Chapter 17

Chapter

Seventeen

The days leading up to Friday were miserably dull and unproductive.

Jupiter remained either chained or escorted around the house at all times. While it did make for some fun sex, Trev resented it. It was clearly a show of Cold's power over them, a leash to trap them both even if the chains were only on Jupiter because Cold knew Trev would not leave without him.

Having feelings for someone while also wanting desperately to escape was very inconvenient.

Juicy was back to his usual self thanks to Queen's nurses stopping by throughout the day to give him his meds. Despite having said he boarded Barkie, Barkie was now inexplicably with him and needed to go out for his walks. Juicy took him out around the mansion, often barking at the other patrolling dogs as he dragged the sash from a bathrobe behind him.

He didn't have any interest in returning to Perry City, insisting that he had work to do here. Queen said he needed more time to fully recover before travel anywhere would be an option, and Trev had no choice but to trust her judgment.

He knew there was a chance she was feeding him whatever information Cold wanted her to, but he didn't want to risk it. Juicy's outburst the other day had shocked him, and his concern for his friend was yet another intangible chain holding him here.

Yeah, those pesky feelings were really fucking inconvenient.

Trev divided his time between being with Jupiter and getting to know Rowena and Jimmy better. Brick went back home to North Carolina and Jules was set to follow him next week, no doubt waiting for whatever the hell was going to happen on Friday. Brick didn't seem concerned, but he'd been dating a gangster a lot longer than Trev.

Maybe this kind of crap was normal.

It was Thursday now and Trev had chewed his nails down to nubs, watched Mean Girls at least six more times, and hadn't been able to sleep.

Cold had ignored him all week.

Which was fine at first, but it soon became maddening as time ticked down to the meeting. All Trev had been able to deduce was that Cold would be meeting the mayor for lunch at some hoity-toity restaurant in downtown Strassen.

Jupiter's knowledge of the hit was that the assassin would be waiting for Cold inside the restaurant, posing as a member of the waitstaff. They could make their move at any time, which left a huge window for Cold to be attacked.

Trev thought the whole thing was stupid.

Stupid and dangerous , and he had no idea why Cold was still going.

Jimmy was also weirdly calm about the whole thing, which made Trev think Jimmy must know something about it. Trev had tried a few times to get Jimmy to open up and share some more information, but Jimmy always skillfully shut him down with a sweet smile and a clever remark that totally changed the subject.

Fucker was pretty good at this mob husband thing.

Trev thought of himself more as a mob fuck buddy because he didn't yet want to put a label on whatever he and Jupiter had together. Yes, the sex was great, but he was very aware that it was much more than that. The unspoken affection hung between them constantly, neither daring to speak of it. Trev's plan was to simply ignore it until they were standing somewhere with sand between their toes.

Maybe then, it would feel real.

Trev looked up when there was a knock at the door.

He'd been hanging out in Jupiter's room, enjoying a light cuddle after a vigorous lunchtime tryst, and neither of them had bothered to put on their clothes.

Jupiter was chained, though Mickey had been kind enough to give him more slack so he had a wider range to move around the bed. He grabbed the blankets to cover himself and made a face, muttering, "I wonder who that could be."

"I dunno." Trev shrugged, not bothering to move. He called out, "Come in!"

There was a pause and Cold asked, "Are you decent?"

"No."

Cold sighed.

Trev snorted and slipped under the covers. "Everything is tucked away now!"

Cold opened the door a small crack, as if checking to make sure Trev was telling the truth. He scowled as he walked in, saying dryly, "If you're available, I'd like to speak with you." His eyes flicked over Jupiter. "Alone."

"Right now?" Trev frowned.

"Yes."

"Yeah, sure. Just give me a second to get dressed."

"I'll be waiting." Cold left just as quickly as he came, shutting the door behind him.

"Huh." Trev slipped out of bed to find his clothes, his DTF shorts and a lavender hoodie crop top Rowena had given him. "Yeah, not fucking weird at all."

"What the fuck is that about?" Jupiter frowned.

"No idea." Trev pulled the hoodie over his head. "I let him borrow those photos yesterday, so maybe he's returning them?"

"Why not just give them to you?"

"No clue." Trev leaned over to give Jupiter a kiss. "I guess I'll find out."

"Be careful." Jupiter frowned. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Me?" Trev gasped dramatically. "As if." He smirked as he strolled to the door. "You just wait right there for me, all right? Don't go anywhere."

"Ha, very funny."

