After bouncing his eyes between two massively dilated pairs, Rocco adds, “EachFridaynight fight.” When Maddox and I exhale in sync, Rocco shifts on his feet to face me. “You need to be back on deck at Petrettis no later than next Friday. Dimi gave you some leeway due to yoursituation.” The way he mutters ‘situation’ advises Dimitri is aware of my miscarriage. “This…” he strays his eyes over the derelict-looking warehouse that’s eerily silent compared to how rowdy it usually is before adding, “… has cost Dimitri a pretty penny, so you need to pay him back.”
In other words, he’s saying I’ve been sold from my uncle to my cousin. Although I’d rather not be ‘owned’ by anyone, I much prefer being winged under my cousin’s half of the Petretti entity than my uncle’s. Dimitri is a mobster in every sense of the word, but I don’t see incest ever being on his list of credentials.
“Col is aware of Dimitri’s decision.” My stomach gurgles so loud, I almost miss what Rocco says next. “He isn’t happy, but he’ll follow the rules. Maddox fought for Dimitri first. That put him on his payroll. You…” His facial expression looks torn between disgusted and angry. I realize it is both when he adds, “… should haveneverbeen up for negotiation, so with that in mind, Dimitri has agreed to pay you a salary for the hours you put in at Petretti’s.”
“I don’t need his money…” My words trail off when Maddox squeezes my hand, wordlessly encouraging me to accept Rocco’s offer. I’m lost as to why he wants me to take anything from my family, but I have to trust he wouldn’t lead us down this path unless he deemed it necessary. “But it will be appreciated. Thank you.”
Rocco smiles as if I offered him an invitation into my bed before he jerks his chin to the SUV I’ve barely taken my eyes off for the past two minutes. “Go say goodbye to your girl while we talk shop.”
Although I hate being dismissed like I have no say about anything in my life, my wish to make sure Sloane is okay outranks anything else. Maddox is battered and bruised but still capable of taking down a tanker. Sloane looks seconds from collapse. I have to prioritize who needs me the most. Right now, that person is Sloane.
8
Maddox
After waiting for Demi to be out of earshot, Rocco shoves a gym bag full of money into my chest. “I’m only going to tell you this once. If you run with this money, you’re a dead man. Nothing I say or do will stop Dimi from hunting you down and gutting you like a fish.”
“I won’t steal from him. I’m not a complete fucking idiot.” Since my reply is honest, it sounds that way.
“Nah, you just thought using his daughter as bait would fly.” He calls me a fucking idiot under his breath before increasing the volume of his voice. “If you’re not running, what’s your plan?”
Don’t be mistaken. He isn’t asking a question, he’s gauging a response. The angle of his head is a sure-fire sign of this, much less the way he stares at me like he has mindreading capabilities.
I stagger back in shock when he says a couple of seconds later, “You’re gonna stash away every bit of coin you can until you’ve got the funds to get her out of here.” His chuckle vibrates both our chests when no number of unvoiced threats stop a shocked mask from slipping over my face. “You’re not the first person to consider that, Ox. Won’t be the last.”
I’m still pissed about being ambushed without warning, but curiosity will always triumph a wish for revenge. “Have they ever gotten out?” I don’t know why I’m seeking a score for my plan from a gangbanger. I could blame the rattle of my brain against my skull when Dimitri pummeled me with his fists, but I won’t. I’m too cocky for that and way too fucking proud. Dimitri didn’t walk away from our tussle uninjured. He was sporting as many bruises as me. It was just his body that got hammered instead of his head.
While kicking up rocks with his feet, Rocco shakes his head. I think all is lost until he breathes out slowly, “She did, though.” He doesn’t say a name, but I’m highly suspicious he’s referencing Ophelia. His eyes have the same roguish glint they had when he showed me an up-to-date after-death photograph of her. “It was for the best. It’s easier to hide one person than it is to hide two.” I’m about to ask when he met Agent Brahn, but before I can, he continues talking, foiling my attempt. “Your plans will need to be placed on the backburner for a while. You can’t leave until your debt is paid.”
“Which will be only months away,” I reply, equally pissed and confused.
Col shoved approximately twenty thousand into my chest after my first death-match. Even if that was only five percent of the pie, we’re only in Dimitri’s debt for four hundred thousand. That seems like a lot, but at 10K a run, three runs a week, I’ll have our debt paid off in a little over three months. Tack on another three months to put away some funds, we will be out of here long before Thanksgiving.
Rocco’s chest-rattling laugh grates my last nerve. “You can’t honestly believe you only need to pay Col out?” After spotting my answer in my eyes, he chuckles loud enough for Demi’s focus to shift from Sloane to us. “That ain’t close to the truth. Dimi is out of pocket over two million on ticket sales alone. Add another two million in lost bets, that brings you in a little over four million cool ones. Have you got that on you, Ox?” He digs his hand into my jacket before fanning it open. “I don’t take checks without the Petretti name attached to them.”
I slap his hands away from me before pushing him back with a shove. He finds it even more humorous than my scowl. He chuckles for several long seconds, his snickers only subsiding when a new way to piss me off enters his head.
“I know a way we could lessen your debt—”
“No.” I shift on my feet to face Demi before signaling for her to come back. I hate ending her chat with Sloane before she’s ready, but the longer we stay here, the more this grubby lifestyle will embed into my skin. Furthermore, Rocco’s conversation with Dimitri hinted that Col is close by. That’s an instant move-fucking-now command if I’ve ever heard one.
While shadowing my walk to the hanging open driver’s side door Dimitri ripped me out of, Rocco says, “You didn’t give me the chance to speak, so how could you possibly know what I was gonna say?”
I knowexactlywho he’s referencing because his eyes got the same gleamy glint they get every time he rustles my feathers about Demi. A female member of my family is on his radar, but he isn’t sniffing around for himself. He has Dimitri’s six—like he always does.
I won’t lie. My muscles scream like a bitch with every step I take, but since I’m confident Dimitri is feeling the same level of discomfort, I smirk instead of grimacing.
Mistaking my complacent face as one of consideration, Rocco tries to schmooze me. “It’s the ideal solution, Ox. If you help Dimi get his girl back, he’ll be inyourfavor. That’s invaluable to any man.”
“I said no, Rocco. Just like Fien isn’t up for negotiation, neither is my sister.” When shock flares through Rocco’s eyes, stunned I knew his plan of attack, I mutter, “I’ll find a way to pay Dimitri back. I just need—”
“Tweety birds to stop circling your head first?”
When I hit him with a stern sideways glare, his lips curl into a mammoth grin. He must have a death wish. Nothing rattles him, not even Dimitri’s disappointment when he wouldn’t pull his gun on Demi.
If it were anyone but Rocco denying Dimitri’s every whim, I guarantee he’d be dead at my feet right now. Rocco has a way of getting through to Dimitri like no one else can. That’s why I went to him with my plan instead of conjuring up my own way to get Dimitri onsite tonight. In a way, it worked. I was confident I’d have to fight tonight. I just never considered the possibility of Dimitri calling off the event before it happened.
After tossing the gym bag full of cash into the back seat, I lock my eyes with Rocco’s. “Why did Dimitri cancel tonight’s event?”
