Over the Middle: A Sports Romance (33 page)

The camera angle spun and twisted nauseatingly, and suddenly, I saw him. By now, I was familiar with his image. I'd studied the photographs I could find of him extensively, and I could see where Adriana was right. He looked the part of a loser.

The scary thing was that his face looked like that of an accountant who had gone insane. There was a baleful glint to his eyes, a certain shine that I'd seen before in Bertoli men who had gotten a little too close to the line in terms of committing crimes and killing others. I killed because I had to; men like Drake killed because they liked to. “Ah, there we are. I assume you know what I look like, Beefcake. You probably know a lot about me.”

“I know a little bit, Staff Sergeant Vincent Drake. I know you're a fucking psycho who got his rocks off raping and murdering an innocent girl. They didn't put that in the papers, but I know the truth. You tried, didn't you?”

“Did more than try, dumb shit,” Drake said. “Say hello, baby. I can see that red hair of yours on the side of the screen. Don't be shy; you've got your big strong protector right there next to you.”

I glanced at Adriana, who shook her head. “No way. Fuck this guy.”

“But that's all you had to do,” he said with a maniacal giggle. “I told you, you and I are meant to be together forever.”

“So you kill and terrorize, and do it all to Genesis lyrics?” I yelled, barely controlling my voice. “I swear, I'll tear your heart from your fucking chest if you ever come near her.”

“I doubt that very much, beefcake. You're just some stupid mob muscle. I'd wear your guts for a belt and not even break a sweat,” Drake said.

I heard another sound, something muffled in the background. “What is that? You can cut the corny movie bad guy lines now.”

Drake giggled again and smiled into the camera. “Just a warning, or maybe a preview of what's coming to you, beefcake. Or should I say, D-man?”

“Are you going to show me, or are you going to bullshit some more?”

“You mean like this?” he asked, turning the phone around. I could see more of the room. It looked like he was in some sort of meat locker, but from the lack of frost and other things, one that had long been unused except for the single hook in the middle. Hanging from the hook, his ankles tied together and his arms tied underneath him to what looked like some big gym-style dumbbells, was Adam, his eyes wide and his mouth covered with duct tape.

“Shit,” I whispered softly, disgusted. I knew exactly why he'd been hung that way. By turning him upside down, all the blood was rushing to his head, keeping him conscious longer during torture. The plates would pull on his shoulders and ankles, adding to the pain he was feeling. It was like being racked, except that the pain was longer, less traumatic. The torture was more mental and exhausting. “You son of a bitch.”

“Oh, you should see what comes next,” Drake laughed, the camera jostling as he positioned it somewhere. “Excuse the angle. I don't have a tripod for this, after all. It's not like the phone's mine.”

“Turn away,” I said to Adriana, whose eyes were fixed on the image on the screen. “You don't need to see this.”

Drake knelt and ripped the tape off Adam's mouth, balling it up and tossing it aside. “Howdy, Mr. Private Dick! You can say something to the camera if you want.”

“Fuck you,” Adam gasped dryly, his face etched in agony. “I'm not going to beg for you. Fuck you.”

“What, you don't want to say hello to D-man?” Drake said with a laugh. “Why not?”

“I said everything I needed to say to him in my last email. He's going to hunt you down. He'll find you, and you'll get what you deserve. That's what he does. That's who he is.” Adam's eyes were wide with pain, but still, I could see what he was trying to tell me. I promised myself that I would remember his courage and conviction. Even facing his death, he was trying to nail the bastard who'd gotten to him.

Without another word, Drake walked to the camera and cut the call. I set my phone down with shaking hands and turned to Adriana. I'd expected her to be nearly catatonic. After all, the man had been mentally torturing her for months. Instead, she was lucid, aware, and looking me in the eyes with newfound strength. “You're going to take him down,” she said.

I nodded. “I need to wake up your mother and uncle,” I said. “I need to get to Adam's apartment before Drake does.”

“Why?” Adriana said, standing up. She was a bit shaky and her face was pale, but she was still there.

“Adam was trying to tell me something. I think he had some more information he was going to send me on his computer. We tended to exchange thumb drives, not emails. After all, the NSA can't tap a thumb drive. But if Drake was paying attention, he's going to want that computer too.”

Adriana nodded, then kissed me on the cheek. “I'll go to my mother's room and wake her up. You go and get that information. And be careful.”

“I will,” I said, turning to go. At the door, she called my name one more time, and I stopped, turning back. “Yes?”

