Some time passes, and we’re out on his porch, enjoying a mimosa he made with some champagne he had stored in his bar. The sun is warm, shining bright over the city of Detroit.
The city is beautiful from this angle.
“Weird place, isn’t it?” he asks.
“It’s weird, but it’s my favorite place in the world,” I tell him. “Well, maybe not my favorite. But it sure is home.”
“I love it too,” he says. “Those grand buildings downtown… it’s really crazy how so many of them have just been abandoned. I wish I knew what it was like to live here back in the golden era.”
“Me too.”
I exhale, feeling good about where I am right now. He takes my waist and pulls me close.
I wrap my leg around him and kiss him. “I wish I knew you. You know, back when you were younger.”
He laughs loudly, and I realize he’s misinterpreting my words. “You mean back in my golden era?”
“No.” I laugh. “I just wish I could have known you for longer. I want to know what you were like back then. Is that so weird?”
“Nah, it’s not weird at all.” He smiles, tickling his fingers across the back of my neck. “But I doubt you’d like me back then. I was kind of arrogant.”
“You’re kind of arrogant now.” I wink. “Just kidding.”
“Fair enough,” he says. “If I’m arrogant now, I was a hundred times more arrogant then. Remember, I was just getting in to the business. I was sort of ruthless. Anyway, I wish I could have met you back in your golden era.”
“You mean back when I was eighteen?” I laugh. He nods and raises his eyebrows at me, smiling like the cocky bastard he is. “Gross!”
“I’m only kidding,” he says. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something sort of important.”
The mood drops, and I know it’s something more serious. “Okay, sure,” I say, heart speeding up with fear. “Should I be concerned?”
“I’m not sure,” he says. “I just want to know what you think we should do about Byron?”
“Oh God.” My stomach sinks, and when I close my eyes, a darkness start to creep in. “I haven’t even thought about it, other than he could be watching us right now.”
We both instantly look over our shoulders. There aren’t any cars around, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have someone on foot, waiting around.
“You really think he’d do something that insane?” he asks.
“You have no idea what that man is like,” I whisper. “He’ll do anything to get ahead. If he could cover it up, he’d have us both killed right now.”
Rocco stands up and walks to the edge of his backyard. “I wouldn’t let that happen. Besides, the guy is older than I am. What is
he really going to do to me that I couldn’t do with more force and energy?”
“He’s got manpower. It doesn’t matter if he’s forty-five or eighty-five. If he wants something, he’ll get it.”
“Then there’s only one option,” he says.
“And what’s that?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“We fight back,” he says with defiance. “We give him everything we’ve got.”
Rocco
We fight back.
I can already feel the adrenaline creep into my system. “I don’t know,” she says. “I think we should lay low for a while. Just be on our guard, you know?”