AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The hell it’s not. You’ll get what you always get. Not a penny more. And if you come here again, the only thing you’re gonna get is shot for trespassing.” Keeping the gun pointed in their direction, I slowly moved forward. “Now go before I change my mind.”
“You’ll regret this, daughter dearest,” he threatened before they both scrambled out the door.
“Quin.” Her warm, weathered hand landed on my forearm.
“Shit. Why’d you let them in, Mom? And where’s Dad?”
“They were already inside when I got home from dropping your father off at Pete’s to watch the game.”
Lowering the gun, I took my first full breath since I’d gotten home. Thank Christ it was Sunday. Dad always spent a few hours at the Smiths’ after church to give Mom a break.
“Are you all right?” she asked, rubbing her hand up and down my back.
“No, I’m not. This has to stop, Mom. They’re getting worse.”
“You’re right, but what are we supposed to do?”
“I have no idea.”
“We could go to Chief Matthews. It was his father—”
“Not yet,” I cut her off. “If I can’t find another way, then we’ll talk to him. Just give me a little time to think.”
“Whatever you think is best, sweetheart.” She wrapped her arm around my waist and leaned her head against my shoulder. We stayed that way for several minutes before I started yawning.
“Go rest, Quinny. All this excitement isn’t good for the baby.”
One thing was for certain, I needed to figure a way out of this mess.
Soon.
_______________
THE THREE-HOURnap helped tremendously with my fatigue, however, it did nothing for my anxiety. It wasn’t as if I’d never met Javier and Gabriella del Toro before; I had on numerous occasions. They were wonderful people who always treated me kindly. Still, when Alec’s car made the turn into their driveway, I could have sworn there were a billion butterflies taking flight in my stomach. The sensation was further intensified by the fact I was starving.
After the scene at the farm, my stress levels were so high I ended up hugging the toilet for twenty minutes before I finally lay down. Then, I hit the snooze button on my alarm so many times I thought I was going to be late. When I finally dragged myself out of bed, another bout of lightheadedness hit out of nowhere and I hadn’t felt right since.
“You’re being awfully quiet.” His deep voice penetrated the silence.
“Just praying your mom doesn’t sic the Italian Mafia on me for corrupting her precious son.”
“Jesus, baby,” he laughed. “Who told you about Uncle Gio?”
“Cate.”
Cate was Gabe’s wife and had once been engaged to a capo, or captain, in the mafia. She, of course, had no idea and when she witnessed the unthinkable, she ran. Long story short, she ended up in Mountain Grove with a killer hunting her down. Gabe being Gabe, called in a favor with his uncle; the head of the Italian Mafia in Sicily. Needless to say, Cate’s problem disappeared. As in he ceased to exist on earth any longer.
“I can guarantee there will be no concrete shoes in your future.”
“Thank goodness because concrete went out of style in the 80s.”
“There she is.” He reached for my hand after putting the car in park. “Seriously, you have nothing to worry about.
I took in a deep breath and blew it out harshly. Squeezing his hand, I said, “Let’s do it.”
“Stay put. I’ll come around.”
He didn’t give me a chance to respond—which was probably wise—before he was out of the car. I hadn’t paid much attention when he picked me up earlier, however, watching him round the hood, I noticed how much his muscles rippled with every step he took, as if they were barely contained by the jeans and T-shirt he wore. Alec always looked incredible, but there was something about his carefree, casual look which had me wiping the drool from my mouth. The man would have been gorgeous draped in a garbage bag.
