Chapter 32

32

Jordan

I 'm glad I took a minute to text my mom that I was okay, and that I loved her this morning. It may very well be the last time she ever hears from me.

Once again, I'm hanging from a hook in the basement. At least this time I got to keep my boxer briefs on. Based on Dante Salvato's scowl, I bet he's wishing he had let me get dressed before dragging us down here.

The mobster is even more intimidating in person than I imagined. He looks more savage than all the Rockland Kings combined, especially when he stares down Eli.

That's the other difference from last time I was in the basement. Eli is hanging next to me, right where Darren's dead body hung recently. I'm glad to see his corpse has been removed.

Now I'm concerned that there's going to be another corpse hanging in that exact spot way too soon.

"Go ahead. Kill me," Eli says, causing me to jerk my head to try and look at his face. "But let the kid go. Madison would never forgive you if you hurt him."

"Eli, no…" I have no clue what to say or not say here to make things worse.

"I took Madison's virginity," Eli blurts out.

That is definitely the wrong thing to say.

The words barely leave his mouth before Dante's fist hauls back and nails him in the jaw.

Without even wincing, Eli adds, "On your fucking dining table."

"Eli!" I exclaim wishing he would shut the fuck up.

This time, Dante rams his fist into the center of Eli's gut, but he barely flinches at that either.

Why the hell is he trying to get himself killed? Because based on the rage on Dante's face, his glazed over eyes, that's exactly what's about to happen.

"I manipulated her into fucking me for three whole nights in Virginia to keep Jordan alive. Oh, and that day you called me for an update, I was coming down her throat while talking to you," Eli piles on.

And of course it's the final straw.

Dante whips out his gun and presses the muzzle against Eli's forehead.

"Wait!" I scream. "Dante, Mr. Salvato, wait! Just give me one minute to tell you what else Eli did in Rockland, okay? He saved Madison's life. Did he tell you that?"

The mobster's bearded clenched jaw ticks before he finally turns to look at to me. "How?" he asks, his deep voice clipped as if he's so furious that one word was difficult to manage through his clenched teeth.

"There was this private investigator who had been stalking Maddie, taking photos and shit of her. He was going to send you proof that she was alive to get your reward money, but he was going to sell her off to some rich creep for twice as much."

"What?" Thankfully, Dante lowers his gun to his side and comes a few steps closer to me.

"The PI and his two buddies were running a human trafficking ring out of Clayton, a city near Rockland. The PI would find women, girls, based on requests from perverts with a lot of money, and then the other two men would either use a tractor-trailer or a camper with fucking cages to transport them. That's what they were going to do to Maddie until Eli came snooping around, asking them about her, if they had seen her, and found out they knew exactly where she was. They were just waiting for the right time to grab her without me or the Savage Kings finding out."

Dante just stands there, staring up at me, silently fuming so I add, "If not for Eli, those sons of bitches would've grabbed Maddie and none of us would've ever seen her again."

"Why are you defending him?" Dante asks me. "And how the fuck can I know if any of the bullshit you just spewed is even true?"

"Call Remy Fulton, the president of the Savage Kings in Rockland. The Kings all know about the dead bodies. Maddie and I burnt down the camper so…"

"So, you don't have any evidence to prove it, just your buddy who will agree with whatever you say?"

"Fine. Call the Sanderson County Sheriff's office then. By now, they may have figured out those guys were nasty bastards who deserved to die."

"You got friends in the local sheriff's department too?"

"No, I don't." Glancing over at Eli he still hangs limply from the hook, looking like he's given up the fight, that he wants Dante to kill him. "Eli probably has proof. I bet he took their phones and shit with the messages, right, Eli?"

"I destroyed them," he replies blandly, as if it's no big deal that we can't prove this shit to Dante.

"How convenient," Dante remarks as he strolls back over to Eli.

"Look," I say to stop him. "Not only did Eli save Maddie, but he helped me too. He helped me finally get over some bad shit that happened to me several years ago. Yes, he's a little psycho sometimes, but he's loyal to you, to Maddie. You know he would take a bullet for you both."

"Eli would take a bullet for me ? He lied to me, over and over again! I can't trust a word out of his fucking mouth."

"He loves you." The mobster flinches at that comment. "Like a father, I mean. And you won't even let him sit down with your family for a meal."

Dante arches a single black eyebrow at me. "You mean for a meal on the table where Eli took my daughter's virginity ?"

"Yes, that table. And he probably shouldn't have done that, especially not…there. But are you even going to ask Maddie how she feels about him? Probably not. I can tell you what she'll say—she loves him too."

