Rock Chick Regret (Rock Chick #7)(84)

My relaxed body went solid again.

“What?” I asked Hector.

Uncle Vito spoke. “You got two choices, little one,” he told me and my eyes turned to him. “The first, we take Balducci to the police.” He stopped talking, I nodded then he went on, “The second, Balducci disappears.”

My body jerked.

“Disappears?” I repeated, my voice breathy and disbelieving.

“Disappears,” Dom affirmed and my gaze moved to him. “Gone. No one ever sees him again, not you, not his brothers, no one.”

I just stared at Dom not comprehending what he was saying or, more accurately, trying not to comprehend what he was saying.

Dom continued talking, “He fights the charges, you have to testify, you have to go through it again. Or you can choose for him to disappear and we take care of it. No trial, no testifying, it’s over, he’s certain to pay and you move on.”

Were they telling me they were going to whack Ricky Balducci for me?

Blooming heck!

“I can’t ask you to –” I started.

“We wouldn’t do it,” Uncle Vito interrupted quickly, eyes on Hector then his gaze came back to me. “You ain’t the only one who hates Ricky. We put the word out he’s available, they’ll come out of the woodwork. We chose the one who’ll do the job right, we hand him over, we walk away. We don’t know what happens from there, you don’t, Chavez doesn’t neither does his brother or Nightingale. No one’s the wiser and it’ll be done.”

I realized my body was shaking.

“Sadie,” Hector called and I looked up at him. For some reason, he changed the subject and informed me. “That blood and the hairs they found on your furniture, some of it was Ricky’s.”

I didn’t know why he was telling me that but I nodded anyway.

He kept talking. “Harvey went before the judge yesterday, bail was set. Donny and Marty left him in jail. They didn’t post bond.”

I just kept staring at Hector, still not understanding why he was telling me all this.

Hector’s fingers squeezed my shoulder and he curled me closer to him. “Mamita, I’m givin’ you the information you need to make a decision. What I’m sayin’ is, the remaining free Balduccis aren’t feelin’ any brotherly love. They aren’t takin’ care of Harvey and if Ricky gets locked up, it’s likely they won’t bond him out either. That means, neither of those two’ll hit the streets anytime soon. That also means the other two are happy to jockey for position with Ricky and Harvey out of their way. And you got enough to get a guilty verdict if Ricky’s stupid enough to fight the rape charge.”

Finally I got it and I also had a good idea of which decision Hector wanted me to make.

So I said, “Okay.”

He curled me closer, his other hand went to my hip and his face dipped low. “No Sadie,” he said softly, reading my thoughts. “It’s your choice to make. I’m just givin’ you the full picture. It isn’t me who’ll have to sit on the witness stand and tell a room full of people what happened that night. It also isn’t me who’ll have to listen to whatever f**ked up version of events Ricky’ll produce as his defense. You got the opportunity to avoid that; I’m not gonna take that away and no one in this room, or out of it, will judge. The Zanos are givin’ you a chance to decide what form your retribution will take. Only you can make it but you gotta make it now.”

I didn’t like this. At all.

On the one hand, I didn’t want to see Ricky again and even if all the evidence was stacked against him, he was crazy enough to fight it. That would stink.

It would also likely mean I couldn’t move to Crete or I’d have to come back.

On the other hand, everyone in that room knew what Vito meant by “disappear”. Which would mean if I picked choice number two, I was worse than Ricky Balducci. It would mean I truly was my father’s daughter. I wasn’t New Sadie. I’d never be a New Sadie of any kind. I would be Seth Townsend’s daughter and that’s who I’d stay, forever and ever.

I uncurled from Hector and my eyes turned to Vito.

“Please take him to the police,” I said.

Hector’s arm got tight around my shoulders.

Dom muttered a frustrated, “Fuck.”

Ren expelled a heavy breath.

Vito nodded.

“I knew she’d pick that,” Dom muttered. “We should have –”

Vito interrupted in a low, warning tone, saying, “Dominic,” but I was surprised Dom knew my choice even before I did.

Dom fell silent and Vito turned to Ren. “Make the call, tell the boys.”

Ren nodded to his uncle and walked to me. Regardless of Hector standing there, he leaned in, kissed my cheek, moved away, pulled his cell out of his pocket and left the house.

Dom, Vito and I looked at each other.

No one spoke.

I decided it was time to move on to a happier subject that didn’t involve the Balduccis, my rape or anyone getting whacked. My gaze focused on Dom.

“I hear Sissy’s pregnant,” I told him.

Sissy was his wife. They’d had some hard times and were separated for awhile but, word was, they’d got back together and were starting a family.

Dom stared at me, still angry at my decision then his face went soft and he muttered, “Yeah.”