Breaking Bones (Mariani Crime Family Series Book 2) (21 page)

“Angel’s made his decision,” Carlo said.

“Yeah, he has.” I lowered my voice. “But he’s still family, and you know he’s not like us.”

Carlo raised an eyebrow at me.

“Don’t get me wrong, he’ll protect his broad and his job, and he’ll fight for whatever’s his, but he needs someone there who’s got his back.”

“And you want to be this person?” he asked.

I nodded.

“You’ll be off the payroll.”

“Yes sir. I have some money saved up, and I’ll be living with Angel. He’s already offered me a job.”

“But it won’t pay nearly as much. How do I know you’ll stick with him and not bounce the second you get a better offer?”

“If I was in this for the money, I’d be staying in Vegas.”

A waiter entered the room, water pitcher in hand. Carlo waited until he left to start in with more questions. “You’re prepared to leave your mom? Your brother?”

“They can always come visit us,” I replied.

He tapped the table a few times before leaning back in his seat. “Here’s what’s gonna happen. You’ll be allowed to leave the city with Angel, but only after you do one more job for me.”

He was going to let me leave. I’d be free… out of this place for good after I did just one more job. There was always one more. “Thank you, sir. What do you want me to do?”

“Find Joey Durante and do him up.”

This job, I’d been expecting. “Yes sir.”

“Oh, and Bones… this woman who’s after your girl… that’s your problem. She’s not after Angel. You better keep my nephew out of it, or you and me… we’re gonna have beef.”

I froze, taking in every clue Carlo gave me. After my girl, my problem, Angel wasn’t involved, keep him out of it or die. Sure, no problem.

Angel was tearing up my phone by the time I made it back to the Jeep. I returned his call and filled him in on my meeting with Carlo.

“How you gonna find Joey Durante?” he asked. “The Durantes have been underground for years. Hell, I didn’t even know any were still in Vegas.”

If only I wouldn’t have killed Matt. I could have put a tail on him and waited until he led me to his new boss. “I don’t know. Matt couldn’t have been his only dealer, though. There’s gotta be more out there, and I’ll get a line on one of them.”

“I’ll see if I can track down a digital footprint for any of the Durantes.”

“Thanks, Angel.”

“Hey, no problem. What are you gonna do about Ari?”

Now that I knew someone was after her to get to me, I couldn’t let her bus it and possibly get nabbed. I had to find a way to protect her. But since she currently hated me, I wasn’t sure how I’d accomplish that.

“Shit.”

“Flowers,” Angel suggested. “Here, wait a second. Markie wants to talk to you.”

“Hey, Bones,” Markie said. “If you want to get on my sister’s good side, don’t get her roses, okay? Get creative.”

“Creative. No sweat.” How the hell was I supposed to do that? “Any pointers?”

Markie giggled. “Walk into the floral shop and pick out something that makes you think of her, like lilies or orchids or something. Then talk to her. Be real with her, Bones. I know there’s a lot you can’t tell her, but she has to know she’s important. Here’s Angel.”

“You get all that?” Angel asked.

“Yeah, sure. Get the girl flowers so she’ll let me protect her and take out the bad guy. What could possibly go wrong?”

He chuckled. “Everything. Just be careful, okay?”

“When am I not?” I asked. Then I hung up before he could answer.

I didn’t have time to chat with Angel. Ariana would be getting off work soon, and apparently I had to buy her the perfect bouquet and spill my guts in order to save her life.

“No sweat,” I repeated to myself, but I was definitely sweating.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Ariana

I
WAS IN the back of the restaurant trying to compose myself when Piper showed up. She handed me a tissue and said, “That’s the guy who’s been messing with your head? The ex?”

“No. We’re just… I don’t know. It’s complicated.” It seemed everything in my life was complicated apparently. “That’s not the ex. That’s the one I currently live with.”

“But you’re not dating?”

I wiped my eyes, blew my nose, and threw the mess away. It was time to get back to adulting. “Nope. See? Complicated.”

“Well, that explains why you’re interested in the room I have for rent.”

I started to protest. Yes, Bones was definitely part of it, but it was more about getting my independence back. Okay, it was about chasing down my dreams
and
leaving the asshole boys alone.

Piper held up a hand, silencing me. “Don’t get me wrong, he is fine. Something about a man in a suit. Mmm-mmm. Especially when you can tell he’s stacked beneath it. But I don’t care how hot he is, you gotta take care of you.”

I nodded, knowing she was right, but she hadn’t seen the other side of Bones like I had. She didn’t know the kind, sweet, loving Bones who still took care of his mom even though she’d basically sold him to the wolves so they could survive. A guy afraid of losing himself and falling over the edge into whatever the world wanted him to be. I understood that Bones. He was suffocating beneath the thick neck and bruised knuckles, and I wished I could get him air.

“Oh honey, men are assholes,” Piper said.

“They sure are.” And yet I couldn’t keep myself from hoping Bones was different. Even now.

