“No needles this time. Just a urine sample if I feel it’s necessary,” the Doc said.
“Okay.”
“I’ve got my meeting to get to,” he said. “You’re going to be okay here? He’s a good guy.”
“I’ll be fine. I promise.”
“Good.” He kissed her head. “I’ll be back.”
He left his woman alone with one last warning look at Doc before going to his own home.
“I find this utterly disrespectful. What kind of person do you think I am?” the underboss said as Rix arrived. “I should have your club completely annihilated.”
“And then you wouldn’t have to deal with the capo responsible for me going to prison. How is your distribution of product going?” Rix asked.
He reached up, holding on to the edge of the door frame as he looked at the underboss. This man had a name but Rix always felt it put the little mafia crew on edge when he didn’t actually use it. It was a lot of fun to see such reserved, controlled men go a little crazy. It was what he liked to do, all the time. He liked to have a lot of fun, especially at the expense of another.
Tilting his head to the side, he waited, watching.
“Now you encouraged this meeting,” Rix said. “You came to me locked up, asking me to follow your lead. I did. I’ve done everything you’ve asked even as I wanted to kill that fucking capo son of a bitch. I want to see his blood on my hands and watch him gasp for breath, and yet, I have him visiting me here.”
He pulled the card from his pocket that Anna-Beth had given him, throwing it across the room. It flicked into the underboss’s face. “So forgive me if I’m not exactly in a good mood. Now you tell me, when will I get my revenge? I know you want to overthrow that asshole and put your own son at the head table. I’m more than happy for you to do that, but if you keep insulting me and my club, then you’re not going to make it out of here.”
“You threaten me when I know you’ve got no grounds.”
“You think I’m worried about your little boys coming after me? You don’t know who you’re dealing with. I’ve got no problem starting a war with your kind. I live for that shit. Me and my boys, we’d run the streets red, all for some fun. Are you ready for the same kind of war?”
He knew the mafia was dealing with internal wars between cities, and at times, between countries. Families all fighting for the same turf, the reputation. Rix and his club would be adding to the mix.
The underboss looked at him, and Rix didn’t need to gloat. He had him pushed into a corner.
“The capo will be paying a visit one night to our exclusive brothel. It has already been voted and the boss has handed out the final warning. The capo will be executed.” The underboss pulled out a single card. “This is your amnesty. You can be there and make the killing blow, but only you. Your men cannot be part of this. Once the capo is dead, you will leave and we will call this even.”
He took the card.
“This is bullshit. There’s no way I’m letting you do this, Rix. It’s a trap,” Night said.
“It’s not. They know I’m serious, and if anything were to happen to me, it would come back on them, ten times worse.” He looked the underboss right in the eye. “They wouldn’t cross me now, not when they have so much more to lose. Would you?”
“I think it’s time we call this a day. I have to get back. You will be safe with us, Rix, so long as our agreement is in place.”
“There is one more thing, my time here, I want it ended. My rightful place is at my club.”
“Then I will see to it,” the underboss said. “Good day, gentlemen.”
****
A couple of days later
Rix stared out across the field, watching Elizabeth’s dogs. They really were a bunch of crazy animals. He adored them.
The doctor had called him with the news and he didn’t know how to tell it to Anna-Beth. She was pregnant.
Tomorrow, he would go deal with the capo, and his conditioned parole had been removed as well. The cop he’d been dealing with had called him in that morning. Everything was coming together like clockwork. He didn’t have a reason to be upset, miserable, or in any way gutted.
Yet, he was.
His time was running out with Anna-Beth. She was going to have his baby, and he was going back to his clubhouse. He didn’t want to lose her.
The sound of thunder rolling in had him whistling for the dogs to come back to him, which they did, with their tongues hanging out of their faces.
“You guys are just too cute for your own good.” He laughed. Hooking them back up to the leads, he walked them all the way back to Elizabeth’s. It started to rain on their return, and she was already waiting with a towel.
“I just knew we were going to have some fun weather.” The thunder hit hard, striking with lightning as well.
“It certainly is.” Together, they cleaned the dogs, drying them off.
It was pouring down with rain.
“Let me make you a coffee before you head back. It’s the least I could do.” She patted his arm.
“I’m not going to turn down any coffee. You know how I like it, sweetheart.” He grabbed a fresh towel, rubbing at his hair as he walked back through Elizabeth’s house. It was a nice place. Clean, tidy. There was a lifetime of memories here all in one place. Reminded him a little of the clubhouse.
The dogs attacked their food and he chuckled. He was thinking of getting a couple of dogs himself.
“Do you want to tell me what is bothering you, or would you like me to guess?”
“You’re too all-knowing for your own good.”
“That I am. I know. I know a lot of things.” She sighed. “I’ve spoken to Anna-Beth. You two talked about the cursed houses thing.”
“We don’t believe in it.”
“I know. Nearly every single couple doesn’t believe in it, Rix, but I tell you, it exists.”
“I’m leaving,” he said.
This made Elizabeth pause. “Excuse me?”
“Next week, I won’t be around. I’m heading back home. I’ve done what I’ve come to do and now it’s time for me to move on.”
“Wow,” she said. “Does Anna-Beth know?”
“No, I haven’t told her.” There were a few things he hadn’t told her.
“Well, if you don’t believe in the houses and everything it entails, why do you look like you’re sucking on lemons, boy?” Elizabeth smiled. “You have feelings for her.”
Rix tapped his fingers on the counter. With his other hand, he nursed his drink. “You know I’m not a good man, right?”
“I have my suspicions and I do watch television. I have some inkling of what you’re like when you’re at your other place.”
He chuckled. “I don’t think she will ever go with me,” he said.
“You don’t believe in the cursed houses bringing people together, but you don’t want to live without her?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Rix, you’re a clever man, but right now, you’re starting to sound a little stupid.”
“I get it.”
“Do you, really? It doesn’t sound like it to me.”