[Aldo]
Dawn throws my hand down instantly. I go to ask what’s wrong, then see Andre.
“Hey, hey,” he says. “It’s the drivers.”
Dawn and I both pause for a second before going forward. “Andre, what’re you doing here?” Dawn asks.
“Luca told me to come get you guys. Said everything went well.” He’s grinning despite everything. “Said Leandro was happy with you two and everything.”
I feel like we’ve been set up. Is this another trick from Sophie and Luca? To send us back into a trap? Or to teach us to be careful? The paranoia of the trip is getting to me.
“So how was it?” Andre asks.
“Good,” I say.
“Bad,” Dawn says.
We both look at each other quickly, and Andre laughs.
“I get it,” he says, pointing between us. “I bet Aldo made you listen to those corny classics the whole drive up.” He throws an arm around his sister and grins. “She just doesn’t like your music, bro. She never has.”
Dawn grins. “Yep.” She laughs nervously.
Our nervous energy seems to be lost on Andre, he seems too happy. We begin walking to the exit, and he directs us to the quick parking bays at the end of the terminal.
“I got us a spot here. Got one of those taxi signs from Luca’s driver. Magic.” He laughs.
Surely shoveling crap and condoms off a dock isn’t this much fun? Or has he been taking the drugs while protecting them?
Why am I so damn pessimistic?
I’m afraid, that’s why.
“So how has working for Luca been?” I ask.
“Pretty good. I thought at first, with the way you were talking, I was gonna be shoveling shit or something. But I’ve been doing a fair bit of work for him. He said that because of you, he put a bit of faith in me.” Andre takes my hand and shakes it. “Dunno what you said bro, but thank you.”
I smile, and it escapes my face as soon as he looks away, I trace a quick eye to his sister. The whole time we’ve been away we’ve been fucking like rabbits. We’ve practically fallen in love and spent the evening having the best sex in the world.
Meanwhile, Andre thinks I’ve helped him out majorly…
We sit in the car, and Andre takes away the taxi sign. We reverse out and are soon heading out of the airport. I’m so in my head I’ve missed half the conversation, only when Andre pauses for an answer do I realize this, though.
“Yo, Aldo!”
I shake. “Sorry, just tired.”
“That’s fair, man. Dawn says she didn’t do any driving. No wonder you’re wiped out. ”
“Hah, yeah, well it was a big van, you know. A bit awkward with a few of the turns.”
“And the fucking radiator is being impaled!”
“You heard?” I spin quickly, but Andre is laughing.
“Course I did. The whole fucking family has. Luca was up half the morning trying to get a hold of Reggie, they hadn’t spoken in years, I guess. Had to pay him a fair amount.”
I sink into my seat. “Great, that’s all I need.”
“Relax, big man. Luca ain’t pissed.”
I smile, but inside I suddenly feel like worms have replaced my organs.
Have I pissed Luca off? Is this why he sent Andre?
While Sophie had sent us away on some little love trip, I’d fucked my reputation with him. But even then, I think of the crash and Andre…
Do I ask him outright about the Russians? In front of his sister?
I look back at Dawn in the side mirrors, she’s behind me with the window down and air blowing through her hair. The rain has let up, and the humidity is cooling at such speed.
“Sounds like the crash was bad, though?”
“It was so scary,” Dawn says, coming back from her own world. “The assholes just pulled out in front of us.”
Andre is shaking his head in awe. “Some people, huh?”
I’m watching him, more paranoid than ever, does he know?
Does he know that it’s his connections that caused the crash? If someone has said they’re waiting, then surely they’ve contacted him before too?
“It was pretty scary,” I say. “Even more intense was that I think I spotted them down the road at the roadhouse a day later.”
“You key their car?” Andre asks, smirking.
“Nah, they didn’t look like the type that’d take well to it.”
“Old Aldo would’ve.” Andre chuckles and changes lanes. “Old Aldo would’ve keyed ’em no matter what.”
“Well, they didn’t look the type,” I say, a little too hotly.
Andre just smiles and puts his hands up. “Whoa. Ha ha, okay. Got it. Man, you are tired.”
We get towards Miami proper, and we agree to drop Dawn off at her own place. She’s got work that afternoon and she waves goodbye, lingering slightly for me. At least I hope.
Andre and I head back towards my apartment, we talk about the family the whole way, and he fills me in on who he’s met and is working with. He’s at the warehouse, but instead of shoveling shit, Luca has him doing security and shipments.
The same stuff I do. A part of me is frustrated that he got to jump the cue, then again, he had no affiliation with an old enemy. Guess it’s my turn to be the bitter one.
Made worse because I can’t be with Dawn…
He drops me off and says I’ve got the day off. He went shopping the night before, so there’s food in the fridge and plenty to drink. The man is grateful for my hospitality.
He leaves me at the doorstep and takes my car for work. He leaves grinning from ear to ear.
It makes me feel all the worse for going around behind his back with his sister. I feel like such a traitor.
But then I think of Dawn. I think of our time together, and more than that, I think of all the mind blowing sex.
I head inside and recline on the couch. I don’t even know when but I fall asleep and next thing I know a knock at the door is waking me up. It must be Old Miss Batterson up on the third floor, probably needs her water pipe unclogged.
But when I open it, it’s Dawn, she’s standing there in the tightest dress I’ve ever seen. It accentuates everything.
“I’ve still got time before work.”
I don’t even hesitate in pulling her inside, and we flee to my room.