AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I closed the door behind me and went to the vending machine, leaning my forehead against it after I put in my selections. What the hell have I done?
* * *
The next day,Rocco seemed to be much better, moving around the hotel room and gathering our things as I woke up. “Rocco? What are you doing?” I asked, my head still fuzzy with sleep, my voice raspy.
He straightened up with a wince. “Gathering our things,” he said. “If this project of yours goes south, we’ll have to get the hell out of here.”
“Project of mine?” I asked, yawning. “You’re the one who wanted someone to interrogate.”
“You’re the one who offered to be bait,” he pointed out.
I shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time I acted as bait,” I said.
Rocco frowned. “Your father let you be bait?”
“Not exactly,” I admitted. I’d been a part of a few of my father’s jobs, but not in that capacity. I’d usually been a lookout.
“That’s what I thought,” Rocco grunted. “I still don’t like this.”
“I don’t love it either, Rocco, but it’s our best chance to figure this out and get home.”
He sighed. “All right. What’s the plan, exactly?”
“I go out for supplies by myself,” I said simply. “If he’s looking for us, he’ll be looking out for me, right?”
“What if it doesn’t work?” Rocco scratched at his bandage, shirtless. I tried not to look.
“Then I’ll get the supplies. We won’t be any worse off,” I said.
Rocco nodded, tugging on a t-shirt that seemed too small for him. It stretched across his pecs and biceps and I bit my lip, looking away.
I got up and got dressed, not bothering to go into the bathroom and change. After last night, Rocco had seen all there was to see. I waited by the door, waiting for him to throw me the keys. “I’m going with you,” he stated.
I sighed. “I can do this by myself, Rocco.”
“I know you can,” he said, and I looked up at him, surprised. “But you’re not going to. I’m going to be there in case everything goes balls-up.”
“All right, but you’ll lie in the backseat. He can’t see you,” I said.
He nodded and we got into the car. It was a little strange driving with him lying in the backseat, but this was how it had to be done. I went to the nearest grocery store, a big-box one, and parked in the back. I wore a pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap that Rocco had in his duffel bag, as if I was trying to disguise myself. I hoped the disguise didn’t work too well. I managed to get all the supplies: toiletries, more bandages, essentials to keep in the hotel room. We’d been ordering in pizza left and right, so I grabbed some snacks, too. I thought for a moment that this would just be an easy supply run, and I wouldn’t come across anyone.
I was wrong. I was halfway to the car when someone came up behind me. “Excuse me, miss?” he said, and I took in a breath, turning. He grabbed me around the waist, trying to hoist me over his shoulder, and I dropped the shopping bags, wrestling with him. “Just take it easy,” he grunted, and I stepped down hard on his inseam. When he yelped and loosened his grip, I kneed him in the balls. I wasn’t gentle. He doubled over and let me go, and I went running for the car.
The tires squealed as Rocco backed up, coming to my aid. He pulled up next to the doubled-over man, who was trying to pull his gun. Rocco kicked it out of his hands. It was dusk by now, and there were plenty of cars in the parking lot. I remembered my father’s words about always keeping my head down to keep out of the eye of cameras, and Rocco was doing the same. “You Giovanni?” Rocco asked the man who was straightening up.
“What’s it to you?” the man spat.
Rocco kicked him again, right in the ribs. He went down and Rocco grabbed him and stuffed him into the car. When he tried putting up a fight, Rocco punched him in the face, knocking him out. I breathed heavily, adrenaline shooting through me as I got into the driver’s side. Rocco stayed in the back and I hurried back to the hotel room.
Rocco grunted when he pulled Giovanni into the hotel room and I watched him, anxious. “Don’t hurt yourself,” I warned.
Rocco gave me a wild grin. “You worried about me, cupcake?”
“Don’t call me ‘cupcake,’” I muttered.Stellinawas bad enough, brought back all kinds of memories I was trying to erase. Rocco chuckled. He seemed off, somehow, almost giddy. He was in his element, that was what it was. I’d never seen him on a job. He’d always kept that part of his life separate, and it was interesting to see how he enjoyed it.
I helped Rocco get him into a metal chair and duct-tape him to it, focusing on his wrists and ankles and then wrapping his torso around the chair as well. He came to when Rocco threw a cup of water in his face, sputtering. “You’re Giovanni, right?” Rocco asked him.
“What’s it to you?” the man spat.
