Run This Town 03 - (Watch Me) Unmask You (22 page)

“Go on,” Lucky said softly.

“Um. I—Uh, I kept tabs on you in secret, didn’t want anyone to know. But the Konstantinous found out your father put the money in a trust for you.”

Lucky gaped. “My inheritance. That’s— My inheritance is blood money?” He looked like he would be sick.

All fifteen million. Elias nodded and touched his face. “Haimon told me we needed to bring you into the fold, to make you work off the debt your father owed. He said that debt was now passed on to you since I decided to let you live. I was supposed to watch you and when the time was right, bring you in to be trained. He wanted a way to get at the money you had.”

Lucky dropped his hand. His eyes—red, but dry—zeroed in on Elias. “But you didn’t bring me in.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? No way was that going to happen. No way. Not while I was alive.” He shook his head soundly. “But I didn’t tell him that. I knew when to keep my shit close. I watched you. Would sit on your house and watch you in your aunt’s backyard. I watched you grow into a teenager. Then one day I saw you sneak out and board the train to Oyster Bay.”

That night brought all the changes.

“I had a dream about them the night before. Then I heard from my aunt that the house was about to be sold. I had to go one last time.”

Elias nodded. “You were so sad, but trying not to let it show. I watched you break into that house. You needed someone, Lucky. You needed me.” He couldn’t have walked away after that. “When I went out to get the food and the blankets I called Stavros. I offered him a trade, me for you.”

“What?” Lucky frowned. “What does that mean?”

“They wanted you, Lucky, and I was going to make sure they never had you. I’d agreed to give them ten years in order to get out of Rikers. I offered them my services for life if they agreed to leave you and the money alone.”

Lucky gasped. “You did what?” His voice turned shrill.

“I would do it again,” Elias vowed. “And again, if it meant keeping you away from those bastards. He agreed and I made sure you were secure before I left.”

“But you didn’t stay gone.”

Elias glanced away. “I couldn’t. I worried about you. It wasn’t safe doing what I had to do because I couldn’t concentrate. I was always thinking of you. I came to you when I could, and…” he paused, turned back to Lucky. “When you needed me.”

“How?” Lucky’s  eyes were wide, still full of questions. “How did you always know?”

“Tek and Israel were watching out for you. He was the one who let me know your aunt had passed away.” He owed his friends so much for that.

Lucky pursed his lips, but didn’t say anything.

“I didn’t see you as anything other than someone in need of protecting… until that day at your parents’ graves. You were twenty.” His skin tightened. “It—the attraction caught me off guard. And I was horrified, Lucky. I was disgusted and fucking angry at myself. I went from wanting to protect you to just plain, fucked up 
wanting you
. How sick was that?”

“That’s why you pushed me away. Why you left.”

“Yes,” Elias said sharply. “After what I’d done to you, how fucked up was I to be feeling what I was feeling for you?”

Lucky’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “What were you feeling?”

“The same way I feel today. Like you in my arms felt like coming home when I’d never had a home to go to before. Like I was meant to be near you, with you. Like loving you is the greatest mistake I’d continue to make over and over without regret.”

Lucky looked down at his fingers where they were plucking at the blanket.

“On top of battling what I was feeling,” Elias said. “I worried you only wanted me because I’d protected you. That it was just gratitude. You were so young, 
mijn schat
. How could you have known?”

“But I knew.”

“Yes, but I didn’t trust that knowing.”

Lucky raised his chin, stared into his eyes. “Which is why you kept coming in and out of my life.”

“That age gap between us, it bothered me sometimes,” Elias admitted. “I wanted you to be certain, wanted you to experience life. And if after you had, you still wanted me then I would try.”

“And in the meantime, you traveled the world killing people for money and sleeping with Stavros and God knew who else.” The hurt bled through in Lucky’s voice, but the words were true, so Elias owned them.

