The Devil You Know

by Angela

03-01-06

part one

The shooting range was packed, like a bowling alley on a Friday night and twice as noisy. Ash fired six rounds into the paper target, hitting three times in the heart and twice between the eyes. The sixth slid just to the left of center, skimming the figure's temple in what would have amounted to a very unfortunate graze. There's nothing more dangerous in this world than a wounded animal, Ash, so if you're going to shoot, shoot to kill. Blanca's old admonishment echoed in his head even more than the ringing in his ears. The first three had been steady enough – he tried to figure what had changed by the time he fired that last shot.

"Your arms are still too weak." Blanca's voice was fuzzy and far away. Ash removed his ear covers and looked at his teacher.

"Your arms are still too weak," the man repeated, tapping his fingers on Ash's skinny bicep. "By the time you've shot a few times, your strength gives out and your arms waver. You haven't been working with the weights I bought you."

Ash scowled. He hated being told he was weak, but he hated it even more when Blanca tried to make him big and bulky like him. He glanced at his teacher's target; the chest area was a gaping hole of perfect shots. "I don't need to be some overgrown body builder to hold a fucking gun steady," he protested.

Blanca raised his eyebrows; Ash wasn't supposed to swear. "You're not doing such a great job of it now, are you?" he asked reasonably.

Everything Blanca did or said was reasonable. Ash was tired of it. "Bulking up would be detrimental to my profession," he said snidely. "Sickos don't wanna fuck boys who look like they could defend themselves." He knew that his tutor wasn't a fan of what he did, but Ash liked to remind him from time to time – it didn't seem fair that Blanca was able to just not think about it, when Ash had to go through it every day.

The older man closed his eyes, rubbing his hand over his eyebrows in a gesture of wearied patience. "How am I supposed to do my job," he asked, "if you won't do anything I instruct you to?"

"Not my problem." Ash loaded the pistol and popped the earmuffs back onto his head. "Dino cuts your paycheck, not me." Determined to show his teacher that he didn't need to lift weights to be strong enough to handle a five-pound revolver, he fired six shots in close succession, all tightly clustered in the target's groin area. It satisfied a buried aggression to do that, even if he knew it was considered bad form at the shooting range.

Blanca shook his head. "Tacky, tacky." His voice was scolding but his eyes were bright, almost as though he approved of Ash's tiny rebellion. He was already removing his gloves and putting his 357 magnum into its carrying case. "Come on. We can't be late for dinner."

Ash followed his tutor's lead, except that his gun wasn't as nice as Blanca's. The Smith and Wesson was the older man's pride and joy; Ash wasn't allowed even to touch it until Blanca thought he was ready. Apparently some woman gave it to him, a Soviet spy named Raisa that he'd been infatuated with once upon a time. Ash's pistol was far more generic, crafted almost carelessly on some kind of assembly line.

Outside it was already getting dark, and thick clouds threatened snow. Ash pulled the collar of his jacket more firmly around his throat, wishing he'd thought to bring gloves. Luckily, the car was parked only half a block away. He trudged behind Blanca, noting the way his teacher's fine cashmere coat billowed in the wind.

"I'm planning on retiring to the Caribbean," Blanca said suddenly, turning only slightly to be heard over the noise of traffic. "I've had it with New York winters – I plan to spend the rest of my days on a beach with bikini-clad women."

Ash shrugged. Blanca was always saying things like that, things that had no bearing whatsoever on the situation at hand.

"I'm leaving in two weeks."

The blond boy looked up, his green eyes startled. "What?" he asked, not sure he'd heard right over the wind.

They had reached the car. Blanca unlocked the passenger door and wordlessly moved around to his side. Ash got in, feeling confused and the slightest bit angry. What game was his tutor playing now, saying things like that? Well he wasn't going to take the bait. Blanca would just have to explain himself on his own.

The car was halfway back to the Golzine mansion when the dark man spoke again. "You heard what I said, kitty cat," he said quietly. "What do you think of it? How do you feel about me leaving?"

