Chapter 19
Dean
The whole point of the meeting at the shooting range was to test how I handled a gun in case I had to use one to protect Lily and myself — I still didn’t have an actual gun, but the idea of keeping one around Lily still didn’t sit right with me.
Instead, as I stood behind Crowley and Riccardo while they unloaded their guns on the target sheets, I found I was watching something more along the lines of a pissing contest. One that cut thirty minutes into the hour-long session Mark had booked.
I could’ve walked into one of the other target lanes and started practicing, but I wasn’t allowed to use any of the weapons until their eyes were on me.
If I had known it was going to be a waste of time, I would’ve stayed home after dropping Kira off at the apartment.
Kitted out with earmuffs and protective eyewear, I settled against the cold, gray wall behind me, crossing my arms as I watched their little showboating exercise.
When there was finally a gap between rounds, I cleared my throat.
Riccardo looked over his shoulder. That smirk he carried was getting on my nerves.
“Am I gonna use a gun today, or should I just watch you guys and take notes?”
Crowley shook his head in disappointment and raised his eyebrows in a way that caused his large forehead to wrinkle like an accordion. “Young people these days have no respect for their elders.”
“I’ll show you respect when you prove you’ve earned it. Am I usin’ a gun today or not?” I pulled off the earmuffs as I waited for their response.
Riccardo chuckled and motioned me over. “Yeah, alright. Come on.”
I pushed off the wall and came to stand in between them, bringing the earmuffs to my ears again. I stood taller than both, with Riccardo being the shortest. His short height didn’t seem to diminish his arrogant confidence.
Riccardo reloaded the standard-issue Glock 19 and handed it to me before going over a quick lesson on how to hold it and how to stand. But he stopped short when my hand shaped to the weapon without hesitation.
“Still don’t think this is a good idea,” Crowley muttered.
I hid my satisfaction at the slight unease in his voice and stepped up to the desk that separated us from the target sheet beyond.
“You scared, old man?” I looked at him side-on.
Crowley scowled and narrowed his eyes. “Not at all, smartass.”
As the target sheet was reloaded, Riccardo and Crowley took one step back.
When the target was in place, I squared my shoulders and raised the gun in both hands.
One cupped under the grip panel, the other with my finger on the trigger.
I squeezed it, and the shots came easy. Several of them sliced through the outline of the figure printed on the target sheet ahead, decorating the chest and shoulder region, while a few other shots clipped the edge of the paper and hit the back wall.
I put the gun on the desk and stepped back.
The detectives joined my side, their eyes on the dappled target.
“It’s okay. The kickback is a little hard for novices. It’s why that sheet looks like Swiss cheese right now,” Crowley jeered.
Riccardo huffed a laugh as he folded his arms. “Not gonna lie, I did think you were going to be better at this.”
Was I being dragged into their pissing contest? Yes. If I was going to do this, I might as well do it good.
I looked at them blankly for a moment, sighed, and picked up the gun again.
This time reloading the magazine with fast efficiency before I stood side-on and lifted the gun in my right hand at a ninety-degree angle.
I fired a string of rounds into the target sheet again.
This time, shredding a large hole right through the head.
The detectives were silent.
“Better?” I asked, putting the gun down.
Riccardo’s smirk had finally disappeared. “Who taught you?”
“Antonio.” In deserted parking lots when I was nineteen, I used abandoned cars for target practice. First the tires, and then the headlights, and then the blinker lights. The smaller the mark, the easier it is to hit something… Or someone.
I removed the earmuffs and safety glasses and added them to the desk too, before walking by the men.
“We aren’t done here,” Crowley said firmly.
I stopped and looked at the target sheet. “You sure?”
He stepped forward, ready for a confrontation he wouldn’t win. “If you knew you were a good shot, why didn’t you say something earlier? You’ve wasted our fucking time.”
“I wasted your time. Really?” I half smiled despite the frustration bubbling under my skin and shook my head as I took one step closer to him.
“I’m here because I don’t have a choice, regardless of whether I can shoot or not.
I’m on borrowed fuckin’ time and yet you spent half this session, booked for me, blowing up your sheet for leisure, but you think I’m wasting your time?
” My jaw ticked. “And you want respect? From me? How about you remove the self-entitled stick from your fat ass and then we can talk respect. In the meantime, shut the fuck up.”
The second the last words left my mouth, I backed off and headed for the door.
White gravel crunched beneath the soles of my boots as I made my way up the long driveway to Antonio’s Bay Ridge mansion.
I would’ve parked in the space outside the house, but the boss was hosting a social gathering tonight.
Luxury cars took up every inch of the parking zone in front of his house, and others lined the driveway.
Meanwhile, mine was several blocks down the street.
The sun was beginning to set as I strode up the porch steps to the large front door. The house was cast in an orange glow because of it.
Inside, I found guests mingling, drinking, chatting; all the usual shit I avoided.
