Life of a Fool (London Brothers Book 2) Read online

  “Move back from the door. You know people can tell when your eye is on that.” He was pointing to the peephole. I crouched down and slowly moved backwards. I felt naked without my weapon. It was in the bedroom with Lori Ann, but I wasn’t about to leave that door to go get it.

  “Il mio amante,” My lover. “I know you are in this room. Come out now so that I can take you home. This is between us, and your friends can’t save you.” His thickly accented Italian voice was just as slimy sounding as you would imagine. The sound of footsteps behind us had Craig and I turning to see Lori Ann moving toward the door. She still had her pajamas on and didn’t hold her suitcase in her hand, which I was glad to see. I was afraid she’d try to leave to protect Craig and me. I turned and walked the few feet to stand in front of her as Craig walked closer to the door.

  Cupping her face, I whispered, “Go back to bed, Legs. You’re not going anywhere, and neither are we. He’ll leave.” I kissed her nose, and she leaned her head on my shoulder as she stepped up next to my body. “Come on. I’ll go with you.”

  “Craig?”

  “I got this,” he said. “Go get her settled.”

  But before we could walk away, we heard The Italian say, “Lori Ann, you have until the morning to say goodbye to these friends of yours. Do. It. Johnny will be around to collect you at 8:00 am. You know you have no choice.” What an arrogant prick! No. Fucking. Way.

  Craig continued to watch for several long seconds as Lori Ann and I just stood still. “He’s walking away. Shit, girl. Where did you find this asshole?”

  Lori Ann sighed, then rested her forehead against my chest. “I swear to you he wasn’t like this until a year ago. Or maybe he was, but kept it hidden. Hell, I don’t know anymore. All I know is he never hurt me, never said a cross word to me until that night. Then, it was like he couldn’t or didn’t want to go back to the Antonio I knew.”

  “Well, we need to get out of here, but now isn’t the time. Let’s try to get a few hours of sleep. You know he isn’t just going to disappear and come back in the morning. He’ll have someone watching all the entrances. So, what do we do?” I asked.

  “Right. You two go sleep. I’ll stay up for a bit, think up something, then wake you up so I can catch a few hours.”

  “Sounds good.” I walked with Lori Ann back into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed as she lay down. “Hey,” I said, placing my hand on her cheek, “it’s gonna be okay.” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and reached to cover my hand with hers. Had I not been watching closely, I would’ve missed the subtle shake of her head. An intense heaviness settled in my chest. She was considering that bastard’s words—considering going back. Rage consumed me, and I had to walk away before I pushed back so hard she’d run for sure. “I’ll be right back,” was all I could force out of my mouth as I pushed off the bed.

  Eyes shot open to look at me before, “Okay,” slipped from her lips.

  My fucking jaw felt like I was going to grind my teeth to nubs as I made the twenty steps out of the bedroom and into the living room with Craig. Glancing up from his computer, he asked, “What? You look like you’re about to rip someone’s head off.”

  “She’s fucking considering going back to him! I saw it on her face. She’s actually considering it! After we came all this way here to help her. What. The. Hell.”

  “Wait, are you sure?”

  “Yes.” I raked my hands through my short hair and spewed out a few more curse words. “I don’t even know that person in there.” I whispered as I pointed to the bedroom.

  “Just calm down. You know we aren’t letting her do that. She can’t sneak past both of us to go back to him. Do you think it’s because she’s trying to protect us?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, calm your shit, then. That’s exactly the Lori Ann we know.” Craig was right. She’d always been the ultimate protector.

  I took a deep breath. “You’re right.” And I knew he was, but the mere thought of Lori Ann being out of my grasp again was strangling me. “What the hell are we going to do?”

  “We wait. I’m looking online now for what is around here, around this hotel. You and I don’t have a good lay of the land, and we’re going to desperately need it if we’re to get to the airport safely.”

  “What time is our flight?”

