Page 50 of Mechanic

Even those days don’t prevent him from taunting me. Just yesterday, he cornered me, pinning me to the wall with his arm across my chest.

“You owe me, and I will be collecting your debt.”

Tony releases me as fast as he pinned me.

I almost ran Rhodee over trying to flee to my car. Her eyes bugged out of her head when she saw me. Rhodee knew I was terrified. She wouldn’t let me leave in my agitated state. Since she couldn’t leave, Rhodee called her sisters to come and get me. Roree drove me as Raelee followed behind us, driving my car.

When we arrived at The Whiskey Genie, they strong-armed me inside and poured liquor down my throat until I explained what happened.

That was Wednesday. Luckily, I had Thursday off, which I suspect they already knew, thanks to Rhodee.

It’s Friday now. Another fun-filled night of harassment from Tony.

My evening is finally over, and my nerves are shot.

The fact that I am off until the private game tomorrow night helps, barely.

Reaching my car, my fingers wrap around the door handle just as a heavy body pins me against the car. My breathing gets sporadic as panic sets in. The unknown assailant has me in such a position that my hands are trapped between my body and the car door.

“Do you know my full name?”

The sneering voice rasps in my ear, chilling my blood. When I don’t respond, he gives my shoulders a shove, causing my face to bounce against the top of the door frame.

“My name is Antonio DeSteffano. You, Antonia Delgatto, owe me. You fucked up my plan, and you are going to fix it.”

“How?” I manage to rasp out.

“I am so glad you asked,” he sneers.

Nervous energy fills me.

Unable to sit still, I pace the small living room of my apartment, wearing a hole in the already threadbare carpeting.

The knock on the door has me stubbing my toe on the couch in haste to answer.

“Thank you for coming. Please, come in,” I say, stepping aside to allow Roderick entry.

“What do you need to speak to me so urgently about? Why didn’t you just come to my office?” Roderick’s tone is terse.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” I ask, indicating the couch. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“You can get to the point,” he snaps. “Antonia, just get to the point of why you called me here at three o’clock in the morning,” Roderick says, softening his tone slightly. He props his ass on the arm of the couch, crossing his arms over his chest.

I pull the scrunchie out of my hair and then put it back in. Blowing out a heavy breath before launching into my tale.

“Do you remember me mentioning to you about being harassed by a coworker in Las Vegas?” I question as my pacing resumes.

“Vaguely.”

“When I first moved from waitstaff to dealer, Tony DeSteffano, the pit boss, started watching me. He also startedfollowing me. I couldn’t prove the latter part. With grieving my Gram and then Tony’s actions, it got to be too much. That’s when I took Shawna up on the offer to move here,” I pause.

My pacing continues, not looking at Roderick.

“There was an incident at my table during my last day. Following protocol, they came and audited my table, finding no discrepancies. The guy who started it was arrested.

“Since my shift was almost over, Aymond said that I could go ahead and leave early. Shawna walked me to my car. As we were speaking, Tony arrived. He overheard us talking and got really angry when he found out that I was leaving the city.

“Shawna distracted him so that I could escape. She confirmed that they had an argument but refused to give me the details.”

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