Chapter 10 #2
Instead, as we enter the auditorium, I look around until I spot Alberto Leone and the four hired guns. They are standing a few feet from C and Zoe. My first instinct is to get there, to cover C’s left side, but it turns out I’m not the one who needs to move.
Leone sees us and heads our way. A group of girls reaches us first, hugging Rachel, thanking her for her help. They’re in costume, and I guess we’re going to see the winning routine as part of the floor show.
I haven’t seen Leone in a couple years. He’s heavier than I remember and a little taller. Lifts in his shoes, I guess. I’ve still got half a foot on him, vertically.
“Hey, there you are,” he says, ignoring me. He puts his hands on Rachel’s face and leans forward and kisses her.
It takes an act of will for me not to grab the back of his collar to yank him back. She’s stiff at first and then steps back as he tries to extend the kiss and make it more than a peck. I have a hold on her arm, so she can’t get far. I put a hand out to prevent him from following her retreat.
“Can I help you?” he asks, his tone cold and confident when he’s got four guys packing at his back.
I say nothing. I also don’t move the arm that’s in front of her body, blocking his access.
“Alberto, this is Sasha Stroviak. C Crue. He’s been my bodyguard the past couple of days.”
“Is that right?” Alberto says, stroking his beard. “Should I say thank you?” he asks sarcastically, but extends a hand.
“No, you shouldn’t,” I say, my voice low.
“There was some trouble,” she says to him softly, her voice soothing. “It’s all right now.”
“Is it?” he demands. “Then he should put his fucking arm down, so I can give my fiancée a hug.”
Zoe rushes up, holding out a hand to Rachel. “It’s almost time to start. We’re over here, Rachel. They want pictures of us with the team.”
Rachel looks at me for the okay, not at Leone, which is satisfying.
“I’m here,” she whispers to me. “It’ll be strange if I don’t participate.”
I release her arm, but I move so I’m clearing a path, one that forces Leone to fall in step.
“Alberto, I do want to talk,” she adds. “In a few minutes though, all right? It’s our school. I’ll take a few pictures.”
“Go ahead. I’ll get them on my phone for our Instagram account, babe,” he says.
She doesn’t respond.
When one of Leone’s guys tries to get behind me and Trick cuts him off, I say, “You were right about the waffles.”
Trick walks backward on my six, so we’ve got eyes in every direction. He does it like it’s nothing; he’s smiling and waving at people, smooth as his silk tie. Trick’s all finesse, and at the moment I’m glad.
C moves to us, signaling the C Crue soldiers and captains to hold their positions around the auditorium.
C’s sharp eyes scan the area. I need to do it too, but I have a hard time dragging my eyes away from Rachel.
Her lips are a dark brick red, like dried blood.
She’s the only one who doesn’t have a broad smile on her face.
And she’s the only one who doesn’t make me want to back away.
The laughter and fluttering hands, the wild hair and tapping feet, are all over the top.
She’s at the center of it, stunningly calm and cool. Her gaze meets mine and holds.
We see each other. We understand each other.
When she looks away, I don’t.
“Easy,” C says in a low voice.
There is no easy where she’s concerned. Never has been.
But I remain still. Even when Leone jumps into a picture, putting an arm around her shoulders and taking a selfie of himself giving her a sloppy kiss on the cheek.
She’s very still. She doesn’t smile. It’s not unusual for her to be that way publicly.
A lot of her photographs online are exactly like it.
Her soul shimmering out through her eyes, an unsmiling, haunting expression. She’s untouchable, even when touched.
For a moment, I’m back in the cabin. She smiles at me. She kisses me and touches me. Next I’m in my apartment, she’s over my lap crying as I spank her, then straddling my lap and moaning with my cock thrusting into her.
She’s not distant when she’s alone with me. She’s never been untouchable, not even way back in the beginning. That’s why she belongs to me.
I watch her, waiting for her to pull away from him and walk back to me, but she doesn’t.
It’s Zoe who extracts her and takes her to a seat away from all of us.
