Johnny watched his security camera monitor as he worked his biceps. The fuckin’ agent was back and he wanted no part of her. She stood outside his door looking uncomfortable as though she were trying to figure out how to approach him. He couldn’t have her hanging around his place. Stalking over to the door he jerked it open to see her standing there with her hand raised to knock.

She jumped and flinched back, frightened. Leaning one hand against each side of his doorframe, he stared down at her.

Her eyes drifted from his face down to his massive shoulders and landed on his chest. Sucking in a breath she shifted the position of her feet, bringing them together. It reminded him of the stance chicks took when they were aroused and didn’t want anyone to know. Knowing she enjoyed looking at his naked torso was giving him wood, which would be clearly visible beneath his white sweatpants. Not that he gave a shit. Let the bitch look.

Grabbing the towel from around his neck, he wiped his face and slung it over his shoulder. Leaning both hands against the door frame again, he caught his breath.

“I didn’t send for you.”

“I know, I just wanted…”

“I’ll let you know when I want to talk to you. If you were a smart person, you’d want to put it off as long as possible.”

“I need you.”

“We’ve already established that you don’t. No woman who needs a favor from me, talks to me like I’m garbage, the way you did. You don’t even need to be half smart to know that shit.”

“I’m sorry. I came to grovel. I’ll do whatever you want.”

Stepping back, he reluctantly let her step into his apartment before speaking again.

“This was never about me helping you. You’re trying to put me and mine in the slammer. Maybe the thing you don’t get is how much criminals don’t like going to jail.”

“Jesus, I can’t believe you just referred to yourself as a criminal.”

Wiping his face again with his towel, he sighed. “We ain’t stupid, sweet cheeks. Lying about being a criminal doesn’t change the fact. Around these parts it’s a legitimate occupation.”

Feigning an acceptance that she was sure didn’t quite reach her face, she responded quietly. “Understood, I still need your help.”

“Well sweet cheeks, you’re shit out of luck, cause the only fuckin’ thing you’re getting’ from me is disappeared. I’ll put a little time between the scene at the club and grabbing you, but you need to know that it’s coming.”

“You’re just trying to scare me. Why else would you warn me ahead of time?”

Johnny blinked. He wasn’t even lying about that and honestly didn’t understand why she would think for a minute he was.

“Does playin’ the naïve female usually get you an accommodation from men, Doll? I ain’t most guys.”

“I don’t understand.”

He looked up and silently counted to ten, just like his mother had taught him as a child to keep from going the hell off on her. After a moment, he looked down at her. “Shit, you really are slow. Okay, I’ll dumb it right down for you. Disappear yourself before I have to do it for you, Doll.”

“You know that I can’t drop out of circulation right now. I have to find my sister.”

“That’s what you’ve been saying. However, I can’t trust a word that comes out of your mouth. You told Tiff that you were willing to give yourself to me to get my help, yet when the time came you were all kinds of disrespectful and belligerent. Then you told the FBI dude that you still have an in with my crew. I have to figure you consider me some kind of fucked up leverage. Sounds to me like you’re still trying to build a case against us to me.”

“How did you know that…”

“Stow it, Sister. I have eyes and ears everywhere and that’s how I know you lied to me, to the FBI, and probably to the Homeland Security lady you met at the coffee shop. I got no problem with liars in general. Everybody’s always lying about something in my world. I’ve learned to keep a step ahead of them to stay alive. You’re trying to drag me into the weeds on this one. If you don’t mind me saying, I really don’t see the benefit of running around and busting my chops to track down your sister, knowing you’re just lookin’ for a reason to throw me in the slammer anyway.”

“I don’t care about arresting you or any of the others. I just want my sister back.”

“You see me as a solution ‘cause me and my guys broke bad on their asses once before. In order to get that kind of juice behind us on this one, I’d need to get my pops involved. He ain’t gonna want to do no favors for some broad that ain’t got ties to us. He’d be lookin’ for some serious front end work on your part to even consider it.”

“I’ll do whatever you want. I’ve been working this case for over a year and I’m no closer to answers than I was when I started. I need some goddamn help.”

“Did I mention that my pops is a dangerous criminal mastermind? I know how you feel about criminals and all. He’s not a pushover like me. The man will gun you down where you stand if you pull the shit on him that you did me. I almost forgot, the mastermind part means he’s probably always gonna be a step ahead of us. If you go for a double cross, he’ll whack us both and sleep like a baby, ‘cause he’s got three more sons just like me. If we don’t come through on all his little jobs, he’ll whack us. If we draw attention to his operation, guess what. He’ll fuckin’ whack us. In fact, we’d have to work hard and be very lucky to stay alive.”

“I’m sure that’s an exaggeration. Your father might kill me, but not you. You’re his son.”

“Survival of the fittest, Doll. That’s how things in my world work. In case you don’t understand exactly what that means, it means if I fail then it’s proof I don’t deserve to live. To his mind, it’s nothing to even lose sleep about.”

“I’ll do whatever your father wants, even if it costs me my job.” Eyeing her suspiciously, he could tell groveling was proving more difficult than she’d imagined. “I can’t just abandon her to those monsters.”

“I’m hearing what you’re layin’ down, Doll. I really am…”

“Just take the goddamn job. I’m tired of hearing about it already.” They both turned to see Enzo come out of his room still wearing his suit from earlier. He rummaged around pulling out a couple of hand guns and clips out from several hiding places.

Sarah looked like she wanted to ask if something was wrong, because obviously something was. She didn’t though. Johnny was reassured that she could tell what was her business and what wasn’t. Besides, Enzo was a grown ass man, who’d let them know if he needed help with something. Since she didn’t seem mentally deficit, he’d listened to her story.

“Fine. Tell me about this sister of yours.”

“Well, for starters, she looks just like me…”

Listening to her talk about her sister, Johnny could tell how close they were. Sarah described how her twin had been grabbed one day in broad daylight and all the things she’d done to try to track her down.

Pulling out his switchblade, he began carving on his nails again. It was a nervous habit he’d used for years to keep attention on his hands instead of his facial expressions. The problem was, he was much more interested in her than her story. In fact, the more she talked, the more he warmed to her. She was strong, pretty and clever. Johnny always did like fascinating women.