Vinnie and Guido

Elizabeth opened her front door to find a tall, wide-shouldered man in a dark suit, one hand in his pocket, the other holding his lapel. She sighed. "Angie isn't here, Vinnie. She slip out again?"

Vinnie grunted, his black brows raising momentarily over his heavy-lidded eyes. "Nah. Not why we're here."

"Guido with you?" Elizabeth went to her tip-toes, trying to see over his shoulder, but gave up quickly and rocked back on her heels. "Whatcha here for?"

"Hold on." Vinnie turned and shambled down the steps to the black Lincoln parked out of the circles of street light. A thin man, Guido, slipped out of the driver's side, hopped over to the sidewalk and to the back passenger door. He opened it and Vinnie reached in, dragging someone else out of the sedan. Lifting the figure by the shoulders and off the ground, Vinnie made his way back up the steps, Guido following behind. They reached the landing and came into the rectangle of light spilling out of her doorway. Elizabeth stepped back, flinching, her blue eyes wide.

"Here." There was a slight thud as Vinnie put his burden on the cement. "What you want us to do with him?"

Elizabeth blinked rapidly and worked to keep her jaw from falling open, at the same time fighting the upward twitch of her lips. "You've got to be kidding me."

Guido just looked back at her from under his fedora, his fingers tapping his thigh. "Maybe you should let us in... Don't need anybody walking by and seeing anything."

Elizabeth stepped back again, kept staring at the gagged man who Vinnie picked up again and brought into her living room. Guido twisted to look both ways down the street, then slipped inside, throwing the deadbolt behind him.

"Vinnie?" Elizabeth began, her eyes locked on the pale and bloodless face of the man with the gag in his mouth, his dark eyes wide under his black hair, his bottom lip split with a little dried blood on his chin.

"Yeah?" Vinnie's hands were back to his pocket and lapel stance, a smile on his face.

Elizabeth folded her arms over her chest, broke her gaze to focus on Vinnie. "Why, may I ask, is my ex-boyfriend wearing cement on his feet?"

One side of Vinnie's mouth quirked up in a smirk. "Angie and Daddy weren't happy."

"Actually," Guido said, tugging on the gag's knot, "Angie was pissed. Daddy mostly waved and said do what you want. So we thought we'd bring him to you. " He jerked hard on the fabric, and the man's head yanked back. "He hurts our little sis, she decides what we do to him."

"You're family. Been Angie's best friend since we was all in diapers." Vinnie clapped his captive on the back. "Nobody pulls a fuck and run on my girl."

"So this was Angie's idea?" Elizabeth caught her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Yeah." Guido's eyes flashed over to her face before continuing to roam over the room. "She wasn't too specific. Just said we should take care of it."

Elizabeth reached out a hand and touched the captive's face, his jaw muscles clenching under her fingertips as she examined each side. "Have you hurt him?" She reached behind him and began trying to undo the knots that held the gag in place.

"Nah. Not too much." Vinnie sat down on her powder blue loveseat, chuckled as Guido darted over to a window and pulled the filmy drapes tighter over the already closed blinds. "Sure you want to let him talk? Seems like the type to scream."

"You put him in cement, Vinnie. I'd be upset myself." Elizabeth moved to go behind the captive, but hesitated. She looked him directly in the eyes, one hand still holding onto the back of the gag. "If I get this off, Ryan, don't even consider screaming. While I wouldn't approve of it, they'll shoot you, and they've got people who can remove bloodstains from my carpet. Understand?" Ryan nodded, his eyes frozen in their wide stare and she went behind him, her fingers tugging here and there at the remainders of the knot. "So, again, Vinnie, why does Ryan have cement shoes? If you were planning to let me decide what to do with him, aren't they a little much?"

"Well..." Vinnie hesitated, then looked to Guido, who was now skittering around the mantle and poking in the fireplace. "I was ready to just dump him in the river. Guido thought maybe you'd like a say in it. Didn't bother to mention it till we'd already poured the boots, of course."

Guido straightened, narrowly avoiding bumping his head in his hurry to get back upright. "Yeah. Thought it'd be more fun." He pulled off his fedora and pushed back his dark hair. "Didn't want to upset you, in case him at the bottom of the harbor was a bad idea. Or maybe you'd have a better one."

"Good thinking on that one." She paused a moment and pulled her lace scrunchie off, then put her blond hair back into a new ponytail. Returning to tugging at the gag, she muttered, "What in the world would make Angie think this was a good idea?"

