“And why today? And why didn’t you tell me the plan?” I closed my eyes and rested it against the headrest, still not believing we’d escaped.
“I heard Lorenzo mention that the woman he was dating would be in town and he’d be gone for a couple of days.”
My heart jolted like we’d just been hit by a ten tonner and my eyes shot open. “Wait. What?” Only when the shocked words were out did I realize my actions and immediately tried to school my features into normality. I wasn’t sure it worked. Judging by my jumping pulse rate, I was a hundred percent convinced it didn’t. He fucked me and then ran off to see his girlfriend—one he conveniently forgot to mention.
Zena glanced at me, her expression remained unreadable. “Today seemed like the perfect day, don’t you think?” I recognized the lilt in her tone and put it down to the successful escape.
Yet, I wondered how she was so calm after drugging mafia men capable of killing us. Even if Lorenzo and I fucked, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t want to kill me. All through the ride home, I stayed in a level of panic that would have Austin calling me a pussy. Regardless, the fact that we just stole a car and escaped dangerous men, didn’t sit well with me. Or, maybe it was something more, I was choosing not to explore. Something that would probably impact the rest of my life.
****
“WHAT THE FUCKS THAT?”
I turned as Austin pointed to an envelope lying at the bottom of my locker. Frowning, I slid it out and turned it over. It was blank on both sides.
“Careful, dude, it could be a bomb.” He faked a hand on his heart scared look making me shake my head.
“Rayden!”
I turned as one of the guys on the football team gestured for me to come check out his new bike he’d mentioned earlier. Stuffing the envelope in my jacket pocket, Austin and I headed outside. We were fooling around with the bike when a sudden hyperawareness tickled the back of my nape. Shoving at Austin’s hand as he tried to take the keys from my hand, I glanced around the car park. My gaze backtracked to the road on the other side of the school fence, more specifically the black SUV parked on the side of the road. The blackened windows made it impossible to see inside the vehicle.
I tensed as abrupt fear stiffened my spine. They found me. Of course, they would. Lorenzo Rossi seemed like a man who knew anything and everything. Even if he didn’t, he’d make it a point to find out.
Since escaping, three weeks ago, I kept expecting one of the Rossi brothers to arrive at our front door. They didn’t and I stupidly wondered why? It had taken some convincing for my father to forget the whole ‘call the cops’ stance and he eventually relented when I didn’t want to talk about it. Zena, thankfully played her part and didn’t tell my family anything either. Against my father’s wishes, I’d decided to go back to school after spending one long, boring fucking week at home, doing nothing.
Now, as I stared at the SUV, I got the feeling I should’ve listened to my father. Giving Austin the keys to the bike, I moved away from him and the other guys and pulled out the envelope. Going against every safety precaution my father had taught me, I opened the envelope and stared at the contents for a few seconds before withdrawing the single note and what looked like a piece of leather.
I stared at it, recognizing it as the leather band Lorenzo never took off his hand. Baffled why it was in the envelope, I opened the note and let my eyes drift over the words.
I once told you that when I fall in love, mine will be infallible. I did. And it is.
Maybe you’ll do too, one day.
The heart never truly recovers from its first heartbreak.
Maybe I’ll tell you what it felt like, one day.
Have a good life and take care of what will always be mine.
Maybe we’ll meet again, one day.
So, the girlfriend he forgot to mention was the love of his life now? How fucking sweet. Maybe that’s why he didn’t come looking for me. Why share it with me, then? I was just experimental sex, right? If that were the case, who the fuck would break a man like Lorenzo’s heart? What did I have of his? The car? Okay, maybe it wasn’t a good decision keeping the car but fuck, it was a nice and I figured he owed me.
I stared at the note and then the leather band. Unsure what to think. I glanced up. The SUV was gone. Were the two linked? Who dropped the envelope in a secured locker? I glanced around the car park buzzing with noisy school kids. Although a part of me was relieved, another part, the one staring at the note, wanted the SUV to come back.
“Wake the fuck up, Rayden,” I muttered under my breath.
Giving no thought to my actions, I slipped the leather band on my wrist and tightened it, until it fit snug. Then, not sure why I did it, I folded the note and stuck it inside my wallet, looking up as Austin approached.
Lorenzo Rossi was a past I couldn’t and wouldn’t forget. There was no harm in letting it mold my future, though.
