Page 9 of Broken Warrior
A bar or strip club is perfect really, and if I show Spider I’m not content with freeloading for the foreseeable future, maybe he’ll be less prickly when I try to help him in the meantime.
I smile as I start cutting up potatoes and carrots.
That settles it.
I’m going to talk to Spider about my plan and then I’m going to talk to my sister about how to make it happen. Starting with my own cell phone.
The knife falls to the counter with a clank as a cold shot of anxiety slices through my chest. My hands start to shake, a knot forming in the pit of my stomach, one that twists and pulls so tight I can barely breathe. I’m nauseous and terrified, my heart hammering against my ribs, my fingers white knuckling the burnt orange countertop as it blurs.
I can’t breathe.
I can’t fucking breathe.
If I have a phone, Gino can trace it. If he traces it he’ll find me, and if he finds me he’ll kill me. Gino won’t even think twice about it. He’ll kill me and take my son, and if he has James then he’ll hurt him, scare him and condition him, and turn my sweet boy into a monster just like he is.
But Gino doesn’t know where I am.
I take a deep breath and hold it, counting down from seven.
Gino doesn’t know where I am, doesn’t know anything about Dori or my family other than what my piece of shit father told Valetti, and the last they knew, anyone I was connected to was in Delaware.
Seven. He doesn’t know where I am.
Six. He doesn’t know about Dori.
Five. I’m not in Delaware.
Four. I’m not in New York.
Three. I’m not in California.
Two. I’m safe.
One. James is safe.
I clutch my stomach as my breathing finally slows, as my heart rate returns to a more normal pace. Gino no longer has any power over me. He’s miles and miles away and he won’t find me. Gino Valetti is just a nightmare from my past and nightmares have no power over my present or my future.
I’m safe. My son is safe.
The back door squeaks as it opens and I jump, spin from the counter with the knife back in my hand.
“Whoa there, killer,” Spider whispers as he toes off his boots and adjusts my sleeping boy in his mammoth arms. “It’s just me.”
I nod, my cheeks flaming and I suck in another deep breath. “Sorry. I’m a little jumpy.”
He gives me a rare smile as he walks through the kitchen. “I’m gonna put him down.”
I set down my weapon and move toward them. “I can take him— “
“It’s ok, I got it.”
“Are you sure?” I whisper. “I don’t want to...” I roll my lips between my teeth and drop my eyes as Spider pins me with an ice blue gaze.
“I got him,m’eudail. I’ll be down in a minute.”
Because I don’t know what else to do, I just nod and wring my hands, let this gorgeous man care for my son without even being asked, and get back to cooking in order to take my mind off the panic that’s slowly draining from my veins.
Once dinner's in the crock pot, I grab a soda and head to the living room but make a quick detour to check in on Nadine.
