Don’t Let Go

28. Aurora

28

Aurora

There’s nothing like spending an easy day at home with my sisters ruined by an uninvited stranger ringing the doorbell.

“I’ll get it!” Lizzy shouted, jumping up from the living room carpet where she was coloring a picture of a puppy with her trusted stuffed bunny by her side.

I chuckled, getting out of the rocking recliner. “I’ll get it. Just finish your picture.” I playfully ruffled her hair as I walked by.

“Hey! Don’t mess with my mane!” She narrowed her eyes at me, but a smile slowly stole her lips.

I laughed, shaking my head. “Sorry, Simba.” She was cute with her movie quotes, especially since The Lion King was on.

“Ugh. You two are too much,” Carmen groaned. She was curled into the corner of the couch with her legs tucked under her as she looked at her phone.

“Don’t worry. I’ll answer the door. I wouldn't want you to get up,” I said through clenched teeth.

Carmen’s response was flipping me the bird.

No wonder Lizzy was my favorite.

I straightened my T-shirt and ran a hand through my hair before opening the door. My eyebrows pushed together as I saw Paolo’s cousin, Vincenzo, standing on our porch. He had his hands folded in front of him. He barred his teeth in what I think was an attempt at a smile and nodded inside toward my siblings.

“Hello, Aurora. Good to see you again.” He shifted his feet, lifting his shirt a little to show me the gun in his waistband. “Do you have time for a little road trip?”

I licked my lips. “What is this about?” I was glad my voice didn’t reflect my nervousness. My hold on the door tightened as if I had the strength to lock him out if he made a move to grab me.

“I need your assistance. Paolo said you’d be cool about it. I didn’t believe him, so I brought my friend here for encouragement.” He nodded at his pistol.

“Who is it?” Lizzy shouted from the living room.

I had five seconds to make a decision. I could slam the door in his face and have him shoot me through the front door. If I turned him down, I had the feeling he’d rush me and hold my sisters hostage until I agreed. That left only one option. I agreed and went with him quietly.

I grinded my teeth together and looked over my shoulder. “It’s Paolo. I forgot we were meeting up. I gotta go.” To Vincenzo, I whispered, “I’ll go with you if you go back to the car and wait so I can change and put on shoes.”

He made a point of checking out my body, paying special attention to my chest. “You have one minute otherwise, I’m coming inside and visiting your sisters.” He patted the gun on his hip and turned his back on me.

I closed the door and made a break for the stairs.

“But Rory! We’re watching a movie!” Lizzy shouted after me.

“I’m sorry! I’ll be back soon!” I yelled from the second floor.

I dashed into my bedroom and took off my PJ bottoms, shoving on some jean shorts. My Marilyn Monroe shirt was fine. I grabbed a brush to fix my hair before sliding on a pair of socks and stepping into my sneakers.

“Carmen! You’re in charge of Lizzy. I have my phone on me. Call if you need me!” I said, running down the stairs.

“Yeah. Yeah,” she replied, not bothering to look up.

Lizzy stood in the living room with her arms folded across her chest and a pout on her cute little face. “We’re watching a movie, though,” she said again quietly.

It broke my heart to ditch her. Maybe one day when she’s older, she’ll understand I left so a big scary Italian guy didn’t come in here waving a gun in their faces.

“I’m sorry, Liz. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” I blew her an air kiss. She looked at me before reaching up and pretending to grab my kiss.

“I love you!” Lizzy said as I walked out the door.

“I love you more!” I replied before locking the front door and jogging toward Vincenzo’s Jaguar.

I reluctantly opened the passenger’s side door and got in.

He chuckled as he put the car in gear. “You’re on time. Paolo said when it came to your sisters, you're a bleeding heart.” He shook his head as he pulled onto the street. “He got you pegged well.”

I balled up my fists and swallowed the bile rising in my throat. “Whatever this is, it better be important.”

“Just a quick heist of sorts. In and out, I promise.” He winked.

I felt filthy like I was riding in the back of a garbage truck. “Great. What are we doing?”

He flashed me a sinister grin. “You’ll see.”

