Beautiful Bounty (The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros. Book 1) (9 page)

The other Marinos looked around uncomfortably, but no one moved to leave or follow Andreas out.  “So . . .” Ronnie started and left her statement unfinished.

Blaze was the first to speak. “Yeah . . .” And he let his sentence go uncompleted too. Gio laughed and it broke the mood, and soon she found herself explaining what transpired again, but all the while wondered how the conversation outside was going.

“You took her to eat, didn’t charge your cell, got a flat, and God knows what else. Nikko, it shouldn’t have taken you four hours to get here. What the hell?”

“Hey, you told me to talk to the girl. Get some information in case she ran. Places and such she might go. I took the longer route figuring she would be uncomfortable talking to me at first. I was just doing what you told me to do. How was I to know that road would have a ton of construction and I’d pick up a nail?”

“Why would she not want to talk with you?” Andreas’s hands raked his hair as he paced the gravel drive. He immediately seized on the one part of Nikko’s explanation that made no sense to him.

Nikko never told his brother about last summer.  Shit!  And, he wasn’t about to go there.  “I . . . figured the girl just got out of jail. She might need some time to loosen up. It’s maybe twenty, thirty minutes longer.”

“Okay, but why stop to eat. You could have gone through a drive through window for Christ sakes.” Andreas’ wasn’t buying this story. He had seen them dance at the wedding, and although Blaze had said nothing transpired, he still wasn’t sure.

“Okay,” Nikko held up his hands.  “Yes, we could have. She was opening up, and then she asked to stop and eat, she saw the barbecue place. What was I going to say? No. The girl was talking.”  He didn’t tell his brother he practically forced her to eat by teasing her with the aromas when he rolled down his window. He would definitely be keeping that little tidbit of information to himself.

Andreas looked at his brother hard.  “The phone?”

“The car doesn’t have a phone charger. The heat at lunch, outside, must have drained the battery.  By that time, we were only MIA an hour and half.  How the hell was I supposed to know I’d pick up a nail, and get a flat?  Come on bro, you really going to rake me over the coals for this.  I was doing my job.  We called as soon as we got the Cutlass to the garage. Ronnie offered to help me put the bubble on, but then a tow truck came by. I didn’t want to drive her on the bubble, and knew we needed to call so I figured getting the new tire would give me more of a chance to get Ronnie to open up.”

Again Andreas looked at his brother hard.  It all made sense.  It did seem Nikko had been doing the job, circumstances had just gotten in the way. “So, what did you find out?” he asked abruptly.

“I got names of some friends.  I got places she hangs out.  A cabin her granddad has.  That sounded like a likely place. She mentioned loving it there.”

“Okay, good.  That’s good.”  Andreas nodded. Maybe Nikko had listened to him last week about taking on more responsibility.  He nodded at his brother.  He’d let him off the hook this time. But, there better not be any more screw ups.

Nikko held up his hands in surrender. “We good?”

“Yeah, we’re good. Let’s get back in there.  Since I’m here, I still need to go over some things with Louisa and . . . Ronnie, is it?” He arched one eyebrow up gauging Nikko’s reaction to the girl’s nickname.

“Yeah, she likes to be called Ronnie. Only her mom calls her Veronica, I guess.”

“Okay, Ronnie it is.”  Andreas turned on his heel, and Nikko followed him back into the house clapping his hand on his big brother’s shoulder.

Just maybe, Andreas thought, his brother was maturing.  He liked that thought. After moving here two years ago from New York, he had been partying a little too hard. But maybe things were changing now that he had settled down in his own place, and now that he was working more. Maybe the responsibility of the job was just what he needed. His brother was twenty-seven now, maybe he had been treating him like the kid brother for too long, he thought, as the door shut behind him and all eyes turned towards him.

“All is good,” he rumbled.

Ronnie let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. The man was a taller, stronger looking, older version of Nikko.  Very handsome. But very intimidating too. In fact, these two brothers looked the most alike.

“But, we do have some things to discuss, that we didn’t get around to Louisa, when you called. So, if you don’t mind.” He indicated the sofa next to Ronnie.

