Chapter Three #2
“Let’s just say Morello relies on the docks for his drugs, and that same dock had a shipment arrive this very morning, but exactly two minutes ago, that dock is no more, nor is the boat.” He gave a little tut.
“Wow,” Igor said, and then smiled. “I like your way of thinking.”
“Morello believes he has the upper hand. His son attempted to kill me. If it wasn’t for that woman, I would be dead right now.” It was an ambush he was pissed about. He hadn’t even noticed the cars tailing him. He hadn’t paid any fucking attention.
“You ever wonder why she was right there at the right time?” Igor asked.
“I know why she was there,” he said.
It had taken one phone call to her ex-boss to have a little chat about Jane Adams. According to her ex-boss, Jane Adams was a plain, ugly girl, but a fucking tease. Alexey had listened to him talk shit about her for a good thirty minutes before he decided to hang up.
After the boss complained about Jane shaking her ass, flashing her tits, coming on to him and all that nonsense, Alexey knew what really happened.
The boss hit on Jane, gave her an ultimatum, thinking she would be hit between a rock and a hard place.
Instead, Jane slapped him good and quit.
This is why she was just sitting in the car.
Also, security footage showed her slamming her fist against the steering wheel, clearly angry at what had just played out.
His attack had been what distracted her. Up until that point, Jane had been none the wiser about his existence, which was why she didn’t want to know names, or who he was associated with. Jane knew the way it worked. The more she knew, the more dangerous it was.
After finishing with Ronaldo, Alexey left the warehouse and checked his messages. There was nothing important, so he continued toward his car, where Igor followed him.
“Do you want to get lunch?” Igor asked.
“I have plans.”
Igor laughed. “You know, you might want to think about why it is so important to you to keep an eye on this girl.”
“I’m paying her back,” Alexey said.
“Yeah, and most people give a reward, then toss them out on their butt.”
“Morello would find her and kill her.”
“And yet, that in theory is not your problem. She’s the one who decided to ... well, you know.”
“I’m done talking about this.”
“It is still something for you to think about,” Igor said, laughing.
Alexey slammed the door closed and gave him the finger, to which his friend raised his hand and waved.
Igor always handled the cleanup with people like this.
Once this was done, he’d go to Ronaldo’s home, case the place, and if the victim had a family, they would be paid to get the fuck out.
In some cases, the family was also killed.
He didn’t like to leave a paper trail; however, Ronaldo hadn’t said anything to his family.
They were not aware of what the launderette was used for.
It was probably the single smartest thing Ronaldo had ever done.
It took a good fifty minutes to arrive back to his building. He paid his driver, giving him an hour to do whatever he wanted, while he enjoyed his lunch. Alexey had also stopped off at a good bakery to pick up his and Jane’s lunch.
He took the elevator toward the top floor, and once he stepped off, his men looked entertained.
“Has she tried to leave again?” he asked.
“No, sir, not since this morning. However, I wouldn’t put it past her to attempt to leave disguised as one of us, or a cleaning lady, or some shit like that. The girl’s sneaky.”
Alexey smiled and let himself inside his home, closing and locking the door.
He found Jane dressed as he had left her that morning, her arms folded across her middle, but the frown on her face was new.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Are you really going to keep me prisoner?” she asked.
“I got lunch, so even if you’re not hungry, I still got you some food. You’re not allergic to anything, are you?” He ignored her question.
“You can’t just ignore me!”
She did not sound happy.
He walked to his dining room table and pulled out the two wrapped packages, which were the sandwiches, along with a sweet treat. The moment he looked at the chocolate chip muffins, he knew he needed a sweet treat.
“I can do whatever the hell I want to,” he said, turning toward her.
“You know, this is not fair,” she said.
“Life is not fair, Jane. Now, I have gotten you some lunch, you can choose to eat it with me or be stubborn.”
She stormed toward him, her hands clenched, and he expected her to throw the sandwich across the room. If she did, then that was on her, not him. He would still enjoy his own, and she could go without.
Only, Jane didn’t throw it across the room. Instead, she pulled out her chair and slowly lowered her ass into it. He watched as she clenched and opened her hands, then picked up her package and unwrapped it.
“What did you get me?” she asked.
“Chicken salad on white. I didn’t know if you had any allergies.”
“This is good.” She took a bite out of her sandwich, chewed, and rolled her eyes.
“Care to share the eye roll?”
“It’s good. I should know. Everything you seem to have is good.”
He laughed. “It’s not cheap.”
She shook her head. “It beats a peanut butter sandwich.”
“Is that what you usually had?” he asked.
“Most days, or jam.” She shrugged. “You eat what you can afford.”
“Which makes me wonder why you’re attempting to run from this,” Alexey said.
“You know about that?” she asked.
“My men keep me informed of everything that is going on.”
She sighed. “I just ... I’m not used to this, okay? I’m not used to someone looking out for me, or any of this. Your life is completely different from mine.”
“However, your life has pulled you into mine. That night, you should have left, and nothing would have happened.”
“You’d be dead.”
“But Frank Morello would be alive, and no one would be coming for you.” He didn’t know that for certain.
Technically, if she had witnessed Frank kill him and Vincent got ahold of the security footage, she might be in the same position she was now.
The only difference, she would be dead, because he hadn’t come to rescue her.
“They would if they knew I had seen it all and feared me going to the cops,” Jane said. “I could already be dead.”
She did surprise him.
“Exactly, only you’re not, because I am keeping you safe.
He’s put a hit out on you, Jane. That means your life is in my hands.
If you think you can beat an assassin or a bounty hunter, or anyone who would like to profit by several hundred thousand bucks, then go ahead, leave.
I guarantee you wouldn’t survive the night.
I’m offering you a chance to survive right now. ”
“You don’t need to do that,” she said.
“I owe you my life. A life for a life. I’ll deal with Morello, and I’ll keep you alive.”
“What do I have to do?” she asked, after a minute’s silence.
“Everything I tell you to, to keep you safe. Do you think you can do that?” he asked. “That includes no more sneaking around or attempting to escape.”
She laughed. “Okay, fine. I will do that. I can do that.”
“Good. Now, eat your fucking sandwich.”