“Half-brother?”
“David. He came and offered to marry me, said I would be able to stay at UMBC. But he’s… I don’t trust him. It sounds like he wants power for himself.”
“Very good. See. Anything at all could be helpful, Jo. Now calm down, do some yoga or meditation or whatever you girls do. I’ll be in contact soon.” Click. Just like that he was gone. Off the phone.
And I was alone crying into my hands on the couch.
As soon as I heard the door open I sat up and wiped my eyes, but it was obvious. I’d been crying all afternoon, my nose red and runny, my eyes puffy. I was a mess.
“What’s wrong, Jo?” Greyson asked. He looked like he could kill someone the second he came in.
“It’s nothing,” I said, swallowing and waving him away. How could I tell him that my uncle was a slimeball, my wedding was terrifying me, and I was more afraid than anything else that I was falling for him.
How could I love him when I barely knew him?
“Clearly it isn’t ‘nothing’. Tell me what’s going on.” He sat down next to me and tilted my chin up so that I could look him in the eyes.
It was the last place I wanted to look. I knew when he saw into mine he would see the fraud I really was. A pawn for my uncle and nothing more.
“It’s just, the wedding. It’s all happening so fast and-“
“I know. I’m sorry. This whole thing is my fault.” He bent down and kissed me softly. It wasn’t something I was used to from him and judging by the way he pulled back he wasn’t ready for it either.
“Look, I have to ask you something,” he said.
“What is it?” I asked finally calm enough to stop crying. I sucked in each breath long and slow, letting them calm me until no more pain remained. He was here. He was leaving, again, but he always came back.
“It’s about your uncle,” he explained. I could tell by the look in his eyes that it was serious.
f*ck
. Did he know the truth?
“You don’t know anything about his plans, do you?” he asked. I couldn’t believe he was asking me this. Was it a test?
“What do you mean?” I asked honestly.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.” He shook his head. “Look, I’ve got somewhere to be, but I want you here tonight when I get home. Can you do that?” he asked.
Why the hell did he make my heart skip a beat? I was so close to this, to him. I didn’t want him to go.
“I’ll try.” I had some last minute work to do, including sending that letter of resignation to the school.
“I’ll be home soon, baby girl. Wait for me.” He kissed me, hard. With every single moment of the kiss I felt the truth overwhelming me. I loved him.
He was half monster and half tortured soul and I loved him.
“Be careful, Greyson.” I said. I wanted to tell him what a horrible man my uncle was, but it wasn’t something he didn’t already know. He was well aware of the inner-workings of the mob. He knew what he was fighting.
“I always am.”
Greyson
I knocked not once, but twice. I knew Dennis O’Brien was there. I had eyes on him and they’d told me beyond a doubt that he was hiding in his mistress’s apartment.
“I’m not going away, O’Brien.” I said finally, knocking one last time.
“Are you serious?” he said as he opened the door. “What the f*ck
do you want?”
“I want to know what the f*ck
you think you’re playing at.” I stepped into the room. I was probably a head taller than him, my muscles much more pronounced, but I knew how dangerous he was. He could kill me anytime anyplace. There would be consequences, but he could still do it! I knew that and so did he.
But I would take him down if he ever messed with the family. With Joanna. Even if it meant certain death. Because she deserved to be protected. It was a promise I made to myself. It was a promise I made to her.
“What are you talking about?”
“Jordy, that little piece of shit you were trying to turn over.” I wasn’t about to play games with him. He was a very powerful man, but so was I. Our families were equally matched, it was what made confrontation between them so difficult. We were playing a dangerous game, a race of arms, and we both knew it. Except now the stakes were higher. They didn’t just include some lower level street fights, no. Joanna was all tangled up in it now.
“What?”
“Don’t bullshit me, I just slit his stupid ass throat for lying to me.” My hand itched. I wanted to get my fingers on that belt. I wanted to feel that dagger slice into his flesh. It was sick and twisted, but when I let that part of me out to play I had a hard time getting it back in.
“Just a little bit of recruitment. You think daddy-dearest doesn’t pull the same shit?” He asked as he turned away from me. “Nadine is in the bedroom, hiding. She doesn’t like ‘our type’ whatever that means. Would you like I drink? I had a wet-bar installed.”
“Know how to make a Gin Ricky?” I asked.
“What?” he asked.