“I didn’t think you would.” I wanted to grab her and kiss her and fuck her senseless again, but I knew she wasn’t going to put up with any of that until she got the rest of her answers. I just hoped I’d be able to provide them all to her satisfaction.
Living up to what I said, that would be a whole separate challenge.
“I need to understand what happens after,” Lia said. “What do we do once you’ve…well, once you’ve done whatever it is you need to do? Explain that first, and then we need to figure out what comes later.”
I rubbed my fingers into my eyes and thought for a minute.
“I half considered just making a run for it,” I told her, “but the more I think about it, the more I know that isn’t going to work. Ask me how many people tried to run from my boss, and I’ll give you the same number of people I caught on the run. No one ever got away from me, and I’m the kind of guy they’d send after us.”
“Jesus,” she muttered, “I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this.”
I cringed a bit, closed my eyes, and tried to focus. When I opened them again, I reached out and took her hand.
“I know this is really fucked up,” I said. “I know this isn’t what you bargained for when you came to find me, but I’m glad you are here. I’m glad you’re staying. I…I…fuck!”
“What is it?”
I let go of her, stood up, and ran my hand over my face and head. I hadn’t gotten a haircut yet, and the length was starting to annoy me. Without being neat and orderly, I felt like I was totally off my normally collected game.
“I’m not usually like this!” I bellowed. “I’m not used to…to…to needing someone else. It’s always been…just me.”
Lia pushed away from the bed and stood in front of me while I shoved my hands in my pockets and tried not to look embarrassed over my outburst. Her hands came up and lay gently on the sides of my face before they ran down my shoulders to my chest, and I relaxed at her touch.
“It’s okay to need someone,” she told me. “Everyone needs someone.”
Her lips brushed mine.
“I never have,” I argued.
“You just didn’t know who you needed yet,” she countered.
She kissed me again but only briefly. As I collected myself, she put an end to the intimacy and pulled me back to sit on the bed for the rest of the discussion. I sighed, complied, and started thinking out loud.
“I’ve got to come up with a way of getting Greco to trust me. He’s got to let me deep into his organization so I can get enough information on him to turn over to Trent. The thing is, the last time I saw Greco wasn’t the friendliest of encounters.”
“What happened?”
“I held a gun to his head and threatened take him out. I doubt he’s forgotten.”
“Are you serious?”
“He started it,” I shrugged. “If it makes you feel any better, there were three guys with guns pointed at me, and I didn’t end up shooting any of them.”
“It really doesn’t,” she said.
“The point is, getting into his org isn’t going to be easy. I don’t even know where to begin at this point, and I’m going to have to move fast. Before any of that, though, I need to make sure you’re safe.”
“Why wouldn’t I be safe?” Lia asked. “I haven’t done anything. I don’t even know who these people are!”
I looked at the clock and rubbed my hands against my thighs.
“We need to move,” I said. “It’s checkout time, and I only brought us here to get us out of Trent’s line of sight. We can’t stay another night.”
“Where are we going?”
I reminded myself that she wasn’t asking me to take her to the airport, but I still decided we weren’t going anywhere near O’Hare. I didn’t want to be too far from the city—I needed to be able to get to public transportation easily and quickly.
“Another motel,” I said. “Maybe something up north. We just need to stay moving for now until I figure out how I’m going to do all this. We can talk more when we get to another location.”