Page 116 of Taint My Soul

Hope? I didn’t think I’d ever hear that word from anyone.

“It’s not just that, baby. I can’t let my father ruin us. If he finds out about me and you, he’ll do it. He’s so hateful.”

“Then we’ll fight him together.” I look down at him with a smile, blurring the lines of laughter. “I mean, you can teach me how to fight. I don’t mind.” He adds with a skeptical shrug.

“Relax, I will.” I tell him. “And call me darling more, I love it when you do.”

“Yeah?” He rolls onto me, and I snake my hands around his waist and kiss him. I nod after the short-lived kiss and place our foreheads together.

“I do.” I inhale sharply. I lift my hand to his cheeks and smile. “Elio, you have given me a gift, and I know I’m such a fuckup, and I don’t deserve this. I’m sorry for mistreating you. I really am.”

“You deserve this. We both fucking do, okay?” He holds my cheeks, and I bob my head in response. My lips crack into a smile as tears gather in my eyes, and he kisses me tenderly. “And I know nothing will ever compare to the things I have done, and I hope you forgive me, too. I’m sorry.” I give him a nod and kiss him again.

He slips back into my arms, and I adjust until we are both comfortable. “Before I forget, can you come to my cousin’s wedding as my plus one?” I ask politely.

“You think that’s a good idea. I mean, your family.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be there to keep you safe.” I chuckle. “But I really want to be there with you. As a step to embracing who I am.”

It doesn’t take long for him to fall asleep. I carefully get out of the hammock and take him in my arms, walking into his house and taking him to the bedroom. He makes a sound as I lay him on the soft sheets of the bed.

I return to the living room to pick up my phone. I missed three calls from Ali, but he left a couple of messages. He was waiting for me outside the Red Horn Club.

I put on a shirt, and I pick up the car keys, and I drive straight to his location. He’s leaning against the hood of the vehicle, lips tight around a bottle of vodka. It’s been a long time since I had those. Ali holds two envelopes in his hands. “I’m sorry it took so long. I got held up.” We both enter his car and shut off the outside world.

He hands the files to me. “Inside you’ll find information on Elio Layton, the Madame of Red Horn Club, Neo, and Vincent Bishop.”

“Madame?”

“Can you brief me on what you have here?” I open the envelope, and I take out pictures of three men standing outside Mason’s apartment.

“Elio Layton, under the alias of Mason Cole, has been staying in Kingston for over a year. He went to a community college here on a scholarship, but he always stuck to the shadows. He’s from Queenstown. His parents used to be affiliated with the mafia before his uncle David brutally murdered them.” Ali points at the man in the left corner of the picture.

“Affiliated to the Mafia? How so?”

“His mother was a cleaner.” Ali responds. “Mason got dragged into this by his uncle, and they’ve been visiting him ever since he moved to his new apartment.” He lifts another picture.

That’s how Cross got pictures of him and Neo in the street.

These fuckers were hurting Mason for sure. I’d make them regret it.

“What about my shipment? What does Neo have to do with it?”

“Neo is his lieutenant. He used to be pledged to the Dynasty, and he worked with them for five years. Then he disappeared for two years after an operation gone wrong. He sends money to his mother and brother on the 14th of every month. My guess is he hid in the shadows, but reemerged three years ago and pledged himself to House Bishop,” he explains. “But it’s complicated.”

“He’s working with Vincent.”

“Yes, but the Bishop Empire cut off Vincent two years ago.” My family’s enemies. Were they even aware that one of their own plotted against us?

“So, if I kill him, it doesn’t start a war?” I grip the photograph and stare at the man’s face.

“Technically, yes,” Ali answers. “But it’s deeper than that…”

“Go on.”

He reaches for the other envelope and pulls out two photographs. It’s a picture of four men in a restaurant booth. Vincent, Neo, Mason, and David. “They were here months ago.” Ali points out and lifts the other photograph. It’s Vincent, Neo, Cyrus, and David. At one of the local nightclubs in the city.

My brow arches as I peer at the picture. Mason had been right about these men. I had a different score to settle with Cyrus, but I didn’t think he would be a part of this.