“She’s all yours.” Ben’s voice was all business as he holstered his gun. “Take this trash out of
my
house.”
Antonio walked over to Carol and pinched her cheek. “This was a lot easier the last time, sweetheart. But fair warning, the end result’s going to be a…..little different.”
Carol struggled, then went to kick out at Antonio. The other man drew his hand back, connecting the back of it with her face, enough to take the fight out of her. They both picked her up and carried her out the front, the cover of night protecting them from any prying eyes. Ben led the way, looking up and down both sides of the street before giving a signal that the coast was clear. Carol Caprese was then taken to the waiting car and shoved into the backseat – most likely on her way to the only fate a deceptive wife of a powerful man could have.
Ben wasn’t the only one who drew the line at betrayal.
Closing and locking the door, he turned to find Eva sitting on the couch. Black dress, pearls and barefoot – she was still dressed from dinner. She was huddled, rocking back and forth, looking straight ahead. “She came in through the slider.”
Now wasn’t the time to chastise her – again. If tonight didn’t teach her a lesson, nothing would. He sat down next to her and took her in his arms. “You okay, darlin’?”She was silent and still, her arms still about herself. He’d say she was in shock, but she seemed pretty fine earlier – especially coming up with the plan to remove her mother from her house. Even he was surprised that she came up with such a wickedly, appropriate idea. “You did the right thing, Eva.”
“Did I?”
He nodded. “What goes around, comes around.”
“He’s going to kill her.”
Ben shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t look good for her, I tell you that. Heard the whole thing when I came in through the front. Did the best I could not to make these damn, ol’ floors creak. She wanted you to poison him for his money, and threaten to expose you if you didn’t. The Caprese family may seem untouchable, but they have their share of enemies. It’s best you stay anonymous.”
Eva shook her head back and forth. “How could she? First she walked out on me. Then she shows up out of the blue to blackmail and threaten me. How? How could….?” Her voice cracked as the obvious control she was trying to keep was weakening. “How could she have ever loved me? How?”
And then the tears broke and her arms finally scooped around his waist. He didn’t answer. There wasn’t one he could give. The bitch had been out for herself – plain and simple. He just held her face against his chest and let her cry all over his cut until she got it all out. When she was just hiccupping breaths, he leaned them against the back of the couch for support and changed the subject. “How’d it go tonight?”
“Okay. Let me do most of the talking. Asked about my life, growing up, school, my business. Michael. My dad. He asked a lot about him and my relationship with him. It was hard not to be bitter or sarcastic. I mean, what’s the point? He told me how his grandparents came over to Ellis Island, how they made a meager living running a fish and vegetable cart on the streets of New York. He was born and raised there and keeps a family home upstate. He prefers southern Pennsylvania because he feels ‘centered’. Whatever that means.”
Ben did. Pennsylvania was the mid-way point for the Caprese heroin pipeline and still allowing Carmine a closer distance to his New York roots. “You still on next week?”
“Yeah. Friday. Five p.m. – sharp.” She let out a small laugh which made him smile. Yet, again. His life lacked a lot of those until that bleak night along a mountainside road. What she gave to him, he’d return it tenfold – maybe more. Right now, he’d give her the comfort of his embrace to expel the last shred of her past which was just escorted out the door. Just as Lisa was his. Two traitorous females ruined their lives.
And brought them together because of it.
He felt her chest rise and fall against his accompanied by deep, sated breathing. She’d fallen asleep. He could easily pick her up and carry her to bed, but he didn’t want to jostle her. Plus, he was pretty comfortable. He didn’t think this couch would be strong enough for them to fuck on. Seemed pretty sturdy to him now. He’ll keep it in mind for later.
Right now, he was content to fall asleep beside her on it.
~~~***~~~
Emilio Santagio received Carmine Caprese’s message loud and clear.
Six dead bodies had been disposed of from the four package stores and a phone call from Antonio confirmed that not only was Emilio in groveling damage control mode, but there was chatter that his second-in-command may be taking over. The ploy to take over the Caprese heroin pipeline went so far south they got sunburned and the rest of the Santagio family feared the elusive ‘black mark’ against them. Even with a body decaying from cancer, the ol’
don
wasn’t about to leave this earth – and his son Adamo – looking like a fool. Absolutely not.
“Happy Monday, gentlemen.” Vic had a bit of a chipper edge to his usual orneriness. With good reason. He looked to Aero. “Damage?”
“What damage?” The V.P. was trying hard not to gloat. They all were. It was impossible not to, but they had to be realistic as well. The Skulls had somewhat of a new boss now – a family more powerful than the Santagios. Even with the tiny bloodline in the form of Eva Sinclair which earned them protection, they did not have carte blanche to take anything for granted. “Yeah, all cleaned up as if nothing happened.”
“What about operatin’ the liquor stores?” Doug asked.
“That’s where my charming wife comes in,” Vic replied. “Seems those stiff suits she,” he made quote marks with his fingers, “
does lunch
with are pretty good at string pulling. One has a very, tight connection to someone in the state’s Alcohol & Beverage Control Commission.”
Taz chuckled. “I’m guessin’ there’s gonna be four licenses in limbo.”
“You guess correctly.”
Tanner whistled low. “When Carmine wants to ruin someone, he ain’t kiddin’.”