“Yes.” He took Lucky’s hand, brought his knuckles to his lips and kissed them. “I got tired of pretending, though. Of feeling empty and adrift when I knew where you were and what you meant to me. Stavros and I were never anything more than buddies who fucked around. I used him because I didn’t have you, and he used me because he didn’t have who he wanted.”

“Why did you agree to this—” Lucky waved a hand. “Getting married and having a child when you knew what could happen?”

Elias blew out a breath. “I was ready for you. Ready to love you, to pledge myself to you, to raise a family with you. Yes, I kept the secrets, but the alternative, watching you hurt, watching you leave, wasn’t an option.” Lifting up onto his elbows, he told Lucky, “We had an agreement, one Haimon and Stavros have honored all these years. They leave you alone and I work for them. If they come after you or me, our family, I would decimate them.” His mouth twisted. “That served as a deterrent, but now it’s not. I’m not sure what’s changed, but I don’t care. They’ll be dealt with.”

Lucky’s mouth tightened and he glanced away before bringing his gaze back to Elias. “I feel so stupid. Like I should have known. I should have seen something, some sign. How can I not know my husband is this prolific killer? How can I not see?”

“Don’t.” Elias’s heart wouldn’t stop breaking for him. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine. All mine. I was fucking greedy for you, Lucky. I wanted to always be near you, with you, because you made me better than I was. Better than I dreamt I could be.” He paused. “And you didn’t know because I didn’t want you to. I’m very good at that.”

When Lucky looked away, Elias brought him back with a finger under his chin.

“I chose to marry you because I love you. Because that’s what people do when they love each other and want to spend all their years together. When they want the world to know how they feel.” He’d do it all again. “I chose to start a family with you for the same reasons. We’re a family, Lucky. That has never been a lie. My love for you, as twisted as it all may appear, has never been a lie.”

Lucky nodded.

Elias didn’t press him. He wanted Lucky to understand what he’d said, what he’d done. To digest it.

“Wait.” Lucky lurched upright. “My coach.” He narrowed his eyes. “You did something, didn’t you?”

“I paid him a visit, yes. The suicide was real, though.”

“Jesus.” Lucky covered his mouth.

“Not gonna apologize for that. He was a fucking pedophile.”

They lapsed into a silence.

“Where were you?” Lucky finally asked.

“Lisbon. I went to Stavros.” He ran exhausted fingers through his hair. “I learned he had nothing to do with it. His father and stepsister made the call.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“They’re here, in New York,” Elias said. “I’ll deal with it soon enough. Right now I need my family and my family needs me.”

“You will deal with this, fix it?”

“I will,” Elias said solemnly. “I promise you I will.”

“And what will happen when you do that? Do you go back to doing what you’ve been doing, killing for them?”

Elias snorted. “They’ve blasted that contract into pieces, don’t you think?” He shook his head. “No, I don’t think I’ll be working for the Konstantinous anymore.”

“Last question,” Lucky said. “For now, anyway.”

Elias tensed then quickly relaxed. “You can ask me anything, Lucky.”

“Why haven’t you brought Israel and Tek around?”

Tension eased out of his shoulders. “Because you’d recognize Israel, for sure. And I couldn’t explain how I knew them without explaining why I was in jail—”

“Which would in turn unravel everything,” Lucky finished for him.

“I’m so sorry, Lucky. I never wanted you hurt. I never wanted you to be scared of me.”

Lucky nodded as if he truly understood. “I can’t— I need to think.” He pressed fingers to his temple. “I love you. I don’t think that’s up for debate, but all this… it’s a lot.” He swallowed.

Elias nodded even as a cold trail worked its way down his spine. “Is it too much?”

“I just need to think. Can you give me that?”

Elias touched the tan line on Lucky’s ring finger, his head bowed. “That priceless piece of gold hardware. I want it back where it belongs.” He patted Lucky’s knuckle as he met his husband’s wary gaze. “Right here. But I can—and I will—give you time.”

