The Enforcer or The Mafia Prince

Chapter 9

Jessica slammed the door shut with a resounding "WHAM!" The entire car shook with the force of Jessica's rage. Tristan didn't even have time to open the car door for her. Jessica just marched out of the hospital with the three men following her like fearful little ducklings. Standing outside of the vehicle, Tristan and Declan shared a look of bewilderment. They didn't know what set her off, so they attempted to get in the car as inconspicuously as possible. Once everyone was in the car and Jessica knew there was no danger of eavesdroppers, she let out a frustrated roar.

"How dare he! How DARE he! HOW DARE HE! That scum weasel son of a...," Tristan cut off Jessica's ranting.

"What happened, Jess?" He took her hand and brushed a hair lock off her face.

"That jackass, Greg. After he attacked me in the library on Saturday, my friend Andrea bumped into him on campus Sunday. There was no one around, no cameras that she knew of, but "somehow" she ended up in the ER with a head injury and no memory of what happened after meeting Greg," Jessica made finger quotes around somehow; she didn't believe for a second that Greg was innocent. She knew that Greg had attacked Andrea to get back at both girls. He'd already tried twice and failed to attack Jess. Everyone was furious on Jessica's behalf. Greg started as an annoying fly. Now, he was willing to go so far as to harm a third party to get back some sense of what? Pride? Masculinity? Greg had to know Jessica would never be with him after all the things he'd done. Tristan rubbed his thumb against Jess's hand while keeping their fingers laced.

Declan looked back to see Tristan's gentle caresses on Jess's face and heard, "Jess, do you want me to handle it? Say the word, and he won't bother you again." Sure, Declan was shocked by his friend's sweet tone, but Jessica was stunned. Did he offer to get rid of someone for her? Would Tristan do that for her? Declan began to belly laugh as he realized the meaning of Jessica's facial expression.

"Boss," he choked, "Boss, you might want to tell her you meant legally. She thinks you're going to have him unalived." The silly way he used slang to soften his meaning made Jessica laugh guiltily. Tristan looked over at her with giant, worried eyes.

"You thought what?" He looked back and forth between Jess and Declan. "How do you know that?" He looked to Declan for an explanation.

"You should hear some of the stuff that lives in that brain of hers. She was stunned stupid when I returned her laptop the other day. She said she didn't know she could contact the outside world without us watching her." Jimmy and Declan shared a funny look, and the entire car erupted into laughter.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. It's just that you have all been so nice to me after tying us up last Wednesday. What was I supposed to think?" She blushed while apologizing to the group. Even Jimmy had shown her nothing but respect when he wasn't teasing her.

"Oh!" Jessica looked out the window. "I'm still so mad at Greg!"

"Jess, we have some excellent private investigators we keep on retainer. I can have them look into this guy for you. If they find anything, we'll send it to the authorities. We won't harm him or do anything illegal, even though I'd like to destroy him for hurting you so much," Tristan meant everything he said. He wanted to fix this situation for her. He wanted Greg out of her life altogether.

"Um," Jess bit her lip as she avoided Tristan's eyes. So far, she hadn't directly asked for anything that didn't already belong to her. "If you do that, I won't be able to pay you back, Tristan." Tristan stopped breathing. It wasn't the first time she'd said his name, but the way she looked at him, he was spellbound. No one had ever been hesitant to take anything from him. Even Sophia never looked at him with the sincerity he was in Jess right then.

"Tristan?" He shook himself and remembered what they were discussing.

"You won't owe me anything. Just let me do this for you, okay?" Even Jimmy's face fell at the kindness coming from Tristan. No one had told him about getting rid of Sophia yet. Jimmy had no idea what was happening in the backseat.

"Please, do whatever you can to get him away from me," Jess was exhausted by Greg's behavior. She didn't even like him in the beginning. Tristan nodded and kissed Jess's temple, stunning everyone. This behavior wasn't Tristan's.

"Okay, I'll take care of it." Jessica was so thankful that Tristan offered to help her. A slam on the brakes shattered their moment.

"Sorry, my foot slipped," Jimmy said nervously. The romantic energy behind him made Jimmy uncomfortable, and he lost focus. "We here, by the way."

They had already returned to the condo. As soon as the group was upstairs, Jess went directly to her room and called her mom. Seeing she was well behind a closed door and distracted, Decland and Tristan looked at one another. They silently agreed that kid would get his ass beat, and no one would tell Jessica.

"Dad wants to meet her tomorrow," Tristan told Declan. "We've already put things off twice. She had to study this weekend, so Dad didn't press the issue. Now that we're getting involved with this Greg kid, he won't let us put it off any longer." Declan nodded. Thankfully, Jess was not going to campus tomorrow, so they were sure not to run into her stalker.

"What time?"

"He said after five because he has meetings all day."