****

"Asshole." Elizabeth slammed the phone back into its cradle.

"Problems?" Angie paused in painting her toenails, looking up from their tiny shiny pink rectangles and putting the brush back in the polish bottle. "Got a fuck and run on our hands here?"

Elizabeth flopped down onto the love seat, arms crossed over her chest and chewing on the insides of her cheeks. "Probably. Ugh." She crossed her legs under her and grabbed a nearby throw pillow to crush in her arms. "I told you he'd do this."

"Yeah," Angie said, a slightly smirky grin visible on her face between the long black fringes that escaped her hair clips. "And as I recall, I agreed. But you went out with him anyway." She tossed the nail polish bottle into the bin full of them at her feet and began rummaging for a new shade.

"But he said all the right things..." Elizabeth's voice pitched up in a whine. She burrowed deeper into the plush cushions, plucking at the bottom of her yoga pants. "Why do I always pick the assholes? Angie laughed at that, pulling out a dark red and holding it up in the light. "We all pick assholes, dear. That's what men are." She laughed again, dark and rich. "Does this shade match my shoes?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Of course it does. You bought it to match." She buried her face in the pillow and let out a high pitched scream. "How could I be so stupid?" She threw her head back. "I knew I had a fuck and run on my hands. I knew it. I knew better."

"Don't we all, hon. Don't we all." Angie's forehead furrowed as she carefully painted her pinkie finger, stayed frozen that way when she looked up at her friend. "You really liked this guy, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Elizabeth's voice was a whisper in response. Her blond hair hung forward over her eyes as she leaned her chin on the satiny throw pillow. "I dunno. He just seemed so...genuine. He brought flowers, rented carriages, was totally respectful of everything." She sighed, analyzing the hair in front of her eyes rather than looking at Angie. "I trusted him too much, I guess. Shouldn't have gotten all starry eyed."

Angie frowned and put down her nail polish bottle. "Don't even go into the blame yourself pit, hon, cause I'll never get you out of it. Not to mention that he's the asshole. The guy managed to avoid my radar and I have the most finely tuned bullshit detector in the world. You didn't do anything wrong, he did."

"I trusted him." Elizabeth raised her head enough for her hair to part in front of her face, a tear ready to track down her cheek.

"Ah, fuck that. Gotta trust them or it's all worthless." Angie slid over on the couch and reached out to touch Elizabeth's knee. "We just occasionally stumble on the winners of the loser competition."

"I've gotta see this one every day though." Elizabeth reached up and brushed away the few tears that were escaping. "He just got hired at the firm down the hall. With my fucking recommendation."

"Oh, don't you worry." Angie said, patting Elizabeth's knee. "Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll just disappear and you won't have to run into him anymore."

****

"Should've known that was what she was talking about." Elizabeth pulled out the last of the knot and unwound the gag from Ryan's head and mouth. "You okay?" she asked, standing in front of him again and running her fingers over his cheekbones.

Ryan pulled his head away from her touch. He clenched and unclenched his jaw a few times, glancing all around the room. "Not particularly." He paused, rubbed his jaw against the shoulder of his black suit. "Do this often?"

"Not really," Elizabeth answered, glancing over at Vinnie with her eyes narrowed. She and Angie needed to have a talk.

Ryan strained against the rope wrapped around his wrists, well manicured fingers tinged an unnatural shade. "Can I get my hands untied?"

"Of course--" Elizabeth began, looking back at him.

"No," Vinnie stated, his eyes fierce as he stood up from his seat. "A little too grabby for my tastes."

"Come on, Vinnie, what's he going to grab here, other than me?" Elizabeth said, her voice an even mix of sarcasm and confusion.

"A lot," Vinnie said, sitting back down slowly and folding his arms across his chest.

"Yeah, he was breaking things left and right till we got him tied down him," Guido said as he finished stabbing with the poker at the half-burned logs in the fireplace. "So Lizzie love, what should we do with him? Toss him in the river? Take the Tina Maria out to shark waters?" He nudged at Ryan with the poker, singeing the breast pocket on his victim's suit.

Elizabeth sighed loudly. "I'd have preferred you never showed up with him in the first place. This is so not what I need right now." She sat down on the couch with Vinnie, crossing her own arms and staring at Ryan. She could see bruises starting to form on his face, knew from a childhood of watching Vinnie and Guido fight that there were probably more splotches of purple underneath the disheveled tailored suit. He returned the look measure for measure, his lips sealed tightly on his teeth. She shot up, headed towards the kitchen. "I've gotta call Angie."

