Breathless & Bloodstained (The Chicago War #4) (34 page)

“Sure,” she
admitted, though it left a bad taste in her mouth.

“He’s playing on
it. He’s toying with it, and he wants me to believe it.”

“But you don’t.”

“Of course not.”

Abriella’s heart
started beating again as relief washed through her bloodstream. Tommas was not
a stupid man. Joel liked to play his manipulative games, but Tommas could see
those manipulations coming long before it could hurt him in some way.

“What is my
brother planning?” Abriella asked.

“I don’t know,”
Tommas said. “What I do know, however, is that this might be a chance for me to
finish it. Somehow, I don’t know. I want to be careful with everything.”

“Yeah, I get
that.”

“Especially with
me and you.”

Abriella stilled
on the spot, and she clutched the cordless phone tighter. “What in the hell
does that mean?”

“It means that I’m
going to keep a distance for the next little while. Just until I get wind of
what Joel might be planning. Call me if it’s safe, or if you can. But I won’t
be showing up like I have been over these last couple of months. I don’t want to
risk it. As it is, the detectives have information about us. Unfounded right
now, sure, but what if that gets out?”

Abriella
shuddered. “It won’t.”

“It could,” Tommas
pressed. “I have to stay away for a while.”

Her heart cracked
all over again.

“But … I don’t get
to see you as it is. Not enough.”

“I’m sorry, baby.
In a few years, once this is all said and done, maybe you’ll wake up one day
and wish that you didn’t have to see my face as much as you do. When that
happens, I will remind you of this. Sound good?”

“No,” Abriella
said sadly.

“It won’t be for
long.”

“You don’t know
that.”

“I do,” Tommas
said, so confident, smooth, and sure. “Because your brother started the ball
rolling on something. Joel, like he always has, plans and plans until he’s
ready for action. He’s clearly ready. Keep an eye and an ear out for me, okay?”

“You know I will.”

“Loyal like nobody
else,” Tommas said, chuckling. “I love you, Ella.”

Abriella smiled.
“I love you, too, Tommy.”

“No crazy stunts,
right?”

“I promise. Hey,
about your mother?”

“What about her?”

The coldness in
his tone shocked Abriella, but she brushed it aside.

“You’re positive
it was her that talked to the detectives?” she asked.

“Yeah, baby. No
doubt. She’s been doing it since my dad died. In her mind, it was payback for
what I had done to her.”

That was just …
sickening.

“And how did you
handle her?”

Tommas rattled off
a television station. “Watch the news. I have to go. Nate is waiting to take me
to the lawyer’s office to sign some paperwork. He’s fucking impatient.”

Abriella didn’t
want to hang up, but this was their reality. It sucked sometimes, but mostly,
it was wonderful.

She was tired of
hiding.

“Okay. Be careful,
Tommas.”

Tommas laughed darkly.
“I don’t know how to be anything else, Ella.”

After hanging up
the phone, Abriella grabbed the remote for the television and turned the flat
screen on. She perched on the edge of the couch as she flicked through the
satellite channels to find the one that Tommas had mentioned. The moment she
found it, she knew something was wrong.

Abriella watched,
fascinated and horrified, as a stretcher was rolled out of a familiar house.
The news report flashed back and forth between the reporter on the case, the
surrounding images, and the anchors back at the station.

There was only one
person who could be the one being wheeled out of that house, dead in the body
bag. It was surreal. The more the reporter talked, the sicker Abriella felt. He’d
handled it. That’s what Tommas said.

Abriella knew how
much her lover despised his mother. He’d told her stories of his past, the
abuse and the addiction; he explained the neglect and the pain.

Could he have done
this?

Did Tommas kill
his mother?

The middle-aged
female reporter flashed back on the screen. “Serena Rossi, now deceased, was
the longtime wife of Outfit member, Laurent Rossi. Laurent’s death months ago
has been under an active investigation when the man suffered a gunshot wound
pointblank to the face. His wife was sleeping upstairs, although the
investigators cleared her of any suspicion in her husband’s murder.

“We’re just being
told now that cause of death is likely suicide, although the investigators
refuse to give more information on exactly how Serena Rossi took her own life,”
the reporter continued. “We do know that the body was found in the upstairs
bathroom and that the house was locked and empty as it usually is when the maid
comes to clean. It is possible that this death is in no way related to
Laurent’s, or the current issues the Outfit has been facing with the street war
happening between influential families. We will keep you updated as this
breaking news develops.”

Abriella turned
off the television. She didn’t need to know more.

This was more than
enough. 

The rest of the
day passed Abriella by in silence. Well, it felt that way. She heard nothing
from Tommas. Her father had left the mansion after their breakfast together
without a word. Even her brother had come home, went to his office without
stopping to talk to her, and thankfully, left Abriella alone.

Unfortunately,
Joel still managed to wrangle Abriella in for a meal at the table with him.
Like it always had been, the dinner was awkward and thick with tension.

“Leave us for a
minute,” she heard her brother say.

Abriella looked up
from her plate. She found it easier to focus on the food being served and
eating than she did trying to strike up some kind of awful conversation with
her brother. Talking with Joel never ended well.

