Chapter 37
Dean
In the two days since Roxy’s death, I went to work at the garage on autopilot and took Mom to all her necessary appointments.
A physio visit being one to keep her leg muscles moving.
She would never walk again, but it prevented muscle atrophy and got her out of the house. Not that her social life was lacking.
When I showed up to drive her to the appointment, she had questions about the cuts on my body. She wanted the truth, all of it, so I gave it to her.
She didn’t know Roxy — or about the relationship I once had with her — but Mom mourned her anyway as if she were family.
I didn’t inherit that big heart of hers that was capable of loving so many, including people she had never met.
Mom was too good for this world.
Which was why I was sitting on a dining chair in her dark living room, angled beside the front window so I had a perfect view of the street.
I had double-checked every lock in the house after helping her into bed.
Most nights she did that herself, but the recent physiotherapy had left her sore and tired.
She told me earlier she would be fine alone, but I needed to settle my nerves, and providing her protection gave me some kind of control over a larger, spiraling situation.
I knew Lily was safe at her parents’ house. This was the least I could do.
On the small side table to my right was the gun from Antonio — the gun I had tucked into the pocket behind the front seat of my car when the cops, paramedics, and Brooklyn fire brigade pulled up after Roxy’s car exploded.
That was after I managed to drag myself to my feet, crawling through broken glass while my head spun and throbbed.
I was taken to the hospital to be checked over. In hindsight, I knew I should’ve called Lily while I was there, but at the time I couldn’t think straight — being thrown six feet from the road will do that to a person.
Vince had shown up, getting in before the police could get my statement. He was there not out of moral obligation, but to check if one of Antonio’s assets was still alive after the explosion happened so close to the meeting.
A few minutes after he left, and while I was struggling to remove my hospital bracelet to get out of the stark white nightmare of an emergency room, two cops showed up.
Notebooks in hand and ready for my statement.
Before they could say anything, Mark rounded the corner, flashing his badge and saying he would get my statement instead.
It was a save I never thought I would be grateful for.
He told me his team heard the explosion over the mic, which had somehow remained taped to my chest when I was thrown back, but then the signal dropped out.
Mark didn’t get my statement. Instead, he insisted I rest before going anywhere.
I couldn’t remember falling asleep at the hospital, but when I woke up, I checked out as soon as I could.
After discovering the police, aka Mark, had organized to have the Cadillac moved — not for investigation, but to be hidden — I had no choice but to go to Mark’s office.
I spent the morning going over everything with him, right up to the moment Lily showed up.
She looked so radiant that afternoon, with the light of the floor-to-ceiling office windows behind her casting a hazy glow around her figure. I almost forgot I was injured.
My phone buzzed on the table beside the gun, pulling me from my thoughts as a call from Lily came through.
I answered mid-ring. “Hey.”
She sniffled quietly. “Hi…”
The chair creaked as I slowly straightened in it. “You okay?”
“Not really.” She inhaled a shaky breath.
“I, um— Things here aren’t going great. Mom was sort of badgering me over dinner, and I lost it.
” Her voice broke with emotion. “I blurted out what James Henderson had been doing to me. I know I wanted to tell them eventually, but not like that—my hands won’t stop shaking,” she mused nervously.
“I just needed to hear your voice to feel sane again…”
Physically, Lily was safe with her parents. Mentally, not so much.
Logic was telling me to tell her it wouldn’t be forever, but my emotions were pulling me in the other direction. I needed her with me, in my arms, and as far away from her mother as possible.
I turned in my seat, glancing at the house I knew was secured at every door and window. No one was getting in, but the off chance of being followed back here… My mind was split between two opinions. But one was pulling me towards it faster than the other.
“I’m comin’ to get you,” I said, rising from my seat as I peeked through the curtain one last time.
“What about the plan to lay low?” she asked, sniffling again.
“Fuck the plan.” I held the phone between my cheek and shoulder as I picked up the gun and tucked it into the back of my jeans. “I should’ve listened to you. I shouldn’t have left you there alone.”
She let out a soft sigh in relief. It shuddered with the emotion that lingered in her voice. “Thank you.”
We ended the call, and I shoved my phone into my pocket, already thinking of several things to say to Kate in the off chance she wanted to confront me when I did show up. I had to remember to keep those words PG.
