Chapter 11
Elli
Inside the Fitness Freaks Gym, I cover my mouth so the smirk doesn’t show, but I’m struggling to hold it back as I watch Tia going through warm-up exercises.
She is sweating, cursing, and looks like she’s about ready to storm out and return home.
But we have only been here for forty-five minutes.
“Come on, Tia, take a breath.”
Fran, who is acting as our warm-up coach, states, but I can see she’s as amused as I am, yet holding it together much better than I am.
“You are going to pay for this, Elli,”
Tia groans as she stands with her hands on her hips, giving me a fierce scowl.
“Aw, come on, it’s not that bad, and if you want to do the fighting bit, you have to do the rest.”
I say it in such a way that Tia points at my face and sticks her tongue out.
Fran giggles.
“You have ten minutes before you get onto the machines.
Elli, you can see Tia needs building up before she starts the hand-to-hand sessions.
If we spend the first lessons with cardio, I think it would be beneficial.”
“Okay, Fran.
Come on, Tia, let’s get onto the treadmill and get walking.
We can join the beginner's spin class too, which starts tomorrow morning.”
“Whatever…”
Tia mumbles as she heads for the nearest treadmill.
I follow behind, but I’m grinning at Fran, who is finding this highly amusing.
Walking back to my apartment where I’ve promised to feed Tia, as I’ve apparently used up all her bodily nutrients while making her warm up and walk.
I can’t help the giggle that escapes and watching Tia slouch as she walks beside me.
I throw my arm around her shoulders and place the side of my head against hers.
“You are a stinking sister, you know that?”
Tia grumbles.
“Yeah, I know.
But to be fair, I’ve never had a sister before, so it’s still a learning curve.
Now if I’d gotten another brother, I’d know what to do with him.”
“You know we are being followed, don’t you? I don’t see him at the moment, so I may have been imagining it.”
Tia is glancing behind us as we walk.
Suddenly, a man appears in front of us, dressed in black.
I don’t recognize him, but I push Tia slightly behind me and take a fighting stance.
Holding his hands up in a surrender fashion, he speaks, “Elliana, I am here to alert you that your mother Renata is on the run.
She’s coming for you as payment for your father being killed.”
“That has nothing to do with me, and let’s be honest, he deserved all he got.”
I look at Tia who is standing quietly and looking around, more than likely remembering what I told her if we were ever accosted.
That instruction was to give me space to fight, but to watch for anyone trying to sneak up on us.
“Your brother, Alexander, has been made Capo.
He also is worried that your mother is going to hurt you.
I was instructed to warn you, so you had that information at hand.”
Before I can say more he smoothly walks back until he turns and disappears between two houses.
“What the fuck is going on, Elli? Why would your mother blame you for your father's death?”
Tia quietly asks, making sure anyone that walks past cannot hear our conversation.
“My mother always tried to play the innocent card.
You know, sitting meekly while my father dished out whatever he wanted.
But both Alex and I knew that she was as evil as my father.
She just tried to hide it and pretend she was a good little mafia wife.”
“Okay, we need to make sure we have weapons on us at all times.
I may not be as fit as you, Elli, but I’ll fight as I know how, and that is fight dirty,”
Tia grins and I can see she means every word.
As we reach our apartments, but before we can enter one we are shocked to see Spinner rushing over.
“You two have eyes on you.
I’ve had my boys following them.
There are six that we know of, and they are particularly watching you, Elli.”
“Hm, I have a feeling I know who that may be.
Don’t worry Spinner, I have it.
But if we need you to help us disappear, can you do that?” I ask.
“Yeah, no problem, I can do that.”
Spinner winks at Tia just as he turns and walks away.
I look at Tia who has a flush on her cheeks, but she gives me a frown as she storms over to her apartment, opens the door and slams it behind her.
A giggle escapes my lips as I unlock the door, but I freeze as soon as I step inside—something feels wrong.
I listen closely, hearing nothing, yet something still feels amiss.
