Page 62 of As the World Falls

I lean back in my seat, crossing my arms over my chest. “I don’t understand why we’re here. I gave the ledger to Hodge.”

“If I’m right, he wasted no time giving it to Chuck. This is where we need to look.”

“How are you so sure?”

“This is business, Lia. I know how it works.” It was nearly one in the morning, and we were sitting outside of Chuck Fireux’s very nice home, spying and, possibly soon, breaking and entering.

Just your regular Wednesday night.

“God.” I breathe out. “You really are different.”

“Quit saying it like it’s a bad thing.”

“It is.”

“Why? Because we’re making money under the radar? Money this shit government steals from hard-working people every day. We’re not bad people, Lia. We’re just doing questionable things.”

“Illegal things,” I point out.

He sniffs. “At least it's money and not drugs.”

I kept quiet at that because he had me there. More questions, though, fill my head, and I can’t stay quiet for long. I look at him, taking in all his physical changes. “So, like… you're not in the mafia, are you?”

He gazes intently out of the window. “I told you I wasn’t.”

“You also told me you weren’t doing anything bad with James.”

He huffs in annoyance. “I am not in the mafia.”

“But James was?” He nods but doesn’t elaborate, but that’s not something I can let go of. “Tobias, I’m gonna need a little more information here.”

He growls, looking back at me now. “He was in the mafia. Now, he’s not. What else do you need to know?”

“Why isn’t he in it anymore? I thought if people wanted out, they just get killed.”

He shrugs. “Depends on the person, I guess.”

“You said his brother is a part of it? Is that why they didn’t kill James?”

He glares at me. “They probably didn’t kill James because he’s trustworthy and loyal. He’s a scary mother fucker too. The only one with enough balls to go after him would be Luccio himself, but that’s obviously not going to happen.”

“Luccio? Stefano Luccio? That’s his brother?”

“Of sorts.”

“Of sorts? What does that even mean?”

He goes to answer me but then slams his mouth shut, waving his hand at me to get down. I look out the windshield as I shrinkin my seat, seeing a dark black car with tinted windows pull up to Chuck’s house. Tobias glares at the vehicle, and his nostrils flare, a sharp breath escaping him when Hodge exits the car.

I watch carefully as Hodge stands at his driver's door, leans into the car, and grabs something inside. I gasp when I see the black ledger in his hands as he slips it inside his suit jacket pocket.

The sound of a gun cocking pulls my attention to Tobias, and my eyes widen in horror as I see him holding a gun and tucking it into his pants as he quietly opens the car door. “Stay here and stay down,” he demands before shutting the door.

My heart is ready to jump out of my mouth as I watch him, barely peeking over the dashboard as he heads in Hodge’s direction. The second Tobias approaches him, he pulls his gun out, aiming straight at his face. Hodge puts both hands up, and I watch as Tobias directs him to pull the ledger out from inside his jacket. He’s so close to getting it back when I see a man come out of the shadows, slowly creeping up behind Tobias.

I don’t think. I just moved.

The man had a gun aiming toward the ground as he got closer to my brother, and I had no weapons on me. There's nothing around me to use, and I’m internally cursing my brother out for leaving me unarmed, although I don’t think I could ever use a gun in the first place. The second I step out of the car, I take my heeled black boots off my feet and clutch one so tightly in my hand that I fear they may lock this way, but I pad quietly up behind the man just as he reaches my brother. Hodge spots me, and the smug look on his face drops when he realizes Tobias isn’t going to get caught like he thought he would. Before he can open his mouth, I bring the heel of my shoe up and drop it down on the back of the man's head.

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