Chapter 8
DANTE
B etween dealing with my family and the push to put more effort into school, it feels like it’s been weeks since I’ve seen Ethan. Every time I think about running into him, cornering him, and claiming him all for myself, some dumb shit comes up and I’m pulled away.
Tessa’s wedding is coming up in a month, and the entire family is scrambling to make sure nothing gets in the way of it, or that her wedding doesn’t get in the way of something else.
Not to mention ever since I delivered my father’s message to Callum Greivan, things have been tense.
“What’s been going on with you lately?” Marco asks me. We’re standing in line to pick up pizza before our stakeout of the Greivans’ warehouses. Two bodyguards idle in the background, pretending to read takeout menus and keeping an eye on the small shop.
I shove my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket and shrug. “Nothin.’”
“Right. I know when you’re not at the top of your game, and you’ve been distracted,” he accuses me. “Got doubts about Tessa’s marriage?”
I scoff. “What? Tess? Why would I have doubts about that?” I ask, genuinely confused. I give him a look as we step closer to the counter, just one other person in front of us.
The small family-owned pizza shop smells like baking bread and Italian spices.
It’s way too hot in here, the air thick and heavy.
It’s crowded, and the lights flicker every now and then.
A couple weeks ago there were Halloween decorations strung up around the place, but now there’s Thanksgiving décor scattered about.
We haven’t gotten pizza anywhere else since we were kids.
“Maybe her and Yvette’s marriage won’t actually fix the problems between our families,” he suggests.
I sigh and step forward when it’s our turn.
“Well, hey boys! Pickup for the usual, right?” Marnie, a woman in her early sixties who doesn’t look a day over forty, asks us.
“Damn right. Same price?” I ask her with a smirk.
She shakes her head. “It’s on the house,” she insists as she grabs the receipt off a hook near the register. “Your family has done enough for me the last thirty years.”
I pull my wallet out, grab a twenty, and put it in the tip jar. “And we’ll keep doin’ it.”
She puts a hand on her heart. “Fuck you for being so sweet, boy,” she laughs. “Give me a second.”
I look at Marco when she disappears into the back.
“I ain’t worried about Contessa and Yvette. That’s locked in—not just their marriage, but our alliance. What I am worried about is the Greivans.”
He raises a brow. “You’re worried about them? We could take them out no problem.”
“Here you go! One large double pepperoni with double cheese. I included some breadsticks, too,” Marnie says, walking back up to the counter and placing the boxes in front of us.
“Thank you. Here’s something extra for your grandbaby, Luke,” Marco insists, sliding over a fifty. I roll my eyes. He’s always trying to out-do me.
Still, at least it’s going to a good cause.
“Oh, hell,” Marnie says, choking up a little. She swallows and clears her throat. “He’s been needing a new set of skates. Thank you, boys.”
I grab the food before Marco can, which he looks irritated about.
“Don’t mention it. Have a happy Thanksgiving,” I tell her.
I hear my brother say something else as I turn around and leave with the food, but I don’t process it. Finally, he catches up to me as I’m pushing through the door.
“What’s your problem?” he asks.
“Nothing, we just need to get going,” I remind him.
As we head to the temporary car we’re using the job, the two guards tailing us head to theirs.
“Are you really that worried about the Greivans?” he asks.
I hand him the food so I can get in the driver’s seat. “I think we shouldn’t underestimate their stupidity.”
The smell of the food has my already hungry stomach growling even louder. My mouth waters now that the pizza is closed in the car with us.
“Fair enough,” Marco agrees. “That’s not the only thing going on, though.”
“You don’t think?” I ask as I pull out of the lot.
Marco chuckles. “I know you, and I know when you’re not getting laid, so what’s up with that?”
“Are you getting laid?” I ask him.
“Absolutely. Just last night, in fact,” he replies with no shame. “You want the details?”
“Of whatever pussy you poorly serviced? I’m good.”
“Fuck off,” Marco hisses.
“What? Are you interested in dick now?”
I’m taking the long way to our destination to be safe, and not being able to eat yet is driving me almost as crazy as not seeing Ethan.
“You don’t know what I’m interested in,” Marco snaps. He leans his head back against the seat.
“Redheads,” I reply. “It’s kinda weird and a little egotistical, but I’m not judging.”
“Please, that’s bold coming from you,” he says. “That one guy you used to bang could’ve been your twin.”
“Who?” I ask.
“Jesse and…wait, don’t distract me. What’s going on with you?”
