Chapter 26

My truck flew down street after street in a blur of traffic lights and unbridled anger. I couldn't see past the rage boiling in my veins, or the need to take it out on someone. Someone like Romeo Mancini. Knowing that he showed up at my house and threatened my sister was enough to make me want to hurt him, but the gloomy tint in Veda's eyes made me want to kill him.

My fingers tightened painfully around my steering wheel as I yanked my truck to the right.

I couldn't stop seeing that dour expression on Veda's face when she asked if Gio touched me. It was the same look I got from everyone after her attack. Sympathy mixed with pity and unease.

They all felt sorry. The doctors, the cops, even some of the press had that guilty expression on their faces. They knew what happened to my sister, yet not a single one of them was willing to testify on Kato's behalf.

Then when we moved in with Maw Maw, that sympathy turned into hushed whispers of judgement. What was she wearing that night? How could she keep the baby? What will she tell him about his father, and what kind of example is she setting for her sister?

I went from being the lost cause daughter of a depressed mother to being a victim. I preferred the lost cause. Couldn't disappoint anyone if they expected nothing from you. Besides, I didn't need or want their pity. Pity did nothing but drag people down. My sister was a perfect example of that.

A horn blared through my ears, followed by someone yelling, "Slow down!"

"Eat shit." I yelled back while sticking my finger out the window.

Let's see how fast they would drive if their broken sister was threatened by an asshole.

How much did Veda have to take? How much more could she take? The once bright shining star of Soiree High that used to be my sister, was now a mere shadow that skittered around like a scared mouse. The only reason she got out of that hospital bed was because Rita and I made her.

We were the only people in this entire town who didn't treat her like she was made of glass. And I'd be damned if I was going to let her give me the same useless pitying stare she used to get.

‘You can talk to me.'

Yeah, right. What good did that do for her? Two years in therapy and Veda still jumped at loud noises.

Come to think of it, Veda had been extra jumpy recently.

Last week I caught her peeking out the window as if she thought someone was watching us. And three days ago when Billy and Kyle decided to play a round of ding dong ditch, she jumped off the couch and ran to her room. I didn't think anything about it at the time, but now that I thought back, it did seem like an extreme reaction. Even for her.

The timing was also suspicious. When exactly did Romeo show up, and what did he say?

Rounding a patch of cypress trees, I headed for the Mancini's driveway.

I had nothing to go on here but gut instinct, and that was telling me that there was more to the story.

Gio's family didn't do anything unless it had an advantage for them. So, what advantage did scaring my sister give them? That was something I would not put up with. They could do whatever they wanted to me, but my family was off limits.

If that meant I had to crack my trusty bat off the side of Romeo's head to get my point across, then so be it. Maybe I'd luck out and get Gio as well. Two for the price of one.

I swerved around the garden in the center of the driveway and pulled to a stop just as Atlee was opening the door to his Corvette.

My eyes instantly narrowed.

So, he was with Gio. What exactly were they doing all day? Planning to scare more innocent people? Assholes.

Atlee stopped and cocked a brow when I threw my door open and hoped out.

"You got a problem?" Cause I had no problem giving him one.

"Whoa, someone's in a pissy mood. Let me guess… now that you've had a taste of dick you can't go a day without."

Maybe I should make it three for one?

"Why are you here?"

"Why are you here?" He asked back.

I crossed my arms. "I asked first."

"You do know that Gio is my friend, right?"

Uh huh?"And what other friends did you spend the day with?"

The instant Atlee's eyes lit up with a sparkle, I knew I should've kept my mouth shut.

"Are you jealous?"

"Pfft, no." The insinuation was laughable.

"You are." A grin spread across his face. "This is going to be fun."

That's it.

"Stay right there," I said while walking around to the back of my truck. "So I can beat you to death when I find my bat."

"Ooo, kinky. I like it."

Ugh, asshole.

Ignoring the playful glimmer in Atlee's expression as he closed his door and strutted over, I climbed up on my bumper and leaned over the tailgate to rummage around under the purple tarp I had rolled up in the corner.

It wasn't long before his annoying face peeked over the edge. "What kind of bat do you have?"

"A wooden one."

I held up a tire iron and briefly considered using that before tossing it aside. Killing Romeo wasn't the objective. Yet anyway.

"Is it a Marucci, Victus, or Louisville?"

I stopped and tipped my gaze his way – which by the way was not easy to do while bent over like I was. "What?"

"Who made the bat? The manufacturer is important. Marucci makes a solid bat, but I personally prefer the feel of Victus."

Who was that interested in a bat? It was a bit disturbing when I thought about it. What did a guy like Atlee use a bat for, cause I'd seen some videos online I wished I could unsee.

"It's a pink bat I stole from my brother's fiancé." To be fair she left it laying around unattended.

I continued to dig around while the arch in Atlee's brow deepened. "You brother's engaged?"

"No." I grumbled and stretched out to extend my reach.

"Ah, I see. How long did she stick around after he was arrested?"

