He was right, and that peeved the fuck out of me. As the booze began to do its work, I realized no matter what he told me would reverse the course of my history or make everything better. There was only one-way to move on with my life: forward, not looking back and not trying to change the past. The what ifs would kill me alone.
"True." I swigged from my beer again. "I don't know . . . I just thought-fuck, I don't know what the hell I thought."
"I can see that quite clearly." He whistled for the waitress and ordered another beer for himself before turning those lethal aquamarine eyes in my direction. "Your problem is despite all the crap you've been through, you truly want to believe in fairy tales and happily ever after. That's not reality by a long shot. What you need to do is get your head outta your ass and reel that temper of yours in before it gets you in trouble or worse."
"What could possibly be worse?" I muttered under my breath as I rolled my eyes petulantly.
"How about getting shot? Or maybe some maniac kidnaps you and tortures you to death. There are a lot of sick people out there. I admit-what you went through with Brad and Nel was no walk in the park but their depravity was basic, primal. You could have been dealt a more horrific fate than being the sexual plaything of two pedophile bikers." Max grabbed his beer as soon as the waitress set the mug down and shooed her away.
"I suppose you're right."
The silence between us was thick but not uncomfortable. Not when we had the pop-twang of a Taylor Swift song and lots of activity in the diner among the patrons taking place all around us.
I had to think because the alcohol worked a bit too well and as it killed off my ability to care, it also robbed me of my sharp skills. I still paid attention to all the people around me but at the same time, if I intended to play this new game with Max, I would have to be better than him. Hell, he was head and shoulders above me in every way there was to think of but that didn't mean I couldn't adapt and become better.
Men had been trying to best me my whole life but when it came down to it, I'd inherited both my mother and father's charm along with their master of manipulation tactics. By the time I'd left the Knights compound, Brad and Nel were both eating out of the palms of my hands, more or less. Yes, they'd abused me in more ways than I could count but even in the end, I was able to make sex work to my benefit. It hadn't always been painful or invasive. By the second month into my "sexual education," I enjoyed our acts of depravity just as much-if not more-than they did.
Max looked at me and saw a young woman he could easily manipulate. I looked back at him and saw a man who thought he was the best of the best. His arrogance, not his lack of skill, would ultimately be his downfall. Of course, that didn't mean I wouldn't use what I knew about him to my advantage. I certainly wouldn't be able to call myself a woman if I didn't.
He'd told me some very shocking secrets over the course of the night and he had his purpose for doing it. He needed to break me down and soften me up, so to speak. Bring me down to size and make me understand I didn't know much of anything about the reasons I was orphaned in the first place, let alone a damn thing about life. I could respect what he was trying to do but I also had a role to play and damn it to hell, I would fulfill it.
I took several swigs from my beer for courage, no where near feeling too intoxicated to know what I was saying or what I was doing. No matter what happened, I was in control.
"So . . . you have this wish to bring down Angelo Abandonato. I'm assuming you're working for men just as savage as he is-if not worse. What makes him so awful he needs to be wiped out of the picture?" I wondered in a nonchalant manner, never bothering to meet Max's cold aquamarine eyes.
"It's not personal. To me, it's just a contract and I want to fulfill it because I can do what I really want to do with my life afterward. I will be free and I can pursue a goal I've been meticulously and carefully planning for a very long time," he responded in a deep, honey-tinged voice.
There was absolutely no malice in his words. He didn't give a damn about his employers or the Abandonato Mafia in particular. Hell, he wasn't even some bleeding heart do-gooder. It all came down to the money and how much he would be paid. I could respect a man like that who could separate the value of human life from the intangibility of it all and use a price tag to decide how much a certain person was worth.
"What if Angelo tries to bargain with you?" My eyes met his, slowly, drawing out the feeling of our somewhat brief connection. "After all, he is a businessman and if his assassination isn't personal to you then he will try to negotiate."
Max shrugged, the spark of lust in his eyes for me disappearing within the blink of those mesmerizing ocean-blue eyes. "I thought about that but at the end of the day, I might be a contract killer but I am a man of honor. I keep my word. There's not enough money in the world for Abandonato to buy me off. I plan to take him out and I will do just that."
"Ah . . . and here I was thinking there was no such thing as honor among thieves," I teased before I finished my beer. "What's the role I'm supposed to play in this sick charade you have planned? You say you're one of the best at your job so why do you need me at all?"
He chuckled out loud. "Simple, you're my way in. We act like we're engaged to one another and you would like to get to know your family. We'll make up a suitable abduction story but we must keep the Knights out of it. Angelo will be delighted with your return into his life and welcome you into the family with open arms if we play our cards right."
"And you're foolish enough to believe he won't question my motivations at all?"
"Of course he will. However, I am sure you are a consummate enough actress to convince him otherwise. Or am I wrong about the skills you've honed over the years?"
I shook my head. "Not at all. However . . . I won't give you the answer you want right now. I'd like to think on it to be honest. I'm not exactly sure what's in store for the rest of my life but I don't want this to be it. Brad might have granted me freedom but I will not live the rest of my life on the run."
"Fair enough," Max replied before he lifted his fork and knife. "I suggest you eat some of your food to soak up that alcohol. I didn't plan to stop again except for gas and bathroom breaks until we reach Reno."
"Oh? Is that where we're making a pit stop?"
"I have some business to take of there. I'll be in the Tri-Cities area for a while so you have plenty of time to think about my proposition and what you want to do with the rest of your life. Please inform me as soon as possible whether you intend on us being partners or if I have to revise my strategy and assassinate Angelo Abandonato alone."
I ate part of my burger and half of the French fries before I set my food aside. No matter what I decided to do, I knew it would be a very hard decision to make.
We arrived in the city of Reno in the early morning hours the following day. The sun had just barely risen in the east and the city looked like a well-used and seasoned call girl-although still somewhat attractive, the thrill and sparkle was gone. Reno had always been the redheaded stepchild to Vegas and upon entering the city, any person with a reasonable IQ could understand why.
The hotels were tall and grand but nothing like it's sister-city in the southern part of the state. The only part of the Tri-Cities area that could even begin to compare to Las Vegas was Lake Tahoe and the gorgeous hotels, resorts and casinos that existed there. If it weren't for that swanky part of the area, I would have found it hard to believe the city would be able to stay in business at all.
During the drive up north, I'd done more than my fair share of thinking. There was a certain sense of injustice I couldn't separate from my present situation. Hadn't my family suffered enough? It was true, as far as I knew, Angelo had made a half-ditch effort-at best-to find me but the initial problem lay in the fact that I couldn't trust Max.
It wouldn't behoove him to give me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. That wouldn't feed my fragile ego and make me want to exact revenge against a man who was of blood relation to my mother . . . and to me. We were second cousins after all. However, whether I intended to go through what seemed to be a hackneyed plan Max had put together, I couldn't turn my back and simply walk away. Living my life as if this sexy yet downright infuriating man hadn't entered it wasn't a possibility at all. This wasn't my hormones talking, just good old fashioned common sense.
If I was at least involved with the actual conspiracy to make my uncle "sleep with the fishes," I could at least warn him about the potential plot on his life. Although my betrayal might look downright dire, and could in fact cost me my life-if not at the hands of Angelo then all but guaranteed by a bullet to the brain administered by Max-I decided it was worth it.