  “8:45 am. I think our only option is to just go for it. Take our chances on just bolting from this place. We can call a private car, have them pick us up in a few hours, hall ass to the airport, and get through security as fast as possible. Maybe you and Lori Ann could go ahead, get her safely through to the gate, and I’ll check the backpacks with our weapons. I’d feel better once we’re in a very public place where, unless The Italian buys a ticket, he can’t go through security.”

  “I wouldn’t put it past him to do just that. This whole situation makes me uneasy. The last thing we need is some international incident at the airport between a couple of US cops who look like they’re stealing away with the Italian playboy’s wife. Doesn’t matter if she says otherwise. We will look like the bullies, not him.”

  “I think you’re right. This could get uglier if we aren’t careful.”

  “So, it’s what…” I looked at the clock and saw it was a little after four in the morning. “We need to leave in a few hours, maybe about six? Shit. Okay, let’s call the same car service we used yesterday.”

  “I’m on it.” I was so grateful I’d forced Craig to come with me. Every step, he kept me from doing something stupid, like trying to beat the shit out of Antonio at the house and here at the hotel. Craig picked up his cell phone and made the call to the car company. “I’m not using the hotel phone, just in case.”

  “Good idea.”

  “Go sleep. I’ll wake you in an hour.”

  “Thanks, man. You know I would’ve fucked this up had you not come with me.”

  “Not true. But I’m glad I’m here with you. It would’ve driven me nuts waiting to hear that Lori Ann was okay and you’d gotten her out.”

  I didn’t know what else to say. So, I shook Craig’s hand, nodded, and walked back to the bedroom and Lori Ann. When I quietly slipped through the door, I stopped and stared at the beautiful woman laying in the bed. She looked small, fragile with her arm in a cast and her legs tucked under her as she lay on her side. As much as I hated to admit it, I was still in love with my best friend. But there was nothing I could do about it. I’d never mentioned my feelings again after that Spring day back in college when we both realized “friendship” was all we were going to have. Yes, I’d dated plenty and had a few long-term relationships, one that I thought I wanted to marry, but when it came right down to it, I never popped the question. She got bored with my shit and left. I didn’t blame her either.

  Here and now, though, my Lori Ann needed me to keep her safe and get her home. That was my focus. Had to be my only focus. So instead of crawling into bed next to her like I wanted, I picked up the thin blanket at the end of the bed and tried my best to sleep for a while in the wing chair that sat in the corner of the room. And it sucked because the hardest thing in the world was to love someone that was off limits. I needed to rein in my feelings.

  Chapter 6

  Lori Ann

  I’d heard the whole conversation between Craig and Jason. They were worried about what I might do. Hell, Jason thought I was going to go running back to Antonio. That was not happening. Yes, I wanted to leave, but I wasn’t going back to my old life with him. I was going to run…find a way out of Italy on my own and protect the two men in the other room from any shit my husband was planning. Yes, in my current medical condition, that was going to be difficult if not impossible, but I figured if I was gone, he’d leave them alone and come searching for me. I wasn’t a martyr. I just felt horrible for dragging my two best friends into my mess.

  But Jason—well, I couldn’t abandon him and all his efforts to save me. So, as they planned our escape in the other room, I slipped into bed. I wasn
’t asleep when Jace came back into the room. I was curled up in my protective ball, thinking. When he didn’t climb into bed with me, my heart sank. I was feeling lost and vulnerable, and I wanted him to wrap his arms around me and make me feel safe like he always had. I felt the tears slide down the side of my face as I held in every sound so Jason wouldn’t hear me.

  I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, Jason was calling my name, telling me to wake up. “We need to leave. Our car will be here any minute to take us to the airport.” His words only took a second to sink in. I bolted straight up and stared at his face.

  “Oh, crap. Yeah. Okay. Let me just throw on some clothes and brush my teeth.” I went to get up out of the bed but moved too quickly, and the pain in my side reminded me that my broken ribs were not even close to being healed. My stomach felt nauseous and my head got a bit “swimmy,” sending my ass back to the edge of the bed. “Damn it,” I muttered.

  “Stop.” Jason wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead as he pulled me to him. I didn’t fight. I couldn’t. I was too dizzy. “You need to remember you’re injured and not move so fast.” He paused. “I’m so sorry, Legs.” The grief in his voice was more than I could take. I needed space, so I forced myself to push him away.

