Open Wounds (12 page)

He pulled the condom from his wallet. He ripped open the foil packet and rolled it over his hard length.

She giggled at the fierce look he knew to be on his face as he leaned down and kissed her once more, positioning himself at her opening. She stopped when she felt him nudging against her and her face turned serious.

“No promises,” she told him.

Darryl stroked a finger down her cheek. “One day at a time,” he compromised before thrusting deep inside. She gasped and tightened around him and everything felt right with the world. He moved within her, setting a fast pace. She lifted her hips to meet his thrusts and soon they were both soaring through the sky.

Chapter 19

Under Toby’s watchful eye, Michael knocked on the outer door to Coleani’s office and waited for the answer. His hands betrayed his fear and he stuffed them in his pocket, praying he wouldn’t embarrass himself by soiling his pants.

Please God, I beg you, get me out of this alive
.

He prayed for a better life than the one he had. If only he’d had a better start, seen Coleani for the trouble he was, and made a deal with the cops. Dammit, he’d been so stupid and now he’d pay the price.

“Come in,” Coleani’s throaty voice called out.

He stepped into the office and walked over to the desk where the man himself waited. He didn’t notice the plastic floor lining coating the concrete under his feet as he walked, his entire focus on the man who was either his savour or his executioner.

Michael swallowed, trying to dislodge the large lump in his throat that threatened to choke him, his mouth suddenly as dry as a cotton ball. Liquid fear ran cold through him, chilling him from the inside out.

“You wanted to see me, Mr. Coleani?”

He hoped the old man wouldn’t hear the quiver in his voice. He ruthlessly pushed his nerves aside and held his head high to meet his eyes. His heart almost gave out at the unforgiving stare he received.

Coleani sat back in his chair and regarded him while he fidgeted under the scrutiny. “You messed up, Mikey,” the older man told him, disappointment in his voice. “Now I have the cops coming to the restaurant asking me questions.”

A shiver raced down his spine as if someone had just walked over his grave. He fought the second shiver the image evoked.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Coleani, I am. I didn’t expect them
—
”

Coleani held up a hand, signalling silence. “You must now answer for your mistakes, Mikey. I will not bail you out of this. You must pay.”

He let out a deep breath. He would gladly go to the cops and tell them his part in Kevin and Carl’s murders, just so long as they protected him from Coleani.

“I’ll do anything you want. I’ll surrender to the cops. I’ll confess and accept my punishment. I swear I won’t utter one word about you,” he promised. Twenty years in prison would surely be better than certain death. Maybe Coleani would be lenient, but he reminded himself if there was one thing that couldn’t be associated with him, it was leniency.

Coleani regarded him coldly, a look that could turn grown men to stone. Michael lost control of his bladder, feeling the warm liquid running down his leg and smelled the ammonia wafting up to his nose. Tears burned in his eyes and for once he knew true heart-stopping fear.

He barely had time to react when caught movement out the corner of his eye. He half turned towards the man who’d just entered the office when the trigger was squeezed and nothing but darkness followed.

***

The body fell to the floor, dead weight. A neat round hole in the forehead. Blood and brain matter had splashed across the plastic sheet in a macabre pattern. Wayne Burton stood staring down at the body with distaste as he holstered his weapon.

“Well done, Wayne,” Coleani praised him. “Now get that disappointment out of my sight.”

Wayne nodded, surveying the damage he’d just caused before bending over and wrapping the plastic sheet around the body. He had done this before, so many times that he barely had to think about it, the actions merely second nature.

He had work to do tonight, and there was plenty of darkness left before the sun came up. Plenty of time to get rid of the body. He lifted it over his shoulder like a sack of flour, stopping only when he reached his car. He opened the trunk and placed the trash inside before driving to the local lookout. He dropped the body into the harbour without a second thought or a twinge of guilt.

The kid had failed Coleani, and that was unacceptable. He was lucky to have gotten off easy, and the kid never saw it coming.

As Wayne waited for the body to get swallowed up by the water, he thought about what Coleani had told him before the kid had shown up. Kellie Munroe was alive and stirring up trouble. Years ago, he hadn’t bothered to check the newspapers for details on the teen’s death. There had been no need to because she should’ve died. It was certainly not for lack of trying on his part.

But she was nothing if not resilient. He had watched her from afar all those years ago. Nothing brought her down. No matter what life threw at her, she’d just soldiered on and persevered. Wayne remembered how hard she’d fought.

What kind of woman was she today? Full of fire and self-importance, he assumed, just like twelve years ago. A slow one-sided smile crossed his face. He would enjoy seeing her again. Like a fine wine, she would only improve with age.

A slow burn of anticipation spread throughout his body at the possibilities and he hardened in a painful rush. She’d always had that power over him, even as a teenager. He had often lain awake at night, wondering what it would be like to have her. His dreams had been nothing like reality.

He remembered every detail of that night. How she’d fought him until he’d finally overpowered her. She had no idea how the fight had his blood burning hotly in his veins, making him want her all the more. He still couldn’t believe he’d missed. She should be dead. But he wasn’t concerned. His freedom was proof he’d defeated her. Anticipation ignited a blaze inside him. He would see her again, and he looked forward to it. He’d never been able to recreate that fire, and knew she was the ingredient that made it so fine.

