When I woke up early afternoon, it was because someone was banging on my door. I opened my bedroom door and hurried down the hall, frowning when I saw Derek and Hector in a stare off. Hector had probably six inches and seventy pounds on Derek, so I wasn't nervous in the slightest as I walked over to stand near Hector.
"Who the fuck is this?" Derek demanded angrily.
"That's not any of your business." I assured him, crossing my arms over my chest.
"What, you dump me so a month later you can shack up with this bitch and his dog? You give it up to him yet? Because you damn sure let me waste two years-" Hector decked him then, tired of listening to him bitch. Derek bent at the waist, groaning as he clutched his nose in his hand. The satisfaction I got watching blood drip through his fingers worried me. I hoped his nose was broken.
"Don't ever talk to my little cousin like that again." Hector started quietly. Derek glanced up at his words, something in his gaze I'd never seen before. Was that fear? I hoped so. "If I find out you've been here again, what I do to you will pale in comparison to what you've done to her." He shut the door back and turned to meet my gaze.
"How-"
"Did some digging. Even if you pay doctors, Sierra, they still talk when someone with more money makes it worth their while." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I made sure no one else would find out, though. You're lucky I got there before Marco or anyone else Grandpa Sal might be sending."
"But you took care of it, right?"
"Why'd you let him break your arm, Sierra?" I shrugged, turning to go into the kitchen to make some coffee. He followed me silently. "You were in love with him?"
"I thought I was." He pulled me in for a hug.
"Love makes you do crazy things, kid. But don't ever let another man put his hands on you. You shoot that motherfucker in the knee, just like you did this morning." I smiled when I pulled away from him. The rush of satisfaction I got remembering this morning scared me a little. "Seeing you on that video and seeing how you reacted when you saw him here, it was like two different people. Don't ever let a man intimidate you like that again. You're a Campoz. It's time you show the world that assassin you've kept hidden." He was right, after all. I'd grown up in and around violence, and it was time I stopped trying to run from who I really was.
We had two cups of coffee before Sal and Emeril both showed up, letting themselves in.
"How do you keep doing that?" I demanded when Sal opened the door and Hector and I turned to see who it was.
"Lockpick." He offered, waving a small case he tucked into his back pocket. "Though he's got an extra key." He hooked his thumb over his shoulder to Emeril, who was closing the door behind him.
"You were already picking it by the time I walked up. Figured I'd let you finish." Emeril announced cheerfully. He held up three bags. "I also brought breakfast."
After we scarfed down the breakfast burritos and biscuits Emeril had brought, Hector ran down to take the puppy to the bathroom while Sal went around my apartment, picking up anything he didn't want Marco to see when he got here. Once that stuff was tucked into my safe, I moved my plant back into place, concealing it effectively.
"I never would've thought to look behind that plant for the safe." Sal started, approval in his tone. "I doubt Marco will stay long enough to look for a safe once he realizes you aren't at work or here."
"Speaking of." Hector started, having opened the door and heard the last bit of Sal's words. "We need to get going. Marco lands in twenty minutes."
"That's ahead of schedule." Sal agreed. "Something's up. Sierra, you have five minutes to pack a bag. Whatever's not in the bag in five minutes stays." I was running down the hall before he even finished his sentence. Since I didn't have to pack clothes, I packed my essentials – electronics, chargers, some shoes, undergarments and my mini backpack that doubled as my purse. I was pulling my gun from the hidden safe inside my dresser when Sal walked in.
"What?" I asked when he looked at me weirdly.
"You have two safes? Why?"
"Does it look like I'd be able to get to the safe in the living room if an intruder got in?"
"So why don't you keep a gun on your nightstand?" I rolled my eyes before tucking the gun into my bag. "Ready?"
"Yeah."
Two minutes later, we werepulling out of the parking garage in Emeril's tinted SUV.
YOU ARE READING
Falling for an Italian Mobster
RomanceAfter everything I'd been through, I was supposed to have a free pass from the family businesses. I'd made a whole life for myself far from the illegal temptations that either side of my family had to offer. Until my grandfather decided he was tired...
