Page 80 of Absinthe Dreams
“My wife! She’s my wife!” he screamed even as Alessia screamed and wailed and clung to Giancarlo pathetically.
Axe looked up to me and raised an eyebrow as if to sayit was your girl in the line of fire – your call.
I gave a barely imperceptible shake of my head, and Axe stood up.
“Deliver our message to your pops, don’t eventhinkabout trying to narc us out, and wifey gets to live,” he said. Giancarlo nodded and nodded fast.
“You got it, you got it!” he said.
“We’ll be in touch,” I said. “You got time to clean this shit up and to go back to business as usual, but you owe us restitution, and you’re gonna fuckin’ pay it until we say you’re done fucking paying. You got that?”
“Yeah! Yeah!”
Axe and I stepped over the bodies and walked out. He slashed the tires of all the cars left in the front parking lot, and we loped across and down the street, mounting up and riding off.
The Marchesis were an old family. We’d done enough damage. Three dead to our one didn’t seem fair, and you’d be right. Honestly, we should take out more, but we were trying to color just inside the lines. We didn’t need to trade the Bayou Brethren for another set of enemies. We’d taken out low-level henchmen and a cook. Giancarlo was disfigured, but apparently needed the daily reminder on who not to fuck with – and Alessia? If she was smart, she would make out in the divorce and take her and whatever kids to Tuscany, find some other hot Italian motherfucker, and have great sex to the backdrop of some expensive-ass vineyard.
Who was I fuckin’ kidding? She’d stay with him. He’d inherit from his daddy dearest once we were done with him, and he’d learn to stay in his fuckin’ lane or he’d be next.
We pulled over and called LaCroix, gave him our brief coded rundown on how things had gone, and tagged Saint and Bennie in on the Marchesi patriarch. They’d get it done, but our duty, at least for tonight, was fulfilled.
Axe handed me the burner at my gesture, and I got on.
“My lady still with you?” I asked.
“No. Hex took her home a while ago.”
“Ah, was gonna say, tell her that I love her and I’m headed out to the Bayou house for tonight.”
LaCroix grunted non-committedly and ended the call.
Axe and I headed off to clean up and dispose of whatever evidence we were wearing.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Genesis…
I startled awake, and I didn’t know why. It was so very late as to be early, and I could hear birds chirping outside the darkened window when a light touch on my leg made me startle and yelp.
“Shhh, hey, it’s okay.” Chainsaw sank onto the bed beside me and rubbed a hand over the blankets, massaging my leg through them.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, swallowing my heart back down from my throat and into my chest. “You scared the life out of me.”
“ThenI’mthe one who should say I’m sorry,” he said with a light chuckle.
I shook my head as though to clear it and asked him, “Are you alright?”
“I’m perfect,” he said. “So is Axe. Everything is all good. I’m more worried about you.”
“Me?” I questioned sleepily. “I was sleeping.”
He chuckled and slid into bed beside me, making me move over to give him room, which I did gladly.
He cuddled me close and kissed my forehead, and I melted. “Then go back to sleep, my love,” he said, and he didn’t have to ask twice.
The next time I woke, light was streaming through the bedroom curtains, and Chainsaw was sleeping deeply beneath me. I moved my head slowly to look, practically draped over him like a blanket, and felt the smile touch my lips.
I wasn’t sure if I would make it up and out of bed without waking him, but I was going to try.
