Clean Slate (New Mafia Trilogy #2) (5 page)

           
“Jason or dirty martinis?” Chelsea asked with a laugh.

           
“A little bit of both!”

We hooked arms and
walked out into the bar. The band was really rocking and Chelsea pulled me onto
the small dance floor. We were both overdressed for the crowd and drew a lot of
attention. A couple of men came up to join us. At first, the one by me kept a
safe distance. He inched closer the longer the song played and was getting a
little too close for my comfort level. I stepped back and bumped into Chelsea.
Her dance partner had moved on.

           
“Let’s go back to the boys,” I yelled over the music. She
nodded, reaching for my hand. We started to leave when someone grabbed my other
arm and yanked me back - hard.

           
“Ow - get off me!” I ripped my arm out of his grip and
squared off. It was the man I had been dancing with and he loomed over me
scowling, his forehead glistening with sweat.

           
“I wasn’t done dancing.” Before I could move, he stepped
forward, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me against him. His
breath was hot and reeked of alcohol.

           
“Leave her alone!” Chelsea punched at his arms and he
didn’t even flinch. He swatted her away like she was an annoying mosquito. That
did it.
 
Lifting up my leg, I gouged into
the top of his foot with my heel.

           
“You bitch!” Spit sprayed over my face.

I pushed off of him and
lost my footing. I could feel myself falling backwards and then suddenly hands
wrapped around me from behind.

           
“I got you,” Jason breathed in my ear as he righted me.
As soon as I had my balance he was moving past me and face to face with the
asshole.

Jason wasn’t nearly as
tall as the guy, but he didn’t back down. He shoved him and the crowd
surrounding our scene took a collective step back. Derek ran up and checked on
Chelsea before charging into the fray.

Punches were thrown and
Chelsea screamed. I grabbed her trembling hand and she clung to my arm. A
separate commotion was breaking out behind us and I turned to see a bouncer and
Callie pushing their way through the throngs of bystanders.

This time I wasn’t
forced to defend myself. I had someone fighting my battles for me and fight
them he did. Jason never hesitated. He ducked and landed punches like a
professional boxer. Callie displayed balls of her own when she stepped right in
the middle. The bouncer pulled Derek out first and then hauled Jason back.

Chelsea and I each
grabbed hold of our dates and kept them from jumping back in.

           
Callie turned to us, “You guys need to leave.” Her focus
returned to the bouncer who was wrestling my would-be assailant to the
ground.
 

Following Callie’s
orders we went to leave, stopping at the bar first to grab our bags. Collin
clapped when we walked up.

           
“Good job. That guy is such a dick.”

I fished out my wallet
and handed Collin a hundred dollar bill. “Thanks for making me feel dirty!”

           
“No prob. You brawlers get outta here.”

We quickly left,
ignoring the stares we received on the way to the door.

  
        
“I
can’t believe that fucking guy!” Jason was pacing in the parking lot, his blonde
hair puffed out resembling a lion’s mane.
 

“What
a douche! When I saw him touch you Chels, I became unglued,” Derek said as he
pulled Chelsea to him.

           
“My hero!” She stood on her tip toes and planted a kiss
on his lip that was starting to swell.

I walked up to Jason
and forced him to stop. “Thank you,” I said, wrapping my arms around the back
of his neck. I noticed that one of his sleeves was torn, other than that I
couldn’t see any damage.

           
“Did he hurt you at all?” He looked at my exposed upper
arm and saw a bruise in the shape of a handprint was already beginning to form.

           
“I’ve had worse.” I thought back to the last time I had
bruises like that, they were around my neck. Jason crushed me in a tremendous
hug as if trying to press every emotion he was experiencing into me.

           
“You’ll always be safe with me. I won’t let anyone hurt
you.” He kissed the top of my head. We stayed close like that for a few moments
and I couldn’t help thinking that I had heard that before.

Adrenaline was still
running pretty high and the ride back to Chelsea’s apartment was animated. We
recapped the highlights of the night. Jason, Derek and Chelsea were all in
agreement that when I stomped down on the guy’s foot it was the pinnacle of
awesome.

           
“You handled yourself well,” Jason remarked, giving my
knee a light squeeze.

           
“I’m a city girl. It helps to know how to defend
yourself.” I looked out the window and fought back the images of Mr. Genovese
throwing me around the room, of his hands clawing at my legs as the pantyhose
disintegrated beneath them and him gagging me with his tongue as he forced it
in my mouth. I closed my eyes willing the free flow of memories to stop. The
martinis churned in my empty stomach and I rolled the window down thinking the
fresh air would help. The memories wouldn’t stop.

Jason glanced over at
me and smiled. I attempted to return the smile, but imagined the panic I was
feeling made it look more like a grimace and turned my attention back to the
window. He parked the car by Chelsea’s building. We got out and started
following Chelsea and Derek up to the apartment. Jason reached for my hand and
held me back.

