Pedro and Ezio returned to the dining room without Cortez as Ranger sat us down at the table.
Pedro looked at me as Ezio went into the kitchen. "Don't be afraid, Stephanie. He's always like that when he has a hangover and even tries to strangle us."
"We hooked him up on some marijuana." We looked at Ezio who was sweeping up the shards of the coffee mug. "He'll be more….welcoming when he's high enough to forget he was hung over."
He went back into the kitchen as Pedro sat in the seat opposite me and Ranger. He was quiet but his eyes switched back and forth on us before his lips parted silently to suck in the air through his teeth. His gold tooth glinted in the sunlight.
"Let's be thankful that the incident ended neatly. It's lucky no one was hurt." His eyes darted towards me. "Cortez didn't hurt you did he, Stephanie?"
I shook my head. "Nothing serious,"
Ranger's arm snaked around my waist and I noticed Pedro's shoulders tensed as he watched. His face turned shiny and I had to stop myself from smirking.
"That's good." He nodded. "No injuries…of…of any kind."
"What do you mean no injuries of any kind?" Ranger asked sounding bemused.
Pedro paled a shade lighter. "Well…Stephanie has emphasised to Ezio how earnest you are when you said that you don't share. She hasn't gone into detail but I think it would be best if Cortez was…informed."
The arm around me turned to stone. Ranger gave me a quick glance before saying, "Have you told her how Cortez and Ezio got their scars?"
He laughed as he shook his head; his colour returning back to normal. "How could I not?!" He looked at me with a smug smile. "They say being in the mafia is a way of sealing your own fate, Stephanie. Unless you're a…a…well, if you're like Nigel, the authorities slip you through their fingertips."
Ezio came back into the dining room balancing four plates of Spanish omelettes with his hands and arms.
"Ezio, show Stephanie your scar!" Pedro laughed, taking the 2 plates that were balanced on his forearms.
Ezio smirked as he put down the remaining plates and started to unbutton his shirt.
"June of '03. I had sold $2.9000000 worth of cocaine, cannabis, marijuana and ecstasy to some night clubs and rich folks in California and Rio de Janeiro. I was stopped by a cop when I made my way out of a night club after his mutt sniffed me out. I made a run for it but on the way I managed to piss off a street gang; they thought I was squealing on them for some reason. They pinned me down and started to beat the crap out of me until one of them took out a knife and carved this into my chest."
He pulled back his shirt to reveal a hideous scar that hadn't properly healed and took up most of the space between his sternum and navel.
It was close to the shape of a hook but to me it looked more like a half drawn letter S done by a kindergartener.
"I was just glad I got to keep my cash!"
He and Pedro laughed as Ranger and I glanced at each other. Ranger looked annoyed. At me or them, I couldn't tell.
Pedro calmed himself with a sigh. "You'd do anything for a couple of million, Hook."
Ezio grinned as he buttoned his shirt. "Oh, por favora mi hermanoen el crimen. When have any of us ever let even a squealer get in our way?" His eyes landed on me. "As for Cortez, he was given, how the English say…a Glasgow smile. Done by a rival of ours, it was not pretty.
He looked at Ranger. "I don't suppose you told Stephanie what you told us about that puta who nearly got away with our….goods, Nightwing?"
I looked at Ranger just as I took a bite of Spanish Omelette.
He smirked and made a silent laugh as he shook his head. "Feel free to tell." He said, picking up a fork and started to cut his omelette into bite size pieces.
Pedro laughed with delight, catching my attention.
"Oh Stephanie, you should really count your blessings! About 2 years after we all met Nigel, we had a handsome offer from a…nice lady, for a crate of ecstasy and marijuana."
"But," Ezio contributed through grinning teeth, "the little bitch was sneaky. While she told us to prepare our exchange, Nigel caught her loading a gun; an M1942 pistol!"
They both forced a laugh but only reduced themselves to empty chuckling. I noticed Ezio's eyes switching from me to Ranger.
"Then what happened?" I asked.
Pedro cleared his throat before taking a deep breath and smiled at me. "Unfortunately, we weren't there to see her paying the price. Nigel dealt with that."
"No witnesses, you see." Ezio winked. "But he returned with the money and her heart as a keepsake for us!"
I felt the blood slither from my face as the contents of my stomach churned and bile rose up my throat. I looked at Ranger again while taking in deep breaths to try and stop my head from spinning; his smirked widened as he met my eye.
"By the way Nightwing, earlier in the kitchen, Stephanie told me about some types of guys who've tried to…alejarla deusted."
Cripes….Don't they know it's rude to speak in a different language when they have a monolingual guest?
Ranger pulled me from my chair and sat me side-saddle on his lap. "It's been known to happen a few times. They just needed to know to keep their hands off what is mine."
Pedro and Ezio glanced at each other.
"What about last night?" Ezio scoffed. "Cortez didn't exactly end up with anything sticking in him."
"For old friends," Ranger said before kissing my neck. "I prefer to give…friendly warnings."
I felt myself wince as his hold on me tightened. "And I know none of you will try to do anything to Stephanie." I almost screamed again when he snatched up a knife and threw it past Pedro and Ezio. They both jumped as it narrowly dodged them. The blade sunk itself into the wall opposite us. "Because I will know."
