Mobster's Vendetta (4 page)

The announcer talks about the rules.
Basically, there aren’t any. Stay in the ring. Only fists, no
weapons, and it all ends when someone is down for the count of ten.
You can kick, punch, hit, slam...do whatever you want. Really,
there are no rules.

I put out my hand to shake Demetrius’. He
grabs mine hard. There is no bell or formality, only the announcer
yelling go. Demetrius slams me with a punch that has me reeling. My
legs falter, and I stagger back a solid three feet. I shake it off,
and he is right there in front of me again.

“How does this feel, golden boy?” he asks,
pounding and knocking me in the jaw again and again. Blood spills
out of my mouth, and I watch it hit the dirt turning from red to
brown.

Vito is yelling. The whole room is shouting,
cheering, booing, and calling out. The only person I can't hear is
Pop. Donny is barking out instructions and things to do like tear
Demetrius’s throat out.

“I hear you got a piece of ass that everyone
is hard over,” he grates at me. ”Can I fuck her, too?” His crazy
eyes center on me and bile rises in my throat. The idea of him with
in a hundred feet of Megan makes me want to kill him. My focus
returns, and red forms over my eyes, a flash at first and then
becomes a solid haze as my adrenaline peaks. I use a simple leg
swipe and watch Demetrius’ massive form crash onto the dark dirt.
Obviously, he has not had mixed martial arts training like I have.
I need to use it to defeat him.

I swing around, lift up my fist, and jam it
square into his stomach. With all the force that I use, I can hear
the air flow out of his chest. Demetrius clutches his stomach and
rocks back. I take the opportunity of his weakness to grab his arm
and twist. He lets out a yell that is muted because I knocked the
wind out of him. I begin to snap his arm back, but Demetrius
recovers way too quickly.

He twists and seizes me by the waist,
hoisting me up. I hover above his head for seconds before he
smashes me into the dirt. Dust clouds in my mouth as I sputter and
choke on it. I think all of my bones felt the connection to the
ground and hard cement underneath.

Demetrius reaches for me again, and I roll
away. He misses me by a mere inch as I kick up onto my feet. I am
upright again and my body screams in agony from the hit to the
floor. But I push on and dance around him until I get my bearings.
He towers over me...David and Goliath.

Demetrius seizes my hand and swings me
around, and I land against the ropes knocking them down. The
mobsters watching pick me up and toss me back into the filthy ring.
Demetrius is coming at me again. Relentlessly, he kicks and wails
on me. He uses my jaw and face as a punching bag. Vito yells for me
to get out of the way, but I can't move.

He has me in a snare, and it is a vicious
cycle I can't get out of. I feel myself losing consciousness,
tipping and sliding. I am going to fall over soon. I can't let him
get in another punch...I have to stop the sequence. I have to stop
the beating. I have to get him down.

I step over to the side just two inches, he
misses me this time. His confidence in his ability to hit me makes
him stagger when his punch doesn't meet me. Before he can recover,
I roundhouse kick and thrust my foot into his kidneys, knocking him
to the ground. Not wasting one second, I jump on him. I throttle
him with my fists everywhere I can reach. I beat him, hard. The red
stays over my eyes, and I just keep hitting him. I don't think I
could stop myself if I want to. Blood and spit slip under my fists
after every blow.

The announcer comes forward and pulls me off
Demetrius. He is telling me it is over, and I don’t even know it. I
struggle to get a breath, so tired from hitting him. Blood runs
down into my eyes, and my fists feel four times their normal size.
I did it! I put Demetrius down, exactly what I needed to seal the
deal. I am swollen and hurting when I leave the ring.

Vito appears beside me. He clutches my
shoulder whispering, “You almost killed me, dude.”

Pop walks over with Donny, right over to me,
and Pop wipes the blood off my face. My breathing is labored.

“Good job, Tonio. Good job! I knew you could
do it. That's my boy.”

Everyone reassembles at the tables...phase
one is complete. So far we're going to follow through with the
alliance.

We will meet back at this warehouse in a
couple of days. Pop may have a solid start to a new alliance, but I
made a new enemy, Demetrius. Demetrius is not going to let this go.
His pride is hurt, and I'm going to pay for it.