Leone pauses to look at his phone, tapping away at the keys.
“Did he even ask her if she was all right?” C asks.
“No,” Trick says. “He’s got what he wants.
Digital capital.” Trick holds out his phone to show us that Leone’s already posted the pictures to the Palermo Princess Instagram account.
I glance at the phone for a split second, then walk away.
I’ve spotted the seat I want. It’s two rows back from where she is.
Normally I’d stand off to the side with my back to the wall, but that would put me too far away since Leone’s taken a seat in the row behind her.
Trick goes up top. It’s a good vantage point, and he’s always good at finding his way down in a hurry when he needs to. C’s on the wall at three o’clock. When Zoe looks over her shoulder and blows him a kiss, he nods.
Leone turns to look at me, and his camera smile is gone.
“You and I should talk,” he says.
I stare him down.
“Does this guy speak English?” Leone asks loudly. His guys laugh in response. “Hey, Hulk. Hulk smash?” he jeers.
More laughter.
“Idiot,” he says, turning back to his men. “I got some emails recently about my girl. I guess they weren’t from that meathead.”
The ceremony starts. The dance team performs and then they rush over with bouquets of flowers. Lilies for Rachel and long-stemmed roses for Zoe. Then there’s an awards presentation, and then, out of the blue, the principal acknowledges a scholarship endowment made by Frank Palermo.
Frank steps out from behind a curtain, smiling and waving like a politician.
My gaze cuts to C. His face doesn’t change, but I wonder if he’s thinking what I’m thinking.
That paying for things at the school will give Frank more access.
What kid that Frank corners is going to be able to say no to his face when he says he has a job for him?
It’s not our problem, but I wouldn’t balk if C decided we should interfere.
Frank says some things. He’s not sincere, but people applaud politely. Then it’s over, and I’m up and heading to where she is.
Leone’s there first. He whispers something in her ear, and her brow furrows. She looks at him, and I hustle, a feeling of uneasiness settling in my chest.
Frank’s on her other side, giving her a hug. Then they move as a unit, propelling her forward.
I flank and move through the crowd. They each have one of her arms. I move behind, using my size to knock a guy out of formation. I get an arm around her waist and stop. The formation grinds to a halt.
She looks over her shoulder and shakes her head at me.
I bend my head forward.
“No,” I say to her.
“Let go,” she hisses.
I feel a gun pressed to my side. Then another.
My grip tightens, drawing her body back against mine. Trick and C are there instantly. The circle is widening.
“Let go, Alberto. Let me speak to Sasha,” Raven says.
Leone releases her. Frank doesn’t.
“Dad,” she says, trying to shake off his hand, but he holds fast.
It’s another standoff.
This time, her eyes are cool when she turns her head toward me. “I don’t need your help. You got what you wanted. Now let me go.”
“Rachel,” C says. “Come back to the house. You can talk to anyone you want from there.”
Her light brown eyes shift. “Make him let me go, C. Right now.” Her tone says more than her words.
After a couple of breaths, I drop my arm. My mind hasn’t caught up, but I take things in. Leone’s smug smile. Frank’s scowl. And the fact that she doesn’t look back.
I complete the walk to the parking lot. I catalogue the cars. Rachel gets in Frank’s armored town car with him and Leone. The reinforcements decamp.
Zoe is shaking her head and crying when she gets into Rover 1. I hear her blaming herself. I’d like to blame her too, but I know it’s not her fault.
When Trick and I are in the second Rover with him driving, I stare out the windshield.
“He said something to her. Something that made her decide to leave with him.”
“I didn’t catch it,” Trick says noncommittally.
“I did,” I say emphatically.
“All right. So what do you want to do, ‘Vil?”
“I can’t make a move yet.”
“Yeah, take some time.”
My gaze slides to him and glares. “He’s got some kind of leverage. When I know what he has, I’ll decide what to do.”
“Yeah, good,” he says lightly, still skeptical.
“Fuck off,” I growl, turning my eyes back to the road.