Chapter 15

Hailey

The guard from the morning, Tomas, trailed behind us like an ever-looming specter at Giacomo’s shoulder.

Guarding Giacomo?

Guarding me?

Ensuring I did not run?

Most likely, some combination of all three.

People gave him a wide berth, eyeing him nervously and parting to let him through. Whenever we stopped, Tomas stood there menacingly watching over us, a large gap of space between himself and everyone else. Any thought I had of being able to slip away had been lost under his sharp eyes, if the lingering ache in my bottom hadn’t been enough.

I did not want to think what Giacomo might do to me to teach me another lesson. Besides which, we were legally married now. There was no one I could go to for help. Appealing to a friend would only endanger them, and he’d already given me an ample demonstration on why it was useless to turn to the police.

Feeling Giacomo’s eyes on me, I turned away, pretending to inspect some of the jewelry in the case. He’d finally stopped hovering and stepped back, allowing me to have some breathing space while he spoke to Tomas. It was amazing how people fawned over him. Whether because they knew who he was or because they dared not do anything else in Tomas’ intimidating presence, I wasn’t sure.

We were hardly the only ones in the store, though everyone else was keeping their distance from Giacomo and Tomas. All the salesmen were sweating, focusing on anyone but those two, though I knew if Giacomo crooked his finger, they’d all come running.

It was everything I’d run from, everything I’d rejected, and now here I was back in the Familias life. All because my grandfather had wanted an alliance with the DiNardo family. The resentment was bubbling up inside me all over again, some of it at myself. If only I’d had the courage… if only I was a different person…

Yet when I glanced over at Giacomo, despite everything, I still couldn’t actually wish him dead.

“Miss McQueen?” The woman’s voice was familiar, and I lifted my head, blinking in surprise when I saw the mayor’s wife, Mrs. Smith, standing there, clutching the hand of her six-year-old son, Arthur.

“Mrs. Smith. How are you?” It only took me a moment to realize that she was in distress. Again. Blasted… I wanted to scream at the injustice of it all. Adeline Smith had come into the police station last year when her husband had given her a black eye. He’d claimed it was an accident.

Nothing had been done.

She’d come to me several times since then, but Mayor Smith had always been smart enough not to hit her where it would leave a mark again, and the police chief had declined to take on such a powerful man. His advice… “Just don’t make him so mad.”

I’d been utterly helpless to help her, though I’d done my best to try to talk someone—anyone—into doing something.

She blinked back tears, lifting her chin slightly, keeping her voice low.

“Please, you have to help us, Miss McQueen. He… last night Arthur tried to defend me, and he…” She couldn’t make herself say the words.

Slow burning rage, combined with all the anger I had at my grandfather, at Giacomo, at Chief Barnes who had not protected me any more than he had Mrs. Smith, was boiling inside me. The mayor had hit his son. His six-year-old son… for trying to defend his mother.

She did not need to say it for me to know what had happened. A pattern I had seen far too often when working at the station. Prohibition had helped to make it harder for men to get drunk and go home to beat their wives, but not impossible… and some of them didn’t need the alcohol for the excuse.

Suddenly, Mrs. Smith stiffened, tugging at Arthur’s hand to try to pull him behind her. The six-year-old dug in his heels, refusing to move, glaring up at the man who was now standing beside me. Such a brave boy, despite everything he’d been through. I shifted, too, as if I could shield them from such a man as Giacomo.

“Hello,” he said smoothly, placing his hand lightly on my back. Despite the lightness of his touch, it felt like a claim, like a possession. “Mrs. Smith, I believe?”

The fa?ade of civility fell over her expression like a blanket.

“Yes, I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Giacomo DiNardo. Hailey’s husband.”

Mrs. Smith’s mouth popped open in shock. She’d seen me with Bruce, and she’d been by the station recently enough to know that I had not been engaged within the last few months. My cheeks burned hot. I could only imagine what she was thinking. And did she recognize his name? Did she know who he was?

“Oh… I… I’m so sorry to bother you…” Her gaze darted back and forth between us, panicking now.

“It’s fine, you’re never a bother, I just… I do not work at the station anymore…” I was even more helpless than I’d been before. Not that I’d managed to do anything for her while I was there, but at least there had been hope. Now, I couldn’t even offer that.

The only thing that bothered me was my inability to help her.

“Perhaps I could be of assistance?” Giacomo offered, smiling at her in a way that probably charmed most women, but Mrs. Smith shrunk back, already shaking her head. She did not trust him, showing that she had a good sense of self-preservation.

“No, no, it’s fine, thank you.”

Unfortunately, Arthur didn’t agree with her. He looked up at Giacomo with a sober expression on his face, the look in his eyes far too old for age six.

“Father hits her. And he hit me.”

Mrs. Smith sucked in a breath, putting her hand on Arthur’s shoulder, probably to try to push him back. To both our shock, Giacomo dropped into a crouch so that he was at eye level with Arthur. She froze. I froze.

What was he doing?

“Your father does?”

Arthur nodded. “He’s getting worse. Will you help?”

The sweet, simple innocence of childhood. Someone offered assistance, and he thought they might be able to help. Mrs. Smith had never brought him to the station when she came, or maybe he’d have understood how useless it was.

