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‘S’up?’ Dylan answers the phone on the first ring even though it’s the middle of the night. His voice is heavy with sleep.
‘I’ve got a fucking situation.’ I press the accelerator to the floor and check the rear-view mirror. Dale is huddled in the seat beside me.
‘What?’
‘I just killed Solo Galkina.’
Dylan is silent.
‘He broke into El Patron’s place. I took him down while he was holding a gun to Dale’s head.’
Dale shivers and I reach over and put my hand over hers.
‘She’s with me now. I’m taking her to a safe place, but we have to meet tomorrow.’
‘Is it being cleaned up?’
‘El Patron’s security is on it, but I don’t know if I trust him. He just let the guy walk into the house without stopping him. Could have been sleeping or he could be in on it. I need to speak to El Patron to figure things out. But for now, I think we can safely assume that me killing Solo will get back to Bana. We’ll meet tomorrow at the canal, to work out how to handle it. Tell the rest of the crew.’
I hang up the phone, feeling mildly better. Speaking to D and knowing I’ve got my crew behind me calms me and helps me think. I drive, circling through the city to make sure no one is following us, then stop on a bridge over the river and turn to Dale. Her eyes are wide with fear, her hair loose around her face, tousled from sleep.
‘Give me your phone.’
‘Why?’
‘So no one can track you.’
‘Who’s going to track my phone?’
‘I don’t know, but I’m not taking chances.’
She hands me the phone she’s been clasping. I turn it off, then toss it out of the window and into the water.
‘My phone!’
‘I’ll get you another one,’ I say, as I pull away. I drive around for another twenty minutes before we turn into my parking garage. My place is in the south of the city in the industrial area. It’s a loft on top of a warehouse. I like it because it’s remote and out of the way, no one knows about it. Dale is silent as I park, and we take the lift up to my floor. I unlock the door, and show her in.
She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear as she looks around.
‘Make yourself at home,’ I tell her, watching as she walks around checking the place out. It’s sparsely decorated, open plan, big windows and three separate bedrooms. I lock the front door and carry her bag through to the guest room.
‘Are you going to call Papa?’ she asks, following me.
‘Yeah. I’ll call him now.’
‘How long do you think I’ll have to stay here?’ She runs her fingers through her hair.
‘I don’t know. Until I find out what the hell is going on and why that man was in your room trying to kill you.’
She nods.
‘Hopefully not too long. Hopefully your father has an explanation for it.’
Except I don’t believe he will. What sort of explanation can there be? He’ll most likely go crazy when he hears and start an all-out war.
‘OK.’ She looks down.
‘You get yourself settled in. I don’t have a pool but you’ll be safe here.’ My voice is soft. The shock is still visible on her face and I feel bad for her. Hell, I’m still pretty shaken up myself.
I go to the kitchen and pour a whisky, then dial El Patron, letting it ring. It takes a long time before he answers.
‘Antonio?’
‘Marcel. It’s three a.m., I was sleeping.’
‘Yeah, so was I, until I had to get up and save your daughter from a gunman.’ I walk to the window.
‘What? What happened? Is she OK?’
‘One of Bana’s crew was in Daleylah’s bedroom with a gun to her head. Fortunately, I got there in time and managed to take him out before she got hurt, but it was too fucking close for comfort.’ As I explain I realise how damn close the whole thing was. If I hadn’t woken up when I did...
‘You killed him?’
‘Yeah.’
El Patron chuckles.
‘Are you laughing? That man had a gun pointed at your daughter’s head.’ I can’t keep the anger from my voice.
‘You were there, Marcel. I knew you were the right person to protect her.’ His voice is calm. This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting at all.
‘Why would Bana’s crew try to take out your daughter, Antonio?’
‘You know what that cockroach is like as much as I do. How much reason does he need? What reason did he have to kill my wife?’
I rest my forehead on the window. From that height I have a good view of the city below.
‘Your security guard was a fucking waste of space. Do you trust him?’
‘Stefano? I’d trust him with my life.’
‘I wouldn’t, after seeing how much care he took with your daughter’s. Do you think he might be involved?’
‘Stefano? No. He’s a good boy.’
I tap my fingers on the glass. I just told him someone tried to take out his daughter and he’s laughing and defending the security guard. Something doesn’t add up. He doesn’t even seem that surprised by the whole thing.
‘How soon can you get back to take care of this?’
‘Not yet. I still have something to attend to here.’
‘I don’t feel comfortable with Dale at your place any more. Not now the security’s been compromised. And I’m sure Bana will want to retaliate against me for taking out his man, so I’ll be his target, too, now.’
‘Where are you? Still at my house?’
‘No. I’ve taken Dale ... somewhere safe.’
‘Good, good. Keep her with you until I get back. Then I’ll clear everything up.’
‘When will you be back?’
‘I’ll let you know, Marcel.’
