Chapter 6 #2
I feel his struggle. He wants to kick that door in as much as I do, but the cops are watching.
He bangs a fist on the door.
It opens, and she’s there, her black hair gleaming in the light, her pale skin glowing like goddamned moonlight.
“Hey, Dad—”
He grabs her arm and yanks her out of the doorway. She’s wearing the dress I cut off her. It’s held together with strings and duct tape.
I block the path. His guys march forward, and I feel C and Trick at my back.
“Stop,” Rachel says. “Just stop a second,” she says, trying to jerk her arm free from Frank’s grasp.
When he doesn’t let go, I start shoving until I’m through Frank’s guys.
In my peripheral vision, I see weapons get drawn. There’s noise, too, raised voices, feet shuffling. Normally, I can keep track of a scene, where the threats are, what my best move is. But that part of me can’t take over because I’ve got one focus.
“Zoe said you were waiting at her place,” I say to her. “She’s looking forward to seeing you.”
Frank’s eyes are fixed on me, but I don’t make eye contact. There’s no good outcome to a stare-down between Frank and me right now.
“I want to see her, too. I thought she’d be here by now,” she says carefully. She winces, and my eyes drop to the grip he has on her arm.
I clench my fists, but keep my arms pressed to my sides. It’s close quarters. If shooting starts, we’ll all likely get hit, including her.
“If Zoe wants to see you, she can come to the house,” Frank says, pulling her.
There’s a second staircase on the opposite end of the landing.
The police are ordering guns to be lowered.
Frank uses the opportunity to put more distance between Rachel and everyone else.
I let them get on the far stairs before I follow, but then I close the distance fast. When they get to the bottom, I’m lockstep with Frank.
He and I both know he’s got no chance if I force a confrontation. I’m too close for him to draw on me, and without weapons, there’s no contest.
“You can wait in Zoe’s apartment. C will bring her to you,” I say. There is zero chance C would bring Zoe here while Frank’s around, but I say it because it’s the one thing I know Rachel wants. I can figure out a way for her to see Zoe later, once I have her again.
Frank grabs her other arm and jerks her around so she’s facing him. Too fucking rough. My arm moves instantly. It’s around his throat in a choke hold.
“Let her go. Right now,” I growl.
He releases her, but my grip tightens. I can free her and end the war. All I have to do is not let go.
“The police,” she whispers, stepping forward. “Behind you.”
I weigh things in my mind.
“Sasha,” she implores. “Please.”
I can’t decide. My heart thuds. Her voice again, pleading, decides it. I release him, and he falls to his knees, gasping for breath.
She steps around him, looking up at me.
When the police grab me, I don’t resist. Frank gets up, rubs his neck, and makes a flicking hand gesture I know well. It’s the one he makes to order someone killed.
I don’t give a shit about his threats. I let the cops cuff my hands behind my back and go down to my knees as ordered. I don’t go the rest of the way down, as they bark at me to do, because it would mean taking my eyes off her.
Frank reaches for her arm, but she sidesteps. “I know you’re angry, Dad, but I told you you were hurting me. Please don’t grab me like that again.” Her voice is soft, and she’s so small. The cops immediately desert me to get around her.
The conversation is short and quiet. She promises to come home by nine. Frank backs up. A cop escorts her back to the apartment building. I finally lie face down on the grass as ordered.
Trick’s on the cops in an instant. He spins a version of events that paints me as the hero who saved a girl from being manhandled and dragged away against her will right in front of the Coynston cops.
“You heard what she said. We all did,” Trick adds. “All Mr. Stroviak did was restrain Mr. Palermo so he’d release his daughter, who he was hurting.”
They uncuff me reluctantly, all the while dressing me down and warning me there’d better not be a repeat performance.
When they move off, C holds out a hand. I take it and let him help me regain my feet. I look at the building.
“I’ll see if there’s a cop on her door,” Trick says, walking away.
C glances after him. “She protected you against Frank, in front of Frank. That’s a risky play.”
I already know that. I rub a hand over my buzzed head thoughtfully and turn to look over at the parking lot. Frank and his men are sitting in their cars, waiting.
I tip my chin down, speaking to the ground, the way we do when we’re going to say something we don’t want known. “Trick said he needed a word. That’s how we got here,” I say. “Otherwise she’d still be where I put her.”
