Page 42 of Mob Star

He bangs on my door a few more times. I barely take a breath, certain somehow he’ll hear me.

“Ally, I heard you running to the door. Who are you expecting?”

Go away, go away, go away.

He hammers on the door three more times.

“Fine. Jamie’s the next person on my list. He and the kids should be home by now.”

My hands are shaking as I pull out my phone.

Me

Are you home? Answer me now. Urgent.

Jamie

Almost. What’s wrong?

Me

Where’s Asher? Where’re the kids?

Jamie

Asher’s teaching a night class. The kids are at Mom and Papa’s. What’s going on?

Me

Uncle Corey is outside my door. He said he’s going to you next.

Jamie

What the fuck? Why is he in town?

Me

It’s too long to tell you over text. You need to get to Mom and Papa and all of you need to leave. Now.

“All-eee! All-eee!” He’s sing-songing my name.

I glance at my watch again. I don’t think Finn is the type to be late. He’ll be here any minute. I try not to scream when something hits my window, and I hear it smash. I don’t go near it, dropping to the ground instead. I see the brick. I’m on the third floor. Who hurled that all the way up here?

“I’ll check on you tomorrow, Ally.”

I lie on my floor for a couple minutes before crawling over to my window. It didn’t shatter the whole thing, but there’s a hole in it. There’s a note wrapped around the brick.

I’ll be seeing you in all the old familiar places.

That’s Uncle Corey’s calling card phrase. I raise my head just high enough to peek out the window when I hear three motorcycle engines rev. I watch my great-uncle— my dad’s uncle on his dad’s side —and two of his henchmen ride away. I watch as they disappear around the corner. Before I can get anything to clean up the glass, a black town car pulls up.

Fuck.

I grab the brick and run to my bedroom. I shove it under my bed and run back out to get the broom and dustpan. I’ve just finished and calmed my breathing when I hear another knock. I tiptoe to my door and peek through the peephole again. I nearly burst into tears when I see Finn and not Uncle Corey. I take a few more deep breaths before I exhale a slow one. I open the door and smile. He’s about to smile back when his gaze pierces me.

“What happened to your window, Althea?”

He doesn’t push past me, but I couldn’t stop him if I wanted to. He storms across the room and looks at the hole in the glass. He spins around and stalks back to where I’m still standing by the door. I’m unprepared for him to slam the door shut then back me against it. His kiss is almost too much. I reach for him, but he grasps my wrists and lifts them over my head, pinning them to the door just like he has my body.

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