Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Alex

I didn't remember telling my driver to change course, but an hour later the car approached the Mantoloking bridge. Appropriate to its name, the bridge led to Mantoloking township, where the Mariano family's other New Jersey house resided.

My mother would be waiting there. We had so many things to talk about, now that my father was dead.

Like, how the fuck did the man die in the first place?

Casualty of a prison riot?

That was a bold lie.

No, the man had been assassinated, just like someone was trying to do to me.

Before they crossed the bridge, I told the driver to pull over on the side of the road. I needed a moment to breathe. Pushing my way out the door, I cursed when I tripped over the curb. Everything felt out of balance, like something inside my head had shifted sideways.

Bracing his elbows on the bridge railing, I breathed deep through my nose, filling my lungs with sea air. The bridge overlooked a marina filled with yachts. People scurried over the docks as they secured their boats against rolling waters.

Clouds covered the sun. A storm was coming. It wasn't here yet, but it would arrive sooner than people wanted.

Rough weather waited for no man.

Garrison stepped up next to me, posture straight as an iron rod.

"What's your plan, now?"

I couldn't watch the churning water anymore. I kept my gaze on the railing, picking at a splinter of wood sticking up from the edge.

"Plan? I don't know. My family has a house in Mantoloking. My mother is there right now. I need to meet with her and discuss... everything."

As I spoke, Garrison nodded along, but his gaze never left the waves below our feet.

"Your family. Were you ever going to tell me the truth about your family, or were you expecting me to stay ignorant?"

"Garrison, it's not..." I started to say, but I didn't know where the rest of the sentence was going. It didn't matter. Garrison interrupted before I could finish anyway, grabbing my arm and turning me around so we faced each other.

"Don't deflect. Tell me the truth. I want to hear it from your mouth. Who are you?"

It was surprisingly easy to look Garrison in the eye. "I'm Alex Mariano. Son of David Russo, who is the head of the Mariano family."

I squeezed the railing, and the loose splinter I'd been toying with pierced my skin. The prick of pain brought a moment of clarity.

"Or... my father was the head of the family. I guess I'm in charge now."

It shouldn't have been such a startling revelation. Technically, I'd been acting as the head of the family since my father's recent arrest. That was the very reason I'd set up a meeting with our rival families in the first place, so I could establish my authority.

Yet, I'd assumed the position was temporary. Nothing I did mattered because everything would eventually go back to the way it was.

Not now.

Nothing in my life would be the same now.

Thunder rumbled overhead and I jumped. The storm was blowing in faster than I thought.

Grabbing my hand and turning it palm up, Garrison studied the splitter sticking out of my thumb.

"All that and you still won't say the word." With one quick motion he plucked the splinter free. "Please, tell me I'm wrong, Alex. Tell me it's all in my paranoid head and you're not actually involved with the mafia."

Blood dripped down my thumb and collected in the cup of my palm. Such a little splitter caused a lot more damage coming out than going in.

I shoved my hand in my pocket before more blood could fall.

"Not just involved . I'm its damn leader now."

Garrison stared in silence, shocked by my answer.

Hypocrite.

I huffed, and a lock of hair fluttered away from my face. If Garrison couldn't accept the answer, then he shouldn't have asked.

More thunder crashed overhead, turning the sky into its personal percussion band.

Snapping out of his shock, Garrison slammed a fist into the railing hard enough to make the wood groan.

"Damn it, Alex. Why?" He stepped forward, crowding into my space.

I took a step back. "What'd you mean, why?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Anger sparked within me like the lightning still hiding in the clouds above.

How dare this man demand even more answers, forcing me to retreat like I was some soldier to be ordered around. I shoved at Garrison's chest, managing to put a little space between the two of us.

"I don't usually have to explain. As soon as people hear my name they know what's up. It's not my fault you're ignorant."

Garrison's hand flew into the air, gesturing haphazardly at the horizon. "I've been serving overseas for the last twenty years. Sorry I'm not up to date on the names of my local mafia."

Pain flashed across Garrison's face and his arm dropped to his side. He schooled his features back into righteous anger, but he couldn't hide the way he gripped his arm.

He was still injured from their fight at the aquarium. A dark stain slowly spread over his suit as blood seeped from the knife wound just above his elbow.

On instinct I reached for Garrison, but the other man pulled back.

Garrison sighed and his anger disappeared. Instead, the lines around his eyes deepened into a look of exhaustion.

"You assumed I recognized your name. I can accept that. But you must have eventually realized that I didn't know. That's the part I'm having trouble with."

Finally, Garrison abandoned his perfect posture and braced both hands against the railing. Blood from his wound dripped down his arm and smeared over the wood.

"The more I think about it, the more it doesn't make sense. Either you were stupid enough to think your identity wouldn't matter, or you thought I was stupid enough not to notice. And I know you're not stupid, so that only leaves one option."

My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was probably my mother wondering what was keeping me.

As subtly as I could, I hit the ignore button. I could only deal with one problem at a time.

If Garrison noticed the interruption, he didn't react. In fact, he barely seemed to see the marina laid out before us as he stared into the middle distance.

"Was it fun watching me make a fool of myself? I knew you weren't serious about me. Why would you be? But I thought I was at least a player in your game, not a pawn in it."

The phone buzzed again, and I didn't bother hiding it as I hit ignore. I was being pulled in too many different directions. I could barely hear myself think inside my own head.

"Shut up." I shoved Garrison hard enough to make the man stumble back a step. "I have too many things to worry about. I can't handle your judgment as well. Don't make assumptions about me. You don't know what I'm serious about. Now, get in the car. We'll finish this conversation once we're safely at the house."

I turned to head for the open car door still waiting for us, but after a few steps I realized Garrison hadn't followed.

The man stood with his head bowed, staring at the patch of sidewalk where I had just been standing.

"No."

I drifted back to Garrison's side. "What do you mean no? You can't just say no."

"I mean I'm not going with you. I need... I need to leave."

At the last moment, I remembered the wound on Garrison's arm and diverted my aim. Instead, I grabbed Garrison's wrist to tug him toward the car.

"You're my bodyguard. You can't just leave. Come on."

"No." Garrison easily pulled out of my grip. "You're certain that your mother isn't the one trying to kill you, right? Then you should be safe with her. I just... I need to think, and I can't do that around you."

Before I could stop him, he turned and walked away. Only a bloody handprint remained behind, staining the railing in the place where he once stood.

My phone buzzed again.

With a shout I threw the device into the water below, then stormed back to my car, climbed in, and pulled the door closed. The car took off as I sat back in the seat, my gaze focused out the window, carrying me to the other side of the bridge just as the storm finally hit and it started to rain.