Chapter 32
Alessa
Ipull through Gerald and Boone’s gate and park in front of the house. Lucas and Landon come bounding out, already eyeballing the car.
“Holy shit,” Lucas says when Leo and I step out. His eyes are glued to the car, and I can’t help but laugh. “Can I look inside?”
I shrug and sweep my arm out. “Be my guest.”
They both whoop before sliding into the car. I shake my head with a smile and look up at Gerald coming out of the house. He loops down the steps and jerks me into a bear hug. “Hey, Lessie.”
“Hey, G,” I reply, returning his hug.
He pulls back and looks over my shoulder. “I don’t think I was properly introduced last night,” he says, talking to Leo.
I step back and turn to the side. “G, this is Leo.”
“Nice to meet you,” Leo says, sticking his hand out for him to shake.
Gerald gives it a hearty shake. “You too.” He drops Leo’s hand and slings an arm around my shoulders, leading us into the house. “Mind your manners in that car!” he yells at Lucas and Landon.
“Yes, sir!” they yell back in unison, and I can’t suppress the smile. They look so much happier since they’ve been with these guys.
“How’s that going?” I ask when we step into the door, kicking our shoes off.
“Like I told you, they’re good kids,” he replies, leading us to the living room, where Boone gives me the same bear hug before ushering us to sit on the loveseat.
“What about Playboy?” I ask, tucking myself under Leo’s arm on the back of the couch; he lets it drop and pulls me closer. G and Boone exchange a quick look over the action.
“He’s doing better now. Doc came over and gave him something to help with withdrawals,” Boone answers leaning back on the couch. “You going to tell us who he is?”
“All I know is his street name is Playboy, and he’s a confidential informant,” I tell them and brace myself for what I have to say next. “For Zane.”
Boone sits up again, fast. “Zeus’s boy Zane?”
Leo tightens his arm in support. “Yeah. I couldn’t let him go back to Zane and tell him what he saw at Xander’s garage last night.”
“Gage told us what happened. He just failed to mention how the fuck he came across Playboy,” Gerald says, leveling me with a look that says he isn’t happy.
I shrug. “I did what I had to do, G.”
He sighs and sits back. “I know, Lessie, but fucking Zane?”
I nod. “I know it’s not ideal, but I was hoping to talk to him, maybe flip him to our side.”
“You can try,” Boone says, “But he’s not really with it. Why don’t we chat outside until he wakes up?” he finishes, and I don’t miss his hidden meaning. He wants to talk to me alone, and I feel like I’m in trouble with my dad.
I look at Leo, and he smiles. “I’ll be fine.”
I squeeze his thigh before standing up and following Boone through the back of the house.
He pulls open the backdoor, holding it for me to walk outside.
I love this part of the house. It’s surrounded by flowers and has a man-made pond in the middle that Gerald did himself.
I sit on the bench beside the pond and watch the coy fish swim around.
Boone slides onto the bench beside me. “Please don’t tell me you’re thinking about getting back with Zane.”
Gerald and Boone found out about my secret relationship with Zane when it was almost over. My dad sent them to find me one night when I didn’t answer my phone, and they caught me leaving Zane’s apartment. They said they had their suspicions anyway, so they took a shot looking for me there.
“I’m not,” I tell him. “I have enough guys in my life.”
“That young man in there?” he asks, putting the connection together before I have to say anything.
I breathe a laugh. “One of them.”
I can see his head jerk toward me from the corner of my eye. “Come again?”
“He’s one of them,” I answer and turn toward him, unashamed of where my love life has taken me. “With Ryder, Gage, Dex, and Holden”
His eyes widen. “Damn. I saw you and Ryder happening a mile away, maybe even Gage. But I didn’t see this coming.”
“I didn’t either,” I tell him honestly, “but I’m glad it did.”
“You deserve to be happy, Lessie. It’s what your dad would have wanted,” Boone says, causing tears to spring into my eyes at the mention of my dad. He wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.
“I miss him,” I whisper.
“I do too. He would be proud of you.”
I let out a watery laugh. “Even after I cause a war with Viktor Orlov?”
I filled Gerald and Boone in on what’s happening so they’re alert for anything.
“Especially then. Your dad would be proud of you no matter what.”
Even if he found out I’m a serial killer? “I know.”
“You make sure those boys know that if they treat you with anything less than the respect you deserve, I will castrate every single one of them.”
I let out a laugh, the tension leaving my body at that threat. “You might have to beat Micah to it, but I’ll let them know.”
He chuckles, pulling me closer. Gerald and Boone were like surrogate fathers to me when my dad passed away, and there’s nothing in this world they wouldn’t do for me or I wouldn’t do for them.
