Savage Romance: A Rio FanFic

Chapter 27

I sat to the left of Rio as he kept his hands together, in front of his beautiful face. I clenched my jaw, knowing we were all out for blood. Our crew sat at the table with us, knowing damn well this could end very bloody. But no one cared. Someone tried to take Rio out, and I was meant to eat it along with him. Someone tried to take me away from my Izzy. Someone tried to take Rio out of the game, away from his kids. Away from me. Someone was going to answer for this. 

"What do we do, boss?" Mick asked, his large hands clenched into fists on top of the long table. Rio tensed his jaw and looked down. 

"We figure out who ordered it, and we handle it. Unfortunately, we are not left with a whole lot of options to find out who since someone put a bullet in Ford's skull." Rio said, eyeing me sideways. I scoffed as I bit my tongue. Rio had been on the mend for two weeks now, and he had barely said anything to me. I couldn't believe he was angry because I killed Ford. What did he want me to do? Just let Ford torture him to death?

"Mick, you and I are going to check out Ford's place. Gotta be some info there, man. I've got my guy on the phone records to trace where it came from. Eddie, I want you in on distribution. We can't halt that shit because of this nonsense." Eddie nodded, looking over at me. He knew I was going to lose it at any moment. "Alright, fellas, let's head out," Rio said, standing slowly from his seat as the others did the same. I pulled his arm slightly, and Rio told Mick he would meet him out front. 

Rio and I stood in our dining room. He wouldn't look at me. 

"What about me? I can do something." I said, folding my arms. Rio shook his head slightly. 

"No, you can't. You gotta get back to our daughter. She needs you." He said as he loaded his gun. 

"Rio, he was going to kill me too. If I hadn't killed Ford, I wouldn't be here right now. You wouldn't be here. We will find who hired him and..." I started to say before he cut me off. 

"No. I will find out who. You are done with this. We are done. I can't have the mother of my child in this shit. Not anymore. This ain't the life you were meant for, Andy.  I'm not what you were meant for." He said, swallowing hard. I couldn't believe what he was saying. My mind wasn't processing it. 

"Rio, what the fuck are you saying right now? You're not making any sense." 

"I'm making perfect sense. I want you to go to Rhea's and stay there for a while. I will let you know when it's safe to come back home, and I will move out. This is done." Rio said, turning around and walking towards the front of the house. I followed him outside. 

"Rio, stop! Fucking stop!" I yelled. He stopped but didn't turn around. Mick leaned against the SUV, eyeing us. "Don't do this," I said, trying to hold back my tears. After a few moments, Rio slightly turned to me but wouldn't look at me. 

"I've got some of my guys posted at Rhea's. They will make sure whoever did this doesn't come near any of you. Kiss my babies for me." Rio said as he got into the SUV. Leaving me there in tears, my heart broke into millions of little pieces. What the hell just happened? 

A Week Later...

I sat with Izzy in my lap, kissing her forehead as she looked up at me. She giggled slightly as I gave the best fake smile I could. I rocked us both in the glider we sat on and looked around the guest room. It had been a week since we all heard from Rio. It had been a few weeks now since I had been living with Rhea. Neither of us had heard a word from Rio personally. I mostly had been getting small updates from Eddie, and Mick had been dropping things off that Rio wanted us to have, like money and gifts for the kids. I looked up when I heard a knock at my open door, and Rhea stood there in her scrubs. A cup of coffee was in her hand as she walked over to me and put it on the dresser next to me. 

"Thanks," I said, trying to smile. She smiled sympathetically and leaned against the dresser. 

"How are you doing?" She asked. 

"I can't sleep without him." I shook my head, trying to keep the tears away. I had already cried more in the past few days than I had in my whole life. I set Izzy down on the floor next to her toys and sat on the edge of the bed. "And every time I look at her, I see him. It's just heartbreak all over again. Does that make me horrible?" I asked, burying my face in my hands. 

"No, it doesn't," Rhea said, shaking her head. 

"He won't return my calls. Eddie has been ordered to stay away from me basically." 

" I know. I am so sorry, love. He is doing this because he loves you. He loves you both, and it would kill him if anything ever happened to any of us. He is crazy about you. You have to know that." Rhea said. 

"One would think," I said, clearly sounding bitter. 

"Listen, I am going to my mom's for a week. I am taking Marcus, and I want you and Izzy to come. But, if you don't want to, that's okay too. But I should take Izzy either way. Just for a while until you get your head straight." At first, I wanted to punch her for suggesting I wasn't well enough to look after my own child. But I knew she was right. I sighed. 

"Okay. I don't like it, but you're probably right. I want to try and find a job anyway. I can't sit here while he sends us checks every month. I will lose my mind. I wasn't meant to be a stay-at-home mom." I said. Rhea laughed. 

"Girl, me either." 

It had been a few days since Rhea had taken the kids to her mom's in California. I sat on the couch, downing the wine I had sitting in front of me, when I heard a knock at the door. I grabbed my gun and pulled my shorts down slightly to be more presentable. I looked out of the peephole and saw Eddie at the door. I unlocked the deadbolts and opened the door. I nodded at him and headed back to the couch. He closed the door and sat down next to me. 

"How you doin'?" He asked. I shrugged. 

"My husband left me, so to speak. My daughter is in California, and I am unemployed. So you know, peachy." I said, taking another sip of wine. 

"Yeah. I get it. Annie dumped me." He said, grabbing the wine from me and taking a swig. 

"Wait, what? Why?" I asked. 

"I don't know. Said we're too different." 

"I'm sorry, man. That sucks. I haven't talked to her in a while, so I didn't know." I said. 

"It's okay. I knew it was bound to happen. It just sucks cause I love her, ya know." Eddie said, sounding heartbroken. Just like me. 

"I get it," I said, drinking the last of the wine. I set the empty wine bottle on the coffee table. I went into the kitchen and grabbed the whiskey. 

"He misses you," Eddie said as I sat down. I widened my eyes at him. 

"No, he doesn't." 

"He does. He doesn't want anything to happen to you and shit. This line of work is messed up. Rio has tortured me, almost killed me, and now it's business as usual. He doesn't want something like that to happen to you, and it has and will happen again if you don't get out. That dude would be fucked up if anything happened to you or his kids." Eddie said, trying to reason with me. It wouldn't work. Nothing would. Rio broke my heart and walked away. That's all my mind could process right now. 

"Let's go out, dude. Let's get drunk. I am kid-less tonight, and I am tired of drinking at home." I said. Eddie's chuckled. 

"Aight. Where do you want to go?" He asked. 

"There is a bar like a few blocks away. We could literally walk. Let's go!" I said, grabbing Eddie's hand and leading him to the bar down the street. Two heartbroken criminals, what could go wrong with that?