Chapter 18
18
I opened my eyes and rolled away when I realized it was Raymond’s sweaty palm on my cheek. “Getting your beauty sleep? That’s good. I like my girl to be fresh.”
“I’m not your girl.” I scrambled backward on the bed.
His face darkened. “Hey, we made a deal. So you don’t question me.”
I twisted my fingers together. “But—but you’re so handsome, Raymond. You could have any girl you wanted, I bet.” The words made my skin crawl.
He nodded. “You’re right about that. I could. And that girl is you.” He slid off the bed and stood. “We got an important meeting today.”
“What meeting? With who?”
“With my father. So’s he can see what I’m doing.” He pouted. “I’m sick of being on the side all the time. I want my piece of the pie. Enzo’s been eatin’ my share all my life.”
“The greedy bastard,” I commiserated.
Raymond looked pleased. “Yeah.” He rocked back on his heels, opening his arms wide. “But now look—I’ll be way bigger than Enzo. I’m gettin’ the hijacked booze back, I arranged to get a percentage of Jack O’Mara’s rackets, and I got a hot little fancy, just like him.”
I wondered what he meant by that last bit, but I was too scared to ask. At this point, I’d agree to almost anything—as long as he didn’t try to touch me again.
“I can’t wait to see their faces when they realize,” he went on. “I just hope they permeciate all the work it took.”
“Appreciate.”
He grimaced. “You better...’preciate it too, doll. I coulda hurt both you and your pop a hunnerd times already. But no.” He hooked his thumbs in his braces. “I been a gentleman about it.”
I was tempted to shove him to the floor and make a run for it, but I didn’t think I could take him down—he wasn’t as tall as Enzo, but he was a lot bulkier.
He waved a hand at me. “Now go clean yourself up. I gotta go get your pop and work out the details of our arrangement. I’ll be back later.” He turned to leave but halted abruptly, lurching back around to reach for me. Before I could protest he grabbed me by the shoulders, pushed me backward on the bed, and smashed his face to mine. I could barely breathe against his smothering lips, and his chest was unbearably heavy. I did my best to squirm out from under him, twisting my face from side to side, but he had my arms pinned. Finally, he let go and backed off, and I wiped my mouth with my sleeve.
Raymond harrumphed. “You better get used to that. A man’s got a right to kiss his girl.” He adjusted the crotch of his pants.
I’m not your girl! I wanted to scream. But Daddy wasn’t safe yet, so I pressed my lips together.
“That’s better.” He smoothed the front of his shirt and exited, closing the door behind him.
I wiped my mouth again. My head still hurt, but my mind was much clearer now that I’d gotten a little rest. I slid off the bed and went to the window.
The day was overcast but it looked like late morning, maybe early afternoon. The window opened a little, but not enough for me to get through and it was too high to jump anyway; the concrete below looked terribly unforgiving. The window faced the alley behind the building, and I didn’t see anyone to shout to.
A telephone—maybe there was a telephone in here somewhere! I searched every inch of the room but came up with nothing. And who would you call anyway? The police? I bit my lip. There was only one person who could help at this point, and that was Enzo. How could I find him? Scream? Bang on the door?
The door. My eyes slid sideways to it. Raymond hadn’t been holding keys in his hands when he left. Slowly, a prayer on my lips, I went to the door, grasped the knob, and twisted.
Unlocked.
I gasped in happy surprise. Poking my head out, I saw no one, so I stepped into the hall and closed the door softly behind me. I slipped down the carpeted hall into the stairwell, where I paused to catch my breath and think for a moment. Where could Enzo be? I figured I had at least two hours while Raymond drove to that cabin and back, but still I moved quickly, my feet a blur as I descended three flights of stairs.
At the bottom, I paused for a moment. Hearing nothing, I pushed the door open and peeked out onto a narrow, low-ceilinged hallway with a beige-tiled floor and cinderblock walls. It didn’t look familiar. I tried to orient myself in the building but couldn’t, and my heart was beating so loud it was hard to think—or were those footsteps coming down the stairs behind me? With no time to deliberate, I chose to go left, scurrying down the passage and pushing open the heavy metal door at the end. I caught it before it could make noise slamming shut.
Turning around, I found myself in a large, dark space. As my vision adjusted, I realized where I was— the room behind the bar at Club 23.
This was familiar ground, at least. I ran through the swinging door and out from behind the bar. A moment later I heard the heavy metal door in the storage room slam.
Shit!
