Chapter Twenty-One
“How long is Liz staying?”
Rahab forced himself not to glance up at the question. He and Vassago were in one of the offices, going over the budget for the next year. They should have done it last month, but with everything that had been going on, they’d put it off. Vassago was their Treasurer, but he insisted on having one of the other officers double-check his numbers each year.
“No clue. I haven’t asked her.”
“Why not?”
“Because I haven’t.”
“So if she moved out tomorrow, you’d be fine with it?”
Now, he glanced up. “What the fuck do you care?”
“We were all just wondering when you were gonna make it official. So we know whether to put her on the Christmas gift list.”
“Fuck you.”
“What are you afraid of? You haven’t fucked another woman in weeks. Zipper said she actually sat in your lap Saturday night in the club, while Liz was off doing something with Chloe and Natalie. She said you flinched when she rubbed your crotch, and stopped just short of shoving her away.”
“So?”
“So, what the fuck, Rahab? Since when do you turn down pussy from a sweetbutt?”
“Since I’m too fucking tired to do any of them.”
“Because of Liz.”
“Because I have to play with fucking numbers today.”
“You’re really not gonna admit this, are you?”
Not to you. “Let’s get this done before I get a fucking headache.”
As if he could work now. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to have her in his bed for the rest of his life. He did. Or that he couldn’t see himself with her, growing old together. For the first time in his adult life, he could see that. Clearly. But what the fuck was he supposed to do about it? Tell her?
What if he did and she started talking about her career, and her goals, and how important they were to her? He’d be a fucking fool, that’s what. Sure, he told her he’d never interfere with that. But they hadn’t discussed it since then. He had no idea how she felt now, weeks later.
So why the fuck don’t you discuss it with her, asshole?
Good question. Maybe because he was scared shitless she still wouldn’t want him? Perhaps because this was new to him, and he didn’t want to fuck it up? Or maybe it was because this was a big fucking deal. Asking a woman to be your old lady was as close to a marriage proposal as any of them would ever get. It wasn’t something one took lightly.
When Tannin had asked Rai to be his old lady, a week after he met her, there had been doubts he was ready, or that they knew each other well enough. But anyone who knew Tannin as well as they all did also could clearly see he’d been smitten from day one. He’d been hit by the Thunderbolt, as Vassago called it.
Had that happened to him with Liz? Had he been taken with her from the start? Well, yes. But had he started hearing wedding bells in his head, or visualized what their kids might look like? Not really. Then again, he’d done something he’d never done since losing his virginity in high school. He’d stopped fucking other women. Bam. Just like that. No questions asked, and never looking back once.
He’d turned down Zipper two days ago. Zipper. Who was as easy as they came, and with whom he’d always had a good time in the past. And not only turned her down. He hadn’t had the slightest twitch of desire, even when she’d rubbed his junk through his jeans.
Christ. Thunderbolt or whatever you wanted to call it, he had been fucking hit by it. He’d fallen for this girl. Was it love? He didn’t know because he’d never been there. How the fuck did one know what it was?
“Hey! Did you fucking hear me?”
“What?” Goddamn. Vassago had asked him a question, or maybe more than one, and he hadn’t even heard it.
“I asked you about the wash projection. Does it look right to you? Where the fuck did you go?”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“About Liz?”
“Yeah.”
Vassago leaned back in his chair with a shit-eating grin on his face. Smug asshole. “Go ahead.”
“How does a guy know he’s in love, as opposed to just enjoying a really great fuck?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been in love. But if I had to guess, I’d say the difference is when you still want to spend time with them, even out of bed. When you call them just to talk, or to hear their voice. When you want to do things outside of the bedroom with them. You know. Like when you went to her job to see her that day. Or helped her move out of that shithole apartment. Or the other day when you took her for a walk in the snow, until you realized it was too fucking cold and you both came back in.”
“Fuck.”
“It upsets you?”
No. “I don’t know. Should it?”
“No. She’s awesome. Smart, like Rai, with big ambitions. And she’s fucking gorgeous.”
“As long as all you do is look.”
“Can’t stop me from doing that. But seriously, she’s beautiful, Rahab. And she’s fucking crazy about you, or hadn’t you noticed?”
“How can you tell?”
“Dude, you’re a fucking idiot if you can’t see it. Or, you’re ignoring it on purpose.” Vassago leaned forward. “Look, I’ll tell you the same thing I told Tannin when he wasn’t sure what to do about his obsession with Rai. When the fucking Thunderbolt hits you, there isn’t one goddamn thing you can do about it. You just gotta run with it, because if you’re fucking lucky enough in this fucked-up life to find the perfect woman for you, you’d be a goddamn fool to let her go.”
****
The following Monday, Rahab still hadn’t said anything to Liz, but he’d watched her reactions and everyone else’s more carefully than before. Vassago was right. He could see it in her eyes. That look that had sent him running from too many women to count. The one that told him they were already picking out their wedding dress and making a seating chart for the rehearsal dinner.
