The Arrangement Anthology (117 page)

I swing my legs off the chaise and start scanning the room for exits. I can’t stay here another second, but the room tips sideways again. Inhaling slowly, trying to regain control of my body, I look up at Sean. “What does a mobster want with me?”

Sean just stares at me, his lips pressed together firmly. His hands are in his pockets, and he’s wearing his old leather jacket. His helmet is on a table behind him. Every last bit of this was planned, and I missed it. All our nights together, all the things I said—to both of them. Confidence dies in my mouth and I want to run, to hide, but I can’t. Clutching the edge of the cushions in my hands, I squeeze hard, waiting for his response.

Instead, Marty answers, “Documents. Your mother unknowingly worked as a bookkeeper for Campone before you were born. At first, they probably looked like nothing to her, ledgers, supply lists, contracts, just regular business paperwork—but once she realized what she had, she knew Campone would be willing to kill to get it back. By then, it was too late to turn back. She was smart. Realizing the danger she was in, she ran but continued to hand in her work on time, passing it through a chain of people, as she put more and more space between herself and Victor Campone. It was weeks before Campone realized what had happened, what she knew. Campone searched for her, tracking down each person she’d come in contact with, each claiming truthfully they didn’t know where she was or what she knew. He didn’t believe them, though, and a lot of people lost their lives. She kept running, but held on to copies of the documents.
 

“When your mother took the job, she had no clue who she was working for, she just knew she was pregnant and needed the money to take care of you, Avery. It looked like a great job with flexible hours. Somewhere, while on the run, she met your dad and they both fell off the map. Campone didn’t find them, but he never stopped looking. He knew your mother kept the final ledger she was working on, but he suspected she made copies of her other work as well. If she had involved the police, your mother had the power to take down his entire empire with one blow. The night she died, something spooked her and she took the documents with her, trying to move them to a safer place. The bulk of her documents burned in the fire, but several are missing.”

“How do you know?” I ask.

Sean answers, “Based on the recovered pieces, it appears that several pertinent documents were not in the stack. She put what she was carrying in the glove box, so the center of the stack wasn’t consumed by the fire. The most damning ledgers she worked on are still out there somewhere.”

That’s why my mother was always so on edge. That’s why she was compulsively cleaning that spot in the cabinets. She probably did it without noticing. When I was younger, she’d tell Daddy to pack up, and we’d take off for an awesome vacation in a blink. I thought it was her being fun, but this makes me see her in a whole new light. Mom was scared. She was afraid of them finding her right up until the night she died. If I’d not found the coffee can, I wouldn’t believe any of this, but I did find it. I know she was frightened.

My throat feels unbearably dry, and my body begins to tremble. I tense, trying to stop it, not wanting to share this heartache with them. It’s a piece of me they’ll never know, and I want to keep it that way.

“What’s in these documents that’s worth killing for?”
 

Sean’s lip twitches and one side pulls up into a crooked smile. “What you’d expect—secrets, money, power. Every illegal transaction between Campone and half of New York’s elite: businessmen, congressmen, old money, and new money. Victor didn’t discriminate; he accepted anyone’s money freely.
Everything
in those documents is damning. Your mother worked as a bookkeeper at a small grocery store in Ronkonkoma. She was a smart woman, but she didn’t realize who was on the other end when she started tugging on that thread. Her world unraveled. She ran, hid, and took what she found with her. My guess is that she kept the documents hidden to use as leverage if Campone ever captured her or a member of her family. The night she died, those documents were being moved to a vault. Campone’s men took the opportunity to tie up loose ends and slammed a drunk driver into their car.”

“How?” I blink back tears and swallow hard. “How could you know all this, all this time, and not tell me?”

Sean stands there, rigid, unblinking. “Some things are better left alone. This is one of them. You had no idea what was happening, but you’re being played move by move, inching toward an early grave.”

“And I suppose your name is in those papers?”

Sean shakes his head. He opens his mouth to speak and then steps away, turning his back on me.
 

“Answer me! This isn’t a game, Sean! I thought you died! I thought Marty killed you!”

