Page 15 of Lucky Shot

Aiden

The door to my hotel room slams open with a bang, as I stare at the dark screen with devastation at the loss of Phoebe on its surface. In the doorway stands a furious and riled-up Nicolo Amato, looking like he’s about to hulk out on me. “WHAT THE FUCK, AIDEN!” He yells as he stomps closer, and I see the unhinged look in his blue eyes.Is this fucker high right now?

“Were you just watching her? Was it you she was privately chatting with instead of me?” He demands with fury, his hands fisted at his sides, and his neck corded, the veins on the surface bulging. I take him in, from his bare feet to the white ribbed wife beater undershirt he’s wearing, with a pair of dark gray sweatpants. My eyebrow quirks questionably in his direction at his comment. He was watching her too? What the fuck, and what is he wearing? I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen Nico look so unpretentious. He almost looks his age, and not like the stuck-up mafioso he plays at for his brother and father’s approval. “Answer me, Aiden, or so help me fucking God, I am going to bash your head in.”

I jump to my feet, shove the laptop away, and square off with him, my irritation exploding inside of me like a virus infecting everything. He’s itching for a fight, and after what just happened, and the way he barged in here, like a lunatic making demands, like I’m his bitch, I’m ready to reward him with a broken face. He forgets himself, and who he’s speaking to. One of us plays at being a violent killing machine, while the other isn’t playing at all. I guess he needs reminding of which one he is. “Who the fuck do you think you are, Nico, huh? Do you think you can just barge in here like some fucking neanderthal, and demand answers from me? I don’t work for your daddy or brother, asswipe!”

“You were, weren’t you, you cunt! You were watching my girl fuck herself, and getting off on it!” His words are the last fucking straw.His girl?Yeah, no, he’ll be lucky if I allow him to keep breathing tonight. The fact that he was watching her too, makes uncontrollable rage rise within me, and all I see is red. He rushes forward, his fist flying toward my face, but I’m prepared for it, dodging the hit, and slamming my own fist into his stomach, and he doubles forward with a hissing sound. “What I was, or was not, doing is none of your fucking business, Nico. You think you can come in here and take me? Let’s see what you got, punk.”

Nico forces himself to stand back up, and rushes me again with all his strength. We both crash into the cabinet holding the hotel television. It slams to the ground at the same time we do, as we exchange blows. I get him good with an uppercut that has his head smashing into the floor, but the slimy fucker knees me in the balls, and my breath gets trapped in my throat, as I release my hold on him and clutch myself. He scrambles to his knees, throwing a punch at my gut, as he glares at my face with malice, and for the briefest of moments, I actually admire that he’s not crying like a little bitch, even if he did just go for my nuts. “How could you do that to me? How could you covet something that is mine? I loved you like a fucking brother!” Another punch lands on my stomach, and I have to turn to the side to avoid the next blow, as I attempt to push him away from me.Jesus fuck, I think I’m going to upchuck the damn tacos I ate earlier.

“She’s not... yours, she... never... fucking was,” I huff out, as I try to catch my breath, “You never... deserved her, you... selfish prick.” I meet his eyes and let him witness his death in mine. He’s been pushing me over and over, since he sent me that link. I never wanted to hurt him, and never thought I would be capable of destroying my best friend, but now I’m not so sure. My feelings have changed, and all I see is the man who took what was mine, and caused her pain and devastation, so much so that she abandoned both of us. I’ve lost years with Phoebe, and now she’s selling herself, just to stay alive and hidden from our families. He has to pay for that. He deserves to suffer like she has. No, he deserves worse, for thinking he ever had a claim to her. She was always mine. Every moment without her has been agony, can’t he fucking see that?

“How can you say that, Aiden? She was going to be my wife.Mine.“ The fucker tries to straddle my waist, as he rains blow after blow down on my face, and head. My head cracks on the hard floor, and for a moment, I see everything in a blurred haze, and my nose explodes with blood, that trickles down the back of my throat when I swallow. I manage to get my hands around his muscular chest, holding him tightly as I flip us so, that he’s now pinned underneath me by my heavier weight, and slam him over and over on the area rug, until he stops trying to fight my hold. Both of us are breathing heavily and bleeding. My blood trickles down my face, and droplets fall on his upperchest and neck, painting him in a macabre abstract of red, and staining his shirt. He bares his teeth at me, like an irate captive wolf attempting to fight his capture, as he tries to push me off of him. I slam my thick forearm over his neck, and press down as hard as I can, causing him to gasp in a stunted breath.Kill him, press harder. This can be finally over, and she can be yours, if he stops breathing.“She never wanted to be your wife. You were forcing her, you and that cunt of a father of yours. You never gave her a goddamn choice ’cause you knew she wouldn’t say yes, isn’t that right, Nico?”