  “I’m okay. Give me five minutes.” Even with as much pain as I was in, I stood and walked away toward the bathroom. I stared down at the floor, watching my feet to keep my head straight as I walked. I didn’t want his pity. I wanted his help. That was all.

  Just as I reached the threshold of the bathroom door, Jason’s arms gently circled my waist, stop-ping me. “Don’t you dare try that shit on me. I know you better than you know yourself. I know when you’re in pain, when you feel sick, even when you’re trying not to cry. So don’t you dare insult me by pretending.” His body was stiff and full of tension even as he tried to soften his words. “It’s me, baby,” he whispered in my ear. “Now tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.”

  I leaned my head back on his shoulder and sighed. “I don’t want pity, Jace. Not from you, okay?”

  “Is that what you think? Really?” He slowly turned me to face him, but I didn’t look into his eyes. So he used one hand to tilt my chin up, forcing me to look him in the eye. “I feel guilty as hell. I feel like I failed you, Legs. What you see or feel or hear from me is not pity. It’s remorse and pain.”

  I didn’t believe him but chose not to fight about it at that moment. Instead, I gave Jason a small smile and leaned in for a hug. “Thank you. I need to get dressed.” I pulled back out of his grasp and watched as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

  “Ignoring me, huh? Don’t believe me?” His playful tone was a mask. He was pissed at me.

  “Go away. I need to change.” I smiled bigger, hoping he’d just let it go.

  Jason stepped close, grabbed my face in his hands, and with a set mouth and determined stare, said, “This conversation is not over. Don’t do this. Don’t make up excuses to push me away. I won’t let you.” He kissed the end of my nose and walked out of the bedroom. He was infuriating at times, but God did I love how he could read me, knew my heart like he knew his own.

  I stepped out of the bedroom, dressed in yoga pants and a fitted, light pink tee shirt. I’d put my hair up in a ponytail and had on a baseball cap. Not that it would keep Antonio from recognizing me, but I figured it might help hide me from the other men watching us. I’d packed a few things into a small bag and decided to leave the rest. There was no way we could maneuver around Antonio’s antics with a suitcase full of clothes in tow. I held my tennis shoes in my hand and smiled shyly at both men, hoping one would help me get them on and tie the shoelaces. They looked at each other and smiled. “Um, can I get some help here, boys?” They laughed.

  “So, now we have to dress you too? Woman, you are a useless mess,” Craig joked, making me laugh.

  “Yes, but at least I’m not asking you to wipe my ass! So be grateful it’s just a little shoe tying.” Craig barked out a hearty laugh, and Jason scrunched his nose in disgust.

  “Woman! Gross!” Craig yelled.

  “Craig, stop flirting with my girl and let’s get the fuck out of here. Legs, get your ass over here and I’ll help you.” It had been years since I’d heard Jason refer to me as his girl. It reminded me of better times, carefree times, and it felt nice. I walked to him and sat on the edge of the coffee table as he helped me slip on and tie my shoes. Craig winked at me, giving a little nod as if he was reading my mind and could see the words rolling around in my head. The ones that felt so good. I don’t think Jace even realized he’d said them. “His girl.” It was accurate. We’d always had some sort of claim on each other, even if best friend was as far as it went.

  I stared at Jason as he tied both tennis shoes, but he never looked up at me. For the first time in years, I couldn’t read him and it scared me. He abruptly stood when he finished and offered his hand to me, helping me stand. “Ready?”

  “Sure.” Yes, no…hell, I didn’t know. He started to walk away, but I grabbed his arm. “Are you okay? You’re acting strange.”

  He pulled his arm away from my grip and slung his backpack over his shoulders, strapping it firmly in place. “Yes. Just anxious to get you the hell out of Italy.” I glared at him. We both knew he was telling a half-truth. But I let it go.

