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It was an idle threat. Something I would come to realize later in life. Because I never returned to see those daisies take root. Instead, I left my past to rot in the ground with what remained of the memories of the last fucker who was slick enough to ease his way under my skin.
34
PRESENT
At first, I thought I was imagining it. Dreaming up the incessant ringing that had me swatting the air and looking for the source. I peeked a single eye open to find Dani still knocked the fuck out, her soft snoring bringing a curl to my lips as I took a moment to watch her before the noise started up again. We’d both ditched our cells days ago. So it took me more than a few minutes to realize the ringing was coming from beyond the door.
I quietly slid off the mattress, careful not to wake my girl, then closed the short distance that had me resting a palm on the handle and slipping outside while Dani remained none the wiser.
The cool night air was like a slap to the face, and if I wasn’t awake before, I sure was now. The ringing continued as my glare honed in on one of those pay-by-the-minute phones.
Of course the creepy-ass Bates Motel would have a payphone. Because why the fuck not?
If you asked me, I wouldn’t have an answer for you, but for some god-forsaken reason, I was compelled to pick it up. While knowing this was something straight out of a teen horror flick and I was more than likely Leatherface’s next, well,face. But it was another one of those impulses I just couldn’t resist.
My fingertips rested on the cool plastic before I swiped the handset from the receiver and placed it against my ear. Now, I half-expected the voice on the other end to start asking me about my favorite scary movie. But what I heard sent a different kind of chill down my spine.
“Conny?”
“Ma…? Is that you?” I raked a tired hand through my hair. “How’d you get this number? You okay? It’s the middle of the night…” All valid questions on their own but not nearly as important as the fact that she was calling me on a pay phone at some no-name motel. My eyes bounced around, from shadow to shadow, as if I could pinpoint someone watching me. There was nothing outside of the occasional chirping of crickets and rustling of branches. Yet the hair on my arms was standing on end.
“Conny, some men are 'ere. Started bangin’ on the door. Nearly gave your da a heart attack.” She was whispering, one hand more than likely locked around the receiver as she sighed into the phone. Though I couldn’t tell if she was more disappointed or frightened at this point.
Knowing my ma, it was the former.
“What kinda men, Ma?” I asked her. But I already knew the answer to that one too.
“The sort I warned you not to hang 'bout.” Yup, disappointment it was. Should have known nothing scared my ma. “They gave me this number. Told me to call ya to come home. Said ya would know what that meant. What’d you get yerself twisted up in, Conny? Is it because of that girl ya toldme about? You know your da always said not to mess around with?—”
I clicked the handset back onto the cradle before she finished that thought. I was well aware of how my father felt about Italian women, but they weren’t the ones hunting us down right now. No, it was mykin—another thing he liked to remind me. How we were all kinfolk. Maybe back on the island, but here in the States, the only blood these bastards cared about was the sort you spilled for them to line their pockets.
I didn’t know how the Mulligans found us. But their message was clear. They knew exactly where we were. More than that, they were using my parents as bait. If I didn’t convince Dani to head back into the city, it wouldn’t be fists knocking on my ma’s door. It would be boots kicking it in.
“Fuck,” I grunted, toeing a loose stone across the empty parking lot before stalking towards room 707.
Lucky number, my ass.
The moment I slipped through the door and crept towards the figure on the bed, I was being grabbed from behind. A small, toned arm wrapping around my throat in a headlock… and the blade of a knife staring me in the face. Instinct had me wanting to flip my attacker over my shoulders and onto their back, while common sense told me one of two things would happen. I’d either end up needing another set of stitches or severely hurt the girl I wanted to love.
Yeah, the fucking word gave me pause but I ignored that too. I’d joked about it a lot but now I was certain shit was real. And there were only so many revelations I could deal with on three hours of sleep.
“Dani, it’s just me,” I grunted through my constricted airway. Then I tapped her wrist, signaling for her to loosen up before I passed the fuck out and we had bigger problems than the Mulligans’ bullshit game of Ding-Dong Ditch.
She dropped her arms and jumped off my back, tucking the blade into her waistband as she flicked on the dodgy motel room lights. They blinked twice, like the bulbs were on the verge of giving up before deciding to stay on a bit longer. And I was confident no one would be replacing them anytime soon.
“What the fuck were you doin’ out there? I thought—you know what? Doesn’t matter what I thought.” She shook her head, and something hinted that I was witnessing a rare moment of vulnerability. I’d pegged her right after all. Baby girl had abandonment issues. She thought I’d run out on her in the middle of the night.
“You thought what, Dani?” I found myself asking before my brain could stop me. I took a tentative step forward and she took one back. Mirroring my stance.
“I already told ya it didn’t matter. Now, are you gonna answer my question or not?”
“If you answer mine, dollface.” I gestured a hand between us. “I’m equal opportunity. Ya know, quid pro quo.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, drawing my attention to the way her breasts rose with each exaggerated breath she took.
I know what you’re thinking.This wasn’t the time or the place. But men were simple creatures. Easily distracted. A fault I wore like a badge of honor.
“Fine. I thought you skipped out. Is that what you wanted to hear?” she hissed, and I tugged her into my arms, ignoring the throbbing in my gut—as well as the one in my pants.
