Christy
It was a long drive to Romano’s building, even though this time I actually knew where I was going. My eyes flicked over to the passenger seat longingly, and I wished that I could have seen King one more time before I did what I was about to do. That was an outright lie, though, since I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied, even if I saw him another hundred times.
I knew I was doing the right thing. It was the only thing that would spare King’s life. I’d come to terms with it, too, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t scared out of my mind. Romano was a scary man, and I was about to go ask him something crazy. I’d be worried if I wasn’t at least a little nervous.
Romano’s building stood as menacingly and isolated as it had the first time. At least this time, when I walked in, I’d know where to go and what to do. I could pretend to have an air of confidence about me. Hopefully, it would transform into the real thing. Finally arriving at the building, I boldly approached the guard, who happened to be the same man as the other day. I counted my blessings that it wasn’t an entirely different person who I had to introduce myself to. The guard took one good look at me and immediately stepped to the side, letting me pass. I supposed that proving yourself with a fight only happened the first time.
This time, nobody needed to escort me in the lift to the top floor. I wasn’t sure if the long ride up was better or worse without the company. It was over in a matter of moments, while I was still trying my hardest to dwell on anything and everything other than the meeting that was about to take place.
Unfortunately, the doors of the lift slid open far too soon when I arrived on the top floor, and I was forced to make the familiar walk to Romano’s office. I wondered absently what the place would look like in daylight, with all those windows that let the light in. Andres didn’t look even remotely surprised as I entered his office, so I assumed someone had called to warn him of my presence.
“Christy, my dear. Isn’t this a pleasant surprise?” Romano smiled widely at me, and I made an attempt to return it, failing horribly. There was nothing happy or joyful about the situation, and I would be hard-pressed to fake something like that.
“Andres, how are you?” I said instead, forcing the tone of my voice into the least hostile tone I could manage.
Despite my bravery in coming here, standing in front of him, I could physically feel myself wavering underneath his gaze. How could anyone ever stand up to the man?
“Excellent. I notice that you’ve come alone tonight. What can I do for you?”
Of course, he had to mention that I was all alone and unprotected. I was concerned enough for my own safety without Romano mentioning it and scaring me further. Pushing those thoughts aside, I set my mind to focus on the task at hand.
This was where I had to be careful. Romano was an expert negotiator and strategist, and I was just a woman on a mission. He would be able to chew me up and spit me out before I even knew whose mouth I was in, so I had to be more careful than I’d ever been in my life. Though I’d come there to make sure King didn’t die by Romano’s orders, I had to worry about myself too, because, if I wasn’t careful, I could end up owing the man my life. Who knew what he would do to me then?
“I want to make you an offer,” I began, heart in my throat.
Calm down, I reminded myself. It was just a simple conversation that would be over soon. All I had to do was negotiate to save King, while not ruining my life either. Surely there was a win-win situation for us all.
Romano stared me down, eyes seeming to stare through me. It was almost as if he could read my mind, though I knew that was ridiculous. It was more likely that he was seeing whether I would crack under the pressure.
“And what kind of offer would that be?” he said slowly, his mouth really stretching out the words.
I ignored all the distractions, both in my head and out of it, as I prepared myself to finally say what I had come there for. It was now or never. I opened my mouth, but found that no words could escape my dry throat. I tried a second time and, thankfully, found success.
“I want to– “
The moment my mouth opened to speak, another sound emerged, this time emanating from Romano’s pocket. The high-pitched ringing seemed to echo in the air as Romano reached to answer the call.
“Romano,” he answered.
Watching the facial expressions that passed over his face was like watching a poker player. He could have been getting news that someone died, or that he’d won a million dollars, and I would never have been able to tell the difference.
“Okay. I’m with Christy now.”
My ears perked up at my name, but it was impossible to understand what was going on through only half of the conversation. Was it King who was calling? He was the only person I could think of that would contact Romano and ask where I was. The only other person was Rossi, but that was just ridiculous.
“Okay. We’ll be right there.” I didn’t miss the way that Romano had said ‘we,’ and I looked at him inquisitively as he shut off his phone.
Romano looked up at me and returned my raised eyebrow, seeming just as surprised as I was.
“That was King,” he said. “He’s at Diamond Castle, and he wants us both to go to him.”
I floundered for a moment as I wondered what to think. Why was King there, and what was he doing? More importantly, why were both Romano and I needed?
