Chapter Four
There were so many people in the room, all of them asking questions at once. She was too overwhelmed to speak, so was grateful when Jimmy made introductions.
“Marie’s family has done work for Donny and his family for generations. When I was in Brooklyn, I spent a lot of time with them, so Marie is like family to me and Donny. She’s here for a long overdue visit.”
He had made up that cover story. It wasn’t a lie, but it certainly wasn’t the entire truth. What was she supposed to do? Call him out on it, in front of everyone? If she revealed anything even close to the truth, she’d receive transient sympathy for the break-up from the women, maybe. But the men would likely run her ass out of there. And eventually, the women would hate her for lying to them when the whole truth was revealed.
But as soon as he said it was okay to do, she had to admit the truth to them. She had to tell them she’d lied to Digger in order to come here. Hearing Jimmy tell them she was like family to Donny had a profound effect on their expressions and words of welcome. Clearly, these people thought the world of him, respected him, and would do anything for him.
What would happen to her when Donny found out what she’d done?
Fuck. This hadn’t been a good plan by any stretch of the imagination. She had fucked up big time. Everyone in this building was in danger, and it was her doing. The sooner she got away from here, the better.
She and Digger hadn’t stopped to eat on the drive here, so she was starving. After she’d eaten her fill, she thanked the women she’d been told had made the meal, and used the excuse of being exhausted to retreat back to her room. Digger shot her looks that made her skin crawl. She’d never seen him so angry. Jimmy wouldn’t even make eye contact with her. Should she try to get them alone so she could make her apologies? She was so unsure of how to proceed. This was Jimmy’s turf, not hers.
Once she was finally alone, Marie let the tears come. She cried until her head ached. Even after she took a long shower, she still cried. Why in the hell hadn’t she simply walked away from Sofia the moment she realized that she was Vince’s next target? What the hell had compelled her to help the woman?
Because you’re not a heartless bitch?
She’d been engaged to a hitman, for Christ’s sake. She knew how things worked. That was the life she’d been born into, and it was the life she’d chosen to continue with the man who had wanted to marry her.
It hadn’t mattered to her that her family hated him. He was handsome, rich, and in the business. He was the kind of man she was expected to marry, only not him, particularly. Her parents hadn’t wanted her to spend her life with someone whose history had included reducing them to the status of hired help, as opposed to being one of the most notorious families in the area.
They’d had a dozen men picked out for her instead, only she hadn’t wanted any of them. She’d only wanted Vince. He had swept her off her feet and charmed his way into her bed and into her heart. Until a few days ago.
But that wasn’t entirely true. The troubles had been going on long before she ran into Sofia. She needed to come clean about that, too.
Snippets of arguments she and Vince had in the months before she had coffee with Sofia raced through her mind. Vince getting upset because Marie went to parties at her friends’ homes without him every weekend. Never mind that every time she asked him to come along, he was always too busy. What had he expected her to do? Sit home and wait for him to call? Never see her friends?
They argued about money, which was absurd considering how much he had spent on her before asking her to marry him. He told her she was spending too much on the wedding, and she reminded him they both had big families who expected a lavish, traditional ceremony.
Small disagreements turned into heated verbal fights. Those in turn led to hours or sometimes days when he barely spoke to her. Marie had begun to have serious doubts, but she didn’t tell her parents. The thought of facing down their “We told you so!” expressions was too much to deal with. Her pride was hurt, and she was confused.
Vince was distant and cold when he didn’t get his way. He blamed the stress of his job, but he’d been doing this work for years. The only thing that had changed was her presence in his life. When she pointed that out one day, he told her she was crazy.
If this was how he treated her before they were even married, what would her life be like once they were man and wife with a few kids?
Would she have helped Sofia if none of that had happened? If she hadn’t already been wondering whether there was a way to break off the engagement without shaming Vince?
Her parents had been right about him, and Marie didn’t want to admit that to them, or to anyone. They’d have rubbed it in her face the rest of her life. Thirty years old, and they would always see her as someone who never had enough sense to do as she was told and listen to people older, and presumably therefore wiser, than her.
And now here she was, halfway across the country, hiding out in a strip club. All because she’d made the decision to help an old friend get away from her fiancé, who’d been hired to kill her. But that wasn’t all she’d done. She’d lied about it to Digger, and she’d inadvertently involved over fifty people in the mess. She’d left behind her life and everyone she knew by running.
Would di Stefano dare to go after her family? Vince had no proof she’d had anything to do with Sofia’s disappearance, but she had run. That made her look guilty, even if he could never prove it with tangible evidence. She had really fucked this up by making one impulsive decision after another. They would both see her helping Sofia to hide as a betrayal against them, and they would view her disappearance as proof of her guilt.
Business was business, after all. Sofia and Lenny had owed him money. They hadn’t paid it to him, and from what Sofia had told her, he’d given them plenty of chances to make things right.
And what had Marie done? She’d absolved Sofia of her financial responsibilities by helping her get away. She’d taken money that was owed to Roberto di Stefano away from him. And, she’d made her fiancé look like a damn fool who couldn’t control his woman or his own environment.
