Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
brONWYN
“You look better today,” Nate says the next day at work as he looks me over.
“Gee, you sure know how to make a girl feel good. Next time just tell me I looked like shit.” I laugh.
Nate groans. “Oh, come on, you know what I mean. You looked like you were two seconds from dropping dead yesterday. Did you get some sleep?”
“I did. Thanks again for covering for me.”
“Like I said, don’t sweat it. I still owe you.”
Last night was the first time in weeks that I slept through the night and actually felt rested.
Which is kind of ironic considering how my day played out yesterday.
You would think I would have had nightmares, but I didn’t.
I find it oddly comforting having someone who’s willing to kill someone for me.
I’m trying not to look too deep into why I like that, but it’s a major turn-on.
I only wish I could have seen Gio in action.
I keep catching him in the act of cleanup, which doesn’t seem as fun.
My body lights up whenever he’s around. Every nerve ending feels like it’s on fire as soon as he’s in my space. The man is intoxicating in a way I wouldn’t mind staying drunk on him the rest of my life. It seems like a good way to go out.
There’s just one small problem, though. I can’t get involved with him.
I had heart palpitations when he said I was his woman.
A man like him is the type to have a wife and wifey on the side.
I want no part of that. Plus, what happens when it goes south and then I get evicted?
I’m already walking a thin line with them paying me for my silence.
Gio would probably just have me taken out.
And the sad thing is no one would miss me.
Nate would only notice I’m gone because I’m not there to cover shifts.
“Earth to Bronwyn.” Nate snaps his fingers in front of my face.
“Shit, sorry. I zoned out.” I wince. I hope he wasn’t saying anything important, and I wasn’t listening like an asshole.
“I asked you a question three times. I even told you I hated your favorite game and nothing. Are you sure you’re feeling better?” Nate eyes me skeptically, concern etching his features. “You can talk to me, you know.”
My mouth opens at the same time the bell above the entrance chimes, signaling to us that a customer has arrived. “Welcome in. Can I help you find anything?” I call out as I turn around to face the front.
I freeze, and my stomach lurches into my throat at the sight of Matteo Adduci walking toward me.
Shit.
I haven’t talked to him face to face since I signed my lease.
That was six months ago. We don’t talk. I mail my rent checks on time every month with the exception of this month, and he cashes them promptly, his silent way of letting me know he got it.
I texted him asking for the extension because I was too much of a chicken to do it in person.
Which means he’s here either to collect my late rent money that I don’t have, kick me out, or try to lure me out of here so he can kill me because I’ve seen too much.
“Hello, Bronwyn. I was wondering if you had a minute for us to talk,” Matteo says as he stops in front of the cash register. His fingers tap on the counter as he looks around the store, checking everything out.
My eyes slide to Nate in what I hope is a silent communication to help me the fuck out, but the asshole doesn’t pick up what I’m putting down.
“I’ve got this, Bron. Go take your break.” Nate waves me off.
My eyes narrow at him.
Traitor.
I internally sigh. I swear the universe hates me. “We can talk in the breakroom,” I tell him as I make my way back there, not checking to see if he’s following me or not.
I take a seat at the small table as Matteo enters behind me and shuts the door, leaving the two of us alone.
My heart is pounding in my ears as I wipe my sweaty palms on my pants.
I can’t help it. Matteo has an energy that commands a room the second he steps into it.
It’s scary as shit. I know he has the power to make my life way worse with the snap of a finger.
“I really appreciate you giving me an extension on rent. I’ll have it by the end of next week. I promise it won’t happen again,” I ramble, my eyes darting around the break room. I don’t have the guts to look him in the eye.
“That’s not why I’m here, Bronwyn,” Matteo says, his deep voice whipping throughout the room.
“It’s not?” I ask, my voice raising an octave.
He’s here about the hush money. That’s the only other explanation. He probably decided he didn’t feel like paying me off anymore and wants to tie up a loose end. The loose end being my life.
“No, it’s not.”
“Then, uh, how can I help you?” I squeak out. The room feels like it’s closing in on me, and it’s getting harder and harder to breathe with every second that passes with him looking at me with those same unreadable eyes Gio has.
It’s uncanny how similar these two present themselves. You can tell they’re definitely brothers.
“I want you to tell me what you know about Brian Hatchett.”
