When the bell above the door went off, I glanced up, expecting to see them, and was relieved to see Gabe instead. The poor guy probably thought I had a stalker or something after all of the erratic behavior and crazy hours. Man, my life was so calm before the Adrostos waltzed back into it.
“Hey, Gabe,” I greeted, setting aside the box of inventory I was sorting and smiling up at him.
“I’m glad to see you’re open!” He grinned back, giving a quick wave with a coffee cup in hand. “Got you a hot chocolate, Larry said it was your usual.” His cheeks tinted pink, and I had to bite back a chuckle as I took it. Gabe could never handle a woman like me, but I thought he was a sweet guy. Much better example of a normal guy than Lance.
“You’re a lifesaver. It’s already been a day,” I joked, grabbing it and taking a sip of the perfectly warm drink. Letting out a contented sigh, I put it on the counter. “How’s your day?”
“Not bad. Traffic was crazy! Apparently, some building is on fire across town, so all the cars had to keep moving aside for emergency vehicles. Which, you know as well as I do, is not easy in rush hour traffic,” he mused. His tone was light, but his eyes were shadowed as he took in the scrapes on my arms. I shifted my sleeves down, hiding them from view. “You sure you’re doing alright?”
His concern was genuine, and I was glad to have someone that cared about me, but it wasn’t necessary. It would likely not be the last time I got a few cuts and bruises either, so I just waved him off.
“Oh, yeah. Don’t worry about the scrapes. I’ve started some intense self-defense classes since that attack. Want to be prepared and all that,” I said, his knowing nod and easy acceptance of the lie letting me relax. “So, did you try out the new game that came out last week?” With that, he was back in comfortable territory, telling me all about the survival horror game that sounded like it required way more patience than I had.
“Then you have to figure out how to open this—” His words were cut off before I could learn the rest, the door swinging open to reveal an unfamiliar man. Something about the way his gaze locked on me, not taking in the shop at all, combined with the barely concealed excitement and hunger in his eyes, set off my alarm bells.
“Can I help you?” I asked. My tone was devoid of emotion, which had Gabe looking from me to the guy.
“Yes. Special edition.” The way he said the code word so casually and with a hint of superiority had me knowing I couldn’t sell to him. Instead, I let my eyebrows wrinkle in confusion.
“Of which game?” I asked innocently, glancing around the shelves. “We have quite a few.”
“Don’t be cute,” he spit out, acting like he was one with the power here. Another egotistical, power-driven man. “Show me the special editions.” Yes, because saying it in a special voice is super subtle, dude.
“Once again, which game?” This time, my voice was sharp as his anger visibly grew, his fists clenching and face reddening. He had a familiar look to him, his dirty blond hair reminding me of the guys, but his face was angular and plain, unlike their Adonis-like features.
“Look here, you little cunt,” he growled, pulling out a gun right in front of Gabe. My poor, sweet customer looked like he might pass out, but he stepped between us, hands up.
“Hey, buddy, I can help you figure it out, but a game isn’t worth a gun,” he said, trembling slightly as the guy stepped forward. The asshole lifted his other hand to hit Gabe, but he saw it and dodged in an unexpected move. Nearly losing his balance, Gabe swung at him and tried to wrestle the gun away. Finally grabbing my own gun from its harness, I was over the counter and taking aim just as he dropped Gabe with a well-landed blow. Without hesitation, I took one moment of silence for the future of my shop before aiming at his head and squeezing the trigger. This man was clearly unhinged, and I wasn’t going to risk my life or Gabe’s.
The door opened just as the man fell, his face missing blood and tissue. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the guys yet… Where the hell are they? Wait. What’s their Uncle Hector doing here?
“Ah, our little queen,” he sneered, stalking forward with a grin. Yet again, I had a feeling that something wasn’t quite right. He was far too happy to be here, and his utter lack of reaction to what he’d walked in on was more telling than anything.. He’s either in on this, or he’s even more unhinged than I thought. “Savage of you to take out an Adrostos.” He gestured at his dead family member, still entirely emotionless.
