Mafia and His Dangerous Angel

Chapter 5: Grace

I shoved Devon against the wall, my anger getting the best of me, “Whatever the f**k just happened, you better undo it and undo it now!”

Devon looked shocked and hurt, “Grace, I had no idea about any of this. You saw them! They showed up out of nowhere with a picture of us from the bombing event.”

I pulled away, flipping a chair away from me, “I don’t like being in the spotlight, and I especially don’t like it when I have the mafia on my ass.”

Devon sighed, straightening his suit I had messed up, “I’m sorry, Grace. This isn’t what I wanted for you either. Maybe you should just play their game. I’m sure they will go away on their own.”

I shook my head, thinking back to what Anna said, “I don’t think so. The county is split down the middle. It’s going to get dicey from here on out. I have to watch my own back now and yours!”

He rolled his eyes, “You’re just blowing this out of proportion.”

“Excuse me?!”

He smirked, “You’re in the Raven’s territory right now. Nothing is going to happen to you. The boss said so himself.”

I stared at him in complete shock, “You work for him?!”

Devon frowned, “We all pay a small fee for protection. Sometimes I pass information to him to get on his good side so I can ask for small favors.” He shrugged, “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Not that big of a deal!?” I yelled at him, causing some people who were walking by to stop and look at us through the windows. I pointed my finger at him, “I had thought you were better than them. Better than other companies. I had thought you had your head on straight, but you're out here playing with the devil himself. How could you!?”

“What are you getting so bent out of shape for?” Devon yelled back, “You’ve been gone for damn near ten years. You don’t own this county or any of the people in it. While you went off to fight the war for the government, we were here fighting the war in our neighborhood.”

“You're getting in bed with dangerous people, Devon.” I said, “You don’t know what they are capable of.”

“And you do?” Devon scoffed, “You’re not even back for a week, and now you're telling me how to live my life? Get your head out of your ass, Grace. I’ve been dealing with him and his stupid gang for years now. I know how this works. You don’t!”

I shook my head, “I can’t believe you,” I whispered. I grabbed my bag from the table and headed to the door.

“Wait!” Devon hurried after me, “You can’t just leave like this. We have unfinished business.”

I glared at him as I pressed the button for the elevator, “No, we don’t. I don’t do business with those who associate themselves with the mafia and criminals.”

He grabbed my upper arm, preventing me from getting on the elevator, “What the hell is going on, Grace? You were fine one minute and now this? I’m owed an explanation.”

I jerked my arm away, “I don’t owe you shit.” I entered the elevator, pressing the garage level before looking at Devon one last time, “Watch your back, Devon. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

With that, the doors closed, and I was finally able to break down. I leaned back against the wall, tears falling onto my cheeks. The pain I’d been hiding for the past few months came rushing over me, and I hurried out of the elevator and into the parking garage. I felt the panic attack. It was coming, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. I frantically grabbed my car keys and sprinted to my car, trying to rip the doors open before I had a full-on meltdown.

With shaky hands, I had finally got the key into the door, but it was ripped away from me. I whipped around, ready for a fight and confused as to who the hell was bothering me right at this moment. Salt and pepper hair, dark brown hateful eyes, and a spider tattoo peeking out from his button-up shirt. His hair was styled differently, but I knew this was the same person who had impersonated Mr. Cleaver that night at the charity event. What the f**k was he doing here? Did he recognize me?

“You don’t seem like you're in a good place to drive at the moment.” His voice was a little raspier than before, “Driving emotionally can cause the same kind of harm as drunk driving, you know.” He held up my car key in his hand, “Shall I call you a cab or a ride service?”

I quickly wiped my tears, getting into a defensive stance just in case something happened. “I’m fine, I swear. I wasn’t planning on driving right at this moment.” I whispered.

“But you were getting into your car?” He said, frowning at me and my logic.

I smiled, “Yeah, I felt a panic attack coming, and I was planning on just having it in my car, so I didn’t do it in public.”

He blinked a few times as he realized what he had done, “Oh, I am so sorry!” He handed the key back to me with a shy smile, “I get concerned at times. I’ve nearly been in accidents myself while driving angry, and I just don’t want someone as beautiful as you to end up in the hospital.”

I glanced away, unsure of how to react. Before I could say anything, he was shoving me against the side of my car, his front to my back. I immediately went still as he breathed in my ear. He placed his hands on my hips, and it took everything inside of me not to stab him repeatedly with my car keys.

