Breathless & Bloodstained (The Chicago War #4) (17 page)

Anger rushed
through Abriella’s bloodstream at the very sight of her belongings being discarded
on the floor like garbage. Where did Joel get off acting like that?

“Hey,” Abriella
shouted. “What in the hell is that all about?”

Joel turned on
Abriella with a fire lighting in his eyes. “Where were you today?”

“Out.”

“Where?”

“Shopping.”

Joel’s jaw ticked.
“Where are the things you bought?”

Abriella tossed
Darryl a cool look over her brother’s shoulder as she repeated what she had
told the enforcer earlier. “I didn’t find anything worth buying.”

“You must think I
am one stupid fucking idiot, Ella.”

No.

In fact, Abriella
thought the very opposite of her brother. Tommas had always warned Abriella
never to treat Joel like he was dumb. Joel was anything but stupid. He was
slick, dirty, and quick on the ball. That made for a dangerous man, not to
mention the sometimes erratic behavior her brother showcased when making
decisions or reacting to something.

No, Abriella
didn’t think of her brother as stupid. She was too smart for that.

“Well?” Joel demanded.
“Do I look like an idiot to you?”

“No,” Abriella
said. “Not at all.”

She just happened
to be sneaky, too.

“You purposely
tricked your enforcer, lost him, and then disappeared for an entire day. Why
did you do that, Ella?”

Without missing a
beat, Abriella replied, “Because I wanted a chance to be normal for a day,
Joel, without all of this nonsense. Twenty-four-seven, someone is watching me.
Someone is following me. I never get to actually be alone. So what? I took a
day off, walked around Chicago a bit, window shopped, and relaxed alone. Who
cares?”

“I do, and I’ll
tell you why.” Joel took a step forward. He was too close for Abriella’s
liking, but she wouldn’t back down. “Because you’re a goddamn liar, Ella.
You’re sneaky, girl. You’ve pulled stunts like this before, and everybody knows
it. If you want to run around acting out or whatever it is you were doing, then
you’ll answer the consequences for that kind of behavior.”

“What behavior?”

Joel sneered. “Are
you playing dumb today?”

Jesus.

Her brother was
working every nerve she had. Abriella tried her hardest to keep her cool, but
she was three seconds away from blowing.

“Who cares if I
was out alone, Joel?”

“I just told you.
I care. It looks bad on me. I won’t have my sister running around and causing
me issues. I won’t have people looking at you and wondering what you’re doing
when people aren’t watching. That is how rumors start, Abriella. That is how
stories spread. And once you get a title on your back, there is no getting rid
of it. You’ll stain me—stain your family with your actions and I won’t have it.
You might not mind what people have to say behind your back, but I do. It stops
now.”

Abriella blinked,
stunned. “Excuse me?”

“You’re not deaf.
You heard me. I won’t have others spreading lies about us simply because
Abriella is bored with her life and wants a change. You might not care if
people call you a whore and stain your name with rumors, but I won’t allow it.”

“Joel,” Peter said
harshly. “Watch yourself.”

“Shut up,” Joel
said, dismissing his step-father with a flick of his wrist.

“Joel!”

Abriella’s
mother’s cry was ignored.

Peter stepped up
beside Abriella, glaring at his step-son. “You are out of line. What did
Abriella do, other than worry us with her little disappearing act, to earn her
that kind of language, Joel?”

“You have no voice
here,” Joel said dully. “In fact, I don’t want you here at all, Peter. Take
your wife and go back to the other side of the mansion.”

Peter opened his
mouth to say something, but Darryl stepped between Abriella’s father and Joel.
Immediately, Peter quieted with a scowl.

“Make sure they
lock the connecting doors,” Joel said to the enforcer.

“Will do, boss.”

Abriella nearly
gagged at that title being given to her brother. Joel was no boss. He wasn’t
made to be a boss. No man heading a family acted like her brother did.
Power-hungry, vindictive, and foul. A proper boss concerned himself with every
man’s worries, not just his own.

Joel couldn’t be a
boss. He was far too selfish, malicious, and ignorant to fill the role. He
would run the Outfit into the ground. Abriella could see it happening already.

Pointing over the
enforcer’s shoulder, Peter said, “This isn’t over, Joel. I’m done with your
nonsense, son.”

“Son,” Joel said,
scoffing. “That’s rich.”

“He’s never
treated you like anything different,” Sara spat from behind Abriella.

Joel’s face
remained cold and impassive. “He didn’t have to. Your disgusting actions were
more than enough shame for me to wear my whole life, Sara. Once a whore, always
a whore, right?”

“Watch it!” Peter
barked.

Abriella took a
second look at her father, shocked out of her wits. Never had she heard him
speak to anyone like he had just then. He was typically a quiet-mannered,
good-natured man. The anger in his features darkened Peter and made him look
far more dangerous than she thought him to be.

Where had this man
come from?

Joel also seemed
too stunned to speak.

“I won’t have you
treating your mother that way,” Peter said sharply. “She has loved and provided
for you, Joel. She has held you when you were sick, sang your nightmares away
when you were a child, and adored you for every moment in between. You may not
like how you came into this world, but you are here because she refused to
abort you when your grandfather demanded it. She loved you even then. She loves
you when you are at your most vile. She will go home tonight and still love
you. Do not call her a whore one more time in my presence.”

Joel’s sneer
remained firmly in place. “I—”

“Shut your mouth,”
Peter snarled. “I’ve heard more than enough. The only reason I am still
standing here dealing with another round of your bullshit is because of your
mother and sister, Joel. Otherwise, I could be chewing on glass and be happier
than I am when I stand in a room with you.”

