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“You think you can fuck me over like that?” Ricky barked. “Throw me under the bus right in front of my boss? Do you even know how fuckin’ hard it was not to end up in the fuckin’ river, you piece of shit?”
“I told the truth,” Michael said more calmly than I would have expected. His hands were up, almost like he was trying to tame a wild cat. “You were late. But I’m the one who did time because of it, remember?”
“And what do you think happened because of that, huh?” Ricky demanded, shaking the gun like a laser pointer. “The cops ain’t that stupid, man. They traced the cars right back to the shop we had going, shut the whole thing down. I had to lay low for a year, and since then, nobody wants to touch me. No one.” He pointed at Nonna and me. “They could help. Zola’s got the space and wouldn’t nobody suspect him of nothin’. You could help. You should help. But you won’t, you selfish fuck.”
“That’s what this is about?” Michael looked legitimately shocked. “Your little chop shop got shut down, so you need a new one to cover your ass? The fuck, Ricky? It isn’t my job to set you up.”
“I got a quota to make!” Ricky shrieked. “You don’t understand. You been gone for two years. These Albanians, man, they are crazy. They don’t take no for an answer. They don’t let anyone out! Including you, in case you forgot the last two days.”
“What?” I croaked, glancing between Michael and Ricky. “Michael, what is he talking about?”
Michael looked at me, then back to Ricky. “He—he’s right, Tess. I’m sorry.”
My mouth dropped. So much made sense. That was why he appeared on my doorstep looking about as happy as Charlie Brown, trying to break up with me again. It hadn’t only been about my grandfather’s rules. He was trying to protect me, protect us. Always.
“Look, Rick, I’ll help you,” Michael was saying as he edged across the room, planting his body directly between Ricky and where Nonna and I were still cowered by the couches, now clutching each other’s hands. “We’ll get you up and going. But you got to let them go. Let Lea and her grandmother out of here, and you and me, we’ll figure out the rest. I promise.”
“Michael, no?—”
“Hush, Tess.” He delivered the order without even looking at me.
Nonna’s hand around my wrist told me to do as he said.
For a moment, I thought the other man might agree.
The gun wavered, even dropping, as Ricky appeared to consider Michael’s offer. I exhaled—maybe we would actually get out of here alive. Maybe it would all work out in the end.
But then Ricky looked up like a man possessed. “I said, don’t fuck with me, Scarrone.”
And then he pointed the gun directly at Michael.
“No!” I screamed, and before I could even stop to think, I launched myself over the back of the couch and on top of Michael, forcing him to the ground as the gunshot blasted through the apartment, followed by another crash.
I covered my beloved with my body, bracing myself for impact as I kept my head down.
But the bullet never came.
Only the sound of a very deep, Eastern European voice.
“I apologize for being late. It appears I’ve interrupted something.”
I looked up, distracted enough that Michael was able to gently disentangle himself from me. Our eyes met, full of all the things we couldn’t say in front of our audience.
“Stay here,” he whispered, then stood to face the new intruders.
I got up and brushed myself off out of habit, only to be joined by Nonna, who grabbed my hand in a way that told me this time she would not be letting go.
“Lis,” Michael greeted the middle-aged speaker. “Glad you could make it.”
Lis—whoever he was—was accompanied by four large men dressed in varying outfits of black and gray, all holding firearms that were pointed at Ricky. Behind them was a younger man slouched in the doorframe who shared the same silver eyes as Lis—eyes that were currently fixed directly on me.
I blinked as our stares collided.
He quickly looked away.
“You called Lis?” Ricky’s eyes bugged out of his head.
Michael smirked. “What, you didn’t want your boss finding out about this little abduction, Ricky?” He shook his head. “Not so sly, asshole.”