From my position in the entrance hall, I have no visibility to anywhere else.
I slowly make my way to the door opening into the combined kitchen and living room.
Standing in the doorway, all is revealed! My mother is sitting on the couch and looking at me with a sick grin on her face.
“Oh, you’ve finally come home.”
"What brings you here?" I ask, though I know she'll try to hurt me, but she's mistaken.
She does not know that Alex has taught me how to look after myself.
That also involves not just my person, but the space I live in.
To my right, there is a concealed knife, and to my left, there is a Glock, both within reach across the room.
I'm anticipating her approaching me so I can finally confront her the way she deserves.
Slowly getting to her feet, my mother approaches.
I know she entered by the back of the apartment building, as the front door was still locked.
But I can guess the fire exit was useful to her.
“Did you know your father is dead?”
“Oh, yes, I heard that the piece of shit got what was coming.
Did you both think the Don would not find out you’ve been skimming money and been traitors to the family?”
Hearing me call my father a piece of shit, she screeches and lunges for me, but I’m ready.
I grab the arm she’s reaching for my hair with.
I mean really, hair pulling? It is rather playground shit, isn’t it? I yank her forward and duck at the same time, flipping her over my shoulder.
She lands heavily on her back, groans and slowly gets to her feet.
Just as she steps forward to lunge again the front door opens and Tia bellows, “HERE COMES JOHNNY!”
My mother, who is startled by the shout, and the frown says she’s not understanding Tia’s comment, has me pause right before Tia rushes through the door and jumps on top of my mother.
She grabs a handful of hair with each hand and is yanking for all she’s worth.
I’m frozen in shock for a moment, because the crazy look on Tia’s face would be worth a lot of money if the producers ever wanted a female ‘Johnny’.
A loud crack rocks through the room, and my mother drops to the floor.
I look at her closely and can see she’s dead.
Oh shit, Tia snapped her neck!
“Is this bitch playing games, Elli?”
Tia asks as she peers into my mother’s face.
“No, Tia, she’s dead.
You snapped her neck.”
A giggle escapes and I’m not sure if that is a sign of relief, upset, or hysteria.
“What?”
Tia bends down and gives my mother a much closer look, then looks at me wide-eyed and worried.
“Tia, I was ready to take her out, anyway.
She wasn’t here to have a cup of coffee.
She was here to finish me, if she could.
She had already attacked me right before you bust in with the Johnny comment.
But how did you know something was wrong?”
“Well, little Pete Potter knocked on my door and said that he saw a woman climb into your apartment from the fire exit.
She broke a window, so we’ll have to replace that, by the way.”
Tia is still looking at my mother’s body and before I can say anything, she continues, “How are we going to get rid of this body?”
“We need to speak to Spinner.”
I blink a few times because if he can’t help us, it means I have to speak to Alex and get the family involved.
That’s when I realize that Nico Vincholetti may know where I am.
Like magic, the man who I now know is one of Alex’s men, or Nico’s, but definitely a made man appeared after Tia spoke to Spinner.
He brought a van and wrapped the body in a black zip up bag, made specially for corpses I would think, but I don’t ask.
He had the nerve to wink and smile as he threw the body onto a gurney right before whistling as he takes her away.
I called Alex to tell him about Mother, but he wasn't worried; he even found her accidental death amusing.
Death by hair pulling! He thought it was the funniest thing ever.
Early in the week, Tia had kicked her job, as the boss had grabbed her ass for the last time.
Still living on her nerves since she killed my mother by accident, she whirled around and punched him in the face.
Breaking his nose in the process.
But, not allowing herself to have a pity-party, Tia had walked right to the restaurant where I work and got herself a job as a server on the same rota I work.
That way we can walk to and from work together, giving ourselves that little feeling of safety in numbers.
The joy was fleeting; that very night, leaving work, we were ambushed.
A cloth covered our mouths and noses, and we immediately blacked out.