I was quickly realizing that this likely meant he knew about the weapons. What was most concerning was that he was here alone. There was no way that he was here under the triplets’ authorization. They wouldn’t send their uncle, a man envious of their power and position, to deal with me. My guys would either come themselves or send one of the goon squad, like Carlo.
“If you don’t mind, I need to call in a cleanup,” I said casually, but he smirked and moved forward instead of stepping back outside. My hand holding the gun twitched on instinct, the desire to shoot him nearly overpowering me. But he was their family, and I couldn’t just go around picking them off… well, more than I already had at least. There were some unspoken rules in the mafia, and you didn’t lightly kill off family members. Apparently I’d already killed one family member today, and I if I was going to be with my men, I needed to remember that. He saw my hesitation and laughed, stepping over both of the bodies on the ground to place himself in front of me. I just hoped Gabe was unconscious, not dead. In my haste to get to him, I hadn’t seen the final hit, just heard it.
“I do mind, actually, you stupid bitch. You thought you could disrespect my family and get away with it? Selling weapons right under my unworthy nephews’ noses,” he spat, sneering with glee. Evidently, his anger at my side business wasn’t stronger than his dislike for the triplets. “Is that pussy just that good, that they didn’t realize? Because I doubt that you, little girl, are good enough to keep a secret this well. Tell me who you’re working with. Who’s your partner? I know you didn’t do this alone,” he pressed on. “You seem the type to ride on a man’s hard work. Take credit, but you’re merely a lowly pawn.”
“Don’t make me kill you,” I sighed, my blasé attitude only making him more furious. Inside, I knew his fury couldn’t overpower mine. How dare he go after his own nephews? They’d made this city their life, tending to it with both the care and savagery that it deserved. He could only dream about being half the man my guys were.
He slammed his fist into the wall, games falling down at the impact. His greased back hair was in disarray as he stalked back and forth. My body never relaxed, hand still holding tight to my gun. I wanted to know what his game was, and for now, I was willing to wait… though if he made one wrong move, my decision would be made for me. I was patient, not stupid. His head fell back, and he barked out a laugh at the threat, his body language telling me exactly how highly he regarded me. Go ahead, dick, turn you back on me. I would let him underestimate me. It wouldn’t end well for him.
He stopped pacing and turned, the glint in his eye dangerous as he stalked forward, backing me into the counter. The cool metal bit into my back as I waited for him to give me more; he was too narcissistic to not give something away.
“How did you find me?” I asked, the question one I really wanted an answer to.
“Oh, it’s not hard to find info if you find the right person. I found a man bragging about a rare gun he bought. I bought him a few drinks, and those lips loosened. Gave us a lead to your little operation here,” he said, not even realizing how much he was giving away.
“And you thought this info would, what… put a wedge between your nephews and me?” I replied incredulously, his mood quickly shifting from haughty to angry as he kicked the corpse hard enough that he grunted.
“This info will put me at the top of this fucking Family, knocking those bratty pricks out of the top spot like they deserve!” he screamed, droplets of spit raining down on my face.
“Not likely,” I said, grimacing as I wiped a hand over my face. “They’ll end you, especially after this. You got one of your own people killed, and now you’re accosting their queen.” His face changed again, eyes zeroing in on me with a predatory gleam as he stalked forward. I was near my snapping point, but part of me wanted them to come in and see this for themselves, so I didn’t have to deal with him.
“Should I make you my queen?
Could test that pussy out myself,” he sneered, his hand smacking into my crotch unexpectedly, the sting making a fiery hot anger boil through me. He dares to touch me like that? He started to turn, but I grabbed his dick in one hand and squeezed painfully, my iron grip unyielding until he paled and screamed like the little bitch he truly was. My other hand was still on the gun, so I held it to his head.