Leaving Lucky behind after the bombs he’d dropped on him wasn’t Elias’s finest move, but he wanted to deal with Haimon Konstantinou once and for all. He left Lucky with Israel and Reggie, and the man Dane had sitting on the Coney Island condo in an unmarked car.

Elias couldn’t take any chances. The quicker he dealt with the threat Haimon and his stepdaughter posed all the better. He’d never expect Stavros to help him handle his old man, and no way would Stavros stand idly by while Elias dealt with Annika the way he intended to. Which was why he’d left Lisbon and made his way back home without letting his ex know. Oh, he didn’t think Stavros would stay out of the loop for long, but Elias wanted all this put behind him by then.

He walked up to the Haimon’s place on the Upper East Side, hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched against the cold. The doorman glanced up then stared.

“Mr. Kote. Haven’t seen you around these parts in a while.”

“Hollings. I’ve been keeping busy.” Elias managed a smile for the uniformed man. “Is he in?”

Hollings opened the door with a nod. “Yes, sir. They’re in. Shall I let him know you’re headed up?”

Haimon lived under the illusion that he was invulnerable. And maybe to an extent he was. He knew where all the bodies were buried, since more often than not he facilitated that burial. In New York he walked around and lived like any another man. A face in the crowd. He had that luxury. In Europe, a bounty lay on his head, but here in the States, he’d made it so he was damn untouchable. In his arrogance he’d never imagine the beggar he’d rescued on the streets would turn around and bite the bloodied hand that fed him.

“No.” He waved away Hollings’s offer with a smile. “I’d like to surprise the old man, if it’s okay.”

“Of course, sir.”

He walked past the lobby and got onto the elevator, riding up to Haimon’s apartment. He’d been to this place so many times over the years, always as the bodyguard, the kid Haimon rescued, the help. In the Konstantinous’s minds, Elias may have appeared to want to fit in, to belong with them and their inner sanctum, but in truth he never truly did. He’d wanted out as soon as he’d been accepted in. They were toxic, Haimon and his son. And Elias was realizing that all the years he’d spent under their tutelage meant he was, too.

The elevator opened up into the very expensive looking apartment Haimon called home in NYC. Elias stepped out, his footsteps muted by the Persian rug that covered every inch of the floor. The extravagance never failed to surprise Elias, but when you made major bank taking lives you could afford anything. Elias knew that first hand.

Killing would always be a lucrative business and Haimon excelled at it.

He walked through the apartment, following the sound of chatter to the dining room. They sat at the dining table, Haimon, his wife Geneva, and their daughter Annika. Technically, Annika was Haimon’s stepdaughter, having married the Nigerian Geneva when Annika was eighteen years old.

“Is there room for one more?” His voice brought an immediate silence to the party at the table, and they all turned to him at once.

“Elias, my boy.” Haimon smiled at him. His head was bald now, face pale, eyes sunk into his head. The effects of the brain tumors that had been eating away at his body. He’d fought it for a long time, spent God knew how much money to halt his death. His frequent trips to see the very expensive doctors in New York were the only reason Elias had been able to be around to see Lucky, to drop by in those early years. Haimon had succeeded, his illness was in remission now.

Lucky him.  

“Am I interrupting?” Elias asked. “Not that I care, you understand.”

Annika scowled. She’d never liked him. He’d never given two fucks.

“Elias.” Haimon pushed his chair back, a smile creasing his haggard face. “You came back to me.”

Delusional fucker, wasn’t he?

“Is that what you wanted?” Elias asked. “Is that why you sent a crew to violate my home and terrorize my family, because you wanted me to come back to you?”

The room fell silent and Haimon cocked his head. His body may have been altered by the sickness, but his appearance hadn’t changed much. He was pretty much the same man Elias had tried to rob all those years ago. His presence still kinda had him awed. The terror from back then had long evaporated. He would never be afraid of these people.

Never.

“What are you talking about?” Haimon asked. He rose from the table and Elias pulled his gun, pointing it at him, finger nice and steady on the trigger.

Geneva covered her mouth. Annika froze.