When he turns back to look at me, Sean’s voice is cold. “It doesn’t matter.”

“The hell it doesn’t! You knew I love you, and you used that against me! But why am I surprised? I should have seen this coming. Falling in love with a Ferro is dangerous. They steal your heart and destroy your soul. Well, you know what? I’m not dead yet.”

We stare at each other for way too long. Sean works his jaw, not wanting to answer, but I already know he’s going to deny ever feeling anything for me. The thing is I know it’s a lie—I feel it. The tension between us is hot and palpable. Marty senses it too, based on the way he stands at the window, giving us more space. One man admits he cares about me, the other won’t. I roll my eyes and stand up. I think I’m going to be fine, but everything spins and I fall into Sean’s chest.
 

He catches me quickly in those strong arms and holds me to his chest. Looking into his face, I try one last time. “Why won’t you say it? Sean, I know how you feel.”
 

“I tried to return you.”

“The key word there is
tried
. You
tried
to return me, but then you bought me again and again after that.”

Sean watches me and tries not to smile. His voice drops to a whisper, “I tried to love you, the way you want, the way you need and it nearly got you killed.” He tangles his fingers in my hair and lifts my chin. “This needs to end,
we
need to end if you want to walk away alive.”

Silence spans between us, becoming deafeningly loud.

Sean finally breaks the silence, “I want the documents.”

“I don’t have them.” Defiant, I lie to his face.

“I know you do. There’s been a squatter in a home I recently acquired. You wouldn’t happen to know her, would you?” Sean looks so smug. I shove him away, and he has the audacity to smile at me.

“You bought my parents’ house?”

“Campone bought it before me, trying to find the documents. His men searched every inch of that home and came up with nothing, but I saw you climbing around the kitchen. Want to tell me what you found?”

“Mom’s cash stash. No papers.”
 

“Don’t do this, Avery.” Sean’s brow bunches together and his voice is strained. “I can’t protect you from this.”

“Obviously.” Glancing at Marty, I add, “and neither can he. You two brought the damn mafia in tow.” Sean and I are standing, facing each other, gazes locked. “Since it seems I have a limited life expectancy, I want to leave. Now.”

Sean blocks me after I twist out of his grip. “No, not until you tell me where they are.”

“Campone is dead, Sean.”

Sean gets in my face, and his warm breath washes over my lips as he rants. “His men aren’t, Avery. There’s a power vacuum and every single one of those guys is trying to find you, torture you, and make you wish you were dead. We can help you. Give me the documents, and Marty will get you out of here.”

“Why not you?” As soon as I ask the question, Sean’s gaze drops, almost as if he’s ashamed, and I know his plan. He’s trying to take Campone’s place. I knew Sean had some shady business dealings, but this isn’t like him. It can’t be true. But the way he moves away from me says volumes.

“Marty, take her back.” Sean steps away from me and walks out of the room.

Marty puts his hand on my arm to lead me out of the house, but I shake it off, storming after Sean instead. “Come back here! You can’t do this! Have you lost your mind? You’re a businessman, not a crime lord. Sean Ferro, stop!”

I follow Sean out of the room, up some stairs and into an upstairs hallway, yelling at him all the way, though he doesn’t appear to hear me. Marty doesn’t follow.

Chapter 7

Sean storms into a little room, and I burst in behind him. It’s not until we’re inside that he rounds on me. Moving swiftly, both his hands are suddenly coming at my head. He uses his body to slam me back into the door as it shuts behind me.
 

Sean’s fists are on either side of my head, his nose touching mine, he breathes in my face, “You have no idea who I am or of what I am capable. I admit, I’m infatuated with you and always have been. But you are a diversion, and right now that’s a very bad thing for both of us.”

My heart thumps rapidly in my chest, my body screaming for me to run, but I can’t move. Sean is pressing into me, crushing me, holding me in place. “This isn’t you,” I say softly.

“That’s where you’re wrong, because this is me. I am a monster and always have been. It’s not part of me,
it is me
. Whatever you think you saw wasn’t real. I used you like you used me.”