           
“You were deep in thought back there,” he commented.

           
“Tonight stirred up some bad memories.”

           
“Want to talk about it?”

           
“No.”

           
“You sure?”

           
“Yes. Actually you make me feel better. You’re a good
friend.” I said, squeezing his hand. He pulled me closer to him and moved us so
my back was pressing against his car. His lips were on mine and I froze. Moving
my hands up to his chest I pushed him away.

           
“I can’t do this. I’ve had enough fun for the night.”

He leaned down to kiss
me again.

           
“Jason, I said no!” I pushed harder this time and he
finally backed off.

           
“Damn it Natalie, will you just let me in?” He looked at
me with pleading eyes.

           
“I wish I could.” I turned and walked away. Seconds later
the car door slammed and Jason peeled out of the parking lot.

I ran up to the
apartment and threw myself onto the futon, letting the angry tears fall. God, I
was such a fucking train wreck! No home, unable to forge a healthy relationship
and no fucking clue what to do with my life. I certainly couldn’t stay on
Chelsea’s futon for eternity and I didn’t want to rent an apartment because I
needed to be able to leave in a heartbeat. Plus, I was going to need an income
soon. Running away didn’t solve my problems, sure the distance helped me
breathe, but I couldn’t outrun my past. Chelsea was right. I needed to come to
terms with what I’d been through, but how?
 

The morning came, but
sleep didn’t. Chelsea and Derek were moving around between the bedroom and the
bathroom getting ready for their productive days. I was laying on my back
staring at the blank T.V. screen. I had nothing to get up and get ready for.

Chelsea walked into the
living room and stopped in her tracks when she saw me.

           
“Nat, what’s up?”

I shrugged my
shoulders, my eyes never deviating from the screen.

           
“Uh unh, you are not blocking me out. One, I don’t
deserve it and two, you can’t keep bottling this shit up.”

           
“I’m fine,” I muttered.

           
“No you’re not. What happened? You were in a great mood
last night. I thought you and Jason were getting closer.”

I groaned and moved my
gaze to meet Chelsea’s. “You’re right, everything was awesome and then that guy
had to go and grab me, reminding me of –“

     
     
“Oh
Nat! I’m sorry.”

           
“It’s not your fault. I have issues and need to work them
out.”

Chelsea sat down on the
edge of the cushion and leaned against me. “I can call out of work if you want
me around?”

           
“No, you don’t have to. I’m going to find a job. I need
to do something.”

           
“Have you thought about talking to someone?”

           
“Like a therapist?” Chelsea nodded. “No. I haven’t.”

           
“Maybe you should, it could help.”

           
“I’ll think about it. First I need to apologize to Jason.
I freaked out on him last night.”

           
“You’re not thinking about getting involved with him are
you?” she asked.

           
“No. You’re right, I’m not ready.”

 
Chelsea stood up and went into the kitchen
and moments later, Derek came out of the bathroom.

           
“Jason didn’t spend the night?”

           
“Nope,” I said.

           
“Oh.” He shrugged and called out to Chelsea. “Babe, can
you give me a ride?”

Chelsea agreed and after
they left, I sat back on the futon to contemplate my day.
 
My burning eyes begged for sleep and clarity
wasn’t going to come easy in my exhausted state. Curling up in a ball, I snuggled
under the blanket and dozed off.

Someone pounding on the
front door woke me. I jumped up, disoriented and went to answer. A delivery man
stood on the walkway out front with a huge bouquet of tulips.

           
“Natalie Ross?”

           
“Yes?”

           
“These are for you.”

 
I signed off on the flowers and went inside,
locking the door behind me. I set the vase on the coffee table and grabbed the
card.

           
Natalie,

           
I’m sorry for last night. I was
disrespectful and a total tool. Can we still be friends?

           
Jason

   
Smiling, I grabbed my cell phone and called
him.

           
“Did you get the flowers?”

           
“I did. They’re beautiful, thank you. I’m sorry too and I
definitely still want to be friends.”

           
“Cool. I promise to behave.”

Someone knocked on the
door again.

           
“Jason you didn’t send more flowers did you?”

           
“No. Why?”

           
“Someone’s at the door. Hold on.” Cradling the phone to
my ear with my shoulder, I opened the door and looked up at a familiar face.
“Oh, shit!”

My cell phone went
tumbling to the carpet and I could hear Jason faintly calling my name. The
person bent down and picked up the phone, ending the call before handing it to
me.

           
“Um, good morning, Agent Phillips.” I stared down at my
toes avoiding eye contact.

           
“Good morning Miss Ross, may I come in?”

I silently moved aside
and shut the door, but not before surveying the courtyard below.

           
“You are a difficult woman to track down. Good job.” He
smiled at me.

