6. Aiden
Chapter six
Aiden
I pace restlessly back and forth across the cracked asphalt, inside the rundown amusement park, taking in how decrepit and horrifying it has become. My eyes go instantly to the old Ferris wheel, where, once upon a time, I had my very first kiss with a mafia princess. It was one of the best days of my miserable existence.
Long ago, when I was a child, Tadhg, Nicolo, Milano, little Phoebe, and I used to run around this place, screaming and laughing, eating way too much junk food, and barfing it out after we went on all the rides. That was back when we didn’t realize there was a difference between us, and there was a muted peace in our lives. We didn’t know that one day, we would grow up and become divided by our names, loyalties, and family allegiances, and one of us would be used as a pawn to barter with. All too soon, that day came, and best friends instantly became enemies, ready at a moment’s notice to end each other’s lives, all the years of camaraderie washed away as if the tide had taken it out, and only left muted memories of who we had once been behind. While Tadhg and Milano reverted to their roles as heirs of their mafia families, and became rivals, choosing to allow their fathers to dictate how the future would be run, Nicolo and I refused. Well, at least privately, that is. I could no more give up my best friend than I could the girl I had been in love with all my life. She, too, became a forbidden fruit, forever on a branch high out of my unworthy reach.
I drag my hands down my face, trying desperately to lift the exhaustion off of me. It feels like I haven’t slept in years. My six-foot-three muscled frame feels heavy and lethargic, even though my heart is racing in my chest at the possibility of locating Phoebe safely. I refuse to think about what I saw in that link, knowing that it will bring me to my knees with rage and sadness. Even in my exhausted state, my senses never seem to desert me, and that’s why I hear this punk trying to creep up on me. Before he can get any closer, I have my gun in my hand, cocked, and pointed right at his face as I whip around. “Nice try, asshole, but you have elephant feet. I heard you the minute you entered the fucking park.” I stare into my best friend’s blue eyes, and take in the strain across his features. Nicolo ‘pretty boy’ Amato has always been a good-looking fucker, with his runway model looks, all that dark blond, thick hair, and startling blue eyes that right now are filled with tempest storms, turning them almost charcoal. Girls in our private school used to say he looked like a young Brad Pitt, which he hated ’cause he thought he was better looking. His stubborn, chiseled, square jaw is tilted my way in defiance, and his lips are rocking an irritated scowl. I guess he’s not enjoying my comparison to the largest living land animal. “Fuck you. I’m silent like a damn leopard. They’re silent killers, and you just have massive ears, cunt.”
“Sure, you are, buddy, but leopards don’t spend all their time looking at their reflection in the mirror, or brow-beating everyone with their arrogance.” He looks like dog shit in his high-priced black, three- piece Italian suit, with the open collar showing off his gold crucifix, and fancy shoes that probably cost more than the lease on my one-bedroom downtown condo. Like he’s drinking too much, and back to snorting shit up his nose. Jesus fucking Christ, is Milano not watching out for him? God knows someone has to, or this reckless fool is likely to kill himself. “You look like shit, Nico.” I lower my gun as he gives me a deprecating look, and I glance behind him to ensure he hasn’t been followed by one of his father’s soldiers, before sliding it back into the waistband of my jeans. “Give me a little credit, Aiden. I know how to lose a tail when I want to, which is more than I can say for that fucker, Tadhg.” He takes a couple of steps closer, and I see the lines that are bracketing his mouth, that shouldn’t be there yet, since he’s not fucking old enough for that shit. “Does your fearless leader even realize that my father and brother have eyes on him, and that most of the whores he’s sleeping with are taking Amato cash, to keep him too dick drunk to notice his Irish empire crumbling all around him?”
I reach up and rub my throbbing left eye, feeling another migraine coming on. Lately, every time I see this asshole, he causes my head to hurt more than it already does. “I know, even if he doesn’t, Nico. Your dad and brother aren’t as slick as they think they are. You should be worried about who I have sucking their dicks.” The corner of his lips tip up, in the hint of a smile that I haven’t seen for far too long. I bite down on the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from badgering him about drinking too much, and using coke as a coping method. It would be useless even to bother. Nicolo stopped listening to me the minute his marriage to Phoebe was announced, and I tried to plead with him not to go through with it. A cocky look crosses his face, and I grit my teeth, knowing the ass is about to try my limited patience. “Did you watch one of her shows, Nico?” I was so tempted to watch the videos she had posted on her channel after I paid my subscription, but I knew that I had to get here, to try to stop him from going after her in a blind Neanderthal rage.
He quirks a perfectly manicured eyebrow at my question, and it instantly pisses me off. “ Did you? We both know how long you’ve wanted to see Phebes naked,“ he retorts with venom. Fuck, if he only knew what I’d had the privilege to see. Thank fuck he doesn’t, or my body would probably be in some swamp in Florida right now. “No, I came straight here when you messaged me. How did you find that, Nico?” I’ve been going back and forth in my mind about how he would have just discovered that link. It looks like it’s hosted on a private server, not one of the larger porn sites that he might have been cruising for spank material. I checked a few of them, and none of her videos are on them. There’s no mention of a ‘Ladypoison’ outside of Behind the Lens , thank fuck.