“Let’s go,” Romano said, snapping his fingers to break up my thoughts as he passed by me and strode quickly to the lift. I had no choice but to follow, nothing but a bundle of fear and nerves. I could only hope that King had better luck with his night than I had.
# # #
When Romano and I both arrived at Diamond Castle, I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I suspected that Romano did not either. King’s phone call had quite literally come in the nick of time, and I wasn’t sure what would have happened if Romano’s phone hadn’t rung when it did.
The entire club was illuminated when we entered, and we both made our familiar way to Rossi’s office, freezing in our tracks when we took in the scene before us. King stood angrily over a cowering Rossi, his hands tightly gripping the collar of Rossi’s shirt and lifting him slightly off the ground.
The scene wasn’t so unfamiliar to me, considering the state we’d left Rossi when we’d last seen him, but I could tell it was an entirely different situation now. King was on a mission, determined to make Rossi pay.
“What’s going on?” I asked, eager to get to the bottom of the situation.
“That’s a good question,” King growled. “Will you tell them, or shall I?” He shook Rossi a little, as if reminding him to speak, but the pathetic creature seemed incapable of speech at that moment. Rossi mumbled incoherently and tried to duck his head down, only to be stopped by King’s tight grip.
“No?” King asked mockingly. “I’ll be happy to tell them, then. Jarren, here, has been keeping a double set of books for years. Isn’t that right?”
My mouth dropped open in shock at this new development. Surely Rossi couldn’t have been so stupid as to attempt to double-cross Romano, right?
“Is this true, Jarren?” Romano asked, in a deceptively calm voice. It was no wonder that Rossi was scared out of his mind; an angry Romano was something I never wanted to deal with.
“Take a look for yourself,” King kicked the box at his feet, and it slid over in our direction.
“Rossi’s been trying to hide club profits from you for a long time. So long, that he’d started bragging about it to a group of unreliable drug addicts that he’d hired. That was a big mistake, Jarren.”
“I would have to agree,” Romano said, flipping through the set of papers in his hands.
I couldn’t believe that King had uncovered what he did. This was such a lucky break for the both of us.
“Does this mean we’re even? Has our deal been met?” King asked Romano.
Andres nodded, eyes still on Rossi. I felt a twinge of pity in my chest as I stared at his now sobbing form on the floor. I would hate to be in his shoes, but my sympathy could only stretch so far when I thought about what Rossi had done to King.
“Let’s go,” King called to me. I didn’t need to be told twice, as I followed him out of the office and we both hurried out of the building.
We stopped outside, just clear of the door, and looked at each other with a mixture of emotions on both of our faces.
“Is it really over?” I asked King in disbelief. It couldn’t be done just like that. It just couldn’t be.
“Yeah, I think it is,” he said with a frown, seeming to run through the events in his head, exactly as I was.
It felt so odd to have such a weight lifted off our shoulders, and it would take a while to sink in. Our eyes met and, slowly, a smile began to stretch over my face, one of relief, happiness, and amazement.
Without another thought, I lunged forward and threw myself into King’s arms, relishing in the feel of him. There was a moment when I hadn’t been sure if everything was going to work out, or if I was ever going to see him again.
I couldn’t express in words how overjoyed I was in that moment, but I didn’t need to. King understood perfectly, his arms squeezing me back just as tightly.
It had been a long road, but we’d finally done it. We were finally free.
“So, what are we going to do now?” I asked, pulling back.
I didn’t know where King’s head was at. I didn’t know if he felt about me the same way as I did about him. For all I knew, he was still at the ‘just sex’ stage, and I had been overthinking our entire relationship, or lack thereof.
“Anything. Everything,” King replied, cupping my face in his hands.
Maybe I misunderstood. Maybe he meant something entirely different.
“And us?” I asked in a quiet voice. This was the moment. This was the time when King would either break my heart, or tell me that he felt the same.
My doubt must have been so evident in my face, but King just smiled, happier and lighter than I’d ever seen him before. He looked younger, but I knew that it was just the weight of a lifetime that had been lifted off his shoulders.
“Us?” he asked with a grin.
“Yes. Us.”
Instead of answering, King pressed his lips lightly to mine. My heart soared at his kiss, and I could feel my entire body loosen. He didn’t need to say a single word for me to understand that we were on the same page. It was all in the tenderness of his lips and the affection in his eyes. Yes, everything was going to be okay.