I glance at C, whose brow lifts.
“He wanted in. Now he’s in.” Moments tick by. I draw in a breath and blow it out, letting my mind settle and get back to doing what it does best. “This location’s no good. The numbers are no good.”
C glances around and nods.
“Let’s work on it,” I say.
RACHEL
Zoe’s old apartment is vacant. I’d come to it looking for fresh—albeit not properly sized—clothes and such. But there’s nothing left in her place except a couple of pieces of furniture that I imagine are up for sale on Craigslist.
She doesn’t live here. She lives in C’s mansion.
And if I go back with Frank, there’s a chance I’ll never see her again.
I’m sitting on the floor, completely unclear about what I should do next.
I was going to claim the torn and repaired dress was a costume, but no one will buy that now.
And I’m worried that if Frank gets me back to his place, he’ll insist on a doctor examining me and then they’ll know I’m no longer a virgin.
Would Alberto call the wedding off? And what will I say when they interrogate me about it?
I grimace. I don’t want to deal with any of that.
Originally, I was following Frank’s orders to protect Zoe, but Zoe has C to protect her now. I don’t need to factor that in.
In the past, I was able to keep up with Frank’s investigations while living at his place.
But is it worth it anymore? Couldn’t I just take off and take a chance that Frank meant it when he said he really doesn’t care that much about getting revenge on my mom for leaving?
It’s been five years. He’s moved on to other women and other pursuits.
A clicking in the door’s lock makes me sit up straight. Maybe I won’t have a choice about going with Frank.
The door opens, and Trick steps inside.
I’m pretty sure he’s the best-looking guy in Massachusetts, maybe on the East Coast, but I’ve never been attracted to him.
He walks over and squats down.
“What?” I ask.
“I’m here to retrieve you.”
My brows rise. “Sorry?”
“Come on,” he whispers. “Don’t be coy. You know the only way Frank gets you out of this place is over Anvil’s dead body.”
“No, I don’t know that,” I whisper back. “Tell him to stay out of it.”
Trick flashes a smile. “I would if I thought he’d listen. Why don’t you tell him? You’re the influencer.”
“Very funny.”
He sits next to me on the floor, folding his hands casually. “How’d you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Get ‘Vil to do things he never does.”
“I didn’t do anything. Before last night, I hadn’t spoken to him in three years.”
“Hmm.”
We sit in silence for several minutes.
“What are you doing? I assume the police officer’s gone. You should probably leave while you have a chance,” I say.
Trick leans back, bending one leg and resting his forearm on his knee. “You let me know when you’re ready to go, and we’ll leave.”
I tilt my head. “We’ll leave?”
“That’s right. Sooner is better than later, but we’ll make later work if we have to.”
“And where would you take me? To the bus station? An airport?”
“Wherever,” he says.
“Sasha signed off on that? On my taking a long distance bus trip alone?”
“We didn’t talk buses specifically.”
“I bet you didn’t,” I say with a small laugh. “They don’t call you Trick for nothing.”
He smiles and stands up, then he holds out a hand to me. “Come with me. You can see Zoe, your dancing queen bestie. You can bring ‘Vil to his knees again. I promise it’ll be more fun than going home with Frank.”
“I didn’t bring him to his knees. The police did.”
“C’mon,” he says, beckoning me with his outstretched hand.
“I don’t trust you. Any of you.”
“Trust me on this. He won’t leave you here alone for Frank to take. There will be a fight, a bloody one.”
I frown. I don’t like their chances in an open fight. Frank has more men on hand than C Crue does. Unless they’ve called people. “It doesn’t make sense to do this here. C must know that.”
“He does. We all do.”
“So talk Sasha out of it. Because if I went with you, it would only make Frank madder. I can’t risk that. There are things—that have died down. Sometimes Frank has to be appeased. You worked for him. You know that.”
“I left. It’s why I left. And when I did, Frank told C and Anvil to hunt me down, to kill me.”
“Sending your best friends to kill you? Horrible for all three of you.”
“Could’ve been.”
“But they wouldn’t do it?”
“No. Which is why what you want doesn’t matter to me. Anvil asked me to get you. It’s the only time he’s ever asked me to do anything for him.” Trick shrugs. “You can come willingly or take another ride in a trunk. That’s the only part that’s up to you.”