Page 2 of Angel of Light (Lords of The Commission: New York #5)
MAX
Present day
“What are we doing here again?” Jimmy asked for the hundredth time in the last five seconds alone. He was grumpy because apparently two large pizzas for both of us wasn’t enough food for lunch after a sleepless night.
“I told you. Just making sure everything is as it’s supposed to be. Plain goods surveillance, just like last night. Don Massimo wouldn’t like a damaged bride, or even worse, a kidnapped one.” I tried to spew that like a joke, but the grimace that followed didn’t make it land that way.
“Sure. And I’m the moron that’s supposed to believe that bull?”
“C’mon, Jimmy. That’s all I can say.”
“Some lower soldato could have done this job, yet somehow I’m sure you volunteered.”
I gave him a warning side glance that did absolutely nothing to make him back down.
My hands tightened around the steering wheel as I kept my eyes ahead, trained on AD’s rotating glass entry doors, waiting for the lunch hour rush to deliver the best view of all – Alison strutting out in her cock teasing corporate attire.
“Planes have thin walls, Max.” Jimmy continued, making my head whip towards him in shock. “Besides, the way you look at her doesn’t leave any room for interpretation, either.”
“It’s not what you think.” It was only a half lie, so the conviction in my delivery was unwavering this time.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s not. Your beef with Don Massimo must be because you're both Miss America contestants. Nothing to do with Miss Battaglia at all.”
I laughed at his remark. I hadn’t even smiled since we’d been back from California. I’d been all up in my head the whole time while visualizing every scenario that could play out if Diego found out who Alison truly was. Not a good place to be, putting it lightly.
So Jimmy’s presence was both a welcomed distraction as well as a curse. It was clear he knew more than he should at this point, and I only had myself to blame.
Normally I’d be here by myself, sitting in the car, waiting for Alison to leave AD, and then following her until she was safely home. It had been that way for two weeks now.
After California, Matt was uneasy about her encounter with Diego, and I was fucking paranoid. If someone so much as breathed wrong in her direction, it would be the last breath they ever took. No exceptions.
“I’d win. I have the looks.” I finally replied.
“If I were into men, which I’m not, I wouldn’t spare you a second glance. Now, Don Massimo, on the other side, I’d smash.”
We both laughed as the lunch hour dance began. The rotating doors spun at a constant rhythm, spilling out workers in masses – some laughed with their co-workers, some kept their heads down, while others clearly moved like they couldn’t wait to be anywhere else.
I glanced at my watch. One to two minutes and Alison would be walking out.
I held my breath, waiting to catch my mafia princess.
Her hair would always fly wild in that first gush of wind as soon as she was out the doors.
She’d walk in a tight step over to the same food cart, greet the vendor with that dashing smile before sitting on the bench, her face directed at the rays of sun as if it was her first time soaking up its heat.
Between these tall buildings, there was only one spot where the sun would reach the ground, and it was always vacant just for her.
In the last two weeks, I got the privilege to witness this part of her. The clean and normal part, where there were no traces of the Mafia curse chasing her around.
Only now there was a possibility that curse could be lurking around any corner, waiting to catch her with her guard down.
It was a big mistake. There was no barrier between everyday life and the underworld.
No invisible bubble that daylight could provide.
She was just as vulnerable here, if not more.
That’s why I sat in my car for hours.
The crowd lessened by the minute, and Alison still wasn’t out. Both Liam and Jamie had walked out while their father had left earlier and hadn’t returned. Where is she?
I glanced at my watch again, a strange feeling building in my chest. Six minutes past her normal exit time.
“Maybe she’s skipping lunch today.” Jimmy tried to diffuse the tension that had suddenly settled in the car.
“I should go check on her.” In the last two weeks, her schedule had been as reliable as a Swiss watch. The only time she didn’t stick to was at the end of the day. She was never eager to go home, and I knew that I was partially to blame. Maybe a little more than just partially.
“And say what? That she’s two minutes late for her lunch break?”
“I don’t like this,” I replied, swinging my door open, ready to march into the building and make sure Alison was okay.
But I couldn’t even take a single step.
The explosion hit like a shockwave, a deafening roar that split the city in two.