How in the fuck had he missed it? And more importantly, why hadn’t she said anything? Because in his experience, once they got that look in their eyes, they started dropping hints. Liz’s past was horrific. And, though they’d never discussed it in detail, he got the distinct impression she’d slept around a lot but had never had a committed relationship. He understood why. She kept people at a distance. She’d never had positive role models, and had been hurt too many times. He got all that.
Which was exactly why he was fucking terrified to say anything. She’d default into the same mode she’d stayed in for eleven years, out of fear that she’d never have what she wanted if she gave her heart to a man. How the fuck was he supposed to compete with that?
After dropping her off at work, he went back to the club and got straight to work with Vassago on the final budget. They still weren’t done, and Gorgon was ready to have a fucking fit over that fact. Rahab didn’t understand what the big deal was. It’s not as if they didn’t know where the money was going. This was nothing more than a formality at this point. The club ran itself.
They finished before lunch, finally, and Vassago told Rahab he was going to Donny’s house to drop off his cut from the month, plus the Christmas present the club had put together for him. Each year, they did something special for Donny and his family, as a way of thanking Donny for everything he did for them all the time.
“Want to come with me?”
Rahab had never seen Donny’s house, but he’d certainly heard enough about it. “Can we go later? I’d love for Liz to see it, too.”
“No, I got shit to do here later. I need to go now.”
“Okay. Let’s go.” He didn’t want to miss his chance to see it. Maybe he’d be able to show it to Liz another time?
Vassago made small talk on the ride there, and Rahab was grateful he didn’t mention Liz again. He didn’t need to. His Brothers weren’t idiots. They had seen the truth before Rahab was able to admit it to himself.
“Holy fucking shit.” Donny’s property was gated, but because most of the trees surrounding it were bare right now, as soon as they got past the front gate and drove along the winding driveway, Rahab was able to catch glimpses of the house.
“How old is it?”
“Early nineteen twenties. It’s been updated, though, and remodeled inside more than once.”
“It’s fucking gorgeous.”
“Yeah. Pretty neat set-up, eh? We’re in the wrong business.”
“You mean we should be Mob bosses instead?”
“Sure. I mean look at this.”
“Damn. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Wait until you get inside.”
“Is he home? He won’t mind us gawking at his house, will he?”
“He’s out Christmas shopping with his wife. Took her down to some outlet mall near Columbus. And his kids are in school or at work. We’ll leave the money and the present with his staff, and then take a quick look around. They won’t mind.”
“Is that why you wanted to come now? Because no one was home?”
Vassago laughed. “Fuck no! They’re family, remember? I really do have shit to do at the club later.”
After they pulled into the circular drive out front and Rahab stepped out of the truck, he glanced around the woods. They couldn’t see the road from the house, but he swore he caught a glimpse of something tall and dark moving up a tree. “They’ve got big birds here in Rocky River.”
“What do you mean?” Vassago was already on the front porch, ringing the bell.
“Don’t know. I saw something in the woods.” A prickle of fear ran down his spine. What the hell had he seen?
“They get wild turkeys sometimes. And hawks. Plenty of those.”
“Yeah. They’re big.” But not that big. He looked again, but there was nothing there. He’d been mistaken. Either that, or Donny’s bodyguards were out there. Of course. That was it. The man always said he was well-protected. It made sense he’d have guards outside.
They walked into the foyer, and Rahab’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit,” he whispered. All thoughts of whatever he’d seen in the woods were gone. After Vassago made small talk with the man who had answered the door, he handed him the envelope and the package.
“I’ll make sure Mr. Messina gets them.”
“Thanks. This is Rahab. Mind if I show him the house? We won’t be too long.”
“Take your time. Ring if you need anything.”
After the man left the room, Rahab asked Vassago how many servants Donny had.
“He prefers to call them staff, and a dozen live here. They have their own wing. His bodyguards have one, too.”
“How many of those does he have?”
“Two dozen. No fewer than four travel with him at all times. Today he probably has six with him.”
“Which means there are roughly eighteen armed men on this property?”
Vassago grinned. “Exactly. See now why he feels so safe?”
“Yeah.”
They walked through the rooms on the first floor, and Rahab tried to take it all in. But it looked like something from a magazine or a TV show, and he couldn’t imagine living like this. It was beautiful, but too much.
As they were about to make their way up the main staircase, Vassago’s phone rang. He frowned. “It’s Digger.”
The hairs on the back of Rahab’s neck stood up. What if he’d been right and it had been a man in the woods? And not one of Donny’s? But how could that happen if this property was so heavily protected?
“What’s up?”
Rahab watched Vassago’s face take on an expression of alarm and his skin blanch slightly as he listened to Digger. “Okay. He’s in Columbus and probably silenced his phone. Call Gorgon. Tell him to alert everyone at the club. Rahab and I are at the house. We’ll let his men know. They’ll reach Donny and warn him.”
After Vassago disconnected the call, he sprinted into the kitchen and moved aside a large pot holder hanging over the stove to reveal a panel of buttons. As he pushed one, no alarm sounded in the house, but the light grew bright and pulsed.
“That goes straight to his bodyguards’ area. They’ll be here in a second.”
“What did Digger say?”
“There’s a man that’s been sent here to kill Donny.”