           
“How did you find me?”

           
“Facebook. We were able to pinpoint the location of your
IP address once you posted that message. When it came up in this area, it was
easy to ascertain that you were living with your former roommate.”

           
“Why are you here?”

           
“Information. I think we can help each other.”

           
“I don’t need help.”

           
“Really? You know there is a rumor going around…one of
our informants claims that there is a hit out on you. Apparently you killed one
of Genovese’s men.”

Oh shit, oh shit!
Biting my lower lip, I focused on staying calm and stared him straight in the
eye. “That’s ridiculous.”

           
“I thought so too, but you sure took off and went into
hiding fairly quickly.”

           
“Dominic and I broke up. I needed a change of scenery.”

           
“No, you’re hiding out. You don’t have a job and you’re
not on the lease here.”

           
“That’s because I’m not planning on staying. I’m thinking
about going back to school.”

Agent Phillips smoothed
out the lapel on his suit jacket and looked me over. His brown eyes were kind,
but there was something calculating about his expression.

           
“If you give us some information we can offer you
protection in return.”

           
“Whatever information you’re looking for, I really don’t
think I can help you.”

He straightened up and
clenched his jaw before he spoke. “We know what the Grabanos are involved in
and you lived with one of them. Don’t be coy with me Miss Ross; I think you
know a lot. This is your chance to clear your conscience and stop hiding.”

           
“And Witness Protection isn’t hiding? No thank you, I’m
doing just fine on my own.”

           
“It’s just a matter of time before they track you down…if
the rumor is true.” He raised his eyebrows and gave me a knowing look. I could
feel the trembling in my core, threatening to rupture to the surface. I
couldn’t let him see my fear, although my eyes had probably already betrayed
me. He was right, if the FBI found me, it was just a matter of time. I couldn’t
turn witness. If I did, I would be implicating my own brother and Dominic and
myself. Yes, it was in self-defense that I killed that man, but I hadn’t come
clean and had hidden the fact. I knew I would be considered just as guilty.

           
“Miss Ross, please.” His voice was softer. “I have your
best interests in mind.”

           
“Don’t you mean your interests? I have nothing further to
say. Thank you for your concern, but I’ll be okay.”

           
“Fine,” he lashed out. “But this is it. Don’t come
begging for protection if things get scary and chances are they will.” He
stalked to the door and slammed it closed behind him.

I rushed over and
turned the deadbolt. The second it clicked, I collapsed. My legs were cold from
sitting on the tile, but this was the least of my worries. Breathing was at the
top of the list. I struggled to get my lungs to cooperate, but I could only
suck in small pockets of air. My heartbeat echoed in my ears and spots floated
before my eyes. The pounding in my head grew louder until I heard a muffled
“Natalie!” from the other side of the door. The pounding wasn’t my pulse, it
was Jason.

Crawling to the door
took all my energy. I unlocked it and crumpled into a ball in the entry area.
The door flung open and Jason pulled me to him.

           
“Breathe!” He ordered while massaging my back. Focusing
on the repetitive motion I managed to inhale some deep breaths and this helped
bring me back under control, somewhat. I was still shaking in seismic waves.

I don’t know how long
it took to return to normal. Jason stayed on the floor with me. I leaned
against him, letting him support the weight.

           
“Who was at the door?” he asked.

           
“Someone from Philadelphia who I wasn’t expecting, but he’s
gone now.”

           
“He…was it your ex?”

           
“Noooo, nooo, noo, no.”

           
“Okay,” he squeezed me closer. “Who was it? Obviously it
wasn’t a good visit.”

I didn’t answer him
because I didn’t know what to say. “Jason, I really want to tell you, but I
can’t. I’m sorry.”

I could feel his body
tense up and knew he was getting angry. Turning around to face him, I wasn’t
prepared to see the sadness in his eyes.

           
“Do you not trust me, is that it?”

           
“I trust you! “ I said, reaching for his hands. “Look, I
did some stuff I’m not proud of and I don’t want you to get involved.”

           
“I’m already involved. Just tell me.”

I lowered my head and
studied our hands. His were tan and freckles dusted the backs. Mine were pale
in comparison.

           
“Here I was thinking you’re just a mysterious trust fund
baby, but you’re definitely hiding from something. Did your ex beat you or
something?”

           
“No! Dominic never laid a hand on me.” His uncle and Mr.
Genovese did, but I couldn’t tell Jason that. “Trust fund baby, where did you
get that idea?”

           
“You have a nice car, an endless stream of cash without a
job and a lot of diamond jewelry. It seemed like a logical summation.”

           
“Oh.” I smiled and looked back up at him. “I’m not a
trust fund baby; far from it, actually. My mom was a single mom and she raised
me and my brother. We were far from rich.”

           
“Finally some history about you, tell me more.”

