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

Before I could agree the old man said, “Leave everything to me. Don’t worry about what Mr. Jones said, you make sure your ass is in school tomorrow and every day after. Your mom will never see a hospital bill for what you did to that kid. I’ll handle it.”

It
was
too good to be true. “You can really do all that?” I asked.

“‘All that’?” He laughed, and his associate joined in. They carried on for an uncomfortable minute while I wondered what was so funny. Finally, the old guy wiped a tear from his eye and said, “Kid, you have no idea what I’m capable of.”

Something in his tone made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, but his offer was too good to pass up. He offered me the money again, and this time I took it.

“I’ll be his friend. I’ll protect him,” I promised.

Mom’s beat-up old sedan turned the corner and came barreling toward us. No doubt she was pissed at the interruption in her work day my suspension caused. I stashed the cash in my pocket and stood straighter, dreading the guilt trip I was about to receive. The old man squeezed my shoulder in a gesture that bordered on painful, getting my attention. When I looked up at him, his smile had disappeared.

“He’s putting a lot of faith in you. Do not disappoint him, Franco,” he said.

Before I could ask who this mysterious ‘he’ was, the old man’s smile was back and directed toward the Celica, which screeched to a stop behind his Jaguar.

“Make sure she gets those brakes looked at,” the old man said to me. “Ron’s Brake and Tire on Decatur will help you out. Tell ’em Carlo sent you. You take care of your mom now. We owe her that much at least.” Before I could ask him why he owed Ma anything, he shuffled me toward the car as my mom was getting out, extending his hand to Mom. “Mrs. Leone, hello, so nice to meet you. You’ve got a great boy here. You should be proud.”

Mom’s brows knit together in confusion as she looked from the man to me.

“Now don’t you worry about this little misunderstanding one bit. A bully was picking on my great nephew and Franco here stepped in and defended him. It was admirable, and I’m fixin’ to go in there and talk to the principal right now. I’ll set him straight about what happened and you have my word Franco’s suspension will be lifted. You’ll be getting an apology call from the principal tonight.”

Ma’s expression softened. “You helped a kid?” she asked me.

I decided right then that protecting Angel Mariani would start with making him sound less like a sissy. If I was going to be his best friend, he needed to be someone I could respect. “He got jumped. It wasn’t a fair fight.”

The old man released my shoulder to pat me on the back and I knew I’d said the right thing. He headed toward the school and I climbed into Ma’s car and put on my seatbelt.

“You really helped a kid?” she asked again.

Well if that didn’t make me feel like the scum of the earth. Was it so difficult to believe I’d done something nice? “Ma—”

“Don’t look at me like that, Franco. This is the third suspension since your father… disappeared. You can’t blame me for being surprised.”

No, I couldn’t. Especially since I couldn’t have cared less about D’Angelo Mariani when I’d done it. “Yeah.” I patted the cash in my pocket. “Seemed like the right thing to do.”

I watched the old man disappear behind the school doors, realizing I hadn’t gotten a phone number from him. Somehow I knew it didn’t matter, though. He seemed like the type of guy who’d be in touch with me.

It’s been thirteen years since I accepted the cash from Angel’s great uncle, Carlo Mariani, sealing my position as Angel’s best friend and bodyguard. My “opportunities” did increase and Carlo has kept his word, protecting my family and growing my bank account. It’s been a good run, but Angel just flipped my world upside down with his plans to leave the family.

He’d invited me to leave the city with him before taking his girlfriend, Markie, out onto the balcony to talk.

My phone rang. As I reached in my pocket, Nonna—Angel’s grandmother who had everyone call her by the Italian title for “grandma”—looked up from the magazine she was reading and said, “That’ll be Carlo. Give that old coot my regards.”

I glanced at the display. Sure enough, Carlo was calling. I hurried for the door, answering as I walked.

“Carlo?” Markie’s sister, Ariana, asked. She was sitting beside Nonna, watching Angel and Markie out on the balcony.

“Family business,” Nonna replied. “Bones’ll take care of it.”

Nonna apparently had more faith in my abilities than I did. I stepped into the hallway and spoke to my
capo,
my boss.

“What the hell’s going on?” he asked.

I glanced down the hallway, making sure I was alone before replying. “I don’t know, but it sounds like the boss is setting Angel free.”

“What about you?” Carlo asked.

Angel’s great uncle usually had all the information long before I did. “Angel asked me to go with him.”

“No. Neither of you is going anywhere. You fix this, Franco. You need to talk Angel into staying.”

And how the hell was I supposed to do that? Angel had already made up his mind. “He’s in love, Carlo,” I replied. It sounded lame even to my own ears, but it was the truth. Angel would do anything for Markie, even abandon his family.

“Well, that’s inconvenient. I’ll see what I can do.”

The line disconnected.

For the first time in his life, Angel was happy. Of course his family would try to take that away from him. Dreading the meaning behind Carlo’s threat, I slipped back into the apartment and waited for my friend to return and tell me what the hell I was going to do with the rest of my life.

CHAPTER TWO

Ariana

T
HREE A.M., THE third week of December, and I was awake and doing a full evaluation of my life. Despite the hiccups over the past year (douchebag ex-boyfriend who conned me out of my money and my inability to catch a freaking break in my career), I’d been surviving on my own. So what if I couldn’t always pay all my bills, and I’d made a couple of bad decisions, at least I had a plan and I was working toward it. Until my sister popped back into my life on Halloween and changed everything.

