Page 28 of Angel of Light (Lords of The Commission: New York #5)
Jackson was staring out the window, a pack of peas on his nose. The fact that he was comfortable enough to go through her fridge had a new rush of violence coursing through my veins, quickly draining the pleasure that had soared through me not even a minute ago.
“So. You were about to tell me why we’re here,” Alison started, straight to the point.
Jackson turned around, taking in the slight flush in her cheeks before directing his gaze at me.
Violence could come disguised as a metaphorical gut punch.
So, with as much theatrics as I could, I wiped the corners of my mouth before closing my eyes in delight and licking my lips.
Once I opened them again, there was fire in his eyes, and I knew he craved to punch me again.
A gleeful smile spread my lips before I urged him to start talking. “We have places to be, Naoki. Either start talking or start walking.”
Jackson inhaled deeply, steadying his anger before he spoke, “I need a favor. A big one.”
“Okay…” Alison let the word linger, coaching Jackson to keep talking when he paused to look at the pea bag before placing it over his nose again.
“I need Jimmy, your police expert, hacker, or whatever he is, to wipe my files in the DEA database.
Actually, not only the DEA, but any agency that has my name mentioned.
FBI, CIA, Interpol, even the smallest of sheriff's departments. All of them. Every photo, every case I ever worked on, every single file that might contain my name, abbreviation, or an acronym of it. Every fingerprint or DNA record. Like I never existed.”
Alison looked at him, stunned, not sure what to say or do. He was asking for too much.
“Why?” She asked.
“Because I’m done.” Jackson simply stated, as if that was reason enough to ask for such a big and dangerous favor.
“Yeah, we’re gonna need more than that,” I replied.
Jackson side-eyed me before continuing. “After you killed my father, I was kidnapped. Got shoved into a dark room and tied to a chair.”
“So sad you escaped,” I taunted, “You seem pretty well nourished for someone who was kidnapped. They were either incompetent, or you’re lying.”
“Can I fucking finish?”
“Go ahead,” I replied before snickering under my breath, “You’re the only one here who hasn’t yet.” Alison glared at me, but Jackson started yapping again, and she refocused on him.
“There was nothing but an old TV and a VCR in there. I watched hours of classified footage that I had never come across before. Feds, torturing my mother for information about my father. They kept her in a cage, pretending to be from another mob faction. But the tactics they used reeked of FBI. I knew it before confirming the source of those videos.” He paused to take a deep breath before continuing, “They stashed her in a safe house, making us think she was killed. For years, Alison. For years, they held her hostage. They stripped her of the life she had and the person she was. There were hours of footage captured over the years, but the content was always the same. Long torture sessions. My mother pleading for her life, yelling at the top of her lungs in pain as she told them she knew absolutely nothing. They showed her pictures, places, documents. And then tortured her again for not being of use. I sat through it all. Watched every minute without turning my head away. How could they have done that to an innocent woman? How is that the institution I pledged to die for?” He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts and locking those emotions back up, “Long after the footage turned into a black screen, I sat there replaying the whole thing in my head. Building my rage towards the institution that should be ruled by morality and justice. Instead, they broke an innocent woman for their tactical advantage.”
Alison had floated closer to him, listening intently to everything he said while I tried to listen to the undertone of his voice. Look out for any signal that indicated that he was lying or trying to manipulate her into a trap.
Nothing.
“And then she walked into the room. My mother was right there, Alison. I thought she was dead. I mourned her. I missed her. And yet, she’s alive. They took my mother away from me and made me hate my father for thinking her death was his doing. They played me as much as they played her.”
“Your mother kidnapped you to tell you she was alive?” Alison asked, her awe clear in her tone.
“She kidnapped me to show me I was on the wrong side. She kidnapped me to guide me to my real place in life. I was so blind that if it weren’t for watching those videos, I wouldn’t have believed it. So I’m done. And I need your help. I’m taking my father’s place.”
