Page 95 of Hunter
I squeezed my eyes shut. The echo that rippled off that gun was close enough that it pierced my ears, and I quietly screamed inside of myself. I felt Amy’s fear vibrate out of her body as I lay on top of her. It was radiating from her, and it melted the paralysis that had frozen me in place.
I lifted myself up from Amy and stayed low to the ground, standing enough so that I could seeMi Vidacovering his brother and Evie’s man. And then I made the lethal mistake of making eye contact with Dylan; he had these beady, soulless eyes, and they didn’t blink when he swung his gun from Payton to me.
It’s like I was pulled back down. I know that my body knows what to do, but this felt different. I swear it wasHecate, Lilith, Aphrodite, and Nike.I felt their presence all around me, and I know that they’re why I had a safe place to land. I didn’t feel a thing when I hit the ground for a second time.
I also heard their voices in my head. They talked over both Alvi telling Dylan to put the gun down and Amy and Hunter’s screams. They wanted to make sure that I heard them when they told me that everything was going to be okay now. And I felt it, the truth in their words. That was a second before another gun fired a round.
I covered my ears and heard Hunter’s voice in my head, telling me that I was safe and sound, and I believed him. I trusted him. And then I heard his voice for real, and it was comforting. It brought me back down to earth from the out-of-body orbit that I was in, before I was in his arms and off the ground.
I can taste his words as he kisses, "I love yous," over and over into my lips.
“Te amo, mi cabrón,” I smile through my words because it feels like I’ve come back to life, and it’s a life that I plan on having with him.Even if he does suck at math.
SIXTY-FOUR
There wasno fucking way that I was gonna let that waste of fucking space breathe for another fucking second when he had a gun pointed at my wife. I gave him three seconds to put the gun down, and he didn’t. I couldn’t let him live after that, so I pulled the trigger. I wasn’t in the mood to repeat myself. Not when my woman’s life was at stake. He was getting on my last fucking nerve, and I had run out of patience.
It wasn’t just Amy that I wanted to protect, but Ed too. That girl didn’t hesitate to do what she had to do to keep my woman safe. She’s got brass balls and she’s fucking tough. I’ll never forget what she did tonight.
I already sent off a message to Tommy telling him I needed a fucking clean up back here and I needed it fucking now. I heard the sirens and knew that I didn’t want the heat of a full-on investigation. We had plenty of guys on the force in our back pocket, but some were outliers and had their own agendas.
I didn’t have the energy to manage all of that right now. Not when all my focus was on my wife, the same beautiful woman that I can’t touch and can only comfort from afar. I do that by keeping her safe. I’ll never stop protecting her and will shoot down any asshole that threatens her well-being.
And so will my men. She’s a Rossi even if she doesn’t know she is. Amy was always meant to be my wife, and even though we never said our vows, I made sure that she always will be. I could give a fuck what her old man says and what deals were drawn up. I made my own.
Hearing Ed scream all that shit about Payton’s father was fucked up to hear, and I watched Vivian’s granddaughter start to break. I knew all about her parents; her mother dying so young, and her piece of shit father killing himself. It wasn’t this girl’s fault that she wasn’t right in the head; she needed professional help. What she didn’t need was blood on her hands.
She fired off that first shot, and I saw it blast through her whole wide world, shattering a part of her virtue. Her entire body was shaking, and I could tell that she’d never done that before. Her boyfriend knew it, too. He’s got his hands full with her to say the fucking least.
He’s got her in his arms, and I’ve got her gun already scrubbed and handed off to one of my guys. One of them already carved her slug that went wide out of the building, so therewould be nothing to find except a bullet hole and no evidence. She collapsed to the ground when I shot what’s his fucking name, and is now curled in the fetal position, rocking back and forth in her man’s lap. She looks like she’s in shock, and he seems desperate when I catch his eye.This kid isn’t bad, I can tell.
Goddamnit. I say to myself and lift my chin to him before nodding over to the guy who is standing over them, instructing him to stand down. They’re alright. And Vivian’s granddaughter is gonna be too.I don’t know how I keep collecting all these fucking strays.
I could make this one work for me, too. I like his hustle and think what he’s got going on with his delivery service is smart.
“I know all about you selling up at the school and around town. I heard you run it clean and that you don’t sell dirty. I want you to keep doing that shit,” I tell Gabe. I don’t want anything to do with those fucking date-rape drugs and all that shit. No fucking thank you. The Rossis are a family of women. My grandfather, uncles, cousins, and our guys won’t put up with that shit. We don’t tolerate abuse of women.
“I’d like you to come work for me under the Rossi Family name. ” I say to him and get his attention. He shifts Payton in his arms, and I know he’s making sure that he can access his own piece if he needs to. He’s smart, and I can see that he’s thinking ahead and anticipating my next step.
“You’ve got good instincts, and I like that you play it smart.” I pause and look over to that deadbeat that’s already in a body bag. “What I don’t like is how you and that fucking guy were treating the neighborhood.” I catch Hunt holding onto Ed and point to them, “One of your men tried to rape her. Those are two things that I can’t fucking have.”
“That’s not me, man, I don’t play that shit, and that’s not how I run my crew. That was all Dylan,” he mouths off with fuckingspite, and I can tell that he ain’t upset about his boy being shoved in the back of a van.
“Fuck, that motherfucker,” he adds before spitting on the spot where he was lying dead a few minutes ago. It’s his way of letting me know that there won’t be any bullshit over the bullet in his buddy’s brain.
Good. I’m fucking tired and now that I’ve seen Amy, all I wanna do is go home and jack off in the shower before missing her in what should be our bed. She gave me one last look before she went inside to calm down the house of residents that she was responsible for. She’ll always put everyone else before herself. Before us–and I fucking love her even more for her selflessness.
“Tell the cops that you heard shots go off and she got scared. You saw nothing; you were passing through to get to your car,” I tell him, and one of my guys tosses him the keys to the beater that I keep parked in the lot. It’s two spots down from Amy's.I’m always watching, baby.
“If you stick to that script; I’ll let you take her home and wake up under the Rossi name. It’s up to you,” I offer, and I already know that this kid is going to do what I want him to do.
“Oh, and one more thing, if you or your girl fuck around with any of my people, especially those two, then I’ll kill you both,” I tell him while tilting my head over to Hunt and Ed. “Consider their debt paid. Understood?” I lift my chin to him and let him know that I don’t wait for answers, and I don’t ask twice.
He did exactly as he was told, and within ten minutes, the cops had the perimeter taped off and word had gotten out. Thebadges who showed up were ours, but still had to do their due diligence, which was fine with us.
We wanted to show the neighborhood that we give a fuck about their safety. The investigation would find no weapons, no shell casings, and no sign of a crime–because there wasn’t. It was just me taking out the fucking trash.
What they did find was Payton silently rocking back and forth on Gabe’s lap as he held her like a literal fucking baby. When questioned, he told the officers that she was triggered by the gunshot after growing up in New York.