I hang up the phone and stare at it. Why won’t he drop everything and come back here to deal with it now? An attack on his daughter is an attack on him. Surely he wants to put things straight immediately? I swallow the whisky and go to the guest room. She’s sitting on the bed, staring at the floor. I stop in the doorway, watching her. She looks up and sees me.
‘What did he say? Is he coming home?’
She sounds so hopeful it makes me feel bad.
‘Yeah, soon.’
‘Tomorrow?’
I run a hand over my face. ‘Not tomorrow. Soon, though.’
‘Right. So, I’ll stay here tomorrow?’
‘Yeah, for now. Until he gets back and can figure some stuff out.’
‘Right.’ She looks down at her hands, then up at me with wide eyes. ‘I forgot my laptop. I need it. I have to study.’ She shakes her head. ‘How could I have forgotten it? It’s the only thing I can’t live without. I’m so stupid.’
‘You can give me a list of what you need tomorrow. I’ll have someone fetch it all for you, don’t worry.’ She looks pale and I remember the time. ‘It’s late, Dale, we both need to sleep. I know I sure as hell do. Things will seem better in the morning.’ I turn to leave her.
‘Slater?’ she calls to me.
I look back. Her hair is loose on her shoulders and she seems so small in the T-shirt and joggers that she threw on.
‘Where will you be?’
‘My room is next door. But it’s OK, Dale, you’re safe here. Good night.’ I pull the door closed, go to my room, strip off my clothes and drop down onto my bed.
This whole situation is fucked up. The feud between Bana and El Patron has been going on since Bana first showed up and his brother got taken out in an attempt to show who was in charge. Bana retaliated by killing El Patron’s wife, showing he didn’t give a shit about anything, there were no boundaries as far as his crew were concerned. His brother was a soldier and El Patron’s wife had nothing to do with this business. But all that is history. Seven years ago. Why is Bana trying to kill Daleylah Martinez now? Is he digging up old bones? Or has El Patron done something else? Bana can’t still be trying to avenge Boris. Can he? I stare at the ceiling, turning it over in my mind until I eventually fall asleep.
I wake up because there’s someone in my room. My gun’s in the kitchen. Fucking idiot. Someone breaking into my place was the last thing I’d been expecting. Only my crew know where I live, and I was careful we weren’t followed when we came here. But someone’s here; they got in somehow.
I don’t move, lying still, waiting, listening. My back is to the door. Whoever it is walks towards my bed. I strain my ears for the sound of a gun cocking. There’s no time to hesitate or it’ll be too late. I spring up and dive forward, grabbing the intruder. As soon as my hands touch her, she screams, but I can’t stop the momentum. I throw her to the bed, pinning her body beneath my weight.
‘What are you doing?’ I jump off her and fumble for the light, turning it on and looking at her. ‘What the fuck, Dale? I nearly killed you. Why are you creeping around like that?’
‘I’m sorry, Slater.’ She sits up on my bed, staring at me, eyes wide with terror.
‘Why are you creeping in my bedroom? After what just happened, I could have killed you!’
Tears roll down her cheeks. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t want to wake you. I didn’t know what to do.’
My anger melts. ‘You don’t have to be scared. I’m here, I told you, no one can get in here. This is a safe house. You and me are the only ones here, and we’re the only ones who know we’re here.’ I run a hand over my face wiping away the remnants of sleep. ‘And I won’t hurt you, not if you don’t go creeping around my house in the night making me think you’re a fucking intruder.’
‘Sorry. I didn’t want to wake you. I know you’re tired.’ She doesn’t look at me, she’s twisting the corner of the sheet in her hand. ‘I can’t sleep, I’m scared. Every time I close my eyes, I keep seeing him. That man with the gun in my bedroom.’ She screws up her face. ‘I don’t want to be alone. Can I sleep in here, with you?’ She finally looks up at me, brown eyes wide, her lips slightly parted and suddenly I feel my body respond to her, my cock straining in my shorts. How fucking inappropriate.
‘Please, Slater. I can’t be alone.’
I take a breath, turning from her so she can’t see my arousal. This isn’t a good idea, especially as she’s making me turned on as hell right now wearing only that baggy T-shirt. But how can I say no to her? After what she’s been through tonight.
‘Sure, I’ll sleep on the floor,’ I mutter, my back still to her.
‘Sleep next to me, please. I need to know that you’re there. Otherwise, I’ll never sleep.’
I let out a slow breath and look back at her. She brushes her hair off her face, and I see her hands are trembling. This is such a bad idea; my body is screaming for her.
‘OK. Sure. Lie down.’
I motion to the bed. She scoots up and climbs under the sheets. I grab a bottle of water and take a sip, then get in beside her. I turn my back to her, my hard-on aching, tight against the fabric of my shorts. I can fucking do this. I can lie here beside this girl without touching her, I can fucking do this. I close my eyes and try to sleep for the third time that night.