"Do minutes count?" Though if I was being honest, it was probably more like seconds before she hooked up with someone else.

"Do I sense some bitterness?"

"No." I scoffed. "I think she's a fine human being who should have nothing horrible happen to her."

Did I secretly curse her to step on Lego barefoot in the middle of the night? Yes, yes I did.

"Want me to fuck her up?"

"Fuck her up, or fuck her?" Given who I was talking to, either was a viable option.

I threw the edge of the tarp over my head and pushed a bunch of rope – which I had no idea I had – out of the way.

"Why settle for one when I can do both?"

Ugh, typical.

"She gets enough dick on her own… trust me."

"Who said I'd use my dick. I have a lot of toys. Barbed wire cuts through a pussy like butter."

That made me pause. I didn't want to know how he knew that.

"You need help." And probably a lot of jail time.

"So I've been told."

My fingers grazed over a familiar smooth handle.

"Ah ha!" I exclaimed while shooting up and holding my bat up in the air.

Atlee eyed the jagged chunk missing from the middle. "That's your bat?"

"Yeah?" What was wrong with it?

Okay, so maybe it had seen better days. The wood was splintered in some places and the gator got a good chunk of it, but it was still sturdy. It would do the job.

"What the hell are you going to do with that?"

"I figured I'd start by smashing it in Romeo's face." I hopped down on the ground and gave a test swing, clacking it off my bumper.

Yeah, this would work just fine.

"With that?"

My eyes rolled. "Sorry, I was fresh out of barbed wire."

"Not even barbed wire would help that thing."

Ha ha."This is all I need."

"To take out Romeo?"

"That's right."

"Okay, let me get this straight. You're going to take out Romeo – the guy that's been kicking our asses since preschool…" Atlee pointed at my bat. "With that?"

I nodded. "Correct."

What was so hard to understand. Wood meets head, head gets broken. It was a simple concept.

He stared at me for a second, then pushed off the side of my truck. "Well shit, let me show you where he is."

That was unexpected and probably should've set off warning bells, but I didn't really care. Besides, if I listened to every little warning that rang through my head, then my bat wouldn't have a bite missing, and I wouldn't have a personal vendetta with the gator behind the church. And where was the fun in that?

It turned out that following Atlee was a good idea. Based on the look the guy standing inside the house gave me, I probably would've been thrown back out if I was alone.

Pretty sure I wouldn't be able to beat my way past him – given the fact that he had a gun – but I would give it my best shot. Everybody had weak knees when they were hot hard enough.

Atlee led me up the stairs and towards a room on the right where I could hear two people talking. One of whom I recognized as Romeo.

"Is everything in place?"

"Yes, sir." The other male voice responded. "We're all set."

"Good, keep someone on Nikolai. I don't want him catching wind of what we're doing."

Atlee stopped and glanced back at me. "You didn't hear that."

Why did he have to say anything? Did he not know better? That was like dangling cheese in front of a mouse, then telling them to ignore it. Now all I could think about was who was Nikolai?

"I mean it, Nova," he warned with a firm finger. "You heard nothing."

Did he know I had ears?

"Ugh, fine." I sighed when his serious stare hardened. "I heard nothing."

Except a name and possible plan.

"In fact," Romeo's voice carried out into the hall. "Send a couple of girls to his room to keep him occupied. Russian fuck likes to complain, but he has no problem using our merchandise."

I definitely heard that. "Did he just refer to girls as merchandise?"

"How else would you refer to them?"

Was that a serious question? "Um, as girls. You can't own people."

"And yet, you sold yourself."

Oh, I was going to beat him right after I shoved my bat in Romeo's face.

"That was different. I made a deal. I didn't sell myself into sexual slavery."

"Says the girl who spent all weekend getting fucked by the guy she sold herself to."

And now Gio and his big mouth were on my bat beating list.

Lifting my hand, I pointed my weapon at Atlee. "You're lucky I want to hurt Romeo more than you."

After which, I marched through the open door.

The room I entered was not what I expected. I thought maybe it was an office or bedroom, but this place was neither. A pair of deep brown leather chairs sat in the middle with a matching couch and a of table with various crystal decanters.

On the left side was a desk and bookshelf, while on the right housed some kind of cabinet with stained glass. There was probably some rich person name for this room, like the parlor or grand sitting room, but I was going to call it the Romeo got his ass beat room.

Two men were in here, both of whom turned to look at me. The really big guy sitting in a chair I recognized as the same one that hit on me the other day, and Romeo, who was standing next to a table at the far end.

My glare locked on Romeo as my grip tightened on the bat. "I want to talk to you."

The big guy cocked a brow while Romeo sipped on a drink and completely ignored me, like I wasn't even there.

That was fine with me. He didn't need to acknowledge me. I wasn't leaving until I got my point across.

"You better stay away from my sister!"

And what did Romeo do when I pointed the bat at him? Absolutely nothing. He didn't even cock a brow. The only thing he didn't do was lean to the side to look past me at Atlee.

