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I furrow my brow. “Dinner?”
“Yeah, you know, the thing down in Atlantic City? Dad and some of the guys have been planning it for weeks.” Max rubs the back of his neck and averts his eyes, almost as if he realized he’s said too much. “Maybe he didn’t want to bother you guys with the details, you know, since you had so much going on with your grandfather.”
That’s him shoveling bullshit. And it’s piled pretty high behind him. Nobody told us anything about this dinner. My parents are at home, cuddled on the couch watching Inside Out with Lily. If there had been an invitation, I’m sure my dad would have at least mentioned it when I’d met him at the office. Was he accidentally on purpose left off the guest list because of what’s going on with Tony Oriani and his pathetic power play?
Shit’s about to get real. This missed invite has to be about my dad’s recent promotion. Tony is trying to edge out my dad because he wants a chance to grab control, and that’s why they’re all in AC. He might as well have just pulled the trigger and pushed my dad into his own shallow grave.
And now I have to deal with Rocco. Faster than I’d thought, based on this new information. I need to get Rocco on our side and figure out how I’m going to break the news to Max that I betrayed him. It won’t matter that I was the only one willing to help him get back on his feet after he blew the whistle on Rocco. The only thing that will matter is that I’ve taken his arch nemesis under my wing in an attempt to cripple Tony’s plans for a coup.
I’m so fucked.
The tension in the air almost chokes me. I need to get home. My phone pings, and I grab it out of my back pocket. It’s Lily. She wants to know when I’ll be back with her cake pops. Fuck it, I’ll grab her some Starburst jelly beans from the drug store on my way home. I can’t stand here for another second while the fate of my family is being decided by a bunch of fucking goons. And I can’t look at Shaye without wanting to pull her close and bury my head in her neck, praying that all this shit around us could just disappear and leave us alone to be together.
I take my coffee from the barista and pull down the rim of my baseball cap. “Guys, I’ve gotta go. Have fun. Max, I’ll text you tomorrow.”
“Okay, man. Drive safe. That ice is dangerous.” He takes one final look at me, one I recognize all too well, and it sends a jolt zipping down my spine.
That nagging feeling is back to gnaw at me. I need to get the hell out of here. I sidestep a large sheet of ice on the way to my car and slide into the driver’s seat. So many thoughts are flying through my mind, and while I should really be focused on the ones about my dad’s business dealings and why he’s suspiciously been left off of an invite list, it’s Shaye who’s front and center.
I turn the key in the ignition and the engine roars to life, heat blasting out of the vents at my face. I fucked up, big time. I let this happen, and now I’ve put her in danger, too. Danger by association. These people, they have eyes everywhere. If they’re trying to push my dad out of the way, they’ll be tracking his every move…my every move.
They’d have seen Shaye come to my house.
I’d been warned time and again to stay away, but I couldn’t control myself. Too much had been weighing me down, and for once, I wanted to give in to my own emotions. So I did a fucking horrible thing. And then I did something even worse.
Now she hates me, and there’s not a damned thing I can do about it.
I throw the car into drive and head toward the parking lot exit. I flip on my right turn signal and pull onto the road. I can feel the slick road beneath my tires, and if I brake too hard, I’ll spin out. I tap the gas lightly since there’s a stop sign not too far up the street.
Snow begins to fall, and I turn on the windshield wipers. My eyes fall to the center console. Fuck me! I forgot the jelly beans. I let out a deep sigh. Dammit. I can’t go home without something for her. I’ll have to go around the block.
At this point, I’m going about twenty, but I’m not taking any chances.
Ha. Ironic that now I’m concerned about taking chances.
I slow down for the stop sign and peer around me. There’s barely any light, other than what is coming from the houses lining the street. It’s one of the things I hate about the suburbs of New Jersey. You can’t see anything at night. And with all the deer lurking, waiting to run across even the busiest of roads, you could be severely screwed if you’re not careful.
I remove my foot from the brake and slowly press down on the gas. The tire makes a loud sound, but the car refuses to move. Shit, I wonder if it’s stuck on a patch of ice. I press a little harder and the car chokes again, but the tire is now loose, and I roll through the sign. If I were going home, I’d have gone straight through, but since I need to go back to the drug store, I’ll hang a right that’ll take me back to the nearest strip mall.
I let out a breath since the last thing I want is to plow into the tree at the corner. I turn my head left once more just to double check, spin the steering wheel, and lightly press on the gas pedal. A bright flash of light comes from out of nowhere. I squint at the high beams, waiting for the car to slow down since it’s a four-way stop.
It doesn’t.
I slam on the brake mid-turn, the tires skidding on the icy pavement. My chest tightens, and my fingers grip the steering wheel in anticipation of the impact. Because there’s no fucking way I’m going to escape the impending wreck. My car screeches to a halt, tires scraping against the sidewalk. I try to pull in a deep breath, fearing it may be my last, wishing to God that I’d stayed another minute at Starbucks and gotten the fucking cake pops. Then I wouldn’t be alone facing death, just like Grandpa. In my periphery, I see the SUV fly through the intersection, and that’s when all sound is muted. I’m pretty sure I let out a scream, but my ears are numb to it. The smell of burning rubber and searing metal assault my nose as my car is crushed against a tree by the SUV. I grit my teeth, my body pinned to the seat. A shooting pain explodes down my spine, and even though it hurts like fucking hell, at least I’m not paralyzed.
I try to turn my head, but the motion brings tears to my eyes. I’m still alive, still breathing, but I’m trapped between the steering wheel and the door. Jesus Christ, if I hadn’t made a right turn, that asshole would have plowed right into the driver’s side and mangled me beyond repair. As it was, he’d come damned close. Another two inches, and I’d have been smashed, too.
I peer out the window, trying to get a look at the fucknut driving the SUV. But the snow is falling too hard and the SUV’s windows are all blacked out, making it impossible to see anything.
I fumble for my phone and grab it as the SUV pulls away from the wreck and speeds down the street. My hands are shaking, and I can’t zoom in to get a picture of the license plate.
Sonofabitch.
The ringing between my ears won’t stop, and I don’t know if it’s just the memory of the crashing metal, or if another car is skidding toward me to finish the job.
The job…interesting. At least I’m lucid enough to know that there was something fucking odd about the way that SUV waited before peeling down the street. It could have been some deadbeat driving like a jackass in this weather who just wanted to see if I was still alive after being plowed into a tree.
Or it could have been something else.
