out of my ponytail. My hair wasn’t too long, so that brought him within close proximity of my person. “Well, what we’d like you to do is go home and look around a bit,” he said. “Do you think you could do that for us?”
“Oooor,” Merrick chimed in, “we could go over and take a look ourselves, yeah?”
“No,” I rushed out. “I…I’d be happy to take a look around.” I nodded like a simpleton. “I…uhm, I have tomorrow off from work. I can look for it.” I gave them both a fake, wobbly smile. “It’ll help me get some real spring-cleaning in.”
Gary dropped the lock of my hair. “Good, good,” he murmured. “I knew we could count on you.” He looked over at Merrick. “Didn’t I tell you we could count on her?”
Merrick gave him a brief nod. “You sure did,” he agreed.
“So, how about we pick this up…Monday? Tuesday, maybe?” Gary suggested.
“Uh, I work Tuesday swing shift,” I told them. “I…I could arrive a half hour earlier and…meet you guys here?”
This times Merrick’s grin was all teeth. “Perfect,” he beamed. “It’s so wonderful when people are cooperative, don’t you think? I prefer it to the alternative, really.”
I was flabbergasted by the entire exchange, myself. These men looked like petty thugs, but they spoke with manners befitting the uppercrust.
They were definitely an oddity.
“Y...yes,” I agreed. “I’m sure this…will be…uh, settled easily.”
They both shook my hand, further confusing the shit out of me, but when they turned to walk away, Gary added, “It is especially important we find this box, Robbie. I hope you understand how very imperative it is that you find it.” His head tilted a bit. “Do you understand, Robbie?”
I heard him loud and clear. I knew a threat when I heard one. I also knew they were convinced I had the box or could help them locate it. With Randy gone, I was their last hope of finding it and something told me they weren’t going to give up so easily.
I nodded my head. “I understand.”
Gary smiled, and it transformed his entire face. He was actually decent-looking when he smiled. “Glad to hear it.” Saying nothing further, he turned, and they both walked out of the back alley of the Brighton’s.
Once again, I had to compose myself before heading back home.
Chapter 9
Ciro~
“Seriously, Curtis, I was hoping you’d learn the last time,” I muttered as I shook my head at the poor bastard tied to my favorite chair. “I was convinced your missing pinkie would have been a constant reminder to stay on the straight and narrow.” I let out a dramatic sigh. “Yet, here we are again.”
Of course, his muffled pleas didn’t do him much good at pleading his case, but we were past that point. Unless Luca gave a direct torture-and-kill order, he let me decide how many chances someone deserved, and I took that responsibility seriously.
However, unfortunately for Curtis, my dick was still hard with the frustrations of a certain brunette, and I was going to take those frustrations out on him. I needed an outlet and poor, stupid Curtis was the only one around for me to utilize.
Now, Curtis’ path down the road to the funhouse was his inability to keep his hands to himself, his favorite target being his wife. Now, Nadine-Curtis’ wife-was Fernando’s wife’s sister. Who is Fernando, you ask? He’s one of the low-level soldiers who was in Leo’s crew, therefore, making him, technically, a Benetti. And everyone knew how Luca felt about men beating on their wives.
The abuse was discovered when Leo stopped by Fernando’s to give him a gift for his parents’ anniversary. Nadine was there and Leo noticed a faded bruise on her shoulder when her shirt collar accidentally slipped too far. Now, while Leo wasn’t as formidable as Sal or as terrifying as Luca, he had a quiet way about him that, when he spoke, you listened. He had asked her how she got the bruise and Nadine had been too scared to lie to him.
Hence, my first visit with Curtis.
My error had been in thinking that a simple ass kicking would make an impact on Curtis, but people heal from basic fights too quickly. It’s too easy to forget the pain and humiliation once you’re all healed.
Our second visit ended with sending Curtis back minus a couple of fingers. I figured it would be more difficult for him to make a fist to hit his wife with.