The Heist (31 page)

Men
!

Hitting the dial for the
switch to the shower, she exited the bathroom to allow the room to
fill with steam that’s when she caught sight of herself. The shirt
and skirt were torn and covered in blood.

“
I remember
ending Belcastro, but then what happened?” Alicia whispered to her
reflection in the mirror.

Pulling
himself together, Xavier walked out of the room to let Shuggie get
his death-sleep in peace, and started packing up the comms room.
They had been using the abandoned hotel as a base only whilst they
were here in Mexico, and in a matter of hours, no one would ever
have known anyone had been there. He was meticulous in his
clean-up operations, and once he had finished in there, he headed
back to his room, stopping only to bang his fist on Alicia’s
door.

“
We leave in
sixty minutes.”

He had no
need to see the ridicule on her face — the same derisory look that
he had grown up with from his father and their pack.  He still
felt a duty of care to her, but right now he just couldn’t face
her, and so he locked his bedroom door behind him and started to
pack. Shuggie’s room would be last, there was no need to wake him
up just yet.

Standing
under the spray of the hot water, Alicia thought back to when
Xavier had a death grip on her and the tears that were falling from
his eyes. He thought she was dead and she woke up and gave him a
barrage of abuse.

“
Good one
Ali! The male saved your ass back there.” Mumbling to herself as
she washed the stained blood from her naked form. Stepping from the
shower, she wrapped herself in the towel that was placed over the
screen door.

They were
leaving?

Did this mean
it was all over and she no longer needed the protection of her
bodyguard? Panic started to rise in her as she quickly dried off
and got herself dressed. She didn’t want to be alone! Shuggie and
Xavier had become the closest she’d had to a family in centuries
but whatever happened at the Belcastro…Alicia froze as her mind was
brought back online and flooded with visions…Xav was going to kill
her! That’s why he was so pissed and cold with her.
Racing from her room, her hair still wet she went
looking for Xavier. Alicia skidded to a halt when she caught sight
of him, his shoulders were slumped as he stared out the
window.

“
Should I take
my leave now?” Alicia held her breath waiting on Xavier’s
response.

Shuggie
walked up behind Alicia, and turned her to face him.

“
Youngling, he disnae want tae talk the noo - let me help ye
wi’ yer packing,” he said, giving a hesitant glance towards Xavier
before ushering her away.
“The
Commander wants tae ensure you’re safely away from harm,
youngling. The way ye finished that mission? It wis tantamount
tae suicide - ah dinnae ken whit ye were thinking, but ah’ve ne’er
seen him like this afore.” Holding the door open for her, he
allowed Alicia to walk into the room before him.

“
I don’t need anything from here, but thank you all the same
Hugh.” Alicia walked over to the window in her own room, pressing
her head against the cold glass, she also stared out onto the
derelict landscape.
“I had to
avenge my family Hugh, Belcastro had to look into my eyes and know
I was a Carberletti before I pulled the trigger.”

Alicia went into a trance
like state as she recounted the story of what actually went
down.

“
Ye turned
aff the comms unit. We hud nae sight nor sound of what the fuck was
happening tae ye. Dae ye no comprehend the danger that put ye in?”
Shaking his head Shuggie proceeded to pack up the room, and leaving
it as though it had been unoccupied like the rest of the hotel.
“The whole of the existing Mafia families will be oot fur yer
blood, ye dae realise that, youngling?”

His tone was
sharp with Alicia — she had hurt his friend, his brother-in-arms —
and although he knew that she couldn’t be held responsible for
that, it still irked him that she was acting as though nothing out
of the ordinary had taken place.  After flashing out from the
room to dispose of Alicia’s belongings, he returned and looked at
her as she held her tiger cub. “Anywhere you want to go afore we
take ye tae oor compound?” His eyes were sympathetic, but his voice
wasn’t.

Alicia knew
that she had royally fucked up and hated the way that Hugh was
talking to her, but she knew deep down that she deserved it...she
would just never admit it, no one but Belcastro was killed for the
love of the gods…another piece of information she was keeping
firmly to herself.

Alicia crouched down to
place Frazzle onto all fours and looked up at Hugh.

“
I’m aware
I’m marked now. Could you take me to my parents please?” Alicia
lowered her eyes, she was unable to look at her best friend, and
she wanted to see Xavier’s face before she flashed to Italy, but
then could she look him in the eyes and see the hatred he bore her?
No!

Nodding, Shuggie took
hold of Alicia’s hand and flashed them to the graveside of her
family.

“
Take all the
time ye need, youngling, but when ye huv finished, go straight back
tae oor compound in France. Dinnae huv me havin’ tae go looking fur
ye again.” He ruffled Alicia’s hair and gave her a small smile. He
couldn’t stay mad at her for long even though he wanted
to.

“
Thank you
Hugh.”

As Alicia turned to look
over her shoulder, he was gone. Taking a deep breath, she took her
usual position on the grass, sitting with her legs crossed over one
another, her fingers instantly sought the label to the back of her
boot. “Madre, papa, Alessandro…”

When Shuggie
returned back to the base in Mexico, he told Xavier where she was.
 He was eerily quiet and Shuggie knew that his old defences
had been raised up.  The wall he had when he had first met him
— impenetrable and uncompromising.

Xavier was shutting
himself off from the outside world again.

Xavier crouched down,
watching Alicia paying her respects to her beloved, dead
family.

When he and
Shuggie had finished clearing the base, Xavier had ordered him to
flash him to Alicia’s location. Even though he had failed her, he
didn’t want her alone and vulnerable.

Especially
now.

That being said, he
didn’t want her to know he was there, and so kept well back from
her, hidden in the shadows.

