Bad Girl_ Valetti Crime Family(38)

“Don’t thank me. Don’t degrade what just happened like that.” The words come out harsher than I intended.

Her shoulders turn inward like she’s cowering from my hard words. I wanna tell her I love her. But it’ll only make it harder. After a minute, she molds her body against me again and relaxes in my embrace. I kiss her hair, and just as I lose my resolve and decide I should risk it all and tell her, I hear my front door open.

My blood turns to ice. I move quickly to get to the other side of Tonya, to block her from whoever just came into my place uninvited. A million possibilities race through my mind. It could be the cops coming to get me for something, a rival prick trying to prove he’s tougher than me. For all I know, I could be on someone’s hit list. I open my drawer for my gun. But then I hear Anthony’s voice as he calls out, “Tommy! Where are you, bro?” My heart only races faster as I look between Tonya and the closed bedroom door.

“Wait here,” I whisper to Tonya as she stares at the closed door with fear.

“Coming!” I yell out to him before leaning down and kissing her.

“Yo! We gotta talk!” I hear Anthony yell, and I resist the urge to hold her longer and finally back away.

I grab my pants and shove them on as quick as I can. I can't let him back here. I can't let him see her.

By the time I get to my living room, I’m pissed and aggravated. And worried. I breathe out slowly as I see Anthony going through the liquor cabinet. He turns to face me with two glasses in one hand, and a bottle of scotch in the other.

“What’s wrong? You’re all good now. Why the fuck do you look like that?” Anthony’s pissing me off, but it’s not his fault. I gotta calm down, but I can’t. My heart’s banging in my chest with the fear that shit’s about to get real.

“I’m fine. What’s up?” I ask him flatly.

“You don’t look fine,” he says.

I exhale heavily and think of a way to get him out of here.

“We gotta talk about Judge Steckel. He wants his--”

I’m quick to cut him off. I know she can hear, and this shit cannot fucking happen right now. “Not now, I can’t talk now.”

He looks at me like I’m fucked in the head. And he’s right, too, 'cause I am fucked.

“You can’t talk to me?” he asks.

“Not at the moment.” His eyes fly to the bedroom.

He looks confused for a moment, and then it hits him. “Are you serious, she’s back there?” His arms lower and he almost drops everything in his hands. “You've gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Tonya must’ve heard him because she comes out, pulling her shirt down and looking all sorts of pissed and upset.

“You’re a fucking idiot, Tommy.” Anthony sneers his words and moves to the other side of the room while she walks to the door. He intentionally turns his back to her, snubbing her, and it’s the last straw.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Don’t treat her like that!” I grab his shoulder and turn him around to face me while Tonya walks past us.

“Like what? Like a cop?” He raises his voice with disgust as I hear the door open.

“You’re a fucking prick.” I turn away from him. I have nothing to say, and I need to get to Tonya before she leaves.

“Me?!” he yells with disbelief. He grabs my arm to stop me from going to her and I turn around and swing. I don’t hold back and hit him square in the jaw.

His back hits the wall and leaves a dent in the drywall from his right shoulder and head. He winces from the pain and cradles his chin. I feel regret for only a second. But he crossed the line.

He looks up at me with raw anger in his eyes. He spits blood onto my floor and rights himself. I face him, waiting for his response, waiting for something.

He flexes his jaw and avoids eye contact. “I have to tell him,” he finally says with a hard look. His eyes flash with pity, anger, and betrayal.

“You know I’m not saying shit to her.” My heart beats wildly in my chest.

“I can’t fucking believe this, Tommy. What have you done?” His voice cracks on the last word.

“I just wanted her.” That's all this is. We just wanted each other. We fit together in some crazy, fucked up way.

“You wanna get laid, you go to the strip joint.” He looks at me with a pained expression. “You had to settle on a cop?”

“It didn’t happen like that.” He doesn't understand.

“Fuck, Tommy.” He leans back against the wall as I look to the door.

“I have to go get her,” I tell him, feeling like I’m stabbing him in the back.

“How could you even think it’s gonna be alright?” he asks.