“I’m not letting her go,” I bite out, making sure he knows we’re going to have problems if he tries to take her from me.
“That’s fine.” His eyebrows raise. “But that’s not what I asked. What are you going to do, Kane? Where are you going to go?”
I try to relax some. I take a moment to think of an answer. I could go anywhere, and do anything. But I’m fucking good at being in the mob. I’m damn good at what I do. That, and Vince is right; there’s a huge fucking target on my back. Now I’ve taken out two families that were big names. It’s not good to be too well-known.
People tend to disappear when they reach a certain level of visibility. They’re a threat, they’re also a competitor. I don’t need every fucking guy out there thinking he can prove something by getting the best of me. And that’s a very real possibility at this point.
“I’m asking you what your plan is, because I need someone I can trust, and I'm not sure if that person is you.” The last line comes out hard. His anger is coming back in full force.
“What can I do for you?” For the first time in a long time, hope starts to creep up on me. If I can get into Vince’s good graces, things may turn out to be just fine. People don’t fuck with the Valettis. It’d be a dream come true to get in tight with them. Maybe I could become a made man if I can prove my loyalty to them. My blood spikes with doubt. Ava. I doubt Vince would make me a made man for constantly going rogue.
But I can fucking try.
“Tommy’s being watched. He’s out on bail.”
My eyes dart to Tommy in the corner of the room. I thought the stale air and tension in the room were solely because of me. I hadn’t picked up on the different emotions. Vince and Anthony are pissed. Dom looks anxious as fuck. But Tommy, he just looks defeated.
“What do they have on you?” I ask him.
“My prints at the scene, on one of the women’s shoes...” He pauses and looks at the ceiling before continuing. “And one of them said she recognized me.” Fuck. That’s so fucking bad. But they were all drugged up, so I can’t imagine it’s going to stick.
“So the women, and all of Petrov’s dead men.” His voice is flat.
“They’re pinning all that on you?” Holy fuck! Tommy is screwed.
“The evidence is minimal, which is why he’s out.” Vince cuts in. “Well that, and we have the judge in our pocket.” Even with a judge on their side, those charges aren’t going to be easy to beat.
“They want him to talk more than anything. Those fuckers will pin anything they can on us to fuck us over.” Vince is getting worked up again, so I stop him and get back to the conversation at hand.
“So what do you need, boss?” I ask him, leaning forward in my chair.
He gives me a small, crooked smile. “I’m gonna need for you to take over Tommy’s route in the meantime. I believe you would be a good fit.”
Pride fills my chest and I nod slowly, although I’m eager to take this opportunity.
“I’m happy to help however I can.”
“Good,” Vince says, smacking his hand on the desk.
“I won’t disappoint you guys,” I say, looking at each of them.
“I know you won’t.” Vince smirks. “That’s why I asked you.”
I smile back at him and get ready to take down all the information I’m gonna need from Tommy. But before I can open my mouth Vince adds, “You’re not off the hook just yet, though. We’re watching your girl.”
“Watching?”
“Just to make sure you’re the kind of man I think you are. We don’t tolerate certain things like other families do.”
“I’ve never smacked a woman around before, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
He looks at me for a minute before taking a deep breath and finally answering, “I just wanna make sure you’re the man I think you are.”
I give him a stern nod. I hear the clause in there that’s not said aloud. If I’m not that man, he’s going to have to take me out. I hear it loud and fucking clear. But I’m not worried. Ava and I are solid.
I’m not worried about a damn thing.
Ava
This is going to hurt, but not nearly as much as the pain I felt when they held me down and tattooed the barcode on.
“You ready, baby?” Kane asks, as he gently rubs my back. My ass is firmly planted on what looks like an exam bed from a doctor’s office. I take a deep breath and look down at the quote I picked out. It’s in a beautiful scroll with my sister’s initials added to the end made to look like a small heart and it reads forever in my heart. The way the artist drew it, it should cover the barcode so it’s not even noticeable.
At least I hope it won’t be.
I bite my lip and then nod. “I’m ready.” I let out a deep breath and hold out my wrist.
The tattoo artist, Aaron, is a big man made of lean muscle. Tattoos cover his entire neck and, from what I can see, both of his arms. I wouldn’t be surprised if his chest and back were covered, too. But there’s an air of professionalism about him. As he wipes down my wrist I can tell there are questions in his eyes, but he doesn’t ask.
I’m grateful for that. I just want to forget. I want to forget all of it.
As Aaron turns on the machine and it comes to life with a loud hum, Kane takes my other hand in his and squeezes.
“Talk to me.” The words tumble out of my mouth. I just want something to distract me so I can ignore the pain. The needle touches my skin and I wince, but stay still. “Please,” I add.
“Did you decide on one for your shoulder?” he asks. It chills me to the bone.
I don’t want one there, but he does. He thinks it would be good to cover it up. But it’s already fading. I don’t want to draw any more attention to it. I just shake my head. There’s no point in trying to cover every scar.
I have too many scars. They’ll never be gone.
He can sense I’m upset, and I know he doesn’t like it. I need to stop it. He leans down and kisses my temple.
I have to be his good girl. He needs me to be happy. I’m so far from happy, though.
“I’ll think of something,” I finally answer, and put a smile on my face.
“Whatever you decide, baby, I’m sure it’ll be beautiful.” He grabs my chin between his fingers and tilts my chin up to him. He plants a soft kiss on my lips and it soothes me.
He’s happy with me. I want him to be happy.
“You sure you don’t want a shower?” Kane asks, as I crawl into bed. There are a few boxes in the center of the bedroom. They’re mostly just packed with my clothes that Kane bought me. We’re leaving tomorrow to get a place he picked out downtown. It’s really homey, and I kinda love it. I know he was waiting for a reaction from me, and I’m happy I found one. I was worried I wouldn’t like any of the five places he was considering. But I instantly fell in love with the fourth one.
I shake my head no and yawn before I can get the word out. He chuckles as he climbs into bed with me. My eyelids feel so heavy.