They were dressed in clothes that probably cost more than what I earned in a month, and they knew it, casting side-long glances in my direction as I weaved my way through them wearing jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt that had several signs of wear and tear.
I kept my face neutral, paying them no mind as I headed into the large kitchen in the back and stepped through the windowed patio doors into the evening air again.
There were more people outside, doing more of the same as the ones inside, but I found at least one familiar face in the form of Vince.
He grinned as I approached, and then motioned for me to follow him further into the manicured garden.
We followed a short path to another outdoor seating area off the patio, where Antonio was talking with several acquaintances.
His wife, Julia, had her arm looped through his, smiling warmly as she seemed to lead the conversation happening amongst their little social group.
Antonio couldn’t keep his eyes off her. The expression on his face was one he only had for her.
I understood it; I knew the feeling. Like your heart might explode from holding them, or if the worst were to happen, you would burn the world for them; die for them because there would be nothing worse than living in a world where they didn’t exist.
Lily was my heart. My world. She was worth more than everything in this mansion.
Antonio’s devotion to his wife brought on the reminder that Julia would also be affected by whatever Mark and his team planned. And Antonio would hate that.
He knew the police were investigating him. It's why he had gone partially underground — partially because hosting a party this big wasn’t very subtle for someone laying low — but if he found out I was involved with that investigation…
Poker faces weren’t so hard for me. Working for Antonio helped with that. Guilt still gnawed at my insides as I greeted the mob boss and his wife.
Julia smiled. Ever a glamorous woman, as she maintained the appearance of a socialite. Which she was, but she also had a level head and treated everyone the same regardless of social status and money.
“It’s good to see you again, Dean.” She turned to Antonio. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”
Antonio lifted the back of her hand to his lips, kissed it, and then watched as Julia left to mingle with the guests. Once she was out of sight, the doting look in his eyes changed to one of consideration when it came to me.
“Follow me.” He leaned into his cane as he made a turn, aiming for the pool house to the right of the garden. The limp in his leg was a permanent reminder of his son’s retaliation.
Again, the guilt reared its ugly head as I followed him.
This was a guy who helped Mom and me through our toughest time, and I was stabbing him in the back in return.
When we reached the pool house, I pushed my hands into my pockets as Antonio closed the door behind us. It smelled of chlorine, and the space was illuminated by the subtle blue glow of the pool, reflecting bending swirls on the ceiling.
“Something is on your mind.” He folded his hands over the golden eagle head on the end of his cane and watched me closely.
My pause was brief, and Antonio didn’t seem to notice it as I shook my head, grinding my jaw slightly. “Everything is on my mind, boss…”
“Roxy said the meeting went well with them.”
“They didn’t suspect anything. We’re fighting tomorrow night.”
“Good, good…” He rubbed his chin, where gray and white stubble was coming through. “Now, about what you’re asking from me…”
Under Mark’s advice, I had contacted Vince earlier this week about getting a gun. I hoped maybe he could get me one so I didn’t have to have this meeting with Antonio, but here I was anyway.
“It’s for protection,” I elaborated, leaning my hip against the windowsill. “No offense, but I don’t trust your kids.”
“You’d be a fool to trust anyone in this line of work. Or any job.”
Something shifted in his eyes, and for a second, I wondered if he knew something. He already knew that Lily’s dad was investigating him, that his kids were out for revenge, and that his businesses and life could go under at any moment, but could he possibly know more than I thought he did?
“I have a hard time trusting most people anyway,” I said.
“Except for Lily.”
Something coiled in my gut as I maintained that unbothered demeanor.
“Except for Lily,” I repeated in agreement.
“How are things going there?”
“She hasn’t said anything to her father, if that’s what you mean.”
But I have.
He chuckled. “Good to know, but I was asking because last I heard, you had thrown away your relationship, and she was injured.”
Antonio wants to chat about my love life?
It threw me off slightly. I was so used to figuring out his angle to keep my guard up, but this topic left me feeling confused.
“We’re alright,” I said. “She’s healed okay too.”
“Good. I couldn’t imagine how it must’ve felt to see her like that.” He glanced through the windowpane.
I followed his gaze to his wife standing at the center of the party under the warm glow of the fairy lights strung up around the garden.
After a sigh, Antonio continued. “I don’t have any spares at the moment, but I’ll have Vince track one down for you.”
“Thanks, boss.” I stepped away from the window, but Antonio made no indication of leaving yet.
“What’s going on with Seb? My people can’t reach him… He hasn’t decided to fight for my children, has he? Because it would be such a shame to lose him.”
“No, you haven’t lost him...” I rubbed the back of my neck. “He, uh, broke his phone.”
Antonio lifted a brow, slightly amused. “That’s all?”
“Yep. The repairs are taking longer than he thought. Trust me when I say you aren’t the only one wonderin’ about his whereabouts.”
“Well. Next time you see him, tell him to get a new phone.” Antonio’s tone was less of a suggestion and more of an order with a gentle warning.
I pressed my lips together and nodded. “Will do, boss.”