“No, Victor’s personally been calling me,” he groaned. “I don’t know I’m still leaning towards Victor being behind it. I know you say Jimmy has more of a motive and has been acting like a loose cannon.”
“Listen, I hope I’m wrong because Jimmy as the culprit doesn’t help me and my cause in the slightest. Victor isn’t going to bargain with me for Jimmy, he’ll order me to kill him,” I said, frustrated.
Jack looked at me long and hard for a moment.
“You want out don’t you?”
“Yeah,” I diverted my eyes back to Mike’s. “Not sure if I even get out that it won’t be too late.”
“She moved on?”
“No, she’s sick of my shit,” I complain as I shrug my shoulders. “Can’t say I blame her. One day I’m slamming the door in her face, the next I’m slamming her up against a wall, fucking her brains out,” I continue as I shake my head. “I tell her to stay away from me then I tell her I love her. I am fucking her up but I can’t stop because the minute she starts to listen to me, I start going fucking nuts. I think she’s going to find someone else and I can’t fucking watch her be happy with some other guy.” I turn and looked at Jack for a moment. “I sound like a real douche bag. I used to want her to move on and have a good life.”
“What happened?”
“I came home from prison and that same day she went into labor in my apartment. I had no choice but to drive her to the hospital. Everything was happening so quickly and before I knew it I was holding her hand as she brought her son into the world,” I explained nervously. “I don’t know what it was man, but I don’t want either of them to be anyone else’s. It sounds fucked up, but they were mine the moment that baby took his first breath,” I sigh heavily, reaching into my pocket and pulled out a key ring that contains one solitary key on it. I handed it over to Jack, seeing confusion cross his face before he took my offering.
“What’s this?” He asked, glancing down at the ring in his palm.
“That’s the key to Jimmy’s apartment,” I glanced at Mike noting that I didn’t have much time to get my plan across to Jack because he was finishing his last round of bullets. “Vic has asked me to ask you for protection the night Temptations opens. You agree to be on call and you send one of your guys to flip Jimmy’s apartment upside down. Make it like a break in, shit, make them take some shit, I think he has a coin collection worth something. Anyway, search the apartment for any evidence. Grab his laptop, maybe he googled directions to Danny’s house or maybe he searched the internet on how to wire an attic fan. He’s sloppy, there has to be something he left behind, the smallest thing.”
“And if there’s nothing?”
“There will be something,” I swallowed. “I’d bet everything I have on it.”
“You know I want to go in by myself right?”
“As long as you can make yourself available should something go down, that way you are accounted for, I don’t give a fuck, do it,” I held his gaze for a moment before heading towards the door.
“What if you’re right and it’s Jimmy? Then how we going to get you out?” Jack asked from behind me. I paused, my hand on the doorknob and considered his question for a moment. I liked Jack, I liked him a real lot, especially since he was looking for another way to get me to cut ties with Victor.
“Let’s worry about finding who killed Danny, and then I will deal with my situation.”
“A deal is a deal, brother. You give me my brother’s killer and I help you get the girl. Think about it, find a way … I’m your guy,” Jack promised.
I gave him a nod before walking out the door to meet Mike. He looked traumatized, his hands shaking as he placed the gun down. I shook my head and patted him on the back.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said, knowing that Vic’s lifestyle was already spilling into Mike’s life.
I like to think I’m a good sister, like right now I’m shooting for sister of the year as I sweat my ass off on the treadmill. Nikki called me and asked me to come with her to the gym. So I threw on my best PINK by Victoria’s Secret yoga pants and one of those form fitting gym shirts that have the built in bra, that to my surprise, made my boobs look fabulous, a fresh pair of white Nike’s and my outfit was complete.
I reached for my water bottle, wiping at my forehead with the back of my freehand.
“My makeup is sweating off my face,” I complained between breaths before I guzzled the water down.
“I told you not to wear makeup to the gym,” Nikki protested as she increased the incline on her machine. My sister worked out like a man, I don’t even think she broke a sweat as she kept challenging herself.
“I don’t go anywhere without make up anymore. My skin has so many discolorations since I had Luca.”
“Trust me no one is looking at your skin, A,” she huffed blowing out a breath. “Have you spoken to Anthony?”