*****

Megan:

I need some space. The party, the harp,
seeing Troy, all of it is overwhelming and I escape to the hallway.
I walk towards the elevators and lean against the wall. A deep
breath I didn’t realize I was holding escapes.

The same thought repeats over and over. How
did I end up here?

It’s not bad. I’m safe, well fed, I have
company...but it’s not enough without Antonio. I have a constant
worry in my heart until I hear his voice over the phone. As soon as
we hang up, the worry starts all over again. I walk up and down the
hallway with restless energy.

A ding sounds and the elevator doors slide
open. Carlo steps out with someone. A girl. Holy crap! It’s
Alessandra.

I launch myself at her. We have never been
really close, but we have a connection that is Antonio. She helped
me when I was lost.

Alessandra actually lets out an ‘ooph’ and
steps back on her spiked heels, then hugs me back. She never stops
looking like the Italian diva that she is.

“Hey, have you been working out?” she asks,
taking a minute to look at me.

“Yes, I’m going stir crazy!” Tears sting my
eyes as I laugh at my own response.

“Come on,” Carlo says. ”Let’s go into the
party.”

Alessandra puts her arm around my shoulder
like we are besties, and we walk into the suite together.

It is so nice to see Alessandra. I can’t
believe that she has shown up here all the way from Palmetto. I
can't believe it's already school break. I've lost track of time
and days since I've been here.

She looks incredible as always. We head into
the party, Alessandra and I arm-in-arm. All heads turn our way.
Erin comes up to us.

“Hello Alessandra, how are you?”

Alessandra embraces her. “I’m fine. How are
you?” She truly sounds sincere. “You look amazing. I'm so glad to
see you.”

“Thank you,” Erin says. ”It’s been a little
rough, but I'm getting better.”

“That is great to hear,” Alessandra says
sincerely.

Clarissa comes up and hugs Alessandra as
well. The girls know each other, being in the same “family.” Ennio
doesn't allow anybody up here without connections that's why I was
so surprised to see Troy here.

Alex, across the room, is craning his neck
and watching us. He's tall so I can see him over everyone. I'm sure
he must know Alessandra, everybody is connected around here. But
Alex’s expression is a little taken aback, as though he is
surprised to see her...or he doesn't even know her.

Troy comes over, munching on some sausage
rolls.

“Hey, you look familiar,” he says to
Alessandra, his brows are furrowed as if he is trying to place
her.

“Yes, we met this summer,” she beams.

I butt in, “Troy we went to get ice cream
and sat with Alessandra and her friends.”

“Oh yeah,” Troy recollects. I find it hard
to believe that Troy doesn’t remember a beautiful girl like
Alessandra.

Mingling ensues, and later I notice
Alessandra hanging around Troy. He is pleasant and nice, and
Alessandra actually seems interested in Troy. He doesn’t seem to be
returning the interest though.

Alex comes up to me when I was just filling
up another plate of food. Seconds...working out makes me very
hungry.

“Who is that?” he asks me, all
secretive.

“That's Alessandra. You don't know her?” I
ask, shoveling bread and butter into my mouth. ”I thought you all
knew each other.”

“Well, I’ve certainly never seen her
before.”

“She lives in Palmetto,” I tell him. “She's
friends with Antonio which is why I kind of assumed you would know
her.”

“No, but...she’s beautiful. You need to hook
me up with her.”

“Hook you up? You need my help?” I ask
incredulously. His dark brown eyes turn to me, annoyed, and I
laugh. “Really? What’s the matter? With all that Italian
testosterone, and you can’t go meet her yourself?”

“Funny,” he says deadpan.

“Alessandra!” I call out. She is talking
with Troy and looks over at me. ”Come on over here.”

“Shit! What are you doing?” Alex is
flustered.

“What you asked. What is your problem?
Sheesh.” Alex is acting pretty juvenile for someone who routinely
kicks ass and takes names.

Alessandra comes over to Alex and me. She
could be a runway model, she is that perfect. Smooth brown hair,
big eyes, high cheek bones, olive skin. She smiles at us as she
approaches.

“Alessandra, this is Alex.” I gesture to him
for effect.

“Hi,” she extends her hand. “Nice to meet
you.”

“Hi,” he returns and follows that up
with...nothing...silence. This is a badass enforcer?! He’s acting
about ten not twenty-two.

