Breaking Bones (Mariani Crime Family Series Book 2) (13 page)

“What does this mean?” I asked Carlo.

“Memorize the code and the name, because the message is about to disappear.”

Okay. “But what does it mean?”

“Means Nick Jones is hiding from the family and you gotta bring him in.”

I’d met Nick Jones. He was pushing six feet tall and had to weigh over three hundred pounds. He was hiding? How would I find him? How would I take him? I couldn’t even drive. “Me?”

Carlo chuckled. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, kid. You’ll be doing that shit soon enough. Those messages go out to everyone on the family network and the first person who sees him needs to take action. There’ll be a nice bonus in it for the guy who gets him.”

Wondering if he meant what I thought he meant, I stared up at my mentor. Carlo fashioned his hand into a gun and mocked blowing his brains out. Yep, I nailed it.

He gestured at my phone. “See, Tech has already made the message go poof. Can’t risk information getting into the wrong hands.”

The message was gone. It was a neat trick, but my curiosity wasn’t deterred. “Why would anyone hide from the family?” The Marianis kept my family fed and protected. Sure, Carlo was a tough teacher, and my body had a few new scars, but I’d learned how to fight and how to stay alive. The Marianis had done a hell of a lot more for me than my own family had.

He tapped the steering wheel a few times, and I got the feeling he was trying to put his words into kid-friendly speech. He was trying to dumb it down so I could understand.

“Jones is an enforcer,” he finally said. “You remember what I told you about enforcers?”

“They enforce the rules of the
borgata
, the family.”

“How?” he asked.

They were big, scary guys who only an idiot would screw with. I’d met a couple of enforcers, and they wouldn’t have to lift a finger to keep me in line. “I’m not sure.”

He lit a cigarette and sucked in a long drag. Then he asked, “What’s the one thing I tell you the most, kid?”

I only had to think about it for a second before answering, “Don’t trust anyone.”

“Good, you’re learning. Yes, don’t trust anyone. In our line of work, ninety-nine percent of the people you deal with are gonna be honor-less thugs who’ll just as soon stick a knife in your back as look at you. The remaining one percent are idiots. That’s the world we live in, kid, so the boss makes rules to keep all these greedy, blood-thirsty bastards in check and to keep the cops off our asses. When someone gets out of line, the boss calls in an enforcer to set ’em straight. You understand?”

“They’re like hitmen?” I asked.

Carlo smiled and ruffled my hair. “You’re a smart kid.”

But something still didn’t make sense. “But the enforcer’s in trouble?”

“It takes a certain kind of guy to be a hitman. Has to be completely devoted to the family and willing to take out anyone the boss orders him to hit. Anyone. Sometimes he’ll take too many jobs… do too many hits… and something inside him snaps. Some go numb, some get off on it. Those are the ones you really gotta watch for. Sick bastards. Before you know it, they’re making unauthorized hits, whackin’ people in broad daylight, wiping out entire families.”

I gaped at him, unable to believe my ears, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“When the problem solver becomes the problem, we gotta put ’em down. That’s the code the boss sent out just now.”

“Everything okay?” Ariana asked, pulling me from the memory.

I nodded and slipped my phone back into my pocket, wondering about Tanner Goss, the enforcer who’d slipped his leash this time. Did he enjoy killing? When Carlo and I had that conversation, the idea of making a hit still made me sick. But when Renzo splattered Jimmy’s brains all over the restaurant wall I hadn’t felt a twinge of anything for the poor bastard. No remorse, no pity, no guilt, no queasiness—nothing. Would Carlo consider me another “sick bastard” who he needed to watch?

Come on, Bones. Jimmy was a dad and a husband. You should feel something.

Trying to manufacture sympathy for his wife and kids just made me feel numb inside. It was a job, and I’d done what I was supposed to do like I always did. My God, what sort of cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch was I becoming?

“Are
you
okay?” Ariana asked.

Was I? Over the years I’d become a damn good enforcer, which made me a pretty shitty human being. It was the reason I stayed the hell away from relationships. Angel was the only person I knew I wouldn’t be able to kill. Well, Angel and Ma. Even after everything she’d put me through, I’d defend her with my life.

“Bones?”

“Yeah, just thinking about life.”

If the boss ordered me to take Ariana out, I’d be in trouble. What about Markie? Killing Markie would essentially be like killing Angel. Especially once they were married. Shit. When had I picked up so many liabilities?

“Sounds deep.”

She had no idea. Desperate to get out of my own head, I picked up the bags. “I got the food. You wanna get the blanket out of the back?”

“I don’t know where you’re going with this, but it sounds kinky. I’m in.” She grinned and hopped out of the Hummer. When she opened the back, she asked, “And why does Angel keep a blanket in his car?”

“Survival. You never know when you’re gonna get stranded somewhere.”

Or when you’re gonna need to wrap up a body.

“You and Angel stranded?” She laughed. “Is that like having to settle for a three-star hotel?”

If she had any idea of the gear stored in Angel’s ride, she’d probably think we were terrorists.

I led her to a flat spot off the road where we laid out the blanket, sat side-by-side, and dished out food. Then halfway through the meal she called me a romantic.

“What the hell did you say to me?” I asked.

“Oh come on. You gotta know this is romantic. You can growl and snarl at me all you want—which, by the way, that’s hot—but I know the truth, you big softie.”

