Page 6 of Warped

He led me through the property to Tony’s office. I didn’t need a chaperone, but I’d given up trying to argue. Stefano would be armed, where there was no way I’d be allowed to have a weapon. Even my trusty knife had been taken off me, and I felt naked without it. I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere on my own these days, and while it drove me crazy, I also knew I couldn’t bitch about it. Not having someone armed around me might mean my death. I was poised at any moment for a drive by shooting, or for someone inside Tony’s family to turn on him and kill me. That kind of thing happened all the time. I literally felt as though every breath I took might be my last, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

A familiar figure headed toward me down the hall. I frowned at my sister. “Hey, where are you going?”

Nicole smiled at me as she passed, ignoring my frown. “I’ve got lessons to attend.”

She was walking toward the library at the back of the property, and as I watched her go, I saw someone step out of the library door to meet her.

Tony had brought in a tutor from outside so she could continue with her learning while she was here. It was the tutor who had stepped out to meet her now, and he caught me watching and glanced away, not meeting my eye. He was far too young to be her tutor—mid-twenties at the most. He must have barely qualified. I made a mental note to mention my concerns to Tony, though if Nickie wanted that particular tutor, I had the feeling she would get him no matter what I said. She was the one who had singlehandedly exposed us in Witness Protection, and she had a way of getting what she wanted.

My thoughts went back to our time under new identities. In Witness Protection, we’d been living behind the protection of our new names and lives, but that had been a lie. Every word that had come out of my mouth had been a lie. Now we were living under a different kind of security, but at least everyone knew who I was. I was able to speak without worrying I was going to say something wrong.

When I’d been in Witness Protection, I hadn’t been able to see any further ahead than the trial. I felt that same way now—I could only see as far as me testifying. I had no idea what would happen after that. But there had been a moment, with X, when I’d allowed myself to think about the possibility of a different future. He’d tried to talk to me about it, but I’d shut him down. I regretted that now, though a part of me was also thankful I didn’t know. Would it have made losing him harder, having him tell me he wanted to be with me, that we’d go on to have a life together? Or would it have given me something to hold onto in the middle of the night when I felt his absence the most?

But we were living in constant fear of retaliation. My father knew I was alive, and he had already promised he would make sure I wouldn’t be able to testify against him. I knew what that meant—he would make sure I was dead before I could take the stand. I couldn’t go anywhere without anticipating bullets flying at any minute. Nickie told me I was being paranoid and that I needed to chill the fuck out, but she wasn’t the one being targeted. Tony had been treating her well enough, and I couldn’t help but wonder what his reason had been to bring her here. He’d said he wanted to use her against my father, but so far I hadn’t seen any sign of him doing that. We were fed meals, had our bedroom, weren’t hit or threatened. But we weren’t free, and that was the most important part. We had to request anything we needed, and trips to the stores for clothing or toiletries would be done under heavy security. I guessed I should be thankful that Tony let us out at all—he could just as easily have kept us under lock and key, and have other people bring us the things we needed. If he hadn’t shot X, I would have thought Tony wasn’t such a bad guy. I tried not to think about the things X had told me about him—how when he was younger Tony used to tear people’s faces off with his teeth, which was how he got his name. He was doing what he promised and keeping me safe so I would be able to testify against my father. Tony wanted to see my father, Mickey Five Fingers, go down for as long as I did.

I didn’t know what would happen after the trial. Would he kill me then? Throw me in the Hudson River so my body could join X’s. He would have no use for me that I could think of.

My sister was different. She could be used as a bargaining tool any time my father and his mafia family stepped out of line. Tony planned on encroaching onto my father’s business as soon as he was behind bars for good; that much I knew. Nicole would be the one with a knife held to her throat any time my father ordered his guys to fight back.

I just hoped there wouldn’t come a point where my father had had enough and told Tony to use the knife and be done with it.

With my father, I certainly wouldn’t put it past him.

Stefano led me through the property, though I knew exactly where I was going, to the part of the house inhabited solely by Tony. Most of the mafia dons had families of their own—wives and children, and the vast majority had girlfriends on the side as well, something their wives knew about but ignored. Tony, however, hadn’t bothered to marry. When I’d asked him about his single status, he’d first laughed and asked if I was interested, to which I rolled my eyes, and then he’d told me he was too busy for relationships. He said having loved ones only gave your enemies something to use against you. Considering my current situation, I figured he had a point.

We stopped outside of his office door, and Stefano stepped forward, rapped his knuckles against the wood, and then moved back again.

“Enter,” Tony called.

Stefano gave me a glance, his eyebrows raised, and then pushed open the door for me.

Tony was sitting at his desk. He nodded toward the large, old fashioned phone sitting on top of it. “You have a phone call, Verity.”

My heart leapt. I did? My stupid heart and mind instantly jumped to thoughts of X, but that was ridiculous. Even if he was still alive, he wouldn’t call me here.

“Who is it?” I asked, instead.

“Detective Caraway.”

My heart tripped for a different reason. He was the cop in charge of putting my father behind bars. I’d had to give this phone number as the one to contact me on should I be needed, and the only reason they’d need to speak to me would be to make sure I was still alive, or talk to me about the case.

I took a breath and lifted the receiver. Would he still be there? It had been ages since Stefano had come up to get me. If he’d said the detective was on the line for me, I would have hustled a little.

“Hello, Detective?”

I heard him exhale a sigh of irritation. “Ms. Guerra, I was about to give up on you.”

“Sorry. I was sleeping.”

Tony leaned over and pressed a button which put the phone on speaker. The handset was designed to look old fashioned, but it apparently did everything a modern phone did. I shot Tony a glare, but there was nothing I could do about it. I understood that he wouldn’t want me making any arrangements without him hearing.

“Well, you’re awake now. I’m sure you’ve guessed what this call is concerning.”

“My father.” My voice came out strangled. I cleared my throat and tried again, sounding stronger. “The case against my father.”

“That’s right. We’d like to send some officers over to you to escort you to court tomorrow morning. You won’t be testifying then, of course, but the lawyers from both sides of the case will need to interview you.”

I shot another glance over to Tony. He was slowly shaking his head. ‘We’ll escort you,’ he mouthed at me.

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