Now Dante scoffs. "Eli admitted to manipulating her. He must have manipulated you too if you believe any of this bullshit."

"Are you willing to risk your daughter's happiness on your assumption? Because if you kill him, or me, Maddie will never forgive you. She'll leave again, and the next time you won't find her because you won't have Eli around to do the dirty work for you because he'll be dead."

"You've got one hell of a mouth on you," Dante remarks. "Gag him," he orders the guards. Nobody moves for several seconds. They just stand around all staring at each other. Probably because Eli is usually the one to do that sort of thing. "Did any of you fucking hear me?"

Eventually, one steps forward, hesitating. "Yes, sir, we heard you. But we don't know where the gags are."

"Jesus fucking Christ," Dante mutters while rubbing his forehead with his left hand. At least the right one holding the gun is still lowered.

Chuckling, I draw the mobster's attention back to me. "Eli handles the torture and killing for you, right? What will you do without him?"

"I'll survive," Dante remarks.

"Well, I won't. And Maddie won't either. So don't you fucking dare kill him for lying to you. Not when you never deserved his loyalty to begin with."

Shaking his head, Dante says, "It's like you both have a death wish today, and I can't decide whose wish I should grant first."

"Don't you get it? Eli is running his mouth because he would rather die than take another life for you, especially if that life is mine. You have no idea what he's been through, do you? He's spent his whole life being unloved and unappreciated, convincing himself he's a monster. And you used him, turned him into that monster. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"God, you're an idiot," Eli grumbles, trying to sound tough but his voice waivers, his eyes blinking rapidly. "You're trying to get yourself killed."

"Isn't that what you're trying to do? Isn't that what you do to protect the people you love?"

He doesn't answer me, just purses his lips together.

"So, I get that the two of us may not be the men you would ever choose for one of your daughters," I admit to Dante. "But here's the thing—you don't get to fucking choose who Maddie loves, who loves her, or how many men she sleeps with at a time. Those are all her decisions to make. You don't have to like them either, you controlling prick. That's why you need to decide what's more important to you—your stubborn, wounded pride or your daughter's happiness."

Dante glares at me for a long silent moment. Then he turns back to Eli. "Do you have any final words?"

Eli gives him a shrug. "I'm not sorry, if that's what you want me to say. Despite what you think, I would never hurt Maddie. I would do anything to protect her. And yes, I know it's hard to believe that I could ever protect an ant much less your daughter, but it's true." Taking a deep breath, he rushes to add, "Maybe...maybe what I did with Maddie started out with me just wanting to get back at you. And I regret that. I do. It turned into more though. So that's why I'm ready to accept whatever punishment you decide I deserve. Kill me, beat me, stab me. I'll take it."

There's a long moment of silence in the basement as Eli's final words echo in my head, right before he barks out a laugh.

"God, that sounded so stupid," Eli mutters. "How ridiculous right? How could any father ever give me, ME , Eligor, the notorious psycho torturer, their blessing to be with their daughter, especially you, Mr. Overprotective Mafia King? I'm a fucking idiot. That's how I know I love Maddie and Jordan, because I'm strung up here facing the end and saying shit that I know is going to get me killed even faster, but I can't not say it."

"Are you finished now?" Dante grits out.

Eli nods. "Yes. I think so. No, wait. I do apologize for going behind your back and fucking…yeah."

"Do you really expect me to give you my permission to go chase after my daughter like a lovesick fool?"

"No. But now that I've had time to think about it, well, you can't kill me."

Dante's brows rise in challenge. "Is that what you fucking think?"

"Not because…I just meant that my death would fuck Maddie up. Killing me would kill a piece of her too, and you know that."

"I do," Dante mutters. "So, I'm not going to kill you today for betraying me worse than anyone else in the world ever has before."

Thank fuck.

"Wow. I know what I did was bad, but I'm not sure if it was as bad as say killing the mothers of your children like Yuri Petrov," Eli responds, his voice lighter as if he trusts Dante not to put a bullet in his head.

"Fine, you're the second worst betrayal."

"That's better. It's not like I killed your daughter. I just...loved her behind your back. Several times. In inappropriate places or times, like when we were on the phone…"

"Shut up, Eli before you blow this," I hiss at him. Whispering even though the mobster can obviously hear me, I tell him, "I think we've almost convinced him not to kill us today."

Now Dante stares me down again, then says to Eli, "The kid has a pair of brass balls on him, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he does have a pair," Eli replies with a chuckle. "All those bikers do, actually."