"Be right back."

"I'll be here, baby doll."

Trev left the room and closed the door, jumping when Mickey was suddenly right beside him. "God, you creepy fucker."

Mickey smiled. "Boss Cold's room is over there." He nodded his head. "Big double doors. Can't miss it."

"Oh. Okay." Trev blinked but headed that way.

In all of his time here, he'd yet to set foot inside Cold's personal rooms. He'd caught a glimpse once or twice saying good night to Jimmy, but this was going to be a first. He wasn't sure what to expect as he opened the doors.

First was a large foyer with a chic sitting area that didn't look much different than the rest of the house.

Beyond that was a den, but it was a complete departure from the modern and luxurious decor. The ratty furniture ranged from a weird shade of orange to a murky brown, and part of the couch was actually being held together with duct tape. A big record player sat in the corner with a ton of vinyl and the walls were covered in personal photographs and posters, including one that was definitely of Suzanne because it looked like the one Trev had back at his apartment.

Cold was sitting on the couch, staring at the cluster of photographs on the wall beneath the poster. There were nine arranged in a circle around a tenth in the middle. There was also a manila envelope on the table.

Trev walked over to the pictures and he smiled when he saw they were the photographs of his mother and Cold's. There was one in the middle that was only of Cold's mother, an old Polaroid. "They turned out great. Look good in here."

"Thank you." Cold tapped the envelope. "These are your originals. What's your price for ten photographs, hmm?"

"Can I take my prisoner and my crazy friend and leave?" Trev asked.

"No."

"Well, then." Trev clapped his hands. "Sorry, but that's my final offer."

"What if I told you that you'll all be free by Saturday evening?"

"What?" Trev narrowed his eyes, stepping toward the couch. "What's the catch?"

"No catch." Cold shrugged. "Oh." He smirked. "Except you will be attending the lunch with me."

"Exsqueeze me?"

"You will be attending the lunch with me."

"The one where someone is coming to kill you?"

"That would be the one."

Trev's mind spun. "What about Jupiter?"

Cold stared blankly.

Trev threw up his hands. "Hello! What about Jupiter ? What are you doing with him?"

"He'll be safe," Cold replied calmly.

"I'm not going anywhere with you unless you tell me what you're up to. Specifically with my prisoner."

"The prisoner whose bed you've stayed in every night since you've been here?"

"Yeah. To make sure you don't kill him."

Cold smirked. "I think we both know that one, he'd already be dead if I wanted him to be, and two, he is more than a prisoner to you. You can't claim to be using him as leverage because I'm already giving you everything you could possibly want. Ah, except for him , of course."

"I really hate you."

"Noted."

"You swear he'll be safe?" Trev scoffed at his own question, muttering, "Like I can even trust you."

"Perhaps this will help." Cold tapped the folder.

"What?" Trev picked it up and was surprised to find it was heavier than it should be if it only contained photographs. He sat at the far end of the couch away from Cold, opening it to first retrieve his photos.

He flipped through them to make sure they were all accounted for and then pulled an old yellowed folder stamped FBI full of typewritten pages.

A quick skim of the documents revealed a very familiar name.

His mother's.

"What is this?" Trev demanded.

"Charlie came through with some valuable information," Cold said. "I know why she wanted to go into witness protection."

Trev flipped through the pages, but it was a bunch of legal gibberish. "Why?"

"She witnessed Federico Luchesi kill three men here in Strassen Springs. She went to the police and the detective assigned to the case was on the family's payroll. The Luchesi family had no real love for Feddy, and they did everything they could to make sure your mother would take the stand and put him away."

"Why not just kill him?"

"A promise made to Rafaello Luchesi, the Don at the time. Federico was his favorite cousin and the other members of the family couldn't allow him to know they had any involvement in his incarceration. So, they helped your mother apply for witness protection to make sure she testified."

"Okay." Trev frowned. "So, what the fuck happened?"

"I did." Cold smirked slyly. "The Don was murdered, the family fell out of power, and their influence followed once I took over the city. The case was dropped. Your mother had already moved to Perry City by then, no doubt because the family wanted to keep an eye on her."

"Some fucking witness protection. They literally had her move into their territory."

"At the time, it was truly for her benefit. Federico could have been a viable contender to lead the family after Rafaello's death, and most of his support was in Strassen. Moving her to one of their other strongholds was meant to protect her."

"And no one bothered coming after her or me after the case was dropped? Why risk a loose end like that?"

