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I finally get the paper to lay flat and put the box with the lens in the middle. It’s only then that I realize I don’t have scissors. “Well, luckily for you, you don’t have to believe it. What I’m doing right now is none of your business.”
“Alright, well, if you want to keep secrets,” Brennan says, his tone teasing. “Do you remember that package that arrived the other day with my name on it?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s a gift for Brielle for her birthday. Can you do me a favor and wrap it? Then give it to her?”
“I don’t think you had to specify the give it to her part. I assumed it was a present and already wrapped it since you said it was her birthday soon and there was something on the way.”
“So, you do pay attention when I talk. How touching.”
“Don’t think you’re special,” I say as I head to the kitchen for a pair of scissors. “Is that all you were calling for?”
“And now you’re trying to get off the call with me. I can’t believe this. I thought you and I were closer than that.”
I chuckle and yank open a drawer, pulling out my scissors. “Shut up and go back to whatever illegal shit it is that you’re doing down there.”
“Thank you again for looking out for Brielle.” There’s some shouting in the background before he clears his throat. “Look, if anything happens to me while I’m down here or you need to get off the grid fast, there’s a safe in my room with everything Brielle needs to completely disappear again. The combination is her birthday.”
My stomach lurches slightly. “Isn’t this something you should have told me about before now?”
“I should have but I didn’t see any reason. She told me about the messages being sent to her, though. Said she had already told you about them.”
“And you think that something’s going to happen.” I glance out the window and see Brielle in her yard. She waters the flowers, stopping every now and then to take pictures of them.
“Call it a hunch. I really have to go now. Stay safe.”
“You too.”
I tuck the phone into my pocket before heading back to the room to wrap the present.
If Brennan has reason to suspect that something’s coming, then I’m going to have to spend more time around Brielle. It’s something that I’m hesitant to do. I have a hard enough time keeping my hands to myself when she’s around. I can’t imagine that it will get any easier if I spend more time with her.
Then there’s the issue of what I came out here to do.
I’m supposed to be building a foothold for my family in the criminal world here. This is my chance to prove to them that I’m more than just some violent and pathological babysitter for everybody else.
I thought that this was going to be my chance to do something good for the family, yet I’m stuck babysitting someone else.
Brennan is still going to be gone for a few more weeks. I don’t know how I can spend my time building my connections and watching over Brielle. There aren’t enough hours in a day to do it all.
As I consider my options, I wrap the present. It isn’t the best wrapping job in the world, but the bow on top and the overuse of tape at least makes it look like I tried.
When I take my present out to the kitchen and set it on the counter beside Brennan’s, I know that I’m in over my head.
I need more help than I’m willing to admit.
With a sigh, I pull out my phone and punch in Matteo’s number, listening to the ringing as I wait for him to pick up. Just when I think that he’s about to send me to voicemail, the call connects.
“Hey, baby brother,” he says, his tone teasing as gunshots ring out in the background. “How can I help you today? I’m just in the middle of a shootout right now, but since you can’t be bothered to text, it seems like I’m going to have to multitask.”
“Fuck, Matteo, I’ll call back later.”
“You’re already on the phone,” he says, his words punctuated by the gunshots. “Now, what do you need?”
“I’m in over my head and I need help. I don’t want the others to know, though. I thought that I was going to be able to come out here and handle everything, but I can’t.”
“Does this have to do with that Brielle woman?”