Alison gasped audibly while I was thrust into defense mode.
“You can’t be serious, Jackson. The Yakuza isn’t your place to be.”
“It’s in my blood, Princess.” Jackson closed the space between himself and Alison, taking her hand in his, bringing the gun she still grasped back into the line of vision. “As much as the mafia is in yours.”
Alison was silent, pulling her hand from his and walking to the other side of the room, deep in thought. He was calling to that soft part of her, sticking his finger where he knew Alison bled the most, and I hated him all the more for it.
“So you want us, the Cosa Nostra, to help you, the new Yakuza Oyabun, to disappear from every police database to which you belonged?” I scoffed at the end of that phrase, the utter mess in all of this making it clear we were navigating territory dangerous enough to jeopardize more than just our operations. “Not a chance.”
“I didn’t ask you,” Jackson barked back.
“Max is right, Jackson. This is too dangerous. Besides, you know this would never be my call to make. I’d have to speak to Matt. But you’re aware of that, of course. You’re just counting on my ability to persuade him.”
Smart girl.
“I’m not on good terms with your brother, and you know that. I’m not hiding that you are my only hope. If I’m doing this, if I’m going to take my place where I belong and fulfill my destiny, I can't do it when the police have all this information about me.”
“Lesson number one in your crash course of Mafia for dummies: nothing comes for free in this world, Naoki. What would we get in exchange?” I asked.
“Carte Blanche. Whatever you want from the Yakuza. Whatever you need, whenever you need it. No questions asked.”
“You really should spend more time learning the trade before jumping right into the deep end. The Mafia doesn’t forget, Yakuza boy.
The Mafia doesn’t forgive. So if you are giving us whatever we want in exchange for this potentially disastrous favor, you better be sure you fucking mean it.
It will cost you. It might even fucking kill you.
So think carefully about what you’re offering. ”
“I have no conditions. That’s it. Do this successfully, and the Yakuza owes you whatever favor you decide to cash out.”
Silence filled the room as both Alison and I exchanged glances while Jackson waited with bated breath.
“I’ll talk to my brother, but I can’t promise you anything.”
With a satisfied smirk on his face, the fucker walked towards her and placed a lingering kiss on her cheek that made my chest rumble in contempt. There was a red smudge of his blood on her otherwise perfect skin, and the mere sight of it was infuriating.
Bile rose to my throat, and it took every ounce of me to calm down and not scrub her clean right there.
The vivid red on her skin was too much to take. It was too damn reminiscent of when I pulled her out of that building. Too damn triggering.
Breathe, Max! Breathe.
“Let me know what he says.”
I watched him leave. My eyes following each one of his steps until the damn door closed behind him. As soon as it clicked shut, I turned back towards Alison only to find her with her arms crossed over her chest, a massive scowl on her face, and her foot tapping rhythmically on the floor.
“What?” I asked, closing the space between us and wiping her cheek with the sleeve of my shirt.
“I thought we’d agreed you wouldn’t hurt him.”
“That wasn’t me hurting him, Angelo, ” I replied, wrapping my hands around her waist and pulling her into my chest to whisper into her ear. “If I wanted to hurt him, I would have either shot him or let him watch us.”
“Well, that’s the definition in your book, not mine. So now you can go home and change alone, and I’ll call Jimmy to pick me up and take me to Bella Notte for this dinner . ”
“Like fuck you are.” I kissed her possessively, sealing that statement without any room for arguing. “You’re either going with me or not going at all. You’ve let the devil in. Now deal with the consequences.”
“Are you jealous, Maxy Max?”
“No. Jealousy is for the weak.”
“Hmm, I see.” With that, my little minx pried my fingers from around her waist, turned around, and left me standing alone in her living room, but not without throwing a little wink over her shoulder.
That smirk of hers held a promise of trouble in it, and I was already anxious to see what my little angel was plotting against me.