****

"What were you thinking?" Elizabeth's voice was strained as she whisper yelled into the phone. "He's a stupid man but sending the boys after him?" Her knuckles were white as she held onto the countertop.

Angie's gum chewing carried over the phone line. "Dunno. Always wanted to make my fuck and runs disappear." A jaded giggle came through the receiver. "Since they're usually Daddy's right hand men, not so easy."

"This isn't one of yours, Angie. This one was mine and he's someone that people will notice disappear." Her nails pressed hard on the Formica of the countertop. "Not to mention I avoid knowing anything about any disappearances that might happen around your family, let alone want one connected to me."

"He's just a lawyer." Angie's voice was dismissive and a gum snap accompanied it.

"I don't care! I didn't want him taken care of, I was just bitching. Now what am I supposed to do?" Elizabeth tugged at her hair and it fell out of its ponytail. She rubbed at an itch on the tip of her nose. "Your brothers are sitting in my living room and waiting to toss him off a bridge or shoot him in a garbage dump. They've got his feet in fucking cement, Angie."

"Hmm." There was a disappointed whine to Angie's tone, and Elizabeth could imagine her rolling her eyes and buffing her manicure. "You take all the fun out of life, hon."

"I. Don't. Want. Him. Dead." Elizabeth growled to emphasize her point. How the woman could be so nonchalant about a hit never ceased to amaze her. "You better have a way to keep him quiet about this because I'm about to be made junior partner and this would interfere with it just a little."

"You could always work for Daddy's law firm."

"No." Elizabeth slammed her hand on the counter and the water in a nearby glass rippled. "You have a way, right?"

"Of course," was the sighed response. "That secretary he's fucking is actually married to...well, you don't need to know that. Let's just say her husband is well-connected and tends to be...jealous."

"Good." Elizabeth stretched her hand flat, felt a little tension melt out of her shoulders. "Now tell your brothers the bad news that they don't get to kill him."

****

"Sorry boys." Elizabeth handed the bucket full of cement chunks to Vinnie. He was still frowning down at her like a child denied his favorite toy. She smiled and raised her eyebrows. "I appreciate the thought." Vinnie just grunted.

Guido tossed the last of the tools into the briefcase he'd taken from the Lincoln's trunk. "Guess we'll know better next time." He dusted cement powder off his pants legs and pulled on his fedora. "Gonna be able to untie his hands once we're gone?"

"Yes," Elizabeth answered, and gestured toward the door. "Thanks for removing the cement blocks. Now go home and make sure Angie knows I don't want her doing this ever again." Vinnie leaned down, kissed each of her cheeks, then both brothers wandered out the door.

Elizabeth shut the door and turned to Ryan. He sat on the couch and continued to glare at her, as he had for the three hours it took Vinnie and Guido to rid his legs of their cement anchors. His suit pants were ruined, ending a good three inches above his ankles with a slight fringe where her kitchen scissors had cut them off.

"You called the fucking mob on me?"

"Well...no." Elizabeth walked over and sat next to him. "Angie brought in the family." She laughed. "Did I ever mention who her father was?"

"No, you didn't. But I've got a pretty good guess now."

Her smile widened slightly, and her voice was bright against the black humor she heard in his. "Want to be untied?"

"Yeah." He twisted, giving her access to his hands.

Elizabeth looked at the knotted rope a moment, then took her Swiss army knife from her back pocket and began carefully and deliberately hacking at it. "Sorry about this. Sometimes my friends can be...over zealous."

"Might want to look into some new friends." The knot broke under her blade and the bindings fell away from his wrists. He stretched out his hands and began to slowly rub at his wrists.

Elizabeth closed the knife and put it back in her jeans. "There are some friends you can't get rid of."

"Maybe you should try." Normal color was returning to his hands and his fingers moved with more assurance as he massaged them. "Or at least warn people."

"Oh, shut up and go home. This wasn't my idea and I managed to save your ass." Elizabeth sniffed and stood up, pulling him off the couch and to the door. She opened it and looked down at the street. A new car had replaced the Lincoln. "They've got a car waiting, so go back home, fuck your secretary if you're not too afraid, and enjoy the fact that you're not at the bottom of the harbor right now." She pushed him outside without encountering any resistance.

Ryan's eyes shifted from her to the car and back again. "Crazy bitch," he muttered, then headed down the stairs.

She slammed the door, for a moment regretting she hadn't let Vinnie and Guido do what they wanted. "You'd think he'd be more grateful."