“Don’t move, old man.” Elias walked over to him and pushed him back into his seat with a hand on his shoulder. “We had a deal,” Elias snarled. The anger was roiling up. “We had a deal and you pissed all over it. For what?”

Haimon shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, boy.” He was defiant, confident, his knowing gaze steady on Elias’s face. “This is how you show your gratitude? After all I’ve done for you?”

“You tried to kill my family,” Elias roared. “What did you expect to happen? Did you think I’d fall to my knees and kiss your ring? Those days are long gone.”

“I did no such thing,” Haimon said firmly.

Elias hit him, the butt of the gun against his chin. His head jerked back. “Don’t you fucking lie to me, you sick son of a bitch.” He hit him again and Geneva screamed. A chair scraped behind him, and Elias pulled his other gun, pointing it at Annika.

She froze mid-rise.

“Bitch, I wish you fucking would.” He stood, one gun at Haimon’s temple, the other pointed at Annika. “Try me.” He was calm. This was what he did after all. What he did so fucking well. “Go on.” He jerked his chin at Annika, grinning at her wide eyes. “Try me, why don’t you?”

“Please.” Geneva spoke, or begged rather. Haimon reached out, blood dripping from his head, and grasped Geneva’s hand. She clung to him, her head bowed, tears dripping down her chin. “Don’t. Elias.”

She was a gentle woman, Geneva. He didn’t get how she ended up with Haimon. But maybe some would ask the same question regarding him and Lucky.

“You wanted me out of the way,” Elias said softly. “So you had Stavros give me that bogus job in LA. You knew I’d go.”

Annika stared at him, face stony, eyes flashing rage. He smirked at her. She used to give him the same death stare when Elias and Stavros would fuck in front of her. He suspected she hated that Elias knew what Stavros felt like and she never would. Not that he’d cared then and now. She and Stavros could have each other. The further he got away from this fucked up family the better.

“Ten years,” Elias said softly. “I did what you wanted, killed whoever you wanted without question, and you just decide to flip on me?” He pushed the gun to Haimon’s temple again. “Do you have any idea how much I want your death, old man?”

“But you didn’t follow orders, did you?” Haimon asked quietly. He wiped at the blood on his chin with his shoulder, breath shallow. “Twice. You allowed that Mousasi boy to live, you willingly let all that money just disappear, then you facilitated Seraphina Cook’s escape into the night.”

Elias tensed. He never knew, and likely would never know, why Haimon wanted Seraphina Cook’s death so badly, but only one man knew Elias had let her live. “Guess Stavros really does tell his papa everything.”

“He didn’t tell him,” Annika said. “Stavros told me and I told Father.”

Elias barked a laugh at that revelation. “So that’s what passes for pillow talk these days.”

“Shut up, you gutter fucking trash.” Annika jumped to her feet. “You work for us, we don’t work for you. You forget that. Just because Stavros fucked you doesn’t mean you’re one of us.” Her eyes flashed at him, beautiful cocoa-brown face twisted into pure anger and disgust.

“Listen, little girl. Sit your crazy ass down before I make you.”

She didn’t sit, only pushed her chin higher in the air. “You wouldn’t dare.” She looked at Haimon. “My father had to know how lax Stavros has been with our safety, our legacy. He needs to stop thinking with his dick. That’s no way to lead.” But boy, did she sound envious of that dick.

Elias smiled. “He’s not.”

Annika frowned. “What?”

“He’s not your father.” Elias shook his head. She was fucking delusional. “You want to be in charge, don’t you? You want to be on top, to lead.”

“I deserve it,” she shouted. “I deserve it.”

“All this because you want to be at the head of the table?”

She shrugged. “You’re supposed to kill him.” She stabbed a hand in Haimon’s direction.

The old man’s eyes went wide. He looked confused and horrified, while Geneva sobbed quietly. How had they not seen how fucked up this chick was?

“You kill him then Stavros comes after you. If you kill him, great, if not we run everything together.” She smiled. “Either way I get to run it.”