"And a mouth. Once he starts talking, he doesn't shut up. I think it must have rubbed off on you after that monologue you just gave me. And you think he loves you? And Madison?"

"Yeah, I think he does."

"I do," I tell him confidently. "I love you, Eli."

"Does Madison love you?" Dante asks his tormentor.

When Eli doesn't reply right away, I answer for him. "Maddie is in love with him too."

"I hope so," Eli says. "But I'm not entirely sure. If she does, well, she'll always love Jordan more."

"That's not true," I say just as Dante steps closer to Eli. Studying his face through narrowed eyes, the mobster says, "I'm shocked you haven't killed him to get him out of the way."

"I love Jordan too much to hurt him," he says, making my heart swell up to twice its size as he finally looks right at me. "And he's not in my way. Apparently, I'm the only one who was getting in my own way."

"If you survive, you're going to keep fucking him?" Dante asks gesturing to me with his gun.

"Hell, yes, look at him."

Dante frowns at Eli's comment as if he doesn't agree.

"And Madison knows?"

"She knows and encourages it," Eli explains to her father.

"Is this why you advocated for her to get her driver's license and keep up her new business? You really think you're in love with Madison?"

"Yes," Eli answers. I can't say I'm even surprised that he advocated for the things that mean the most to Maddie.

Now to me, Dante says, "Madison left Vegas with you?"

"Yes. On a private plane a member's wife paid for."

"And she was living with you this whole time?"

"Every day and night," I tell him truthfully. "I thought we were married. Maddie told me we had a shotgun wedding in Vegas the night before we left."

"What do you do for a living?" Dante asks, the question catching me off-guard with the sudden whiplash change of topic.

"Ah, I'm a mechanic at an auto shop."

"A mechanic?"

"Yes."

"What's your housing situation?"

"My housing…well, Maddie and I were living in a small one-bedroom apartment in Rockland."

"What's the crime rate like in this Rockland ?"

"Nonexistent. It's a small town in Sanderson County with over a dozen Savage Kings keeping an eye on things. At least it was crime-free until Eli showed up in town and started killing perverted assholes. The dead bodies really freaked everybody out."

Turning back to Eli, Dante says, "The kid claims you don't want to kill people, but you killed how many in Rockland?"

"Three. They deserved it for going after Maddie, and girls like her," Eli answers. "I enjoyed killing them too. I'm just tired of being told to kill without having a choice."

"Yes, because apparently I'm such a controlling prick," Dante remarks tightly using my insult.

Eli huffs a laugh. "You know exactly what you are, and that it drives everyone in your family crazy."

Dante's left hand reaches into his pants pocket to pull out his phone. "Vanessa's only texted me…sixteen times since we've been down here having this little chat."

I assume Vanessa is his wife, Maddie's stepmother, the short blonde woman who tried and failed to intervene in Maddie's room. But maybe she has some sort of sway with the mobster.

Dante bows his head, reading the many messages for several minutes. There are so many he has to use his thumb to scroll. "She says she will kick me out of my own bed if I hurt either of you…and she threatens that her and Madison will both leave me if I kill one or both of you."

Dante holsters his gun and I heave a sigh of relief. Thank you, Vanessa.

Looking back and forth between us, the mobster says, "You should both be grateful that I know what it looks like when a man loves someone enough to die for them. But Madison is not going back to Rockland until I visit it myself and find her a safe place to live. A house with walls around it and top of the line security systems. A few guards to monitor the grounds as well."

Wow. Okay. That doesn't sound too awful. Much better than a painful death. Still, I can't help but press my luck. "As long as Maddie can come and go when she wants, without the guards," I tell him. "She never wants to be a prisoner again."

"Fine," Dante grits out. "And Eli…you're hereby released from my service. But don't expect any sort of severance package. Which means you better come up with a way to earn an income fast if you're going to help the biker take care of my daughter."

"Seriously? I'm free? Just like that?" Eli asks in disbelief. "I can leave Vegas and you won't send an assassin to Rockland to kill me?"

"No assassins will be sent after you. But I do expect daily…ah, weekly reports on how Madison is doing."

"Hell, yes. I can do that," Eli enthusiastically agrees. "I'll do anything you fucking want for me and Jordan to walk out of here alive and be with her."

Dante nods and swallows so hard I hear it. "All I can ask from you both is to protect her and make her happy."

"Done," Eli and I reply at the same time.

And that is how we managed to make a deal with the mafia king of Vegas to have a throuple with his beautiful daughter.