Sinful Alliance: A Reverse Harem Story

-FOURTY-NINE-

A few weeks had passed since the Mayor's Ball and I find myself tending bar at the tail end of a very busy evening. I decided to take the trash out to the dumpster in the back alley instead of bothering Vartan with it because he was dealing with a customer who had gotten handsy with one of the girls on stage. The night air was mild when I stepped through the heavy metal door and I let out a breath hauling the trash bag to the dumpster.

"What do they see in you?" a gravely voice commented from behind me as I shoved the lid up. My brow furrowed when I glanced over my shoulder, blood running cold in my veins; standing at the entrance of the alley was Crawford Blackburn. Prison had not been kind to him- his hair had gotten shaggy, unkept facial hair, blood shot eyes and dark circles.

I glanced toward the door hoping Vartan had noticed my absence and was looking for me. "There's no one here to save you now," he grumbled stalking toward me.

I shoved the bag of trash at him and bolted toward the door only to be jerked back by my ponytail as my fingers brushed against the push bar. White hot pain filled my senses as he used the grip to throw me to the ground where tiny pebbles dug into my body. "Vartan!" I screamed before he straddled me and wrapped his sweaty hands around my neck.

"You should have died with your parents," he spat and I struggled beneath his weight clawing at his arms as his fingers tightened, tight enough I couldn't cry out and had to gasp in an effort to draw air into my lungs. As darkness was creeping along the edges of my vision I managed to extend an arm far enough to scratch his face and he shrank back with a hiss. It was enough for his hands to leave my throat and me to be able to drive the hand I had scratched him with into his crotch with as much force as I could muster.

A low groan came from his lips and his eyes rolled back some as he slumped onto his side clutching his balls. I rolled onto my knees gasping for air then scrambled to my feet and rushed for the door. I ran into a wall of muscle after throwing it open. "Vartan, thank god," I gasped clutching his shirt.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked gently taking hold of my arms. I stepped to the side so he could see the man lying on the ground. "Ava, call Arik and Silvano," he ordered and gently pushed me back inside the club. My hands were trembling as I pulled my phone out of my pocket and Vartan's hulking form stalked toward Crawford like a lion, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Silvano," I whimpered into the phone when the call connected.

"What's wrong Ava?"

"You need to get to Goddess Black, Crawford is here."

"I'll be right there, does Vartan know?"

"Yes, he's out in the alley and made me come back in to call you and Arik."

"All right, I'll be right there."

"Silvano."

"Yes Sweet One."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

He hung up and I called Arik, that call going the same as the first.

By the time they arrived Vartan and drug Crawford to the basement that served as storage for the club and I was held up in his office on the couch with my legs curled into my chest. Vartan had closed down early telling everyone that an emergency had come up. I heard footsteps enter and I looked up to see Silvano coming toward me dressed in a tee-shirt, jeans and boots instead of the tailored Italian suit I'd seen him in earlier today.

"Silvano," I sniffed and got up going into his arms.

"You're safe Sweet Girl," he soothed holding me tightly as he kissed my head.

I leaned back and wiped at my eyes. "Where are Vartan and Arik?"

"Down in the basement." He smoothed down my hair and gazed at me with those mismatched eyes as I worried my bottom lip between my teeth.

"I want to go down there," I told him and he shook his head.

"No."

"I wasn't asking Silvano."

His dark brow furrowed and he heaved a sigh taking my hand as we made our way through the dimly lit club and down the cement steps to the basement where the twins stood a few feet away from the chair Crawford was handcuffed to. My mind flashed back to when I watched Silvano and his men beat Vito to death then my eyes fell onto the gun that lay on a crate. It brought images from night terrors that had been plagued with since that god awful night.

"That's the gun Vito killed my parents with," I muttered and the twins looked back to where Silvano and I stood at the foot of the stairs.

"She shouldn't be down here," Vartan commented glaring at his youngest brother.

"I tried to tell her no," Silvano retorted and slowly I let go of his hand. I stepped between Arik and Vartan, all eyes on me. My approach stopped at the crate.

"I figured it would have been lost," I commented.

"A smart man would have disposed of it," Arik replied from behind me. "Not kept it as a trophy."

"Why did you do it?" I asked, eyes going to the handcuffed man as blood was beginning to ooze from the scratches I'd made across his face.

He spat at me and I held up a hand when I heard footsteps start forward, surprised that they halted. My heart was hammering against my rib cage, why did I think facing this man was a good idea? I drew in a deep breath to steady my nerves before I spoke again. "I'm trying to be civil and give you a chance to explain why you killed my parents and have tried to kill me. If it was up to them." I motioned over my shoulder with a thumb. "You'd be rotting in the ground somewhere."

           "Your father was going to ruin my image," he rasped after a moment.

           "He was trying to protect your daughter. You were more worried about how it would look then your child's well being."

           "The child wasn't paying the bills."

            I scoffed at this. "Greed is one of the seven deadly sins," Silvano commented and Crawford rolled his eyes.

            "Says the gangster."

            "The difference between you and I is that I would never choose a dollar or my image over my child."

            "You had a whole PR team that could have made the issue disappear," I began, crossing my arms over my chest. "So why destroy a happy family?"

             "No PR team can stop people from talking once something gets out. Cut off the head and the whole snake dies before it becomes a problem. If I'd known that fucking Calzone hadn't finished the job this all would have been dealt with years ago."

           This fucker was really comparing my father going to the authorities to protect a little girl to a snake in the grass and didn't show an ounce of remorse... I didn't know I'd picked up the gun until two shots echoed off the cement walls and bullets buried themselves between his eyes and through his heart.