Chapter Thirty-Three
This is what they mean when they talk about worlds colliding. I always thought the mafia world colliding with the biker world was what would do me in, but it’s this. Me being with a fucking copper, of all people, and I had a terrifying feeling that Rossi already knew.
If he knew I was with her, then she was in more danger than ever. I never should have risked meeting her tonight, but I never imagined he’d just show up at the fucking compound.
“Fuck!” I threw my phone on the bed, and turned to find her practically hugging herself in the middle of the room, her eyes wide and afraid. Afraid of me.
“Jesus, I’m sorry, little pain. I just… I got some news I wasn’t expecting, and I have to go. I… you should go… or maybe you’re safer staying here.” I dropped down to sit on the bed, my head in my hands, the very picture of desolation, because my fucking world just imploded on me.
“What the fuck am I going to do?”
“Grease?”
“It’s all coming crashing down. I have no idea how to fucking fix this,” I whispered, a thousand scenarios running through my mind, and every one of them being deadly for her, if not both of us.
“Grease, you’re scaring me.”
I lifted my head to find her crouching in front of me, still wary, but worried too. I caught her hand as she reached for me, stroking my thumb over her knuckles softly.
“I’m sorry, little pain. I’ve tried so hard to keep you safe, and now I think I’ve put you in danger too.”
Jamie’s fingers locked tight around mine.
“Danger? You’re in danger?”
Jesus, what the hell was I doing, saying any of this to a fucking cop? I lifted her hand to my mouth, kissing it gently.
“Ignore me, I’m being a twat. I just… I need to go, and I think maybe you should use the room for the night. It’s all paid for, and it’s not in my name, so it’s safe.”
“Safe from what? Or is it a person you’re worried about, Grease?
Is someone a threat to you? I… maybe I could help?
” The fact that she cared, that she was offering to get involved, meant the world to me.
If either of us had been someone else, or maybe both of us, maybe this could have been something.
Apparently I’d turned into some kind of romantic moron.
“That’s sweet of you, little pain. Maybe in another life we could have been more to each other. It just isn’t going to happen for us.” I stood up, putting distance between us as her face dropped, and she stood up to face me, her hand still up in front of her.
“Wait, what? You’re… you call me here to a hotel, and make it seem like you want me, and all of a sudden you’re ditching me? Why the hell did I let you make a fool of me like this?”
Fuck me, I strode up to her, one hand sliding into her hair as she tried to recoil from me.
“Let me be clear, Jamie,” I leaned closer, almost so close that I couldn’t focus on her, “I want you, and that didn’t change the whole time we were away from each other, but it won’t work.
We’re from very different walks of life.
A cop and a dodgy biker? That’s never gonna work.
It’ll do you harm, and it could risk your safety.
I wish… I fucking wish it could happen, but it won’t. ”
I crashed my lips against hers, kissing her hard, putting every fucking ounce of my want and need into it, because this was the last kiss. The final moment. The end of everything for us. It had to be the end.
I grabbed my shit and got the hell out of there while I could, because every fucking second I looked into those eyes, I got closer to throwing it all away and taking her somewhere nobody would find us.
The trouble with that idea was that between the Don’s other tech guys, and Ice, that’d probably be impossible.
I rode back to the compound, feeling like more weight was piling on my shoulders every second, and I couldn’t even enjoy the experience of the ride, when I knew I was heading into hell.
The gates opened as I arrived, and it wasn’t just a prospect guarding it.
Nope. There was a fucking mafia bastard too.
One I recognised, even though he gave me a double take before he saw it was me.
His eyes widened, and then his mask of indifference returned, as I killed the engine and got off my ride.
“You must be Grease.”
Yes. I literally must fucking be Grease, but I could feel my freedom slipping away every second I was here.
The urge to turn and run, like a fucking coward, was eating at me.
I could just go. The gate wasn’t closed yet.
I could leave. I mean, they’d need time to get into cars or whatever.
That’s when I realised I wasn’t seeing cars.
Tell me the flashy fucker didn’t fucking fly in with that damn helicopter. Fuck me.
“What’s going on?” I asked, directing the question at the prospect, like I would if it were anyone else here.
He leaned close. “Mafia, can you believe that?” Oh yeah, he was new. He’d arrived after the Halloween debacle, since two prospects had been booted for drinking on the job, on the one night we needed all fucking eyes on intruders.
“Huh. Fancy that.”
I watched as the gate was closed behind me, and my potential escape was gone, before I even put anything into action.
“Where is he?” I asked Aldo, who was still watching me closely. He jerked his head in the direction of the entire fucking compound. That’s helpful, dickhead, thank you.