"An excellent question. You see, most of the senior family members who knew about it died." Cold's smile indicated he was somehow responsible or at least very happy about it. "Enough time passed that no one else cared anymore. Federico was eventually arrested for another crime and then killed in prison. I imagine the only reason it's coming up now is because former special agent Champignon is very eager to punish me."

"What did you do to him? Run over his dog?"

"He failed to convict me some time ago and took it very personally," Cold replied. "In addition to fueling the Luchesi family's meager drug operation, he has likely been searching for anything else at the bureau that he could use against me."

"He finds these files, reads about my mom…" Trev flinched. "Reads about me ."

"He must have been confident that we were related to put you on the family's radar." Cold shrugged. "That or pathetically desperate."

Trev scrubbed his hands over his face. "So. My mom lied about this, about Boris, about everything, trying to keep me safe from the fucking mob whose fucking town we moved to. I don't get it. Why didn't she just leave Perry City?"

"It could be because the family was still watching her."

Trev snorted. "Yeah? Who?"

"Juicy."

Trev laughed. "What?"

"Juicy Cusack was a hitman who often worked for the Luchesi family," Cold said slowly. "Do you think it was a coincidence he moved in right next door to you?"

" What ?" Trev laughed again. "You're kidding me, right?"

"You have him in your photographs." Cold nodded at the stack. "I'm surprised you never noticed."

"No way." Trev grabbed the photographs, frantically flipping through them.

The old man at the park …

Trev squinted.

It was hard to be sure, but the man was certainly about the right height and build to be Juicy.

"I don't understand." Trev shook his head. "You're saying Juicy's been following me and my mom for literal decades? Why?"

"As far as I can tell, it was to keep an eye on your mother."

"Why? In case they wanted to kill her?"

"Juicy was loyal to the Don, so it's hard to say. But he knew he had a mission, to watch her, and so he did. Even with his deteriorating mental status, he knew to carry out his mission. Once your mother passed, you remained his only objective."

Trev shivered.

That was either really nice or really creepy.

Maybe both.

"How the fuck do you know this?" Trev demanded. "How did you figure it out?"

"His nurse." Cold raised his brow. "She also works for the Luchesi family, taking care of Ugo Luchesi."

"The… Oh. Holy shit ." Trev stared. "That's why she looked familiar. I saw her at the Luchesi's place. She's Juicy's nurse too?"

"Yes." Cold nodded. "I've always made it a habit to befriend those at the so-called lowest rung of the ladder. Being able to keep tabs on your enemies is a wise investment, no matter how long it takes to pay off. She kept me abreast of everything going on with the Luchesi family, and I thought it was very interesting that one of her other patients just so happened to be a former hitman."

Trev narrowed his eyes. "So, did you know about me?"

"I did."

"What the fuck ?"

"I didn't know about our possible relation until the Luchesis dangled you in front of my face. Yes, I knew my mother had a close friend who had a son and had left the city. I knew she was involved with the Luchesis and yes, I knew that Juicy was watching over you. I'd thought it was because of the Luchesi family, which it was."

"Did you know that we were brothers?"

"No. The thought had crossed my mind, knowing our father's promiscuous behavior, but we probably have a lot of siblings out there that we don't know about. I'm not interested in chasing down every single one, thank you."

"Fair." Trev looked at the photograph with Juicy in the background again. "Juicy said he was working for you. Was that more nonsense or what?"

"No." Cold leaned back against the couch. "I called him."

"Called him?" Trev frowned. "Why?"

"To make sure Mr. Prospero got here safely."

"Huh?"

Cold looked annoyed. "Once I heard Jupiter was leaving his family, it was obvious he'd be heading here to find you. Even easier to assume that he'd be visiting your place to collect your things since you two had the not very original plan of running away together. So, I told Juicy he was working for me now and I needed him to escort Mr. Prospero here."

"You are one sneaky fuck."

"Thank you." Cold tilted his head. "I did not expect Mr. Cusack to forget his medications and lash out as he did, but ah, I will accept responsibility for that."

"You had no way to know that Juicy would do that." Trev scowled as realization struck, and he said, "You had no way to know he would actually do any of the shit you told him to. You clearly knew about his dementia and shit. Why risk it?"

"Because I had nothing to lose," Cold replied simply.

"Right, just putting the people I care about in danger," Trev snapped. "What if the Luchesi fuckers caught up to Jupiter and Juicy? You really think Juicy could have helped fight them off? What would he do? Tell his imaginary dog to bite them?"

