Page 50 of Forbidden Confessions, Volume 2 (The Forbidden Volumes #1)
It doesn’t take long to find Sal and Rudy.
Every Saturday night they’re able, they plant at a table close to the stage where a barely average lounge singer warbles through a few sets.
She might not be the most talented singer, but she gets those two drooling, especially when she wears her spangly blue dress the size of a postage stamp that barely covers her tits and almost flashes cooch.
When I round the corner, sure enough. They’re fixated on her as she belts out a rendition of “New York, New York.”
“Hey, guys.” I slide into the booth beside Rudy.
I don’t trust Sal not to stab me in the ribs now and apologize to Donzelli about it later.
“What the fuck do you want?” Sal demands.
“I’m sorry about earlier. You had the redhead under control, and I was just eager to prove to Marco that I could handle the situation, so I took her out of your hands. Sorry.”
Rudy scowls. “You took her to bed, too. But that seemed like a whole lot of talking beforehand…”
So he saw. Damn it. Clearly, he needs to die first. Not that I actually intended to spare him. “She amused me for a minute. Then I got bored listening and just fucked her.”
That makes Rudy chortle. “Good and hard, too. She didn’t fight too much.”
Yep. He’s definitely dying first.
“Nice tits,” Sal says in passing.
And he’ll be next. Yes, Kristi has a great pair, but anyone else who remembers them won’t be walking this earth for long.
“Figured I was giving you two a show.” I shrug like it’s funny and I don’t give a shit that anyone saw me violate the woman I plan to spend my life with.
“A good one until she ran from the bed and puked. Then we had to turn off the monitor.” He grimaces. “But before then? Man, you gave it to her good. Paulie tried to horn in on the show, too. We told him to get lost.”
“Yeah?”
Rudy nods. “He got pissed and went home.”
Excellent. That means, unless Donzelli is done banging whoever he’s tied to his bed tonight, no one is minding the candy store.
Like I suspected, now is my best chance to take this fucking place down.
Sal whirls on me. “In case you haven’t figured it out, we’re really the brains and heart of this organization.”
Legends in their own minds, for sure. “I didn’t see that until tonight, but I got it now. That’s why I came to say I’m sorry.” I plunk the bottle of pricy scotch in the middle of the table and motion to a cocktail waitress for two glasses. “This is my way of saying it.”
Rudy’s beady eyes go wide. “This is a fucking expensive bottle of booze.”
I nod. “On me.”
Sal is more cynical. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch. Tomorrow afternoon, the three of us should sit down and discuss the side-hustle operation. Paulie got it off the ground, but it needs more finesse. You’re smart enough to know that, and I think you can help me.”
Sal cocks his head. “What’s in it for us?”
“Cash and pussy. What else is there in life?”
Rudy laughs again, sounding an awful lot like Beavis and Butt-Head. “Exactly.”
The other mobster scowls.
Damn, I hate a guy with short man’s disease.
“Upward mobility,” Sal finally says. “That’s what we want.”
“Absolutely. I totally get that. Someday, Donzelli is going to retire, you know?” If I don’t plant a bullet in him first. “Paulie…he’s been around a long time, but he’s not young.
What this organization needs is someone with new ideas.
Vision, right? Along with the brawn”—I gesture to Rudy—“and the balls”—I nod Sal’s way—“to implement them. You’ve been hitching your wagon to Paulie’s.
I know you three go back a long way. But Donzelli has basically picked me to run the show after he’s gone.
It would be smarter if you hitched your wagon to mine. ”
The cocktail waitress sets down the empty glasses with a wink and a smile. I peel her off a twenty and wink back. Then I pour for the two nimrods.
“Think about it,” I murmur, then scoot out of the booth.
“Where you going?” Sal demands.
“You’re not drinking with us?” Rudy sounds almost sad.
“Nah.” I slap him on the back. “I’m going to give you two time to talk over that bottle while you listen to what’s-her-name with the tits. I’ll hold down the fort. No one left upstairs?”
Rudy shakes his head. “Getting late now. You know how it is.”
“Yep.” Donzelli and his cohorts are getting comfortable and cocky. That works in my favor. “Drink up.”
I loiter long enough to see them each down a glass and pour another. I’m tired as fuck, and I’m dying to go upstairs and curl up with Kristi for a few hours, maybe reenact her getting pregnant…
Holy shit. We’re having a baby. That’s a lot to wrap my head around, but that’s a really fucking important reason to focus. Sammie, then Paulie’s command center in the basement. Hopefully, Red and I will be alive to reminisce later.
Suddenly, the cell in my pocket buzzes. I pull it free to find a text from the guards on the eighth floor.
Donzelli just called. Wants you to take the merch to that client.
Fuck. The boss not thinking with his dick puts a kink in my plans.
Tell him I’m on it.
I type back, then jog my way back upstairs, my thoughts racing. I’ve got to be smart about this since my operational window of opportunity is pretty much now.
On the eighth floor, I make my way to 832 and let myself in. The brunette I saw in the cage in the third-level basement earlier huddles in the corner now, rocking back and forth, eyes dilated and enormous.
It hurts me to see how fucking terrified she is.
When she catches sight of me, she scrambles to her feet and raises her fists like she intends to fight me. It would be funny…if it weren’t so damn heartbreaking.
Shutting the door behind me, I approach her slowly. “Sammie?”
She scowls. “H-how do you know my name?”
“Listen to me. I’m on your side.”
She shakes her head, her long hair swaying around her waist. “No. I saw you with that guy, the one who bosses everyone around. He controls the guy who t-took me when I walked by the back door coming out of the ladies’ room.”
“I know. I have to gain his trust, but I’m here to free you. I’ve talked to your cousin Kristi.”
“When? How?” She gapes as a horrible possibility occurs to her. “Is she here?”
“Down the hall. I was with her an hour ago. Your mom called her to help find you, but now Kristi is in trouble, too. So you’ve got to listen to me.”
Sammie raises a trembling hand over her lips. “She’s in danger because of me? Oh, no…”
“It’s okay,” I tell her with a calm I don’t feel, holding out my hands. “We’re going to get out of here.”
“How?”
I don’t dare tell her I’m still working on that. “Let’s get you out of this room first.”
Because if I don’t, Donzelli won’t lose himself in pussy again tonight, and I won’t get a chance to fix this.
“Where are you taking me?”
Why does she have to ask the hard questions? I sift through all my possibilities and realize my options are really fucking limited.
I sigh. “Someplace I’d rather not, but you’re going to get out of here, I promise.”
Her fists come back up. Does she think that will ward me off if I seriously wanted to do her harm? “Why should I trust you?”
“Honestly? I’m going to shorthand this because we’re out of time. I’m not who you think I am. I’m going to marry your cousin. Kristi is already pregnant, so I have a vested interest in making sure you’re both safe.”
“She is not!”
“Wanna bet?” But it’s not like Sammie can verify with my girl. “Let me put it this way: What happens if you go with the boss?”
“I’m afraid to find out. I saw what the tall, fat guy did to that other girl. She’s bruised everywhere.”
“Yeah, Paulie is a peach. But you know neither of them is going to be good for your long-term health, right?”
“Yeah,” she answers hesitantly.
“I’m the unknown; I get it. But if I was as bad or worse, do you really think I’d be standing here, trying to reason with you?”
“No.”
“Exactly,” I assure her. “Let me check one thing…”
I whip out my phone and call down to the bar where Rudy and Sal were drinking. After a quick parlay, the guy slinging drinks assures me that Tweedledum and Tweedledee are passed out at their table. Even better, the bottle is only half empty.
That gives me another idea. And it better work or we’re all dead.