Reckless Covenant: a Second Chance Mafia Romance, page 32
“Baby, untie me! Get me out of here!” the asshole pleads with his girl.
“What did they do to you?” Loreley frantically touches his body, assessing the damage.
“This is all your fault, bitch!” he spits at Morrigan who just walked into the room. “You fucking ruined everything for my Lulu!”
Morrigan doesn’t respond, but I don’t miss the flinch of the muscles in her back.
“How about we tell these lovely ladies what you so graciously told us after only two punches. What do you say? Or better yet, let’s start with the phone call you made when you were ‘going to talk to the firemen’ when Sinclair and Severin were at the club with you all.” Finn walks around to the table and grabs Luke’s phone.
“Baby, don’t listen to them. They’re all lies. They’re trying to fool you, turn you against me, and get in the middle of us!” he almost begins to beg, a pathetic sort of desperation clear in his eyes.
Does he really think his girlfriend is stupid?
“Let him the hell out of these ties!” She swings around, heaving as she looks at Finn.
“Give us a moment, and then you can decide for yourself what you want to do.” Finn brings the phone and stands next to the chair.
“Start explaining. I’m losing my damn patience here.” Morrigan is behind her friend, a shield protecting her from us.
“When darling Luke over here went upstairs to supposedly talk to the firemen, he actually went to make a phone call,” he responds, a wicked smile pulling at his lips, but it’s doused in cunning satisfaction.
“You probably remember that we sent one of our men to go after him.” I take over, stepping around into their view.
“I do.” She nods. “For his protection.” But I can see she doesn’t believe her words.
“For confirmation,” I clarify, and she scowls. “When we left you, we found him restrained by two of our men. He was trying hard to get away, spouting all sorts of bullshit. But the one who followed him confirmed my suspicion. He caught him on a call, about to throw you”—I point to Morrigan—“under the bus.”
“What?” she asks, brows furrowed, interrupting me.
“Beau, could you please share with the ladies what you overheard?” I turn to the man standing tall against the wall.
He takes one step forward. “His exact words over the phone, were: ‘Morrigan is out of hiding. She came back, but she’s not al—’” He pauses and steps back.
“Beau’s timing was fucking impeccable. He took Luke’s phone away just as he was about to reveal our dirty little secret.” I try to not be too condescending, because I don’t want to throw in her face that she was wrong about me. As much as I want to, I’m revealing a harsh betrayal, and it probably lands with a healthy dose of heartache.
“Surely you don’t expect me to have blind faith in your man’s words. Or yours.” That last one was a hard dig at me. “This means nothing.” Morrigan keeps her tone level now. But I can see the wheels are spinning in that pretty head of hers.
“Finn, give Morrigan the phone,” I instruct him.
She takes it, confused.
“Check the number. Call it if you wish.”
She waves in front of Luke’s face to unlock it, then checks the call list. Her eyes go wide instantly, shooting straight to Loreley. She’s frozen. Her lips part, but I can see the conflict riddling her body, faced with the task of telling her best friend that her longtime boyfriend betrayed her. She has to break the news that she’s about to lose who she loves, the one she shares her life with, her house, her bed.
“Morri?” Loreley’s voice is meek, begging almost, pleading that the reality she sees plastered all over her best friend’s expression is not the same one we presented to her.
She pulls the phone out of her hands and looks for herself.
“The timestamp fits. Morri, whose number is this?” She pauses, waiting on a bated breath. “Answer me!” she rasps when the response doesn’t come.
“It’s Ryan’s number…” It’s almost as if she’s afraid to speak the words that spell betrayal.
The soft, broken threads on Loreley’s pale features morph until they settle on one vicious emotion, as she turns to face her boyfriend. Her cheeks are flushed, a deep crease gathers her eyebrows, her golden eyes seem to glow, and her lips are pursed tightly. I’m surprised she’s not snarling. And with that phone in hand, she pulls back then smashes her man right across the jaw, whipping his head to the side with enough force that we hear the crack of the phone screen.
