Dillan throws the box at me, and I grab it eagerly, then pick up my bag on the way to the door.
“Don’t come back, Sailor.”
I turn around to look at him. “I wouldn’t dare.” I smile, feeling the split in my lip stinging as I do, and Roberto motions for me to walk past him. I glance down at the gun and am careful not to touch it as I slide out of the bedroom. When I get downstairs, the other guy is waiting at the front door with a phone to his ear. He hangs up when I get there and stands taller. His hair is the same honey brown as Keir’s, even his eyes are the same, but he holds a different feel to him, as if, dare I say it, softer. Which is absurd considering all these men are more than likely murders.
“I’m Sailor,” I tell him, offering him my free hand as I juggle my things in the other. He looks at it as if he can’t believe I just did that and shakes his head.
“I know who you are,” he says in a rough voice.
Quickly, I pull my hand back to my side and adjust my belongings as I feel them slipping.
“Can I ask what your name is?” No one seems willing to give me their names. It’s kind of weird. I only know Roberto’s because he has no shame.
“You can ask,” he responds.
“But I’m guessing you won’t tell me?” I question him, and we both turn when we hear Roberto walking back down the stairs.
“It’s Joey. He’s the boss’s brother.” Roberto smiles at Joey then looks at me. “Is that all you want? We were told to assist you in getting whatever you want from here before leaving.” He peers into the television room. “I can carry that.” He nods to the television in question.
I remember the day we bought it, after our second miscarriage.
He wanted to get out, I did not. But, of course, I went with him. Even when I should have stayed in bed. He picked it out, brought it home, then proceeded to sit in front of it all weekend like I didn’t matter to him at all.
There were so many signs.
So many obvious signals things were not right.
What was wrong with me?
Or better yet, what is wrong with me?
“I don’t want anything else.” I pull my bags in tighter and walk out the door.
“He has your phone. Did you know that?” Dillan’s voice rings through the air, and I spin back to him. “I saw you looking for it. It’s not here. He took it.”
I look to Roberto for confirmation, but he doesn’t answer.
“I know,” I reply. Dillan doesn’t need to know I don’t have it.
Dillan smirks and shakes his head before he takes a step closer to us. Lifting his hand, he grabs the edge of the door and slams it shut in my face.
Asshole.
Chapter Nine
Keir
She’s sleeping when I get back to my room. I should have put her in another room. It would have been the wise thing to do. I don’t want to have her smell and her things taking over mine, which they are already doing. All the lights are on, and she has changed out of that dress she had on earlier.
Now she sleeps in a pair of pajamas with dogs all over them.
Roberto walks in, looks to where she is sleeping, then to me. “Joey doesn’t like her,” is all he says.
I know what that means, and what others think it means is the exact opposite.
Joey likes her.
I know Joey well.
Joey likes a lot of things, so it’s no surprise.
“Dillan is at the front door.” Roberto looks at her. “Should I wake her?” he asks, confirming with me before he does.
“No, she would be of no use.” I walk out and he follows.
Why that dickhead keeps coming here is beyond me. You’d think he would use his brains after the first time and listen. Out front, I find him pacing on the pavement—back and forth, back and forth—clearly drunk.
Dillan stops when he sees me and places his hands in front of him as he starts to talk, “You can’t have her. I want her back.”
I say nothing in return, as there’s nothing left to say. We made a deal, and that deal is done. I turn to walk back into the house when his words stop me.
“I’ll take her. She isn’t yours, you scum. I know what you do. I know who you are. Once she knows, she’ll run too.”
When I face him again, I see pure madness written all over his features.
It takes three seconds—I know because I count down.
One to pull it from my trousers.
Two to raise it.
Three for the bullet to hit his leg.
He goes down like the piece of shit he is, his screams piercing the night sky.
“Oh, my god!” Sailor stands at the door directly behind me, with a mixture of disbelief and horror written all over her face. “You …” She goes to make a move toward him, but I catch her by her hip, holding her back as Dillan screams behind us. “How could you? Let me go!” Her fingernails dig into my arms, and I can feel her drawing blood with her strong grip.
Roberto steps over to assist, but I shake my head at him. I place the gun in my back pocket before I move her so I’m holding her with both hands. “Calm the fuck down.”
Sailor’s face goes bright red, but she shuts up and looks directly at me, her eyes wide as they lock on mine, her fire simmering within them.
“You shot my husband, and now you’re telling me to be calm?”
“Would you like me to shoot you too, to make it even?”
Her body locks up, and I let her go. She almost drops to the ground but catches herself.
“Now, get back inside.”
She glances at her husband, and before I can stop her, she’s kneeling in front of him and touching his face. He instantly stops crying at her touch before she opens her mouth and speaks, “You are a fool. You did this. Remember that.” She pulls away from him and stands, seemingly unaffected as she walks away leaving him to bleed. His blood is soaking into my concrete, and it’s making me rage. Such a mess for this worthless piece of shit.
“Sailor,” he cries out for her.
But she ignores him.
When she reaches me, she gives me a look that could rock the skies, then whips her head around and goes back inside like she owns the place.
“She’s going to be so much fun,” Roberto says, smiling.
“Leave now, because the next bullet will enter your fucking skull,” I tell Dillan before I turn and head back inside, not waiting to see if he does as he’s told.
If he had any brains, he would hustle.
“You’re the mafia, aren’t you?” Her words stop me in my tracks. She is curled up on the couch, her legs tucked under her ass as she sits there waiting for me in the dark. I switch on the light, and she doesn’t even move. The bottom of her pajamas are covered in blood, but she doesn’t seem to care. When I don’t answer, she stands and gets right in my face. “Fuck you too. You’re just another asshole who thinks he can control me. I’m here for a week, then I am fucking gone.” She huffs. “P.S., give me my fucking phone. I need to work.”
I snap my teeth at her, and she jumps backward. Then I let a lazy smile spread across my face and saunter to the bathroom to take a shower.
No one makes demands of me.