Ash hated when Blanca called him kitty cat.

"Why the hell should I give a damn what you do?" he snarled, staring at the bumper of the car in front of them. He sensed Blanca looking at him, but he refused to meet his eyes. If his teacher was expecting Ash to give him a big emotional farewell, he had another thing coming.

---

By the time Blanca parked in the garage, Ash had forty minutes before dinner was served. It used to be that he'd come to the table whenever he felt like it, usually wearing the ripped jeans and t-shirts that Dino disdained, but lately things were different. For the past six months, both Dino and Blanca insisted that Ash be dressed and on time for dinner. It wasn't worth the trouble anymore to rebel against it; Ash discovered that giving a little here and there made his life exponentially easier.

He went straight to his room, still not speaking to Blanca. Golzine had sent a suit for him to wear, which meant that he was expecting guests again. This one was as fine as the others, woven with rich threads and lined with silk. Ash hated it. It was ridiculous to spend so much money on clothes you couldn't even move around in, and Papa Dino bought him a new one every time they had dinner with anyone even mildly important. Still, they fetched a pretty penny in consignment shops, so Ash couldn't complain. He'd managed to hoard almost two thousand dollars since Dino started demanding he dress for meals – that was more than worth an hour or two of discomfort.

A hot shower took up almost half of his time. Ash stood under the hard pulse of steam and water until his skin was red and his fingers wrinkling. The wind outside had been bitterly cold, and for some reason he couldn't seem to warm up. The bathroom was well heated, though – even the towels were toasty from the heated towel rack he'd talked Dino into ordering from the Sharper Image catalog.

Ash rubbed dry his spiky blond hair and wandered back into his bedroom to dress. As he reached into his drawer for a pair of underwear, his fingers brushed the edges of the postcard he kept hidden there. He pulled it out, somehow still surprised to see it after all these weeks.

The card had a photograph of the Empire State Building on one side. The other had just a few short words scrawled in blue ink: Dr. Joseph Morrow, Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, room 261. It had been over a month since the postcard had been delivered, and he still hadn't had the chance to investigate. Assuming the information was correct, his years-long search would be over just as soon as he was able to sneak away.

He had no reason to believe that the tip had been fabricated. The source was trustworthy – a wealthy client who was so infatuated with Ash that he'd risk his own job to do as the boy asked. All it took was a velvet-tongued blow job and a carefully worded question, once he found someone in a position to help him. Ash had no choice about the blow job, but this guy's particular enthusiasm for the whole process gave Ash the edge it took to manipulate him.

He slid the postcard back into its hiding place at the bottom of the drawer. All he needed was one day. He had everything planned out, he just had to figure out how to get a full day away from Papa Dino's obsessive scrutiny. In years past it had been easy to outwit the hired thugs and sneak away, but lately he'd been guarded and kept like an exotic pet. He needed to find a way to slip the leash.

---

The expensive suit ended up on the floor next to Papa Dino's shoes.

Ash looked at it crumpled almost obscenely on the pristine white carpet. On top of him, Dino grunted his final release. His sweaty body collapsed, seeming like it would crush the boy but then rolling off to one side at the last moment. The bed springs protested and Ash tried to curb the jolt in his queasy stomach.

The dinner party had gone well. Dino made a few new business deals, strengthening his brand-new position within the Corsican mafia. A few of the men had taken a distinct interest in Ash, but Dino refused them all, opting instead to show his power by keeping his pet all to himself. Right now the mob boss was so disgusting that Ash almost wished he'd been sent off with one of the guests. Almost, but not quite. He never knew what to expect with a new trick – better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

"Mmm, that was very nice, my little wildcat," Dino purred as he stroked Ash's messy hair. "You seem to be getting taller every day."

Usually he wasn't the cuddling type. Ash cringed inside as Golzine petted him. The old man's lips grazed his temple in another uncharacteristic caress. He closed his eyes, hoping Dino wasn't planning another go.