With a nod, the
cook placed the chicken dish on the table and scurried from the dining room.

“And you, Darryl,”
Joel added. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

The enforcer
sitting at the middle of the table between the siblings had been coming around
to the house a lot more often. Mostly, the guy left Abriella alone unless she
was out of the house for school. Then, he was on her ass like he was her new
best friend.

“I could use a
smoke before supper, I guess,” the enforcer said.

“Ten minutes at
the most,” Joel replied. “We should be done by then.”

Done what?

Confused, Abriella
watched the enforcer leave the room. Joel plucked up the napkin resting beside
his plate, flicked it open, and tossed it over his lap. His casual nature and
calm expression almost lulled Abriella into the idea that her brother might be
in a good mood.

Almost
.

She didn’t trust Joel enough to relax
around him.

“I wanted to give you a decent forewarning
about what will be coming in the next couple of weeks,” Joel stated.

Abriella arched a brow, choosing to wade
into the conversation carefully. “Oh? What’s happening?”

“A sit-down between Tommas Rossi and me.
Actually, the majority of the Outfit will be invited, or the people who matter
the most, anyway. Tommas and I, well, we’ve decided to come to a truce of
sorts. Or that’s how it seems.”

Nothing about this little chat felt right
to Abriella. She allowed her brother to continue.

“You see, Tommas asked for something at
the last sit-down,” Joel said.

Abriella swallowed back the nervousness
tightening in her throat. “He asked for a marriage to be arranged between him
and I, right?”

“He did. Guarantee was the word he used.”

“So?”

Joel’s gaze snapped up, cutting into
Abriella with a fierce knowing. “So, it started the ball rolling for me. It
made me wonder why a man like Tommas, so intent and focused on his desire to become
the boss, would offer something as crazy as giving up the seat in exchange for
a guarantee like a marriage. Not just any marriage, mind you, but one to my
sister.”

Abriella’s hands balled into tight fists
on her lap. “I don’t understand what you’re getting at, Joel.”

“When did you catch the man’s eye?”

“I haven’t—”

“Before you think to lie, don’t bother. I
simply want you to tell me when you caught Tommas Rossi’s attention, Abriella.”

Abriella wet her lips, considering her
words. “I don’t know when.”

“But he is interested.”

“Why would you think that?”

“I told you why,” Joel said, his jaw
tightening. “The ball began to roll, and I followed it. There are rumors in the
Outfit of Tommas’ involvement with a woman that he keeps on the low. The night
his vehicle was caught up in that unfortunate bomb, it is highly likely that a
woman was with him. I had people ask around, but no one had a clear answer for
me. And now …”

“What now, Joel?”

“Now, with his mother showing up dead this
afternoon, it makes a person wonder. Especially considering her death was an
apparent suicide, yet the officials are all over that like flies on shit. That’s
all.”

“You’re talking me in circles, Joel.”

“It’s not nice to be left out of the loop,
is it, Ella?” her brother asked scathingly.

Abriella felt the familiar drip of dread
fall down her spine. “What am I missing?”

“You had visitors while you were at
school. Again, I guess. That’s what they explained to Darryl when he stopped
them from accosting you. He couldn’t say for sure if they had gotten past him
later in the day as the halls were full of people during your class switches.”

Air caught painfully in her throat.

“The detectives, you mean?” she asked.

Joel nodded once. “Yes, them. They
wouldn’t say very much to Darryl, but when I went in to find out why my sister
had suddenly become such an interest to police detectives, imagine my surprise
to find out they believed you to be in a relationship with Tommas Rossi.”

“I—”

“I had already started to go back through
some things before this, you see,” Joel interrupted, cocking a brow.

The sight alone made Abriella wince. It
felt like violence and Joel’s tone rang of rage.

“Like what?” she dared to ask.

“Phone records, for one. Being in control
of the account for your cell phone allows me that privilege. You seemed to make
a lot of calls to a number I don’t recognize.”

Abriella chewed on her inner cheek,
refusing to give Joel a reaction. “So?”

“I called it early this morning. Guess who
picked up?”

A sting radiated over Abriella’s eyes, but
she fought the tears for all she was worth.

“Tommas,” she said.

“Yes. I offered a sit-down the moment he
picked up. He didn’t even realize that I had called his private cell phone, and
not his home. That forewarning,” Joel said sharply, making Abriella wince. “I
think you should know it now.”

Abriella struggled for words, and
thoughts. This had been a very real possibility that Joel would get word of
what the officials knew about her and Tommas. She almost expected it to come
out, despite Tommas wanting them to keep a distance from one another and be
careful.

Sometimes, you just couldn’t be careful
enough.

“What do you want, Joel?” Abriella asked.

“When this sit-down happens, I’m going to
give Tommas exactly what he wants.”

Abriella blinked, stunned. “The marriage?”

“Yes.” Impassive and unreadable, Joel
watched Abriella like she might bolt at any minute. “And you will happily go
along with whatever is arranged. You will keep quiet, you will be agreeable,
and you will somehow manage to keep that mouth of yours shut about what I
know.”