"What the fuck is she doing here?"

Atlee smiled back at him. "Oh, she's here to kick your ass."

"And you brought her up here?"

"I sure did."

Did they not see me standing here? I was pretty threatening. "Hello?"

"Pipe down Doll Face," The big guy uttered. "The adults are talking."

Adults?"Atlee's only a year older than me."

"Yeah," He nodded. "But he doesn't look like a six-year-old. How tall are you?"

What the hell?

"I… am intimidating." I growled with a firm foot stomp.

It probably would've helped if I didn't say I was intimidating, but whatever. I had the don't fuck with me stance down pat.

He burst out laughing. "Sure, Doll Face. You can intimidate the hell out of my cock."

"How about I bite it off?"

"I like a challenge. Come see me when Gio gets bored with you."

What the hell was wrong with the men in this house? Atlee talked about barbed wire like it was a sex toy and this guy thought the threat of losing his penis was foreplay? But I wasn't here for them. I might come back for them after though.

"I'll come back to you later." I shifted my gaze over to Romeo. "If you go near my sister again, I'll–"

"You'll what?" Romeo cut me off.

Did he not see me standing here with a weapon? "I'll beat you with this bat."

He rolled his green eyes down my form, swallowed the rest of his drink, placed the glass on the table, and said, "Okay."

I was so confused I couldn't help but utter, "What?"

"Beat me with your bat."

Something about this didn't feel right.

"You want me to hit you?" Did he like pain?

"You can try."

I thought Gio had the title of cocky asshole, I was wrong. His brother took the cake in that department. Still…

When I didn't move right away, Romeo rolled his eyes.

"Do what you came to do, or get the fuck out. You're wasting my time."

Oh, that was it. It was time to give this bastard a lesson of my own. Don't fuck with a Ford. Unless it was Veda, she was easy to scare, Kato was locked up so he couldn't do much, and Maw Maw was kind of old. But I was here. And I had enough stubbornness and tenacity for all four of us.

What I didn't have was great hand/eye conidiation. Otherwise I would've hit Romeo when I charged across the room and swung my bat.

Instead, I smacked it down in his open palm. Or he grabbed it. It all happened too fast for me to be sure. Half a second later my weapon was ripped out of my grip so hard that I stumbled back and fell ass first on the floor.

On a side note, the hard in hardwood was extremely accurate. My tailbone hated me at the moment. However, I managed to hold back my wince of pain and glared back at Romeo.

"Is that all you got?" Pretty sure that was all I had – if I moved to fast then pain shooting up my spine might cripple me – but he didn't need to know that.

Romeo sighed and snapped my bat in half as if it was nothing more than a toothpick.

Okay, that was kind of scary. There was a chance that may have overestimated my capabilities.

"Ricky, will you go and occupy my brother." The two pieces of my weapon clacked down on the floor making me swallow back a lump in my throat. "Novalee and I need to have a chat."

Chatting suddenly seemed very overrated. Thankfully, I still had Atlee here. So it couldn't be that bad.

The man who I now knew as Ricky, got up and walked out, while Romeo's eyes locked on mine.

"You can fuck off too, Atlee."

Hold on a minute.

"Romeo…" Atlee tried but was shut down.

"I said, fuck off."

As intimidating as Romeo sounded, Atlee wouldn't leave me alone with him, right?

Wrong.

Half a second later Atlee spun around and headed for the door.

"Really?" I called after him. "You're just gonna leave."

All I got from him was a wave over his shoulder and a "Sorry Baby Cakes."

Ugh, coward.

When I turned back to Romeo there was something in his eyes that sent a chill up my spine.

"I don't like problems or messes Novalee, and you are both."

I mean… I couldn't really argue with that.

"Listen… things may have gotten…"

"Shut up."

Yeah, I could do that.

I clamped my mouth shut, crossed my legs, and stared up at him like I was in kindergarten waiting for the teacher to read a story. Although, I was fairly sure this story wouldn't include cute puppies or lonely ducks.

He walked across the room and refilled his cup. "Do you know what I spend most of my time doing?"

I could make a few guesses, all of which involved skinning things. He seemed like the skinning type.

"I solve problems."

"Okay?"

"If a shipment is lost, I find it. if someone cause issues I remove them." He swallowed back a mouthful of his drink and continued. "If someone tries to renege on a deal, I remind them of the consequences."

Dread rolled through my veins. Kato.

He spun around and locked his stare on me. "I don't need to remind you of the consequences do I, Novalee?"

I shook my head. I was well aware of the consequences.

"Good. Now here's what you're going to do. You're going to get your ass off my floor, walk out of my house and go home."

That sounded great to me. In fact I was halfway across the room before Romeo stopped me.

"I'll give you one week Novalee."

Even though I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer, I stopped and looked back at him. "For what?"

"To prove to me that you won't be another liability that I have to take care of."

There was no doubt in my mind what he meant by take care of.