Morrigan goes to pull her away, but I grab her hand and shake my head at her. We’ll stop her if it goes too far, but for now… Loreley needs this. She looks at me, emotions clear in her eyes, but it’s not the time or place to talk about this. Sure, I would like an apology for her belief that I would betray her in such a way, but then again, the man Loreley has been living with for quite some time has done exactly that. The ball most definitely isn’t in our court tonight.
“Why? You goddamn son of a bitch! You motherfucker!” She doesn’t wait for a response.
The crack of Luke’s nose echoes through the concrete room, as Loreley smashes her fist right in the middle of his face.
“Answer me!” she seethes but doesn’t give him the chance to respond.
She goes again, sinking her fist into his stomach as he spits blood on his T-shirt.
“For you! For us. Because I love you! I want it to be the two of us, as we’re meant to be!” he shouts as his bloody nose drips into his mouth.
“What?” she yells, but we’re all confused at this point.
“I wanted that bitch out of our lives!” he spits, turning toward Morrigan. “I fucking hated you since the moment we met. I knew you would get in my way. Too many fucking opinions, too much advice, too much influence you have on Loreley. We would have been more if it wasn’t for you, always in the fucking way, always around. And now in business together, living under my goddamn roof, spending our money! I couldn’t have you live a floor below, no fucking way could I allow that.”
“My roof! My goddamn money! Not yours, mine!” Loreley pulls his attention back to her. “You’re telling me you did this because you were jealous of my relationship with my friend?”
“I loathe her! She’s a horrible influence. Always pulling you down, into her fucking drama, her issues. And now she’s dragging you into a crime syndicate, of all things?! I wanted to make it look like you lost everything because of her. I wanted you to see the same thing I do when I look at her and drop her. Send her fucking packing! Away from us! Away from you. You don’t need friends! You have me! You don’t need anyone else to get in our way! I want it to be us two, just us, forever!!!”
At this point, we’re all a bit flabbergasted, watching the ramblings of this man who has a few too many control issues, and they’re not even the good ones. Fair enough, I would be wary of who Morrigan associates with, but this is weird.
“That’s it. You wanted to have me to yourself. Forever,” Loreley states with the same disbelief we’re feeling. “You wanted Morrigan out of my life, our life. And your solution was to tell the man forcing her to marry him, the one who abuses her, the one who fucking kidnapped her in front of my eyes, that she’s in business with me, so he can hurt her? Then you wanted to ruin things further by telling him that she’s involved with the only people who can help her out of it. Do you forget what family I come from, you motherfucker?” She’s eerily calm as she basically spells out this explanation for him.
Luke’s gaze becomes clearer as his eyes widen, the realization that he fucked up only now dawning on him. Yet, he still seems to have some hope in there as he begins to plead with her again.
He doesn’t get the chance.
Loreley falls into a frenzy of punches, slaps, and kicks, probably hurting herself more than him. And just as I’m about to jump in, Madds closes the distance between them, wraps his arms around her, and pulls her away, even as she kicks and screams.
“What do you want me to do with him, doll?” he quietly asks Loreley.
“Oh, I know what I would do to him.” Finn pulls out a gun and sticks the end of the barrel to Luke’s temple.
The man freezes in place, his mangled eyes barely opening, and his gaping, bloody mouth showing one missing tooth. He’s not from our world—Loreley’s, too—so he doesn’t fully grasp our ways. I’m sure he’s never even seen a gun before, let alone felt the cold metal of the barrel against his skin.
“No!” she shouts. “I want him to pay, but no death. Please, no death.”