Elias pulled the trigger, blasting a hole in that crazy bitch. She jerked, eyes widening, both hands going to the wound in her left side.

“No!” Geneva screamed, made as if to rise and Elias stopped her with a look.

“Hate to tell you this, but you won’t be running shit.”

Annika tumbled and grabbed on to the back of her chair, leaving bloody fingerprints before crumpling to the floor.

“No.” Geneva moaned loudly.

“You’ve always been a threat,” Haimon spoke up. His tone was shaky, but he continued speaking. “Going against orders. Stavros should have had you put down ages ago, but he’s weak. That boy has always been weak.”

Elias shook his head. He’d never get this fucking family. “If you wanted to teach me a lesson so bad, why didn’t you do it long before now?”

“Because I didn’t know about the Seraphina Cook mess until recently.” Haimon glared up at him. The blood on his face was beginning to dry. Elias would have to do something about that. “And you have so much more to lose now.”

“And Mark Dulles’s son was the perfect patsy. Send the senator a message by killing his son while distracting me.” He narrowed his eyes. “You wanted to hit me where it would hurt most.” Typical Haimon.

“Doesn’t it?” The bastard was gleeful. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Dunno.” Elias licked his lips, looked him up and down then bent, pulling a blade from his boot. “Why don’t you tell me?’ He slammed the knife into Haimon’s neck. The old man grunted, body spasming under the blow as blood spurted. “Why don’t you tell me?”

Geneva screamed and jumped to her feet. Elias shoved her back into the chair.

“I don’t care about dying,” Elias murmured. “Never been afraid of it.” He touched Haimon’s bowed head. “But my family.” He pursed his lips. “My family is off limits. The fact that you don’t know that, old man, proves how much you don’t know me.”

“No.” Geneva held out a hand. “Please, Elias. Don’t. Don’t take my family.”

Lovely woman.

“They were prepared to take mine,” Elias told her. He looked from Haimon’s twitching body to where Annika lay sprawled on the floor, body still. “Even now, your family was prepared to take 
my
 family.” He shook his head, touched her cheek with a gloved hand soaked in blood. Not imaginary this time. “I don’t do mercy, you’ll have to see a higher power about that.” He yanked the knife out of Haimon’s neck and stabbed him again. “You should have known better,” he told Haimon. He grasped the other man’s chin, forced his head up. His eyes were glassy, closer to death than life. “You should have known better, old man. You taught me everything I know.”

He winked and released him.

Haimon’s head flopped back.

Dead.

He turned to Geneva, took her hand and she fought him. Scratching and biting, straining to go to Haimon, to Annika. Elias held her tight, arms around her plump frame. “I like you,” he spoke in her ear. “You’re not like your husband or daughter, but you have a choice.” Right now he didn’t care what he had to do, who he had to kill to make sure any threat to Lucky and Maddie was eliminated.

Maybe later he’d feel something, regret something, but this moment was about survival. His family’s survival. Rules went out the window. Compassion didn’t factor in and innocents who got in his way would be removed, bodily.

Geneva jerked against him and a mournful wail escaped her. He released her and she went to her daughter, falling over her body, sobbing as she cupped Annika’s face to her bosom.

Elias wasn’t unmoved. A parent had lost a child.

As a parent there was no way to not be moved. He turned away, gave Geneva his back, took two steps. Something whizzed past his right ear then a bullet slammed into the wall inches from his face.

He spun. Geneva had a gun, probably Annika’s, pointed at him. Elias sighed. “We gonna do this?”

Anguish dripped from her eyes, wetted her dark-brown cheeks. “You killed my family.” She squeezed the trigger again, but Elias was quicker and his bullet hit her dead on.

A small hole in the middle of her forehead. Her bullet went wide, into the wall again.

“And now you’re dead.” He shook his head at the fucking senselessness of it all. “Happy now?” He felt for the woman. She’d done nothing wrong, but her daughter deserved whatever she got.