Sweet Southern Betrayal (24 page)

“Lucky? Get Jack over here as fast as you can. I need your help.”

Chapter Nineteen

Risa still hated all the guns.

She really hated the one aimed at her head right now and the man holding it: Frank Gazarra. She still couldn’t believe Big Tony had picked up her trail so easily. She’d flown to Los Angeles and rented a car to drive into Las Vegas, arriving at night and slipping into her house to grab a few things she wanted to take with her for her new life.

A long night in a crappy hotel paid in cash was uneventful and she was home free. Or so she thought. Her mistake had been Pepper. Unwilling to leave without making sure her friend was still okay, she’d gone to the rehab facility to speak to the administrator before leaving and setting up a place for Pepper to join her. Frank had been waiting for her in the parking lot. She hadn’t seen him coming and he had her before she could scream for help. Risa struggled, fought with every ounce of strength in her body, but in the end all she had to show for it was a torn T-shirt, a shiner under her right eye, and a one-way trip to the Gold Coast Casino. They’d shoved her into a room just off Big Tony’s office, handcuffed her to a chair, and left her with Frank and his gun.

Good times.

A knock at the door preceded the knob’s turning and she pivoted, hoping Teague was here to get her away from these guys. But her chest clenched and her stomach fell when Big Tony stepped into the room, filling the doorway with his bulk.

“Get out, Frank.” The man in question scurried to follow the order quickly and efficiently. Nobody liked to make Big Tony wait, and Frank was gone before Tony could take two steps forward to sit in a big leather chair at the head of the table that took up most of the space and had served as her impromptu bed last night.

“I’m very disappointed in you, Risa.” He smiled, a creepy dark flash of teeth that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He was pissed, and she had no idea what this meant for her. “I give you a job, treat you well, and you betray me for a man who is a stranger to you. You were very rude.”

“Rude” was the mob code word for someone who would soon take a one-way trip to the desert. It didn’t bode well for her plans to start over in a place far, far away.

“This husband of yours. I know him, but I’m not sure how this is going to go down. Does he love you enough to give me what I want?”

“No.” She’d heard it from his own lips; the truth was undeniable. “He doesn’t. I only called him because you forced me to.”

That part wasn’t true. She’d called to hear his voice one last time because she was pretty sure she was going to die. But she wasn’t going to tell Big Tony. He’d just use it against her.

“Well, that sucks for you.” Big Tony got up to leave, but she had her own questions and since she was dying, she’d take a chance and ask. She had nothing to lose.

“Why do you hate him so much? What did he do to you?”

“Do? He didn’t do anything except be way too smart for his own good. He knows stuff he shouldn’t know because he’s the kind of fucker who doesn’t miss anything. He was becoming a danger to me and I needed to do something about him.” Tony picked at a piece of lint on his pants as he considered his answer, laughing to himself at his own private joke. “And he turned down my job offer. That pissed me off.”

“When he brings you the thumb drive, you’ll let him go, right?”

“I don’t know. I have enough reasons to kill Teague and eliminate him as a problem.” He leaned back in his chair, the leather creaking under his weight. “I haven’t decided yet.”

His calm demeanor, the matter-of-fact way he talked about killing the man she loved, was so cavalier she was really afraid for the first time since he’d walked into the room. She couldn’t help what came next.

“No. Please don’t.” Her hands were icy cold and sweaty all at once. The thought of Teague hurt because of this mess put her in a panic. “Just let him go. Don’t hurt him. He was just…” She struggled with what to say next, settling on the truth. “He was just being Teague.”

Big Tony observed her for several long moments and she felt exposed and raw under his scrutiny. He was sizing her up, and she realized too late that she’d probably given up too much with her request.

“You love him.”

She refused to answer. Not wanting to give him this part of her.

“You do.” Big Tony laughed, dry and brittle. “Another good reason to kill him.”

“But you won’t.” It wasn’t a question, and she made sure her voice stated her message loud and clear. Tony read it right away, raising an eyebrow at her audacity to imply that she would do something about it if he did anything to Teague.

It wasn’t an empty threat. She didn’t know how she would do it, but she’d find a way to make sure he paid. She hadn’t forgotten anything she learned on the street and it wouldn’t take much to bring that girl back with a vengeance.

“Are you threatening me?”

“I’m just making sure you know how unacceptable his being hurt would be. It would probably force me into action.”

God, she sounded like a bad action movie. The girl who’d stolen the thumb drive was still inside her and she wasn’t going down without some sort of fight.

“You
are
threatening me.” He shook his head and stared at her hard. “Jesus. You really do love this guy.”

Risa didn’t answer.

“Well, maybe he’s not as smart as I thought he was.” Big Tony rose from the chair, looking down at her from his vantage point. She stared back at him, unwilling to let him have one more minute of her fear. “I always thought you had spirit, Risa. It’s a shame you had to waste it on a guy who didn’t appreciate it.”

He turned away, wrenching the door open and exiting the room as he hit the lights and plunged the room into darkness. Risa didn’t scream for help—she knew no one would be coming with Big Tony’s men just outside, and she didn’t want to give them the satisfaction.

She could do nothing but wait for the time to pass and pray Teague didn’t come.

…

“Teague Elliott. You’ve got big balls, man.”

Teague stood in the office, staring Tony Giambetti down across his desk. The office was ostentatious, but well appointed, and it gave Tony an air of respectability. But he wasn’t crazy enough to underestimate him because no matter what he looked like, Big Tony was a thug and he made lots of money on the backs of other people. And he didn’t think twice about making people disappear.

“Thank you for noticing, Tony.” Teague gave him a slight twist of the lips, not quite a smile but close enough. “I’ve heard that before.”