Ash's instinct was to lash out, to say something crude that would make the mobster angry enough to kick him out of bed. That was how he'd avoided double features in the past, but Blanca urged him to be a passive little kitten while his tricks basked in the afterglow. Sex lowered all kinds of defenses, and Ash had heard men ramble about all kinds of privileged information, never thinking that the pretty little boy beneath them might be able to understand what they were talking about. Blanca encouraged Ash to listen carefully and learn what he could – you never knew when something would come in handy.

Ash guessed that his teacher hadn't meant for him to use those tactics on his own boss, but the blond didn't see much difference between the information Dino let slip and the rest of it. It could be useful in the same way, one day. So he lay still and silent, trying not to register the press of Dino's naked skin against his body or the way sweat beaded on his bald forehead. The older man continued to fondle and caress, and Ash tried to keep his face passive, open, almost as though he enjoyed it.

The phone rang. Dino sat up and slipped his dressing gown over his exposed flesh; Ash was grateful. "Golzine here." The man's face went serious, his spine straightening. The blond watched curiously – must've been someone important.

"I can be there by Tuesday. Tomorrow?" Dino knit his brows in frustration. "Yes, tomorrow is fine. No, there's no problem; I just need to reschedule a few things. Yes. Yes. I'll be there."

Dino hung up the phone and sighed, his shoulders going slack. For a moment he looked so browbeaten that Ash almost let himself feel sorry for the man. He'd been advancing in the organization by leaps and bounds, and a career like that required a lot of concessions to higher ups. He'd seen Golzine drop everything and cancel plans made weeks in advance because someone near the top of the organization needed him. It made the mob boss humble, if only for a few moments, and Ash thought he needed a whole lot more of that emotion.

Golzine sighed and glanced at Ash, who let his face go slack like he hadn't been paying the slightest bit of attention. "It looks like we're going to Chicago tomorrow morning, wildcat," he said in a self-important voice. "Pack for overnight – I have a lot to take care of." He stood up and padded across the room toward his luxurious bathroom.

Chicago? It was like a gift from heaven. "Can I stay here?" Ash asked, trying to put just enough petulance in his voice to sound cute but not annoying. "Flying makes my ears hurt."

The water switched on in the bathroom and the old man beckoned him closer. Ash pulled a blanket over his naked body and dutifully crossed the room. "Blanca will be here, so it won't be like I'd be all alone," he reminded his master.

But Dino was already shaking his head. "You know I want you with me when I travel," he said disagreeably. "You get into too much trouble when left to your own devices."

He was referring to an incident where he and some of his friends 'borrowed' one of Golzine's cars for a joyride. Dino had to come down to the station to bail him out of jail for underage driving and almost pressed charges for car theft. "That was months ago," Ash protested. He wasn't likely to slip up like that again – Golzine had dealt a fierce punishment, and Ash still had faint scars around his wrists from the chains. "And Blanca's here to keep me in line this time."

The older man's face didn't change, and Ash knew that if he said no one more time, that would be it. He dropped to his knees, letting his blanket puddle to the floor around him. His hand shook a little as he reached for Dino's thigh – let him think it was passion rather than disgust. "Please, Papa," he asked again, lowering his lashes and leaning to kiss the man's hardening member. His tongue flicked from between his lips and the old man shuddered. "You know I can be good if I try," he coaxed in a silky voice.

Dino buried his fingers in Ash's soft, disheveled hair, pulling him closer. He moaned softly and smiled. It was unusual for Ash to initiate anything. "I suppose you can stay," he conceded fondly as he closed his eyes.

---

Blanca was to be his babysitter. Ash was irritated by the idea of having to get his teacher off his back, but it was better than being dragged to Illinois and altogether missing this chance. They stood on the brick terrace as Dino gave his staff last-minute instructions. "I'll be home by tomorrow night," he told Blanca as his suitcases were being put in the trunk, "in time for dinner with you and Ash, so don't let him make you late."

