The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set (100 page)

“Albert, put the gun down,” Gio raised his hands in defense. Also to protect his head in case. It was basic instinct kicking in.

He heard his brother’s voice in his ear piece. “We are coming in. Keep him distracted.”

“Albert!” Gio yelled to cover any noise his brothers made getting in. “Why are you framing Lisa?”

Albert screamed in return. “Because if I can’t fucking have her, you piece of shit, you can’t either.”

Gio had been watching Albert’s hand the whole time. As soon as he saw the catch release and Albert said the words that would seal his fate, Gio dove.

Andreas was there. Albert ran towards the door in pursuit, and Andreas’s fist was the first and last thing he saw for quite some time.

A Life Worth Living

L
isa heard the
sirens, and sat bolt upright in the car. Her heart hammered and despite the heat of the night, a cold fear trickled down her spine. She had promised to stay in the car, and resisted the urge to get out, but almost broke that promise when three cop cars and an ambulance pulled up in front of the now open lobby doors of the Dakota.

“Please,” she whispered. “Let Gio be okay.”

Just then her phone notification blipped.

Gio:
I’m okay.

Holy heck, thank goodness, she whispered, bringing the phone to her lips as she kissed the screen.

Lisa typed.

Lisa:
I’ll head home then. But call as soon as you can.

She waited for a response.

Gio:
No come up. Wait until after you see the police take Albert away. Love you. It’s almost over.

Again Lisa, wanted to kiss the screen. It was over. Almost. She would be free. Albert would be taken to jail.

“OK,” she typed. “Love you.”

Gio:
Love you too, babe.

Lisa then typed out a message to her sister. She knew Mary must be worried sick.

Lisa:
Gio says it’s over. Albert is being arrested. I don’t know much more. But as soon as I do know anything, I’ll let you know.

It was fifteen minutes later before she saw anything, and then Albert was tucked into the police car. When the car was out of sight, she got out of the rental, and crossed the street to the apartment building she had lived in with Albert for nearly four years. It was the first time she looked forward to going there.

Blaze was down in the lobby when she approached; he bypassed the doorman who was speaking to another officer and he let her in.

“Hey, there is a restraining order . . .” he started to say.

“Did you not just see Mr. Rasmussen taken away?” he called over his shoulder shaking his head. The security guard nodded after realization had struck.

“Everyone is okay?” Lisa asked being taken into Blaze’s arms briefly.

“Yes,” he said pulling back. “Andreas, Nikko and Gio are still upstairs being questioned by the police. We are lucky we know a lot of the guys, but what we did to get the information well, Albert’s lawyers are going to have a field day with this.”

“You mean it’s not over?” she questioned confused.

“No, it’s over. He took a shot at Gio.” Then Blaze quickly added as he saw her eyes widen in panic, “but missed, by a mile. That got him arrested. Gio was invited in; that’s why the police are questioning the doorman. We will probably all have to go into the police station to answer some questions. It’ll be a long night, and that’s why Gio wanted to see you before we all were taken downtown.”

“You guys aren’t in any trouble?” she asked as Blaze led her to the stairwell beside the elevator. The police had the elevator locked down while they investigated.

“Don’t think so, and we have a confession on tape, and though it may not be admissible, it’ll be enough to get your case dismissed.”

“So Albert might get away with trying to frame me?” she asked, trying to calculate how long he might go away for trying to shoot Gio. Not long enough, she thought as the door shut and they began the brief climb to the fourth floor.

“Highly unlikely. The prosecutor has been riding hard on you for this, and he will want answers, so they will find something that was overlooked.”

“Good,” Lisa stated. “About time they start looking at him.”

Blaze pulled open the door at the top of the stairwell and they crossed the hallway to the open door of her old apartment.

Gio was answering questions from a detective, and Andreas and Nikko were tete-a-tete with another one, probably answering the same ones.

“If you’ll excuse me a moment,” Gio asked of the detective with whom he was speaking. The detective nodded, still scribbling away on his notepad.

Gio took Lisa into his arms. “Blaze fill you in?” he asked inhaling her scent and holding her.

“Yes, some,” she stated as he released her.

“It’s all gonna work out.” He kissed her softly on the top of her head.

“I believe you.” And she did. For the first time, in a very long time she felt more certain of that than anything else.

“Good, now we gotta go to the station. Blaze can drive you home, then he will come down to the station for us. Just wanted to see you, and knew you wouldn’t rest easy until you saw me.” His eyes twinkled with mischief. “I gotta make my baby happy.”

“You do, Gio. You do!” Lisa threw herself into his arms. “Only you,” she whispered as he kissed the top of her hair once more.

*     *     *

Lisa sent Mary
home over two hours ago. It was nearly one in the morning and still no sign of any of the Marinos. Still not tired, she would wait up, all night if she had too, she thought as she flicked through the television stations looking for something to occupy her mind until Gio returned.

But it wasn’t necessary, there was a rattling at the door fifteen minutes later. She was up off of the sofa, and at the door before Andreas had it half way open.

“Thank you, all,” she threw herself at him. “All of you,” she stammered as Andreas let her go.

“Sure Weezie,” he teased, calling her by another one of the horrible nicknames the boys used on her when they had been neighbors and children.