“I’m sure you have.” Big Tony did that finger-steepling thing Teague remembered from gangster movies. Was that something they taught in gangster preschool? “I know you aren’t here to pull them out and measure them, so let’s stop dicking around. Where’s my thumb drive?”

Teague liked a man who got to the point, especially today when he was itching to free Risa and get the hell out of here. But first things first.

“Where’s Risa?

“Thumb drive first.”

“It doesn’t work that way. I get proof of life or this ends now.” He took a step closer and made sure Tony saw how serious he was. “I’m not fucking around on this, Tony. Risa. Here. Now.”

“Fuck you, Teague. You don’t get to come into my office and make demands.”

Tony made a signal to his men, and around him Teague felt the swift movement of bodies as everyone reached for the weapon of their choice. The Vegas goons were fast but his guys were faster. Nonetheless, they were left in a standoff of wills with guns drawn.

Tony stared him down, sizing up his threat as he glanced at Lucky, Jack, and the two other ex-Special Forces friends Lucky had called in. Huge guys who didn’t look like they would hesitate to elevate this encounter if necessary. Apparently, what he saw was convincing because he nodded toward Frank Gazarra and the other man went through a side door to an adjacent room.

Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Everyone…waited.

The door opened and Risa stumbled through the opening, Frank Gazarra clutching her arm,
……
and Teague could almost hear Jack murmuring in his ear to “calm the fuck down” because one look at her scared eyes, wrinkled clothes, and the suspicious-looking bruise on her right cheek made him want to be anything other than calm.

She pulled away from Gazarra, a muffled “get the hell off me,” and he breathed a silent sigh of relief. She was still fighting. That was a good sign.

“Hey, baby. I’m going to wrap up my business here and then we’ll go, okay?”

“Oh my God. Put down the guns,” she said, her eyes huge when she saw Lucky, Jack, and the two man-sized mountains of mean standing behind him. “Please.”

“It’s going to be fine. Big Tony and I just need to iron out the details. Why don’t you sit down?” She didn’t look like she believed him, but she sat down on the couch to watch the proceedings.

Teague turned back to Big Tony. “I want to pay you what Risa owes you. The full amount, including interest.”

Tony’s eyes widened slightly. He was surprised, but recovered quickly. “Risa has already made arrangements to repay her loan.”

“She doesn’t have the money and I don’t like your idea of repayment terms.” Teague reached into his pocket, keeping his eyes on the guys flanking Tony whose hands reflexively tightened on his weapon. Lucky and Jack moved behind him, making sure everyone remembered that everyone had lots of firepower.

Tony wasn’t the only one prepared to do what was necessary.

Teague pulled out his phone, flashing it to all the parties in the room before continuing, “I make a call to my banker in DC and the money is in your account within the hour.”

“And why should I let
you
pay what
she
legitimately owes me?”

“Because you’re a businessman who knows that you strike while the iron is hot.” He took a step forward and sat down in the chair in front of the desk without being invited. This was a power play between them now, and Teague was not about to let him think he had the upper hand. Tony knew the Teague who didn’t need a gun to take someone out. This was just a reminder. “And your business associates would prefer you receive the money sooner rather than later.”

“What do you know about my associates?”

“Quite a lot, actually.” Teague leaned back in the chair, reciting what he’d memorized from the files on the thumb drive in his safe. “I know you owe money to some people who have even bigger”—he ran a hand over the surface of the furniture in front of him, making sure to maintain eye contact—“desks than you do. I know they are tired of waiting on you to fix your cash flow problems. Risa’s money isn’t going to solve it all, but I think it just might cover a payment you have coming up with a very anxious investor.”

He held his hands out in a “how am I doing?” gesture, continuing when Big Tony gave a terse nod.

“I also know that due to your financial problems, you’ve been crossing the streams between your legitimate and illegitimate businesses. Something that would be very interesting to a US Attorney I know from law school. We’re pretty tight, and I’m sure he’d take a phone call from me right away.” He decided to stop while he was ahead. There were many more secrets in that folder of information, but he might need them if Big Tony didn’t agree to his terms now. “You see, Tony, I know quite a bit about the situation.”

“You know a lot, Teague. But we discussed this before. Knowledge can be a dangerous thing. What’s to keep me from making sure you don’t ever get the chance to share that information with anyone?”

“The fact that I know much, much more.” Teague made sure he locked eye contact with Big Tony at this point of the game. This was not the time to show any weakness. “You were worried I knew too many secrets and you were right to be worried. If you hadn’t fucked with what’s mine, I would have kept your secrets. But as we say back home, you messed with the bull and now you’re going to get the horns.”

“And I’m sure you have copies of this information in several different places.”

“With a few different people.”

“Like I said, you’ve got big balls, Teague Elliott.”

Teague shrugged. “I had to be sure.”

“Of what?”

“That this would end today.”

“The debt.”

“Your interest in Risa. All of it.”

“Goddamn, you two deserve each other.” Tony shifted in the chair. “She practically threatened me when I mentioned your name.”

“She did?” Teague tried to pull back the grin that tugged at his lips at the news, but he failed. If she’d faced off with Tony over him, then it meant he hadn’t killed this beyond repair and might still have a chance. “So, I take it that my terms are understood and acceptable?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Big Tony held his hand out across the desk, his eyes cold with fury. “My thumb drive.”

“Now you see, that’s where you’re just going to have to get used to disappointment. I’m not giving you the pictures. I think ten grand is more than the going rate for that sort of thing.”

Big Tony laughed, shaking his head slowly as if he thought Teague didn’t understand how this was all going to play out. “No. I want those pictures.”