Blanca nodded, smiling and glancing a warning at Ash from beneath his sunglasses. "I'm afraid I won't be attending due to personal business," the teacher said smoothly, "but I assure you that Ash will be present. And presentable." He raised his eyebrows at Ash's tattered jeans and old sweatshirt.

As the two men went over the final details, Ash's brain hit overdrive. There was no way he could slip away unnoticed while Blanca was on watch, so how could he convince his teacher that he needed time alone? He was constantly aware of the postcard in his back pocket, of what he needed to do and exactly how little time he had to accomplish it. The quickest way was to bring his tutor in on the plan, but Ash was reluctant to do that. He glanced at Blanca from the corner of his eye.

There wasn't a man alive that Ash trusted more. His teacher never looked at him like he was a piece of meat, and in this life, that meant a lot. Ash also got the feeling that there was affection between them, that Blanca thought of him as more than just some smart ass kid that he was supposed to take care of. He wasn't sure of the last, the assassin was zealously private about his personal feelings, but Ash cared more about Blanca than he did about anyone else, and couldn't imagine the feelings weren't somehow reciprocated.

Still, he wasn't about to share this secret with him. It was too intimate, too much a part of his life that he kept boxed away and separate from the hell he'd been living since. And he'd been working at it for too long to have the whistle blown on him today.

Dino's Cadillac disappeared down the curved driveway and the hired thugs dispersed, leaving only Ash and Blanca still standing in the chilly winter air. Blanca smirked at him, looking almost proudly over the top of his sunglasses. "I don't even want to know what you had to do to get him to leave you here," he said. "But you must've been a sweet little kitty. I told you you'd attract more flies with honey than vinegar."

A memory of the night before, the shared shower and then being forced to sleep tucked beneath Dino's beefy arm, flashed through Ash's mind and he scowled. "What the hell do you care about it?" he countered.

Blanca laughed. "So what little adventure did you have planned for today?" He plucked the postcard out of Ash's pocket. "Must have something to do with this, the way you can't keep your hands off of it."

Ash lunged for the card, but Blanca twisted it out of reach, at the same time reading the information out loud. "Give that back, you son of a bitch! It's got nothing to do with you, dammit!"

Blanca paused, holding the postcard high over his head. "It's yours isn't it? That means it's my concern, too. Everything about you is my concern."

Ash shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt. "Who the fuck are you today? Dino?" he asked sullenly, aware that there was no way Blanca would leave him alone now that he was onto him. "You sound just like him."

"Monsieur feels as I do. We want to keep you out of harm's way."

"Out of harm's way?" Ash laughed bitterly. Surely Blanca wasn't that deluded. "That bastard would skin me alive if it didn't mean he couldn't play with me later. He doesn't give a damn how harmed I am, as long as I still belong to him."

Nodding his concession, Blanca smiled humorlessly. "That's not untrue. Still, in the end, doesn't it come to the same thing? Neither Monsieur nor I would like to see you hurt by outside forces, even if our reasons are different." He gave the postcard back to Ash and dropped his hand on the boy's shoulder. "So if you must seek out this Dr. Morrow today, I'm coming with you."

His hand felt so warm through his sweatshirt that it took Ash a long moment before it finally occurred to him to shrug it off. It might not be too bad, having Blanca around. He could drive, and it'd look less suspicious than a kid wandering alone in a mental hospital. "No questions, okay?" he said gruffly. "I'm springing someone from this place, but you can't ask me anything about him. And Dino can't find out, not matter what."

Blanca looked amused. "Of course. I won't breathe a word."

Ash wasn't convinced, but it was a risk he'd have to take. It was more important that his teacher never find out the identity of the guy they were going to get – if he didn't know, he couldn't tell. Ash didn't want to imagine how Dino would hold it over him if he ever found out that he had a brother.