Page 33 of Unfinished

Salvatore Agosti was a mafia boss for another family and decades ago they handled shipments for the Night Saints, the biggest motorcycle club in the country. As the club grew, the Agosti’s couldn’t handle the amount of shipments needed. The Night Saints started working with us, using Trident Shipping, our shipping company.

Salvatore was still upset over it, believing that was the beginning of the end for him. Which it may have very well been. Since then, Salvatore hadn’t expanded his small shipping company or any of his other companies, since he didn’t have the capital to do so. That was until recently, when he started getting more supporters in positions of government.

“He tried sabotaging another shipment,” Bas confirmed my suspicions, “Leonidas has a handle on it for now.”

“Salvatore is a problem,” I muttered.

We would have to come up with a plan of attack to get Salvatore off our backs and end him for good. This wasn’t something we could just handle with an unmarked grave or supposed accident though. We would need to outsmart and outmaneuver him.

Chapter 13

Hannah

It was fourth of July weekend and we were all going to the Shermer Summer Festival tonight. The weekend at the cabin was incredible but it was also eye-opening. I loved Liam but I was too damn afraid to say it. Mainly because I knew that a long-distance relationship for four years while I worked my ass off was going to be the hardest thing I did. Admitting I loved him, would make all of this even harder to deal with. This really was a case of the right guy at the wrong time and I hated it.

If we broke up because we couldn’t handle a long-distance relationship, he’d meet someone else, marry them, have a million kids, and live happily ever after. Meanwhile, I’d end up alone with sixteen cats in an one hundred square foot studio or something like that. I was so fucked. Still, I couldn’t find the will to break this up, protect my heart, and to walk away. Honestly, if I only got this summer with him, then it’d be worth it for me.

Bas and Ashley were joining us at Summer Fest. They’d been seeing each other too, but from what I understood, Ashley made it clear to Bas that they were basically nothing more than fuck buddies. Archer and Rion were also coming, so it was a big group thing.

Liam’s cousins treated me like how I’d imagine older brothers would treat me. We joked around, teased each other, and had a good time whenever we hung out as a group. Rion was already planning a party for just before we all left for school again, since it was the last year they were coming back to Shermer. Someone else would have to throw the summer parties now and it sort of felt like the end of an era for Shermer.

Rion, Bas, and Archer all went to TKU with Liam. All of them planned on living in New York City and working for their parents’ New York offices. Like Liam, each of them was born to take over their family's companies and I still couldn’t believe how the rich behaved when it came to children.

Would Liam be the same way? Right now, I’d say no. But what if that life corrupted him into doing the same things his parents did to him? I wouldn’t stand for it. The idea of having children with Liam shocked me. Why was I thinking about having children with Liam?

“You ready?” Ashley asked and I snapped out of my spiral into imagining having kids with Liam.

“Yep.” I tried to tamp down the rising panic over what I was thinking about. Thinking about what a future with Liam looked like was not something that I should be doing when I didn’t know what our relationship would even be like in a couple of months.

I said goodbye to my dad and we got in my Jeep and headed out to Summer Fest. It’d likely be busy and while we’d been seen in public, we had never done anything quite this public before. Most of our dates were intimate, where we talked and were on our own. We arrived and parked a couple blocks away.

“So have you figured out how you two will manage to make the long distance thing work?” Ashley asked as we walked towards the south entrance.

“Outside of visits and phone calls, there isn't anything else we can do. Why do I have to choose between finishing school early, paying bills, and being with my boyfriend?” I asked.

“This is why I set Bas straight from the beginning, it’s only sex, for the summer. Between my degree and work, I don’t have time for a relationship.”

“We should have chosen a college closer to home so we could have lived with our parents and had more time,” I mumbled.

“Yeah, except you got into the best school for your field and I’m in one of the best schools for nursing. We both know that getting our degrees lines us up for being able to afford to live in NYC once we are out.”

“I know. I can’t ruin my future plans for a guy I haven’t even been dating for two months. Even if he’s the best sex ever and I’m falling madly in love with him, and want to be with him for the rest of my life.” Ashley stared at me wide-eyed at my confession.

“Am I a bad friend for letting you fall for him and not putting my foot down?” Ashley asked.

“I wouldn’t change a thing, even if this doesn’t work out, I wouldn’t change this summer. The eventual heartbreak will be worth knowing what this feels like and having it now.”

Outside of the south entrance to the festival, Ashley stopped me, and turned me to look at her, “Is it?”

“I don’t really know, but if I keep saying it, maybe it’ll be true.” My voice cracked and I felt tears form at the back of my eyes.

“Babe, if you two can’t work out the relationship for now, maybe you can in a few years. After we move to NYC, all we have to worry about is the job.” Ashley’s support meant the world to me. I looked up trying to let go of the thought of not being with him for four years.

“I can’t do this right now,” I whispered, and Ashley nodded pulling me into a hug. This was going to hurt and there was no stopping it. So, for now, I would hold on to every single moment and enjoy every part of the time I did have with him.

“Hey Babe!” We heard Bas yell.

I took a breath and blinked away the tears forming in my eyes. Ashley looked over my face and smiled while I took another deep breath. Pulling on all my strength, I smiled through the fears that haunted me. It was time to live in the moment and forget what problems the future would bring. I turned around as Liam and his cousins walked up to us.

---