“Are you surprised I recognized you?” He whispered. I quickly turned with my hand raised, ready to strike, but he blocked it, locking my back against the car as I met the look of bloodlust in his eyes. He grinned, “I would recognize you anywhere, little one.” He pushed a few strands of my hair behind my ear, “You saved a lot of people that night. I don’t think you know the damage you did, though.”

“Damage?” I asked, confused.

He clicked his tongue at me, nodding his head, “Yes, damage. A total of seven people died that night. I was paid to kill up to twenty. I was trying to understand what happened. Bad seating? Bad placement? Bad setup?” He shook his head, “Nope, it was you. You saved a total of thirty-one people that day.”

I wet my lips, realizing I was in danger, “I didn’t realize that I had caused damage. I was trained to save people, not cause damage.” He inched forward, his eyes dilating some.

He smirked, his hand cupping the side of my face, his mouth inches from mine, “I know everything about you, Grace. I know why you want to save people, and I know why you hate the mafia.”

My eyes went wide as I stared up at his dead eyes. I opened my mouth to say something, but he covered my mouth with his hand, “I’ll tell Devon everything if you don’t do as I say.” He gave me a warning look as I glared up at him, “You killed your family, Grace. It’s your fault. Once Devon finds out, he’ll never want to see you again.”

I leveled out my breathing, trying to control the panic attack that started to surface. He licked his lips, staring at mine. I could feel the hardness in his pants and knew this was getting him off.

I squeezed my eyes tight, praying that this was just a dream, a hallucination. Just anything to make this go away. I was wrong, though. He was still there, with a huge grin on his face.

He winked at me, taking a step back, “Next time, maybe we’ll get more comfortable.” He readjusted himself in his pants before turning his attention back to me, “I’ll be in contact, and when I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it.”

He turned and walked away, leaving me frozen. Once I could breathe again, I hurriedly got into my car and broke down several times. I hit my stirring wheel so many times that I ended up going to Urgent Care, and they had to pop my wrist back into place. I needed to tell Devon. I need to see him right now before that fucker tells him and makes me look like the bad guy. Hopefully, Devon will forgive me.

I ended up rushing to Devon’s apartment after I got released from the hospital. I needed to talk to him as soon as possible. I didn’t anticipate the fact that he would have company, though. He appeared in the doorway with no shirt on, and his jeans were unzipped. He didn’t look happy to see me, but when he saw the brace on my hand, he yanked me into his apartment.

“What the hell happened?” He asked through clenched teeth.

I haven’t been to his new apartment yet. He moved a year after I went into training. He got the CEO position thanks to his father stumbling onto the company and taking it over. His dad didn’t want to deal with it, so he gave it to Devon to handle. I’ve been meaning to come over, but I kept telling myself another time. Thankfully, I memorized his address from the letters he used to write to me.

His apartment was spacious, with lots of seating for everyone, a circular black leather sofa that faced an 80-inch television sat in the middle of the room. The doors to his patio were wide open and allowed me to see the natural light hitting the sparkling chandelier hanging over the mahogany dining table with six matching chairs. I could see the opening of the kitchen to the left and what I imagined as a hallway that led to the bedrooms.

He pushed me down onto the sofa, kneeling in front of me as he looked over my hand, “What happened?” He asked again, angrier this time.

“That doesn’t matter right now. I have to tell you something, and I need you to be open-minded,” I quickly said.

He gave me a weird look, “You know you can tell me anything, Grace.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but another voice spoke over me, “Honey, what’s going on?” a sing-song voice came from the back of the apartment. Tiny footprints echoed, and a woman popped around the corner with nothing, but a sheet wrapped around her body.

She was cute. Long blonde hair, big blue eyes, short, pale, and very bubbly personality. Her eyes went wide, and she hurried over, a concerned look on her face as she saw the brace.

“Oh no! What happened?” She said, her voice all high pitch. I resisted my urge to cover my ears. What the f**k was Devon thinking? I had thought he had a different taste in women, but that must have changed.

I looked at Devon, containing my anger, “Maybe we should talk another time. I’m sorry for barging in.” I stood up, aiming for the door.

Devon stopped me, a serious look on his face, “It’s fine. Shelia, give us some privacy, please.” Shelia nodded, a sad look in her eyes as she hurried back to where she came from. Devon gestured to the patio. Once we were out there, he shut the doors. “All right, you rushed over here to tell me something important. Spit it out!”

