A Bad Man: Joey (8 page)

Chapter Eight

Joey had left a few hours ago, and the man that had come to “watch her” was Little Johnny, the Hulk of a guy that was in Joey’s inner circle. He was sitting on the couch reading a magazine. He had a bottle of beer in his hand, and with his suit jacket off she saw the holster strapped around his shoulders and the nasty, big looking guns that rested against both of his sides. But what she found a little amusing, amongst his imposing, towering height and his massive muscle mass that was covered in tattoos, was what he was reading.

A
People
magazine turned right to the spot where the recent celebrity baby news was splashed across the glossy pages.

Since Joey had left and Johnny had come, there hadn’t been more than five words spoken from him. He was definitely the strong, silent type, and that was fine, but she was trying to distract herself. Not only had she given in to Joey far too easily, opened up her emotions for him during a time like this, but her life was in danger, and all because she had decided to walk home.

The saddest part was she didn’t even have anyone that cared if she disappeared. Marra wouldn’t have to call someone to let them know things were okay in her life, because no one cared. Aside from Mr. and Mrs. Vincenzo, whom she thought about as her only family because they had been so good to her, the truth was she had only been with them for a year.

“You like gossip?” She walked away from the window toward Little Johnny, and couldn’t help but smile. Little Johnny looked up at her, and there was this blank expression on his face, as if he was clueless to what she was talking about. She stopped by the chair, and then took a seat right across from him. Honestly, she just wanted some conversation.

He leaned back on the couch and set the magazine on his thigh, but didn’t respond.

“The magazine I mean. You have it turned to the baby section.” She shrugged. “Maybe you like the gossip.” She smiled, hoping to maybe break his hard veneer. When he didn’t speak she suddenly felt really dumb for thinking of having a conversation with him. And she’d thought Joey was a tough one to crack.

“I read the articles,” he said in his tough, hard voice.

She nodded, and said, “I think all men say that, especially when they don’t want people to think they actually enjoy the pictures.”

Johnny was silent for a moment, and then he started chuckling, closed the magazine, and set it on the table. “You’re right.” He grinned, and his straight white teeth flashed. But unlike when Joey smiled and it seemed to transform his face, Little Johnny still looked dangerous and cold.

“I’m not much for conversation,” he said in that deep, bass voice of his. “But don’t worry. Joey will make sure everything is safe for you.” And then he picked up his magazine again, basically telling her that this conversation was now over.

The sound of someone knocking on the front door had her standing. Little Johnny was already out of his seat and moving toward the door. He had his hand on one of the guns holstered to his side. He looked out the peephole, and then cursed under his breath. When he turned around and glanced at her, there was frustration on his face.

“I know you’re in there, Joey.”

The female voice that came through the front door had Little Johnny rubbing his eyes. He walked past Marra, sat back in his seat, and grabbed his cell. He seemed disinterested with the banging and shouting now happening on the other side of the door.

“Joey, open this damned door. You’ve been avoiding me, not returning my calls or texts, and I need to talk to you.” There was more pounding, and Marra swore even a kick to it. “You can’t just use women like this, promise them the world, and then fucking turn your back when you get bored.” The woman all but screamed. “I’m not just some tramp you fuck. I’ve known you my whole life. I love you.” The woman didn’t sound like she was in love, but that she was scorned as she screamed out the words in a banshee voice. “This is bullshit, and if you don’t open this door I’m going to beat it down, and if you have a woman in there I’ll kick her fucking ass.”

Marra walked over to the door.

“Don’t open it,” Little Johnny said in a voice she knew only she could hear.

She went over to the peephole and glanced through it. The woman on the other side was gorgeous, with long dark hair, dark eyes that matched her olive complexion and her Italian heritage, and a presence that was so insane it rivaled Joey’s. Marra looked at Little Johnny again.

“Angie’s here,” Little Johnny said into the phone, and reached for his magazine. Clearly he wasn’t concerned about the screaming woman on the other side of the door currently threatening everyone with bodily harm. “She’s just being Angie, but I’m not about to open the door and deal with that shit.” He flipped through his magazine and leaned back on the couch.

She moved over to where Little Johnny was sitting.

“She’ll either tire herself out, someone will call the cops on her crazy ass, or you can always come here and deal with her.” There was a moment of silence, and then Little Johnny glanced at her. “She’s holding up despite your former goomah making her presence known, Joey.” And then he held the phone out for her.

She took it from him. “Hello?”

The sound of Joey exhaling came through the receiver. “You holding up okay?”

She shouldn’t have felt this little tingle at the base of her spine at hearing his voice, and her heart shouldn’t have started speeding up. There was the murder shit happening, and now his ex pounding on the door like a psycho. Yet here she was, wishing Joey was here because she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what they had done this morning. Despite knowing she shouldn’t want him because of many different factors, she also knew that trying to stop her feelings now that they were open was fruitless. There was just something about Joey that drew her in. He was dangerous and a mob Boss, and definitely a bad boy, and for the last twelve months she had told herself over and over again that he was wrong for her on every level.

“Well, aside from the screaming you hear in the background, that someone may or may not be after me to kill me for what I saw, and the fact we…” She glanced at Little Johnny quickly, telling herself that she didn’t need to talk about what she and Joey had done just this moment right in front of this man.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about all that. I didn’t know she’d be making an appearance. I’ve been trying to finish things here quickly, but we’ve come into a little issue, and it might be a little longer.”

She stood and glanced at Little Johnny again. He didn’t seem concerned about anything as he continued to read his magazine. She made her way into the back bedroom and sat on the bed. “Joey, I’m going stir crazy here and have only been at your apartment for less than a day.” The sound of the crazed ex dimmed slightly, and Marra got up and glanced around the door.