  “Okay, the car service just called. They are at the front entrance. I figured we might as well go where we have an audience. All the other doors are way too secluded.” Craig turned to me. “Lori Ann, stay right between us.” Then he looked at Jason. “Jace, you hold her hand or arm the whole way out. I’m keeping one hand free for my gun, if I need it. Pay attention and move quickly. Legs, can you do that?” Craig was pulling on a cap and strapping his backpack to his back.

  “Yes.” I turned to Jason and fear gripped my chest. “Please, don’t let go of my hand.” His face softened, and my Jace was back.

  “Never.” He took my hand in his and kissed my knuckles. “Let’s go home, babe.”

  Chapter 7

  Jason

  I felt like shit.

  I was tired, frustrated, mad, and just plain jealous. And Craig calling her “Legs” didn’t help rein in my temper. He did it on purpose. He was trying to get my attention and get me riled up and prepared for a fight…one that was inevitably outside our hotel room door. It worked. Especially when Lori Ann asked me not to let go of her hand. That alone told me how scared she really was of getting snatched from us and taken back to The Italian. Over my dead body.

  “I think the elevator is too slow, too risky. Anyone could be waiting for us when the doors open. We have to take the stairs. Lori Ann, are you going to be okay going down the three flights? The door opens right in the middle of the lobby, around the corner from the front desk, so at least whatever is waiting for us will be within full view of anyone down there.”

  “Yes. I’ll force myself to be okay with the stairs.”

  I squeezed her hand and smiled at my brave girl.

  “All right. Let’s go. We sure as hell don’t want to be late catching our plane.” Craig opened the hotel door, gun in hand, and peeked around but saw no one. “I have no doubt the manager is watching the hallway cameras,” he whispered. “So we need to move fast.”

  “Agreed,” I said.

  “Let’s go. Lori Ann, stay close behind me. Jace will be behind you. The car is waiting at the front door.”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  I took a deep breath, and we all forged into the third-floor hallway. No one was around, at least no one we could see. We quickly walked the length of the hallway between our door and the one that led to the hidden stairway. Craig paused before opening it to turn and signal to Lori Ann and I to step back and wait a few seconds. I stepped in front of Lori Ann, pushing her back against the wall, shielding her with my body, trying to protect her from anyone coming out of the stairwell. I eased my gun out of the holster on my belt, then nodded to Craig. In a flash
, he jerked open the door, and all I could hear was a male voice mutter a few words in Italian before he was silenced. It happened so fast. My body slammed Lori Ann’s and my gun was raised toward the doorway, ready to shoot. I heard his voice before he peeked around the door. He knew better than to step out without me knowing it was him.

  “Jace.”

  I lowered my gun halfway.

  “Clear?” I questioned.

  “Clear.” He stepped into view, and I put my gun away. When I looked at Lori Ann, her face was pale and I was pretty sure she wasn’t breathing. It was either fear or the fact that I was crushing her, probably hurting her ribs. I took a step back.

  “You okay?” I asked her.

  “Yes.” She looked at Craig, tears forming in her eyes. “Are you okay?” Her question was a sob.

  He stepped up to her, and she reached out, hugging him tightly. No jealousy from me this time. He deserved that hug. “Hey, no tears. I’m good, I promise. But we need to move.” Craig looked at me over Lori Ann’s shoulder. “I just knocked him out. He’ll eventually wake up and come looking for us. We need to tie him up.”

  I was already unzipping my backpack. “I’m on it. I have plastic cable ties.”

  Craig let go of Lori Ann, stepping away to help me as I said, “Legs, you need to step in here with us. Let’s shut the door, get out of the camera’s eye. We still need to hurry. If anyone at the front desk was watching, which they probably were, they’re already mobilizing someone else here to stop us.”

  “Shit. You’re right.” Craig grumbled.

  We secured the big guy’s hands behind his back and then strapped a set of plastic ties to his ankles before hustling down the three flights of stairs. We stopped at the door, preparing ourselves for what was outside. On one hand, we didn’t want to go busting through the door, guns blazing if there wasn’t a threat. On the other, we knew we couldn’t open that door unprepared. After all, the chances of us just walking out of the lobby without any resistance was pretty fucking slim, seeing as how there was already someone posted to stop us upstairs.