Lou made her way towards it and sat at the edge closest to her daughter. She took Ronnie’s hand in hers. Jay, her husband, came around behind her. A former soldier, tatted up, he looked menacing, but everyone knew what a softy at heart he was.

“Yes, go on,” Lou stated, once she was comfortable.  She gave Ronnie’s hand a reassuring squeeze for good measure. Perhaps to bolster her own confidence, Ronnie wasn’t sure.

Andreas didn’t sit, but when all was quiet he began. “Okay, so Ana and Monica came up with the twenty-five thousand for the bond.  That, of course, is our fee for insuring the bond.  We work with a few insurance companies to secure the bond.  It was paid, and you will make arrangements, I assume, to pay your friends back because that is forfeited to us. Our fee for arranging the remainder.”

“Yes. I understand. I will do what I can to pay them back.” Lou’s face was grim. Having to borrow this much money from her friends terrified her. She and Jay, newly married, were just starting out, and with what they had going on, what no one else knew yet, not even Jay, well, it would complicate matters even further.  But this was her daughter, and she would do whatever it took to get her out of this mess.

“No, Mom. I will,” Ronnie interjected.  She witnessed the play of emotions across her mother’s face. She knew this expense could break her. It made her feel even guiltier for ending up in this situation.

“Honey . . .” Lou interrupted trying to assuage her daughter’s fears.

“Mom,” Ronnie started firmly.

Then Ana was speaking.  “Monica and I were going to do something for your graduation. We talked about it, and we don’t want either of you to worry about this.”  Monica was nodding her agreement.

“No, it’s too much,” Ronnie stated forcibly. Lou was nodding her agreement. “This is more than a graduation present.  Hell, who knows if I’ll even be able to graduate now.”

“Hush now, Ronnie. We won’t hear of it. And of course you will graduate.  You completed all the course work, passed the exams.  The ceremony is only a formality. I didn’t go to mine,” she added when she saw Ronnie wince.

“But,” she started. She hoped that was true. Still, this much for a gift, she just couldn’t accept it. “I . . .”

Andreas interrupted. “Ladies. Why don’t you discuss this later?  We don’t want to keep you, and we just have a few other things we would like to clear up.”

The women all stopped talking and looked to him. Ana’s eyes narrowed slightly. Something about this man rubbed her the wrong way, Monica’s new cousin or not.

“Yes, go ahead,” Monica prompted, effectively ending this conversation for now. When the women settled down he began again.

“Okay, so this is how it works.  If you go to court, and show up for your case, and do what you are told by your lawyers, no harm no foul.  You have your day in court, and hopefully get acquitted.”

“Yes, we understand.”  Jay interjected.

“Good. But, there is more . . . If you don’t,” Andreas paused, and his blue eyes, so like his brother’s, and his cousin Victor’s, pierced hers, “your mother loses this house. Do you understand that?”

Ronnie gulped.  Her eyes registered panic. Good, he thought. He watched her watching him.

The man held nothing back. His eyes were so much like Nikko’s, but icier, fiercer. She nodded.  “Anything else?”

Andreas had to give the girl credit. She was tough. She didn’t waiver, or look away.  Most women did. “Normally, we need collateral, in the amount of the remainder. But, since your mom didn’t have it, and Victor’s our cousin, we accepted what she had. With the house, and Jay’s motorcycle . . .”

“You didn’t?” Ronnie asked with astonishment, her head whipping up to peer at Jay. He just shrugged, sheepishly smiling at her, then looked with nothing but love at her mother.