I crouched down behind the open door while Jimmy curled in his seat for cover. The screams were muffled for a split second before they swallowed the normal bustling of New York.
One moment, the skyline stood untouched, the glass windows reflecting the sun and clear sky.
The next, fire and smoke erupted from the top of AD’s building.
For a split second, I stared at the high-rise.
Scrambled words from a prayer I didn’t remember made my lips move as I counted from the last floor down, confirming what my heart already knew.
52nd floor!
That’s where Alison is. There’s no way this is a coincidence.
At the realization, everything around me blurred into static. The loud screeches of panic, the stampede of people rushing as far as they could, the thick black smoke curling into the sky, painting a picture of a hell I never expected to witness.
I didn’t even realize I was moving until two people ran straight into me. I was the only one going towards the building instead of running away from it.
Another bang roared through the sky, rooting me to my spot while a sudden wave of guilt froze me for a second too long.
It’s my fault. If Alison dies, it’s all my fault.
“Max!” Jimmy yelled from behind, his ear glued to the phone. No doubt that it was Matt on the other side.
I shook my head, ridding myself of those dark thoughts, not allowing them to infest the only thing I could rely on now. Hope. Hope that she’s still alive and that I can get to her in time.
Without a second thought, I started towards AD again, ready to face whatever horrors may lay in that building with the faint belief that I could find her and save her.
“MAX, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? YOU CAN’T GO INSIDE!” Jimmy yelled, grabbing my jacket and trying to pull me back from the torrent of falling debris.
“Get your fucking hands off me.” I harshly tugged away from his grasp, setting myself free before I ran towards the entrance.
A third explosion rocked the upper floors again, sending a fresh wave of glass, concrete, and whatever the fuck this damn building was made of cascading onto the street and anyone stupid enough to stand below it. AKA – me.
I ran for my life, but more than that, I ran for hers.
As I got to the rotating doors, I noticed that the entrance was blocked. The glass was shattered and the electricity had been cut off, meaning no more rotation. It was nothing but a wall of thick, broken glass that looked like a spider web of cracks. There was no way I was getting in through them.
The evacuation plan Adrian had designed out of his son’s insistent request was no match for this situation. Getting the generator up and running would take too much time, and going up through the stairwell would be a death sentence.
“Fuck, think!” I urged, my hands knotting in my hair out of pure despair. Alison’s life depended on every damn second, and I was still stuck outside, my mind running blank. “The other building.”
There was a rooftop on the building adjacent to AD, maybe about forty floors up. I raced through the entrance straight to the elevators and pushed every button furiously as if that would make them come down quicker.
Finally, one of them dinged open, and a security guard emerged from inside.
“Come with me,” I pushed him back as he tried to exit, and thankfully, the man didn’t fight me on it. “Take me to the roof.”
He pulled out his card and unlocked the elevator before punching in the rooftop floor on the display. My expression must have been enough to show him that I meant business because he kept to his corner, no questions asked.
“What’s your name?” I angrily asked.
“Jeremy, Sir.” His voice was shaky. Between the succession of explosions and my hand twitching over my gun, the middle-aged man was scared, and for good reason.
“Jeremy. When we reach the top, you are going to hold this elevator open. It does not leave the roof until I come back. If you don’t do exactly as I say, I will hunt you until I find you and make you suffer in ways you’ve never thought possible. Am I clear?”
“Y-yes, Sir.”
As soon as those doors opened, I ran. Taking my gun out of its holster, I aimed at the glass and shot every round in my clip, only releasing my breath once AD’s window shattered into a million pieces.
I sprinted through the building, the smell of smoke hitting my nose as soon as I entered.
The elevators were dead, of course, the digital display blinking ERROR. I turned to the stairs, ripping the metal door open, and bolting up the flights as fast as I could. It was only eleven floors, but at the same time, it was eleven fucking floors!
Every second counted. I couldn’t allow the dread and uncertainty to slow me down, even though I couldn’t stop those poisoned thoughts from roaming free in my mind.
I took the stairs in pairs, using my hand on the rail to push me up faster, my legs burning while my breath barely came out fast enough, hoping by God that I’d get there in time.
The smell of smoke traveled through the space, propelling my thoughts deeper into that darkness I couldn’t shake.
I’m coming, Baby. I’m coming. You need to wait for me.