20. Roman
ROMAN
“ W hen you asked me out on a date, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.” Climbing out of my car, I close the door and smile warmly at Jasmine who stands in the parking spot across from me.
Both her hands brace back against the hood she’s leaning against, and her high heel booties cross over each other at the ankle. “Is that a complaint I hear?” Jasmine’s small smile grows into a sly smirk. “Is this too much suspense for an old man ?”
“Ouch!” My hand touches my heart. “Forty-one isn’t that old.”
“Mm-hmm, sure. Well, let me know if it all gets too much for you.” She leans up as I approach, but I’m in front of her before she can stand.
With one hand cupping her hip, I lean into her and bring my lips close. “You speak as if I can’t keep up with you.”
“Mmm.” She leans close until there’s a hair’s breadth between our lips. “I guess we’ll find out later.”
“I guess we will.” Resisting the urge to kiss her is like pulling out my own soul, but I manage for now.
She called me earlier with a simple invitation for a date, and after not seeing her for two days, there’s no way I could say no.
“So your ideal date is a”—I lean away and glance past her to the run-down building with several cars and trucks parked outside—“a mechanic?”
Jasmine places one hand on my chest and lightly eases me backward as she leans up. “First, tell me about Alto.”
A curl of disgust immediately warms my gut. “I didn’t confront him directly, but I’ve been keeping a close eye on him. A couple of my loyal guards are also tailing him. From what digging I could do, he’s done a good job covering his tracks. Proving he’s behind your assassination will be tricky.”
“But is it doable?”
I shrug. “Maybe. It would be the perfect thing to kick him down in my father’s eyes, especially after we’re married. Should give me a straight shot to the throne.”
“Hm. Asshole.” Jasmine shakes her head, one hand lifting to play with the end of her brown plait that rests over one shoulder. “Well, I can’t help with that yet, but you can help me with this.”
“Our date?”
She nods and her dazzling eyes lock onto mine, as stunning as the stars up above. “Want to help me kill someone?”
“Color me intrigued.” Resting beside her against the hood of her car, my attention drifts to the building across the street. “Did you get stiffed on your insurance or something?”
“No. You remember the asshole who ran me over? My friend’s ex?”
Just the thought of him is enough to ignite heat across my shoulders. “Yes.” He’d be dead if I had my way, but there were too many witnesses, including the cops. I’ve been waiting for the heat to die, but it seems Jasmine now has her own ideas.
“I moved my friend Catherine to a safe place. That’s actually where I was a couple of days ago before the crash.
Anyway, I spent so long assuring her she was safe, and I had men tailing her.
But Seth, the asshole, gave my guards the slip because my father pulled all available eyes to look for me while we were… ”
“Fucking?” I offer with a smirk.
She nudges me with her shoulder. “Yes. So it’s my fault he found her and hurt her again. Luckily, she called me when he was still breaking down the door, and he fled when he realized I was coming.”
“Is she okay?”
Jasmine nods. “I got there in time to scare the fucker away but this is the last straw. She won’t be safe until he’s dead, and my good graces only give one chance.
She might hate me for doing this, but I’m pissed off about him and Alto and my family so…
” Jasmine sucks on her upper teeth, briefly flashing her tongue. “I want him dead. So, date night?”
“How can I refuse?” We could be doing something mundane like bowling, but murder for a first date? I’m so here for it.
“You’re good though?” Jasmine pointedly glances at my waist. “Your wounds…”
“Are fine,” I assure her, glancing at the bruise on her forehead concealed by makeup. “I’d say we’re each as fine as the other.”
She doesn’t look like she entirely believes me, but it’s good enough for the moment.
Jasmine takes the lead as we cross the street and head into the mechanics.
The place is mostly shrouded in darkness except for a light on in the small office tucked away at the back of the building, almost completely hidden by a pickup truck.
Jasmine’s head is held high as she strides in and pulls her handgun from her belt.
“We’re closed!” calls a voice from inside, seemingly alerted by the clack of Jasmine’s heels on the stone floor.
She doesn’t respond and walks closer. Then she kicks down the door with one swift move.
As it swings open with a crash, the man inside lurches up from his seat in fright, sending an array of papers scattering down to the floor.
His wide eyes narrow upon seeing Jasmine, and there’s an air of arrogance despite facing the gun.