“Yes, he did.  Now what you need to know is that if you show up on your court date all is good.  You will have your day in court, and hopefully get acquitted.  Your mom and your step-father will be able to keep their house and motorcycle. So, you need to listen to your attorneys, and do what they tell you.” Andreas paused for a moment and all eyes were still on him. “Now, we work with some insurance companies, and they back our bonds.  We have a good name and a good reputation.  We want to keep it that way.  The bail was a quarter million.  Your mom’s house and the motorcycle weren’t even close to what we needed.  But Victor’s our cousin. So we took this, and left it there. But if you run,” he pointed at her, stared her down with the bluest eyes she had ever seen. “Your mom loses the house, your step-father his motorcycle.  I am out 150K.  And, I won’t be happy. I’ll be pissed.”  The room was quiet despite the number of people in it.  “See my brothers?” he indicated the three other Marinos in the room, Gio, Blaze, and Nikko, standing along the kitchen counter, wearing similar cargo pants, similar black t-shirts except Nikko.  She turned and looked back at Andreas, and nodded again.  “Well, they will be pissed too. And we will come after you.  We will find you.  And we will bring you straight to jail.  No passing go.  No collecting anything. 
Capisce
?”  His eyes narrowed and searched hers. She swallowed again and nodded one more time.

Still staring her down, he indicated the door with a shake of his head, and two of his brothers began to move. He got up, turned, and began to leave.  Monica was already standing by the door.  He paused to say his goodbye to her.

Patting Monica on her belly, he asked, “So when are these little guys due again?”

Monica shook her head and laughed. “Two months, the doctors want me to go another month at least.”

“We can’t wait.” He smiled down at the beautiful brunette his lucky son of a bitch cousin managed to snag. She was sweet, and loved his cousin to the ends of the earth.

“Victor too,” she smiled, reaching up to give her big cousin a hug.  “Every time the babies kick, he practically jumps out of his skin.”

He smiled fondly at her envying his cousin’s good fortune in finding such an angelic soul-mate. “My place this Sunday,” he reminded her.  “I love it when it is my turn to cook. Gives Aunt Mary a break.”

“Nothing spicy, please,” Monica chastised rubbing her belly.  “That Shrimp Fra Diablo about did me in last time.”

“Sure, sure,” he laughed as he turned to leave.  He was followed out the door by Gio, and Blaze.

“Nikko, out now,” he called from the doorway when he noticed Nikko was still rooted to his spot in the living room looking like he was a fixture. Nikko nodded his goodbyes, and followed his brothers out also stooping to give Monica a brief hug.

Ronnie watched Nikko leave, trying to keep the look of disappointment off her face. She had hoped to speak with him one more time before he left.

The door banged shut behind them, and Jay was the first to speak. “That’s some family, Mon.”

“I know,” Monica laughed. “They look tough and menacing, but they are really great. Really!” she added to the silent grim faced group assembled in Lou’s living room.

“Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for their help, but that older one has a chip on his shoulder, and I might just have to knock it off,” Ana added to the room at large that still remained quiet in the wake of the Marinos. She was pensive. Ronnie turned to the red head, her mom’s best friend. Ana was looking at her as well, curiously.

Outside, Nikko stood by his brother’s Escalade wondering what his brother had to complain about now.

“Nikko, I want you to stay in the area. Get a hotel. I saw one down the road. Check in on the girl tomorrow.”

“What?” he asked, completely taken aback by Andreas’ request.  That was the last thing he was expecting. “You’re kidding, right?”

Andreas was no fool.  He knew there was more than a passing interest between these two.  After sizing them up in the living room, he felt it might work to their advantage having Nikko close by.  Nikko looked at the girl like he wanted to eat her, and she did the same.  He could tell the girl was no felon, no junkie, no drug dealer, but she was proud.  Having Nikko nearby might distract her from having some crazy ideas like trying to prove her innocence on her own.

“Yeah, you ever hear of good cop, bad cop, Nikko. Well, I was just bad cop.  Now, you swoop on in and be good cop,
Capisce
? In fact, stay a few days. Pop over, and oh, I don’t know, apologize about me being an ass or something.  Then get some more info from the girl. Stick close to her. I got a feeling about this one. I couldn’t get a good read from her.  I don’t know if she is a runner or not, but she’s proud.  The girl wouldn’t look away when I tried to stare her down.  Tough.  Independent streak, I got from her. Sometimes those kinds get ideas. You know what I mean? Get more info. Check in with me every day.”