I chuckle. “Why does it matter?”
“Because I can’t have your back if I don’t know what all’s behind it.” Marco gives me a pointed look, which I only see because we’re stopped at a red light.
“Fine, but if this gets back to dad, I’ll know it’s you,” I remind him.
Marco puts his hands up, balancing the pizza box on his lap. “I won’t tell him anything.”
“There’s a guy,” I start.
“Always,” he butts in.
I growl under my breath. “Shut up and let me talk. He’s two grades under me. We ran into each other a couple months ago and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since.” “Damn, strung up good, huh? How many times have you fucked?” he asks.
My hands tighten on the wheel. “None.”
“Wow. What’s so special about this guy?” he asks with a laugh.
“I…I don’t fucking know. Ethan is just…I want him. I’ve never wanted anyone like this before,” I admit. “I’ve been following him, watching him, trying to figure him out. Not the last couple weeks, because things have been so fucking hectic, but before that.”
“Stalking and not even getting paid for it—that’s not like you,” Marco snickers. “You’re going to get yourself in trouble.”
“Not if you keep your mouth shut,” I remind him.
“I don’t mean that kind of trouble,” he insists. “I mean, my baby brother might actually want to settle down.”
I shake my head. “Ethan won’t even admit to himself how he feels.”
“This is a closeted guy? Damn. I wouldn’t think you’d give him the time of day once you figured that out.”
I pull down the street we’re keeping an eye on. The guard car is about a half mile back from us, keeping its distance to not be suspicious.
“Like I said, I can’t stop thinking about him. It’s driving me fucking nuts. He kissed me a couple weeks ago. I thought maybe after that he’d come running, but…nothing.”
“So stop being a little bitch and go to him,” Marco suggests.
“Wow, thanks. I never thought of that,” I mock him.
He shrugs as I park. “Maybe if you stopped just stalking him and actually asked him out directly, it’d go better.”
I grumble and grab the pizza from him. “Just let me eat.”
Marco doesn’t bother me about Ethan again, but only because we’re too busy stuffing our faces.
Nothing much is happening at the warehouse. A couple guys come in, a couple more come out. Nothing alarming happens for hours.
“I think we’re here for nothing,” I tell Marco.
Marco shakes his head. “Not for nothing. Even if they don’t do anything suspicious, that shows us they aren’t up to something.”
“What’s an ass-backward way of lookin’ at it, but I guess you’re right,” I say. I try to get another piece of pizza out of the box. It’s cold and kind of hard, but still edible. However, when I pull it out of the box most of the pepperoni slides off into my lap.
“Fuck!” I sigh and brush it off onto the floorboards before tossing the slice back. “Don’t need another right now, anyway.”
As I wipe my hands off on a napkin and look back up at the steering wheel, I see someone walking toward us.
I’m not positive that they’re walking toward the car until the guy walking takes his sunglasses off and practically looks straight into my eyes through the tinted windshield. I know he can’t really see me, but I can sure as hell see him.
“Shit,” I mumble, and start the car.
“Calm down or we’ll look even more suspicious,” Marco insists.
I scoff. “Let’s just get out of there.”
He grabs my wrist and keeps me from pulling away.
I’m not sure why, but what’s done is done, and the guy stops at the window. I curse under my breath again, this time including Marco in the mix of expletives.
“Hey, buddy,” I say with a fake smile pulling at my lips as I roll down the window. “We in your spot?”
“This is yours,” the guy says calmly.
He hands me an envelope, similar to the one I gave Callum weeks before.
“From Callum?” I ask, giving up the ruse.
He shrugs. “You’ll know,” he says, and then turns around and walks away.
“Learn some fucking etiquette,” I spit at him, then roll the window up.
“Etiquette?” Marco chuckles. “What the fuck is in that?”
I exhale in frustration, then open the envelope with a quick tear. I’m expecting a letter threatening my father, or perhaps even the contents of the envelope I gave Callum, but with shit all over them or something.
The papers I pull out, however, are the last thing I expected.
I hold a stack of photos in my hand, and the top one instantly has my complete attention.
It’s a shot of Ethan walking into the coffee shop on campus.
I push it to the side, looking at the next one.
Ethan going to class.
My fingers tighten on the pictures and my heart starts to race in my chest as I flip to the next one.
Me and Ethan in the parking lot at school. Then at his apartment lot.
I swallow the thickness in my throat.
That’s all there is, just pictures of him. No note, nothing circled, no outright threats.
“Who’s that?” Marco asks as he leans over to look.