“Thank you, my love, then—”
“How dare you call me that?! You will go as far away as possible from me, from us, from any family I have on this continent.” She reaches for Morri’s hand, and she quickly grabs it. “You will never contact me, never fucking think of me, never dare step foot, even in the neighboring towns! If you do, The Sanctum will be the least of your problems. You will disappear from my life, unless you wish to disappear altogether.” And with that, she turns on her heel and leaves the room, taking Morrigan out of my grasp with her.
Finn, Carter, and Madds follow the girls, but I stay behind to talk to Beau and our other guy standing guard.
“Do not let him go until we tell you. Set up a schedule to watch him. Don’t break him. When our plan has ended, throw his ass as far away from this town as possible. Got it?” They all nod, and I walk out after the others.
He’s a liability, and we can’t risk him going to Holt or O’Rourke before we get to them ourselves. And goddamnit, my hands are itching to get to Holt. The gun strapped against my ribs hums, begging me to go and blow his fucking brains out right now.
Only, I can’t. He’s my only way in with Boseman. Because if the address he gave me for him is a trap, which I suspect it is, I have to keep him alive until he gives me what I want. Although I think I may have to fight with Morrigan over who gets to end Holt.
A smirk pulls at my lips, because it sounds like the good kind of fight.
MORRIGAN
WE’RE IN A SMALL ROOM at the end of that barren corridor, my arm wrapped around Lulu’s shoulder as I watch the man who I thought betrayed me, walk in. I was pretty much convinced it was him. The tiny part of me that thought he wouldn’t do this to me, was mainly made of hope, not conviction.
I went to the worst-case scenario in two seconds flat, and as his obsidian eyes fall on me, I’m not sure how to apologize.
I realize that it’s not because I can’t find the right words, but because I fear that it will not be the only time something like this will happen and I will automatically throw the blame on him because of past events.
Do I not trust him?
Do I not believe in him?
Because if that’s the case, maybe our involvement should end the moment the pact is fulfilled.
“Morrigan.” He speaks first, but pauses, that deep voice penetrating my soul, sending a shiver to pass through me.
There’s a warmth in him that seems to show only for me. One that exists beyond those straight lips and grave gaze. He didn’t lash out. He didn’t even get angry as I accused him of betraying me to the one man I hate most in this world. He simply waited until he could rectify the situation.
Just like he did for the last eight years—he waited until his friend was safe and the time was right.
We stare at each other, both of us unable to find the right words. I should apologize, but I can’t seem to do it.
I snap out of it, because this moment is not about us. I need to be there for my best friend.
“I think Lulu and I need to go.” I finally speak. She’s my priority right now.
“Will I see you the day after tomorrow?” I can just about hear a hint of uncertainty in Vincent’s voice. Or is it concern?
It does something to me.
“Yes,” I answer.
That one single word seems to trigger a sparkle in the depths of his gaze. And that does even more to me. It means that I have the same impact on him, as he does on me.
Our secret plan will go ahead, and I have more to say to him, but not now. I need to clear my head, and make sure this is not the biggest fucking mistake of my life, made out of pure desperation.
“Eleven,” I add, then turn to Maddox. “Will you pick us up about half an hour before, please?”
“As soon as I find out what you’re talking about, sure.”
Oh, they will. All of them will, soon enough. And I reckon they’re all going to call us crazy, with Lulu in the lead.
* * *
We’re nestled on Lulu’s comfy sofa, in what has suddenly become only her apartment, sipping some hot chamomile tea. It calms the nerves, as her grandma taught her. Maybe it’s an old wives’ tale, but it does feel like it’s working.
“Lu, I’m not even sure what to say. However much you’re going to try to convince me, I will still feel responsible.”
“Why?” She scrunches her eyebrows at me. “Look, the man is clearly insane. I just…” She huffs and rolls her eyes. “There were red flags, I’m not gonna lie. But I ignored them because it was never something too crazy, too deep, or too concerning.”
“I can’t believe he hated me that much.” I never thought anyone could. I’ve never done anything to him.
“Did you ever see anything that could indicate… this?” she asks.
