Page 12 of Mafia Manipulator


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I had to give it to whoever had created this concept. It was exactly what we needed. When we were finished eating and the movie was over, I put away our leftovers and grabbed the book Miceli gave, er; I took from his small library at the beginning of the week. Kyle was watching some anime while playing some game on his phone, which meant I could read in peace before bed.

“I feel safe here,” Kyle murmured. “We should stay.”

“I planned on it,” I answered. “I enjoy being here, too.”

“Good.” He flipped off the television and for the first time since we arrived back with dinner, I glanced at the clock.Already after eleven.Had I been that engrossed in the book? “I’m headed to my room. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night.” I squeezed his hand before he stepped away. Kyle was right. We hadn’t been this at peace since, well, before our parents died. After closing the book, I stood and stretched. Another great thing about being with Miceli was the fact I was tired, not exhausted. Sure, given half the chance, I’d sleep until two in the afternoon and go right back to bed at nine, just to catch up on all the sleep I was lacking. Unfortunately, even with as much sleep as I was getting, five in the morning came awfully early. I was slowing becoming my mom.

I kind of liked that too.

As I made my rounds to lock up the house and set the alarm, headlights from a vehicle across the property illuminated the area.Miceli. I didn’t even have to see the make or model of the car to know it was him, though later than usual. The garage door rolled up, and he pulled in. From the little bits of chatter I overheard, he had four cars, each of them more expensive than the last, and one SUV. I wondered what the SUV could be used for, but something told me it was none of my business.

I flipped the tumbler into place and went to step away when I saw Miceli exit the garage. He was incredible. Sexy as hell. The embers of my girlhood crush continued to burn, unbeknownst to me. As quickly as the flutter of excitement and anticipation built along with a few stray, erotic images, they were doused with a heaping helping of reality. A woman stepped out behind him. Leggy. Blonde. Probably gorgeous. He reached back for her hand, and she laughed. Not some annoying racket, a light trill sound. It was the type of giggle a woman made when she was flirting. By the looks they were exchanging, well... I could only guess what was about to happen. One last time, I reminded myself why it didn't matter to me. I worked for Miceli. The story I told him was nothing but a lie and if I told him the truth now, I’d be thrown out on my ass.

For good.

Taking that bit of knowledge with me, I headed to my room. Benny said the guy would be here in the morning, and I wanted to make sure I was up and ready to watch both of them like a hawk while they worked. I had no reason to trust them, even if they worked for Miceli. Crawling into bed, I pushed aside those wayward thoughts and tried to find a bit of peace so I could relax enough to fall asleep.

By the next morning, I’d forgotten all about the woman Miceli brought home, and concentrated instead on making breakfast for Kyle and me, though I half expected him to spend most of our official first weekend here, sleeping. While tossing and turning last night, the bitter reality hit me again. Rocca didn’t talk about her mother because she’d died, and I doubted she had many memories of the stunning woman I’d seen only a few times in my life.

A sharp knock at the door threw my plans into a tailspin. A soft yelp fell from my lips, startled by the intrusion. I went to the door and opened it, finding Benny and his friend already setting up outside. Instead of the nice suit Benny wore most of the time, he was in street clothes. He wore a black bomber jacket, dark, stone-washed jeans, and heavy duty boots. He even had a beanie on his head.A Benny wearing a beanie.I snorted at my joke.

“Morning, Collins.” Hearing my fake name roll off his tongue was hot. Too bad he was married. “We’re gonna get started. I let Mr. Daidone know what the plan was.”

“Uh...” I stared at him, then his friend, who wore almost the exact thing as Benny, except he had a leather cuff on his wrist. “Sure, thing.” I cleared my throat while giving myself a mental shake. “Would you like coffee? I’m making us breakfast. If you’re hungry.”

Benny held up his hand. “Nah, we’re good. Brought our own.” He hitched his thumb toward the collection of containers sitting on the small table next to the house.

