10
Antonio
Talk about a mindfuck: Just when I thought we were going to get down to business, she froze up and tensed so hard my hand was squeezed between her legs. She wanted me; I could feel it and see it in her desperate looks and eager movements. I swear to God, she looked like some kind of angel, sexy as hell when she pushed back and then finally when she gave in to me. But the moment she froze up, she looked more like a scared, young girl. That’s when the question entered my mind, and I had to ask.
She’s a virgin. This changes things.
At that moment, I don’t know, some kind of guilt crept up on me, sitting on my chest with the weight of an elephant. I mean, what the fuck? Never have I given a shit, let alone felt guilty about having it rough with some chick. But to get rough with a virgin? To have her first time be taken forcefully, locked in a room with no way out? The whole thing freaked me out, so I got out of there before more than just my dick got soft. And now I’m supposed to go and break a few kneecaps. No wonder this job ain’t for everyone.
“Antonio, where’re we headed anyway?” Vinnie asks from the front passenger seat.
Before I even think of responding, Huxley answers for me as he drives. “You ever heard of Irish Tommy?”
“Irish Tommy?” Vinnie questions back.
“Some punk kid who thought it would be smart to stick up one of our poker games,” I speak up. We’re driving through Lower Manhattan heading toward the Brooklyn Bridge. The kid runs an auto-repair shop by there.
Vinnie’s face frowns, “Doesn’t this Irish kid run with Tony Romano?”
“Fucking Romano assholes!” Huxley almost swerves the car in his anger.
The Romano family have long been a thorn in our sides, and although our two families oppose each other, a truce has been called by my father and theirs. It’s easy enough—they stay away from our interests, and us from theirs. However, things get complicated when you consider accomplices. It’s no coincidence that it wasn’t one of the Romano crew that did the stick up themselves, but a dumb fucking street kid. If it was known that a member of their family had direct involvement, then things would get ugly, and fast. An accomplice on the other hand, well, they’re so loosely connected that it’s hard to prove who was behind the stickup, even if it seems obvious. Likewise, we can stick one of the fucker’s wrenches so deep down his Irish throat that he’ll be coughing metal for the rest of his life, and the Romanos can’t do much to stop us. If we make an example of him, then the next crackhead will think twice before shitting on our doorstep.
“Aye, Huxley, you think you’d ever be good enough for one of those Romano girls?” Vinnie questions, an amusement in his voice. “I heard they’re the beauties of the city. High standards, though. Doubt you’d ever stand a chance.” Huxley was known to be the casanova of the family. Any new girl that came into the city was generally his first before any of the boys stood a chance, and recently the emerging Romano sisters were the talk of the courtyard. I suspect that Vinnie is only pulling Huxley’s leg, though, because I doubt any man could get close to any of those girls. Not with their father, Enzo Romano, being the cruel bastard that he is.
“Don’t play with me, Vinnie.” My brother clenches his jaw as Vinnie starts to laugh. “I swear, I’ll pull this car over just to put my foot up your ass. Yo, Antonio, you going to let him talk to me like that?”
Huxley’s eyes meet mine in the rear-view mirror, and I guess he doesn’t like my reaction.
“Oh yeah, that’s it. You laugh it up too, go on both of you.” So, we do, and the tension in the car is lifted for a while at my brother’s expense. Then he turns the conversation on to me. “Yeah, yeah, it’s easy when you’ve got your very own sex slave in the house.”
“Yeah boss, that’s gotta be the best debt payment ever made,” Vinnie adds.
“You got that right.” Huxley eyes me in the mirror again. I feel my mood changing. “What’s she like anyway? She looked like one of those wild ones. You know, the type that hides it. Like once you get them in the room, they unleash themselves, suck your—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I give Huxley a slap on the back of the head.
“Alright, shit.” Huxley pulls his mouth to one side and widens his eyes. “I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?” I ask, gritting my teeth.
“That you have a thing for her. You hear that, Vinnie? My big brother’s gone soft over this chick!”
A thing for her?“Just drive the car and keep your mouth shut. We need to focus.”
Yeah, the problem is that all I’m focusing on, all I’ve been focusing on, is Mia. Just the thought makes me feel nauseous. That’s not my style. I don’t let myself get corrupted by a girl. Pussy’s just pussy, or at least that’s what I thought. Hell, we’ve barely had a real conversation, yet she dances through my thoughts as if I’ve known her my whole life.
And now that I know she’s a virgin? Everything has changed. I don’t want to admit it to myself, much less Huxley, that she might mean something more to me now than just a bargaining chip for her father’s debts. That she’s a beautiful girl caught in the crossfire of her father’s mistakes, innocent and curious, yet she has me more captivated than any experienced woman ever has.
* * *
When we arriveat the auto-repair shop, we find Irish Tommy under the hood of a ‘96 Ford Mustang GT.
“Nice car,” I say as Vinnie tells Tommy’s fellow mechanics to take a hike. A quick flash of the sawn-off shotgun he’s brought along, and the place gets real quiet.
“What the—”
Before Irish even gets a chance to get a good look at us, I slam down the hood on his head to clear away any thoughts he might have had of fighting back. Three times I bring it down on his skull, causing blood to flow from his temple. “What was that? We couldn’t hear you.”