“Dad, it’s okay,”
Abriella said softly, finally finding her voice.

Peter passed
Abriella a strange look. “Ella.”

“It’s okay, Dad.
I’m fine.”

“It’s not fine,”
Peter muttered.

“You’re right, but
…”

But she didn’t
want her parents to be the next victims of Joel’s wrath simply because they
stood up to him to protect her. She knew, without any doubt, that her brother
would turn on their parents if he thought that Peter and Sara were getting in
his way.

It was
psychopathic.

Cruel, even.

It was Joel
Trentini all over.

“Go to your wing,”
Abriella settled on saying.

“Yes, go,” Joel
said, drawling out his words with a threatening undertone.

Abriella glanced
up at her father. “Please.”

With a tight jaw
and a heated glare shot at Joel, her father turned on his heel, took his wife’s
hand, and stalked from the room.

Joel sighed.
“Thank God that mess is gone.”

“They’re our
parents, not a mess.”

“They’re always a
fucking mess for me.”

Darryl cleared his
throat and held out his hand. Abriella’s cell phone rested in his palm. Joel
took it from the enforcer with a knowing smile.

“Thanks, Darryl.”

“No problem,
boss.”

Joel bent down and
picked up Abriella’s keys from the pile of her things on the floor. “And I’ll
take these as well, Ella.”

Abriella crossed
her arms. “Take them.”

Her words were all
bravado and little else. She was now without a personal cell phone and her
vehicle. Her gilded cage, locking her away from freedom, had just become a
little bit smaller. She couldn’t breathe, but God knew she hid it as best she
could.

Joel didn’t
deserve her anxiety. He would like it too much.

“Darryl will drive
you to and from wherever you need to go,” Joel informed.

He looked
Abriella’s cell phone over. She was glad that she had gotten into the habit of
deleting her text and log files for calls and messages. She also had very
little contact information for anyone in the phone.

“School included?”
Abriella asked.

Joel nodded. “Of
course. He’ll be close. You won’t outrun him the next time, I’m sure.”

“I didn’t outrun
him this time.”

“Keep lying. It
looks good on you.”

Abriella clenched
her teeth to keep from spitting every vile thing inside her head. “Is that all?
I’m tired.”

“No, that isn’t
all.” Joel glanced up from the phone and met Abriella’s stare. “I suggest you
curb whatever rebellious bullshit you’ve got going on right now, Ella. I don’t
have the time or patience for it. Frankly, if you keep it up, I’ll find someone
else who will teach you how to behave just to get you out of my hair.”

Her heart leapt
into her throat.

He couldn’t be
saying what she thought he was. Surely he wouldn’t.

Not yet.

“Guessing by the
look on your face,” Joel drawled, “you understand me perfectly fine. Cut out
your nonsense, Ella, or you’ll find yourself walking down an aisle in a white
dress to meet whatever man I deem suitable to marry you. I’ve had a few offers
from some families outside of Chicago, and even from some close by that would
like a way into our business. You’re skating on very thin ice, sister.”

Goddamn him.

Abriella felt like
she was going to throw up. She literally had to force herself to say, “Okay,
Joel.”

“Okay, what?”

“I’ll behave.”

“Good,” her
brother stated. “You can start by getting the fuck out of my face.”

Abriella didn’t
have to be told a second time. She left the office and her things behind. The
door slammed almost as soon as she was out of it. Behind the wood, she heard
her brother curse. Then, something crashed into the wall. Typical Joel
behavior. When he was angry, he acted out like a child.

“Rough day?”
Darryl asked, his voice muffled slightly.

“Worse,” Joel
grumbled. “I don’t have time for that spoiled little bitch’s nonsense.”

“I think you
scared her straight.”

Joel scoffed.
“Right. You don’t know my sister all too well. Keep close to her. You never
know what Abriella might do next. I don’t trust her. She was lying her ass off.
I’m going to send someone out to see if they can find out where she was.”

Fuck
.

Abriella ignored
the dread climbing up her spine.

“I can do it when
she’s in class,” Darryl said.

“Sure. Make sure
she sees you outside of the class when she goes inside. Mess with her head a
bit. Abriella never was any good at playing mind games.”

Wrong, Joel.

Abriella was
terribly good at beating her brother’s games. The fool.

“Is there anything
else?” Darryl asked.

“Yeah, there is.”

“What?”

“Someone was at
the club that night with Tommas when you set the bomb.”

Darryl grumbled
under his breath before saying, “Man, I set that up right. It blew. I can’t
help it that he used the fucking car starter.”

“No, not that, you
idiot,” Joel snapped. “Someone else was there. Inside. I had guys doing the
rounds, trying to get info about the investigation at the club. I guess there
was a set of footprints in the slush outside the exit door that were small like
a female’s. Plus, there was more around Tommas. And inside the place, Tommas’
bag had been dropped halfway down the hallway leading to the exit like someone
had just let it go. Tommas was outside. Why wouldn’t he have his bag on him?”

“Someone was carrying
it for him.”

“I’d say so.”

“Who?” Darryl
asked.

“A woman,
apparently. I want to know who she is.”

Darryl grunted in
agreement. “Did they say anything about who it might be or who Tommas is
messing with?”

“Not a thing,”
Joel answered.

“What about the
cameras?” Darryl asked.

Abriella’s heart
stopped and her mind raced.

“The club was dark
and the cameras inside don’t do well with the dark, only the ones outside.
Plus, the place only had cameras set up in the important locations like above
the cash at the bar and at the entrance. I know Tommas does business in there,
so he probably doesn’t want it being caught on camera.”