My jaw tightens and I grit my teeth. “Ethan,” I reply coldly.
“They know about whatever’s going on between you,” he comments.
I nearly crush the pictures in my hand before letting them fall to my lap.
“No fucking shit,” I growl. “They’re threatening him. Motherfuckers.”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Marco insists. “Is the guy really worth it?”
I toss the pictures and envelope at him. “They’re the ones doing something stupid!”
Marco lifts the photos and goes through them.
“This one is the most recent,” he comments, and holds it out for me to look at closer.
I almost brush him off, just wanting to go inside the warehouse and kick the shit out of someone.
Instead, I decide to look at what he’s pointing out.
The picture is Ethan walking away from his car. It’s sometime in the midmorning based on the sun, and the weather outside is colder and deader than in any of the other pictures, which means it’s more recent.
My eyes scan the background, and I see the front of several shops, their signs advertising specials for the day or week. They’re a bit muddled since the focus isn’t on them, but one of them mentions a special price on Saturdays.
I trace the picture slowly with my eyes.
“That special wasn’t there last week,” I mumble. “I’ve never gone in that store, but I’ve been to the café next to it.”
My eyebrows perk up. “This picture was taken today.” I toss the picture down and back the car out of the parking spot.
“What?” Marco asks.
“That picture was taken this morning. They didn’t just take the picture to show they’re following him; they took it to see if I’d catch on to the game they’re playing,” I snap out in a rush as I pull onto the road and speed up, causing the tires to squeal.
The car with the two guards quickly follows us, though they have no idea why.
My phone starts ringing, but I’m driving with both hands so I don’t pick it up.
“What do you think they’ve done?” Marco grabs my phone.
“I don’t know for sure, but I think if Ethan gets back in that fucking car, he’s dead,” I tell him.
Marco answers the phone and puts it on speaker.
“What the hell are you two doing?” one of the guards, Lenard, asks.
“There’s been a threat to a civilian with ties to Dante. He thinks they’ve planted a car bomb. We’re heading there now,” Marco explains.
“A civilian? Car bomb? Don’t you think this is something we should bring up to Nicholas first?” Lenard asks.
“I’m not about to get my ass blown up for one of your boy toys, Dante,” the other guard, Kelly, tells me.
“Then get off my fucking ass and run home, but I’m going!” I shout, then grab the phone from Marco and hang up.
“Do you have any problems with this? Cause you’re gonna have to tuck and roll if you wanna leave.” I shoot a glare at Marco as I run a red light and several cars honk at me.
He puts his hands up. “Not my circus, not my monkeys, but I’m comin’ with you. Now…going near the car, that’s another story.”
I growl under my breath and look back at the road. “I swear if somethin’ happens to him, I’ll kill every single one of them.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, let’s just get there, brother,” Marco insists, trying to calm me down, but it’s not working very well.
The pizza in my stomach suddenly feels like a lead brick.
Somehow, I make it to the café parking lot without getting pulled over by any cops or hitting anyone. The café just closed a few minutes ago.
If Ethan has kept up his usual routine, he’s been there most of the day and evening.
I spot him in the dim lighting of the parking lot, carrying a coffee cup and his messenger bag. He’s just a few feet from his car.
“Fuck, fuck!”
My car comes to a screeching halt as I stop right in the middle of the parking lot, rip off my seatbelt, and bolt out of the car.
“Dante!” Marco shouts after me, but I don’t listen.
“Ethan!” I call to him as I run.
His hand is on the door handle, and his head swivels in my direction.
“Don’t!” I try to tell him. “Don’t open the door!”
It’s too late. Ethan’s hand is already pulling at the handle.
Suddenly, it’s like everything around me disappears. I can see nothing but Ethan and feel nothing but my heart pounding. The ground underneath my feet doesn’t exist anymore.
I hear a singular beep.
I collide with Ethan’s body, causing whatever’s in his cup to spill everywhere as it’s crushed between us. I force both of our bodies away from the car as fast and as hard as I can, practically dragging him with me.
Just as the second beep rings in my ears, I tackle Ethan to the ground, sliding my arms and hands around his body and behind his head.
“Dante!” Ethan gasps.
At the same moment there’s a third beep, and then the roar of exploding metal behind us. Heat flares behind my back and pain stings at the back of my legs and neck.
I curl my body around Ethan more forcefully as several more pops of fire ring out.
“Ethan,” I whisper. “Ethan…are you okay?”
Before I can hear his reply, everything goes dark.