As a young man, he’d crushed on the blonde angel, fantasised about being with her, for her to look at him and
see
him. But that was all it would ever be
—
pure fantasy. She couldn’t appreciate his kind. When Coleani had ordered her to be put down, he’d been overjoyed.

To taste her again would be bittersweet.

This time, he would finish the job he’d started twelve years ago.

He would make sure she died this time.

Satisfaction filled him, knowing he had a second chance, and he would take the memory of her to his grave. He reminisced over her futile struggles beneath him and grinned savagely. She would fight him harder this time, and the warrior in him revelled at the idea of taming her.

Soon, my dear, I will be with you again. But first I’ll let you wonder when and where I might show myself.

Anticipation coursed through him as he planned to savour her fear.

You’ll be frightened, won’t you? I’d like to see you frightened. There is nothing more intoxicating…

He turned back to his waiting car, deciding to rectify the problem and make Coleani happy. Otherwise, he’d be the next body to go over the cliff and into the harbour.

He didn’t plan on letting that happen. He’d worked too hard to gain the man’s trust and dependability. He was loyal to his master and owed him everything he was today. He wanted Coleani to announce him as heir to the old man’s empire.

One day, he’d be running Coleani’s enterprise.

But first…he would play a game with his angel. And then…he would kill her.

Chapter 20

Dick Coleani sat in the dark, a glass of two hundred dollar whisky in his hand. He took a sip, savouring it before swallowing, letting the honey-coloured liquid warm his stomach. If he drank enough, it would send him to a blissful place.

He frowned as he thought of all the time and money wasted on Michael Lambert. He had been one of the smarter boys, the one with the highest possibility of return on his investment, and now it was all for nothing. Michael had failed him, just as so many others had, just as Carl Benedict and Kevin Butler had. It was such a waste.

He couldn’t find good help anymore.

He was getting old, but not so old that he could ignore such stupidity and greed. After all, he was the man who wrote the book on it. He couldn’t believe the gall Benedict and Butler had. He couldn’t comprehend how they’d believed they could get away with it.

Surely, they didn’t think he’d simply allow them to poach on his territory. He didn’t get where he was by being soft and forgivable.

He had worked hard, every day kissing the arse of every man higher than him
,
which in those days was just about everyone. He’d bided his time, taking notes and watching. Waiting for his time to shine.

Kids today—no one respected their elders anymore. Coleani had, though. He’d taken what his mentor had given him and been happy with it
—
right up until the day he had killed him and taken over the business. It was a move no one had tried with him.

Youngsters today didn’t have the balls to confront him. They didn’t have the courtesy to attempt to knock him off before they tried putting him out of business.

He showed them. No one crossed Dick Coleani and lived to tell the tale.

His thoughts shifted from his boys to an annoying blonde. She should have been taken care of a long time ago. He remembered the days when she had been a thorn in his side.

How she’d walked around his neighbourhood with her nose in the air thinking she was better than everybody else
,
better than him. He had been petty, though, and had taken his rage out on her mother. Jules Munroe had been so easy to break and use. She had practically begged him to do it. All alone in the world with a daughter to raise. She’d fucked him the first chance she got for a steady pay cheque.

It hadn’t taken long for the novelty to wear off and the need to punish the teenager again rose within him. Added to her constant interference, he decided it was time to penalise her.

He had sent his best man to do the job. At the time, Wayne had been in his mid-twenties, Coleani’s right hand man since he’d reached adulthood. He’d recognised the man’s inner brutality from his youth, knowing he’d found an heir. A man he could trust. He hadn’t been disappointed, not once in the years since.

Not until now.

But he couldn’t blame Wayne entirely. The situation had been out of his control and it wasn’t as if he hadn’t accomplished the task Coleani had given him. Kellie had been sufficiently taken out of the picture. For the past twelve years, he had been free of her. Until Michael Lambert had inadvertently put Coleani back on her radar.

And if he knew her at all, she wouldn’t be leaving him alone anytime soon. Kellie would be a pain in his arse until he could be rid of her. He knew she’d been investigating him, and practically declared war against him. He was prepared to meet her on the field of battle, but only one of them would walk away.

He tightened his hands into fists. Things were quickly getting out of hand. He was losing control over everything he held dear. All his hard work was being flushed down the drain because of stupidity. It was time to rein in his boys.

They were already making too many decisions on their own, taking stupid risks. Only today a group of his boys took it on themselves to lay siege on the LAC. Morons. Didn’t they have a fucking brain between them? That was the last thing he needed
—
Harbour Bay Police parking outside his businesses.

He needed to clean house. He couldn’t allow such free thinking among his people. They all needed to know who was boss and why. He wasn’t about to tolerate insubordination.

He had worked too long and too hard to let everything fall apart now because his boys assumed they could do better than what he was offering.

Years ago, no one would’ve dared defy him. Now he found he was constantly being tested. That fact did not sit well with him.

He picked up the file Wayne had brought him earlier and studied the photos within.

What a waste
, he thought as he stared down at the pictures of the boys he’d taken a chance on, given opportunities to.

He wasn’t a man who abided failure or disloyalty and very few got second chances. First they had to prove themselves.

He took another swallow of the fine liquor as he waited for Wayne to return so that he could assign him another task.