Page 99 of Because I Need You
“Nope.” The man started to turn around and walk in the direction he came from. My heart began to pound harder, louder. I looked up at blue-eyes above me, who looked like he’d enjoy doing a lot of things to me if he had the chance. I was already tied up. We were about to be left alone. It wasn’t like he needed permission from anyone to rip my dress apart and have his way with me if he wanted.
“Wait,” I said through a sob. The man stopped walking and turned around, small smile on his lips. “The briefcase is in Chicago.”
“Where in Chicago?”
I bit my lip hard.
“Does your boyfriend have it?” he raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t have a boyfriend.” I swallowed.
He chuckled, shaking his head. “Is it in Giovanni’s apartment?”
I nodded softly. He gave a nod and turned around again.
“Wait,” I said again. “Wait wait wait.”
The man stopped walking and turned to me, eyebrow raised, waiting.
“Please don’t leave me alone with him.” Tears welled my eyes as I pleaded. “Please.”
“He won’t touch you. Isn’t that right, Ricardo?”
Ricardo sighed above me and nodded. The man turned around and left, not turning around again, leaving me with Ricardo. I shut my eyes and cried quietly.
“I wasn’t planning to rape you,” he said. My eyes popped open and met his. “I take no pleasure in that.”
I swallowed. “Only in killing old ladies?”
“Ah, I didn’t take pleasure in that. It was a means to an end.” He pushed his back against the wall behind him and sank down right by my head, bringing a rough hand to my face and wiping my tears. “I’ve never been a fan of criers. It’s a weakness. At least, that was what my father used to tell us.” He let out a laugh. “Crying is for pussies,” he’d say. “What do you think about that?”
I swallowed hard, my throat hurting each time I did so. He grabbed a fistful of my hair and brought my entire body up with it, tears springing my eyes from the pain.
“I asked you a question.” He stared right into my eyes.
“I think…” My lip wobbled as I answered, my words coming out jaggedly. “Pussies are made of steal.”
He opened his hand, letting go of my hair and my face went down hard. I caught myself just as it hit the concrete, but not well enough. My cheek stung with pain, blood pooling in my mouth quickly. I took a breath, then another. This man would probably be the one to kill me. He’d probably do it as I was tied up, too. Like a dick.
“My sister, she takes pleasure in ending a life,” he said after a moment. “Well, she would probably say she doesn’t, but I’ve seen the gleam in her eye.”
I started to shiver, the palms of my hands vibrating with it.
“She wants to meet you,” he said. “She’s curious who managed to steal her son’s heart.”
My eyes went wide. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. Gio’s mother was behind this? A small part of me hoped he wouldn’t find out, for his sake, but mostly, I wanted to get out of here and I knew the only way to do it would be for him to bring the briefcase to his mother.
“Of course, it doesn’t matter,” he added. “Whether my nephew likes you or not doesn’t really matter. Soon enough he’ll find someone to replace you with. He’ll be sad, I’m sure, based on how we’ve seen him looking at you, but he’ll survive.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. More tears trickled down my face.
“What are these? Scars from small cuts?” He lifted my hands. I yanked them out of his grasp, bringing them back against my chest. He stood up, setting both feet on either side of my torso. My pulse sped up, eyes wide on him. He said he wouldn’t. He said he wouldn’t. How many times did people make promises to do one thing and did the complete opposite? Too many. In my experience, way too many. He lifted me by the front of my trench coat, until our noses were nearly touching. He smiled then, in his eyes and his mouth, a smile like if he was about to tell me the fucking weather. He started setting me back down, and just as I thought I was in the clear, he punched me and I lost all consciousness.
42
GIO
We’d been parked across the street from the Bingo Hall for thirty-minutes. I wanted to barge in there and demand to see Isabel, but I knew that wasn’t the right move. Silvio would have her killed before I reached her. I had no doubt about it. Loren wasn’t back with the briefcase yet. I didn’t expect he would be, but I wished he’d hurry the fuck up. I picked up my phone and called my father. He wasn’t the person I wanted to speak to at the moment, but I knew he’d tell me what was going on. Whether he liked me or not, he was depending on me to hold shit down here. No answer. I tried again. No answer. I tried again. No answer. I banged the back of my head against the headrest, growing angrier by the second.