Ben shook his head. “No half measures. We owe them a lot, but,” he looked at Vic,” gonna be worth our while.”
“Gonna set up a meet with the other three charters as soon as this settles. Once the licenses are re-instated, we need to lay a plan. This upcoming security gig plus resuming the narcotics should whet our outlaw appetites. And between the body shop and the liquor store, we should have enough legit business to look clean – and keep the money in the same condition.”
Wes sat forward. “What about the chop parts?”
“Business as usual,” Aero answered. “Everything square with the Hogs after the Dewey incident.”
“Yeah, Antonio’s guy pulled a bunch of numbers off Joey’s phone. Sent over a list.” Wes worked his laptop to pull it up. “In addition to Dewey’s, another looks very familiar.”
He tilted the laptop towards Ben, who winced. It was Lisa’s boyfriend. According to the outgoing call dates, he and his crew had been the Santagio’s bitches right around the time she showed up back up in his life. Wanting to reconnect. Wanting to be a family. He caved under that hope, which cost her life along with two brothers.
But from it, he gained Eva who helped him put the pieces back together.
“Son of a bitch,” Ben muttered. “I’m sorry.” He looked around the table. “I am so sorry.”
Vic held up his hand. “Water under the bridge, brother. I miss Stash and Batso, but they went out defending the club – the way an outlaw wants to leave this earth.”
Ben agreed. He was about to end it prematurely at the base of that mountain. But a blue-eyed brunette in a maroon jeep nixed those plans.
“Everyone get the lowdown from Elle about Thursday? Do I need to get a second turkey? Or a feeding trough?”
“I’m there,” Aero held up his hand.
Doug seconded. “Me and my brother.”
“Mom and dad got me,” young Wesley added
Vic looked at Tanner. “At the future in-laws?”
Everyone chuckled as Tanner told them to fuck off. “We’re comin’ for dessert.”
“Which mom’s bringin’ on a flatbed,” Taz added.
All that was left was Ben. “Which we’ll be there for too.”
Aero nudged him. “
We
? Big Ben Lawson is now part of a ‘
we
’.”
More chuckles, which Ben sucked up. For a moment. He had a hard comeback, but instead hit Aero where it really hurt. “Bro, what’s going on with your hair?”
“What?” The V.P. looked horrified, reaching for his miniscule locks.
It was good to indulge in some ol’ fashioned guy-ribbing before Vic slammed the gavel down. “Go on – get to your jobs so I can get to this grocery list. And if I hear one snicker you’ll be getting dog food.”
~~~***~~~
“Hey you. What’s up?” The final push before ‘Black Friday’ and the official start of the plaza event wasn’t enough to stress Eva out to not take a call from her friend.
“Did you get my text about Thanksgiving?”
Oh, shit. She’d been a crap-ass friend these last few weeks. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to explain why. “Damn, Mar – sorry. I got roped into running my section for this shopping event. Been a bit swamped.”
“I forgive you – this time. So…..set another place?”
“Erm……no. Got other plans.”
“Where and with who?”
Here comes the fun part. “The Skulls’ president’s house and
with
one of the members.” Crickets. That’s all Eva heard. “Mar?”
A loud snort followed
. “What’re you sniffing in all that construction over there, babe? Gave you a bad-ass sense of humor.”
“I’m not kidding, Mar.”
“You…….you serious? I mean really, fucking serious? How? When? Who? Which one? Holy shit, don’t tell me Air Force man!”
“Nope. The friend.”
“EVA!!!”
“Not on the phone.”
“Oh, you’re not kidding. We need an all-night wine-fest because I want every, fucking detail. You have details, right? Please tell me you’ve at least seen him naked?”
It was like being in high school again. “George’s plugs aren’t satisfying the jones, Mar?”
“You’re comparing fucking a forty year old attorney to a biker? Wait, you ‘are’
fucking him?”
She had to throw the poor woman a bone before she spontaneously combusted. “Yes.”
“OH MY GOD!! We are SO getting together next week. I don’t care how up to your ass you are in wrapping paper and singing cards. Saturday night?”
Eva knew of the end of week parties the clubhouse had Saturday night. She also knew of the girls who showed up from all over to swing around that pole and party with the guys. She never asked, and part of her didn’t want to know, however Ben always found himself home around ten after giving proper face time at the clubhouse without any persuasion from her. “Put it in pencil – I’ll let you know.”
“Text me!”
‘ “I will.”
~~~***~~~
The night before Thanksgiving, Eva prepped. She had the turkey, fresh cranberries (she was going to make them home-made, dammit!), bread cubes for stuffing (yep, home-made too!), yams, sweet corn and two packages of stick butter. She got the stuffing and cranberry sauce made, peeled and cut the yams then dressed the turkey in a disposable, aluminum pan then sealed it in the fridge. It was nearly six when Ben approached slider – the
locked
slider after he had one installed with a key entrance. Eva had one last thing to do tonight before dusk turned to night. She slid the door and screen open. “Hey……favor?”
He shook the sawdust off his clothes onto the deck before coming in. He leaned over. She met him halfway and kissed his lips. “What’s up, darlin’?”
“I won’t have time tomorrow, so I’d like to take a little ride tonight.”
“Where?”
“To visit my dad.”