I dove to the floor and crawled under a table at one of the curved booths. Some lights came on, and someone began moving bottles behind the bar. If I can move quietly enough, the clanking will cover my steps. I removed my shoes—bare feet would be quietest. But where would I go? Any door I chose, I’d have to cross a stretch of open space where I’d be visible from the bar. After what seemed like an interminable length of time, I decided to go for it and hope the person’s back was turned. My legs were going numb underneath me.
I popped up, knocking the table with the top of my head. My hand flew to my crown and the bottle noise stopped.
“Hello?” a deep voice called. “Is somebody there?”
It was Enzo. I was sure of it.
Crawling out from under the table, I brought my feet underneath me. “Enzo!” I called, darting toward him on bare toes.
He whipped around and had his gun drawn so quickly I gasped and put my hands up.
“Tiny?” He dropped his arm and looked at me in shock. “Do you realize I could have shot you? Jesus.” He put his gun back inside his gray coat and came toward me. “What the hell are you doing in here? And what happened to you?” He put his hand on my chin and tilted my head, examining the bruise on my temple. I pushed his arm away.
“I’m here because your brother had me kidnapped.”
“What?” Enzo’s forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“I got a note written by my father telling me to bring the ransom money to the boathouse at midnight last night or he was dead. When I got there, Harry jumped me, clocked me on the head, and took the money. Then he tossed me in a boat and we went downriver, but we ended up at some cabin in the woods, where—by the way—he has my father stashed too.”
“Raymond has your father? Impossible. ”
“Are you listening to me?” I stuck my hands on my hips. “He was just planning on stealing the money and buying some dope to sell. But then he shot and killed Harry for calling him stupid one too many times and decided to rethink his plan.”
Enzo looked away, dumbfounded. “Why would Raymond do all this?”
I threw my hands in the air. “Because he wants to prove himself to your father! He’s jealous of you and wants what you have. I lied and told him I knew how he could get the stolen rum shipment back so he would agree to let my father go. He said yes to the deal once Daddy threw in a percentage of his business and I said he could have me too.”
“You said what?” Enzo looked at me in shock.
Heat rushed my face. “I said whatever I had to! Oh—and he’s the one that stole the necklace and sent it to me.”
Enzo touched his forehead between his brows and closed his eyes. “Jesus Christ. Where is he now?”
“He’s driving back to the cabin to pick up my father, I think. He took off after pawing at me a little while ago.”
“He pawed you?” He picked up his head, anger darkening his face.
“Yes. In the room upstairs where he stashed me early this morning.” I shivered.
Enzo put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye, his handsome jaw set. “I won’t let him hurt you. I promise. Now?—”
“You take your fucking hands off my girl!” shouted Raymond, coming out from behind the bar and pointing a sawed-off shotgun at us.
Enzo shielded me with his body. “Put that down! Have you lost your goddamn mind?”
Raymond fired into a chandelier and I screamed. Crystal and glass fragments rained down from above, clattering onto the tables and floor.
Enzo’s hand reached into his coat, but Raymond quickly trained the gun on him. “Not gonna happen that way, brother. I’m done letting you take everything. That girl and her pop’s operation are mine now. And I’m getting the rum shipment back. So you can just stick to your own rackets and your own girl for once.” He moved toward us and grabbed my arm, pulling me from behind Enzo and then shielding his own body with mine as he backed up. “Call Pop. Get him down here.”
“Let her go first.”
“Do it!” screamed Raymond.
“Raymond, calm down,” said Enzo quietly. “Don’t be stupid.”
I cringed at the word.
“I’m not stupid!” Raymond gripped my arm even harder. “And I’m sick of everyone treating me like I am. If you call me names again, I’ll kill you right here.”
“No!” I met Enzo’s eyes and silently begged him to play Raymond’s game.
Enzo looked at us a moment longer and went behind the bar to make the call. Raymond’s breath was hot on my neck. “This ain’t the way I wanted it, doll. You shouldn’ta run off.”
“I’m sorry,” I whimpered. “I was just scared. Please don’t shoot anyone.”
In a moment, Enzo appeared again. “He’s on his way down. Now let her go, Raymond. You made your point.” He put one hand in the air and with the other, reached into his coat and removed his gun, which he laid on the bar.
“Fine.” Raymond released me and I could breathe again. “You sit there,” he ordered, pushing me onto a nearby chair. Enzo met my eyes and nodded slightly, as if to reassure me, but my bones were rattling in my skin. After a minute, the door behind the bar opened again, and Angel strode through, followed by two guards. He looked furious.