After collecting my keys from the kitchen’s servery window, I headed for the front door. Only to stop in my tracks when I spotted the familiar black Mercedes parked out on the street.
Fuck.
Vince’s shaved head rose from behind the car’s roof as he stepped out onto the street, casually glancing left and right as he rounded the headlights and made his way up to my house.
Clenching my jaw, I pulled the door shut and locked it.
“Evening, Dean.” He stopped at the bottom of the porch steps.
I slowly turned, irritated by the delay in getting to Lily. “What do you want?”
“The boss wants you on a job tonight.”
“No text?”
“It’s a two birds, one stone kind of evening. Bring the gun.”
“If I say no?”
“You got somewhere to be?”
“Did you not see me lock the door?” I gestured back to the house for emphasis. “Yeah, I’ve got somewhere I need to be.”
Vince huffed a laugh, tongue in cheek. “Tell your girlfriend she might have to wait.”
I didn’t bother asking how he figured I was talking about a girlfriend, so I didn’t bother denying it. Instead, I watched as Vince began walking back to the car.
“I don’t feel good about leavin’ Mom alone right now.” I still hadn’t moved from the doormat.
Vince stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “This isn’t up for debate. Boss wants you to go, so get in the car.”
A frustrated exhale blew out of my mouth. “Can I call my girlfriend to let her know?”
“Fine. But be quick.” With that, he turned and walked back to the car, pulling out a cigarette as he went.
I could have one of those. Fuck that, I need one of those.
I brushed off the idea of asking Vince for one and pulled out my phone again.
The other end rang twice before Lily’s hesitant response met my ear. “Hi?”
I rubbed the back of my head, walking slowly to the car while I thought of a way to let her down easy. Which was a bullshit theory anyway. No one was ever let down easy. No matter how gently they were told, they always felt like shit afterwards.
“Somethin’s come up,” I started.
“You aren’t coming?”
“I am… Antonio wants me to do somethin’ for him first. Vince is here. I don’t have much of a choice...” I slowed my steps at the curb by the car, catching a glimpse of my reflection in the tinted window.
The guy looking back at me needed sleep.
I turned my back to him. “I don’t know how long I’ll be, but I promise I will come get you.”
I was talking into the phone like there was a chance I might slip into the speaker and appear in her room.
Her voice was an emotional whisper. “Okay.”
“I love you.” My words were met with silence. I checked that the call was connected. And ignored when Vince impatiently tapped on the window from inside the car.
A faint and slow inhale came from the other end of the call. There was a shake in her voice again. She was frustrated because she was stuck; frustrated because of my situation; and maybe frustrated that she was getting upset at all.
It’s how I felt anyway.
“I love you too,” she whispered.
I waited for her to hang up first, and then cursed under my breath as I pocketed the phone.
Could one fucking thing go our way?
I turned to the Mercedes, scanning the street as a precaution while I got into the front seat. I was leaving Mom home without company — other than a pint-sized dog that couldn’t do much against an intruder, except maybe piss on their boot and chew a shoelace.
It wasn’t until I settled into the seat that I noticed Vince and I weren't the only ones in the car.
With a soft clearing of his throat, Antonio made himself known in the backseat.
“Boss,” I said with a casual tip of my head.
How much of that conversation, and my reluctance to go on this job, had he overheard?
“Sorry for the inconvenience, Dean.” It was a genuine apology. For some reason, that felt weirder than when he was planning something with an ulterior motive. “I could have someone send Lily some flowers with an apology. Maybe chocolates?”
“Uh, no, boss. It’s fine.” I pressed my lips together in an appreciative smile and faced the front. I didn’t think Mark would like flowers showing up, addressed to his daughter, from the very man he was investigating.
“Okay, then.” Antonio tapped his cane on the floor of the car — a subtle indication for Vince to start driving. “We’re in for an interesting night.”
The peristyle was a silhouette of pillars against the few yellow lights that illuminated Prospect Park at night.
As we approached it, with several of Antonio’s other guys flanking us, movement behind the silhouetted pillars made me slow.
Not enough to fall behind, but enough for Vince to mutter, “Keep up.”