My eyes dart to him as I freeze, my body going on high alert from the turn of conversation. “I already told Gio I don’t know him.”
Matteo takes a seat across from me and leans back in the chair, casually crossing one leg over the other as if he owns the place. I guess you kind of do when you’re the top mob boss in Ravenna Heights.
“I know what you told Gio.”
My hand rubs the back of my neck as I try to reassure myself silently that it’s going to be okay and he isn’t here to kill me. “I don’t know what else you want to know.”
“I want to know if you just forgot to mention something to him.”
My eyes narrow slightly at the accusation in his tone. “Are you asking me if I lied to Gio?”
“Not lied in the traditional sense, but maybe decided to leave some things out.” He shrugs.
“Lying is lying, no matter which way you look at it. I wouldn’t lie to your brother. I don’t know who Brian Hatchett is or what he wanted.” I cross my arms as I hold his gaze, my answer final.
Matteo studies me until I’m close to squirming in my seat from the intensity of his gaze. “So you have no idea why he was waiting for you at The Drip or how he just happened to know where you live?”
Shit.
When he says it like that, it does look bad.
“I know what it looks like, but I swear I have no idea. Like I told Gio, he freaked me out. Imagine if you were just trying to have a cup of coffee by yourself before work and suddenly a random man is sitting down across from you. Not to mention the not so small fact that he knows who you are, but you have no idea who he is. It’s fucking weird.
So I got up and left. I’m sorry I didn’t stick around to ask him the questions you so badly want answers to.
” I end my rant laced with sarcasm as I roll my eyes to the side and focus my attention on the dirty khaki-colored wall.
I mean, who does this man think he is? Besides the head of the Italian Mafia. He has no right to come in here and question me.
My attention moves back to him as I hear the chair creak under his weight as he pushes out of it.
He adjusts the lapels on his suit jacket before saying, “It’s not lost on me that my brother has taken a liking to you.
It wasn’t my intention to come here and offend you, but I can tell by your tone that you have taken my questioning as such.
If I find out you didn’t tell him something and it comes back on him, you’ll be answering to me, not him. Are we clear?”
I swallow. “We’re clear.”
Matteo opens the door to the breakroom and walks out without another word. It isn’t until I hear the familiar chime from the store’s entrance that I come unglued. I’m greeted by Nate’s wide eyes when I emerge.
“What the fuck was that?”
“I honestly have no idea,” I answer, and that’s the truth.
That’s the most I’ve ever spoken to Matteo.
Even when I toured the apartment and signed my lease, he didn’t say more than he had to.
He asked if I was interested, and when I said yes, handed me an application, told me the monthly rent and when it was due, and that was it.
“Oh no,” Nate says as he follows me around the counter. “That excuse works with literally anything but the fucking head of the Italian Mafia walking in here and demanding to speak to you in private.” Nate pauses as he looks around before lowering his voice to a whisper. “Are you fucking him?”
“What?” My head rears back as my face scrunches up in disgust. “No!”
“Oh, thank god.” He brings his hand to his chest dramatically. “You’re the first person I’ve actually liked working with, and I’ve heard his wife is a little crazy. I’d hate to see something happen to you. They have the power to make you go away if you know what I mean.”
“Well, you can relax because I’m not fucking Matteo.” It’s his brother who I want to fuck. “You’re stuck with me.”
“Let’s keep it that way.”
The rest of the day passes by without anything unusual happening.
I wasn’t completely in my right frame of mind.
I had moments where I would catch myself staring off into space, tuning out the outside world and retreating into my own head.
Maybe seeing a dead body is starting to catch up with me.
Or maybe it’s because the dead body belongs to a man who was after me.
Would my dad really give me up?
I’ve had an uneasy feeling all day, realizing he hasn’t been in touch since I gave him that money.
Is that all he really sees me as? His personal ATM?
Maybe Gio is right. But if he is, what do I do with that information?
He already has the money. I probably won’t see it again.
I just don’t know how you write off your only family member, shitty person or not.
If Nate noticed me retreating, he didn’t bring it up again, which I’m thankful for. Lately, I feel like all anyone has done is question me, and I’m over it. I want a night where nobody talks to me.
And that’s what I decide I’m going to do on my way home. I hope Wiz is online and up for a game. Getting lost in a world that isn’t the shit show of my life sounds amazing right about now.