Xavier’s
fingers subconsciously dug in the dirt as he played a game of
mental chess with himself and was losing.  Although he sat
watching her in silence, his internal monologue was screaming in
his head.

I could have
lost her today. I thought that I had every angle covered but I
hadn’t factored in the ‘Alicia Angle’.  She was too used to
being on her own, dealing with things her own damn way.
I just couldn’t get it through to her how
dangerous a situation she was in - not the Belcastro shit.
 Christ, she had been reckless and stubborn, and now every
Mafia family would hunt her down.  Another reason she needed
constant protection was that she just didn’t comprehend how special
she was and how other Supernatural’s would be after her for her
blood.

Without realising it
Xavier’s fingers were knuckles deep in the dirt, his fingers
bleeding, but still the torment of his thoughts
continued.

I’m a fucking
professional - I’m supposed to be the best at what I do.  But
as good as I am - how am I meant to protect an immortal vampire?
 It’s a joke to think that me, a mortal, could ever keep her
safe and out of harm’s way. And that’s the problem.  Because
as much as I know how futile my attempts would be to protect her, I
can’t switch off the part of me that wants her.

My wolf was
awoken by her and is threatening to rise and push through. How do I
explain
that
one
to her? “Hey, Sweetcheeks - meant to tell you, but I have werewolf
DNA...no, I’ve never shifted or felt my wolf before, well, until I
met you that is. Oh, and you’re going to fucking laugh, but my wolf
recognises you as His, yeah? No, I didn’t think to tell you
because…
” Xavier’s thoughts went dark.
 
Why didn’t I ever tell her? Would
she have ridiculed me like my father and the pack had done?
 I’ve never been a coward but if I’m being honest with myself
then yeah,
if
I
had been honest with her and she turned on me, I just couldn’t have
dealt with that. Not her. Not Sweetcheeks.

Xavier’s
blood was mixing with the dirt, his eyes glazing over as he half
listened to Alicia talking to her dead father as though she was
having a normal, everyday conversation.  He could see that she
doted on him, even now, and realised that the love she had for her
family was completely unconditional, enduring. He envied that. He
had never experienced it and never would.  She was so open and
honest, and there’s my other problem, he thought wryly.

Honesty.

Cos if Alicia
ever found out just what and who he was — the runt son of a
psychopathic werewolf father, who made him watch his own mother
being torn to shreds in front of his own eyes, unable to do
anything to stop it, too scared to even try. He knew that he
couldn’t bear to see the hatred or disappointment in those
beautiful big brown eyes of hers when she found out the truth about
him.

The truth was staring
Xavier in the face, and he knew it. She didn’t need him, and
he couldn’t protect her. But he also knew that he couldn’t be
around her and know that he wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing to
help her when, not if, she was hunted down. But she also had
to learn that her reckless actions had consequences.

It would be the one thing
that he could do for her. His parting gift.

Cleaning his fingers on
the side of his jeans, his hand went up to his dog tags that were
permanently around his neck.  Pushing his wolf back, he stood
up, exhaling slowly.

“
It’s all
over Papa! You can all rest in peace now knowing that I avenged our
name. I watched the last living Belcastro take his final breath
tonight, they can’t hurt our family any more.  It was all for
you, Madre and Alessandro.” Alicia sniffed as the crimson red tears
flowed freely down her cheeks, the sound of the droplets hitting
off the marble of hearth to the headstone. “I got injured, but I’m
okay. Hey I’ve had worse wounds but nothing was going to stop me
tonight. I hope you and Madre will be proud of me…and Lessi? I can
see your grin from here! Your big sister doesn’t need wrapped in
cotton wool after all, does she?”

Taking a moment to
re-arrange the flowers for the fifth time, Alicia resumed her
conversation with her family.

“
I know this
isn’t the life you wanted for me but it’s the life I choose and I’m
good at it. I have a family, Xavier and Hugh, two males that
protect me and look out for me. You’d approve of both. So no
worrying about me okay? I’ve got a feeling after tonight I’m not
going to be allowed out in a while. I fu…. messed things up, put
myself in danger when a plan of action was put in place, what is it
you always called me papa? You’re little mischief maker wasn’t it?
I can’t follow rules, I’ve been alone for so long but tonight? I
hurt the two living people that matter most me. Just know that I
love the three of you, I miss you every waking moment of my
day.”

Xavier was
standing behind Alicia as she rearranged flowers on the graves, his
voice was low, and his accent thick like molasses.

“
Sweetcheeks,
we need to talk.”

Her back was turned to
him and for once, Alicia was thankful that her eyes couldn’t see
those of Xavier Raige’s.

His words were freaking
her out and she could never show weakness to him. But she knew her
features were that of a scared female.

He was going to leave
her!

Never had any
being been allowed to accompany her this private sanctuary until
now. The graveyard in Italy was where she came to think and talk to
her parents. But they had been getting on better, even more so
since they tortured Belcastro Jr. Xavier’s voice was telling her
otherwise though.

Their
relationship wasn’t an easy one and although she never actually
thanked Xavier, Alicia
was
thankful for everything he had done for her but
even she knew when a mortal said the ‘
we
need to talk
’ line, it meant bad news was
coming.

Why did she
care though?  The pint sized brunette was used to being on her
own.

Slowly rising
to her feet, she was thankful it was dark, her vision letting her
see everything crystal clear in the darkness but Xavier unable to
see the dread all over her face.  Trying to lighten up the
mood a little as Xavier looked ill. He was also bleeding, and the
smell of fresh blood mixed with the scent of earth making her mouth
water, now was not the time to be thinking how his blood would
taste in her mouth.

“
What, no
roaring for me Commander Prick — or are you being respectful to my
parents and brother?”