“Be careful,” she said.

"I will. I'll be back before you know it.”

I
was still awake
when Daniel came back with a computer tower under his arm. “I grabbed this and ran. There was no thumb drive that I could find. Glad I remembered how to pick locks. I didn't have time to get his spare key.”

Uncle Carlo, who was sitting up with me in the living room along with Mom, gave the computer a measured look. “Daniel, I applaud your bravery, but what good is just the computer base?”

Daniel took a deep breath, knowing he needed to make sure he was being respectful without being condescending. Carlo was what some liked to call 'computer illiterate'. “I can plug everything else I need into it and use it just fine. To be honest, all I really need is the hard drive inside.”

“I must be getting too old," my mom interjected. "Just do what you need to do, Daniel.”

“If we could get everything set up, I can do it right outside Adriana's room while she tries to get some sleep.”

“Sleep? What the hell do you mean, sleep?” I asked, slightly outraged. “Do you really think that after that call, I'm even thinking of going in to class tomorrow?”

“Well, you would be safer here, but at the same time, we don't want to let him run your life," I responded.

“I can stay here, work on my painting, and still get plenty of things done." I stopped and took a deep breath. “Sorry, I didn't mean to snap like that. I just want to know and be involved in what's going on.”

“No apology necessary, Ade. I know you want him caught.”

I quickly wiped away the smile that came with Daniel's words and looked at Mom. “Well, Mom, think you can get him set up?”

As a matter of fact, we did have a desktop computer, an older one that Mom used to have for her personal usage. She still had it taking up a corner of her room, and with my help, the two of us dragged it down to the hallway in front of my room. “Forgot how heavy all this stuff is,” Mom griped as she lugged the monitor and keyboard. “Would you believe that they used to be bigger?”

“Mom, I do happen to remember the old style computer monitors, you know,” I said with a laugh. “The ones that were about the size of a microwave?”

“Even bigger,” she said. We reached Daniel's table, and Mom set down the flat panel monitor, looking at the tiny card table. “Sure this will be big enough?”

“He'll make it work,” I replied.

I watched for a few minutes as Daniel took apart Adam's computer, removing the hard drive.

Mom watched in concern, then shook her head in acceptance. “I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I'm going to go back to bed. Good night.”

“See you in the morning, Mom,” I said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.”

“It's nothing, honey. Sleep well.”

Once she left, I checked up and down the hallway, and seeing that we were alone, leaned over and kissed Daniel's cheek.

I smiled and ran my hand through his hair, relishing the feeling. “I enjoy that you care so much and that you know me so well. Think you can finish your work in time for a little bit of time with me?”

“We shouldn't,” Daniel whispered back, clearly reluctant. “It's already after midnight, and I can't expect Carlo or your mother to not wake up and check on us. Also, I'm a bit worried about that cook, Kathy. She suspects something. I'm sure of it. It's just too risky. I'm sorry.”

“You're probably right,” I said. “Tomorrow night then. It'll be Friday, and a lot of the staff have the next day off so they go out or sleep late, and we can make love over and over . . .”

“Shh,” Daniel said, reaching up and taking my hand in his. He brought my fingers to his lips and kissed them, then let go. “You keep talking like that, and I'm going to be sitting out here with an erection all night.”

“Now that would be noticeable,” I chuckled, pleased. “All right, I'll try and get some sleep. Good night.”

“Good night, Adriana.”

It wasn't what I wanted, but it was enough to know he was nearby, and I slept through the night without any bad dreams. The next morning, I found Daniel still hard at work, typing away at Mom's computer. “Good morning,” I greeted him, resisting the urge to kiss him on the cheek again. “Still working?”

“Trying to process all the information now,” Daniel said, giving me a little smile. “You slept well.”

“No dreams,” I replied, “so I'll take that as a good thing. Tell me what's going on.”

“Adam had just gotten an information dump, so I don't think he'd even begun to do his own analysis. I'll turn a copy of this over to your uncle. What's on your agenda today?”

“IHOP, actually,” I said with a chuckle. “Think you can handle some pancakes?”

“Of course. But we'll need to hurry if you're going to make the first class.”

“Give me ten minutes. Think you can be ready by then?”

Daniel sniffed at his armpits and looked at his shirt. “What the hell, I'm supposed to be copying a college student. Might as well do the two-day dress job too. Give me five and I'll be good.”