“ Raimondo, che diavolo hai combinato ? Enzo says you removed Jack O’Mara and abducted his daughter? ”
Raymond’s chin jutted as he gestured at me with the gun. “She was in cahoots with Scarfone. I’m using her to get the booze back.”
“That’s funny, since you’re the one who told him about it in the first place,” Enzo snapped.
“I did not! You don’t know nothin’ about it!” Raymond jabbed me in the shoulder. “She knows where it is. She’s gonna help me get it back. And I made a deal with her pop for a percent of his operation.”
Angel’s anger simmered beneath the surface, his face ruddy but his tone calm. “Raymond, you acted without thinking and without talking to me. What have I told you about that?”
“I figured you’d be glad I was taking matters into my own hands.”
“Do I look glad?”
Raymond, looking less sure of himself, shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “No. But I can get the shipment back. She said?—”
“Of course she did.” Angel glanced at me. “I’m sure she said any number of things to convince you to let her go.”
“But I didn’t let her go.” Raymond perked up. “I still got her pop too. And the ransom money.”
“Congratulations,” spat Enzo. “You did one fucking thing right.”
“That’s enough from you,” Angel said, holding his palm up to Enzo and then glaring at him. “You made mistakes too.” He turned back to Raymond. “You said you made a deal for a percentage of Jack O’Mara’s operation?”
“Yeah.” Raymond rocked forward on his toes and jabbed my shoulder again. “She said fifty percent. Half.” He nodded at me, as if I was supposed to back him up.
“Is this true, Miss O’Mara?” Angel asked.
My throat was so dry I could barely speak. “I— I’m sure my father will make a deal with you once he’s released.”
“That ain’t what you said before!” Raymond exploded. “She said we’d be partners! And her pop wouldn’t cross me because she’s gonna be my fancy! ”
“You’re out of your fuckin’ mind,” seethed Enzo.
“You shut up!” Raymond marched over to his brother, and it stunned me how alike they looked in their fury, face to face that way. “And you stay away from her! You got your own fancy. Now I’m getting everything I want!”
I couldn’t stand it anymore. “What’s a fancy?”
“He means fiancée.” Enzo stared Raymond down, fists balled.
“I know what I mean!” Raymond yelled. But his voice came at me through a tunnel as his words registered. Enzo has a fiancée? The whole time I’d known him, he’d been engaged to that squeaky little girl? The club spun around me.
When I focused again, Angel was speaking. “Where is he, Raymond?”
“The cabin outside Pontiac. The one with the still out back.”
Enzo looked at me then, and I injected my stare with pure venom. He shook his head, as if to say I didn’t understand. But I understood. He was a bastard, just like the rest of them, only better looking. I set my face in stone and looked away. I wasn’t sure why it shocked me so much, but it did.
Angel motioned to his guards. “Bring Jack O’Mara back to the city. I have a prior engagement tonight, but I’ll speak with him tomorrow.” He turned to Raymond. “He’d better still be there. And the money too.”
Raymond colored again. “It’s there.”
“Good. Until we’re sure, we’ll just keep his daughter safe and sound here. Someone take her to a nice room and let her relax. See that she has everything she needs to be comfortable.” He came toward me and I shrank back.
“No need to be frightened, cara . We’re going to work together now.” He leaned over and kissed each cheek. His lips were cold.
I refused to look at Enzo as he followed his father out of the club. After I retrieved my shoes, a guard led me to a room much like the one I’d been in before— still no phone and no way to get out the window. I sat on the bed, my head pounding. After a short time, a maid brought a tray of roasted chicken and vegetables. She set it on the dresser and left without speaking, and I stared at the food for a few minutes. It looked and smelled so delicious, it wore down my determination not to accept any favors from the DiFiores. I ate every bite. And licked the plate.
A few minutes later, the maid brought a stack of white towels and some soap, a toothbrush, and a tube of Colgate. I looked at the maid in disbelief, a timid woman probably in her forties, wearing a black uniform with a white apron. “So what am I, then, guest or prisoner?”
“Miss,” she said, leaving the room without ever meeting my eyes.
I sighed. The truth was probably somewhere in between.
After I cleaned up, I put on my chemise but left the dirty blue dress on the chair. Once I got home, I planned on burning it. Crawling into the bed, I got under the covers and looked out the window. My mind was reeling as I tried to digest the horrors I’d experienced.
I’d been kidnapped at gunpoint. Robbed. I’d seen a man shot to death. I’d made a deal with Raymond to free Daddy and been taken hostage myself. I’d learned that Enzo has a fiancée.