They have been in a relationship longer than I’ve been alive, and it is indeed one of the greatest love stories I’ve ever heard.
It still breaks my heart that they had to hide it for so long because of how judgmental the Mafia world actually is, and they didn’t want to do anything to embarrass my dad. Which it wouldn’t have, ever.
We sit there and watch the fish swim around until Gerald pokes his head out of the door, telling us Playboy is awake. I follow him into the house to the back bedroom downstairs. Gerald pushes the door open, and as soon as Playboy’s eyes land on me, he shrinks back into the bed.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” I tell him softly and sit down on the edge of the bed.
“Wh…why are you here?” he asks.
“I need to ask you a few questions.”
Gerald shuts the door and leans back against it with his arms crossed over his chest. “And you will answer them,” he warns. Playboy nods like a bobble head making his hair flop over his eyes.
“What’s your real name?” I need to get his real information so Holden can look him up.
“Jeffrey,” he swallows, “Jeffrey Barnes.”
“How old are you?”
“Nineteen.”
I finally look him hard in the eye, letting him know I’m not playing games.
“What do you do for Zane?” He swallows again, and I can see him shutting down.
“You have to know what would happen to you if anyone from that strip found out you were a rat. Right?” He nods. “Then tell me what I want to know.”
“I just give him tips on big movements.”
“And he pays you?” I know how that works, but does Zane know he’s paying for this kid’s drug addiction?
“Yeah.”
“What do you do for Xander?”
“I just deal for him.”
“Are your tips to Zane just about Xander, or do you just run around snitching on everyone?”
“I’m not a fucking snitch!” he yells, jumping up from the bed and rounding behind me. I stand up to keep him in my line of sight. Not that I’m scared of him, but he’s unpredictable if he’s withdrawing from drugs.
“I suggest you keep your fucking voice down,” Gerald growls, stepping away from the door.
I raise my hand, so he doesn’t come closer and scare Playboy anymore. “Does Zane know you’re using?”
He deflates, all the fight leaving him at once. He shakes his head. “He’s suspected. He sent me to rehab, and I promised to stay clean so he would still pay me. This last tip was the first one he’s asked for since he figured out I slipped.”
I frown. “Zane sent you to rehab?”
He nods. “Z-Mack is my boy. I fucked up.”
Why the hell does Zane care enough about some street kid to send him to rehab? I guess the same reason I do. My heart is bigger than my fucking brain.
I straighten my spine and rid myself of thoughts of Zane being a decent human. “You have two options here, Playboy. You work for me, feeding me information, or I turn you out and tell everyone on Concrete Row that you’re an informant.”
I threaten it, but I’ll never do it. This kid would be shot on the spot and doesn’t deserve that.
His eyes widen. “What about Z-Mack?”
I roll my eyes at the nickname. “I’ll handle Z-Mack. What’s your choice?”
“I’ll work for you. I don’t want to die.”
I nod, walking to the door. “I’ll get you into rehab first.”
“No!” he yells, making me turn back around. “Please don’t send me back there.”
“You can’t work for me while you’re doping,” I tell him. It’s my number one rule. Several of my guys have been killed because they were high and didn’t react to a bad situation fast enough.
“I’ll get clean by myself. Please! Don’t send me back.”
I look at Gerald and see him softening toward the kid. “He can stay here,” he tells me with a shrug.
I turn back to Playboy. “I want you clean. I want you to treat G and Boone with respect. If I catch even a hint you’re using again, I’ll come back as the person you saw yesterday.
” He nods comically again, remembering what I did in Xander’s garage.
I pat Gerald on the chest. “Congratulations, it’s a boy. ”
He laughs, leading me back out of the room. “We went from no kids to three in a short time, Lessie.”
“You sure you don’t care, G? I can find somewhere else for them to go.”
He shakes his head. “Nah. Boone likes having the twins around, and Playboy will come around.”
“Just Boone likes having them around?” I tease. I saw the respect they gave Gerald.
“Okay. So, it’s nice having them here.”
“Yo! That car is sick!” Landon says as soon as I walk into the living room.
Leo is sitting on the loveseat where I left him, giving me a soft smile when I walk in.
Heat flashes through me before I can stop it, remembering him fucking me on the hood of my car.
I don’t know what came over him, but I’ll take it over and over again as long as he offered.
“Thanks,” I tell Landon with a laugh, sitting beside Leo. He pulls me right back under his arm.
“Those cars are hella fast. Like no fucking joke,” Lucas says, fist-bumping his twin.