Endings & Beginnings (New Mafia Trilogy #3) (24 page)

I’d barely processed Dom’s sharp inhale before he
pulled me against him and his lips were on mine. Initially my body responded,
but my brain was jumbled. I’d like to say it was the typical electrifying,
steamy, panty melting kiss, sadly it wasn’t. I had cottonmouth from the few
hits off of the bowl and when Dom’s tongue slipped past my lips, it tasted of
ash, which reminded me of when Mr. Genovese attacked me, forced his nicotine
marinated tongue into my mouth. I tried to remind myself that this was Dom, not
that foul man who tried to beat me into submission, but my mind had already
gone down the rabbit hole causing my lungs to seize up. My pulse pounded in my
head as my stomach rolled. Dizziness hovered on the edge of something more
severe and I pushed at Dom although it felt like my arms weren’t connected to
my body.

He pulled away and I barely registered him calling
my name. I could hear his voice, but it sounded like he called from a distance.
“Breathe, baby, breathe!”

Sunlight streamed through vertical blinds, aimed
right at my face. I groaned and went to flip over, away from the light, but
something held me in place. My eyes flew open and were immediately assaulted by
the bright sun. Squinting, I took in my surroundings, which became increasingly
more familiar as I woke up. I hadn’t been in this bedroom in months and the
soft snores coming from behind me were just as familiar. I didn’t remember
coming to bed with Dom and when I attempted to sit up, his arm that was draped
across my waist, tightened its hold.

I lifted the blanket, to find I was clothed and
wearing the same outfit as the night before. I breathed a sigh of relief and
relaxed into the mattress, snuggling against Dom who was spooning me from
behind.

Since I didn’t remember going to bed, I must have
passed out and Dom carried me to the bedroom. The clock said it was after nine
and I needed to go check on Grant and drive him to an appointment with his
physical therapist in the afternoon. I let myself enjoy a few minutes of being
enveloped by Dom’s body heat. When I went to lift his arm and slide out, he
woke up.

   “Where are you going?” he mumbled, half asleep,
and pulled me closer to him. So close I felt his erection pressed against my
ass. “I’ve missed this.”

   “Me too,” I whispered.

Dom shifted and propped himself up to look down at
me. Rolling onto my back, I met his eyes. “Are you feeling better?” he asked,
brushing a few stray hairs away from my face. 

   “I am. Did you carry me in here?”

   “Yeah, you scared the shit out of me when you
passed out. You were out cold and you woke briefly, but went right back to
sleep. What happened?”

When I told him what triggered my episode, he closed
his eyes and shook his head, his lips narrowed down to a thin line. “Damn it,
I’m sorry you went through that. I should have grown a pair and stood up to
Uncle Marco that night.”

   “It’s done and they’re both dead. My panic
attacks have been getting better. I think my defenses were down yesterday and I
never know what’s going to set them off, plus I was drunk and high. I’m just
sorry it happened when we were kissing.” 

   “Me too,” he said and even though he was
caressing my cheek and looking at me, he was very far away.

   “Dom?” I placed my hand over his, stilling his
caress.

His eyes came back into focus and he frowned,
removing his hand from my cheek. “As much as I want you in my life and it feels
so right waking up next to you again, you were wise in leaving, Nat. It’s not
fair of me to ask you to stay when you deserve so much more.”

   “Dom, what-“

   “Wait, let me finish. I’ve ruined you, babe. You
shouldn’t be having anxiety attacks and you shouldn’t feel the need to carry a
gun. You’re afraid and I did this to you. You were right in getting as far away
from me as you could. I see that now.”

Silence filled the room as I processed his words.
“What are you saying?” I whispered as that’s all I could manage since it felt
like my throat was closing.

   “I’m saying,” he rolled away and sat up, putting
space between us. “I’m letting you go. I won’t pursue you anymore and will
leave you alone. Go back to your life in California or wherever. Just go find
your happiness.”

Dom didn’t wait for a response and got out of bed. I
watched in stunned silence as he walked to the bathroom. The click of the door
shutting made me jump in its finality.

What the hell had just happened?

We hadn’t been a couple for months, but I felt all
of the hurt and anguish as if he had just broken up with me. It was worse
because I saw the pain on his face and before he walked away, I saw the tears
glistening in his eyes. I suspected he hid in the bathroom so I couldn’t see
him cry.

I waited a few minutes for him to come out, but he
didn’t. When I heard the water running, indicating he was taking a shower, I
made a decision to not wait around for more rejection and hurried out of the
bedroom. My shoes and bag were by the front door making my escape even easier.
Like the last time I left the condo, I left without saying goodbye.

