Maid for the Mafia

**DAMIEN**

Tiny and I park in the designated spaces at the airport and leap from our bikes simultaneously. Locking up my helmet, I think of the bags of gear that we left beneath the highway. Shit that could potentially fund the next act of terrorism, should the wrong person get their hands on it. "I don't know what the fuck we're doing here, but we need to hurry. I don't want to hear about some homeless guy shooting up the Burger Joint trying to get his combo."

Tiny nods then proceeds to stalk toward the sliding glass doors of the entrance. I follow him, keeping my eyes vigilant as we head toward the private charters section. Looking for what? I don't know.

But as we pass under the sign marking the terminal entry for outrageously rich assholes we are stopped by security and I'm forced to fish out my member's permit and slap it in the dumbfuck's face. “Are we good now?" I hiss, knowing just the name Vee on my pass is enough to have this idiot shitting his pants.

My father was in the business a long time. In fact, he *still* is, and these jerk offs at the airports pretty much all know him by name. So when the dumbbell trying to hassle us scrambles back with a bow, I simply flip him off and follow Tiny to the FIDS monitor beneath the escalators.

"What are we looking for?" I hiss, my eyes scanning the whopping ten flights on the board. "Should we write all these down or..."

Tiny doesn't answer, simply pulls out his phone and takes a picture.

*Or we could do that.* He snickers at me and I roll my eyes, it's not until we turn around and I gaze out the window that my attention is truly piqued.

"Holy fucking shit!" I snap, slapping Tiny on the shoulder. "Look! Do you know who that is?"

Tiny follows the line of my vision and then freezes, his entire body tensing. "That's that driver."

I nod. "Yup. That's the dude that left with Santos almost twenty-four hours ago."

"Come on," Tiny growls, taking quickened steps toward the exit.

"Come on, why? He's alone! If anything he just dropped them off."

Tiny chuckles but doesn't stop in his pursuit. "Nah. Don't you see where he's headed?noveldrama

He didn't drop anyone. He's meeting up with the guy that did."

I glance up, squinting my eyes to read the signs.

Fuck me. 

*Long-Term Parking Zone - International Departures.*

"So Santos took off for a while, so what? Please tell me why the fuck that matters so much *right now?* Especially if Ruby isn't with the guy."

Tiny sighs, slowing his steps as we enter the structure and the man in question approaches the elevator. "Because Romany said things to me yesterday that I knew were supposed to mean something. Little hints. Little clues. She was pretty much trying to tell me that she might disappear."

"What?" I snarl and Tiny shushes me as our prey steps onto the elevator and heads for the fourth floor. The moment the elevator doors slide closed, the pair of us barrel up the stairs, not even stopping for breath until we're halfway up from the third floor. "At the time, I thought she was trying to say she needed a break from the place, but that she would be back or something. And I had already planned to tail her when she left. At least, I had planned to until Mickey sent us to rescue Ruby." Tiny stops talking as we ascend onto the fourth floor, both of us crouching low behind a white Cadillac as the driver steps off the elevator platform. He whispers, "Now, knowing what I know, which is that Ruby was delivered to a hospital close to Alex's place. I know what she was really trying to tell me."

My muscles tighten one by one as I realize what Tiny's trying to say. "That's why he set her free. That's why Santos let Ruby go. He made a fucking trade!"

"She's been taken. She's already in the air," Tiny says, then pops onto his feet just as the driver starts to pass the Cadillac. Tiny grabs the dude by the back of his head and smashes the fools snout onto the brick wall behind us before the guy even has a chance to blink. The driver crumples to the ground in a heap and Tiny yanks him onto the stairwell. "And this guy," he points downward. "This guy is the one we need." "Why when we have all the flight info," I snap, whipping out my phone to dial Romany. Tiny watches me, smirking like an asshole the entire time. "She's not going to pick up."

I flip him off, but he's right. She doesn't. What's worse? Her phone doesn't even ring. "Fuck!" I shout.

Tiny shushes me, "What the fuck is wrong with you? We need to get this guy out of here without having to explain that he's bleeding."

"What the fuck for if she's already gone?!" I growl, starting to panic.

Tiny smiles, looking so calm I almost want to slap him down the stairs. "Because this is the guy who dropped Ruby off and I'm willing to bet *this* is the *only* one of his men he's expecting a call from."

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**ROMANY**

"Where was this taken?" I rasp, my voice cracking.

He sighs and when he speaks, his voice is filled with an emotion I'm too suspicious to name. "I had it taken after I dropped her off at the hospital. It was sent to me by one of my people. Proof that she is alive and well. That particular shot was too pretty to not make use of." His big body tenses, his teeth grinding. "As you can see, she is safe. She is free."

"Yes," I agree, staring down at the image of my cousin in a hospital bed. Despite the trauma that the picture obviously represents, she *does,* in fact, look safe. AS well as flawlessly gorgeous, the bitch. Leave it to Ruby to go to hell, get beaten by the monsters, tormented by the devils, and then come back looking like the Queen of the Damned in goddess form. My heart warms. She looks so peaceful that I almost cry. "Is she-"

"She's fine," he admonishes. "Just resting."

"How do I know that this isn't an old image or-"

"Zoom in on her wristband. You'll see."

So I do and the date checks out. But there's one thing that doesn't. One thing that harps at the edge of my mind like a crow picking at an open wound. "Why in the fuck

is she your screensaver? Are you that much of a sick fuck? Is this like a trophy thing? Or

do you mean to use this as a reminder for me should I get out of line?"

*Hello Ro! Madman mob boss on your left, maybe try not to piss him off?*

“I think you just did,” he says with a soft chuckle, but fuck if I can bring myself to care.

To my surprise, he simply smiles at me, eyes twinkling, and then says the one thing I

was not prepared to hear. "The answer is as plain as the act. Because... I'm in love with her."