“How many more are left?” Ruin asked.
“Not many more. Some have run and hide, but I imagine it’s a matter of time before I sniff them out.”
“You ever thought of letting them go?” Ruin asked.
“They will come back. They will think they’re safe and then they’ll make a play for this city. That is not happening onmy watch.”
“Have you found a capo willing to take over?”
“The job is yours if you wish.”
“I’m no capo,” Ruin said. He was a man without a name, without a family, without anything.
“You are theBogeyman, Ruin. I see you bringing a great deal to the fold.”
“My place is not as capo and you know it, but it’s an honor you would think so.” He held his hand out to Aldo. “Until next time.”
“You know, my men told me that she’s not giving you the time of day,” Aldo said.
“Your men don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.”
“I think they do. They certainly know what will entertain me.” Aldo chuckled.
Ruin was notamused. He didn’t like being reported on.
“Tell her the truth,” Aldo said.
“And what if she doesn’t want to listen?”
“Make her listen.”
“Kind of hard to do when she could scream for help at a moment’s notice,” Ruin said.
“Then find a place where she will have no choice but to listen to you.”
Ruin laughed this time. “You do know that it’s going to take a lot more than fancy words to make her listen. I was sent to kill her.”
“And yet she is breathing, Ruin. Trust me, if theBogeyman was sent to kill her, there would be no time for discussion.” Aldo put a hand on his shoulder. “You and I both know what you’re capable of. It’s time for her to realize she was safe all along.”
Ruin left the building, climbed into the car, and drove toward Callie’s workplace. Aldo would take care of the fine details of the man he’d just killed. It would seem Dante was using his toll contacts to expand his own private businesses. He shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d never liked Dante. There was always something about him that made Ruin hesitate. He also wanted to kill him. That instinct had been with him for a lifetime. Nothing and no one could take away his need to kill.
He watched as Callie came out of her building. She didn’t look in his direction, she didn’t need to.He usually climbed out, followed her home, and then walked back to get his car, but this time, he waited and watched the sway of her ass. There was a chance she was pregnant. She’d not been on any birth control. Would Callie even tell him if she skipped a period?
Turning over his ignition, he pulled out of his parking spot and started to follow, keeping to the movement of traffic, which wasn’t very fast to begin with. Callie kept coming in and out of his sight, but he made sure to find her. For over half an hour, he followed her all the way home, then found a parking spot across the street.
He’d talked to the landlord, politely, with minimum amount of threat, to get the security installed and updated. It had been an interesting conversation—one he’d won. Ruin was used to winning.
He stared at her apartment building. Callie didn’t know he had a spare key. At any time, he could walk into her building, into her apartment, and make her listen to him. That was what he wanted to do. At no point did he want to kill her. Running a hand down his face, he tapped the steering wheel.
Aldo’s words kept echoing around his mind.He shouldn’t be taking relationship advice from the boss of the Giordano mafia. And yet, flowers were never going to work, not that he tried. Nor chocolates. “Sorry I was sent to kill you, I promise I had no intention of doing so. Here are some roses and dark chocolates.”It sounded amusing even to him. Callie wasn’t stupid and she wasn’t a flowers or chocolates kind of woman.
He sat in his car, waiting.
People passed, everynow and then looking in, trying to catch sight of him. He ignored them all. The hours ticked by and after 2:00 in the morning, he climbed out of his car. He moved to her building, typed in the code, and let himself inside. He took the stairs up to her floor, and then at her door he pushed the key into the lock. He made his way inside, closing and locking the door behind him. Callie had forgotten to slide the bolts into place. It was something she wasn’t used to. The few times he’d been at her place, he’d been the one to bolt up her door.
The apartment smelled like her.Damn it, he felt an ache deep in his gut, one that wasn’t going away. Hands clenched, he made his way toward her bedroom, taking his precious time so he didn’t scare her. All he wanted was to watch her. Arriving in her bedroom, he saw she was already asleep. One of the pillows was in front of her body and she held it tightly. This was not a calm sleep, but one fraught, and he couldn’t have that.
Removing his jacket and boots, he rounded the bed so that he was behind her. Being ever so careful, he slid in, wrapping his arms around her waist, and holding her. Another whimper escaped her, but when he pressed his face against her neck, the tension in her sleeping body seemed to ease. The panicked breaths faded away. Callie, slowly, with him holding her, began to sleep peacefully. He would hold her for a lifetime and more.