Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Addison thoroughly thrashes both of us. I’m not sure Bryce was trying all that hard, but I was, and I still lost to a four-year-old. Talk about fucking humbling.
She’s sitting on the other side of my desk, devouring her banana split with chocolate sauce smeared across her face, when Penelope finally returns.
She leans against the doorframe and smiles, something that looks genuine, unlike the usual smiles I am used to. “Well, look at that, she survived. I knew there was some good in you, Victoria Russo.” That almost sounds like a compliment from the woman who I thought despised me.
I frown, utterly confused and still highly suspicious of this woman. “Don’t ever ask me to do this again, Penelope. I’m too fucking busy for any of this crap, not to mention it’s not exactly the safest place for a child.”
I glare at her, and she pushes off the doorframe and comes inside, sighing.
“No, but neither is her life in general. Thankfully Mario keeps her separated from his life most of the time. He has her and the nanny in a townhouse away from his main residence, but it means that I can’t keep an eye on her all the time. ”
My eyes just about bug out of my head at her sharing this information.
She basically just told me about a weak link in Mario’s defenses, but would I stoop so low as to use a child against the man?
I glance at the girl, her riotous head of curls sticking up all over the place from bouncing around when she won at Go Fish.
When she looks up at me, she smiles with such an air of innocence and joy, I know that there is no way I could do anything to harm this child despite what it might gain me.
“Well, that’s not my problem,” I tell her, and I see her frown and sigh with disappointment.
What did she expect? For me to add kidnapping to my repertoire?
It’s not like that’s something I could hide, unlike bodies, which are easy to dispose of.
Kidnapping someone without torturing and killing them is complicated, and what the hell would I do with a four-year-old?
She walks into my bathroom and returns with a washcloth then proceeds to clean Addison’s hands and face. “Come on, sweetie, we need to go home. Miss Macy will be waiting for you,” she tells her, and the smile on Addison’s face drops, and tears well in her eyes.
“But I don’t want to go home. I hate Miss Macy.
” She crosses her arms and pushes out her bottom lip in a pout that would give Sage a run for his money.
“I want my mommy.” Tears start to trickle down her cheeks, and I clench my fists and grit my teeth.
She is not my problem. I raise an eyebrow at Penelope and nod at the girl.
“You deal with this, I have places to be.” I stand up and move around my desk.
I’ve had enough. Today has been a lot, and I’m ready to go home and smoke some weed with Sage and forget about all of this, especially because I have an urge to put a bullet in Miss Macy’s head, and that would probably go over like a lead balloon.
Addison jumps off the chair and rushes at me, and I freeze. Fuck, what do I do? Before I can make a decision, she wraps her little bruised arms around my legs and presses her tearstained cheeks to my belly.
“I love you, Tori, please don’t make me go.”
I gulp and look around, holding my arms up like I have a weapon pointed at me.
“Help!” I plead with Penelope for the first time ever.
Her eyes have something like regret and sympathy in them, but she nods her head and untangles Addison’s arms from around me.
“Come on, sweetie. Tori has things to do. Let’s go home, and I’ll read you a story before I have to leave,” she promises as she gently drags her from my office, Addison’s sobs echoing behind them.
She pauses at the doorway and looks back over her shoulder.
“Be careful, Tori. As much as we don’t get along, I loved your father, and he wouldn’t want anything to happen to you or Gio. ”
With that parting comment, she leaves, and I frown, not sure what to make of it.
“Well, fuck,” I grumble as Bryce appears in my doorway.
“Aw, did the big bad mafia princess grow a heart?” he teases, and I glare at him.
“Fuck you. I just didn’t want her to go back to an abusive household, but there’s nothing I can do.”
“I don’t know. Killing her nanny and grandfather sounds pretty good,” he replies. “Addi told us enough stories about both of them to warrant it.”
“Her grandfather is Mario Maricuso,” I tell him, and his eyes widen.
“Oh shit. Yeah, now it sounds even better.”
“But then what do we do with her? You want to take her in? Because I’m not qualified, nor do I have the desire to look after a small human,” I ask him, and he frowns.
“Where are her parents? I didn’t think Mario had children.”
“Penelope said they are not around at the moment, and she all but confirmed he did a while ago.” We still haven’t been able to get any more info. “Fuck, I should have grilled the kid. I can’t believe I didn’t make the most of what I had. I’m ready to kick my own ass.”
Bryce shakes his head and smiles. “Seriously, you would feel good pumping a kid for info?”
I shrug nonchalantly. “I mean, sure, why not? I could have bribed her. She seemed amenable to gifts.”
He scoffs and shakes his head. “Sure, you big old softy,” he teases, and I flip him off before grabbing the keys to my car.
“I’m heading out. If you see Sam and Dean, tell them I’ll catch up with them tomorrow. I have a headache, and I’m exhausted from this week. I need some peace and quiet.”
He waves a hand in acknowledgment as he heads back to his own office, and I walk to the elevator, going down to the parking garage.
A piece of paper sitting under my wipers flutters in the small breeze that blows through the parking garage, and I look around to see if the person who left it is still here, but no one is close by.
I can hear muffled voices farther away, but they aren’t trying to stay concealed or anything, so I doubt they left the note.
I pull it out and glance at what’s written on it—nothing but an address.
I flip it over to see if there is anything else on the other side, but it’s blank.
Suspicious, but I am too tired and emotionally drained to worry about it now, so I tuck it into my pocket. I’ll google the address tomorrow once I’ve caught up on some much needed rest.
