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By the time we pull into a parking space outside the ramshackle old apartments, I can see the tension on Sybil's face. She shoves away from me when I try to grab her from the back, but Percy easily grabs her from the other side. Late and dark as it is, no one is out walking in this neighborhood, which is convenient. Sybil may understand omertà better now than she did years ago, but it never makes our lives easy if people take notice of our activities.
Percy leads her up the stairs inside while I follow behind. She drags her feet and keeps glaring back at me, accusing and fearful.
Good. She should be scared. After all, I haven't decided not to kill her.
I should. Just…not yet. No need to create more messes than necessary all in one night.
When Percy opens the apartment, she resists again, but I nudge her forward firmly. Sybil takes in the place warily. It's not a looker, and it's not big. There's one room with a bathroom attached and the living room with a shallow balcony. The kitchen is part of the living room, stocked modestly with coffee and nonperishables. Everything is clean, if not updated in the last twenty years. No decorations.
"Did you need something else, Boss?" Ace asks, rounding the threshold. His eyebrows bounce up when he spots Sybil standing off to the side. "Wait, you didn't—"
"Ace," Percy warns, "better not."
"But…" Ace shakes his head. "Okay. What'd you need?"
"Protection job," I mutter, nodding at Percy to unmute Sybil. She glares daggers at me the entire time but wisely doesn't start with me now. "I can't stay. Somewhere to be."
"You mean, you want us to guard her? What are we supposed to do with her?"
He seems a little too excited about that idea. As I approach him, I give him a slim smile, and that nips it in the bud fast. Ace knows by now that my smile isn't a good omen.
"Do nothing with her. I don't want you talking to her, watching her, or fuckingthinkingabout her. Just stand outside or wait in the car and make sure the Gattos don't come sniffing around for their cargo. Got it?"
He nods vehemently and steps back outside. My eyes flick again to Sybil. I expect her to be glaring at me. Percy is fighting a smile, but he sobers up when I glare at him.
"'Somewhere to be,' huh? Very vague. Sort of seems like you just don't want to stay here with…you know."
He glances at Sybil with an appraising brow quirk. Percy the Kid is an intimidating mountain, but to her credit, she doesn't so much as blink. Instead, she just looks back at me. The calm before the storm.
Percy is half-right. I want to be away from here for when the storm finally hits. No doubt she's going to be hysterical like most hostages are. But it's not an excuse—I do have somewhere to be, and I'm at risk of running late.
"Meeting," I mutter.
"Oh, yeah? Then how come I haven't heard anything about it?"
I give him a deadpan look, and he blinks.
"Wait.Thatmeeting? Fuck, man. Tell me you don't plan on showing up looking like that."
I look at the bloodstains. "No. He'd enjoy it too much."
"Get going. Don't worry about the girl. We'll keep her—"
"'The girl'is right here, and don't bother," Sybil snaps. She steps away from my friend to glower at me, hackles raised and eyes flashing. "There's no point trying to hide me here. If the Gattos want to find me, they'll find me."
"You give them too much credit."
"And you are wasting your time. Why keep me here under protection? I don't have anything you want. Just let me go home to my family."
"Nothing I want, hmm?" I step forward to loom over her again, furious that her proximity makes my cock take notice immediately every time. I meaningfully look her over, lingering on the soft swells of her breasts before meeting her red face. "Don't be too sure of that,crudele tesorina. You don't know the half of what I want from you."
"I thought you wanted me dead," she deflects, spluttering.
"I still might. Let's take a rain check."
"Stop acting like an ass."
"I never act like anything. You're the one who deserves an Oscar—or whatever the equivalent is for adult film stars because that was one hell of a performance." I can't help adding the jibe.