I figured Micro’s office was the best place to start so I headed that way, noting the presence of a few more mafia ‘brothers’ who nodded at me as I made my way into the new building. It was still mostly a shell, with the inners not fully rebuilt, but it was the most private place on the site.
“He’s in there,” Stag said, just leaving the office as I was entering the new, partially constructed hallway.
I felt like I was walking to my death, as I headed for the closed door and opened it. Micro was standing beside his desk, and the Don stood before him, and turned to face me as I walked in.
“Ah. Nice of you to show up, Tesio. Is that perfume I can smell?” FUCK.
Jamie
Isat on the bed after he left, wondering why the hell I felt like I’d just been jilted at the altar or something. Why was he becoming important enough to me that I kept getting into situations where he walked away or blanked me, and I ended up feeling discarded?
I finished the glass of water, and got up to tidy up the abandoned dishes, and that’s when an idea hit me. He was so cagy about his real identity, and personal details. If I could run his fingerprints, I could find out the real Grease, and maybe understand why he’s being so shifty all the time.
I gathered up the glass he’d been drinking whiskey from, carefully wrapping it in a cloth napkin, and took it with me when I left.
There was no way I was staying in a random hotel room alone, especially after being dumped like that.
Now I just had to find a reason to sneak this through the fingerprint lab, and get into the results.
The next morning, he was still on my mind, and the anger was fully replaced with hurt at this point.
He’d been sweet. We’d talked like we were just a normal couple, but the way he left…
wait, the way he left was very much like something bad was happening.
I checked my watch, and saw that it was barely five, and still dimly lit outside.
Would it be weird for me to drive out to the club’s compound, and check on him?
Duh. Of course it would, but I was going to do it anyway.
I dressed in leggings and a black sweatshirt, and drove to the lane down the side of the compound, spying something insane in the field beside their site. Was that… was that a helicopter?
I ran along the lane, and leaned over the fence, and sure enough, there was a black helicopter sitting in the field, and two dodgy looking men were standing beside it, wearing suits.
I ducked down before they saw me, and pulled out my phone, opening a memo and typing in the numbers emblazoned on the side of it.
I’d figure out who the hell owned that thing, but being spotted by those goons wasn’t a good idea, so I backed away and headed back down the lane, towards the other end, where the entrance to the biker club was.
I’d parked as far beyond it as I could, so my car wouldn’t be seen, but of course, there was always a risk that one of their cameras could see it. I had no idea where those were.
As I approached the gates, they suddenly started to open, and I ducked into the bushes to the left of it, watching with wide eyes as four men strode through them. There was something unnerving, no wait, terrifying, about them.
They were suited, Italian looking, and the older guy was flanked by three of those goons like I’d seen by the helicopter. Wow, if this was a movie, I’d say, without a doubt, that I was looking at mafia guys, like the Godfather, but… but that couldn’t be… right?
I held my breath as they walked past me, heading down the lane to the helicopter. A helicopter and suited men who looked like organised crime? What the hell were Grease and his club involved in?
My heart was thudding in my chest, as I listened to the helicopter rotors beginning to whirr and the beast prepared to leave the vicinity.
I had no option but to stay crouched in the bushes, as the sky began to lighten, and the helicopter lifted into the sky.
Being seen by those guys seemed like something that’d get a person killed.
Just as I was about to move from the bushes, once the helicopter was long gone, and my legs were starting to cramp up, I heard the gates opening again, and Grease yelling at someone.
“At this point, I really don’t give a fuck!”
“Grease!” Micro ran after him as he strode out of the compound, not even using his motorbike.
“Grease, come on, man. You know what he’s like. It’s all demands, and shit, but he values you.”
Grease spun on his heel and shoved Micro back a few steps.
“Yeah? Values me? He keeps fucking offloading me to fuckers like you lot, and then just when I’m settled and happy, he’s pulling me away again. You know what? Just for once, I’d really like to make a decision for myself. I… FUCK. I could be happy here.”
“With her, you mean?” Her? Her who? Please be me, although this was starting to look like he’s in a lot of trouble, and I didn’t know if I could even help him.
“Yes. Okay? Yes, with her. I’ve never fucking… she gets me. She’s… who am I kidding, though, right? I’ll go be a good fucking boy as usual.”
He was heading back into the compound, with Micro following him.
“I know, man. I know this is shit, but defying him would be too dangerous.”
The gates closed again, and I lost any opportunity to hear what they were saying. My mind reeling with everything I’d seen and heard, I ran back to my car right at the end of the lane.