I had a horrible sinking feeling I got myself into a giant pile of shit not even my mamma could cover up.

“You want me to do what?” I asked, staring at the brand-new silver Porsche. It was so shiny its paint was like a mirror.

Vincenzo slapped the hood of the Porsche and tossed the key fob at me. “I need you to drive this car, and I’m going to drive the Lamborghini. We need to drive the back roads for a couple miles and meet up with the buyers who have a semi. Communication channels got screwed up, and that’s all you need to know,” he said dryly as if I did this all the time and was acting out of sorts today.

I pressed my lips together, holding the key fob too tightly until pain tingled up my arm. “I’m sorry, but I’m lost. Why are we doing this?”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Paolo said you’d be like this after the incident with his drive to supply a dealer. You clean up blood and brains at crime scenes. Why can’t you wrap your head around this?”

Excuse me? Did he seriously think this was the same as cleaning up events that already occurred? What the hell did Paolo get me involved in? I knew he was going to punish me for ditching him during that drug deal.

“My mamma does the crime scenes. I help sometimes. I’m not sure what Paolo told you, but I’m—”

Vincenzo stepped extremely close to me, making me take a step back. He towered over me. A smile curled his lips. The stubble on his chin scratched my cheek as he leaned forward to whisper, “Baby, Paolo told me all about you.” The back of his hand brushed my upper arm. “He said I could have you for a night if I asked. He says you’re a pretty good lay.”

I slapped him across the face before realizing it. “Don’t you touch me,” I said through clenched teeth, crossing my arms over my chest to prevent me from going into attack mode. “I’m not with Paolo anymore.”

My blood ran cold as he stared me down. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that with such a bite since he did have me backed into a corner.

After a moment, Vincenzo chuckled, toying with a curl of my hair before backing away. “Just drive the damn car, and we’ll call it a day.”

I tapped my fingers on my arm. I didn’t see any way out of this. We were alone, and he drove me to some forgotten mechanic shop in the middle of nowhere. I had royally screwed myself over.

“Fine,” I finally said more to myself than to him.

Vincenzo kicked the front tire of the Porsche. “Good girl. Follow my lead, and don’t get too crazy with the throttle. We don’t wanna blow the engines on these babies.”

I slipped behind the wheel of the Porsche. The black leather seat molded to my body. The car roared with power. This car had to go over a hundred miles per hour in seconds. It was amazing to drive something so elegant, but these were hot rollers. I knew the mob took part in illegal trade, but I never played a hand in it, until now.

As Vincenzo drove out of the abandoned shop, I followed along, and Tyler replied to my text, wishing him good luck. He seemed so lighthearted and happy when my world rapidly turned from dull gray to raven black. That’s when I messaged him for help. I shouldn’t have done that.

Why did I reach out to Tyler? I was so stupid. Tyler couldn’t help me. No one could.

I shoved my phone into my bra and followed the chrome blue Lamborghini. Vincenzo drove down a couple of different dirt roads. We were in the middle of the desert. There weren’t any light signals, only bent stop signs.

About fifteen minutes later, we arrived. Three Mexican guys with guns holstered to their hips waited for us in front of a semi-truck with a trailer claiming it belonged to a grocery store. My heart leaped into my throat, making it hard to breathe. I killed the engine and took a few moments to get out of the car. I wanted to peel out of there, ditch the car somewhere, and go home. Only that would get me into hot water with the mob for botching the deal.

Vincenzo pounded fists with the three strangers. They looked at me like I was a sweet treat. I glared at them, warning them I wasn’t part of this trade.

One of the Mexicans reached above the back tire of the Lamborghini into the tire well and pulled out what looked like a bag of flour that was taped up there. He took a pocket knife from his belt and cut a small hole into the bag. He licked the dust off his knife, nodding to Vincenzo with a smile. “Nothing better than freshly cut smack, am I right?”