Daniel got up and stretched, then gave a huge yawn. “Okay, I'll meet you in the foyer in ten minutes.”

I showered quickly. Daniel wasn't the only one who was willing to do the college slum-bum act for a day, and we left after saying goodbye to Mom, who'd gotten up early and looked impeccable in her business suit. She even gave us a little wistful smile as we left. “Think she knows there's something going on between us?” Daniel whispered as we approached his car.

“She's got good intuition,” I replied. “But I think she's fine with it.”

We ate a relaxed breakfast, Daniel still scanning the restaurant the entire time. “You know, this is the third time we've been out to eat together,” he said with a chuckle in between bites of bacon maple pancakes. “When can we just admit that we're going on dates?”

“I'd say this is our second,” I replied, licking whipped cream off my spoon. I'd indulged and gotten the whipped cream and chocolate sauce. “The burger joint was our first, and I'd say I did a halfway decent job of bullshitting Uncle Carlo and Mom about it.”

“Hmm, if you say so,” Daniel replied with a smirk. “Didn't fool me though. Not that I didn't enjoy it. In fact, if we can ever get out of the shadows with this, I'm planning on doing that again.”

I chuckled and sat back. “Tell me, Daniel, what sort of dates did you go on with other women?”

“Dates?” he asked incredulously. “I didn't go on dates. I haven't been on a real 'date' since I was a high school junior. Until you.”

“Then what'd you do?” I asked, curious.

“I think you're smart enough that I don't need to spell it out for you. I like to think it was easy because of my looks, but I think who I work for helps.”

I reached over and took his hand, squeezing it. “We're both totally screwed up in the head, you know that?”

“I do,” he replied, before seeing his watch. “We need to get going. Thanks for the idea. I enjoyed this.”

* * *

T
hat night
, after everyone else had gone to sleep, I got out of bed, not willing to wait anymore. I needed him, even if people suspected. I crept to my door and quietly opened it, seeing him looking at his laptop. “Daniel.”

He heard the desire and need in my voice and closed his computer without even looking back, standing up quietly to come into my room. As soon as the door was closed, I was in his arms, pulling him toward the bed. “This is so dangerous,” Daniel whispered, his hands still coming up to start unbuttoning my pajama top. “We're going to get caught.”

“I need you,” I said, shrugging off my top. I turned him around and pushed him to sit on the bed, reaching for his pants. “I need this.”

Freeing his cock, I knelt, looking him in the eyes. “Another new thing for me,” I teased, leaning forward and licking the silky-soft head. It was delicious and wonderful, and I was even more aroused by the look on his face as I sucked the head of his cock into my mouth, my tongue running around the ridges and tracing the blunt arrowhead. Fueled by another fantasy of mine, I lifted my boobs, wrapping them around his cock and massaging them back and forth.

Daniel opened his mouth to say something when the door to my room burst open and two people came storming in. One was Julius Forze, and the other was Pietro Marconi, Uncle Carlo's second in command. I turned around, the question out of my mouth even as I knew the answer. “What the fuck?”

“Don't move, Daniel,” Pietro said, temporarily ignoring me. “Adriana, cover yourself.”

I barely had time to get my top on before Uncle Carlo came into the room, his face a mix of rage and sadness. “Adriana . . . my Bella . . . why?”

“Uncle . . .” I said, before finding my strength. I stood and crossed the room to look him in the eyes. “I'm twenty-three, and I can choose who I fall in love with. I'm not one of your men. You can't command
me
.”

Carlo's eyes flared, and he lifted his hand to slap me, but I didn't move and didn't flinch away. His hand froze, and I stared him in the eyes, daring him to do it. If his men hadn't been there, I would have said something too. But I still loved my uncle, even if I was pissed at him and outraged that he would violate my privacy. I didn't need to return the humiliation.

Carlo's hand trembled, and he lowered it slowly. “Because you are my blood, I will forgive that disrespect,” he hissed. “And because you supposedly love him, I won't kill him. Now leave and go to your mother's room. I will speak with you both later.”

In the hallway, I saw Kathy, who I'd seen going by my room frequently over the past few days. She had a smug look on her face, and I knew who’d sold us out. Saying nothing, knowing my time would come, I left, sparing a look back at Daniel. He was still on the bed, his pants pulled up. His face was filled with shame, concern, and pain. I turned to go back and he shook his head slowly, pointing with his nose. I understood and left the room, hating myself every step of the way.