AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I force a smile I don’t feel. “I’ll be fine, girl. You know me. I can handle my shit. And I would be able to without doing this if it wasn’t for that bastard who mugged me earlier.” I recognized him, too, the son of a bitch. He was one of my customers earlier tonight. I remember thinking he looked a little shady, but then a lot of people do for different reasons. I can’t judge them.
Stupid me, ignoring my instincts. If there’s one thing I’ve always had on my side, it’s my instincts. And whenever I convince myself to ignore them, like I did today, bad things happen.
“I’m going to need you to call me the second it’s over and you have your money. I mean it. Or at least a text.” I’m sorry for the emotion in her voice and the tears in her eyes, but I can’t worry about that now. I’ve made my choices, and this is where they left me. I have to see this through.
There’s that Giordano stubbornness. Of all times for Sera’s voice to weave its way into my thoughts. When I hug Emma, I might be hugging Sera. But no, that’s impossible. My best friend is dead, the way she has been for over a year now. Ever since the night before I ran away.
I’ve never been to her grave.
“I’ll be fine,” I murmur in Emma’s ear. If she only knew how much I’ve already seen in my twenty years. More than most people see in a lifetime. This is nothing compared to what I’ve already gone through. “I’m tough. You know that.”
Paul Giordano’s daughter is about to auction off her virginity, though my highest bidder will only ever know me as Olivia Jordan. That’s how the rest of the world has known me since I made the decision to leave my family’s world of crime and death.
And I’m never going back. Not ever.
“Give me a ride to the place?” I ask before pulling back with a grin. “I’d better get moving if I want to make it in time.”
Chapter Two - Beckett
She’s up there. The light’s on in her apartment. And she’s got that friend of hers with her. I’ve followed her more than once after I first spotted her chatting with Olivia back at the diner. I think I recognize her as a former tenant here. She now lives in a little house near campus with a guy who’s probably too old for her, but I’m not in any position to judge other people’s relationships. So long as I know Olivia is safe with the people she hangs around with.
When is the girl going to leave? A glance at the clock on the dash tells me I’ve been waiting for the past half hour. It’s almost ten o’clock—not that Olivia needs a special bedtime at her age, but she usually gets up early for work. Of all nights for them to decide to hang out and be girlfriends.
I’ve made up my mind. No more stalling. Tonight’s the night I bring her home.
And she’s going to hate it. I’m ready for it, having prepared myself from the beginning. Since her father first sent me looking for her months ago. If I had only done what he demanded of me then, I wouldn’t be sitting in this parking lot now.
But as always, Olivia proved to be my greatest weakness. The old man would kill me if he knew I haven’t exactly tried to bring her back into the fold. He’d put a literal bullet in my head.
There’s no choice anymore. I would like to believe she’ll understand that once I explain it to her, but I know her too well for that.
The lights go off in the windows. Great. Are they going somewhere together? Sure enough, not a minute later the door opens and both girls step out of the somewhat grimy-looking apartment building.
Something is up. “What the fuck are you wearing?” I mutter, my blood going from a simmer to a boil when I set eyes on the tiny black dress that leaves nothing to the imagination. If it wasn’t for the bleached hair, I would swear I was looking at her a year ago. Getting ready to go out with friends, or to attend a party held by one of the families.
Whatever they’re doing, neither of them looks happy about it. The other girl is scowling as she gets into the car. Olivia hesitates, her gaze sweeping over the parking lot. Brushing over me and my car in the process. Does she sense me? Does she know this is her last night as Olivia Jordan?
I wait a beat before following the car out of the lot and down to the light. Where are they going? Should I wait at the apartment for her to return? That’s probably the better option, but I’ve never exactly made the smartest decisions when it comes to her.
Besides, in that dress she has on, every man with working eyeballs is going to be jockeying for a chance to get next to her. I haven’t gotten such a clear look at her sinful body in all this time. She’s usually wearing jeans or sweats. Her life doesn’t lend itself to designer labels anymore.
She’s dead wrong if she thinks I’d let her out of my sight while wearing a dress like that.
It can be easy to forget she has no idea I’m watching her. That I’ve been following her all this time. Not every day, not always, but enough that I’m skating along the razor-thin line between performing my job and flat-out stalking.
Tonight, I’m not acting on my need to protect her. This is all about what Mr. Giordano wants. No more letting her think she’s getting away with this. Things are heating up between the Bernardi family and anyone they see as an enemy. The boss promised Luca Bruno his help if things get too hot, but that means making an even bigger enemy of Dante Bernardi should he find out the family has chosen sides. Better to have Olivia home, safe, before that happens.
Something tells me I’m not going to get the chance to tell her all of this without her fighting tooth and nail. I know this girl. I know her better than she thinks I do, maybe even better than she knows herself. I’ve made a job of it.
Though not even the boss would ever expect me to take my work this seriously. But he doesn’t know the full story. How I was equal parts enraged and relieved when I found out she fled the family compound. Move on the father she was away from me, the better—at least, that was what I told myself at the time.
it isn’t until we’re deep in Morelli territory that I take notice of my surroundings. What the hell are they in this part of town for? What’s worse, the car I’ve trailed all this way comes to a sudden stop in front of a nondescript three-story building in a row of similar structures. There’s nothing special about it. There isn’t even any light coming from the windows.
Yet when Olivia steps out of the car—I have a hard time looking away from her legs when she reveals them—it’s obvious there’s more here than meets the eye. I pull in a few spots back and watch her walk quickly and purposefully up to the front door. Looking back and forth, her bleached hair shimmering in the street lamp, she jams her finger against the bell.
“What are you doing?” I don’t like this. It’s one thing to sit across the street from a diner and watch slobs see how much of her they can get away with touching before she reacts. That’s hard enough to deal with. It’s amazing I have teeth left after gritting them so hard.
Staring at the building, I pull out my phone. “Do something for me,” I mutter as soon as the call connects. I don’t even know who I’m talking to. Whoever is on duty in the control center back home. “Run this address.” I rattle it off, my heart seizing when the black door opens and Olivia steps through. What the hell did she just walk into?