“It seems someone besides us wants me to find her. It was sent to me by an anonymous person via text message. You do still want me to find my wife, don’t you, Aiden?” He cocks his head at me and bares his teeth, like a wolf warning me away from his dinner. My hands fist at my sides, with the need to wipe that look off of his smug face, with violence and bloodshed. I both want him to find her, and at the same time, I hope he never does. That way, I never have to face the reality of seeing her at his beck and call, and round with his babies in her belly. “Of course I fucking do, Nico. Why the fuck wouldn’t I want to end this war between our families, and see Phebes safe?” I don’t bother reminding him that she never made it to being his wife, because in his head, it doesn’t matter. I’m pretty sure he’s not buying what I’m selling, but at this point, he can go fuck himself. He’s the reason she fucking ran away, and as sins go, I’m going to say his are heftier than mine where Phoebe is concerned. “Give me the number so I can have it traced, Nico.” I pull out my cell, ready for him to provide me wit h what I need, so I can track down where Phoebe is hiding, and figure out who found her, and whose side they are on. All of this is suspicious and too coincidental, considering the plans I am making to knock his father’s empire down a peg or two.
“No need. I’ve already tried, and my guy has come up with nothing. Whoever they are, they know how to stay hidden in the shadows.” He won’t meet my eyes, and that’s very telling; he’s holding information back from me. “I watched her, you know, twice, actually. Once acting like a dirty whore on a live stream for a bunch of assholes on the internet, and then I paid for a private live chat with just the two of us. She definitely enjoys playing the naughty slut. She follows directions like a well-trained bitch . I’m going to enjoy shackling her to my bed, and fucking all her gaping holes, when I finally get my hands on her. I may even allow her to keep breathing when I’m finally done with her.“ I don’t think, my fist just flies toward his face and connects with his jaw, in a hard crack that has my hand vibrating, and him taking a forced step back from the impact. I’m seeing everything through a haze of red, as images of what he plans to do to my girl race through my mind unbidden. “Over my dead fucking body, Nicolo. You’re not going to fucking abuse her, just ’cause you’re butt sore she left you. You brought that shit upon yourself by acting like a stupid twat, and trying to prove you were some hot-shot mafioso.”
Nicolo Amato, furious, is a grand sight to behold; his eyes shine with a maniacal light as he raises his hand to his jaw, and moves it back and forth, checking if I cracked it. I can see the fine tremble running through his body, as he endeavors to contain his rage, and the need to strike me back. I wonder if our history is running through his mind right now, and he’s replaying every time I put him on his ass over the years when he tried to fight me. He knows he’s no match for me in a fistfight. I outweigh him by fifty pounds, and have four inches on him, n ot to mention I lift weights and box regularly. Not that he’s not fit; the fucker is, and is trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, plus he’s a dirty fighter. I wouldn’t ever put it past Nicolo to go for my family jewels, if he thinks there’s no other way to win.
“That was your one shot, Aiden. The next time you strike me, I am going to forget our years of friendship, and end your life.” He straightens his frame, shrugging off the hit that is already blooming red on his jaw. “What I do with my wife is none of your concern. It never was and never will be. She belongs to me.”
I invade his space and chest-bump him, forcing him to have to look up at me, as his eyes burn into mine. “That’s the thing, asshole. She’s not your wife. You didn’t manage to tie her down long enough to accomplish your goal, and the first chance she got, she ran, leaving her family, friends, and whole world behind to escape you.” I hiss through my clenched teeth as I bump him again, and watch as his nostrils flare with wrath. “How does it feel to know you had the woman of your dreams in the palm of your hands, and she chose exile and death rather than marry you?” I’m prepared for his punch to my face, but I’m not ready for the knee to my groin, that has me buckling in half, trying to catch my breath. “Fucking cunt,” I wheeze, as I attempt not to regurgitate my lunch.
“FUCK!” He stomps like a petulant child in front of me, and I debate whether I can take him to the ground right now, and smash his head into the dirty asphalt. “This is getting us nowhere! I didn’t have to text you, Aiden. I could have gone to find her all on my own, and dragged her back, kicking and screaming, if needed.”
I straighten out my body, even though my balls feel like they’ve crawled inside of my stomach, and swipe at the blood trickling down my cheek from his punch. Fear and curiosity wage war with my anger, as I take in his distraught appearance. Does it pain him to know that we are precariously at the point of ending our friendship, and that he’s the fucking cause of it? “Why did you send that to me, huh, Nico? You know damn well I’m not going to allow you to hurt her, especially not to soothe your injured pride.”
He stops pacing back and forth, his shoulders rounding, his head dipping down, and a crestfallen look crosses his face. He looks contrite, a look that I’ve rarely seen on his face. Nicolo is always so sure of himself, and every move he makes. “I need your help, Aiden. I need to bring her back home with me, so this war between our families can end, before there’s no one left standing. She won’t listen to me, and I don’t want to have to hurt her unless forced to.” His stormy eyes meet mine, and I see the despair that he’s been trying so hard to hide over the last two years. “You’re right. I was one of the main reasons she ran. I was a cunt to her, and what I did to her, she didn’t deserve. You can help me bring her back home safely. She’ll listen to you, and I can spend my life making it up to her.”
“Why would she listen to me, Nicolo?” I hold my breath, praying it’s not what I think it is.
“Because she’s always been in love with you, Aiden. If it were you she was supposed to marry, she wouldn’t have run in the fi rst place.”
Damn, he knows.