His shoulders go square as he levels his gaze on me with an iciness that I’ve not seen at any time since we started this. “Not everything is as it appears, my dear.”
His words hit me like a blow to the face, causing me to flinch. When I do, I watch a flicker of satisfaction fill his eyes as a smirk spreads across his face. That’s when I realize that I’m seeing the shark he claimed to be when he strutted into this hell instead of the cold, indifferent man he has been.
Deciding that I’m done just letting the assholes who believe they run the world tell me what to do, I push forward, even though the voice in my head is screaming for me to stop. “Well, it appears you don’t believe you're as good as you think you are.”
His smirk grows into a humorless smile. “I’m following orders. Do your time, get out, and move on. That’s the best advice I have for you, little girl.”
As the memory fades, it all rises like a tidal wave—the sorrow, the anger, the raw devastation of it all—working to consume all of me. I allow a single tear to fall onto my knee, the very first one I’ve allowed to fall since the day I signed the paperwork that took away any future I might have had. What kind of future can you have when you plead guilty to manslaughter charges? It’s been five years since it all happened, and I still do not have words for the way it all makes me feel.
When my phone alarm goes off letting me know it’s time to head to work, I surge to my feet and dust off my ass. As I gaze out over the sky painted bright with pinks, oranges, and purples from the setting sun, I shiver with the feeling of being watched. I tuck my hands into the front pocket of my hoodie as I slowly turn to scanthe surrounding area. When I don’t see anyone, I make my way back up the trail toward where my car is parked. Ahead of me to the right, tucked deep under the shadow of a grove of trees, I swear I see the silhouette of a man. I watch that spot as I make my way up the slope, not paying attention to where I am placing my feet. I’m reminded of how bad of an idea this is when I catch my toe on a root. This causes me to come down hard on my hands and knees.
“Holy shit! Are you okay?” someone calls, rushing down the embankment toward me.
Rolling to sit on my butt, I look up into chocolate brown eyes filled with concern. I lose all train of thought with how pretty this man is. A masculine chuckle breaks whatever fog I’m lost in.
“It would be a lie if I said that is the first time I’ve ever been called pretty,” he states, squatting down in front of me.
“I said that out loud then, didn’t I?” I mumble, dropping my eyes to my hands to study the scrapes on them so I don’t have to look at Mr. Pretty again.
“You did,” he says, laughing while grabbing my wrists and pulling them to help me stand.
My eyes snap up to meet his as mortification once again erases all filters from my brain. “I’m so sorry. I do not know what is wrong with me right now. I normally have no problem keeping my internal thoughts just that—internal.”
He gives me a small grin. “I quite like your honesty. Now, are you going to answer my original question? Are you okay?”
I drop my eyes, accessing first my knees then my hands that are still in Mr. Pretty’s hands. I try to pull them back and out of his grasp, but he squeezes them to keep me in place. Panic rises inmy chest since we’re on a part of the mountain that doesn’t get a ton of traffic and it’s only him and me here.
“They don’t look terrible, just some scraps and bruising.” I go for nonchalance as I try to pull my hands free once again. “Nothing some soap, water, ibuprofen, and rest can’t cure.”
His grip tightens once again slightly before he lets go. “Why don’t I help you to your car?”
With my hands free, I put as much space between us as I possibly can. “No, that’s fine. Thank you for your help.”
Slowly, I back away before turning and hastily making my way up the embankment. I scan the area as I go, hoping that there will be someone else around. My heart sinks until I see the shadow once again just inside the tree line. I don’t know how or why, but I know its eyes are on me and Mr. Pretty, watching every move we make. I make it to the top and nearly jog to my car when I hear footsteps behind me.
“Hey! Wait, please,” I hear him call behind me.
I don’t slow or even chance looking back at him. “Sorry, I’ve got to get going. Have a nice day and thank you for helping me.”
When I’m nearly to my car, I pull my keys from my jacket pocket, once again annoyed that I don’t have keyless entry on the old beater. Just as I get the keys into my hand, I drop them on the ground. They hit with a thud, and I drop my head back, looking up at the sky and praying that for once in my life something would go the way I want and or need it to.
The footsteps stop right behind me, and he places a hand on my lower back as he bends to pick my keys up for me. “You dropped these,” he whispers way too close to my ear for comfort.
Gritting my teeth, I bring my head back up, and when I do, they land on eyes so green that I must be imagining them. Theharshness and scowl on his face seem to make his eyes even more mesmerizing. Everything around me seems to stand still for just a moment, as if waiting for the predator to strike. I feel as if my blood has stopped moving through my veins, waiting to see what he will do.
The man behind me is oblivious or just plain stupid not to see the man who seems to be glaring at us.
Two
Vito
Standing just inside the tree line, I make sure that I’m nothing more than a shadow to anyone else and watch her. Ever since the night she pointed me in the direction of her stepfather with two black eyes and what had to be a broken nose, my need to protect has been burning hot. The want and drive to protect her from her stepfather, the people in the world, disappointment, but most of all to protect her from me. There isn’t a day that goes by that I do not wish for things to have been different. That things could have been done differently, but at the end of the day my loyalty lies with the family.
I followed the orders Andre gave me. The assistant chief was dealt with, and the family wasn’t even on anyone’s radar. The thing I could let no one find out is that the girl who was charged for the death was also a witness. I paid a lot of money to ensure she would never tell anyone what she had seen that night. It helped that her fuckhead of a stepfather had the entire town believing her mother was fucking crazy, and with just a whisper here and there people would never believe that she didn’t do it.
The day she signed the paperwork taking the deal, I could finally breathe again. Allowing a witness to live was a great way to fast-track your soul to hell. After that, I set up one of my personal accounts to automatically deposit money on her commissary and didn’t think about her again until I got the call from one ofmy associates that she was being released. I called her lawyer to have him reach out and let her know she was left the house and a small sum of money.
It was another two and a half years before I thought about her again. Andre was growing the family and businesses, so I was deeply involved as his second to make sure that everything fell in line, and everyone did what they needed to. That is until late one night I was making my way back to the family’s land to check over a few shipments that were getting ready to go out when the light of a twenty-four-hour diner caught my eye.
