“Dace! Dace please talk to me!” Austin yells after me.
“Go away, Austin. We have nothing to say to each other and stop tracking my phone.” I stand at the meeting spot, waiting impatiently as Austin approaches me. “Austin, what are you trying to do? Get us both killed? Go away.”
“I will do whatever I have to in order to talk to you. Please, Dace, I only want to talk. I can’t believe you can just let what we had go?”
“I can, and I am. Now please, I am begging you, go.”
She gets a look of determination over her, and I become instantly worried. “What are you up to?” I roll my eyes, sighing. “If you won’t talk to me then I will arrest you and force you to talk to me.”
“You’re going to what? You’re insane. Go find your friends. Better yet, go find my brother. He would love for you to arrest him, I’m sure.”
“You’re being an asshole,” she says. I throw up my hands as I spot Antony across the street, wondering whether to approach me or not. “That’s it.” She grabs me and throws me against the wall and ties my hands together. “You’re under arrest.”
“Oh you have got to be kidding me. You are insane. Damn it, Austin, let me go!”
“No, not until you agree to talk to me.”
“Okay we will talk later. Let me go now, and I will give you a call.”
“No, now.” I twist in front of her, cursing under my breath. “You can throw a tantrum all you want, but I am going to get you to talk to me one way or another.” She pushes me to her car and shoves me in. Shaking my head, I sit silent as she drives us to a secluded spot and parks. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was a cop, but after you said you hated them, I thought …”
“You thought better to lie to me. I get it, typical cop.”
“No, that’s not what I meant at all. Besides, you lied to me about who you are.”
“I was protecting you from getting involved with people you shouldn’t be.”
“Liar,” she says, not relenting when I glare at her. “You were afraid I wouldn’t have anything to do with you if you told me. Everyone in this city knows who your family is. I know you love me. I see it, and I love you, Dace. No matter who we are, we can’t change how we feel.”
I huff, shaking my head. “What is the point in telling me that? Am I supposed to say, ‘oh I love you too let’s see if we can work this out’? Oh, I know. Let’s get our families together. Dad this is my girlfriend, Austin the cop, and her father, the chief of police, and Austin, this is my Dad, the known mob boss. And the best part is, we can get my older brother to marry us. Yeah, Michael, marry me and your girlfriend. You don’t mind, do you? Oh what a happy family we will be. We will spend our afternoons with you trying to arrest me and then our nights making love and trying to coax information out of each other. Now, will you stay with the kids or get a babysitter before you go out to track me down and stop me from committing a crime?”
“So you admit you’re a criminal?” she says sarcastically.
“Oh, that’s funny. Austin, my family would kill us both.”
“But then why is Michael chasing after me?”
“Because I’m not Michael! Michael is the first born. He dictates what happens. He makes the rules. Not to mention, he’s a politician now. He wants nothing to do with the old ways of the family; he wants to change it to better his political career which isn’t sitting to well with Ettore. My family is on the brink of an internal war. The last thing I need is for them to change their focus from each other to me. Michael would disown me if he found out I was with you. It would break his heart, and I couldn’t do that to him. And Ettore, Ettore would use my connection to you as a sure sign of betrayal to the family, and without Michael to protect me, I would be as good as dead and so would you.” She looks down with sad eyes, and as much as I want to console her, I can’t. Mostly because my hands are tied behind my back!
“I don’t know what to do, Dace. I miss you.”
“Get over it. Get over me. Go find someone else. That’s what I am going to do.”
“You can just walk away that easily?”
“Yes. It’s not that difficult, Austin. We had some great times, and now those times will be some great memories that we can never tell anyone about. We both have to put it behind us and move on.”
She gets out of the car, pulls me out, and cuts my ties. “Go then, go have … fun … with someone else since it’s so easy to do.” She turns away and slides back into her seat. I go to her as she hides her face with her hands.
I am not sure what to say or the right thing to do to make this all better for her. “You’ll be better off without me.” She doesn’t move, and then I see tears falling down her face. “Hey …” I reach out for her and then stop myself. I am not sure what love is, but something inside me aches and pulls at me to help her, to make her happy. She does deserve to be happy, there is no doubt in my mind about that. “Michael is a great guy. You couldn’t do much better than him. I promise you.” I walk away with every part of me wanting to run back to her and tell her to forget what I said and love me only. I stop and look back … Who am I kidding? We are from two different worlds with two completely different views. I am the villain, and she is the hero, the improbable story of the fallen angel in love with the angel. It would be laughable if the truth of it didn’t hurt so much. I stop and look back over my shoulder while my heart beats in an unstable rhythm. I, Dace Colletto, curse the day I was born and the family I was born into. I curse the circumstances that are forcing me to walk away because, no matter how much I want to run back to her, I know that even hell itself is against us. So if I can’t have her, at least I can make sure she is with someone I know will treat her like I want to, love her … like I do. She will be happy with him, and I will be happy once she is.
I text Antony where I am. He comes to get me and, thankfully, doesn’t say a word to me when I get in the car. Tyson, however, is rightfully curious as to what happened.
