"I understand why all this is important to you. I get it. I want to help as best as I can. I'll stay beside you, behind you, in front of you, wherever you need me. Just remember that you're my friend, and I care about what happens to you. If I have to chase you down and rescue you from kidnappers yielding bloody knives ever again, like Alison said, I will strangle you to death." I was surprised by Milo's forcefulness. When I met him he was a timid little thing. He's growing, becoming a different person. I take a little bit of pride for the new person he's become. Not sure how I feel about him using this newfound strength against me. But I understand where he's coming from.
"What are you planning to do now? The Valentino boys know who you are, what you've been doing. Everything that you've planned up until now isn't gonna work. Especially when school starts back in a couple of weeks. Winter Break is only for so long."
"I can either continue the way that I've been doing things, or I can try and face them head on. There's not a whole lot of options open to me. I'm going after the mafia don of the largest crime syndicate in Chicago."
We all knew what choice I was going to make. The plans I had set before coming to Chicago weren't going to work anymore. I wasn't making the progress that I wanted to make. Gio was still living his life. And that wasn't working for me anymore. He'd taken the most important thing in my life away from me, and it was time I started making him feel the pain that I wanted him to feel for so long. I was done playing games. Worrying about the consequences of my actions. It's time to start actually getting things done. The only way to do that was to go after him. Full Force, head on. There was no other way to do it.
My friends, the people sitting around my living room, knew what choice I was going to make. I wasn't going to lie to them. I wasn't going to say something to try and make them feel better. There was no point. Especially since I needed them to help me.
"I'll see what information I can get out of your uncle about the informant and track him down. I will say this before anything else is done, I'm putting a tracker under your skin. Luckily, they kept your phone and clothes close to you, and I was able to track you that way. I can't count on that next time."
"Jasper, you're not putting a tracker on me." If he thought I was going to let that happen, he was out of his ever-loving mind.
"Yes, I am putting a tracker under your skin. Get over it. Get used to the idea. Should've already done it by now."
He didn’t wait for me to say anything else before he lifted himself off the couch and went to get his duffle bag. I could see the looks in Alicen and Milo’s eyes as they stared between the two of us. Laughter and worry battled in their eyes, and I couldn’t suppress the laugh that was bubbling up my throat. I knew Jasper was just worried about me, and because of that I would let him implant a tracking in me. I knew there was merit in what he was wanting to do. With the way my plans have been going lately, there was the chance I would find myself taken against my will again. Next time it might be a far less arousing encounter.
That’s why I sat quietly on the couch and let Jasper roll up the sleeve of my sweater, clean a spot on my forearm with the alcohol wipe, and then inject the small tracker under the skin in my arm. I wanted to know where he’d gotten his hands on the thing, but after all the excitement of the day I didn’t have the energy.
“I’m going to head to bed. My head and stomach are killing me. We’ll talk more in the morning about what we need to plan out. I’m half tempted to set up a meeting with Nico and his boys. It might not be the best plan I could come up with, but it might be the quickest way to get what I want.”
I could see what they all thought of my outrageous plan, but they were all smart enough to keep their opinions to themselves. I knew confronting the Valentino boys might not be the best thing to do in the world right now, but the frustration was mounting and making me a little erratic. I wanted to get past all the re planning and carrying out the plans. I wanted to get to the part where Gio was paying for what he’d done.
The desperation I was feeling was causing me to make bad decisions. Sleep would help. It was getting hard to keep my eyes open. I was suspicious of those pills Milo gave me. I don’t think they were just some over the counter painkillers.
I’m thinking my sweet quiet little friend drugged me.