Giacomo nodded and got to his feet, turning slightly to his silent henchman.

“Tomas. I need you to take Mrs. Smith and her son to my mother. Tell her they’re going to be our guests for a few days.”

Hope surged in Mrs. Smith’s face, only to fall again. A few days wouldn’t be enough. Mayor Smith’s violence came in waves. If she went home again in a few days, he would be full of apologies, flowers, jewelry, and excuses, and eventually, he would do it again. That’s if he wasn’t angry that she’d left in the first place. When I’d tried to get the police chief to intervene, I didn’t see her again for weeks, and she could barely look me in the eye when she did.

But she’d eventually come, hoping for help again. Help that never materialized.

I was about to open my mouth and tell Giacomo that he wasn’t helping when he turned back to Mrs. Smith, holding out one hand to her. She took it tremulously, searching his face for answers that I’d never been able to give her.

“Not to worry, Mrs. Smith. You’ll visit with my mother for a few days, and by the time you go home, you won’t have to worry about your husband anymore.” This time, the smile he gave her wasn’t charming. It chilled my blood. Yet it was not directed at anyone here.

“Oh… no, I couldn’t…”

“You can. You will.” Giacomo turned his head to look over his shoulder. “Tomas.”

The looming guard stepped up, silent and intimidating without saying a word. If Mrs. Smith wanted to protest, she held it back, shrinking slightly. Then she looked down at Arthur, gave herself a little shake, and squared her shoulders.

“Thank you,” she said before Tomas escorted her out of the shop.

I gave Giacomo a hard look.

“How are you going to keep her husband under control?” It came out as an accusation rather than a question. Not my smartest move, but I was so upset, I couldn’t stop the words from spilling out. If he spanked me or humiliated me for it, so be it. He had to understand that it wasn’t that easy. “You cannot be there to watch him every second, and it will not take more than a few minutes for him to… to…”

Kill her. That was my biggest fear. One that I had seen come true before, in another case where I had not been able to help. Only once she was dead had Chief Barnes finally taken action, and I’d been consumed with rage and grief for days. There had been so many women, so many families, that I’d been able to help in one way or another, but it was the ones I hadn’t that haunted me.

The smile that curved his lips unnerved me. There was a gleam in his eye.

“Well, mia moglie, I suppose that depends on you.” He sidled closer, and I didn’t step away as my breath caught in my throat. We were bargaining. I recognized what was happening immediately, even though I was not sure what he wanted from me that he had not already taken. “How much does this mean to you?” Lifting his hand, he toyed with a lock of my hair, his gaze intent on mine, hypnotic like a serpent ready to strike. “What would you be willing to do to keep her safe?”

“Anything.” The word was out of my mouth before I could think about it.

I was terrible at bargaining when I was emotionally involved, and I was. I would do anything to keep Mrs. Smith and Arthur safe. Call Giacomo ‘Daddy.’ Hold myself in place while he belted me and put his cock in my bottom again. I would crawl on the floor and lick his shoes if it meant the mayor couldn’t hurt his family anymore. But…

“But you cannot guarantee it.”

To my surprise, Giacomo chuckled.

“Of course, I can, little one.” He leaned in, his breath wafting over my ear. “And when I do, you’re going to do whatever I want.”

I shivered as the oddest mix of unease and interest curled through me.

What could he want from me?

Jack

My little wife’s innocence was delightful. Despite who her grandfather was, she clearly did not know very much about how much power the Familias could flex when we chose to. I would need to inform my father, but he would hardly balk at my intentions—he’d mentioned recently that Mayor Smith was getting bigheaded.

We finished shopping and returned to the house, where she immediately when to check on the mayor’s wife and my mother. I was not at all surprised to find that my mother had already put Mrs. Smith at ease and found some toys for the little boy to play with. The boy had courage, and it should be rewarded. Even without Hailey’s promise to do whatever I wanted, I would have helped them out if I’d known about the problem.

However, I had no objection to being rewarded for my good deeds as well, and Hailey was eager to.

Leaving her with my mother and our guests, I checked in with my father to tell him what had happened and get his approval before I walked through to the back of the house where the men gathered, looking for Thomas. I found him with Gio and Paulie, playing cards. All three of them looked up, elbows on the table, expressions blank when I entered the room.

“Afternoon,” I said, seating myself in the fourth chair at the table. “Deal me in.”

“What’s going on?” Gio asked curiously as he flicked cards my way. “I thought you were out with Hailey.”

I didn’t question why Tomas hadn’t told them—he was known as our Ghost for a reason. He was our quietest, most lethal enforcer. Despite his size, he could slip in and out of anywhere, more phantom than man. He took that quiet to the extreme, a silent observer to most of the goings-on even during the loudest, most boisterous gatherings.

“Ran into a small problem.” I glanced over at Tomas. “I need you to take care of it. Permanently. And as quickly as possible.”

The faster I could give Hailey her gift, the sooner I would get what I wanted from her.

Tomas nodded.

Gio and Pauli’s eyes were filled with curiosity, but they didn’t ask. They knew better. They also knew they would find out soon enough because they were smart enough to put two and two together.

I played a few hands with them before excusing myself. After all, I was a newlywed. I should be spending more time with my bride.