“I... love... her,” he wheezes as he stares into my eyes, and I see the madness and devastation that losing Phoebe has caused inside of him. I feel it too, in that we are kindred spirits, both lost and broken without her. “No, Nico, that’s not love. You don’t understand the meaning of the word, and you never have. You covet her. You want to control and own her. None of that is love, and she knew it too,” I growl with agitation, as I release my hold on his neck and force myself to roll away from him, my body and face aching from his fists. I slouch my back against the end of the tumbled mattress, and he lies on the floor, breathing heavily and spent. I listen to him try to clear his throat and regain his breathing, and I know I should feel guilty that I’ve hurt him, but all the darkness inside of me won’t allow it. My thoughts and emotions are all over the place, and I can’t seem to grasp onto just one.

A few moments ago, I was happily talking to my girl, making her laugh, and then she dropped a bomb on me that she’s going to actually do a live porn thing with someone else, instead of the ones she’s been participating in alone. When she asked me if I would be that person, I didn’t know what to say. Not because I don’t want to be with her, and wouldn’t be elated to touch her, but because the minute she sees it’s me, she’s going to fucking run for her life again, believing that I will force her back to the fate she ran from.Will I?Is that not what I am here to do? Bringing her back will end this war between the Murphys and the Amatos. We can stop all the bloodshed, and there can be peace. All I have to do is sacrifice the one person who means the most to me. It will mean losing her all over again, this time perhaps for good. I know that she’s alive, but she will be as good as gone to me once more. Can I live with myself, knowing that I have made her miserable?

I don’t have any answers for all the questions that plague my mind, in a vicious, never-ending circle. All I do know is that we are almost out of time, and have to get to Phoebe now. I won’t allow her to fuck another man for money. I can barely live with myself now, knowing what she’s doing to keep herself alive, and that I am partially responsible for it. I should have tried harder to find another way to convince Tadhg to release her from this stupid marriage. I should have left it all behind, and run with her. Those last few moments when she cried in my arms, I should have realized that she would run from her situation, that her desperation to prevent her fate would lead to this.

I groan as I turn to look at Nicolo, my eye already smarting, and threatening to close, from one of his punches. His large, veiny forearm is draped across his closed eyes, as his chest rises quickly with the effort to catch his breath. His lip is split open, his chin has blood trickling down his jaw and neck, and his shirt is all but shredded from our altercation. That’s when I spy the ink I’ve never seen before. I reach out and grasp his arm, digging my fingers cruelly into his flesh, as I force my body upright, with a groan at the pain in my gut, and stare at the scrolling black lettering on his skin.Mio amore eterno, Phoebe.I know a little Italian after years of living around Nico and Milano.My eternal love, Phoebe.The fucker got that tattooed on his skin after what he did to her, and how he disrespected and hurt her. The urge to break his arm tries to roll me, and to avoid doing more damage, I release his arm with disgust. “You don’t deserve the privilege of her name on your skin, Nico.”

I wait for him to argue back why he thinks he’s worthy of anything to do with Phoebe, but he doesn’t. He just stays silent, and that, more than anything, has some of the turmoil inside of me receding. “I know, Aiden. Fuck, I know I was never worthy, but I want to be. I know you don’t believe me, but I have never wanted to take something back, as much as I do what I did to hurt Phoebe, and if she would just give me a moment, just one, I would beg her on my knees for forgiveness.”

“What are you going to do if she won’t, Nico? You going to force her back to Chicago, kicking and screaming, and lock her in your home like a princess in a tower?” I question, both needing to hear his answer, and dreading it.

He opens his eyes and stares right at me, and I observe the anguish on his features. His blues are so dark they look like a midnight sky. I’m reminded that Phoebe always thought they were beautiful growing up, and that makes my chest ache. “I’ll let her go if I have to. I’ll force myself to live without her, but I will never move on, and I will never love anyone else but her.” Three pieces of string intricately fused together… prying one apart will always ruin the other two. That is what Nicolo and I are,ruinedwithout her.

