Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
ALESSIO
All of our combined cum is now dry and crusted, making my dick stick to the inside of my leather pants, and the plug is a little uncomfortable, pressing up against my oversensitive prostate, but none of that is bothering me as much as it should.
Not with Spettro sitting in the passenger seat, looking more relaxed than I’ve seen him since we met.
The body in the trunk thuds as I take the turn off the main road, onto a hard-to-see dirt track that leads to the flooded quarry I figured would be a perfect dump spot.
Body disposal isn’t usually part of my job description, but I couldn’t exactly call Xav to ask for tips.
I swear to fuck if this body surfaces and he calls me lazy again though, I might have to shoot him.
“So, should I call you Ghost now instead? Or do you want to tell me your real name now that your secret is out?” My question breaks the comfortable silence.
“I think I prefer ‘Spettro.’”
His answer has a warm feeling spreading through my chest, and I grin as I glance over at him.
“Spettro it is, then.” I didn’t miss that he dodged the second part of my question though. Maybe it’s part of the “I’ll tell you about it later” he gave me earlier.
Now that the fog of lust has cleared, I’m realizing that finding out Spettro is The Ghost has created a hell of a lot more questions than answers.
I heard the words he growled at the Reaper as he tightened the rope around his throat though, and I understand why he’s doing all this.
I understand why he said he won’t stop. Unfortunately, that puts me in a tough fucking position.
“I’m not the only one looking for you,” I tell him, rolling to a stop right at the edge of the water, gravel crunching under the tires of the car.
“I know.”
“You know?” I arch an eyebrow at him.
“I was in the alley behind Babylon the other night. I was about to grab that Reaper when you and Xaviaro showed up.”
I bark out a surprised laugh. “You’re a fucking surprise, Spettro.”
His lips twitch with another half grin and we both climb out of the car. It’s a nice night out, all things considered. There’s a warm breeze and nothing but the sound of crickets out here away from the city. He folds his arms on the roof of the car, looking over at me with a dark expression.
“Is he going to shoot me if he finds me?”
My gut clenches at the thought of it, and a hot feeling of protective rage makes all of my muscles tense. He must see something in my eyes, because his soften just a fraction, like maybe the homicidal feeling rushing through me makes him feel safe.
“I don’t think so. He’ll either threaten you to tidy the fuck up or drag your ass to Lorenzo for that same warning, only scarier.”
“Okay. Why don’t we let him, then?” Spettro shrugs. “Or, hell, I’ll go meet with Lorenzo myself.”
“Let me just think it through first. This shit is delicate.”
He hesitates for a second then nods.
“And what about the Reapers?” I add.
His eyebrows pull together in confusion. “What about them?”
“You don’t think they’re trying to find out who’s hunting them for sport? You don’t think they’re dying to have your head on a platter?”
He huffs a laugh. “They think they’re being haunted by a literal ghost. They’re too fucking dumb to find their own asses with both hands and a flashlight, let alone figure out who I am. I’m not worried about the Reapers.”
“Still, maybe it wouldn’t hurt if you came to stay at my place for a little while until we sort everything out.”
He turns his head and looks out over the quarry, the half-full moon reflected in the water, and I hold my breath waiting for his answer.
Maybe I’m overreacting, but I don’t want to risk it.
If the Sleepless Reapers did manage to find his apartment and catch up with him, and they decided to even the score over all the blood on his hands, I really would have to burn this entire fucking city to the ground.
Over my dead body is anyone going to take Spettro from me.
“Fine,” he says gruffly, and I let out a relieved breath. “Only for a little while though. And once we’re done here, we need to stop at my place for some of my stuff.”
“Yeah.” I agree readily, trying not to let him see the smile stretching across my face.
He turns abruptly and moves towards the trunk.
“How are we doing this?” he asks.
Good question. I sweep my gaze along the shoreline, looking for the best way to get this fucker under water, and smile.
“Looks like it’s our lucky night.” I jerk my chin and he turns to follow my gaze to the upturned rowboat not too far down the shore. And it’s a quarry, so there are plenty of large rocks all around. This shouldn’t be too hard at all.
“Perfect.”
There’s a roll of garbage bags in the trunk, tucked under the head of our ugly friend. I pull them out and shove one into my pocket, and Spettro unwinds the rope from around the bloated neck, slinging it over his own shoulder. Then, we each take one end and heave him out of the trunk.
“This is why I just leave them,” he grunts, trying to get a good grip on the feet while I struggle for a hold on the shoulders, the middle part of the oversized body sagging between us with at least two hundred and fifty pounds of dead weight.
“Believe me, I know,” I huff. “I had to toss those two assholes into a dumpster for you the other night and they still ended up being found by morning.”
“What?” He whips his head up and loses his grip on one of the legs, which throws off my balance and sends the useless sack of shit straight to the ground.
“You’re not the only one lurking in alleys late at night.