“I did not use—”

“You did,” he breathes in my face, pressing in nearer. “Every hour of every day has been about getting what you want. Well, what you want and what I want don’t match. They never have. I said what you wanted to hear to get what I need and I need those documents. I want them, Avery, and I will do anything I have to do to get them. Make no mistake about that.” Sean pushes off the wall and suddenly he’s across the room, looking out the window at the ocean.
 

I catch my breath and watch him, staring in silence. This is the end of my old life, I can feel it. What I was yesterday is gone—that girl no longer exists. Sucking in the cool night air, I move across the room and step up behind him. Hesitantly, I reach up, hand shaking, but stop without touching him.
 

Bringing my hand back to my side, I say, “I know you feel guilty about Bryan, about what happened, but it doesn’t have to go this way. Even if you don’t want to be with me, you don’t have to do this.”

“It’s not about you. It never was. You’re a nuisance, a mite that crawled under my skin and distracted me from my goals.”

His words make me want to cry, but I blink them back. I know what he’s doing; he’s trying to push me away. He lied to me, drugged me, and faked his shooting. It’s the aftermath of Bryan’s death that has him like this. He’s not spoken of it, but I can sense it. He blames himself. If things with Bryan hadn’t gone down the way they did, I’d have Sean talking about white picket fences.
 

“Fine,” I manage without a tremor in my voice. “How do I get you the documents?”

He rounds on me. “You have them?”

I nod. “I think so. If I’m right, I’ll give them to you under one condition.”

“You’re in no position to be stipulating conditions, Miss Smith.” The corners of his mouth twitch at the use of my pet name.

“Oh I think I am, Mr. Jones. You see I have something you want.”

“That something that will get you killed if you keep it.”

“Yes, but you won’t kill me to get it.” I pat my palms together and look up at him.

Sean smirks, making my pulse race faster. A wolfish smile crosses his lips. “Why on earth would you think that?” He moves toward me, one pace at a time, his body language more menacing than ever. “After everything I’ve done, why do you still think you can save me? Some people are just destined for Hell. You can’t stop it.”

“You’re not there, yet.”

Sean smiles down at me, taking a piece of hair and tucking it behind my ear. “I could have pushed you too far so many times. I could have broken you like I broke that girl, like I broke my wife. That’s what you fail to see, Avery. I don’t have demons, I am a demon. Every second I’m in your life will cause you more and more pain. Agony will have a new meaning after this, so don’t play games with me. You can’t win.”

The stupidest idea I’ve ever had crosses my mind. The information in those documents could be used to own every powerful family on Long Island, including the Ferro family. Eyes locked, my lips twist into a grin. “You’re all bark, Sean. You always have been, and this whole time we’ve been together, I’ve learned your tricks, your moves. Maybe I didn’t see them before, but it’s clear now.” I pace around him as I talk, and sound more confident than I feel. “The way I see it, as long as the documents are in my possession, I own you. If I take Miss Black’s job, I’ll own everyone. I won’t need you to protect me, because Black won’t want to lose me, and if those papers happen to end up in the hands of a reporter, well, I’m guessing the Ferro family would be ruined.” I stop in front of him, and look up into his face.

Anger and pride are warring within him. He enjoys it when I act this way, but he fears it, too. It means I understand him more, that I’m not the innocent girl he first met. It means I’m more like him. As I speak, his blue gaze narrows, his hands ball into fists, and he folds his arms over his chest. He laughs in my face. “You think you can take Campone’s place?”

“I know I can.”

Chapter 8

There have been a handful of times I’ve truly been afraid around Sean, where my gut tells me to flee or fight. This is one of them. My words have broken something inside his brain and, I swear to God, I heard it snap. His blue eyes narrow and he looks ready to break free, ready to allow the animal trapped within to escape. Using his body like a bulldozer, he pushes me back into the wall, his normal emotionless expression regaining control of his face.

In a lethal voice, he lowers his head so we’re nose to nose. “Don’t you dare!”

“You can’t stop me.” Heart pounding, I hold my breath, ready to scream. The vein on the left side of Sean’s head looks like it’s going to pop it’s throbbing so fast. “You said yourself, whoever gets those documents wins. I have them. I win.”