I almost tell him what she’s planning. The words die on my tongue as my lips open and close, and nothing escapes my mouth. I think Nico believes his words, but I know once he sees her again in person, they will make a liar of him. He will never be able to let her go, and I know, ’cause I won’t either.

We need to stop fucking around and get to Phoebe now. I need to prevent her from going through with her plan to fuck someone else on camera, and I have to decide what I am going to do if Nico tries to take her from me. I never thought that I would be capable of murdering someone I love, but I guess only time will tell if that’s true or not.

“No more fucking around, Nico. In the morning, we head straight for Phoebe, and if you think you’re going to abandon me, or prevent me from reaching her, I’ll slit your fucking throat, friend or no friend.” I force my aching body off the ground and head toward the ensuite bath, in desperate need of a hot shower to clear my thoughts. “Would you really kill me for her, Aiden?” His question has me stopping in my tracks, and looking over my shoulder at him. “I wouldn’t hesitate, Nico, and I would sleep peacefully at night, knowing you were no longer a threat to her.”

“Good,” he replies with a deep groan, as he forces his body up from the floor, and heads toward the door he smashed into the wall. “She deserves someone protecting her.”

Chapter nineteen

Nicolo

Ipull the charcoal baseball cap lower, to shield more of my face, after a female barista at the coffee shop around the corner fromBehind the Lensgives me another curious, sultry look. I’m kind of glad I allowed Aiden to talk me into wearing sweats and a t-shirt, rather than one of the suits I usually wear. He was right, not that I would ever admit it,’cause fuck him, I would stand out like a sore thumb here. It’s just a role I’m playing, I reassure myself, as I miss my Tom Ford suits. I move my aching, stiff jaw back and forth, as a grimace pulls on the healing cut on my lip. My face looks like it went ten rounds with Mike Tyson right now, all thanks to the asshole sitting next to me, enjoying a basic black cup of coffee like a psychopath. Who even drinks coffee like that, when there are so many other options? I lift my caramel, non-fat oat milk latte up to my lips and take a sip. As much as I don’t want to admit it, ’cause I love Chicago, this is one of the best cups of coffee I have ever had. Never mind that I’m already on my second cup, and feeling the caffeine rushing through my veins, as I lookaround this bohemian-style space, and the sounds of Afro-Jazz music have me tapping my foot against the floor. “How long are we going to sit here, Aiden? We should just march in there and point a gun at someone’s head, until they give her up,” I grumble.

He rolls his hazel eyes at me, as he turns in his cushy, sienna-colored fabric, club chair to face me, and it gives me immense pleasure to scrutinize the bruises I left all overhisface. That’s right, motherfucker, I’ll beat your ass for trying to take what’s mine. “Yeah, that’s a great idea, asshole, why don’t you go do that, and I’ll just wait here for the cops and FBI to show up, ’cause you know, you’re part of the fucking Italian mafia, and on some list somewhere, right?” Well, when he puts it that way, it does sound a little unreasonable and foolhardy. Still, sitting here for hours is getting us nowhere. Phoebe hasn’t shown up to work so far today, and we don’t know where she actually lives, or even what name she’s using. There are only so many cups of coffee we can have, before the coffee shop workers start to get suspicious. Never mind that I think the redhead is getting ready to ask me for my number. She’s found every reason she could to touch me, as she handed me back my change, and brought our drinks over.

I guess, even battered, and in simple clothes, I’m hot shit. Women freaking confuse the hell out of me. I should be a walking red flag to this chick right now, with my battered appearance, and my glowering large companion, but instead, she’s flirting with me, and I’ll just bet that if I put in some effort, she’d follow me into one of the restrooms, and let me bend her over one of the sinks. That’s the old me, though, the one that believed I should fuck as much pussy as possible. The one conditioned by my position, within my father’s mafia organization, to take whatever I want, whenever I want it, fuck the consequences, and anyone’s feelings or opinions. The version of me who didn’t have the best intentions for any woman, and thought that I could use, and manipulate, them for my own gratification and purposes. I used to be the guy that was so reckless and stupid that he lost the only woman he’s ever loved, ’cause he couldn’t keep his dick stowed in his pants. That guy learned his lesson. I’m not saying he hasn’t fucked women in the two years Phoebe has been missing, but he’s been more careful, and has been waiting for the day she returns. The day she comes back, and I make her my wife, and never touch another woman again.

