On the Rocks Page 10

  Tommy was right, and I tried my best to stay with it. There was a lot of truth in his words, but part of me still wanted to keep my secret just that, a secret. When his hand reached for mine after we ordered, my first instinct was to brush it away before anyone saw it, but that would have hurt Tommy’s feelings and I didn’t want to do that. I let my hand stay there under his for several moments before I tucked my thumb over his fingers. It was the only way that I could show my support without overtly attracting attention to ourselves. While I didn’t want to hurt his feelings by rebuffing his affections, I didn’t want to throw it in everyone’s face either.

  “You look happy, Tommy. With everything going on, I can’t believe you can still smile like that.”

  Tommy looked guilty for a moment and then shrugged. “I have needed this for a very long time. I am getting my past taken care of, and with you, I can now think about the future. Why wouldn’t I be happy? I am finally free.”

  The very fact was that most of the men he knew and grew up with were dead. These were people that he has known his whole life. It bore testament to the fact that they must have treated him quite horribly if that was the case. If he really felt relief to be rid of them, I had to imagine that there was a reason. Tommy was tender-hearted, and he wasn’t the type to hate for no reason. It was just another facet of his personality that I was getting used to. He was unfathomable sometimes. He had so much energy and kindness in him, but at the same time he was smiling about the hit on a majority of his family.

  I heard him talking on the phone when I was in the bathroom. He was talking to his mother and Tony if I heard the name he said out loud correctly. I didn’t know what to think, and Tommy still was staying mum on a lot of it. I was still in the dark and as much as I liked being around him and being with him, I still wanted to know the truth. I wasn’t interested in just seeing what would happen. Enough had already occurred without my knowledge. I don’t like to not know what is going to happen next and the last few days had been a rollercoaster ride.

  When I heard a commotion behind us, Tommy and I were still holding hands. Tommy had moved closer to me, and he was leaning over when I heard a soft gasp from him.

  “What the hell is my dad doing here, Jack? I thought you said you weren’t going to call him? Did you tell him where we were?”

  I was a little thrown off by his allegations. I was just as surprised to see Nick there as he was. I felt the older man’s eyes on the hands on the table, and I wished again that I hadn’t let Tommy seduce me into being so open. I knew what Nick was thinking and when he met my gaze, I knew that I was right to assume that.

  “Bring them both. It seems that our little cop friend is taking too many liberties with my son. You kept him safe from himself. How could you, Tommy?”

  Tommy looked horrified, and it was the first time that I had seen him look like he was afraid of anything. He looked at his father as if he was the devil and maybe he was. I had seen him that way before. Anyone that read his file would think that way, but to look at my own father like that was hard to imagine.

  I tried to stop the two thugs that grabbed Tommy, but I was pulled backwards myself. There were people looking on, but no one was going to mess with Nick. He was allowed to drag us outside without incident. That is when I tried to fight him back, even though I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to take them all. I had made a promise to Tommy, and even though he was looking at me like I had betrayed him. I hadn’t. His father had found this out all on his own, and now I was the one that was scared. I wasn’t scared for my own life. I was afraid that Tommy was right, and that his father really would kill him. The betrayal was deep, and I knew that a man like Nick wasn’t going to be able to let it go without doing something in return.

  “I didn’t say anything, Tommy, I promise.”

  “No, you didn’t have to. We caught a couple of the guys leaving the Kent house. They were there to kill us all and how surprised I was to find out that the Ash family was working with my own son. Here I was worried about you and the whole time you were trying to take your own family out. Was it too long to wait to take over, Tommy? You always were weak and useless like your mother.”

  Tommy didn’t answer. He just looked down, and so help me I felt horrible for him. I could see the guilt and fear in his eyes. I didn’t like to see it, but I wasn’t forced to look on that much. I got hit from behind hard, and I knew that this may be my last moment. This was going to be the last wrong decision I made. I was never going to see Adam again. I was never going to see Tommy again. Both ideas hurt, and I winced before I fell to the ground. This was it.

  Chapter 19

  Jack

  I woke up with my head aching something fierce. It took me a minute to open my eyes, and when I did, it was so dark that I couldn’t see much until my eyes adjusted to the dimness of the overhead light. It didn’t take long to realize that I was in a tough situation. The room I was in looked like some kind of cell, and everything around me was bolted down to the floor. The place looked run down, so I wasn’t sure where I was.

  My mind finally started to fire like it was supposed to, and I started to remember what had happened just before I was knocked out by a blow to the back of the head. Tommy and I were in a restaurant and then dragged out of the restaurant by Nick and a couple of his guys. Everyone just watched it happen. No one helped and when we got outside, I was unable to take them all on. Tommy had been scared to death of his father, and I didn’t blame him.

  As soon as he came to my mind, I heard him cry out. It was after a loud smacking sound, and it didn’t take much to put two and two together. His father or one of his men was beating him. I had to imagine that they wanted any information that he would give them, but from the sound of it, Tommy wasn’t talking. It was just getting whoever was hitting him madder, because the sounds of hitting and beating getting louder. Whatever was going on, there was no way that I was going to have any better fate. I had to figure out a way to turn this whole thing around, but I wasn’t exactly sure how I was supposed to do it, not yet anyways.