Last week on my way home to meet you, I heard a commotion and went to check it out.
I never managed to get a look at you, but I saw both of them get shot.
After you took off, I tried to clean up so Xav wouldn’t feel any extra urgency to find you. ”
“Thanks,” he mutters.
“Anytime.”
We both look down at the body, and then I glance back over at the boat. It didn’t look all that far away until now.
“This isn’t working,” Spettro states the obvious.
I look at the rope, then down at the body again. “Hold on, I have an idea.”
I snag the rope from around his neck and tie it around the Reaper’s ankles, then give it a tug. Gravel kicks up and I grunt with the exertion, but it should be easier than actually carrying him.
“Nice,” Spettro says. “You must have a lot of experience with body disposal.”
I chuckle. “Second time, actually. My specialty is more in tax fraud and threats than murder most of the time. I am pretty handy with explosives, but other than that, it’s Xav’s department, and you wouldn’t believe how much he bitches about cleanup.”
We take turns dragging the body a few feet at a time until we reach the boat. After that, flipping the rowboat is nothing. I fill the garbage bag with heavy rocks and tie it to the other end of the rope, then we heave the body into the boat and push off across the water.
“I wouldn’t have expected to enjoy a romantic, moonlit boat ride, but this is kind of nice,” he muses as we row out into the middle of the lake.
“The body makes it more exciting. It might be kind of boring otherwise.” I smile and he grins back.
“You get me.”
It’s cheesy as hell, but my heart flutters. I think I do get him, and I think this could be something real. I just need to figure out how to handle telling Lorenzo.
GHOST
After we dump the body, we drive back to the city, and I direct Alessio to my apartment with a knot in my stomach. My place is a fucking dump compared to his. It’s a dump compared to most actual dumps.
“Why don’t you wait here while I run up?” I suggest.
He gives me a flat look and shuts off the engine. “I don’t give a shit what your place looks like, Spettro.”
“Wait until you see it,” I mutter, getting out of the car. “Whose car is this, anyway? I didn’t think you had one. I’ve only ever seen you walk.”
Alessio’s eyebrows go up, and I realize my mistake.
“You been following me, Spettro?”
My cheeks heat. “Only a little.”
He barks out a laugh and comes around the front of the car, stopping right in front of me, enough space left between us to let me decide whether to touch him or not.
My heart stutters and a warm feeling fills my gut.
He really does get me. At least he seems to.
I’ve never had that before—not that I can remember, anyway—and it’s fucking nice.
Terrifying, but nice. I hook my fingers in the front of his harness and drag him the last inch so his chest bumps into mine and all I have to do is tilt my head to catch his lips in a kiss.
“I don’t have a car,” he says, answering my question. “I don’t know whose it is. I called one of my guys and they dropped it off.” He shrugs, and I chuckle quietly against his lips.
“The life of a mafioso sounds cushy as hell.”
“It’s not bad,” he agrees, and I let him go.
“Come on, let’s get my shit. I’m fucking tired.”
I try not to pay attention to any of his reactions as I let him inside and lead him up the stairs to my apartment. I can’t help but justify it as I unlock the door and wave him inside though.
“I don’t have any ID or anything, and this place didn’t require a background check. Plus, they let me rent month to month, and the neighbors are all too high to worry about when I come or go, or if I come home with blood splattered on my clothes.”
“Seriously, I don’t care,” he says again, stepping inside.
I can’t do much about the mold in the corner of the ceiling, peeling wallpaper, or the cockroaches that occasionally scuttle by, but aside from my bed being unmade and my sketchpad lying open on my pillow, I keep the place decently tidy, all things considered.
I pause for just a second to let it all sink in, then I grab my backpack from the hook next to the door and get to work packing the essentials.
“Is that why you do the B if Alessio knows who this is, I need to know.
He takes it and opens it back up to a random page. It doesn’t matter which one, all the drawings are roughly the same. He squints at it for a long minute and my heart thunders heavily against my rib cage.
“Well?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, it only looks a little like the guy I know. It’s probably just a coincidence.”
My shoulders sag. “Yeah. What are the odds?” I take it back and toss it onto the bed. I don’t really need to take it with me. I’ll be back here eventually anyway. “I think I’m good.”
“Okay, let’s get back to my place so I can shower the dried cum off my dick and get some sleep.”
Fuck, sleep sounds amazing. There’s something about Alessio knowing my secret—or most of it—that has me feeling more exhausted than usual.
Maybe it’s because I’m finally relaxed and for the first time I can remember, it feels like there’s someone in my corner, like I don’t have to do all of this shit alone anymore.
I look over at him after we get back into the car and my heart swells again.
When I woke up in that hospital seven years ago and didn’t know who I was, I found myself in my rage, I created a purpose through revenge, and that’s been enough.
But Alessio makes me feel like I could be more than that, that I could have more than that.
If anyone tries to take him from me, I’ll fucking kill them.