Chapter Nine
Gavino
“Does this look consensual?” I asked as Leo glanced at Caitlin’s fleeing form as she, I imagined, made a mad dash for the stairwell.
My brother stepped into the apartment, kicking the door closed, then putting the bag of bagels on the table.
“I dunno what you’re into, man,” he said, lips curved up. “I don’t wanna kink-shame.”
“Even if I were into bondage, did that woman look like a fucking dominatrix?”
“I dunno. It’s always the quiet, unassuming ones who are the kinkiest in my experience.”
“Can you just find the damn handcuff key, find a knife, and get me out of this?”
“I dunno. This is a rare occasion. I feel like I should capitalize on your inability to make a quiet exit by inviting the family over to force you to talk to them for a few minutes.”
But he was going for the knife drawer as he said it, coming back with the bread knife and sawing through the badly tied rope.
“Any idea where the key is?” he asked. “Or a pin?”
“In the backpack.”
He nodded, making his way over there.
“She’s got a whole Kidnapping For Beginners kit here, huh?”
“If she only knew how to use it,” I agreed as he dug around in the pockets until he found the little key ring.
“What do you mean? She had you secured pretty well.”
“Only because I showed her that I could get out of her first attempt to restrain me.”
“You showed her?” he asked as the cuff opened.
I brought my arms forward, feeling the scream in my shoulders as I inspected the red marks on my wrists.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“She was about to piece it together anyway.”
“Takes balls to hold a mafia capo hostage. With a bum arm, no less.”
“Nah, she broke her wrist punching me,” I told him, gesturing toward my lip that still felt tight with the scab from the split.
“And she… went to get it casted while she had you tied to a chair?”
“I told her to.”
“Why the fuck would you do that?”
“Because it was broken and she was being stubborn,” I said, getting up and stretching my tight muscles. “And because I wanted to take a shower and get some food.”
Leo watched me for a long moment, his brows pinched.
“I’m gonna need to hear more details. You were pretending to be restrained?”
“Yep.”
“While she… went to get a cast. Then came back to… what?”
“Eat Chinese food mostly. Then fall asleep from her pain meds.”
Which were still sitting on my table.
Her wrist had to be throbbing.
“How the fuck long has she been here?”
“Thirty-six hours. Give or take. She gave herself a panic attack, threw up, and passed out the first night.”
Leo was taking the whole thing a lot more seriously than I had, but a snorting laugh escaped him at that.
“So, not a pro, we can assume.”
“Her name’s Caitlin Hall. She’s the missing trucker’s kid.”
“Oh, shit,” he said, exhaling hard. “She thinks we have her dad.”
“Yep.”
“You gotta be a whole other level of desperate to hold a Made member of our Family captive.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“Still don’t see why you played along for so long.”
“I knew I had a text out to you in case shit went south.”
“Still.”
“I dunno,” I admitted, grabbing the bag of bagels. “It was interesting.”
I could feel him watching me, probably seeing way more than I wanted him to. That was the problem with siblings, wasn’t it? They could read the lines you didn’t think they could even see.
“You were having fun.”
“‘Fun’ might be pushing it. But I was entertained, at least.”
I grabbed a sesame bagel.
“There’s butter and cream cheese in the bag. I know your ass doesn’t keep shit in the fridge.”
I grabbed the butter and made my way to the kitchen. Leo grabbed an everything bagel and the cream cheese and followed me.
I still believed the only reason all my siblings and I didn’t end up in all-out brawls all the time was because we all liked different food. And, as we got older, had different tastes in women.
“So what now?” he asked.
“Now,” I said, taking a bite of the bagel. “I get Zeno to give me her address.”
“Because now you’re locked in.”
“That sums it up, yeah.”
“You wanna know what happened to Daniel Hall.”
“Yeah.”
“But not because of the business,” Leo went on, following me back to the dining table. “But because of his daughter.”
I shrugged at that.
“You’ve got some interesting priorities, Gav.”
“I prioritize the Family,” I objected. They were, after all, the only thing in my life outside of my solitude.
“I didn’t mean it like that. Just that… you didn’t give a fuck that a man who’s worked for you for years was missing. But you give a fuck now that his daughter is distraught enough to come cuff you to a chair.”
“It’s more interesting now.”
“And I’m sure that has nothing to do with the fact that she’s a knockout.”
“Never factored in.”
“Oh, bull-fucking-shit. You want me to believe you didn’t notice how beautiful she was?”
“Didn’t say I didn’t notice. Said it wasn’t a factor.”