“Do you think she lives close by? Maybe we should take another drive around the neighborhood, and we’ll get a glimpse of her.” My leg taps an incessant staccato sound with nervous energy on the vinyl flooring, and Aiden gives me a menacing look. Everything I seem to do now pisses this fucker off. I miss the days when he used to enjoy my company, but now he can barely stand me. I know I’m to blame for some of that, I handled the situation badly two years ago. I’ve known all our lives that Phoebe always favored him over me. She was subtle with it, knowing that Aiden was also best friends with her brother, and that was a line she shouldn’t cross. I still felt the rejection though, especially as we went through our teenage years, and she became infatuated with him. I would catch her looking at him with hearts in her eyes, and it always made me feel less than.

When my father suggested a marriage alliance with the Irish, I immediately jumped at the chance, and put Phoebe’s name forward. Was that a dick move?Sure.Did I betray my best friend, who I knew was also in love with her?Absofuckinglutely.Did I regret it at the time?Not for a second.Did karma smack me hard in the fucking face for it?With a damn steel beam.Would I do it again, if I had it to do over with?I hope not, but there’s a tiny part of me that still holds onto the notion that it would have all worked out, and she would have been all mine, if she hadn’t run.

“I don’t know, Nico. I think we have to look at other possible options. You’re right, we can’t sit here all day, hoping she comes by. We don’t even know if she goes to the place every day. My guess is she doesn’t, and since she performed yesterday, who knows how many days it will be before she’s back?” He drinks the last of his coffee, and fiddles with his phone again. He ensures that I can’t see the screen, and it makes me wonder if he’s trying to hide some Irish family business from me, or if it’s something to do with Phoebe. He wouldn’t confirm or deny that he was the one speaking with her last night, but he didn’t have to. His guilt and concern were written all over his face, even though he tried to hide it. The thing is, I’ve known Aiden since we were three years old, and I am intimately familiar with all his expressions, and lack thereof. He forgets himself. We may have grown distant from each other, since Phoebe took off and hid, but I know him just like he knows me. The question is, what does he know, and what is he hiding from me?

“So what do we do now?” I shift in my seat and attempt to glance down at his phone, but he immediately pockets it. The barista comes by with a tray, leans over, rubs her breast against my arm, reaches for his empty coffee cup, and flashes me a tempting smile. I catch Aiden observing my interaction with her, a contemplative look on his features. He thinks I haven’t changed, and that at any moment, I’ll fuck this chick here. He’s fucking wrong, I have a goal, and it’s to win Phoebe back. I want to show her how good we can be together, and I won’t allow anything to get in my way. Not this, or any other woman, not him or his family, not even my own family. I refuse to wander off course.

He clears his throat and gets her attention. “Do you get a lot of students from Soda Springs University in here?” My eyebrow rises as I contemplate his question. Where the hell is he going with that? Why ishe interested in this shitty little town’s mediocre school? I’m starting to feel like Aiden is pulling my chain, and is wasting my time on purpose, so I don’t end up finding Phoebe. The joke’s on him though. I won’t return to Illinois without her, no matter how long it takes, but he can’t stay away for long. He has to keep that cunt Tadhg out of trouble. “A few, but not many, just the ones who work in local shops or restaurants nearby. Why, are you thinking of attending the school?” She gives him an appraising glance, as if she has just realized how attractive he looks. Seriously, women are a fucking mystery to me. What about his scowling, grouchy attitude is attractive right now?

“Yeah, we’re going to check out the campus. Maybe we’ll be back later.” He winks in her direction, and a red streak appears on her pale cheeks. What is he doing right now? Is he flirting with the barista? My mouth opens and closes in shock. Aiden doesn’t flirt. Aiden doesn’t even usually acknowledge the other sex, except in polite, reserved ways. “I... I’m here till three... if you decide to come back.” The crimson streak just grows larger, and spreads down her face to her neck. I sit here, all but forgotten, and replaced by none other than Aiden Doyle, and honestly, I don’t know how to feel about that. She moves awkwardly away, without a glance in my direction, behind the counter, and I narrow my gaze on Aiden. “What the fuck was that?” I question with impatience, and a little resentment. Will there ever be a fucking female that doesn’t choose him over me?

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