“Stay here Xander is going to be here soon. Then, we’ll figure out what to do,” I tell her before leaving the room.
I walk halfway down the stairs and sit down on one of the steps, my elbows resting on my knees, my head hung in shame. While waiting for Xander to get here, I think about what Grace said. The question is, if I don’t do this, what else can I do? I’ve never been ashamed of killing, never even blinked at the thought of putting a bullet between someone’s eyes, but now suddenly it feels like it’s not enough. Like without Grace here with me what’s the point of living, breathing, killing?
Twenty minutes later, I hear the sound of gravel crunching beneath tires, the sun is just now starting to rise, and I lift my head and look through the glass space in the window, my eyes locking on one of two blacked out SUVs. I know one of those is Xander’s and I’m guessing the other pulling up behind him is the clean-up crew. I’m usually not there for the clean-up part, so I’m not sure how this works.
I bound down the rest of the steps and open the front door before anyone reaches the porch. Xander walks up looking hostile. Clearly, he is not happy I dragged him out of bed at six o’clock in the morning, to deal with this shit and I can’t really blame him. I would much rather have been eating breakfast than killing people, but it was either them or me.
“What happened?” Xander asks, as I take a step back and gesture for him to come inside.
“Three men broke in. Two of them I’ve never seen before, but one in the foyer was from the alleyway last night.”
“Fuck.” Xander exhales a frustrated breath. “This is what happens when loose ends aren’t tied off. You know better, so much better.” The disappointment in his voice doesn’t go unnoticed. I do know better than to leave a witness, and yet I did. I failed him, and Grace.
Xander motions for me to step aside. When I do, he walks past me, still shaking his head. Yeah, I get it, I fucked up. I stare at the floor willing it to give me the answers I need.
“Shit, this is fucking great,” Xander’s voice booms through the house. “Do you know who this is?”
I turn quickly trying to figure out who he is talking about. He is pointing at one of the dead guys on the floor. “That’s Anthoni Angelini, he is Paulio Angelini’s son.”
Swiftly I rack my brain, trying to remember if I’ve heard either of those names before. Xander must notice my confusion because not even a moment later, he enlightens me.
“He’s a big-time mob boss on the East coast. Old money, old mafia rules. He used to work with my father. They would kidnap women and sell them to each other so it would be harder to find them. When I killed my father, I cut off his supply. He’s been trying to come after me ever since. Fucker must have sent his son to do his dirty work.”
The idea of being targeted because of Xander and who he is never crossed my mind. I had always thought I would be safe, and not because of who I was and what I could do but because of who Xander was.
“If he is here to kill you, then why the hell did he break into my house?” I ask thrusting my fingers through my hair in frustration.
Xander turns to me, “The guy you killed in the alley, the one who wasn’t supposed to be there, that was his cousin.”
“Well isn’t that great. What the hell are we going to do now?” I don’t need this shit. Not when I just got Grace back. I can’t wrap myself up in more bullshit. Xander stares at me for a long moment, and I stare back at him refusing to break eye contact.
I wonder what he’s thinking? He knows Grace is my one and only weakness, and I don’t think he’ll use her against me, at least if he was smart, he wouldn’t, but how the hell do I continue on down this path. One path leads me away from Grace, and the other leads me straight to her. I refuse to put her in any more danger than I already have but giving up this life, this part of me. I don’t know if I can do it.
Xander is the first to break eye contact, his gaze moving back down to the two dead bodies, “Why don’t you get out of here for a few days, go visit your sister, spend some time with your family. I’ll take care of this. When you get back, we can figure something out.” Relief floods me like a river overflowing its banks. That’s exactly what I need. Maybe if Grace sees this other side of me, she’ll reconsider all of this, us. I’ve never wanted to hug the guy more than I do right now. Of course, I would never. Xander isn’t much of a hugger unless you consider the times he hugs your throat with his hands.