“Oh what a surprise, the bitch sent her attack dog.”
“Seth, I presume?” I enter a moment later, and the confidence on Seth’s face melts away as he looks up at me. I’m a full head and shoulders taller than this scrawny fucker, but that doesn’t make him any less of a threat.
“Who the fuck are you?”
I glance at Jasmine. “I’m her attack dog.”
Seth doesn’t stand a chance against me. He fights like a little rodent when I grab him by the scruff of the neck and force him down against his creaking desk.
He kicks out at me, even throws an elbow, but I put an end to that by grabbing his wrist and wrenching his arm so hard up his back that something audibly pop. His swearing turns into yells of pain.
“Not here,” Jasmine decides, sliding her gun back into her holster. “He’s not scared enough.”
“Alright, where to?”
She shrugs. “I’m undecided.”
“Listen,” Seth wheezes out around the pressure of my weight pinning him down. “Let’s talk about this!”
“No,” Jasmine says casually. “I’m done fucking talking.”
Our eyes meet and she jerks her head outside.
Hauling Seth upward, he kicks out his legs in fright, so I throw him against the filing cabinets and punch him several times in the face until blood pours down from a broken nose and he’s gasping for air.
He’s much more docile as I drag him from his office and across the street.
“Put him in the trunk,” Jasmine instructs, unlocking her car when we arrive.
“No, please! I’m sorry! Listen, I made some bad choices, I’m sorry! You can’t do this to me man, what the hell? What the hell!”
“Shut up ,” I snap, tossing him into the trunk of her car like he’s just a sack of potatoes. His begging and cries become muffled when I slam the trunk shut and lean against it. “So what’s next?”
Jasmine rocks back onto her heels and taps her finger against her lower lip. “I want him scared. I want him so scared he shits himself because he terrified her, and a swift death is too good.”
I run through a couple of options; reckless driving, loud noises, even the threat of fire are all good options, but it’s not enough. Judging by how worried Jasmine is about her friend, we need something more.
She stops pacing and when our eyes meet, I smile.
“Do you like theme parks?”
“Do you come here often?” Jasmine chuckles, standing on the edge of a rotten wood pier and staring out at the slimy, trash-filled body of water that stretches out almost as far as the eye can see. The graveyard of the water park.
Behind us, the run-down remains of a theme park stretch across the night sky.
This place hasn’t seen foot traffic or love in at least ten years.
Closed down by the state after one too many accidents and a decapitation, this old theme park became a hunting ground for anyone looking to get rid of something.
And since the Mafia is always on the lookout for places that no one will ever go to, we’re also the reason this place hasn’t been bulldozed and rebuilt.
“What?” I pant from behind her car. “Not a fan of theme parks?”
“I’ve never been,” Jasmine admits.
“What?” I halt my straining immediately. “You’ve never been to a theme park?”
“Nope.”
“Been on a roller coaster?”
“Nope.”
“Have you even lived?”
“Alright Mr. Adrenaline Junkie,” Jasmine laughs. “What are you, some theme park fiend?”
“Something like that. I’ll tell you about it if I can just get…
this… going !” Another hard shove and Jasmine’s car, complete with Seth pounding on the trunk, begins rolling toward the lake.
I watch it closely as it picks up speed and then crashes into the water sending a cascade of waves out to the deeper parts of the lake.
Her car keeps rolling forward and starts to float, but with all the windows we left open, it’s not long until it starts to take on water.
“You sure about this?” I ask as I climb up onto the wooden pier beside her. “That’s a nice car.”
“Eh. I can get another car easily enough,” Jasmine replies, folding her arms just under her bust. “If the price is listening to this then it’s so worth it.”
Seth’s panicked cries carry in the night air and quickly turn into terrified screams when the car takes on enough water for him to work out what’s happening. Few things terrify people more than drowning in the dark.
Slowly.
“So.” Jasmine turns to me. “You like roller coasters?”
Nodding, I nudge her gently with my shoulder.
“When I was younger, we didn’t have anything in the way of money, but my mom always found work at a theme park.
Not this one specifically, but a few different ones.
Summer was always amazing because she’d be working and I’d get to wander the parks.
I had no money, but sometimes I could sneak onto rides by acting like I was part of someone’s family. ”
“That’s cute and sad at the same time,” Jasmine says softly. “Your mom sounds like she worked really hard.”