Somehow, it was that final thought that tore the first sob from my chest.
Why? I thought angrily, tears leaking from my eyes. Why the hell should it matter? It wasn’t as if I’d thought I would marry him. We never should have fooled around in the first place. Had he owed me the whole truth? Admittedly, part of our spark was how forbidden it was. And I’d already known about Gina, although I’d assumed she was only his girlfriend. So what was I so mad about?
Wiping my eyes, I flopped onto my side and curled into a ball, considering a new wrinkle. Did I have feelings for him I hadn’t admitted to myself, or even recognized? But that was ridiculous! An intense physical attraction like ours didn’t mean anything. He told me himself I drove him crazy. We don’t even really like each other, for God’s sake. Maybe Gina’s the one to feel sorry for, a future with a man like that.
But I couldn’t bring myself to pity her.
A while later—a glance out my window showed a black sky—I heard a soft knock. It wasn’t Raymond’s hamfisted pounding, so I went to the door. “Yes?”
“It’s me.” The voice was Enzo’s. “Can I come in?”
My legs went rubbery. Half of me was furious with him; the other half knew I shared the blame. So he’d hidden some truth—I had too. “I suppose.” I opened the door, and saw the flicker of desire in his eyes as he took in my bare shoulders and legs.
“How are you?” he asked quietly, hands in his pockets. His hair was slightly tousled and his collar was loose, making him look much like he had leaving my bedroom last night. All that plus the soft, warm expression on his face was enough to make my breath come quicker. Don’t look at me that way, you son of a bitch.
“OK.” I stepped back, allowing him to enter, and closed the door.
“Have you eaten?” He crossed to the windowsill and leaned against it. “I asked them to bring you dinner.”
“I ate.” Perching stiffly at the edge of the bed, I stared at the floor. “Has my father been released?”
“Yes. I saw to it myself.”
I looked sharply at him. “Then why am I still?—”
“My father wants to keep you here until the terms of the deal are decided, which will be sometime tomorrow. I assured Jack you would be under my protection tonight. ”
“How convenient,” I snapped. We stared at each other as the tension ratcheted up another notch.
“Tiny, about what Raymond said. I?—”
“I don’t want to talk about anything he said. None of it matters.”
He nodded. “Fair enough.”
A hot laugh escaped me. “Fair. What’s fair?” I glared at him. “It isn’t fair that my mother died giving birth ten years ago. Or that my little sisters are growing up with me for a mother. It isn’t fair that my brother-in-law was shot twenty-one times protecting some fat boss who probably didn’t give a shit about him. It isn’t fair that my nephews will grow up without a father.” I stood up, the heat of indignation rushing through my veins. “It isn’t fair that I used up all my tuition money to pay the ransom your father demanded. And it isn’t fair that I’m trapped here—in this room, in this city, in this life.” I turned away from him, my arms tight across my chest. “And it definitely isn’t fair that I still want you. So stop looking at me that way.”
Silence. “I can’t. I wish I could.”
I heard his footsteps on the wood floor. When he put his hands on my shoulders, it sent gooseflesh down my arms. I sighed. “Go away, Enzo.”
He slipped aside one strap of my chemise and rubbed his lips on my skin.
I stepped out of his reach and met his eyes. “You could have told me you were engaged to be married.”
“Why? Would it have made a difference?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t have...done those things with you.”
“I’m not getting married any time soon, Tiny. It was more of a business deal than anything else. I told you, Gina’s father owns a distillery, and I want to?—”
“Please.” I held up one hand. “You’re making it worse.”
He was quiet a moment. “You know, you still owe me some information.”
I narrowed my eyes. “We need to renegotiate our terms. The situation has changed. ”
“Oh?”
“Yes. If my father still has to give up a percentage of his business to you, and I’m going to put myself at risk so you can get your revenge on Scarfone, I want a piece of the action. Enough to pay my tuition this fall.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You do a good job for me, I’ll see that you have what you need. More even.”
“And you’ll keep your brother away from me.” I shuddered.
Enzo set his mouth in a line. “He won’t bother you.”
“Good. Then we have a deal.” I held out my hand, and he looked at it.
“That’s how you want to seal it?”
“Of course it isn’t. But you have a fancy, remember?”
He smiled ruefully but took my hand and squeezed it. “If you change your mind, I’m going to stay in the room next door tonight.” He let himself out and I locked the door a moment later, my heart tripping faster. He shouldn’t have told me he was staying next door.
I wished there was a way to lock myself in.