Filthy: A Mafia Romance

Ethan frowned, glancing through the store back towards the front door. “He’s been gone for a while.”

I folded my arms across my chest, feeling a spark of anxiety. “You…you think something’s happened?”

Ethan didn’t answer me. Instead, he said, “Wait here.” Then he pulled out his gun again and headed towards the door. I watched him go, my heart hammering in my chest and my palms sweating. I swallowed heavily when he reached for the door.

It opened before he got hold of it.

A man entered. He was very clearly not Louis, who would have been twice the size of this guy. Ethan reacted immediately, shoving his gun in the guy’s face and grabbing him by the shirt collar. He shoved the man into the wall, holding him against it with the barrel of the gun pressed into his cheek.

“Whoa! Easy! It’s me!”

The voice told me first who it was and then my eyes picked out his features in the dim lighting. The snuff tucked between his lip and teeth. The disheveled, thinning hair. The mild build. “Todd?”

He nodded at my question urgently because Ethan still had the gun shoved in his face. “Yeah, it’s me, boss.”

I came out from my little corner in the storage closet and stepped around the boxes to get a better look at Todd. He looked like Ethan had scared the crap out of him, which wasn’t surprising given the gun in his hand. Poor guy.

Ethan narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously, but released his collar, easing up enough that Todd wasn’t pinned to the wall anymore. He straightened out his clothes, glancing at the gun a little nervously.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Ethan asked him. His gun was lowered slightly, but still gripped firmly in his large hands.

“Louis called me. He told me to do a drive-by of the place, make sure everything was good.”

Ethan frowned, still looking a little uneasy at Todd’s presence.

Todd shoved his hands into his pockets, almost like a little kid, and added, “I saw the car outside. Figured I’d come in and give you a hand.”

This last little tidbit must have been enough for Ethan, because he relaxed slightly. “Jesus, Todd. Next time call and give us a heads up, or I’ll shoot your stupid ass even when I know it’s you.”

“You bet, boss.”

Ethan turned away from Todd and headed back towards me. “Since you’re here, give us a hand.”

I saw Todd nod and follow Ethan back. I was about to do the same, but my phone went off then, telling me I had a message. Pulling the phone out of my pocket, I checked it and saw it was Jessie.

Stopping by. Cody needs that teddy bear.

I started to respond that I wasn’t home and I would drop it off in the morning when I caught movement in the mirror out of the corner of my eye.

Ethan had placed his gun on top of one of the covered crates. As Ethan reached for a box, I saw Todd pulling something cold and metal from the back of his pants. A gun.

A startled cry escaped me, causing Ethan to turn. Todd popped off a shot, but it missed its mark as Ethan lunged for him. The men struggled for Todd’s gun. Ethan’s large hands practically engulfed Todd’s as he tried to twist the gun free.

But Ethan was stuck between crates awkwardly, impeding his movements. Todd kept his littler, gangly hand wrapped around the gun. I thought he would back up then, try to get away from Ethan, but instead he used his leverage and footing to shove forward with his weight.

Ethan, who was already leaned forward too far in an effort to the get the gun had little choice but to go with the movement, pedaling backwards. Todd used the moment to jerk the gun free of his hand.

It gave Todd enough leverage to push the gun forward into Ethan’s face, making the larger man back over a crate. He tumbled to the ground and Todd leveled the gun at him.

“No!” I cried and moved instinctively. I went for Ethan’s gun, still sitting atop a crate.

It was possibly the stupidest thing I’d ever done.

My cry and my sudden movement was enough to startle Todd away from Ethan and jerk around to face me. As he did so, the gun went off.

I screamed and ducked, forgetting all about Ethan’s gun. Instead, I turned tail and ran for the door.

I heard glass crunching, the high-pitched wail like a siren as a mirror shattered, the bullet hitting there instead of me. Glass fell across the attached countertop like crackling confetti. I made it to the door just as another shot rang out and this time it was close enough that I swore I could feel it moving my hair.

Falling out the door, I ran across the street, doing my best to get the hell away from Todd. Louis! I have to find Louis! I thought wildly.