“Why did that cop arrest you and then let you go. Is she the one we are paying for info?” I look at him, wondering who he is talking about. “No, that’s not her. She’s a blond, and our person is definitely not a blond or that tall.”
“She was harassing me is all. She’s Michael’s girlfriend. I am sure he put her up to it,” I say with Antony looking at me with a sudden understanding of what I have done. We have never had to say much to understand each other completely.
Chapter 16
Austin
It’s been a couple of weeks since I have seen Dace. I am not sure if he moved out of the building or if he is doing a really good job avoiding me. I have never been one to need someone, especially a man to be happy, but then I lost him. I hate my bed these days; it seems bigger for some reason, so big that I almost took a man home from the bar the other night, and I would have had he not disgusted me before I got a chance to make the offer to him. It’s so hard to not care—to simply stop and walk away as if the feelings never existed.
So, here I am, taking a chance, on someone new. I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but my father begged me to give him a chance, and maybe, deep inside, I want to prove that a Reed can be with a Colletto, or maybe I just want to prove it to Dace. No matter my reason, I owe this to myself, to try and be happy. I owe my family and even Michael this. He has been nothing but respectful and nice to me. No matter his reasoning, I do like that spark he gets in his eyes when he sees me. As soon as I walk into the room, he lights up as if the sun moved out from the darkest of clouds. Although, it still doesn’t compare to how Dace made me feel when he smiled at me. His smile was earned. Michael’s is given and with hopeful expectations, expectations I am not sure I can meet.
“Wow, you look amazing. I don’t know what finally changed your mind, but I am certainly glad it did,” Michael says, taking my hand and kissing the top of it with respect. “So, Miss Reed, let me escort you to dinner.” He helps me with my coat and shows me out the door, holding my hand sweetly the entire way.
“You know, my brother lives in this same building. I can’t believe you two have never run into each other.”
“Oh, I have seen him, but he isn’t exactly approachable. Not to mention the women he is usually accompanied by are not exactly ...”
“Oh, no need to go any further. I love my brother, but his time away from home was spent with some pretty rough people. I am glad he is back so that maybe we can coax him back into a more socially acceptable attitude at least. Hey, how about your partner? You think she might be interested in going out with him?” I cringe at the very idea of Jamee with Dace. I think I would rather cut off my own arm and beat her with it before I would want to see her with Dace. “From that expression, I guess that would be a no. Okay. I won’t mention that again.”
“Let’s talk about us and not about other’s dating issues,” I say, smiling up at him. He nods in agreement as he helps me into his incredibly immaculate car. It’s so expensive that I am almost afraid to let my cheaply clothed ass fully touch the leather seat.
When we arrive at the restaurant, men come running at the car to help me out and greet Michael as if he is royalty of some kind.
“Mr. Colletto, welcome. We have your table ready for you,” the maître de says as he takes my coat and escorts us to our table, or I guess Michael’s table. We sit down, and two waiters come up to take care of us, one for each of us, and then a water man comes out just before the wine waiter greets us.
It’s all a little dizzying, and I must have an expression of the same because when I look up at Michael, he holds back a smile until I laugh. “I’m sorry. I have no idea what is happening,” I laugh, giving him permission to laugh with me.
“No, it’s my fault. I was trying to impress you, and I guess I overdid it. Next time I promise to scale back a bit, if you allow me?”
“Sure, maybe we can try a restaurant with one waiter per table. I won’t make you go buffet style yet,” I laugh.
“Thank you, not sure I even know what that means, but the prospect sounds scary enough. My father was never one for the common places. Mostly, he likes places with good music; he always had to have music with dinner, and the band here is amazing. I would love to prove it to you with a dance later?”
“I didn’t know you could dance.”
“Of course. My mother made us all learn, and in fact, when the rug rats started getting older, Ettore and I were made to dance with them and teach them. It was torture, but when our mother wasn’t around, we would have some fun. Ettore and I would tell them they had to be the girls and had to wear dresses and heels.” Michael laughs so hard he can hardly explain the story. “They were so cute and completely confused on why we dressed them up that way. Dace, oh poor Dace, he would keep saying, ‘But I don’t want to wear booby holders. Michael, I don’t want to have boobies’. He looked so cute and pathetic. I finally turned to him and said, ‘Okay Dace, what would you like to wear?’ That kid didn’t even hesitate. He said, ‘A hat’. He wanted this guy’s hat who was a professional tap dance instructor. He said if he had that hat then he could dance like that man does. Antony though, he didn’t care what we had him do as long as we paid attention to him and loved him. That kid was so loveable. I didn’t have the heart to be mean to him… much. I am still the older brother.” He laughs. “My little girl, she reminds me of him. I can’t get enough of her little smile.”
His love for his brother, his family, is apparent. It’s a wonderful thing to see about a man. “You love your family very much, don’t you?”
“Without a doubt, I would die for each and every one of them, but especially my little girl. Since her mother died, I try to be around as much as possible for her. I think it’s important for a child to have their parent around, not just a nanny. Even as young as she is right now, she knows her mother is gone, and I have to do everything I can to make up for that. Do you want to see a picture?” I start to nod, but he has his phone out and ready with pictures before I can say a word.