"I'll have her there. Are you going to be at the meeting, too?" Declan knew Tristan would be busy the next day. Still, sending Jessica before Ciaran without Tristan would be messed up.

"I'm going to try. If not, you have to stay with Jess. Do whatever it takes to get in the room with them." Declan agreed to follow Tristan's orders.

"Hey, Jimmy," Tristan called over to the driver. "Walk with me downstairs. I need to talk to you about something." Finally, someone was going to get Jimmy in on the plan so that another Sophia incident didn't happen. They couldn't risk it happening in front of Jess.

The next day Declan and Jessica were home alone. Tristan had meetings all day. Jimmy was stuck driving him around. Even though it was doubtful that Greg would get to Jess in the condo, they didn't want to leave her alone until they dealt with him. Declan was to be with her at all times. Unless, of course, Tristan was with her. Declan walked into the living room to find Jess lying on the couch, half asleep and bored.

"What are you watching?"

"Huh?" Jessica wasn't paying attention, so Declan's question didn't register with her.

"I asked you what you're watching," he restated.

"Oh, just a documentary on the Battle of Verdun. It's interesting, and nothing else was on." Something in her tone tugged at Declan's heart.

"Jess? Are you doing okay?" He sat on the other couch and studied her. Jess paused the screen and sat up.

"I guess I'm okay. A lot has happened, and it's not even a full week since I left home. Andrea's out of school for the rest of the semester. Now we can't graduate together." Jessica hadn't realized that her closest friend would be around less until she talked to her mom the night before. Depressed didn't even cover her emotions. Even though she had promised not to blame herself, she did feel upset. Jess felt responsible for slightly derailing Andrea's life. Though she knew she shouldn't condemn herself for Greg's actions.

"Now I have the ridiculous blond stalker trying to hurt me in any way possible," Jess didn't finish her sentence. Declan sighed. He hated seeing her so down and not her usual glowy self. "Do you want some tea? I could use some chamomile." Declan nodded and let her brew them some. When Jess finished brewing the tea, she returned to the living room, sat on the end of the sofa nearest the one Declan sat on, and handed him a steaming mug. They were seated at a ninety-degree angle to one another, close but not directly facing each other. Things were still awkward. Jessica sighed and rubbed her hand against the white throw pillows, enjoying the comfort she got from their softness.

Declan grabbed one of her hands and held it with both of his. Looking directly into the green eyes he found so beautiful, he told her everything would eventually work out. He also reminded her she was safe with the O'Sullivans and, by extension himself. She found herself getting lost in him again. Remembering his reaction to their kiss in the library, she forced her eyes elsewhere.

"Declan?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we get out of the house? I know that going out means we might run into Greg," she turned to look out the window, "but it's so sunny outside, and it seems like a warm day. Please?" Jessica didn't care what they did. She just needed to relax a little. Declan thought for a bit, wondering where he could take her that would still be safe. An idea struck him.

"Hey, Jess," Declan let go of her hand and stood up. "Do you like video games?"

"Yeah, they're all right. I don't have time to play consistently, so I don't like ones with stories." Her answer made Declan beam at her.

"Do you like shooting games?" He continued asking her questions as he walked to the front door, compelling Jess to follow him.

"Like first-person shooters? Yeah." Jessica almost tripped over herself trying to keep up with him. "Declan, where are we going?"

"You'll see," Declan smirked, not answering her question.

Declan took her to a cool-looking townhome on the upper west side of town. He pulled directly into the attached garage and made sure the door was down before unlocking the car and ensuring no one had snuck in. Content, he signaled Jess to get out of the vehicle. He held the door open for her and gestured for Jess to enter the townhome. Walking directly into the kitchen, she was amazed at the place. The walls were red brick, giving the whole residence an industrial feel. Instead of a dining table, there was an air hockey table next to the kitchen. Instead of fancy art or family photos, antique neon signs decorated the walls. It wasn't that there were only one or two tastefully distributed around the open area. No, they were everywhere, as if they were in a neon-sign museum. Jessica giggled at one that was an arrow pointing upstairs that said, "Live Nudes." She supposed that was pointing to the bedrooms. The joke was cute.

"What is this place? I love it!" Jessica ran all over the living room, gawking at all the signs. Some were incredibly rare or for local companies that didn't even exist anymore.

Declan had a slight blush on his cheeks as he responded, "This is my home." Jessica turned to stare at him.

"You brought me to your home?" She couldn't believe he would invite her into his personal space when he was such a private man.

"Yes, this is all mine. You wanted to get out, and this was the only place I could think of that had both fun and security." He smiled sheepishly.

"Woah, this is so cool. What else is there?" Without thinking, she held out her hand, intending for Declan to show her around. Thinking it'd be okay this once. Declan took it. He first showed her the rest of the ground level. There was a small tidy office, an outdoor patio, and a half bath under the stairs that started near the front door. The second floor was similar to the first but with fewer signs. Declan said it was hard to sleep with them on. As a result, the ones upstairs were broken but still very well kept.