***

I refused to cry during the cab ride to Grant and
Miranda’s. Instead I busied myself by checking email on my phone. Jillian, an
annoyingly cheerful morning person had sent me a message earlier:

Hey Nat!

Thanks for introducing me to Victor. We
had a ridiculous amount of hot sex. His body is a wonderland of tattoos too.
Have you ever seen him with his shirt off? Whew, I’m panting just thinking
about it.
J
Hopefully you and Dom “worked”
things out last night as you guys looked pretty tense when you left. Did you
get your freak on like I did? LOL!

Anyway, here’s the information on that
grant program for alumni I was telling you about. You should take advantage of
Dom’s offer and you should hire me when you get the grant (because you totally
will). Ok, talk to you later!

XOXO,

J

I sighed and turned my phone off, blinking away the
tears that threatened to spill. It was hard to believe less than 24-hours ago I
was actually considering staying and letting Dom back in. When the cab turned
onto Bainbridge Street, I took a few deep breaths and sat up straight. Grant
and Miranda had enough to worry about and didn’t need to be burdened with my
issues.

I heard their laughter upon opening the front door
and followed it into the kitchen where they were sitting at the counter eating
breakfast. A glow had been restored to Miranda’s cheeks overnight and where she
had been hesitant to touch Grant out of fear of hurting him, she now leaned
against him.

Not wanting to intrude, I started to back out, but
Grant, who would make a great dad as he already had eyes on the back of his
head, said. “And where were you last night, missy?” He spun around on his
stool. “I sure hope my little sister didn’t just do a walk of shame.”

   “No, Jillian is the one you have to worry about.
I spent a very platonic night at Dom’s so you and Miranda could have the place
to yourselves.”            

   “Aw thanks, Nat,” Miranda said, smiling at me.

   “You’re welcome.” I entered the kitchen again and
made a beeline for the refrigerator to grab a diet coke. Leaning against the
kitchen sink, I popped the can open and took a long drink.  “So, Grant, I’m
going to take a quick shower then we’ll go to your PT appointment. Cool?”

   “Actually, Nat, we’ve been wanting to talk to
you,” Miranda said and the seriousness of her tone caught my attention. I
stopped fidgeting with the silver pop top on the soda can and looked up.

   “What’s up?”

   “I’ll go with Grant to PT because we have an
appointment with our OB afterwards.”

   “Okay.”

   “Nat.” Now it was Grant’s turn to talk. “I’m
feeling better and since the doc cleared me yesterday, we don’t need you taking
care of me anymore. You’ve been a great help and we appreciate all you’ve done,
but you put your life on hold. You don’t need to stick around anymore. Go back
to California.”

I know Grant didn’t intend to make me feel like I
was being turned away, but after what had just happened with Dominic, the
emotionally vulnerable part of me took it that way.

   “Okay,” I said again, emotions limiting me to the
same one word response and I quickly left the room. I went upstairs to the
guest room where I had been staying, shutting and locking the door behind me
before crossing the room and sprawling across the bed. With my face buried in
the tan comforter, I let myself have a good cry.

As usual, I had better perspective after the tears
had purged all of the hurt and rejection from my system. Hugging a pillow to my
chest, I looked around the small room and the few possessions I needed to pack.
I had been living out of a suitcase for almost six weeks and admittedly, it was
getting old. Plus, my funds were running critically low. Fortunately Grant and
Miranda had paid two months’ rent on my apartment as a thank you, but I needed
to get back to work soon in order to cover bills. Any reason to stay here had
been removed. It was time to go back to Cali.

Grant looked up in surprise when I came down the
stairs the next morning with my luggage. He was sitting on the sofa watching
T.V.

   “You’re leaving already? What the hell?” He set
the remote down on the coffee table and stood up, crossing the room to meet me
in the foyer.

   “The airline had a last minute cancelation on a
non-stop flight and they were able to get me in.”

   “We didn’t mean you had to leave today.”

   “It’s time for me to head back so why delay the
inevitable?”

He crossed his arms and looked down at me with
narrowed eyes. “Why do I feel like you’re running away again?”

   “I’m not. It’s just time.”

I waited out his scrutiny, keeping my face clear of
any expression. “Fine though I don’t understand. Do you need a ride? I can call
one of the guys to come get you.”

   “A cab should be here any minute.” I set my bag
down on top of my rolling suitcase and gave Grant a hug. “Don’t overdo it or
Miranda will have your ass.”

   “I know she will. Call or text me when you get in
and be careful.”

   “Yes dad,” I said with a roll of my eyes. The cab
honked its horn out front so I bent over to retrieve my bags. “Give Rand and
Bambino a hug for me. Oh, and can you give this back to Miranda.” I handed him
the gun. He opened his mouth to say something, but the cab honked again. Before
Grant could start an inquisition about why I had a gun, I grabbed my luggage
and hurried out the door.