Done airing my relationship laundry to Piper, I glanced in the mirror long enough to wipe away any smudged mascara before getting my butt back to work. The restaurant stayed busy for the last couple of hours of my shift. Thankful for the pace, I went on auto-pilot, bottling my confusing emotions so I could deal with them later.

My shift ended, and I clocked out and headed for the exit.

“You want a ride?” Piper asked before I reached the casino. “I can take you by my place so you can check out the room. Make sure it’s gonna work for you.”

My last apartment had been one safety hazard away from being condemned, so I was fairly certain I could live with whatever space Piper had to offer. I still hadn’t officially told her I’d take the room, but after today, I knew I would. I just needed some time alone to think. “Thanks, but not tonight. I’m dead on my feet. Can I give you a call tomorrow?”

“You’re not working? Oh, that’s right, it’s your birthday. Yeah, grab your phone.”

We swapped numbers and she made me promise to give her a call after her shift so she could take me out for a drink.

“I mean it, Ari. I don’t even care how late you call. We’re going for that drink.”

“Thanks,” I said, feeling a little better. I’d committed to a birthday dinner I was now regretting since Bones would be there, but no matter how much it sucked, at least drinks with Piper promised to be a good time.

Piper took off, and I lingered inside the restaurant, hesitant to head home. A couple asked me for drink refills, and I knew it was time to bail before the manager put me back to work. I rounded the corner and found Bones, still dressed in his suit, holding the most unusual bouquet of orange and purple flowers I’d ever seen.

Deep down, I knew the smartest thing I could do was to turn and run the other direction. But then Bones met my gaze and gave me that crooked smile of his, shredding my resolve. I was nowhere near ready to forgive him, but I was curious enough to approach.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Funny story. I was walking through a flower shop, and I saw these and thought of you. The florist said the orange ones are called birds of paradise and the purple ones are tiger lilies. They’re beautiful and unique. Kinda like you.”

His words were like flint and steel on the dying embers of hope inside of me. Afraid to let him ignite this thing between us again, I stood back, my arms across my chest. “What were you doing in the flower shop, Bones?”

He swallowed. “Thinking.”

“About…?”

“About that night on the mountain. About what you said… I’d keep you from your edge and you’d keep me from mine.” Something flickered in his gaze. It was like his mask slid off, revealing a young, vulnerable Bones beneath. “I know I haven’t been doing a very good job of it, but I need you. You still up for the task?”

How could I say no? How could I walk away from that? The tough badass I couldn’t get out of my head was asking for my help, and I’d have to be the biggest bitch in the world to deny him.

Tears stung my eyes as I nodded. “Yeah.”

We stood there staring at each other, each of us too afraid to move and wreck the moment. Finally, Bones asked, “You gonna take these? I feel kinda funny holding them.”

Laughter bubbled out of my throat and a tear ran down my cheek. I wiped it away and accepted the flowers. They
were
beautiful and unique, their fragrance sweet and alluring. More tears threatened to fall, but I blinked them away.

“Let’s go home,” Bones said, draping an arm over my shoulder. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. He led me to a blue and black Jeep Wrangler. The shiny chrome wheels alone were probably worth more than my entire wardrobe.

“Whose ride is this?” I asked when he opened the passenger door for me.

“Mine.”

I didn’t even know Bones had a car, and I was surprised he hadn’t showed this baby off. Leather seats, sunroof, tinted windows, buttons and controls for days, a stereo system that thumped. As if his looks and bulging muscles weren’t enough, this car would definitely get him laid.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

I nodded. “Is it new? Did you just get it?” It still had the new car smell.

“No. I’ve had it for a while, but we keep it stabled. Not many people know about it.”

“Ah. So this is your incognito ride. Your girl on the side?”

He chuckled. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”

I began to wonder what Bones was up to today that he didn’t want to be spotted doing. Something told me it wasn’t buying flowers. My gaze drifted to his knuckles. I wanted to ask him, but knew he’d tell me when he was ready. “How’d it go? Did everything turn out okay?”

“Yeah.” He started up the Jeep and turned the radio down. “A lot better than I thought.” He turned to face me, and smiled. “Look, Ari, I like you a lot.”

“But…?” I asked, feeling my heart plummet.

“But I had some stuff I had to deal with first.”

“Had to? As in past-tense?”

His smile widened. “Almost completely. I have one more thing I gotta handle.” His smile fell. “But in the meantime, I have to know you’re safe. There are people who’d use you to get to me if they knew how much I cared about you. You understand?”

I looked from Bones to the flowers in my hand, my heart plummeting. “You care about me? Because it really feels like I’m being handled.”

His brow scrunched up. “Wait, what?”

“I’m not an idiot, Bones. I see exactly what you’re doing here. You’re some control freak who thinks he can lead me on with promises of tomorrow if I just do what you want today. You say you care about me, but that’s not how you care about someone. That’s—”