The third floor confused her because it appeared as though it only took up half the space that the first two floors did. Declan touched his lips like he was showing her a secret. He grabbed a miniature Model T replica on a bookshelf and twisted it. The entire bookcase swung open to reveal that the other half of the floor was an outdoor kitchen with an old-fashioned pizza oven. Everything about this place felt like Declan. Better yet, it was Declan's ode to old Chicago. Declan opened the half fridge behind a bar and handed her a bottle of sparkling water.

"Are you hungry?" Declan was finally comfortable looking at her again.

"You know what? I am!"

Declan used his chin to point to a cozy sitting area, "Why don't you take a seat and let me make you a pizza?" Jessica looked over. The hammock she saw in the corner was tempting. However, she didn't feel like sitting still.

"How about you show me how to make one? We can cook together," she said brightly.

The sound of Declan's professional knife skills chopping vegetables while Jessica laughed at her ineptitude filled the air. She knew how to cook but didn't have the chance to often since she went between living on campus and at home. Still, she had thought she was okay to help chop veggies until she saw how expertly Declan moved in the kitchen.

"Who taught you how to cook? Was it your mom?" Declan stopped cutting for a moment.

When he resumed cutting, he didn't look up but responded, "I grew up an orphan. I taught myself to cook."

"You are an orphan? What happened to your parents?" Declan put down his knife and gathered the ingredients to make the pizza dough.

"I don't know. I was in the foster system before I could remember." Jessica gave up on helping and sat on the counter behind Declan, enjoying chatting with him.

"Did you like your foster parents? Are you still in touch with them?"

"Nope," he frowned. Again, Declan didn't look up as he continued talking, "I ran away from them. They weren't abusive per se." Declan paused, unsure of how to talk about himself.

"It's just that, from the time I could walk to the store alone, they would have me run errands to their friend's houses. Sometimes it was to get the money they said their friends owed. Other times it was to deliver things like muffins. My foster mother enjoyed baking."

"Then why did you run away," Jessica asked while sipping her drink.

"I found out they were using me to help run their drug operations. When I was about ten, I accidentally dropped some muffins on the way to a friend's house. When I went to pick them up and go home, I saw that my foster mom had put them on two paper plates. The plates separated when they hit the ground, and drugs were in the middle. I was young, but we lived in a rough area. I knew what I was looking at. I was too angry and scared to go home, so I just didn't."

"I'm so sorry, Declan." Jessica hopped off the counter and hugged Declan's waist from behind. The feel of her pressed against him made his heart race.

"Let's change the subject. Today we're trying to cheer you up," Declan said, turning around to bop her on the nose. "I've got a surprise, so stand back." Jessica did as Declan instructed and was delighted to watch him throw the pizza dough into the air and start spinning it.

"Wow!" Jessica was speechless. She loved watching him finish hand-tossing the dough and build the pizza, including a sauce that Declan swore he jarred himself. When the oven was hot enough, he cooked the pizza for the exact amount of time needed, down to the second, using the stop-watch function on his cell phone. The entire process was an outstanding production. The pizza was hands down the best she'd ever had. After they ate and picked up their mess, Declan told Jessica he had another surprise for her. She'd gotten her outside time, now was game time.

Declan walked Jess back to the first floor and flipped a switch hidden behind one of the neon signs. A door popped open under the stairs next to the bathroom.

"What's in there?" She asked him.

He raised an eyebrow and smiled at her, "Go on, take a look."

At first, the closet looked dark and scary. The single, hanging lightbulb didn't help its image. Jess pulled the string to turn on the dim light. There was a set of stairs going down. She gave Declan a worried look, but his excited face pushed her forward. She gingerly walked down the narrow stairs. Once she reached the bottom, she was pleased to step down onto the plush carpet.

Jessica felt along the wall for a light switch. When her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she gazed around the room with giddy anticipation. Declan didn't just collect neon signs, but he also collected arcade games. There were two pinball machines, various old-school side scrollers, and some newer shooting games complete with the pedal to recharge your ammo. Jessica bounced from game to game, excited to see the ones she was familiar with and stopping at others she didn't know.

Declan's game room tickled Jessica. The couple went toe to toe for hours on different games. In one game, they were partners. They played the same level over and over again. Finally, they made it to the next round after Declan did a particularly crafty maneuver to save Jess's character. She was so lost in the moment that she forgot everything. She forgot that her father was in debt and her mother was sick. She forgot about the awful business with Andrea and Greg. Jess even forgot about the O'Sullivans and why she was hanging out with Declan in the first place. No, for the first time in a long while, she was just a young woman hanging out with a friend. She looked at Declan and kissed his cheek, completely happy living in the moment.