Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
C ecilia
“You’re not going to say a word. You’re going to be silent and not move an inch,” Tobias demands from the driver's seat.
I slump back in the passenger seat, the dark bill of my hat clouding half of my vision. “That’s not fair?—”
“Lia, we are in a stakeout right now. If you ever listen to me, you’ll listen to me right now. We need to remain inconspicuous.”
I lean back in my seat, crossing my arms over my chest. “I don’t understand why we’re here. I gave the ledger to Hodge.”
“If I’m right, he wasted no time giving it to Chuck. This is where we need to look.”
“How are you so sure?”
“This is business, Lia. I know how it works.” It was nearly one in the morning, and we were sitting outside of Chuck Fireux’s very nice home, spying and, possibly soon, breaking and entering.
Just your regular Wednesday night.
“God.” I breathe out. “You really are different.”
“Quit saying it like it’s a bad thing.”
“It is.”
“Why? Because we’re making money under the radar? Money this shit government steals from hard-working people every day. We’re not bad people, Lia. We’re just doing questionable things.”
“Illegal things,” I point out.
He sniffs. “At least it's money and not drugs.”
I kept quiet at that because he had me there. More questions, though, fill my head, and I can’t stay quiet for long. I look at him, taking in all his physical changes. “So, like… you're not in the mafia, are you?”
He gazes intently out of the window. “I told you I wasn’t.”
“You also told me you weren’t doing anything bad with James.”
He huffs in annoyance. “I am not in the mafia.”
“But James was?” He nods but doesn’t elaborate, but that’s not something I can let go of. “Tobias, I’m gonna need a little more information here.”
He growls, looking back at me now. “He was in the mafia. Now, he’s not. What else do you need to know?”
“Why isn’t he in it anymore? I thought if people wanted out, they just get killed.”
He shrugs. “Depends on the person, I guess.”
“You said his brother is a part of it? Is that why they didn’t kill James?”
He glares at me. “They probably didn’t kill James because he’s trustworthy and loyal. He’s a scary mother fucker too. The only one with enough balls to go after him would be Luccio himself, but that’s obviously not going to happen.”
“Luccio? Stefano Luccio? That’s his brother?”
“Of sorts.”
“Of sorts? What does that even mean?”
He goes to answer me but then slams his mouth shut, waving his hand at me to get down. I look out the windshield as I shrink in my seat, seeing a dark black car with tinted windows pull up to Chuck’s house. Tobias glares at the vehicle, and his nostrils flare, a sharp breath escaping him when Hodge exits the car.
I watch carefully as Hodge stands at his driver's door, leans into the car, and grabs something inside. I gasp when I see the black ledger in his hands as he slips it inside his suit jacket pocket.
The sound of a gun cocking pulls my attention to Tobias, and my eyes widen in horror as I see him holding a gun and tucking it into his pants as he quietly opens the car door. “Stay here and stay down,” he demands before shutting the door.
My heart is ready to jump out of my mouth as I watch him, barely peeking over the dashboard as he heads in Hodge’s direction. The second Tobias approaches him, he pulls his gun out, aiming straight at his face. Hodge puts both hands up, and I watch as Tobias directs him to pull the ledger out from inside his jacket. He’s so close to getting it back when I see a man come out of the shadows, slowly creeping up behind Tobias.
I don’t think. I just moved.
The man had a gun aiming toward the ground as he got closer to my brother, and I had no weapons on me. There's nothing around me to use, and I’m internally cursing my brother out for leaving me unarmed, although I don’t think I could ever use a gun in the first place. The second I step out of the car, I take my heeled black boots off my feet and clutch one so tightly in my hand that I fear they may lock this way, but I pad quietly up behind the man just as he reaches my brother. Hodge spots me, and the smug look on his face drops when he realizes Tobias isn’t going to get caught like he thought he would. Before he can open his mouth, I bring the heel of my shoe up and drop it down on the back of the man's head.
The man falls to the ground, dropping the gun as both his hands fly to the wound on his head. I didn’t break any skin, thankfully. I wasn’t trying to murder the guy, for heaven's sake, but I needed him to, like, not kill my brother.
Tobias keeps his gun aimed at Hodge as he looks over his shoulder to see the commotion. His eyes widen in fear when they land on me, then widen even more in surprise when he sees the boot in my hand and the man on the ground.
“Grab the gun,” Tobias demands, and I scramble to the ground, picking the gun up and holding it with both hands before the guy comes to and tries to take it back. I hold it with shaky hands and aim down at the man on the pavement.
This was not real life. I was not actually aiming a gun at somebody after I clobbered him with my fucking heeled boot. But it is, and I did, in fact, do that.
The guy stirs on the ground and blinks his eyes open slowly, and when he sees me aiming his own gun at his face, an expression of surprise that fades to disgust washes over his face. He tries to stand, but I shake the gun in his direction.
“Don’t freaking move,” I screech. “I will shoot your freaking face off.” I wouldn’t, but I knew threats could go a long way in these situations. Not like I’ve been in a situation like this before in my life. This was fucking crazy.
Tobias takes a few steps away from us to monitor all surroundings. “Give me the ledger,” he demands to Hodge, looking back at him. I stay focused on the man in front of me, although it’s hard knowing my brother was at my side, also holding a gun at someone else. All I wanted to do was look at him. To protect him, although I guess I was technically doing that now, so I keep my stern gaze trained on the stranger at my feet, a strange comfort washing over me as I protect my brother as I’ve always done.
Hodge grumbles something I can’t understand, and then I hear the commotion of what sounds like the ledger being exchanged. Then I feel a soft tap on my shoulder. “Turn around and walk back to the car. I have your back, but keep your eyes focused on any movement in front of you. Do not let go of your gun.”
I nod, slowly taking a step backward before turning around completely. I finally look at Tobias now, and I’m awe-struck at the way he’s holding the gun out, his hard eyes trained on the men in front of him. He wore a black leather jacket, a navy blue shirt, and dark jeans. He looked…kind of cool right now. He looked, for the first time ever, like my older brother—one who could take care of me instead of me taking care of him.
I walk back to the car, my eyes bouncing everywhere like another man would jump out of a bush or something. When I get back into the car and finally take a deep breath, Tobias quickly jumps in and peels out of the neighborhood.
“Holy shit, I can’t believe we actually caught him bringing it to Mayor Fireux,” I gasped in relief.
“We’re some lucky mother fuckers,” he agrees.
“I think I’m going to throw up.”
He whips his head toward me. “I just got my car detailed. You better fucking not.”
“What are you? Some rich tool now?”
“I’ve worked hard for the nice things I have. Keep the contents in your stomach exactly where they are.”
I roll my eyes and look out of the window. “Where are we going now?”
“I’m taking you back to Boston.”
“At this hour?”
“Sleep on the way there if you want, but I’m not wasting any time getting you back to where you belong.”
“It’s also where you belong.”
“Don’t start,” he grumbles.
“Tobias—”
“No,” he bites out. “This is where I belong, Lia. Nothing you can do will change that.”
Heartbreak invades my chest. I ignore him now, turning toward the car door and leaning my head on the window as I let sleep take me away from this nightmare.