Breaking Bones (Mariani Crime Family Series Book 2) (4 page)

“So you know where he’s going yet?”

“No. The job’s remote. He can live anywhere in the U.S.”

Carlo shook his head, looking disgusted. “I always figured he’d come around. That one day his blood would kick in and he’d change. Always thought Angel would be your capo. You know that’s why I never brought you in, right? We were waiting. But with Angel out of the equation… well, we’re opening the books later this month, and it’s past time we brought you in.”

Now? I’d waited years to be made, and now that Angel wanted me to leave with him they were finally ready to go through with it? Why? Information was Carlo’s currency. He had to know I was planning to leave with Angel. Careful to keep my expression neutral, I nodded. Saying or doing anything else would most likely get my throat cut.

Carlo glanced at his watch before taking his seat. “I have to make a phone call. You know the way out.” He gestured toward the door.

Suspecting that my lack of enthusiasm at his offer had upset him, I left. Constanza caught up to me on my way out the door, filling my hands with foil-wrapped fresh tamales. They smelled great, and I thanked her, even though I no longer had an appetite. The meeting with Carlo had made me realize how screwed I was. How screwed we all were. Angel’s father had taken out the Pelino family’s heir apparent, and if the Pelinos had any chance at saving face they’d need to whack Angel as retaliation. As a Mariani son, Angel would always have some level of family protection, but his father couldn’t throw any more men at protecting the son who wanted out of the business. Then there was me. If I refused Carlo’s offer, my protection would be completely stripped. We needed Markie’s doctor to hurry and clear her so we could get the hell out of Vegas. In the meantime, I had to stay alive and keep myself from getting made.

My mind heavy with worry, I climbed into the Hummer as my phone buzzed with an incoming text. Angel sent me a list of groceries he needed me to pick up so he could cook dinner. Since Markie’s surgery, the two of them only left the condo for doctor visits. Her doctor had told her to take it easy, and Angel was making damn sure she did. With family tensions what they were, it made my job easier since I only had to watch out for myself.

Somewhere between Carlo’s house and the grocery store, I picked up a tail. A black, newer-model Toyota Camry hung three cars back but followed my every move. I changed lanes, the Camry changed lanes. I turned, it turned. I made a complete circle, and it was still behind me. Knowing I needed to find out who was after me, I changed lanes again and made a sharp turn down a wide alley. Parking the Hummer on the other side of a Dumpster, I killed the engine, grabbed the gun in my pocket, and waited. Time ticked by and the Camry didn’t show. Wondering if the perceived tail had been some sort of bizarre coincidence, I got the hell out of there.

While in the grocery store, I ran into a club waitress named Trixie. After asking me about Angel and feigning sympathy for Markie’s surgery, she said, “Whatever happened with that douche bag in the condom wrapper?”

My ears perked up. “Matt Deter?”

“Yeah. That jerk. You know, he pinched my ass and asked me if I wanted to unwrap him. As if. The loser was kicked out of our club last month for pushing drugs in the bathroom.”

Trixie was a nice enough girl, but trying to get her to focus was a losing battle. “Have you seen him lately?” I asked.

“Not me personally, but one of the bouncers had to run him off the other night. He was dealing by our back door.”

I thanked Trixie for the first lead I’d had on Matt since Halloween, and she promised to pass the word and have everyone call the second he resurfaced. Feeling hopeful, I made a couple of calls on the way back to the condo, but nobody else had seen the illusive Matt Deter.

CHAPTER FOUR

Ariana

I
ENJOYED WORKING breakfast at the diner because it was our busiest shift, full of friendly old people who tipped well. But today was busier than normal because, in addition to my duties, I was training our new girl, Piper. Piper had short, dark hair with blue spiked tips which went great with her nose ring and thick, dark eyeliner. Most importantly, Piper was talkative and interesting, melting away the hours with each entertaining story.

“What’s Los Angeles like?” I asked her as I filled up the coffee machine.

Piper shrugged. “Loud. Crazy. Lots of really great bars. And you haven’t lived until you’ve been to a Dodgers game.”

“And you’re close to the ocean, Disneyland, and Hollywood. Ohmigod, I would kill to see Hollywood. Did you ever meet any big stars?” Vegas hadn’t worked out like I’d planned, but Hollywood… I was certain Hollywood would be incredible. It was the place of stardom dreams after all.

“Didn’t make it out to Hollywood much. Not really my scene.” Piper wiped down a table and grabbed the water pitcher. “I did see J Lo coming out of a restaurant once, though.”

“Jennifer Lopez?” I asked, feeling like a star-struck small-town girl, which I basically was.

“Yeah. No biggie. You’ve never seen anyone famous in here?” she asked.

“No. Never.” Big stars probably stayed in the nicer hotels and had room service bring them their meals.

The coffeepot finished brewing. Piper filled a water pitcher and we floated around the restaurant, refilling drinks. Once we were done making the rounds, we broke for lunch. She headed outside to smoke and I made a beeline for my favorite seat in the casino, a stone wall beside a peaceful little pond. The spot was mostly hidden by a fake tree, allowing me privacy to eat or play on my phone. I’d only showed one other person my special spot, so I was shocked to see someone sitting there. Especially someone wearing a suit. Disappointed, I turned to leave.

The suit stood, catching my attention. “Hey baby.”

The familiar voice brought on a wave of mixed emotions: first relief because he was alive, and then anger because the bastard should have called me to let me know he wasn’t dead in a ditch somewhere.