"As I said, I had nothing to lose."

"Wow." Trev laughed bitterly. "We're really nothing but pawns to you, huh? Just little pieces for you to move around and fuck with. And since you don't give a shit, you don't care what happens to us."

Cold raised his brow. "And?"

"So, this is why they call you Cold? Because you have so many icicles jammed up your ass?"

"Something like that."

"Fuck you." Trev shoved the photographs back into the folder with the FBI file. "Me, you, lunch tomorrow, and then we're done."

"Saturday is?—"

"Saturday I already plan to be fucking gone and as far away from you as possible." Trev glared. "As soon as this stupid lunch bullshit is over, we're gone. Me, Jupiter, and Juicy."

"We'll see."

"Uh-huh. Fuck you very much. Buh-bye." Trev left, his temper threatening to bubble over. He was so intent on stomping out, he didn't even see Jimmy coming in.

They smacked right into each other, and Jimmy grabbed Trev's shoulders to steady him. "Whoa! Hey! Sorry about that. Are you okay?"

"Fine." Trev flinched and pulled away. "Your husband is a dick."

Jimmy frowned. "What's wrong?"

Trev inhaled sharply.

Jimmy was sweet and not a fitting victim of his venom.

He patted Jimmy's arm. "Look, I'm gonna take all of everything I have going on and go over here, okay? Away from you."

"Whoa, hey now." Jimmy tried to hang on. He turned his head, shouting into the bedroom. "Rod! What the fuck did you do?"

Unsurprisingly, there was no response.

Jimmy pouted. "If you tell me, maybe I can help."

Trev scoffed as he sidestepped out of Jimmy's grasp. "All that matters is that me and mine will be free after tomorrow's little lunch date." He encountered a small drip of guilt. "Cold has made it clear where I stand, so."

Jimmy didn't try to pull Trev back. "Did he? Because sometimes he does this crap thing where he tries to show he cares, but it's, like, in this crazy backwards ass way?"

"Like?"

"Like, marrying me without telling me?—"

"What?" Trev shook his head. "Oh my God, who does that? That's so fucked up!"

Jimmy grimaced. "Okay! Better example. That I cannot think of right now." He took a deep breath and gave Trev a big smile. "It may be hard to believe, but Rod does care about you."

Trev crossed his arms. "Uh-huh."

"He wouldn't have introduced us if he was going to do something terrible, okay? His mind is a weird place and I think…" Jimmy tilted his head. "I think the two of you are a lot more alike than you realize."

Trev didn't want to bore Jimmy with a beat by beat recount of what had just happened with Cold, instead saying shortly, "Hard disagree, babe."

Jimmy's big stupid eyes looked sad. "I wish I could tell you to trust me, but I know that's not fair."

"I'd sooner trust you than him."

"Okay, so trust me. Knowing I do trust him. And whatever is going to happen, I know he's thinking of what's best for all of us. And that means you too."

"Wow. That dick must be good ." Trev quirked his brows. "Because you're sucking on that Kool-Aid hard."

Jimmy laughed a little. "I guess so. But it's because of what I've seen. What I've seen him do." He offered his hand. "If you wanna talk about it, I'm free tonight."

Trev took Jimmy's hand to give it a shake, but then he grunted when Jimmy pulled him in for a hug. "Yeah, no, I'm good." He pushed Jimmy away. "How often do you have to stop and spit out Cold's jizz when you talk? Like every other sentence?"

"Ew, that's gross."

"Almost as gross as this conversation." Trev scowled. "He's your man. I get it. You're gonna defend him. But don't waste your breath defending him to me , okay? I'm done with his ass and I'm leaving as soon as I fucking can."

"Just…" Jimmy sighed. "Please think about it?"

"Okay. Yup. Thinking." Trev hummed. "Wow! And the answer is still no." He left Jimmy standing there as he stalked back toward Jupiter's room.

"Hey! Trev!" Rowena was coming up the stairs to cut him off.

Trev groaned. "What?"

"What's wrong?" Rowena frowned. "Your face looks like a cat's ass."

"He had a fight with Rod," Jimmy replied from behind him. "He wants to leave after tomorrow."

Trev whirled around to find Jimmy had followed him, and he groaned again, more loudly than before. "Can you both just fuck off? Pretty please?

"What did Roddy do?" Rowena demanded.

"It doesn't matter." Trev forced a smile. "If you want to know so badly, you can go ask him yourself. He's sitting on his ugly couch, being a smug bitch."

