“That’s right.”
“I’ve exhausted all my options. Believe me.”
I don’t know what she means, but there’s more to this, or she wouldn’t be here in person.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Tammy asks.
Ivana blinks as if thrown off her axis. Probably is off since she came here on business, not expecting hospitality. Likely she expected hostility. “Um, yeah, I’d love a cup.”
“Reed, can you show them to the dining room?”
I glare at Ivana and jerk my head in the direction of the dining room, then sit at the head of the table practically growling at the two. “This couldn’t wait until Tuesday?”
Ivana shakes her head and whispers, “I need a place to stay now, which is why I bought a house on short notice from someone I can trust. You feel me?”
“Why this town? There’re other small towns with big homes.”
“I’ve already scoped it out. I don’t have time to research more towns, and even if I did, rest assured this is the best strategic position, which is likely why you and your guys chose this one over your hometown. Besides, Blake is the seller here.”
Tammy brings the coffees and sits next to me. I’m not gonna ask her to leave, and those two fuckers can speak now that they’ve opted to corner me on a Sunday inside her house.
“Tammy, I like your home,” Ivana says. “And I need it.”
Tammy sips her coffee. “What do you mean?”
“I need to stay in it.”
I’m trying to figure out Ivana’s angle, and I can’t yet. I’m missing something. “Go on,” I say.
“I’ll trade,” she says. “Give up on your new house for this one.”
I’m not gonna ask because I don’t wanna know her business, but if she’s planning on staying in town, I have to know because my family and my men live here. “What kind of trouble are you in?” Now we, the pros, have rules.
We talk vaguely in front of civilians because the less they know, the better it is for their safety. “Your family is well connected. Why not go to them?” Her brother is a hitman for the Serbian Mafia, for God’s sake. She’s the Mafia queen, not a fucking princess in need of saving.
“I’m out.”
Silence falls over the room. If Ivana says out, then that means exactly what it means. She left the organization, and if I were her, I’d make myself invisible, hence her moving to this tiny Wyoming town. And I’m in a tough place with Tammy because I won’t lie to her about what I do or have done, while also not wanting her to know too much before I’ve had more time with her.
She ought to know everything before she already says yes to marrying me. I got a year to go before she does. I wanna build our relationship on trust and get things out in the open, and these motherfuckers might fuck shit up for me.
She’s a fine woman worth fighting for, though, so if they think they’re gonna get away with cornering us like this, they ought to rethink it.
“What do you need from us?” Tammy asks. I’m warm inside because there is anus, and one of us is amazing, compassionate, and sweet. It’s not me. I’m not that one of us.
“I need your house. It provides me shelter. I don’t want to travel too far to get food, and here, people will be around me, people who won’t miss a stranger coming into town. In an isolated location surrounded by hostiles”—she gives me a pointed look—“well, let’s just say I reconsidered.”
She pulls out a key from her coat and slides it over to Tammy, who picks it up and examines it. Ivana’s playing the game. She slid that key to my girl and not to me, so it’s gonna stick. She wants to get me, Tammy, and the girls out of here fast, and I want out of here fast, but only if Tammy agrees.
“Big key,” Tammy says.
“Big house,” Ivana says. “Five times the size of this one. Reed has good taste.”
I think my chest just puffed out, but I’m suppressing the smug smile. She’s gonna sell Tammy on the house for me. Jesus loves me today. “She’ll think about it,” I say. People like Ivanacan corner anyone and coerce them to do their bidding, and I can’t let her do that to Tammy. I want to take her to the house and show her around and let her sit on it.
“That’s where I come in,” Blake the Suit says. “I need these on my desk back in Chicago by Tuesday.” He opens the folder he’s carrying and slides it to Tammy.
It’s pictures and blueprints of the house. They remind me of just how perfect this home is for me and her and the girls. The girls would go crazy. It’s like one of their Barbie mansions. I want her to say yes, but I lock my jaw tightly so I don’t open my persuasive mouth.