I hesitated and decided
I could give Jason some details about my life, just leave out any of the
criminal stuff. He sat in silence and absorbed every detail, like how I went to
Chelsea’s house whenever I fought with my mom and that I ran track in high
school. Even though I gave him the abridged version, I was still exhausted at
the end.

           
“You still didn’t explain why I found you curled up on
the floor.”

           
“That story will have to wait. I’m tired,” I whined,
pouting my lower lip and batting my eyelashes at him.

           
“Oh no, you don’t! I’m not that easily distracted.”

           
“What?” I asked as innocently as possible, still batting
my eyelashes.

           
“Look who is trying to blur the lines now. Just friends,
remember?”

           
“Yes,” I said, laughing at him. Despite what he said, he
was easily distracted.

           
“Are you feeling better?”
 
I nodded. “Good. Let’s get off the floor.”
 
Jason stood up first and helped me stand. He
continued to hold my hand and it felt nice. It was hard to explain, but his
very presence was calming to me.

           
“Jason, thank you. I am acting like a total nut job and
you’re still here.”

           
“You don’t have to thank me.” He kissed my forehead.
“That’s what friends do. Now what do you say we get out of here and go do
something?”

           
“Um, I can’t.”

           
“Do you have other plans?”

           
“I need to find a job. Your trust fund baby is running
out of money.” I wasn’t going to run based on Agent Phillips warning. I was
tired of running, but at least if I needed to, I’d have the funds available.

           
“Come work at Dirty. Callie is looking for a server.”

           
“Callie is the only owner, right?” It would be just my
luck that a West Coast counterpart of Marco lurked behind the scenes.

           
“Yes I’ll call her and get an interview set up for you.”

Jason was a man of his
word and two days later, I was sitting in Callie’s office at Dirty, which was
furnished more like a home office with bookshelves covered in framed family
pictures and the bulletin board behind Callie’s desk contained various art
projects. She followed my gaze and swiveled in her chair, pointing to a drawing
of a black cat I was admiring, especially the details of its gold green eyes.

           
“My daughter, Ally, loves to draw pictures of our cat,
Sphinx.”

           
“How old is she?”

           
“Nine.”

           
“Wow, she’s good. I worked with some fourth graders one
semester and half of them couldn’t color within the lines.”

           
“Jason mentioned you’re an artist and that you recently
graduated. Why do you want to work in a bar?” Callie quickly brought the
interview back on track. I liked that about her. She was direct, but not in a
rude way. I knew that running the bar after losing her husband, while raising
two kids couldn’t be easy, but she didn’t seem bitter about her circumstances
and she had a warmth about her.

           
“Honestly, I need money. It’s more expensive out here and
I’m staying longer than anticipated.”

           
“Are you just passing through, then?”

           
“I like it here and don’t have any reason to leave.” Not
yet, anyway.

Callie shrugged.
“People pass through all the time. It’s that kind of town so no big deal. I’d
like at least a weeks-notice though.”

           
“Does that mean I got the job?”

She smiled, and her
brown eyes lit up. “Yes, can you start tomorrow night?” I smiled in return,
then stood and held out my hand.

           
“Yes, definitely yes!”

I walked out of the dim
lighting of Dirty into the bright late afternoon sun. Squinting, I quickly
surveyed the parking lot before crossing to my car. I had a job and Callie
didn’t even inquire about my previous work experience. Even though I was
prepared to answer as truthfully as possible, I was relieved the past wasn’t
brought up.

As soon as I was back
at Chelsea’s apartment, I called Jason. He answered after the first ring.

           
“So, how did it go?”

           
“I got it and start tomorrow night.”

           
“Awesome, I’m working then too. Let’s go out tonight and
celebrate.”

           
“Okay, I’ll see what Chelsea and Derek are up to.”

Chelsea was more than
eager to go out. As soon as she came home from work, we tore apart her closet
for the right outfits. She decided on a champagne gold lace dress for me that
had wide enough straps to cover the scar on my shoulder. It stopped mid-thigh
and efforts to pull it closer to my knees were futile. Chelsea shook her head
at me and adjusted the dress back to its intended length.

When I looked in the
mirror, I had to approve of her choice. The color of the dress brought out the
glow of my sun-kissed skin and accentuated the blonde highlights in my hair.

           
“Where are we going, anyway?” I asked Chelsea. From the
moment I invited her and Derek out with us, she took over the planning and had
yet to reveal what those plans entailed.

           
“We are going to this sweet place for dinner and then
maybe drinks and some dancing.”

I instantly thought of
how disastrous things turned out the last time we went dancing and started to
protest.

           
“Don’t worry; we’re going somewhere more low key than
Dirty.” Chelsea had her hand on my arm and looked me directly in the eyes.
“Okay?”
 
Nodding, I let out an exhale,
not even realizing I had been holding my breath.