"Bitch? Where?" Juicy sounded alarmed. "Barkie hasn't been snipped. Better keep her away from him." He frowned as he approached them, the bathrobe sash he was using as a leash dragging behind him. "Hey! Are we having a meeting? I'm sorry I'm late. No one told me."

"It's fine, Juicy." Trev gritted his teeth. "Everybody is just giving me shit because we're leaving tomorrow."

"Oh! We are?" Juicy frowned. "But we're going to have Chinese tomorrow. And I still haven't found the two trees I was looking for."

"We can get Chinese to go and I will help you look for all the fucking trees you want. Far, far away from here."

Just Trev, his gangster boyfriend, and an old man who used to be a hitman for the mob and was apparently stalking Trev and his mother for years.

Totally fine.

Just fucking fine.

Not that Trev was going to bring any of that up right now.

Rowena pouted. "I'm sorry, Trev. Really. I know Roddy can be a giant dickhole and he's not real good at opening up to people. It's hard for him to trust people."

"No shit," Trev quipped. "Why trust anybody when it's more fun just to screw with them and play them like pawns in his shitty little games? I bet it just leaves his shit throbbing when he gets on that kinda power trip, right? Fuck him."

"Please don't leave," Rowena pleaded. "Come on, Trev. You're family."

"Family?" Trev shook his head and laughed bitterly. "You guys have been nice, really. I appreciate everything you've done for me, but if this is how Roddy treats family? Then I want no fucking part of it."

Rowena and Jimmy both gave him sympathetic looks, like two stupid puppy dogs.

"We can keep in touch, okay?" Trev sighed. "I'll get your numbers before I go. And…" Shit, his phone was still inside a locker at the Cannery. "I will get a phone. To put those numbers in."

"Do you even know where you're going?" Rowena asked.

"Heading south and never looking back."

"Oh, Florida is nice," Juicy chimed in. "At least, I think it is." He frowned. "Can Barkie come? I'm not sure how well he'll do on a road trip. We'll have to make stops for him to use the bathroom, you know."

"I'm sure Barkie will do just fine," Trev soothed. "Come on. I'll walk you back to your room."

"There's really nothing else we can do?" Jimmy looked as if he was resisting the urge to tackle Trev with another hug.

"Nope." Trev offered his arm to Juicy so he could lead him down the hall. "We're good, thanks."

"I'm going to go talk to Rod right now," Jimmy said firmly, stomping off with a growl.

"Me fucking too," said Rowena, no doubt stomping off right behind him.

Trev appreciated the thought, but he doubted that Cold was going to be swayed by his sister and husband bitching at him.

Juicy patted Trev's shoulder. "Hey, are you all right?"

"I'm okay." Trev managed a smile. "Just ready to get out of here. How about you?"

"I don't mind so much. It's pretty nice here. Barkie has so much room to play, he's made a bunch of new friends." Juicy hummed thoughtfully. "I'm almost positive there's no bodies buried out there."

"That's nice." Trev opened Juicy's door so Juicy could walk in first. "You know, speaking of bodies, I did want to talk to you about something." He tapped the folder against his chest, watching Juicy as he waddled over to the bed.

Juicy seemed so frail.

It was hard to believe he'd ever been an assassin.

"Cold told me some stuff." Trev reached into the folder to pull out the pictures. "Some really crazy stuff. About you being a hitman for the Luchesi family? And, uh, a bunch of crap about you watching me and my mother?"

Juicy frowned and then he nodded, smiling warmly. "Oh! Of course. You were my mission."

"Mission?"

"To protect you. That's what Ugo wanted."

"Wait, you know Ugo? Ugo Luchesi?"

Juicy smiled again and the cloudiness that usually fogged his gaze cleared. "Of course, I do. He called me to take care of Federico's little problem. Oh, what a mess that was."

Trev stiffened. "What little problem?"

"The bodies."

"The bodies that were never found? Those bodies?"

"It's only natural they never found them! I'm the one who hid them. Drove them straight across to… Hmm." Juicy beamed, but then his smile drooped. "Oh."

"What?"

"I just remembered."

"Remembered what?"

"That I forgot where I put them." Juicy sighed, and his eyes glazed over again. "Can we still go to Florida? Barkie would love to play in the sand."

"Yeah, don't worry. We'll definitely end up somewhere with sand." Trev looked over the photograph of the park. "And hey, don't worry about those bodies." He smirked. "I got a pretty good idea of where they are."