  “Ahhh, good to see that you are finally up, Jack. I was waiting for you to come around. Tommy isn’t talking, and I think it may be easier to appeal to you. You know, one father to another.”

  Nick was smiling at me, and I could see blood on his shirt. I had a feeling that some, if not all of that blood was from Tommy. The man was deranged, and it was clear when I looked into his coal black eyes. Torturing and beating his son was apparently not that hard for him to do, and it appeared that it wasn’t the first time from the way he acted so nonchalant about it. It made me sick and I had to think, if this is how he would treat his own son, there was little to no chance for me.

  “I didn’t know about this, Nick. You have to believe me.”

  He thought about it for a moment and then smiled. “I do believe you, Jack, but that doesn’t change the fact that you have seen and heard too much. I can never let you go. Not now. Not after you have worked for me and have seen all of my secrets.”

  My brain was racing with a way to save not only Tommy, but my own ass as well. I knew not to get involved, but I had. Money was the driver in all of it, and now I wished that I hadn’t even talked to Cal. He had gotten me in far too deep as far as I was concerned. Now my hands were tied, literally, and I had to think on my feet. But my head was pounding, and it was hard to think right now.

  “You don’t have to get rid of me. I could work for you Nick. It appears that you took a big hit from what the news said. Do you really think it is time to get rid of the rest of your staff?”

  “I saw you holding my son’s hand, Jack. I don’t think we want your kind in the family.”

  “You misinterpreted that. Tommy was upset when he saw you, and he reached over to grab it. I think he thought that I was going to save him.”

  “Wasn’t that your job?”

  “You hired me, Nick. You are the boss.”

  “So, if I asked you to take Tommy out, you are telli
ng me that you would do it?”

  I didn’t hesitate when I told him I would. I could tell that Nick wasn’t sure, and I had to make sure that he thought I was sure. This was the moment that was going to determine if I got out of here in one piece. I would have said anything to get my hands untied from behind my back. Once that happened, I would figure it out. Giving up was not an option, and if Nick wanted me to kill his son, then I would have to convince him that I would do it.

  “If that is what you want, boss. I was here for a job, not to make friends.”

  Nick smiled for a minute, and he grinned.

  “Cal told me that you were a cold-hearted son of a bitch. I guess he was right. If you are willing to get your hands dirty, I will let you continue to work for me. You are right to say that I am going to need some muscle for a while. Most of my business was decimated because of that stupid kid. Fix it, and show me where your loyalty is. Then your hands will be as dirty as mine, and you won’t be able to snitch.”

  I agreed willingly and told him that I would take care of it.

  “All you have to do is untie me, and I will end him whenever you want, Nick. It sounds like he is already halfway there.”

  Nick waved me off. “No, Tommy has taken much more. He is weak like his mother, but she can take a beating too. I haven’t decided if she was involved yet. I have a feeling I am going to find out that she was in on it as well. How do you feel about ending women?”

  He was taking it to a level I didn’t even want to think about, but I had to keep my composure. If I hesitated or made him think that I was just saying this to save my ass, he was going to see right through it, and he was going to end me. Then Tommy wouldn’t have a chance, and Adam would grow up without a father. I just couldn’t let that happen.

  “It doesn’t matter to me, Nick. I can see why you would want them both gone. Betrayal is something that can’t be forgiven.”

  I could tell that Nick was processing it all, and I wanted him to believe me very badly. I knew that it was the only way that I was going to be able to survive. I just hoped that he would believe me and that Tommy and I could somehow get out of this alive.

  “I think you were really the right one for the job. I knew when I saw you that you weren’t no ordinary cop. So now you get to prove it to me. Prove to me that you are someone that I can trust. Get your hands dirty so that mine will stay clean. Then I will have something over you if you ever decide to forget who your boss is.”

  I was sure that I was going to be shot, but instead he called someone in to get the bindings off me. I knew that it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought it in my head, but soon I was free, and I felt like I was on the road to figuring it all out. I didn’t know how it was all going to work, but I knew that I was going to have to figure it out one way or another. With my hands free, at least I had a better chance than I did before. Now I just had to figure out how I was going to get Tommy and I out of this situation.

  Nick walked me into the next room where all the noise and commotion was coming from, and I could tell that Tommy wasn’t even with it. He was hanging with his shirt off, and he was covered in marks. Underneath the cuts and blood, there was more to it. He had scars that looked to be old and new. Nick wasn’t joking when he said that Tommy had taken worse.

  A part of me raged inside that anyone would ever treat him that way. I had come to love him in the brief time that we were together, and I couldn’t imagine anyone hurting him. Now I could really see why he had chosen this as the only way to go. Tommy hadn’t had a choice.

  I took a deep breath to collect myself. I couldn’t lose my cool right now. This moment was too important, and I had to ignore how I felt about it all. I had to show Nick that I could be as cold as he was, even though I knew it was impossible. I couldn’t hurt Tommy. I loved Tommy and in a short amount of time, we had learned and shared so much. I wasn’t ready for it to end for either one of us. I was about to do something that I told myself I would never do again. Now I wasn’t sure how to not do it.