Worse than that, she’d dragged Digger into this, and now Jimmy and his friends as well. She’d put her family and friends back home in danger. The best thing for everyone would be if she left this place, tonight, and simply kept going.
Surely the people who lived here knew someone who could make her fake papers. She had taken plenty of money to keep for herself. She’d be fine for months if need be. Just until she could find a place where it was unlikely Vince or di Stefano would look for her.
People did it all the time and got away with it. She could, too. And then no one would know where she’d gone. When they told Vince and di Stefano that fact, they wouldn’t be lying. No one would have to cover for her or perpetuate a lie, because they hadn’t helped her get away or hide.
If Vince somehow discovered that Digger had driven her here, he could say that once she told them what she’d done, they’d sent her away. Although, if Digger and Jimmy were successful with their plan, it wouldn’t matter. The news that someone had been able to take out a man like di Stefano would turn their world on its collective head, and no one would care that Vince wanted to find her.
But Marie couldn’t hang around and wait to see if that happened. She had to get out of here and take the danger she’d brought to these people with her. It was the only way to make this right.
****
The club was open, but this couldn’t wait. Vassago and Digger sat opposite Gorgon in one of the offices. “You two can’t go through with your plan,” he said. “Not now.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Digger looked at him like he’d lost his damn mind. “All the more reason now why we can’t fail. We have to take him out. Do you understand the far-reaching implications of this?”
“Don’t fucking tell me what the far-reaching implications of this are, when you brought this woman into my club!”
“He didn’t know what was going on when he left Jersey with her,” said Vassago. Gorgon glared at him, but Vassago didn’t give a fuck. It was the truth. “If one of us was in trouble with the Mob, would we give up that person to them?”
“Fuck you. Of course not. But she’s not one of us.”
“She is by association. Donny has known her family all his life, same as me and Digger have. She made a mistake, Gorgon. A horrible, misguided, fucking stupid, bone-headed, dumber than fucking dirt mistake. But that’s all it was. There was nothing calculated or underhanded about this. She was running scared. As far as she knew, she was Vince’s next hit.”
“Nothing calculated? She hid from him and then lied to Digger so he’d drive her here. You call that uncalculated?”
“At the time she did that, it was so she got away undetected. She didn’t know what was going on here with di Stefano.”
“If she had known, would she have made the same decision?”
“How the fuck should I know? I didn’t ask her that, and I’m not going to. She’s apologized and admitted she fucked up. I think the best thing to do now is for me and Digger to stick to our plan.”
Gorgon narrowed his eyes and watched Vassago too carefully. “You’re gonna fuck her, aren’t you?”
“Fuck. What the hell difference does that make?”
“Jesus Christ, Vassago. I’m not usually one to tell any of you to keep it in your pants, but this time you really do need to fucking keep it in your fucking pants. This woman is trouble.”
“He got hit by the Thunderbolt, Gorgon. Of course he’s gonna fuck her.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. What the hell is it with all of you?”
“Look, can we get back on track here?” Vassago’s head was ready to explode. “Digger and I need to move forward with our plan. It will end this shit for all of us, for Donny, and for Marie as well.”
“What about Vince?” asked Gorgon. “You think he’s gonna just stop looking for her once he figures out his suspicions were right?”
“We can have him taken care of,” said Digger. “Just say the word and that’s a done deal.”
“Oh, right. Just like that.”
“Yeah, Gorgon. Just like that. I got friends who would die for me, too.”
Gorgon banged both fists on the table. “Fuck this shit. I’m at a fucking loss for words right now. Vassago, when you came to me with this idea, I told you it was risky. Almost too risky. I was right.”
“Marie wasn’t a factor we could have anticipated.”
“Well, she’s a factor now.”
“It doesn’t change anything. Di Stefano tried to take out Donny. He won’t stop there. If we don’t end this shit now, we’ll walk outside one day and find snipers hiding in the trees to pick us off, one by one.”
Gorgon was backed into a corner and knew it. But like any caged animal, he was ready to fight his way out, regardless. “I still don’t like it.”
“I don’t either. But what other way out of this do you see?”
“We should send her away. Tonight.”
“Where do you suggest she goes?” asked Digger.
“I don’t care.”
“Well I do. She’s family to me, too.”
“You fucking fool. She tricked you.”
“You think I don’t know that? But what do you want me to do? The same man who tried to kill my uncle pays the man who had her followed. Her ex-fiancé. He had her trailed without her knowledge all through their engagement, and now he’d take her out in a heartbeat if he knew what she’d done. You want me to send her back to that?”
“Having her here increases our danger. My job is to protect this club and its members.”
“And I can help you do that. You say the word and I make a call.”
Vassago and Gorgon exchanged a dark look. Vassago had known Digger all his life, and he was the only man Vassago actually feared.
“Fine,” said Gorgon. “Make your call.”
“You got it.”
“You scare the fuck out of me at times,” said Vassago.
“Yeah? Good thing I’m on your side then.”