Chapter Thirty-Four

Landon

I pace the hotel room, my stomach in knots. I look at the phone in my hand and almost dial the number – for the hundredth time. I know that once I go down this path, there is no going back. I know that if I actually make this call, I'm sealing the deal I'm making with the devil.

But, what in the hell else am I going to do? I hold none of the cards and doing this is the only way I'm getting back into the game.

If I do this, I get what I want and I can disappear. Start over. Start somewhere fresh. With Harper. I do this and I get to keep her and set myself up with a cool hundred g's.

I don't do this and I get nothing – except maybe a couple of bullets to the head.

Options. I have none.

It feels like the proverbial walls are closing in on me. And like I have nowhere left to turn. If I want to get Harper, get the money, and get the hell out of here alive and in one piece, I'm going to have to do it. It's a cold slap of reality that's really settling on me.

The other is that if I don't do this and Marco Rossi feels like he's been disrespected or came all the way out here for nothing, I may catch a bullet from him too.

I really screwed the pooch on this one. I stop at the dresser, lean down, and snort a couple of lines. It's the only way I'm gonna get through this.

But, the only way out is through. I made my bed, now it's time to lay in it. A million other corny as hell old sayings pop into my head – and most of them are true. So, all that's left for me to do is bite the bullet and just do it.

Without giving myself another minute to think or delay the inevitable, I punch in the number and when the line starts to ring, I hit the speaker button. I continue to pace the room, my heart beating hard and the adrenaline rushing through me.

And when the call is picked up, I nearly piss myself.

“Rossi,” Rob says on the other end of the line.

“Rob,” I say, trying to calm the tremor in my voice. “It's Landon Hall.”

“Why are you calling me?”

I sit on the edge of the bed and then stand up again, too keyed up to sit still.

“We need to talk.”

“There's nothing to talk about,” he says, his voice colder than ice. “I gave you my terms. By now, you should be out of California. Is that not the case?”

I sigh. “Look, man,” I say. “It ain't that easy. I –”

“Actually, it is that easy,” he says. “You were told to leave LA. The fact that you haven't is problematic, Landon.”

“I know, it's just –”

“It's just nothing,” he says. “You were given very clear instructions. You've chosen to disobey them. Which means that you're in a whole world of shit.”

“I love her, man,” I say.

“Well, that's another problem for so many reasons,” he says. “Ultimately though, it doesn't matter. I told you that you would never see her again and I meant it. I also told you that if you didn't leave LA –”

“Yeah, yeah, you'd kill me,” I snap. “Blah, blah, blah. Look, we need to meet. Just you and me. We need to talk about this. I can get you the money I owe you. I have it. I'm sitting on it right now. I just want Harper back.”

“I told you that's never going to happen,” he says flatly.

“But, I love her,” I say. “My life is nothing without her.”

“Is that why you wanted to sell her to Max?”

I stop pacing for a moment, that familiar lance of pain piercing my heart. But, I stuff it down. Feeling guilty isn't going to help me. Not right now. Right now, I needed to focus on the hustle. On the game. I needed to keep my head in it. The fact that Rossi is still talking to me gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, I'll come out of this on top.

“Look, I was desperate,” I say. “My situation has changed. I've got your money and I want to make a deal.”

“There is no deal to be had.”

“You're a businessman,” I say. “So am I. And you know, as well as I do, that there is always a deal to be had.”

“Most of the time, that's true,” he says. “This is one of those cases though, where it's not.”

“Come on, man,” I say. “We can work something out.”

“I'll tell you what, Landon,” he says. “I'm in a good mood, so here's the deal I'm going to offer you. I'm out of town right now. But, I'll give you until I return to get the fuck out of LA or I'm going to kill you. How does that sound?”

“That sounds fucked, to be honest,” I say. “I've got your goddamn money. I want Harper back.”

“We all want something we can't have, Landon,” he says. “This is one of those cases.”

“Can we just sit down and talk this out in person?”

“I see no reason to do that,” he says. “I've given you new terms of our deal.”

“What if I can make it worth your while?”

“I seriously doubt you have anything that would interest me.”

“You never know until you try,” I say. “Look, I know you're going legit and all that shit. What if I told you I could make sure you got some sweetheart deals on some neighborhoods they're trying to gentrify. Lots of dollars in construction costs could be flowin' into your bank accounts, man. And best of all, it's all clean.”

There's a long pause on the line and I know the hook is set. He's thinking about it. And if he's thinking about it, I have a better than average chance of pulling this off. I mean, all I got to do is get him alone in a room. Marco will take care of everything else after that.

“And how can you guarantee these contracts?” he finally asks.

“I know some people,” I say. “You think I'm small time, but I've got a hundred different irons in the fire. I got connections and people feeding me tips. I can make this happen.”

There's another pause on the line and I know he's considering it. Another wave of adrenaline rushes through me and I feel like climbing up the walls.

“Fine,” he says. “When I get back to LA, I'll call you. We'll meet in person and discuss your proposal. But, let me make one thing perfectly clear – Harper is off the table. She's not even a consideration.”

“I think you need to let her decide that,” he says. “She's a grown ass woman and can make her own decisions.”

I hear him sigh. “Fair enough,” he says. “And you're right. She is a grown ass woman who should make her own decisions. And those decisions should be made with all the facts. Consider this my warning to you that I won't be protecting you or her from the truth of what you were going to do. I'm going to tell her, Landon. And then we'll see how she decides.”

A ribbon of fear wraps itself around my heart and squeezes me tight. I don't want her knowing, but I also know that there's nothing I can do to stop it. Ultimately, it may not matter though. I only need to get Rossi into a room with Marco. After that, Harper is coming with me whether she wants to or not.

She may hate me in the beginning, but eventually, she'll remember the good times we shared. She'll remember all the good shit about our time together. And she'll understand the spot I was in. She'll understand that I was jammed up and had no options. She will. And after that, everything is gonna be cool.

“Fine,” I say. “Tell her. It's not gonna matter. She loves me and this ain't anything we can't deal with.”

He laughs softly on the other end of the line and the rage in me bubbles up, boiling over. And in that moment, I want nothing more than to put a bullet in his head myself. Maybe I'll ask Marco for the honor of doing it.

“I'll be in touch soon then,” he says, his voice smug and condescending.

He clicks off the line, leaving me standing there looking at my phone. Adrenaline and rage surge through me and I'm so wound up, I'm practically shaking.

But it's done. Or rather, it will be done. The balls are in motion and it's not going to be long before Harper is back with me and Roberto Rossi is nothing but a blood stain on the concrete.