Charlotte kept to herself the next few days. She moved into the vacant apartment away from Dottie and Fern’s mess. She also didn’t come downstairs to work for about a week.
I stayed away from her too. I wasn’t planning on marrying the girl, but I sure as hell wanted to fuck her. Thought I’d made that pretty clear. Had nothing to do with the money I’d shelled out for her family. I’d paid all of Dottie’s husband’s funeral expenses and I’d never asked Dottie for a roll in the hay. The money didn’t mean shit to me and I think maybe she knew that.
I didn’t go home to my apartment either. With Capone sniffing around, I sure as fuck didn’t want to be jumped if I walked home at three in the morning. So I set up on the couch in my office. Mick stayed too, but Joe and Marty didn’t.
They should’ve.
A few mornings after the confrontation with Capone’s goons, Joe was late. Didn’t mean too much because Joe was late a lot. We got down to work, counted out the night before’s take, and got to ordering shit.
When it was noon, I started to wonder where he was.
Around two, Mrs. Dorchester, the lady who ran the bookstore, came down the rickety stairs. I think we all stopped when we saw her. You could hear a pin drop in the speakeasy. We were all there, even One and Two, and as a group we waited to hear what she had to say.
The woman hated me, that wasn’t a secret, but she liked the rest of them. Maybe she could tell I wasn’t what I said I was. But the pain in her eyes when she looked at all of us told me what I needed to know.
I strode toward her. “Where is he?”
She looked up at me, her blue eyes flat and tired. “I went out the back to throw trash….”
“He’s out back?”
She nodded.
“He dead?”
Her eyes closed briefly and I didn’t wait for her nod. I raced up the stairs and through the back of the bookstore. The back door rattled when I pushed through it and I didn’t bother to close it quietly.
There was a heap of clothing next to the bag of trash Mrs. Dorchester had taken out. I could see a foot, a hat, and Joe’s favorite suit. I heard more people push through the door behind me as I moved closer.
He was face up, his throat slit from ear to ear. Blood pooled beneath him, but not that much. So he hadn’t been killed here. Just dumped here. There was an envelope sticking out of his front pocket. I leaned down and pulled it out.
I heard a gasp behind me. I knew it was her. I turned and saw Baby standing there, her hands over her mouth. Instinctively I moved to stand in front of him, but she knew. She’d seen.
“Baby…” I said softly.
Her big blue eyes moved over my face. “It’s my fault,” she whispered.
“Naw, Baby, it ain’t your fault.”
Dottie came up and put her arm around Charlotte. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”
“But I—”
“Inside, Baby,” Dottie argued gently. Most of the crew had picked up on my nickname for Charlotte. Hard not to. She looked like a baby-doll, porcelain and breakable. Dottie treated her as such, and was gentle with her, like a big sister. She turned Baby back to the door with a glance over at me.
Mick and Marty came to stand with me.
“What’s the note say?” Marty asked, his eyes on his friend.
I slapped it at Mick, who slit the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper. “Just says ‘Warning.’” He turned the paper so we could see it.
I didn’t look. I stared down at Joe, his eyes open and unseeing, flies buzzing around his bloody and torn throat. “Bury him,” I ordered. “No one fucks with us,” I added, turning to my men. “She’s mine. You guys got that?”
Mick nodded but Marty frowned. “So Joe’s dead because of a bird?”
I grabbed a fistful of his shirt. “Joe’s dead because he didn’t watch his back. Doesn’t have shit to do with Baby.”
Marty lifted his chin. “I ain’t dying for a bird.”
Mick slapped his hand on Marty’s back. “Fuck, man. Yeah, you would. You’d die for any of us. Angelo keeps us safe and you know it. If someone was fucking with Dottie or Fern, you know you wouldn’t have a problem.”
Marty had a soft spot for Dottie, everyone knew it. But he’d never acted on it. Smart of Mick to throw her name into the mix, though.
Marty heaved out a breath. “Yeah, I see what you’re saying.”
I let him go. “Bury him. I’ll send his family money. Then we pay Capone a visit.”
I left Marty and Mick to dispose of Joe’s body.
I headed to Charlotte.
****
She was sitting on the edge of her bed facing the window, her back to the door. I paused a moment, trying to judge her mood, but she turned to me before I could figure it out.
“You can come in.”
She wasn’t crying. She didn’t seem to be in shock. I walked in and she faced the window again. I sat on the other side of the bed, my back to her and looked out over the little room.
“He’s insane,” she said quietly.
I thought about the things that people said about him. Insanity seemed to be the least of his problems. It didn’t take a genius to know that Capone had been gunning for me for a while. When you’ve got the best liquor in the city and you won’t give up the source? Makes you some enemies.
“I’d heard that,” I answered her.
“When I came here, I got off the train and didn’t have anywhere to go,” she continued. “A man named Costa ended up taking me under his wing. Walked me over to Ebby’s. That’s where he first saw me.”
“Capone?”
“Yes. He was there when Costa brought me in. Told him to shine me up and put me on display. He said I could keep my hair. I had no idea what was happening. But soon I was trying on dresses and having people fix my hair and makeup. It was all so fast.”
“He wanted you.”
I heard her shift on the bed and her words were closer now, as if she’d turned to face me. “He told me I needed to get a few guys under my belt. Then he’d make sure I got what I wanted. He’d make sure my family was taken care of. I saw the other girls he hung out with. They were…vacant, sad. I couldn’t be like that. That night you came, I thought that man was going to kill me, because I wasn’t going to let him do what he wanted. No matter what.”
“You’re safe now.”
“Am I? Because I’m sure Joe thought he was safe.”
Now I shifted and brought my leg up onto the bed. I leaned on my thigh and looked at her. That peach skin, that beautiful hair, those deep blue eyes. I could drown in those fucking eyes.
“Know why you’re safe?”
She shook her head, a curl bouncing against her forehead.
I took her chin in my hand and steadied her slight shaking. “Because you’re mine, Baby. Ain’t nobody takes what’s mine.”