Dirty Sweet Cowboy

Chapter 52

T he town car pulls up to huge building somewhere in midtown, and stops right in front of the entrance. The streets are bustling with morning traffic, and the first thing I plan on doing when we step out of the car is running, or screaming, but Alexander turns to me, his face now serious, and angry, twisted in a way I’ve never seen it .

“If you make so much as a sound when we step out of this car, I will get my hands dirty,” he sputters. “Do you understand me ?”

I gulp, and nod. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’m not going to let him kill me in the street. I start to slide of the car, and Alexander grabs my arm and jerks me the rest of the way out, pulling me toward the entrance to Adelardi Tower. There are guards everywhere, but none of them look remotely interested in what is going on with me or Alexander. They are all busying themselves with meaningless tasks, and for a moment, it almost seems like they’re intentionally avoiding looking at me. In fact, I’m sure they’re used to seeing unwilling people dragged through this lobby and never returning. It’s part and parcel of their boss’s industry .

Alexander shoves me harshly into the elevator, then follows me inside and presses PH. With every floor the elevator passes, I get more and more panicked. The further away from Vince I get, the more sure I feel that I’m going to just die—maybe even right there in the damn elevator. It feels like an eternity before we arrive at the top floor of the building and the doors open. When they do, I’m shaking so hard that all I want to do is hide in the corner and wait for the end to come .

Standing outside the elevator are a collection of huge goons, all of them armed to the teeth, include two of the men who were in my apartment. I don’t know where the third is, and I don’t care, because I’m sure wherever it is means trouble for me and Vince. Alexander drags me off the elevator, and despite the fact I am fighting him at every turn, his strength is greater. I hate that I can’t shake him. I hate him for putting me in this situation. And when he shoves me in front of Durante Adelardi, I think my hate is going to make me explode .

Durante Adelardi is tall and broad-shouldered, but he’s gotten a little chubby in his old age. He has a grey mustache and grey hair, with piercing blue eyes. His suit is clearly expensive, and yet somehow, still cheap-looking. He’s leaning against his desk, staring at me, through me, like he’s trying to stop my heart with just his eyes .

“So. You’re the assistant district attorney who prosecuted my son ?”

I stiffen my shoulders and try to stand up as straight and brave as I can, even though I’m feeling anything but brave. “Your son and his buddies were breaking into bodegas and then trying to shake them down for protection money. He was lucky he got off as light as he did .”

I half-expect him to put a gun on me right there, but instead, Adelardi chuckles. “You’re not wrong there, Miss Bullock. My son is an idiot. Get nailed on RICO charge? Only confirms my doubts as to whether that dumbass is my son. Even so, family is family. And I’m told you’ve been poking around into my affairs, looking for evidence of…what ?”

My mind starts running. I can’t tell Adelardi about anything we have on him, but he will know immediately if I lie to him. I have no idea what to say, so I just stand there, staring, channeling all the strength I’ve acquired through years of going head-to-head with scumbags like Durante Adelardi. Finally, he relents .

“All right, Bullock. I’m going to be straight with you. You’re not the one I’m after. I won’t lie that I’m not thrilled about what you’ve done, but Alexander tells me you’re a good egg just doing your job. If you agree to pack up and leave Manhattan, and never come back, you can walk out of here, with all of your limbs intact .”

Well, that sure as hell isn’t going to happen . I’m just about to tell him to go to hell when something occurs to me. “Wait, what do you mean ‘I’m not the one you’re after.’ Who are you after, then ?”

Durante surveys me as if he’s debating whether or not to bother telling me. Then he shrugs. “Your boyfriend, Vince Loretto. He isn’t half the man his father was, and I’m not about to let that little shit run around, mucking up my business because of some misplaced sense of honor .”

I snicker derisively. “Vince is twice the man his father was, and that makes him more of a man than you’ll ever be .”

Durante shakes his head. “Jason Loretto was an ace attorney and he worked for us loyally for years. Vince Loretto doesn’t have a loyal bone in his body .”

“Just because he’s not loyal to you and your criminal empire doesn’t mean he’s not loyal. And if you think for one minute I’m going to run away from my life with my tail between my legs just because you told me to, you, and Mule over there, don’t know me as well as you think. So, you may as well just kill me here.” I cross my arms over my chest, shocked to realize I meant what I just said. I would actually rather die right here, than run like a coward .

“I’m not going to kill you here, Miss Bullock. It’s a waste of my resources. The rug you’re standing on probably cost more than your apartment. Besides, I’m going to wait for Vince to get up here so I can, well… two birds with one stone, as they say. Speaking of, Alex. Where is Vince? Why didn’t you just bring him up at the same time ?”

Alexander steps forward and clears his throat. “Bring him up ?”

“Yeah, bring him up. He isn’t here? You didn’t grab them both at the station ?”

Alexander clears his throat nervously for a second time, and a thick layer of tension starts to fill the room. “I… He… I punched him and left him outside of Chambers Street Station .”

Adelardi leaps to his feet, his face turning bright red. “You left him? You left Vince Loretto on the street, with no one watching him, after snatching the woman he’s been running with? What the fuck is the matter with you? Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Do you have an idea what kind of man Vince Loretto is ?”

I don’t know what comes over me, but I start laughing, and I can’t stop. Everyone in the room turns and looks at me like I’m insane, but I can’t stop laughing .

“What is the matter with you?” Alexander asks, more terrified than he probably means to sound .

“You’re morons! Vince is going to show up here any minute, and he’s going to destroy every last one of you. You’re going to be so sorry you started this .”

As if on cue, out of nowhere, all of the lights in the building go dead, and we are bathed in almost complete darkness, except for the faint light coming in through the shades of Durante’s office. His men start scrambling around, like rats in a sinking ship. Adelardi shouts, “Everyone! Settle the hell down! It could just be a blackout !”

I snicker. “I told you you’d be sorry .”

Chapter 53

I stay firmly planted in my spot, refusing to move. On the off chance anyone starts firing a gun or throwing random punches, I want to know exactly where I am and where I can dive to hide, should the situation call for it .

“Get three men to the stairwell entrance and call down to the guards at the front doors. Find out what’s happening down there!” Adelardi yells at no one in particular. There is a flurry of activity around me, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Alexander cowering in a wing chair, as if he’s avoiding both a random attack and the ire of Durante. I give my eyes one more second to adjust to the shadows, then I inch as close to the window as I can. The light from outside gives me a bit of an advantage if anyone moves toward me. But at the moment, I’m pretty sure everyone is more focus