I sighed deeply, “It’s not easy for me to talk about.” I shook my head, “I don’t even know where to begin.”

He crossed his arms, glaring at me, “Maybe you can start by telling me what the hell happened earlier today.”

I looked away, down at the traffic below, “I got upset because… I’ve been in this position before.”

“What?” Devon asked, looking confused.

I threw my hands up in the air, “It was before I went to boot camp. My father, excuse me, foster father, ended up in debt due to gambling, and he gave me to this mobster as a gift to get him out of his debt.”

“What?” Devon said, looking angry. His voice echoed in the alleyway.

“I didn’t say anything because how the hell does someone say something like that to their best friend.” I crossed my arms, “So, I enlisted. A week into boot camp, I got a letter telling me that my foster family had been killed in a home invasion. I knew that it was because I had left.” Tears threatened to spill over onto my cheeks, “I killed them because I was selfish.”

Devon grabbed me by my shoulders, “Grace, it isn’t your fault. It’s your foster fathers.”

I shook my head, “I should have stayed. I should have just given in.” I felt the wetness on my cheeks, “None of them should have died because of me.”

“But they didn’t!” Devon said. He grabbed my face, making me look at him, “You’re putting the blame on yourself when it belongs to your foster father.”

“It doesn’t feel like it.” I whispered, “Those children…” I whimpered.

Devon pulled me against him, hugging me. “Just let it out, Grace. I know it hurts.”

I don’t know how long I clung to him or how long I cried on his shoulder, but it felt like a relief. It felt good to have someone else know. I never told Devon because I didn’t want anyone else carrying that burden with them. I was ashamed of what happened, but I knew that Devon never would have judged me for it. I was just worried that this spider guy would have made me out to be the bad guy.

Finally, I pulled away, “There’s something else.” I sniffled.

“What?” Devon said again, a more serious edge to his tone.

“Remember that guy who was impersonating Mr. Cleaver?” I asked.

Devon nodded, “One of the Nico’s men had a picture of him. He looks nothing like Mr. Cleaver once in the daylight.”

I sighed, “He found me. He confronted me in the parking lot.”

“He what?!” Devon said, his eyes showing anger, and he bawled up his fists.

I rubbed my face, “I was crying because of our fight, and he approached me acting concerned for my well-being, telling me not to drive while emotional.” I shuddered, remembering the way he pressed up against me, “He said he was going to tell you about what I did to my family, and then he would have you in his corner.”

Devon scoffed, “You can’t possibly believe that I would ever believe that guy?”

I shrugged, “After our argument, I didn’t know what to think. I’ve been holding onto this secret for so long that I just didn’t want it to be told by someone who didn’t know the full story.”

Devon sighed, “I’m grateful you told me, Grace, but it doesn’t change anything.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “It explains why you didn’t like the fact I’m in cahoots with Nico and his thugs, but I can’t change that. I’m not one of his lackeys, though. I only go through Nico if I don’t have any other choice.”

I nodded, “I should have explained. I should have told you sooner, but the mobster never came for me. I never heard from him again or his goons.”

“Do you remember his name?” Devon asked, opening the doors to his apartment and gesturing for me to follow him.

I trailed after him, “Marshall, I think.” I shook my head when he offered me some leftover pizza, “I can’t remember his last name, but I’m pretty sure part of his area is what Nico took over.”

Devon grunted, “I’m not too sure if that’s good or bad. If Nico is somehow related to Marshall and finds out about this, then he could come knocking on your door to collect.”

I frowned, “Is that possible? Marshall never even wanted me until I was eighteen, according to my foster father. It’s why I enlisted as soon as possible.” I sat down at the dining table, watching him in the kitchen raiding his cupboards.

Devon sat down at the table with some oatmeal raisin cookies, “I wouldn’t put it past him. Nico will do just about anything to get what he wants. He’s been investing lately in real estate and building tycoons. Luckily for me, I’m able to outbid him.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good idea. What if he gets angry enough to take you out?” I asked, concerned.

Devon shook his head, a half-eaten cookie in his hand, “I highly doubt that. He needs me. I feed him information on real estate and building plans that he wants to get his hands on. We have a sort of… an understanding.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better about the situation.” I laid my head in my hands, trying not to have a mental breakdown, “I’m not exactly too sure what to do in this situation.”

Devon sighed, patting my shoulder, “We’ll figure something out. For now, you’re staying with me.”