“I didn’t do anything. I live here.”
“Right.” He walked over and slapped me hard across the face. I sucked in a breath and touched my cheek, staring in shock. Rolando had never hit me before. The other guys, they hit me sometimes. Father ignored it. Rolando never had until tonight. “I don’t like doing that, but you’re going to get yourself hurt, and I’ll get killed because of it. So you’d better learn right now that you can’t go sneaking off anymore. No more disappearing at night. If I ever find you in that backyard again, I’ll break your fucking pinky finger. Do you understand?”
“Fuck you, Rolando,” I said, taking a step back. “You think this is okay?”
“None of this is okay, little girl,” he said, sounding exhausted. “Do what I say and you might live.”
A door slammed downstairs. Raised voices drifted up. They sounded upset, and someone yelled in pain. Rolando turned and walked off, leaving my door open.
I followed. My heart hammered in my throat. I should’ve stayed behind and hidden under my covers, but that was what the old Capri would’ve done. Little Capri, the girl that’d spend her life living in terror. I would’ve closed my eyes to the horrors of my dad and my own world and tried to fall asleep.
My cheek stung, and I was so afraid, but I wouldn’t be a victim anymore.
I crept onto the stairs. I moved quietly. The old wood creaked and made all sorts of sounds. Fortunately, the voices were pissed, and they were getting louder. Father’s baritone snapped through the tumult. Rolando was down there, and I waited, taking one step at a time until I could just see over the railing.
A skinny young guy in khaki shorts and a black hoodie stood between two of Father’s thugs. They were holding him up like he couldn’t support himself. I’d never seen him before. Dad punched him in the gut once, twice. The thugs let him go and the young guy dropped.
“Tell me what you said again.” Dad’s voice was oddly calm.
“Shit, man.” The guy groaned. “Please, don’t. It’s only what I heard.”
“Speak.”
The young guy shifted up and sat back on his heels. “The guy that did Dario? It was a kid named Mal. I heard it from someone, okay?”
“From who?”
“The bartender. He said he saw Dario and Mal together. Then they went out back. Then Dario was dead.”
Dad kicked the young guy in the gut. He fell to the side, moaning. Dad cursed and paced back and forth.
I slipped back up the stairs, retreating to my room.
They knew about Mal. God, that was fast, but I should’ve known. I wasn’t sure how I could warn him. I had a phone, but he’d refused to give me his number. I could call his gran, but I didn’t know if they were watching her. I wasn’t even sure if Dad could hear my calls. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had my phone bugged.
This whole thing was a nightmare.
I shut my door and locked it. I wanted to scream and cry. This was my prison and my nightmare. I wanted to help Mal, but they were coming for him, and I didn’t know how to stop them.
Mal would handle himself. I’d known dangerous men all my life. Guys that liked to fight and enjoyed hurting other people. But Mal had always been on another level. He was like an angel floating above a battlefield, dipping down to give the kiss of death to fallen soldiers. He brought pain wherever he went.
Carmine had been afraid of him. He’d admitted it to me one night while Mal had been out on a job. Carmine had said Mal was the scariest person he’d ever met. Carmine had loved him, but Mal was terrifying.
I agreed. Mal was horrible, but I needed him more than anything.
I went into my bathroom and turned on the shower, thinking about my lips pressed against his cheek. I didn’t know what had come over me, or what the hell I’d thought I’d gain by doing something so stupid. I’d noticed the way he’d flinched away from me like I was a disease-ridden monster or something.
Mal didn’t want me that way. He’d only ever loved Carmine. There wasn’t enough room for me in his heart, if he had any heart left now that his best friend had been taken from the world.
It didn’t matter. We were in this for revenge. Feelings, human emotions, need and desire, all of that could come again if I made it through.
Until then, I had a job to do, and I needed to warn Mal. Getting out again wouldn’t be easy, but I had to try.
Chapter 6
Mal
I kept my head down for a few days. Didn’t go places. Stayed away from the bars. I drove the Chevy down past the address Cap had given me and scoped it out. I did a few passes that way, nice and slow and inconspicuous, just getting a feel for it.