“I was hungry, you didn’t want to go home, this made sense,” I defended.

“Right. This is totally what all the other big, buff thugs would do.”

“Why do I keep you around again?” I asked.

She leaned against me and the soft, sweet scent of her tickled my senses. “Because I’m charming and witty, and you’re trying to get in my pants.” She looked down at the piece of clothing currently riding up her thighs and corrected herself. “Er, skirt.”

After the past couple of days, I was wound so tight I felt like I’d snap and do something we’d both regret. “I told you, I’m not the kind of man you should tease, Ari.”

“And I told you, I’m not teasing. You know, you didn’t have to go through all this trouble. You could have just—”

“Why do you do that?” I asked.

“Do what? Hit on you?”

“No.” I was pretty sure why she hit on me. She liked to drive me crazy. “Why do you sell yourself short? You act like you’re not worthy of anyone’s time, money, or effort. Like you think the only thing you have to offer is your body. I don’t get it, Ari. Yeah, you’re gorgeous, but you’re also a damn cool chick. Why do you put yourself down like that?”

Her smile slipped away and she stood with her back to me, facing the lights of the city. Knowing I’d upset her, I gave her a minute alone before I joined her. The night was cool, so I took off my suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Bones,” she whispered.

“What? Your past? You think you’re the only one who’s done shit you’re not proud of? You gotta let that go.”

She sighed. “I know.” Then she leaned against me again. “Thanks for the jacket. And for bringing me to your secret spot. And for dinner. I’m still pretty pissed about you not getting us a bottle of wine, though.”

“I told you, I don’t contribute to minors.” I draped an arm over her shoulders.

She reached up and laced her fingers in mine. “Yeah, yeah.”

We stood like that for a while, watching the lights of the city as our problems faded to the background. It felt comfortable and peaceful to be with Ariana like this, above the world.

Finally, she tugged on my hand. “We’re a lot alike, you know?”

“How’s that?”

“Doing what we gotta do to survive. Skatin’ the edge. Sometimes I feel like I’m about to fall over.”

I nodded, knowing full well what she was talking about.

She turned to face me, tugging me closer until our faces were inches apart. Her eyes were dilated and her breathing was heavy. She held me there, searching my face.

“So let’s make a deal,” she whispered.

“I’m listening.”

“You keep me from falling over my edge, and I’ll do the same for you.”

Locked in the moment, I stared at her, wondering what to say. Sure, she knew how to calm me down, but if I ever stepped over the edge I wanted her as far from me as possible. And what edge was Ariana teetering over? Drugs? Suicide? Beyond the sarcasm and the jokes there was something broken and hurting inside her. I wanted to put it back together.

Still staring into my eyes, she brushed a kiss against my lips.

Before I could think about what I was doing, my hands wrapped around her waist to pull her closer. Our lips met again, this time with hungry intensity. She moaned, letting me past her teeth. My pulse raced as I pressed her body to mine, feeling every curve of her. I wanted more. I wanted to rip off her clothes and stretch her across that blanket and…

My phone buzzed. The vibration in my pocket slapped me back into reality and, breathing heavily, I pulled away to check it.

What the hell am I doing?

I glanced at the display, expecting it to be someone claiming to have bagged and tagged Goss. Instead, one of my contacts finally had a beat on Matt Deter. The reminder of who and what I was cleared my head.
If
I made it out of this city alive and
if
Ariana came with me, then I’d give in to what we both wanted. But until that day, I needed to focus on keeping us both alive.

Lips plump and wet, eyes hooded, breathing heavily, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Work calls. I gotta get going.”

She didn’t say anything—just walked over and started cleaning up the food. I joined her, bagging up the leftovers before folding up the blanket and sticking it all in the Hummer. Then, we were on our way back to the city. Ariana still hadn’t said a word.

“I’ll drop you off at the condo,” I said.

She nodded.

Then I’d go hunt down her ex-boyfriend. Ariana thought she could save me, but I was already dangling over the abyss.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Ariana

T
HURSDAY WAS CHRISTMAS. I was actually sleeping in when Markie woke me at o’dark thirty to exchange presents, which I wasn’t particularly looking forward to. Knowing she wouldn’t leave me alone until we got it over with, I followed her into the living room and sat beside Bones. Markie—giggling with excitement—turned on Christmas music and handed me a small present.

Bones, bless his heart, passed me a cup of coffee. “You’re gonna need this,” he said. Then he refilled his own cup from the pot resting on the coffee table. Neither of us knew what to do with what had happened on Sunrise Mountain, which meant I was confused and frustrated, but we were pretending like the whole thing never happened.

Markie nudged my hand on her present. “Open it,” she urged. Then she sat on Angel’s lap in the recliner, wrapping her arm around his neck and looking the spirit of Christmas joy.

I took a gulp of coffee before eyeing the small package. “You should open mine first,” I said, still trying to wake up.

Markie deflated, making me feel like a real bitchy Scrooge. Trying to save face, I stood, walked over to the Christmas tree, retrieved the gift I’d gotten Markie, and tossed it to her. She snatched it out of the air and shook it.

“We’ll open them together,” I said.

Markie grinned, waiting for me to return to my seat. Then we both went to work opening our gifts. She got me a gorgeous leaf necklace and matching earrings. I got her a sweater I’d seen her eyeballing before she’d gone into the hospital.