My thoughts are a chaotic mess as my body goes into autopilot, taking me from Suncity back to my home. I have so many balls in the air that keeping them afloat is becoming nearly impossible.
My hands clench around the steering wheel as I think of the utter useless asshole my brother has become.
I want to confront him, but to be honest, I’m exhausted, and I’m pretty sure nothing I would say would convince him to change.
He’s become so fucking selfish. I basically rely on Sam and Dean to be my right-hand men these days, even though they technically started as my protection detail.
They’ve really stepped up, and I can rely on them to handle the things I need done.
Tomorrow’s meeting should shed more light on the Lorenzo situation.
It would be nice if I had one less thing to worry about.
The gates open for me as I pull into the estate.
They must have seen my car coming down the road, so I don’t have to stop, but I wave at the guard booth as I drive through and into the underground parking.
I take the elevator up to the main living area, thinking about the hot bubble bath I’m going to take after I’ve grabbed some food, but when I reach the kitchen, the sound of voices and laughter have me pausing.
Fuck, I forgot about our unwanted guests. I really don’t have the energy to be social at the moment, but despite me not wanting them in my house, I still feel something for Vienna and her guys.
Cautiously, I push the door open to the kitchen and find Suzy and Vienna standing at the island, chatting and cutting vegetables together.
The kitchen smells delicious. I don’t know what they are making, but it has my stomach rumbling in anticipation.
Before I can say anything, the door opposite me swings open, and Tristan practically bounces in.
He presses a kiss to Suzy’s cheek before twirling Vienna around and dipping her, giving her a more thorough kiss before returning her to her previous position, snatching a piece of carrot, and popping it into his mouth. None of them have noticed me yet.
“Get away with you.” Suzy flicks him with the tea towel that was resting on her shoulder, and he dances backward, taking a seat opposite them at the island.
Vienna just smiles at him, her eyes filled with a love that makes my dead heart speed up a little.
I’m envious, grumpy, and tired. Maybe I should just go straight to my room and bypass any social interaction today.
I don’t trust myself to be kind to anyone.
“I’m starving. How long until dinner is ready?
” Tristan pushes back a lock of hair that has fallen over his eyes.
He’s wearing gray sweats and a tight white shirt that does nothing to hide how nice his body is, and his feet are bare, which does something to me.
I don’t want to look too closely at that something though.
“Another hour. Why don’t you go find the others and harass them so we can get this finished?” Suzy tells him.
“Sage is back,” Vienna says, and her eyes sparkle as he sits up, looking around the kitchen. “Not here, silly.” She chuckles but then frowns. “Actually, I don’t know where he went. He seemed to disappear, but then again, this house is so big, he could be anywhere.”
Suzy starts to cut her vegetables faster and ignores the conversation. I’m guessing Sage went down to play with his plants, and we don’t really want them asking any questions about that. Time to cause a distraction.
“Well, isn’t this cozy,” I comment, pushing the door fully open and stepping into the kitchen.
“Tori!” Suzy exclaims, dropping her knife and hurrying around to envelop me in a wave of French perfume and affection.
“Be nice, I really like them,” she growls into my ear before pulling away.
“Why didn’t you let us know you were returning?
We haven’t heard from you all week,” she scolds before stepping back and looking me over.
“You look exhausted, and have you lost weight?” She pulls me into another hug and whispers, “Seriously, I like them and think they could be just what you need.”
“They could be what I need elsewhere,” I hiss back, and she gives me a little shake and a look of disappointment before returning to what she was doing. My attention switches to the others in the kitchen.
“Hi.” I wave awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable, which is exactly why I didn’t want people in my safe space.
“Hey there, poppet,” Tristan says, giving me a wink, but both of them are looking at me like I might explode at any moment.
Vienna bites her lip and looks down at the knife in her hand before looking back up, words rushing out of her mouth. “I know you wanted us to stay at the Lucky Diamond, and we told Gio we would have been happy to go there, but he insisted.”
“It’s okay, V, we can pack up and go now that Tori is home. It’s not a big deal.” Tristan pushes off the stool he was slouching on. “I’ll go let the others know.”
Suzy glares at me and shakes her head, and I groan internally. She’s going to give me hell if I make them go.
I wave a hand. “It’s fine, you don’t have to go. It’s a huge place, and I’ll be busy, so we probably won’t see that much of each other, especially with all of you going to college as well.”
Suzy is still glaring at me, and I glare back. What the fuck does she want me to say? Does she want me to beg them to stay? I’m not going to do that.
Vienna looks relieved, and I see her whole body sag with relief. Tristan is looking at me rather seriously, not something I’ve seen in his face before.
“Are you sure, Tori? We don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable in your own home.
” Something about his words causes some of my own tension to release, and when I think about it, I do actually mean what I’m saying, not just for Suzy’s sake.
I just don’t know if I want to mix my personal life with my professional one.
After all, I am a killer, and they are college students. How much more different can we be?
“Seriously, you’re fine. Please forgive me. I’m tired, and it’s been a long ass week. I’m going to head up and have a bath if I have time before dinner is ready.” I look at Suzy who gives me a nod, her eyes shining with pride.
“Of course. Dinner will be served in the dining room now that there are enough people not to make it look obnoxious,” she tells me with a smile. “Can you let Sage know?” she asks, glancing downwards to share that he is, in fact, down in his grow warehouse.
“Will do. I’ll see you guys at dinner?” I ask, and Vienna nods enthusiastically while Tristan gives me a wink.
I head upstairs to my room to run a bath and get my head on straight.