DOMINIC

I stepped out of shower and grabbed a fluffy white
towel off of the hook. I took my time drying off. Clearing steam off of the
mirror, I leaned on the counter and stared at my reflection. Letting Natalie go
literally made my chest hurt and it was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do.
It was easier taking someone’s life. Hell, it was easier killing Uncle Marco. I
wanted to rush out to the bedroom and take all of the words back, but I
couldn’t. Natalie had basically been brutalized ever since we met and it wasn’t
fair to try to win her back into a relationship. It was selfish of me to ask
that of her.

Before leaving the bathroom I told myself to stay
strong because seeing Natalie’s wide hazel eyes were going make me weak. I
wasn’t prepared to step out into an empty bedroom.

   “Nat?” I called, but silence greeted me. Securing
the towel around my waist I went to search the rest of my condo, but when I saw
her shoes and bag missing, I knew she had left.

I resisted the urge to run after her and even if I did
go after her, Dante and I had a meeting with Demetrius, Egan, Chang and Ji that
couldn’t be put off. With a frustrated growl, I went back to my bedroom to get
changed. Just as I was pulling a dark green tee shirt over my head, the front
desk called to let me know Dante was out front waiting for me. Before leaving,
I secured my gun in its holster, grabbed my keys and the latest burner phone.

   “You alright, bro?” Dante asked when I got in the
car. “You look distracted.”

   “Yeah, I’m good. Let’s get this meeting over
with.”

We agreed to meet in Demetrius’ territory in West
Philly. He ran a corner convenience store as a front and it was connected to
what looked like an abandoned building. We walked through the store and into
the back employee and stock room. Demetrius shook our hands before nodding to
one of his soldiers. One wall was made up of shelving that held extra
inventory, but it also hid a secret door. Demetrius’ man pulled on the end of
the shelving unit and it silently rolled forward. Demetrius entered a code in
the keypad and the door automatically opened and we followed him inside. What
looked like a burnt out, condemned building on the outside was really a
luxuriously appointed office space. A large metal and glass executive desk took
up one side of the room while a large flat screen television was mounted on the
opposite wall. Instead of having the news or ESPN on, it was displaying footage
of video surveillance. A bar area with four bar stools was set up the right of
the desk. The floor in the middle of the room was sunken in. This square area
was furnished with a black leather sectional and large coffee table, creating a
lounge area.

   “Help yourselves to the bar and make yourself
comfortable,” Demetrius said before he answered his phone. Flipping it closed
he strode over to the screen and peered at the images. “You guys have a tail,”
he said. Looks like a Fed.”

   “Yeah, that’s why I set up the meeting this way.
All they’ll have is pictures of us walking in and leaving a couple hours later.
Not really evidence. The Feds already know we’re associates and I’m being
careful not to give them probable cause for a search warrant. It’s a pain in
the ass, but what can ya do?”

   “Just getting us in one room together looks
suspicious,” Egan said striding over to bar. He had entered the room at the
tail end of my explanation.

   “Exactly, I bet that guy watching the building
has a hard on right now with all of us big fish gathering. Eyes will be on us
and not the real transactions taking place.”

   “So what, we’re just going to sit here?”

   “Yeah and drink all of Demetrius’ booze,” Dante
said with a wink, taking a sip of the scotch he had poured himself.

Cheng and Ji arrived minutes later. Apparently their
rivalry had somewhat chilled out as they came in together and were actually
talking to each other without any noticeable hostility. Maybe the prospect of
making a lot money helped mellow them out. Whatever the reason, I was happy
they checked their bullshit at the door.

   “What’s going on, man?” Ji asked, shaking my hand
before sitting down. He was wearing his usual uniform of basketball shorts and
a Sixers tank top that showed off his collection of tattoos. Being that he was
barely 5’5”, the basketball attire was pretty ironic and since he liked them
oversized, he looked like a kid playing dress up.

Demetrius opened a wooden case of cigars and offered
us each one. After the smoke incident with Natalie the night before, I
declined. After that we waited. Instead of arranging to meet in one spot to
give each gang their supply of heroin, we arranged for various rendezvous
points around the city. At exactly 2 p.m. my most trusted soldiers were meeting
with men from each group to make the transactions. The plan was that after the
deals were made, a simple text message with the word: “fin” was to be texted to
us. By 2:15 everyone had checked in except for Demetrius’ man and Anthony “The
Giant.” At 2:17 Demetrius’ police scanner lit up as a dispatcher put a call out
for first responders to respond to a shooting at Fortieth Street and Elm.

   “Oh fuck,” Demetrius said and looked at me.