  Nick looked me over, his eyes watching my expression to make sure that I wasn’t going to back down. If he would have looked closer, he would have seen the sweat running down my back and could have felt how nervous I was. Even though I may have seemed calm as he looked at me, the truth was that I was shaking inside. I was like a duck, serene on the surface, but I was working my ass off underneath the surface to stay afloat.

  “You good?”

  I smiled at Nick and nodded my head. “I’m good, boss. Just tell me what you want me to do.”

  I hoped for a weapon so that it wouldn’t take as long. There were at least two other guys wherever we were. I didn’t know who the second one was, but I had met the one that undid my hands. He had walked off, leaving just me, Tommy and his dad in the room together. Tommy looked out of it, and he never even looked up to see who it was that was talking. Did he know that I was there? I wished he would look at me so I could tell him with a look that everything was going to be okay. He had to know that I wasn’t going to let anything happen to him. Well, I was going to stop anything more from happening to him. This had all gotten out of my hands too quickly.

  “I want you to shoot my son. If you do this, you will be part of the family.”

  I thought it was such a strange statement to be made. It said a lot about his family. I couldn’t have agreed more with Tommy. I wouldn’t want to be a part of this family either.

  Nick handed me the gun, and I checked how many bullets there were. He smiled at me because it was something that he would do as well, but it took him a split second too long to realize why I was checking in the first place. I turned the gun on him and pulled the trigger. If it had been empty, it would have been a test.

  But this wasn’t a test, and Nick fell back from the velocity of the bullet. I shot him two more times, guaranteeing that the man with nine lives didn’t get another one. Tommy’s head shot up, and our eyes finally met for a moment. The man that ran into the room had his hand on a gun, and I shot him too. He was working for Nick, and everyone left needed to be taken out or thrown in jail. Tommy was going to get his way. He was going to get the time away from his family and obligations that he wanted so bad. He wanted out of the Correllos, and he was going to be because there wasn’t going to be any of them left.

  “Where is the third guy?”

  Tommy shrugged, and I told him I would be back in a minute. The small movement made him wince, and while I hated to leave him like that, I knew I had to track down the third guy that was somewhere around here and should be on edge because of the gunshots.

  I crept around the old warehouse, and while I didn’t know the area, my cop training kicked in, and I was able to locate the third person because of the small sounds he was making. He was clumsy, not used to having to hide where they were, and I was able to take the third one out just as quickly.

  Going back to Tommy, I pulled him down as softly as I could and wrapped him up in my shirt. I still hadn’t figured out how to get out of here, but I was working on it.

  “Everything is going to be okay, Tommy.”

  Tommy moaned a little, and I held him close to me as I carried him out. My heart was breaking for him, and I didn’t know if he knew about Nick yet. He had said a lot of things, but to want his father dead, I still wasn’t sure if that was really the case or not.

  Finally finding an exit, I pushed the door open, and I was shocked to see that it was daylight. I don’t know how long we had been in that horrible place, but I knew now that I was out longer than I thought I was. They must have hit me hard, and that was why my head still hurt so damn bad.

  It felt like we were finally going to get out of this, against all the odds. But then a car was fast approaching down the gravel driveway, and I stopped. I still had Tommy in my arms, and I needed to get to my gun. The car was coming too fast, and I was unwilling to just drop him. I stood tall, not sure who it was or what I was going to have to do to survive this. All I knew for certain was that t
he two of us were going to get out of this, one way or another.

  Chapter 20

  Tommy

  It had been a week, and I was still trying to get myself back to normal. The beating at the hands of my father wasn’t the worst by far that I had dealt with, but this time it seemed different. He wasn’t just trying to teach me a lesson. My father was trying to kill me, and now I knew for sure how he really felt about me. He had tried to get Jack to kill me, his own son. I wasn’t watching what was going on. I had blood in my eyes at the time and couldn’t see much of anything, but what I did hear was the conversation. Those words were going to ring in my ears for the rest of my life whether I wanted them to or not.

  I was getting better, but there were still a lot of things in the air. Not all of Dad’s men were gone, but most of them had scattered to the wind, and I doubted that I would see any of them again. He didn’t tell anyone about my betrayal. Most likely he would have thought that it was going to reflect badly on him, and he wouldn’t stand for that. Dad was far too worried about what other people said.

  When Mom and Tony pulled up, it was hard not to cry. I was in Jack’s arms, and was exhausted and in pain, but just seeing her made everything okay. I had been worried, especially after Dad took me and Jack out of that restaurant. I knew that he was capable of anything and hurting my mom didn’t seem that far out of his wheelhouse. He was willing to kill his son. Why would killing a wife that he had beaten for years be unthinkable? I didn’t think it would have been any different, but none of that mattered now. Nick was gone, and he couldn’t hurt us anymore.

  “What are you thinking about, Tommy?”

  My mother was next to me, and I was again surprised at how quiet she was. She could go in and out of a room without being noticed, and she was quite good at it.

  “Gosh mom, you scared the shit out of me.”