“Careful, you might give me a complex,” I teased.

Benny laughed. “Touché.” He held his hand out, and I stared at it before placing my palm against his. He laughed a little harder then. “I need the keys, Collins.”

Oh, right? The keys. Duh.Wake up. Earth to Collins.Jeez. You’d think I was an airhead or something. Maybe seeing Miceli last nighthadknocked me off balance. “Sorry. You’re right.” I grabbed them off the hook beside me, then placed them in Benny’s hand. “If you need anything, holler.”

“We will. Enjoy your breakfast.”

Benny closed the door behind him as Kyle exited his room, rubbing his eye. His hair was mussed up. His clothes were rumpled, and he was barefoot as well. “Damn, they’re early.” It was already a little after nine and I’d been up for four hours staring at the ceiling in my room. No, it didn’t tell me any universal secrets, by the way.

“Yep.” I returned to the kitchen to continue what I’d set out to do. “There’s coffee, and I thought I’d make us breakfast.” At least some scrambled eggs and toast.

“Perfect.” Kyle went to the coffeemaker while I set about putting our food together. “So, what are you going to do today? This is your first official weekend off since all this stuff started.”

Huh. I hadn’t even thought about that. “Not sure. Maybe take a nap or a soak in the tub. Of course, I’d also have to wait for the guys to be done with the car, too.” I hadn’t said as much out loud, but when they were done, I was going over every inch of the vehicle and looking for bugs and trackers. I learned early on, if I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings, I’d wind up dead.

After the second incident of us being found, and Kyle and I had ditched our laptops, tablets, and phones, I asked for help discreetly. A shady guy in a bad part of the city sold the type of detector I needed. He said the thing would even pick up on the highest of tech or he’d give me my money back. I was going to hold him to that. I still carried the receipt. Once I left the store, I searched our vehicle. There were four of those little bastards in the car, two I was sure were probably microphones. Someone listened to every conversation Kyle, and I had in the beginning.

It was then I realized we were going to have to change our name and ditch daddy’s vehicle—well, probably before then, but you know how things go. I was too naïve. Too stupid. Too scared and shocked. I’d made several mistakes along the way. I realized in that moment, something had to give or else we were dead. It was easier to part ways with daddy’s vehicle and get the black monster currently being jacked up outside.

“I thought I might explore the grounds a little today.” Kyle sat at the island in the kitchen. “Talk to a few of the guys.”

Theguyswere the security team we all knew were there but didn’t talk about or see half the time. It was weird. On the day I got the job, I had seen no one outside, however when I came back to the car to head to the cottage, there were two security guards watching the front half of the property. By day three, I saw Benny and another man who came through at lunch to grab some food from Mrs. Petry. I wondered, not for the first time, if their hub was above the main garage. Of course, it was all speculation on my part. I never asked.

“Sounds like a good idea.” I placed some of the scrambled eggs on his plate, then two pieces of toast. Then chided myself for being so stingy with food. “Shit. I need to remember how to eat.”

Kyle chuckled. “It’s okay. Old habits are hard to break.”

He had a point. Since the day we ran away, trying to stay hidden from whoever wanted us dead, our bellies were always half empty, and our mental health was hanging on by a thread. Perhaps, later, when we were established a little more, I’d find an online-chat therapy Kyle and I could do. God knows we both needed it. “Well, it’s still not an excuse. All I can say is I will do better next time.” I sat beside him with a fresh cup of coffee and tucked into the meal. “Although having scrambled eggs for the first time in months tastes pretty damn good.”

“The best,” Kyle agreed.

I hummed in approval as I continued to eat. As scared as I was and paranoid to boot, I enjoyed the safety bubble surrounding us for the moment. I, in no way, deluded myself into thinking we were finally free. This time, though, when we had to face our past, I hoped I could count on Miceli to protect us. As it was, if I didn’t start trusting someone, I was going to screw up and, when I did, I feared Kyle and I would pay the ultimate price.

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