Shivers went up my back. I briefly met Ezio's eye and noticed a hint of indignation in his expression.
"By the way Ezio," Ranger continued. "Va aconseguir elcollarque me dieron porella?"
Ezio nodded slowly and walked out the door while Pedro went to dislodge the knife from the wall.
For the first time in my life, I had completely lost my appetite. With the talk of scars and human hearts, it was all I could do to stop my stomach from spitting up the omelette.
.
I decided to spend most of the day -and hopefully for rest of the week- outside. While trying to be positive of at least something, I concentrated on enjoying the beautiful tropical weather.
The sun shone in a cloudless blue sky. It was quiet and peaceful; no annoying car horns blasting or truck engines growling to spoil the tranquillity.
I lay on a sun lounger behind the villa with my eyes closed, hopefully soaking up as much vitamin D as I could.
It seemed like hours had gone by and my skin felt as though it had darkened to a healthy tan.
I was thinking about going inside to change into something strappier for sunbathing when a shadow loomed over me and replaced the sun's warm rays with a chilling shade. Thinking it was Ranger or one of the others, I looked up and felt my eyes widen with alarm.
A gaunt man dressed in a worn out and filthy grey suit sneered down at me with large crazed black eyes. He had dark straggly, thin hair that hung off his head like spiders legs. He reminded me of The Joker.
Without thinking I leapt off the sun lounger, not taking my eyes off him. "Who are you?" I asked, trying not to show the panic in my voice.
The man sniggered, unblinking. "You're their whore, aren't you?!" He grinned. "You're their slut!"
My fists clench and the fear I felt disappeared. "No I'm not! I'm just a…guest…How did you get in here anyway?!"
He started to step closer to me.
"That doesn't matter." His voice suddenly turned hard and rocky. "I came here to get revenge on the bastards who ruined my life!"
My eyes darted around all over the place for anything that could help me escape or defend myself. But all I could do was back away when he came too close. I had to keep him talking…Until I got close to a door or a window…
"What did they do to you?" I asked.
His grin faded and morphed into a lip-curled snarl. "They took away everything I had! They made me lose everything; my family; my home; my heritage!"
My throat went dry. "How did they do that? Did they steal from you?"
He growled. "NO! They never gave me enough crack or marijuana to make me forget how shit being alive is! They caused me to sell and pawn everything of value I possessed!"
He stood still and pulled something out of his pocket; he held up in front of him so I could see it was Swiss-army knife.
His grin reappeared after he unfolded the blade; the sharp steel glinted in the sunlight. "But I'm going to make them pay…" He looked me up and down. "I'm going to gut them like fishes!"
"Killing them isn't going to change things back to the way they were for you." I induced. "There are people who can help. If you knew where their island was, you should have gone to the authorities."
I backed away a few more steps in a panic but I tripped over my own feet and landed on my ass.
How was it that my life is full of cheesy old movie clichés?
He shook his head slowly while starting to advance on me again; his empty eyes were fixed down on me like a cat ready to pounce on a mouse. "Nah…I like my idea better. I'm going to make them lose everything by spilling out their guts, starting with their slut!"
"I'm not a slut!" I yelled, feeling my blood begin to boil.
"Well ya sure dress like one!"
"And you're dressed in a suit but you're dirt poor smack-head aren't ya?!"
Oh crap…I shouldn't have said that…
He charged at me while holding the knife high in the air. Straightaway, I started to scurry from him before he got too close.
A scream escaped my throat as I felt my back hit the fence that surrounded the villa. The lunatic started to cackle like cartoon villain; his eyes never left me as he was only footsteps from me.
To my right was the corner of the fence. No good.
I looked to my left. A shed lurked in the shade of the building and blocked my view for an escape route. Damn it!
My eyes went back to the man when his shadow loomed over me again. My heart was vibrating, making the blood thunder in my ears as I watched him raise the knife high above his head.
I covered my face with my arms; waiting for the unbearable to happen.
But nothing happened…
I dared to peek through my arms to see Cortez wrenching back the man's armed hand by the wrist while his arm was wrapped around his throat.
"Well, if it isn't Senior Chapman. Didn't your mother ever tell you it is very bad manners to weld a knife in front of a lady?"
Chapman swore every vile word he knew as Cortez met my eye. "This makes us even, mi Querido."
Ranger, Pedro and Ezio came running into view.
Pedro and Ezio stopped in their tracks as they recognised Chapman before doubling over with laughter.
"Oh man!" Pedro bellowed, turning to Ranger. "Nightwing, this is Mason Chapman: the use-to-be businessman who was one of our best customers!"
"I had never seen someone so desperate to get buzzed or brain-dead-stoned!" Ezio cackled.
This couldn't be happening…
Even if Chapman did just try to kill me, his life was ruined with help of these men. They supplied him with junk that only turned him into a crazed whacko and all they were doing was laughing about it while I was on the ground shuddering at the whole thing.
I jumped when I felt a pair of hands on me. Ranger pulled me to my feet and I clung on to him as he held me in his arms.
I hid my face against his chest while feeling tears prick behind my eyes as the others continued to laugh and banter at Chapman.
"Do what you want with him while I take Stephanie inside." Ranger asserted as he stroked my hair. "But make sure he's still breathing when it's my turn to get my hands on him."
The laughter went up as he started to walk us inside.