   “That’s the rendezvous point,” I confirmed.

   “The Fed’s leaving,” Egan pointed out and I
glanced at the screen to see the charcoal gray sedan pull away and speed off
down the street. “Guaranteed he’s responding to that call.”

All we could do was listen to the scanner and Dante
jumped on Twitter to see if any reports were getting posted. Anthony had a
burner phone on him and if he followed instructions, any sent or delivered
communication was deleted.  I couldn’t call and check if he was okay because I
didn’t want anything traced back to me. We couldn’t go down to watch the crime
scene as that would be just plain stupid. So we waited. I got up and paced in
front of Demetrius’ desk, pausing whenever the address crackled over the radio.
From the snippets revealed by dispatchers, it didn’t sound good. Two men were
shot, one DOA and the other critical.

   “My girlfriend’s sister is an ER nurse at UPenn
hospital, that’s most likely where they’ll be transported. I’ll call her and
see if she can give us some info,” Demetrius said. He pulled his cell phone out
of his pocket and started dialing. Minutes felt like hours as we waited for her
to call back. The worst case scenario ran through my head that Anthony and
Demetrius’ man had been killed and we’d been robbed of drugs and cash. An
equally disastrous scenario was that they had been killed, but the money and
heroin were left on them. They were known associates of our organizations and
the evidence left behind would not be good.

Egan offered me a drink and I waved him off. Now was
not the time to get shitty, I needed to keep my head clear. Every time
Demetrius’ phone rang, I looked at him expectantly like fucking Pavlov’s dog.
Finally the call we had been waiting for came in. He answered and nodded at me
before walking to his desk and taking a seat. Grabbing a notepad he wrote
something down and hung up, throwing his phone on the desk where it clanged
against the glass top.

   “Sorry Dom, but your boy was DOA,” Demetrius
said. “Javon is critical with a shot to the head. He probably won’t make it.”

   “Fuck!” I stopped where I had been pacing and
punched the wall, feeling my knuckles split open upon impact. Dante set his
glass down on the bar and crossed the room to stand by my side. I pulled him
into a fierce bro hug. We had grown up with Anthony and the first time I ever
got hauled into a police station, Anthony was with me. We were both fifteen at
the time and summer had left too much time on our hands. Turns out cops don’t
like having the hub caps stolen off of their patrol cars. We were released with
a warning, but that experience left us bros for life and Anthony was one of our
most trusted enforcers. “The Giant” was so big physically, it was easy to think
his muscles were impenetrable, almost like his own bulletproof armor, but sadly
he was just as mortal as the rest of us. I released Dante and we stepped a
part. “We need to think about a cover story because you know this is going to
fuel the Feds,” I said, finding comfort in resuming business mode.

   “Yeah, let’s get out here and we’ll talk on the
way. We need to let Grant and Miranda know what happened too.”

Egan, Chan and Ji got up to leave with us. “I’m
sorry about Anthony,” Ji said and shook my hand. “Let me know when you find out
who did it,” Egan said and cracked his knuckles.

Before we left, I went to say goodbye to Demetrius.
He was still sitting at his desk and was talking on the phone. “We’re out,
man,” I said. He mumbled something and hung up the phone. He stood up and shook
my hand.

   “Looks like we’re really in business together now
that blood’s been spilled,” he said. “I’m sorry about Anthony.”

   “Thanks, he was a tough son of a bitch and will
be hard to replace. I need to figure out what to tell his family.”

   “I have a feeling I’ll be doing the same sometime
soon.”

We left with heavy hearts and a lot of uncertainty
hanging over our heads. One thing I was certain of, Special Agent Phillips
wasn’t going to overlook this particular crime scene and that meant we had to
up our game even more.

I decided we weren’t going to notify Anthony’s family
because it wouldn’t be wise to show we knew about his death before the police
made contact. While Dante drove, I called Miranda and told her the news. She
was silent for a few seconds before she responded.

   “I’ll let Grant know,” she said, her voice thick
with emotion. “We should probably get everyone together. Want me to make the
calls?”

   “Yeah, that’d be good. Let’s meet at Crimson that
way you can tell the staff at the same time. Let’s meet in an hour.”

   “Does Joey D. know?” she asked.

Joey and Anthony were tight and shared the head of
security duties at Crimson. While Anthony and I got in trouble together as
kids, he and Joey D. actually did time together. They weren’t related, but were
sworn brothers. He wasn’t going to handle the news well and when blood was
finally spilled in retaliation; Joey would be the one doing it. “No, I’ll call
him right now to find out where he is. Dante and I will tell him in person.”

   “Okay. This really sucks Dom. Any idea what
happened?”

   “Not yet, but when I find out who’s responsible,
they’ll fucking pay.”