“Do you know who I am?” I ask calmly. Big Shot shakes his head, and I look over to his men, who do the same. “I’ll do you a favor and give you an education. I’m Salvatore Castello.”
At the mention of my name, Big Shot’s eyes widen and his boys start to make excuses for him.
“Looks like you do. Then you should know better than to fuck with me and what’s mine.”
I point the gun in the direction of his boys and fire it. They take off running, along with the woman, and I’m thankful I thought to put a silencer on my gun before I left for work today.
Moving the gun back to Big Shot’s forehead, I hold the hot barrel to his bald head and burn him with it. He lets out a choked cry, and I squeeze his neck harder.
“Maybe not right here, boss,” I hear Mike say from behind me. He must have either seen what was happening on the cameras or been close enough to hear the gunshot.
Thankfully his words sink in and I realize that anyone could come down those steps at any moment. This isn’t the place for this.
“Call the twins and have them take care of him,” I say to Mike as I crack Big Shot over the head with the butt of my gun. He slides down to the floor unconscious, and I straighten my suit.
“Will do, boss,” Mike confirms as he hauls his limp body out to a waiting trunk.
I push my hair back in place and walk up the steps to Thea’s apartment. I try to let thoughts of Big Shot and what he said he was going to do with her fall away. She’s mine, and no one touches what belongs to me. It’s clear I need to take care of this now.
When I get to her door, I see a yellow piece of paper taped to it and I rip it off. My eyes scan it to see it’s an eviction notice. I own the goddamn building — how is she being evicted?
There’s some bullshit at the bottom about the management company that took over having to remove residents due to overcrowding. Residents have to relocate as of end of business day today.
“What the fuck?” I growl, crumpling up the paper in my hand and banging my fist on her front door.
When Thea opens the door, something in my chest eases and aches all at the same time. Her eyes are rimmed red and her hair is piled high in a messy bun. She’s wearing a gray sweatshirt that’s hanging off one shoulder, and I can’t tell if what she’s wearing could be classed as underwear or shorts, they’re so damn short.
“You always answer your door dressed like this?” I bark, not intending to yell at her but unable to control my anger.
“You,” she says, blinking a few times and wiping away a tear.
“Salvatore.”
“Yeah, I know,” she answers, blushing slightly as she takes a step closer to me. Then, as if she realized what she did, she takes a step back. She found out who I am, apparently.
“What is this?” I ask, holding up the crumpled yellow ball in my hand.
She opens her mouth to answer, but instead a sob blurts from her lips and her face falls into her hands.
“Oh, my angel, don’t cry,” I soothe, and take a step forward to wrap her in my arms. When I feel her own arms move around my waist, I kick the door closed behind us, and we stand there, holding on to each other.
In this moment, we are taking what we need. She’s using me to cry on after what must have been a really shitty day. And I’m selfishly stealing her warmth and sweetness to ease the pain of being away from her for so long.
“Shhh. It’s all going to be okay. I’ve got it all taken care of,” I say while I rub her back.
She sniffs and pulls away slightly until her cool gray eyes meet mine. “What are you talking about? I don’t even know you. God, this is insane.”
She tries to pull away, but I tighten my hold just slightly. She relaxes again and bites her lip.
“I’ve decided that you’re a loose end.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve spent the last two weeks making arrangements so that you are no longer a threat to the peace I’ve built.”
“I’m not a threat. I haven’t said a word to anyone,” she says defensively.
I reach down and take her hands in mine. “By witnessing what you did that night, you’ve become indebted to me. I spared your life, and you must repay that. I thought by keeping an eye on you it would be enough, but I can see now that this place isn’t safe. And now that you’ve been evicted, it’s apparent you need a place to live.”
I look around the room and see only a few small boxes half filled with meager possessions. When I look back to Thea, she opens her mouth to protest.
“I’ve had enough of this,” I say, pressing my finger to her lips. “I’ve decided you owe me and that’s that. Now get dressed, we’re leaving.”