I try to fill the void. ”Alex is an enforcer
here.”

“Oh, this, um, must be a great place to, uh,
work,” she says. I can tell she senses the awkwardness.

Continued crickets from Alex, and I roll my
eyes.

“Are you hungry?” I ask. ”There is a ton of
food.” I point to the buffet tables.

Troy walks up behind me. “Hey Meg, how are
you liking your party? This food is wicked good,” he says shoveling
pasta and meatballs in his mouth.

Alessandra bats her eyelashes at Troy. I
seriously didn’t think women still did this. He ignores her.

“It's great!” I say. “I can't believe it. I
just wish Antonio were here.”

Troy snorts, “I am sure Delisi would be here
if he could.”

“Are you leaving tonight?” I ask, my
melancholy drifting to the surface.

“I don't know. I'm assuming they'll take me
out, the same way they brought me in,” he says quietly.

“I wouldn’t say ‘take me out’ too loudly in
here,” I chuckle.

Alessandra agrees jokingly.

Troy laughs too and says in an Irish brogue,
“It’s a fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into Miss Megan.”

I smile, “And I wouldn’t have it any other
way.”

Alessandra tries to engage Troy in a
conversation again. “So how's college?”

“Actually it's been quite eventful since
I've gotten here.” Troy says, giving me a knowing look as he walks
away. What is up with him?

Around midnight, the party breaks up. Troy
gives me a big hug as he leaves. I truly hope he gets home okay. I
told him to call me when he gets there. He never mentioned Jake. He
was fun to hang around with while we were at Notre Dame, and he is
a great new friend to Troy. I meant to ask him how he's doing. Next
time I talk to him, I'll have to ask how things are going with
Jake.

I am still feeling dispirited because I
hadn't seen Antonio yet. My gaze shifts to my gorgeous harp.
Moonbeams filter in through the windows lighting up its golden
color. It is just so beautiful. I couldn't even venture to guess
how much something this magnificent would cost. But I love it. It's
just what I need in this prison...something to take me away, to
give me some peace, even if it's only for a few minutes or the
length of a song.

Clarissa is picking up crumpled napkins and
throwing used plastic glasses away. Alessandra is putting chairs
back around the kitchen table. Everyone’s movements are leaden. I
help to gather up the trash.

“Okay guys, I'm going to head back to my
suite,” Clarissa says once things are mostly cleaned up. ”Are you
staying with me, Alessandra?”

“Yep, I’m coming. Wonderful party, Erin,”
Alessandra says. ”I’m so glad I got to come.”

“See you tomorrow,” I call out very pleased
she is here..

Erin and I continue to clean up party
debris. I know in the morning they'll be staff here to help, but I
figured we might as be as useful as we can.

“Thank you so much, Erin. I had no
clue.”

Erin lifts her shoulders like they are heavy
and says, “I'm so lucky to have you as a sister, Megan. I don't
know how I would've gotten through this without you...and...I'm
sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” I ask her,
surprised.

“I'm sorry that you can't see Antonio. That
he's been gone for so many weeks. I know that it's very hard on you
and that you miss him.”

I flash a bittersweet smile at her.

“I miss him too. I think he's great, Megan.
Don't let him get away,” she adds earnestly.

“Thanks. I'm glad someone in our family
approves of him. If I have to listen to Mom one more time, berate
and trashing him, I am going to lose it.”

“Meg, I wouldn’t listen to Mom. This whole
thing has made me see a lot of things I'd never seen before. It has
really opened my eyes.” Erin throws a bunch of disposable plates in
the trash and continues thoughtfully. “Actually...I think Mom is
jealous of you.”

“What?! That's nuts,” I say
disbelieving.

I can’t imagine that. My mother's jealous of
me? How is that possible?

“She's jealous of your strength. She's
jealous of who you are. You’re confidence and intelligence...your
ability to get through tough situations.” I’m a bit surprised by
the conversation...that is quite a mouthful for my sister
lately.

“Good night,” Erin says and comes over to
hug me. I hug her back.

“Good night,” I say quietly as she slips out
of the room.

Erin goes to her bedroom and closes the
door. I am left standing in the large suite alone, reflecting on
her statements. Is my mother jealous of me? How can she be jealous
of her daughter? Parents are supposed to love unconditionally...not
have those petty feelings.