“Matt,” I breathed, unable to believe my eyes. He looked good—real good. He’d been my agent and my boyfriend, but when I’d needed him most, he abandoned me. And now he was here, in my spot, breathing the same recycled casino air as me. The question was… why? “What do you want?” I asked, taking a step back.

His frown told me it wasn’t the reception he’d been expecting, which only pissed me off more. He’d almost killed me. What did he expect? For me to jump in his lap and lick his face like his faithful bitch? Not this chick. I’d trusted him, and Matt had royally screwed me over, shattered my heart, took my money, and left. Now he was back wearing a new tailored suit and shiny black oxfords. He’d cut his hair and shaved, like he was trying to pull off a respectable-man look. Too bad I knew the truth.

“Don’t be like that, baby. I missed you.”

I used to love it when he called me baby. Now it made me want to rip out his tongue. Unimpressed, I crossed my arms. “Cut the bullshit and tell me what you want.”

He held up his hands in the universal gesture for surrender and took a hesitant step toward me.

“Stay back,” I warned, afraid of what I’d do if he didn’t. This would be a bad time to practice the punches Bones showed me. If I attacked Matt, casino security would be called and I’d probably lose my job. A little voice in the back of my mind kept whispering that it’d be worth it. My job wasn’t all that spectacular anyway.

“So glad I found you, Ari. I have great news,” Matt said. Apparently he intended to pretend like I didn’t want to kick his face in. “I went to the apartment to find you, but you’d moved out. By the way, what did you do with my stuff?”

Everything Markie and I hadn’t taken to Angel and Bones’s condo was in a storage unit. Everything except Matt’s crap. “I left it in the apartment.”

“You abandoned my stuff?” he asked.

I snorted. “Technically, you did. Had I taken it with me, it would have been considered stealing. I should have sold it all to pay for the security deposit you owe me, though. Turns out the apartment was conveniently only in your name. I paid for everything, but I couldn’t even change the locks. I couldn’t give notice. All I could do was move out.”

“We talked about that, Ari. Remember? Since the place was such a dump we decided it would be best if we kept your name off it.”

Having no recollection whatsoever of that conversation, I stared at him, wondering again why I’d trusted him so much.

He kept talking. “That way, when you got your break… Oh yeah. That’s why I’m here. I did it, Ari! I finally did it!” He lunged forward and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me as he laughed.

My exhausted brain couldn’t follow him. He was too close, too personal, too overjoyed. Probably hitting the blow early. Wondering what I’d ever seen in him, I shrugged him off and stepped back. “Did what? What are you talking about? And where did you get that suit? Is that what you did with the last of my money?”

Smile faltering, he patted down his jacket. “This old thing? No, I had this in my closet. I have to look slick when I’m out representing you. I gotta look good to make
you
look good.”

God, he sounded like a salesman.

“Which is what I’ve done, Ari. Are you even listening?”

No. Kinda. My subconscious kept picking up on key words and phrases, but none of them seemed to make sense. “Your closet? What closet? Did you go back to the apartment after you flipped me the bird and rode off into the sunset, wearing a giant condom wrapper?”

That condom wrapper Halloween costume had probably been the closest thing to a suit hanging in his closet when he’d lived with me. But even if there had been a suit, didn’t he just ask what had happened to his stuff?

He had the decency to lower his head. “Yeah, that wasn’t my best moment. I was messed up, you were messed up… But hey, I found a way to make it up to you. Oh God, Ari, I got you a gig!”

“A gig?” I asked. As my manager, Matt had been trying to get me on a stage—any stage—since I’d moved to Vegas a year ago and handed him an outrageous sum of money.

“Well, not a gig exactly, but I landed you an audition.”

I’d suffered through enough of Matt’s “auditions” to last me a lifetime. “Right. An audition. What’s this one for? Pole dancing? Twerking in front of perverted old men?”

He looked genuinely offended, which was weird since those were both “auditions” he’d sent me to.

“I already told you, I’m not singing with my clothes off.”

“No, this one’s legit. A local nightclub is looking for singers and I talked the manager into giving you a try. This is it, Ari. Trust me.”

And now he was asking the impossible. I didn’t trust him. How could I? “Last time you told me to trust you, I almost died.” I would have died had Angel and Bones not come looking for Matt. “You almost killed me.”

He stepped forward again and reached for my hand, pleading. “It’s not like that. You make it sound intentional.”

I pulled away. “Don’t touch me.”

“You know I’d never hurt you on purpose. I took that shit too, remember? I had no idea you’d… You must have been allergic to something in it.”

“You could have stuck around to make sure I was okay.”

“I was messed up. We were having fun before your sister showed up and you got all pissy. I didn’t want to get into some big fight with you, so I bailed.”

And he stayed gone for almost a month and a half without checking to see if I was okay. Didn’t even answer a single text or phone call. Before I could point this out, he continued.

“We’ve done all kinds of shit and it’s never kicked your ass like that. Remember when we got high while hiking the Red Rock trails? I’ve never seen you laugh so hard… thought you were gonna pee your pants. We had so much fun that trip. I wanted Halloween to be like that. Us laughing and having a good time like we used to. I miss that. Don’t you?”

Memories of the Red Rock hike tickled the corners of my mind, but I refused to give in to them. Refused to let Matt in. “It’s too late for that now, Matt. You shoulda called. I gotta get back to work.”

I turned to go, but he grabbed my hand again. Paper slid against my skin. I looked down to see digits scrawled across it. “My new number.”

His new number? He must have ditched the old one when he was sick of my texts and voicemails. Awesome. “I’m not gonna call you, Matt. That ship has sailed and sunk.”