Chapter 10
Ava
The minute Paulie hears my voice he knows something’s deathly wrong. “I told you not to call me back until I called you. What’s the matter, Ava?”
I suck in a deep breath, but Kade gives me a reassuring nod, urging me to continue. “Men came after us, at the cabin. Kade killed one of them and the messages on his phone led back to Tony. He ordered a hit on me, Paulie.”
He’s so quiet on the other end that for a moment I don’t think he’s going to answer at all. “You’re okay? Kade is with you?”
“Yeah, we’re okay, Paulie.”
“Tony’s a dead man, do you hear me, Ava? No one even looks at you the wrong way, and sure as shit doesn’t put a hit out on my baby sister. You stay with Kade and let me deal with him.”
I sniff. “It’s not quite that simple. We’re coming in to meet you at the docks.
Meet us down there, in…” I glance at the dash and then at Kade.
He gives me four fingers. “In four hours, meet us there in four hours. Dock 16. Okay, and Paulie, please be safe. Whatever this shipment is that you guys are dealing with is enough for Tony to turn on the best friend he’s ever had and worth my life. ”
“Nothing’s worth your life, Ava. We’ll get it sorted. Tell Kade to get you here quick and to keep you safe. Love you.”
“Love you, Paulie.”
I get off the phone and twirl it in my hand, the silence in the cab stretching between us as the miles race by, minute by minute and hour by hour until the lights of Chicago can finally be seen twinkling in the distance.
The truck slows as we make our way down the off ramp and toward the water. “When we get there, I want you to stay in the truck until I know it’s safe.”
The docks go by as he searches for the one with a large number sixteen on a cement pole. When he comes to it he parks, looking around to see if anyone else is here yet, but there’s nothing but an empty pier around us. “My brother’s not going to do anything to hurt me.”
“No, but we don’t know who might have been listening to that call. You can never be too certain, and I’m not taking chances with you, Ava.”
My chest tightens with emotion because he’s walking right into the line of fire for a job, for me.
I turn and give him a smile trying not to let my fear show.
“You’re a good man, Kade. A very good man.
Maybe it’s too soon to say this, but I’m going to do it anyway, because you never know what can happen in a situation like this.
” I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Last night, it was special. Not the type that you remember for a night or two and move on from. Spending time with you has been good, especially last night in your bed. It’s something that I could see us doing for a lot longer than one night. That kind of special,” I tell him.
He puts a finger underneath my chin. “Stop worrying, Ava. It was special for me too. So special that you’re going to find yourself back in my bed tonight when everything’s over, and tomorrow night, and the next night, too, capiche?”
My heart lightens as he draws me to him, kissing me, consoling the pounding of my heart. “I have to go, Ava. Keep the doors locked, lie down in the seat and keep your head covered with this blanket just in case things get heated.”
He locks the door behind him as he gets out and I do exactly as he told me, putting the console down, lying down on the seat, and covering myself with the red and green checked fleece blanket.
It’s quiet for so long that I begin to think something happened to Paulie to prevent him from coming until I hear gunshots. One, then two, and then three and then four.
My pulse races with fear, for both my brother and for Kade and it has to be at least ten more minutes before the truck door unlocks. “You can come out now, Ava,” Kade tells me.
I almost jump into his arms, my hands snaking around the back of his neck, drawing him to me so that I can kiss his lips and feel his breath against me. “Paulie?”
He nods. “He’s okay. I told him we’d meet him later.
We’re not going to be able to go back to your house, my apartment or anywhere the Bernatelli family can reach us though.
The shipment they’re running is girls, against the strict orders of another family, Ava.
Tony didn’t make it. Your brother had to end him, and he was almost killed himself.
I took two of the Bernatelli soldiers out, so there’s no going back to the life we led before this day for Paulie and me.
Not until the men that I work for shut them down.
That’s not going to be long, but it’s not going to happen overnight, either. ”
My chest tightens with the loss and betrayal my brother must feel. “Then we’ll find a new way, a way to keep everyone safe. Me, Paulie, my mom, and you,” I tell him, stroking his cheek.