Now she was lying beside me, fast asleep. She’d had brain surgery a little over a month ago, and was still recovering. A layer of blonde fuzz covered her head, almost hiding the scar that went from her front hairline to behind her ear. She was the strongest, bravest person I knew, and thanks to the help of her boyfriend and his powerful and scary family, she’d even kicked cancer’s ass. Markie’s position with Angel’s family put her at greater risk than cancer ever had, earning us a bed in Angel’s two-bedroom condo while his best friend and roommate, Bones, slept on the couch. It was a temporary arrangement, and as soon as the doctors released Markie to travel, Angel, Bones, Markie, and Angel’s grandmother would get the hell out of dodge. They’d invited me to come with them, and I was thinking about it while I should be sleeping.

Honestly, I could think of nothing worse than suffocating in Markie’s happily-ever-after as her doting boyfriend whisked her off to their agreed-upon destination where they’d most likely marry and start popping out perfect little babies.

But at least I wouldn’t be alone in my envious suffering. Bones would be there too. He and I had gotten close over the past month and a half, and although I wasn’t certain how he felt about me, Angel’s muscle-bound bestie made my heart flutter every time he glanced in my direction. I could leave Vegas with them and explore the possibilities that lay down a road shared with him, or stay behind alone, forever chasing after my elusive big break, likely to become a lonely old washed-up never-was.

Decisions, decisions.

I gave up on sleep at about five and stumbled for the coffee machine. Bones was already awake and pouring himself a cup. He offered it to me and pulled down another mug.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, trying not to be too obvious as my gaze raked over his muscular arms and drifted over the tank top barely hiding his well-defined chest. My entire body heated up, and it had nothing to do with the coffee cup in my hands.

“I’m taking you to work today,” Bones said, pulling my attention back to his face and my mind out of his pants, reminding me what a bossy control freak he could be.

Lucky for him, I was too exhausted to argue. “Whatever.” Bones wasn’t the boss of me, and he had a lot going on. If I really wanted to, I could sneak out and catch the bus before he even knew I was gone. I’d done it yesterday and, judging by the scowl on his face, he still hadn’t forgiven me.

Why had I done it? I don’t know. Maybe because I felt suffocated and helpless in my own damn life. Maybe I wanted to feel like I could do one thing on my own, even if that one thing was as simple and stupid as getting to work without a babysitter. Or maybe I was immature and acting out. What the hell did they expect from me? I’d been happily living on my own before they invaded my life and started bossing me around. Making a mental note to analyze my motivation further when I was more awake, I reached for the sugar.

Bones beat me to it, clapping down the lid as he watched me. We were inches apart—so close I could feel his body heat—and he gave me a cocky half-smile that made my brain short circuit. “I’m taking you to work today,” he repeated.

The challenge in his voice had an interesting effect on me. I couldn’t decide whether to cower in a corner, come out swinging, or wrap my legs around him and rake my fingers through his military-short dark hair as I kissed him into submission. I would have been all over that last option had the sexy bastard not friend-zoned me early on, but there was no way in hell I was cowering in the corner. Swinging was my only option. I held his gaze and stepped into him. I hadn’t put on a bra yet, so only the thin fabric of my night shirt and his tank top separated me from his delicious wall of muscle. He raised his eyebrows in surprise as I reached around him and plucked the sugar container from his grasp. His eyes darkened, betraying the fact he wasn’t as immune to my advances as he pretended to be.

My lips were inches from his when I repeated my earlier answer. “Whatever.”

His crooked smile faltered and he stepped away. He always backed down first. I didn’t like to play games, but Bones was forcing my hand. Knowing I’d affected him, I smiled and sweetened my coffee.

“You got time to hit the gym?” he asked. He’d moved over by the fridge, putting the entire kitchen between us, the chicken.

“Yeah, yeah. Give me five.”

I crept back into the bedroom and threw on my workout clothes between sips of caffeine. By the time I reemerged Bones stood by the door, still wearing his tank top, but had swapped his pajama pants for athletic shorts and sneakers. I downed the rest of my coffee and we headed out. Neither of us had the gift of small talk, so the elevator ride was blissfully silent and charged with sexual tension. Regardless, he didn’t even twitch when I “accidentally” brushed against him on my way out of the car.

The condo building had an incredible gym, made up of three separate spaces. One room held weights and cardio equipment, one held an indoor lap pool and hot tub, and the last was stocked with punching bags, yoga mats, and Pilates balls. It seemed a bit much for an apartment building, but Angel’s dad owned the place and he clearly had money to spare.

Bones and I stretched, and then warmed up with cardio and weights before he asked, “Feel like trying some boxing?”

By that time I’d woken up enough to return to my smartass self, so I settled into a fighting stance, thumbed my nose, and put up my dukes. “Sure. I think I can take you. Let’s do this.” Besides, I’d been trying for weeks to get my hands on Bones. If this was what it took, I was willing to get a few bruises.

He chuckled, shaking his head. “How about we try the bags first?”

He led me into the room and positioned me in front of the nearest bag. The scent of Bones—a delicious blend of shower gel, sweat, and metal—invaded my senses as he leveled my fists, adjusted my shoulders, and situated my upper body. My pulse skyrocketed and goose bumps sprouted across my skin. The rock-hard muscles of his chest tempted me to explore every dip and curve. Hoping he wouldn’t notice my body’s many reactions to his proximity, I said the first thing I could think of to distract us both. “This is the part where I fly like a bee, right?”