“Well, sort of. I knew he didn’t like me pretty much from the start. But it wasn’t me he needed to like, it was you. So I just got over the weird things he sometimes did or said. However, I’ve never seen anything to indicate this level of madness.”
“It’s funny, isn’t it?” she says with a smirk, and it’s the first hint of a smile I’ve seen on her face since the club caught on fire. “We both ended up with such insane men, obsessive, completely off their rockers.”
I chuckle at the realization.
“I always knew we had similar taste in men, but this is a bit over the top.”
My snickers turn into a full belly laugh. I wonder how fucking deranged I look right now. Lu joins in, and we laugh our asses off at the terrible situation we’ve gotten ourselves into. How the fuck did it happen? One crazier than the other, and here I thought getting involved with The Sanctum was the worst thing I could do.
How fucking wrong I was.
And how right it feels to be involved with them. One, in particular.
“How do you really feel?” I ask her once we calm down.
“I’m not sure. I think if it was a normal breakup, or at least a normal betrayal, I would have a harder time. But this… it’s so fucking surreal that I’m struggling to focus on my broken heart. I’m mostly angry.” She finishes her tea and sets the mug on the table. “It was getting rocky with him, you know? It wasn’t the same for me… He was becoming a bit too possessive, a bit too controlling. I don’t know if it was because of the club, but he always wanted to have eyes on me, see where I was, who I was with. And that spark just wasn’t there anymore.”
“I think that, in your subconscious, you did add two and two together, all those red flags. I’m pissed off it reached this point where he had to burn down our club to fuel his delusion. But I’m glad you’re rid of him,” I rationalize her train of thought.
I don’t want her to slip into a spiral. She’s strong, but her heart is precious. I’m relieved he’s not in her life anymore. I never liked the guy. Not just for her, I just never liked him and his vibes.
She pulls the throw from the back of the sofa and drapes it over herself, turning her attention to me.
“What about you, canoodling with a mafia boss?” She winks at me, and I can feel a blush creeping over my cheeks.
“He’s not a mafia boss. Also, he’s not really the boss at all. The Sanctum functions differently from what I’ve seen—they rule together.”
“Honey, you can call it whatever you want, mafia, a syndicate, organized crime. It all amounts to the same underworld,” she says with a shake of her head and a roll of her eyes.
“You should know,” I counter.
My gaze darkens, and she stills for only a moment. The name Dietrich is spoken in hushed tones in some parts of this country, and no matter how much she was allowed to do her own thing, Lulu is very much aware of her family’s heritage.
“Don’t make me tap into my roots and smack you, woman!”
“Fine, fine!” I say, suppressing a laugh. “I’m actually worried I fucked it all up… I thought it was him. I feel like shit, but at the same time, I don’t know if I trust him.”
“He didn’t seem upset in the least when we left.” She shrugs. “I think you’re scared. You know very well how I feel… or felt, about The Sanctum. But even I have to admit that they’ve done all they could to be there for you. For us.”
“I wish he would just yell at me so we can get it over with.”
“Vincent Sinclair does not seem like the type to yell at a woman. Let alone you.”
I rub my hands over my face, pressing a bit too harshly, like I could wipe all this anxiety and doubt away. But Lulu is right. Vincent is not the type of guy to yell at me. Not in a situation like this anyway.
Maybe I can get him to punish me in some other way.
I’m blushing just thinking about it, but I do feel like I need to get it out of my system. Admitting I was wrong and apologizing would be the ideal way, but not the easiest one.
“And what’s the deal with the offer that guy made?” she starts saying, but trails off.
I cock an eyebrow when she pauses for too long. She knows his name, but I think she prefers to call him a brute instead.
“I think the name you’re looking for is Maddox.”
“Yeah, whatever. What was that all about?” she asks with such annoyance in her golden eyes.
“He wants to help. Madds is a pretty good guy.”
“He’s a brute, Morri.”