Fear prickled along my spine. This was more than about luxury cars. We were also smuggling heroin. There was a line I drew with the mob, and it was drugs and the sex trade. Paolo almost got me with that “adventure” lie a while back, but this was a low blow. To have his cousin drag me out to the desert and do this kind of dirty deal. Everything about this felt wrong, almost as if this was behind the mob’s back. Why else would we be in the middle of the desert, moving cars packed with drugs to shady guys who had tattoos proudly claiming they belonged to the Diamond Snakes, one of the biggest Mexican drug cartels in the west?

Could Paolo and his cousins be undermining the mob? Could they betray their blood like that?

My blood froze in my veins. I was in grave danger. If they were rats and didn’t think much of family, then I was nothing but a loose end. While the boys talked shop, I slipped away and texted my mamma.

SOS!! Please use the find my phone app and pick me up ASAP!

I had nowhere to run. There was no cover in any direction. We were surrounded by dirt and cactus.

She messaged me back faster than I thought she would.

I’m looking it up now. I’ll be there soon!

I feared when she came because I had to explain why I was there, but it beat being with the devil’s cousin and those tatted-up gangsters.

The semi turned over. They must’ve loaded the cars. The deal was finished. I hid the best I could behind an old port-a-potty. I heard footsteps approaching, crunching the tiny rocks with their boots, but they stopped a few feet short before discovering me.

“Hey, hombre, you want a ride back? You need to give us directions, though.” One of the strangers yelled.

“Yeah. I’m coming.” Vincenzo kicked the dirt, causing a dust cloud to engulf me.

I squeezed my eyes shut, praying he left and that I wouldn’t sneeze.

“See ya around, chica,” he murmured before leaving.

I sighed in relief and hit my head on the back of the port-a-potty as the semi drove away.

What a damn idiot I was.

Tyler kept texting me, but I couldn’t explain. I ignored him and hoped my desperate texts didn’t make him lose the game.

I waited for a little over forty minutes until my mamma pulled up. I fell into the passenger’s seat and put on my seat belt.

She clicked her tongue, unable to speak at first. As we drove down the dirt road that met with a paved street, she finally asked, “What happened?”

“Paolo’s cousin came by, saying I was needed for a job. He flashed a gun at me and kept looking inside the house. He said if I didn’t come, he’d hurt the girls. I didn’t want Carmen or Lizzy in danger, so left with him. I know it was stupid. I know I’m lucky to—”

She hit the steering wheel with her palm. “You’re not just lucky. Do you have any idea what they were doing? You could’ve been killed or worse.”

I could’ve been sold.

Numbness took over my body. All my nerves were in overdrive.

“I’m sorry, Mamma. I didn’t mean to put myself at risk like that.” Tears rolled down my face. I felt like a little girl in trouble for breaking my mamma’s favorite vase, but this was much more serious than anything in my entire life.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. I barely kept myself together after your papà, and that was only for you kids. I can’t lose you, Aurora. I can’t lose my…” her voice broke. A single tear rolled down her cheek. I hadn’t seen her cry since my papà’s funeral.

I buried my fingers into my hair, pulling at the roots as I rocked back and forth in my seat. “I don’t know what to say.”

She took a deep breath. “Never do that again. Don’t open the front door for anyone, and always ask me first.” She reached over and squeezed my thigh. “I’ll always come to help you, fiore mio. I can’t be everywhere, though.”

I nodded. “I understand. Lesson learned.”

She patted my leg and put her hand back on the steering wheel. “I was on my way to clean up a hit when you texted so we have a pit stop before home.”

I sat up in my chair, trying to put on a brave face. “No problem. I could use the distraction.”

Thank God my mamma was able to save me, but she was right. I could’ve died. If Vincenzo would’ve walked a few more feet and saw me. If he dragged me back to the others, I might have never seen my family again. I was so ashamed of myself. Why didn’t I listen to my gut? Why did I allow myself to be pulled into a lie and be manipulated like that?

One thing for sure was it would take me a long time, if ever, to forgive myself, and now I was always going to question my decisions.

I also had no idea what to say to Tyler when I faced him. He'd have questions, and I couldn’t tell him the truth. I almost showed him my hand a few days ago, revealing the secret of my family being involved in the mob. That I needed to be saved from so many things, so many monsters, so many sins. What the hell do I tell him?