“She’s adorable. Do you want more kids?”
“Definitely. I love kids; I would have a whole house full if I could. What about you?” Michael says with obvious enthusiasm.
“Oh, yeah. I love kids too. I would like to have my own one day, when the time is right.”
“And when is the right time?” he asks.
“I guess when the job stops being fun and when I meet the right man.”
“So when Prince Charming comes along and sweeps you off your feet, you would consider quitting your job?”
“Quit? I don’t know … I …I.”
“I’m sorry. You don’t need to answer that right now. I am being way too nosey. It’s hard to answer a question so important and serious without all the information. Let’s change the subject and talk about you.”
“What about me?” I ask nervously.
“What is your dream prince charming, and how can I become that man for you?” he asks sincerely with a sparkle in his eyes that sends butterflies through my body. “How about telling me while we dance?” I smile with an excited nod, and he instantly stands, holding out his hand to me. As hard as I try, I can’t help but compare him to Dace. Sure, they are brothers, but they are so different and not just in their hair color. Dace is ruggedly built, sexy as hell, unattainable, and oh so seductive in every move he makes. Michael, despite being much older than me, is still handsome. He greets me with a respectful hand, always has an encouraging word or two, a true politician along with being the perfect husband and father material. I am sure he is closer to what I should want. Right?
My father walks into the station with his head held so high I am surprised he notices me, but he gives me a quick glance before meeting with my boss and then talking to Aaron, his pride and joy. We may be twins, but I am the daughter he could care less about, the one who can’t carry on the family name, traditions, or long history of police chiefs in the family. As far as my father is concerned, a female cop is only good for keeping the feminists off his back. I spent years trying to change his mind, prove to him that I was more than worthy of the position he now holds, but one day, I realized, he doesn’t care. No matter how hard I try, he will never see me for anything other than a daughter that he has been burdened with. He has never known how to talk to me or treat me. When I first got my period, he had a female neighbor come over and talk to me. It was incredibly uncomfortable to talk to someone I barely knew about something so personal; however, it was better than having to talk to him. I am not sure how my mother stayed married to him for so long, maybe it was the many men she was sleeping with behind his back, at least that’s what my father told us. I don’t remember her ever being with anyone, but I guess she wouldn’t share that kind of thing with her children. My father wouldn’t even allow us to go to her funeral. I hated him for that, and at times, I still do. Now, I am the typical little girl trying to get her daddy’s approval. It’s disgusting and for some reason, knowing that, I still keep trying.
“Austin,” my father says sternly from behind me.
I stand and immediately begin adjusting my clothes. “Sir, how are you today?”
“Good and you?”
“Doing well, thank you.”
“How is Michael?”
“He’s good, I guess.”
“You guess? Are you even trying to make him happy? How can you keep a man interested if you’re not in tune with his wants and needs or if he is at least doing well?”
“That’s not really up to me Father. That’s up to Michael. I can’t control his happiness.” His glaring eyes tell me he disagrees. “I really wish you would see me as a valuable officer and not a value as a whore to make your connections happy.”
“Come with me!” he snaps. I follow him to a meeting room and he shuts the door behind us. “Sit down, Austin.”
“I don’t have time for this. I have a lot of work to do, Father.”
“You will make time to listen to this. Our family has built a perfect reputation in this city. We have gained importance
with each generation, and next, Aaron will be taking over for me to help continue that tradition. The best contribution you can make is to marry Michael Colletto.”
I stand up with force. “Marry him?! How can marrying into a crime family help our family’s reputation?”
“Sit down!” I slowly ease back into the chair while my father leans down into my face. “The Collettos have had past issues, I will give you that, but they are a strong, prideful family, and now they are making huge strides to better their own. Michael is a good man, and his ability as a politician and leader is something to admire. He is going to be president of this country one day, I promise you. If you play your cards right, you could be his first lady, and that is something I want for you and our family. You have a chance to be part of the history books, Austin.”
“Oh yeah, as the wife of a crime boss, who is able to trick people into voting for him, or buy votes, is probably more like it!”
My father smacks me in the face, leaving a burning hand print behind. He stands tall in front of me with a scowl as Aaron runs into the room and quickly puts himself between me and my father. “Dad! What are you doing?”
“Your sister needed to be reminded of who I am.”
“Why are you forcing her to date Colletto? He’s a dirt-bag. I don’t understand why you would go against everything you have taught us, and I am sure she doesn’t either.”
“Because sometimes you need to align yourself with the powerful to stay ahead and to stay powerful yourself. This is the way it is, the opulent control the world.”
“I think we could do much better if we would put them behind bars for life.”
“Don’t be a fool, Aaron,” my father says through his teeth. “They are beyond punishable. They are the leaders, the kings of this world, and if we want to succeed against our enemies then we need to align ourselves with them to do it.”
“We have the law on our side. We don’t need to align ourselves with anyone! You are the chief, a king in your own right. We control them! They should fear us!” my brother stresses with his whole body beginning to shake with anger. “I’ll make it my personal mission to put their whole family away.”