She smacked him. “What are brothers for?” Nikko chimed in coming in next, and kissing her on the cheek.

Blaze followed and kissed her on the other cheek. She felt the love from this family that she desperately missed. These were her brothers, and then there he was, Gio. Her one true love.

“That’s right, Red,” he called. “Family sticks together.”

Her smile lit up the room. “Family sticks together,” she repeated.

He pulled her into his arms, and kissed her as the brothers silently disappeared into their respective rooms. He just held her, knowing now that he would be able to do so forever, but he couldn’t resist it. She had opened herself up to this. “Boy,” he whispered seductively in her ear, “I sure would like to stick it you, Red, right now.”

Lisa laughed. God how she missed this. She whispered back. “Then stick it to me, Gio.”

His eyes widened in surprise, but there was no way he would let that challenge pass unanswered. He took her hand and led her to the living room. “Quiet Red, we have a full house, and no bedroom of our own. It’ll be just like old times,” he said, beginning to strip for her as she began to fumble with her own clothes.

He lay on the coach, the tattoo across his chest glimmering in the rays of the moonlight coming in from the window. “La Vida Loca,” “This Crazy Life.” True. But it was going to be a good one. She sank onto him then, knowing there was no place she would rather be.

Gio sighed his pleasure. “Stick it to me, baby.”

She did, and then together they soared.

*     *     *

The next day
brought Alex with the official news. “The prosecutor has officially withdrawn the charges. He issued charges against Albert for the attempted murder of Gio, and the plot to frame you. He thinks they will be able to use some of the confession Gio got, if not the video recording, at least having him testify. Albert denied everything at the police station, and of course shut down completely once his lawyer got there, but the best piece of news, is that the police picked up Connie in Atlanta last night and they are charging her as well. If she turns on Albert she will get a lesser charge and that might motivate her.”

“Oh, Alex. This is great news.” Lisa turned into Gio’s waiting arms.

“We also discovered something else. Something totally new.” Alex sounded excited.

“What is it?” Gio asked.

“Well, those pictures you took all those years ago, Lisa, the one inside that warehouse. Well, we just assumed the car in the picture belonged to the man Albert had met, but it didn’t. It belonged to the Senator. We are enhancing all the pictures now, and thankfully your private eye still had the negatives. We called him this morning. My guys saw something, shadows, someone was watching. If we can get an ID on the Senator, they are all going down. It’s going to be big. Connie will be offered protective custody after she serves her time for turning them all in. It’s practically a done deal.”

“Fabulous,” Gio stated putting out his hand to shake Alex’s while draping his arm over Lisa’s shoulder possessively.

“Yes, it is. Almost makes me wish I sill worked in the prosecutor’s office. Doesn’t it?” he included Blaze in his question.

Blaze nodded. “I like it when the bad guys go down. But, I’m very happy right where I am.” He was thinking of Bella and flying back home tonight. He had hated leaving her once again, but he hadn’t wanted his brothers to do this without him. She completely understood, but her own hearing was just a week away, and they were all needed for that.

Alex didn’t stay much longer. He’d only wanted to deliver the good news, and catch up with his old friend, Blaze. He envied him. He’d found out Blaze had finally met the right woman. He left feeling happy for him.

Lisa, and Gio returned to the kitchen. They were cooking up a storm for everyone before Blaze left. Andreas and Nikko were staying one more day before they returned to Tampa, and she and Gio and Johnny would follow in a couple of weeks although Gio needed to be present at Bella’s hearing. But that would just be the one day.

She needed to put her apartment in Jersey on the market, and decide what she wanted to take. She also needed to make sure she had all her son’s school records with her, and start looking for a place in the Tampa area. She wanted him to be in a great school. A public school, Gio had insisted, but he would buy the house, and they would scour the internet together finalizing their list.

Nikko had given them the name of a good realtor, a woman by the name of “Annie O.” He and his fiancée were looking for something as well.

As she stirred the pot of sauce she was making, Gio chatted with Johnny, explaining how to make the perfect meatball. “You got to add just the right amount of water and cheese. Fresh basil is key. And don’t handle it too much.”

Andreas was reading the paper in the living room, and Nikko was on the phone talking to Ronnie, his girl.

Yes, Lisa thought, cheerfully, she couldn’t ask for more, and she didn’t want to. This was her family. They always had been.

A Month Later . . .

G
io closed the
back door of the small moving truck. Lisa had weeded out a lot, wanting to have a fresh start in Florida.

They had dinner at her parents’ house earlier and they just added the last few items to the truck. He and Johnny were driving it down to Florida together, their first road trip.

Lisa was like a mother hen, saying goodbye, making sure they had everything. Gio shook his head as she rubbed something off the kids face while he tried to push her hand away.

“Mom, please,” he urged.

“Sorry,” she pulled him to her one more time. “Habit.”

When she released him Gio was there standing beside her. “Three days, Lisa. We’ll be fine.”

“I know, but I’ll miss him.”

Gio’s eyebrows were raised in question.

“You too.” She reached her arms around him and held him.

The sound of the truck door closing told Gio their son had given them some privacy. “I’ll miss you too, woman.” His voice dropped to a husky whisper. “Especially that ass.” He squeezed it and dipped down for a kiss.