.
“You don’t need to thank me,” Bradley replies. “There’s only one path of least pain here, and your agreement makes things far smoother than your rejection.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course I have to thank you.
” Rising from my seat, I approach him, and Bradley leans back in his as I get close.
There’s just enough space between his body and the table to fit me, so when I reach him, I clasp his shoulder and slowly throw my leg over his lap.
Then I settle down onto his thick, strong thighs and lightly clasp either side of his neck with my hands.
“What are you doing?” Bradley asks.
This close, his sweet scent fills my nose and his voice vibrates against my palm, sending an unexpected thrill through me. This might be the first time I’ve thanked someone and actually enjoyed it.
“Whatever you want me to,” I say softly, arching my back into his chest and leaning up and forward until we’re eye to eye. “How do you like to be thanked?”