“Right. So if his daughter looked like Mrs. Oliver from sixth grade math, you’d still be hunting down her missing father?”
“If Mrs. Oliver was looking for her father, she’d need a psychic and an Ouija board, not a mafia boss. That woman was a hundred and seven when I had her. And Lore got her a few years later.”
“You’re deliberately avoiding the point I was making.”
“Because it was a shitty one. She could look like that deformed fucking dog Brio just adopted, and I’d still find this series of events intriguing.” I reached for his phone, plugging in the passcode, then shooting a text off to Zeno to find Caitlin’s address.
“Intrigued enough to make you consider leaving this hermitage? Doubt that.”
I wanted to keep insisting he was wrong. But I had noticed how gorgeous she was. And who was to say that didn’t factor in?
“You haven’t figured out anything since I last checked in, right?”
“Right. Zeno said no hits on his credit cards or anything like that. No sightings. Though I doubt anyone is actually looking. Not many people are going out to walk the woods for an older man like they do for kids.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re heading out of town, aren’t you?”
“Want some answers.”
“Let me guess. You’re going to take your captor with you?”
“I dunno. Haven’t decided.”
That was a lie. I’d absolutely decided.
“And you’re going to make me make your excuses for missing family dinner again.”
Shit.
I’d forgotten all about that.
“Don’t worry. I think everyone would be glad to know you are missing it because you’re actually out of your apartment and in the world.”
“I’ll go to the first dinner as soon as I’m back.”
“I’ll let them know. Need anything from me? Advice on how to get out of the city?” he teased, shooting me a smirk.
“Careful, or I’ll tie your ass to that chair and not tell anyone you’re there.”
Though, he wasn’t being unfair. I hadn’t been out of the city in ages. And the last time I’d left had been against my will.
“Do you have a license anymore?”
“Yeah, I have my license. Even have my CDL.” Which I’d gotten when I’d come up with the trucker scheme. I figured it might come in handy if I ever had an issue with a shipment and needed to drive it myself. “What?” I asked when Leo’s lips started to twitch.
“Dunno, man. I feel like a dad watching his kid go drive off to college,” he admitted, a grin spreading across his face, making that dimple of his cut down his cheek.
“Christ,” I grumbled.
“Not my fault you never go anywhere,” he said, getting up. “I’ll check on your apartment while you’re gone. But check in here and there so I know you’re not chained up in a hotel room somewhere.”
I shook my head at him.
“Can’t wait to hear about how you fell in love while searching for the girl’s missing dad,” he said, but quickly moved out the door before I could snap back at him.
With that, I got up, showered, changed, and packed a bag. Once I had an address from my brother, I called one of my associates to pick me up and bring me to Caitlin’s place.
She lived in a small walk-up over a dry cleaner with a busted lock that let me just walk right in.
I didn’t know what to expect of Caitlin’s apartment. She was a little bit all over the place, so I could have seen her going one of two ways: living in chaos, or dedicating her life to hardcore organization to try to manage her chaos.
As it turned out, it was a mix of the two.
She had some store-bought bookcases lining one wall.
She’d clearly attempted a rainbow organization method, but had given up halfway through.
There were piles of books—unread, I imagined—scattered all around.
And I liked knowing she was a reader a little more than I should have, since I wasn’t supposed to be interested in the woman.
Her dining room table was full of organization containers. All still in their original packaging. Like she’d lost the motivation to put them to use between getting the idea of them and bringing them home.
That reminded me a lot of my brother Zeno, who often lost the motivation between the idea and having to leave the apartment to put it into use.
She had a lot of shit: mismatched pillows on the couch, three separate blankets on her round reading chair that was big enough for three adults. There were cups full of bookmarks, two unopened book subscription boxes, and sweaters and hoodies on almost every surface.
The place was clean.
Just lived-in. A little messy. But cozy.
Somehow, that seemed fitting for someone who appeared to be a ball of anxiety a lot of the time.
The look of shock on Caitlin’s face at seeing me was pretty quickly replaced by fear as I followed her through her apartment as she tried to flee from me.
Any amusement I had at the circumstance died off. I’d never be a man who got his rocks off on a woman’s fear.
So I was quick with the cuffs and the explanation as I followed her into her bedroom.
It was more of the cozy craziness I found in the rest of her apartment.
There were about four too many blankets on the bed.
More pillows than I wanted to count. Her nightstand had several books, a book light, chargers, and an old cup of water.
There were four sweaters piled on her dresser and two mismatched shoes spilling out of her closet.