Chapter 12
Joey
S al’s recliner is the most comfortable chair in the world. I would bet money on it.
“I still can’t believe those assholes played us,” Frankie grumbles from his spot on the couch. Sal rolls his eyes. We haven’t gone ten minutes without someone bringing it up since the shipment-turned-attempted-ambush went down last night. We’re all frustrated. That should’ve been a major turning point for us, and it almost got us all killed instead.
“I can’t believe how possessive Enzo is over Elise,” I say, attempting to change the subject. “Has he ever kept a woman around longer than a few days?”
“Not as far as I can remember,” Frankie responds. He and Enzo have known each other since they were kids, so he would know.
“What do you think the deal is with that?” Sal asks.
“Beats the hell outta me. How do you see it ending?” I can’t picture a happy ending of any kind.
“Not well,” Frankie says, echoing my unspoken thoughts. “It doesn’t seem like a mutually beneficial relationship. My guess is she’ll either try to escape and die trying, or he’ll decide she’s seen too much and kill her. Either way…”
This isn’t the positive conversation starter I was going for. Now we’re all picturing a slaughtered Elise instead of a pile of slaughtered soldiers.
“It’s bullshit that he’s keeping her to himself.” There. I said it. What’s really bothering me about that situation.
“Have you still not fucked anyone else?” Sal looks astonished at the idea that I could go several weeks without sex. I don’t know whether to be annoyed or proud.
“No one else has caught my eye. All the girls at the club are the same,” I whine.
“Except her,” Frankie admits.
“But she’s not at the club anymore,” Sal points out.
“And we’re not allowed to touch her anymore.” I can hear myself pouting like a little girl, but I can’t stop it. “Have you guys fucked other girls?”
“I haven’t,” Frankie says while Sal shakes his head.
“At least you have each other.”
They both smirk at me, as if they’re so much better than me because they have someone to suck their dicks. And fuck me if I’m not jealous.
“He’s being selfish, keeping her to himself. Sharing is caring. Didn’t he learn that as a kid?”
“You think his father taught him to share?” Frankie’s voice is dripping with sarcasm. We all knew Enzo’s dad. Lorenzo Lombardi. We worked for him. He was an asshole, and the world is a better place without him. Enzo is named after him but goes by Enzo as a way to distance himself. Not that everyone doesn’t already know they’re related.
“Of course not. But we’ve been sharing for years. How can he resist at least trying it out?”
“He’s probably afraid he’d like it. Maybe he thinks it makes him look weaker.”
I look at Sal thoughtfully. “Do you really think that’s it? It sure doesn’t make me feel weaker.”
Sal shrugs. “It was just an idea. It could be anything, really.”
“I wonder if there’s a way to convince him to try it. I could really use a second round with that dark-haired beauty he’s holding hostage.”
“We’ve talked about it too,” Frankie admits. “Aside from Sal, she’s the only person I’m interested in fucking right now.”
“Oh god, just thinking about it is taking me back to the night of her audition. Remember how perfect her ass was?” I groan in appreciation. “I still can’t believe you didn’t let me fuck that perfect little hole. I bet it’s heavenly. So tight. And those cheeks.” My hands squeeze the air involuntarily. “What I wouldn’t do to sink my teeth into her flesh. Spank her until her skin is nice and pink. Sink a finger into her slowly. Then another one. And then—”
“We get it.” Sal laughs. “You want to fuck her in the ass. Damn, abstinence is not a good look on you. You need to get laid.”
“Don’t you?” I know we’re all in the same boat here.
“Of course I do. And I don’t care where I fuck her. But I definitely want to.”
Frankie sighs in exasperation. “Why don’t we just talk to Enzo about it? What’s he going to do, kill us? We’re his best soldiers, not to mention his best friends.”
“He might kill us,” I point out. “He seems pretty serious about keeping her to himself.”
“He won’t kill us,” Frankie scoffs. “He might shoot us in the arm or something, but he won’t kill us.”
“He’s emotional. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Sal laughs. “He might kill you if he hears you call him ‘emotional.’”
“Good point. Don’t tell him I said that.”
“I wouldn’t do that to you. If he kills you, I’ll probably have to do your work in addition to mine.”
“Pinky swear.” I hold out my pinky, a solemn expression on my face.
Sal shoves my hand away with a laugh. “What are we, eight-year-old girls? Get it together, man. We’ll get you laid, one way or another.”
“Are you missing the whole problem here? I don’t want another way. I could’ve gotten laid a million times since Elise’s audition. My dick’s not interested.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Frankie says from on top of his high horse.
“I’m not begging. Yet. But let’s talk to Enzo. I’m afraid my dick’s going to fall off soon.”
They both laugh at me, but fuck them. I know they’re just as desperate for her as I am. They have each other to take the edge off, but nothing compares to Elise.
“Frankie, you need to come up with a logical reason for why he should share her with us. Make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
“Why me?”
I roll my eyes. He’s supposed to be the smart one. “Because he listens to you. He respects your opinion.”
Sal jumps in and says, “What if we’re thinking about it wrong? Maybe we need to make sharing her sound fun. Put the idea in his mind in a way that makes it irresistible.”
“Enzo doesn’t have fun,” Frankie points out. “And that’s saying something, coming from me.”
“How about we just wait until an opportunity comes up naturally? Or try to catch him in a generous mood? We don’t want to force it.”
A skeptical look from Sal stops me in my tracks.
“What?”
“A generous mood? When it comes to Elise? He’s more possessive of her than Gollum is of that stupid ring.”
Frankie glares at Sal. “You know that ring is not stupid.”
Oh no, not this again. “My point,” I interrupt, saving us all from a repeat of their dumbest argument, “is that we need to work it into a conversation organically. Enzo will see right through us if we come at him with an ambush.”
“Joey’s right. We’ll just have to wait for our opportunity. It’ll come up sooner or later. It’s not like he’s hiding her.”
Sal and I nod, then he gets up to replace all of our beers. When Sal comes back, he and Frankie go back to their ridiculous debate, and I drift off into daydreams of Elise’s ass. I’m positive that I’ll die if I don’t get a taste of it soon.