Biff out through the back, where party overflow was happening, but Alex pressed him on through that small crowd, through the yard, into the alley, where a blacked-out SUV was already waiting.
That was their system—one body man, usually Alex, on campus with eyes on Lia, a secondary team nearby to handle any issues that might arise. It had seemed wasteful and fucking expensive, seeing as nothing had happened before now and four Pagano men were twiddling their thumbs in Providence around the clock, but now, the first time Alex had had to key that code, the elegance of the system was clear.
He was surprised—stunned, actually—when Tony Cioccolanti stepped out of the passenger side of the black Denali. Tony was their capo; he did not do guard detail. But Alex didn’t have the time—or, frankly, the juice—to ask what had their boss riding shotgun tonight.
“What’s goin’ on?” Tony asked.
Alex handed over the vial. “I caught this asshole in the act, about to put this in her drink.”
Tony held up the vial, peered at it in the lights from the frat house, and his look became murderous. You’d have thought Lia was his kid. He turned that look on Biff.
Now Biff was afraid. “That’s a goddamn lie. He’s lying. Who are you people? Do you know who my father is?” He took in a breath that seemed like it might become a scream. Alex pushed the knife in a little more, felt skin give way and warm wet kiss his fingers. Biff tensed hard, but decided not to yell.
“I’m the man who’s about to ruin your night, college boy.” Tony reached into the truck and came back with a roll of duct tape. Biff tried to reel back, but Alex was in his way. “And I don’t give half a fuck who your daddy is.”
“No. No way, man. I didn’t—I wouldn’t—I’m sorry.”
With a fierce flourish, Tony slapped a piece of tape over Biff’s mouth and pulled him away from Alex. “We got him. You get back in there and stay on her. Check in when you’re back in place.”
“Right, Tone.” With a nod, Alex turned and left Biff to men harder than he.
“Hey, kid,” Tony called.
Alex turned back. “Yeah?”
“Good catch.”
~oOo~
When Alex went back into the party, he found Lia right away—back near the booze table, now chewing on her bottom lip in the way she had when she was feeling insecure. She probably thought Biff had ditched her at his earliest opportunity.
He sent an all-clear text and slipped his phone back into his jeans pocket. As he watched Lia and got a new read on the room, he saw a couple other frat boy assholes with their eyes on her.
One frat boy asshole was enough for the night. He went straight to her, coming up sidelong, and got gentle hold of her elbow.
“Hey, Lee.”
She turned and looked up at him. She wore this cologne all the time, something light and sweet, and even in the stink of booze and smoke, he caught the scent as her long hair swung over her shoulder.
“Alex, please back off. Glaring at me from across a room is bad enough. Everybody already thinks you’re some psycho ex I can’t shake.”
“I just caught the guy you were chatting up trying to dose your beer. I think psycho ex is better than drugging rapist, don’t you?”
Her face went slack, and her eyes wide. They were green, just like her father’s—but on the don, that green was piercing and fierce; on sweet Lia, it was bright and clear, making her eyes gleam like gemstones. “Please?”
“I ain’t lyin, Lee. He had a different kind of party in mind for you.”
She shuddered and crossed her arms over her chest. She wore a snug little black dress with deep-cut neckline. Her diet hadn’t diminished her tits much. That was one place she had not gotten skinny.
“Where is he?” she asked, looking around.
“Learning a lesson. He’s handled. But I need to get you out of here. If there’s one guy like that here, there’s more.” Hell, maybe it was even a group thing these frat boys had going. He’d read some articles in his research about shit like that.
Alex kept that story to himself, however. He’d deploy it if he needed to scare her.
“Okay. I need to find my friends. Maybe they …”
“They went willingly. I saw ‘em go.” They’d left Lia here to fend for herself alone, as far as they knew. Some friends. “Come on, Lee. Time to go.”