Page 31 of Reckless

CALLAHAN

Gemini

It’s important not to dwell too long on our misfortunes. Feel your pain, but don’t stay there.

Simon had sent a doctor back over in the morning, one they used on call for special cases they didn’t want a record of. The man had to be freshly out of med school for how young he looked. “You’re lucky. A lot of this will heal in a few days. The ribs might still sting for a while though,” he said, unhooking my IV.

“Lucky,” I spat the word out of my mouth like it offended me. I hadn’t felt lucky a day in my life. Well, that’s not true. The day I saw Stella at the diner is the closest I’d ever felt to being lucky. But even that turned out to be a shit show. I hadn’t texted her back yet. The words I wanted to say required more than just an impersonal text. She’d said she was off for a few days, so once I was patched up here, I planned to go over and apologize in person.

A full day had come and went from when Carmine and his lackeys attacked me. And while Simon claimed his involvement stemmed from wanting to protect me and himself, I couldn’t help but feel so fucking betrayed and alone. Simon was all I had. My mom had disowned me. My dad was dead. And this crime family I worked for nearly killed me.

If the universe had any luck to give, I sure could use it now.

When I showed up outside Stella’s apartment, I clutched the handful of flowers in my fist, knowing that it wouldn’t make up for what I was about to confess to her. That is if she would hear me out. I had spent the day recovering but also formulating a plan—an exit strategy that would save not just me, but everyone involved with the Underwoods. I couldn’t have been the only one who was desperate to get out from under their thumb.

Throughout my years of working for them, I found small ways to stick it to them. One of those ways happened by accident during an execution in Rome. The man they sent me to deal with had an offshore account that was siphoning money from the casino they ran here in Starfell. For every five hundred dollars they made, a small fraction was sent directly to the account. The man transferred it to my name before I pulled the trigger, and since then, I’d been working out how to use that money to disappear for good.

Since I was so heavily monitored, it took time to set everything up without them catching on, but Carmine’s intuition was too good. And he was too careful to ignore when it felt off.

Knowing how they operated, I scanned the area, wondering if they had eyes on the building before I walked in. The door was locked though, so I had to press a million buttons until someone buzzed me up.

Knocking on Stella’s door, my heart felt like it was lodged in my throat. I’d gone over exactly what I wanted to say to her so many times in my head it was all feeling like a jumble now. But when the door opened, it wasn’t Stella that answered, but some tall woman with short black hair and a scowl on her face. I recognized her as the woman that was sitting next to her at Sal’s diner.

“What do you want?” She asked, her tone full of ice and her eyes full of venom.

I didn’t blame her. “Is Stella here?”

“You know, I pushed her to go out with you, and what do you do? You stand her up.”

“I know. Something happened. If you’ll just let me talk to Stella, I can explain.”

“It’s alright Helena, I’ve got this,” Stella said, walking up next to her friend.

“You sure?”

Stella nodded. “Positive. I’ll call you later.”

Helena shot me one more deadly glance before moving past me. Her shoulder clipped mine and the unexpected impact had me stumbling back. I still wasn’t wholly recovered, but at least I was back up and walking.

“Can I come in?” I asked.

Stella glared at me through her dark lashes and her mouth was set in a firm line. “You couldn’t have texted?”

“Not for what I have to tell you.”

“Fine. Come in, but you can keep your stupid flowers. I don’t want them.”

She walked away from the door and into the kitchen area of her studio apartment. It smelled like her in here. Like cinnamon and black coffee.

I followed her, setting down the bouquet of calla Lillies on her counter and turned to face her. What I hadn’t expected was to be tackled to the ground.

My body hit tile and my ribs screamed out in pain. “What the⁠—”

“Good night, Callahan,” I heard her say as I passed out.

I awoke to the sound of metal slicing through air then a distinct thud landing behind my head. When I opened my eyes, I saw Stella standing there, knife in hand, a scowl etched across her face. She had her round glasses on, tight black pants that have an array of knives situated over her thighs, and a fitted black t-shirt that scooped low enough that I could see the swell of her breasts peeking over the top. The only problem was I had been tied to a chair with my mouth duct taped shut.

“Oh, good. You’re awake.” She smiled wide with a wild glint in her deep brown eyes, flipping the knife in her hand expertly. “Now, you should know I am an excellent shot with these knives. I know I told you it was a hobby but actually, you should be aware, that I can make this knife land anywhere I fucking want to. See how we lie to each other? I find out you work for the Underwood crime family and not… what was it you said?” The knife left her hand and sunk into the wall right behind me, nicking the top of my ear along the way. It fucking hurt.