“I know, baby, but we’ve talked about this.”

Was it wrong to enjoy Joey calling her those endearments? If it was she didn’t care at the moment. Marra was scared, hesitant, confused, and even aroused all in the same breath. It was a plethora of things to feel at any given time, but once she had accepted everything that was going on, they had bombarded her. “I know, but still, you have to understand—”

“I do, and just be patient, Marra.”

She nodded even though he couldn’t see her. But she was more interested in the fact there were these deep muffled voices on the other side of the door, along with Angie’s. Then there was silence. “I think she was escorted out,” she said to Joey, and turned away from the hallway and went back into the room.

“Good, because Angie and her drama are the last thing we need right now. I’ll have someone talk to her and tell her to back off.”

The sound of someone mumbling and then the distinct noise of flesh hitting flesh had Mara knitting her brows. “Everything okay, Joey?” Did she even want to know?

“Yeah, baby, just taking care of some business. I’ll be back as soon as I can, and hopefully I’ll have some good news, okay?”

“Okay.” This whole thing was weird and had all these red flags going up inside of her. She disconnected the call, and then pulled the phone away to stare down at it. Honestly, she wasn’t stupid, so although the thought of calling the cops and reporting what she had seen because she knew it was the right thing to do flashed through her mind, she stood and brought the phone back to Little Johnny. There was silence now, and she was thankful Angie was gone and that drama averted for the time being.

She was in this now, not just because of what she saw, but because of how much she cared about Joey. She didn’t love him, but she lusted after him, cared about him even. It was like everything she’d tried to block out for the last year had amplified in just twenty-four hours. And although keeping her mouth shut on this and letting Joey and his men handle it was obviously the wisest choice, she also wasn’t about to say anything because of what Joey did, and the organization he ran. It was a dangerous world, and she was right in the middle of it.

****

Joey put his cell back in his pocket, grabbed the rag Alex had given him, and stared at the man currently tied up in front of him. The man hung from the rafters of an abandoned warehouse right outside of Bourbon, not the same one that they normally used to get information out of guys, or take care of business. Right now they were in the basement, the walls seeming like they would cave in around them from age.

“So, you’re sticking to your story?” Joey asked the man currently bleeding all over the dirty ground. Joey wiped the blood from his other hand and tossed the rag aside. He had gotten the call this morning from Niklo that they had a lead on one of the guys directly responsible for taking Kelly, Mario’s wife. They had brought the Gondalo man here for some “questioning” on the motives of Carlos and what he planned on getting out of all of this. Joey didn’t bother asking how his men did the things, or find out what they did. They always got the job done, and that was what mattered. But he had found out that this fucking dick-sucker that was trussed up for them had been trying to make some back alley deals with cocaine and some of Joey’s associates. The asshole was trying to squeeze his business in right under their noses, and once they had shut down his little operation they had found a picture of Kelly tied up and naked in his wallet. They ended getting enough information out of him to realize this price was responsible and ordered to take her. Because of him and the Gondalos all of this shit was happening.

After they had found out what he had done the asshole had clammed up. But then the insults started flying about their mothers, sisters, and goomahs and it was clear he was fine with dying for his cause and crew. There was a bit of pride in that, and Joey could appreciate that … to a point. But then they had started showing him exactly how brutal they could get without actually killing him.

Niklo was off to the side with a few of the other men in their crew, and going through this fucker’s wallet. “This guy has like five IDs,” Niklo said and held them up one at a time. “Are you Mark, Vinnie, Thad, Jacob, or Josh?” Niklo asked and moved over to the man in question. He held up the IDs, and tossed them at his bloody face.

The man sputtered out, “Thad, you motherfucker, and you’ll be saying it on a scream when Carlos gets done with you.”

Everyone glanced at each other, and then started laughing. But before Niklo could say any more a cell phone went off.

“It’s mine,” Joey said and grabbed his cell. The phone number was private, and although he normally wouldn’t have answered it, he had this feeling in the pit of his gut that said he needed to. “Who is this?” The number for his cell was unlisted, and although he was sure someone could still get it, the fact that it was a private number and all this shit was happening with the Gondalo crew, told Joey this wasn’t a coincidence.

“The great Joey Bacelli on the line with me.”

Joey squeezed the phone tightly and glanced at his brother.

Niklo reached out and shoved a dirty rag in Thad’s mouth. Then he pushed his latex gloved finger into one of the cigar burns that Markus had given Carl when he started mouthing off about their mothers. Thad started to groan, but it was muffled.

“For the last six months I’ve been wanting to speak with you, but the time never seemed right.”

The voice that came through held false authority, and Joey knew it was Carlos on the phone. He was about to end this shit right now.

“I’ll make this fast and easy,” Carlos said in a scratchy, bland voice.

“You and I have some business to take care of, starting with a sit-down to clear the fucking air,” Joey said in a controlled voice.

The sound of Carlos inhaling and then exhaling came through the phone. “I agree we need to talk, but you’ll be listening to me while I explain how things are going to go down.”

“How things are going to go down?” Joey stared at his crew, felt this murderous rage overtake him, and knew that once he got a hold of this prick he was going to rip him apart.

“By now you know I have a beef with your crew from back in the day, and even though it doesn’t concern your guys now, it falls on you.”

Joey closed his eyes and tried to control his anger.

“The rumor is that you’ve got a new goomah under your wing.”

Joey could practically hear the excitement in the motherfucker’s voice.