Dangerous Liaisons ( An original Story)

Chapter 16: Trusting the devil and making plans

"Would you please sit down. You are making me nervous.", Rushmore snaps making Liam stops pacing around his office and gives him a questioning look. Soon he turns back to pacing around, ignoring Rushmores pleads.
"There is one thing i dont get, though.", Liam says, struggling to keep his voice void from any emotion.
"Which would be what exactly?", Rushmore asks.
"Why would you go against your partner, whom you known for god knows how long, for the daughter of an employee? You are one of the most feared members of the most feared mafia, you guys normally dont care about normal people.", Liam clarifies.
"Well that is not entirely true, Collins.", Rushmore states clasping his hands together to hide the fact that his nervousness was on the way of crushing him.
"Oh, please...", Liam says motioning for him to continue,"do enlighten me."
"Cecilia reminds me a lot of my daughter. When i saw Dubois and his daughter the first time on that lunch i couldnt help but be fascinated by how similar Cecilia and my daughter are.", Rushmore says as his face takes on a hurtful expression,"unfortunetly, my daughter died 3 years ago when Fiorelli attempted to take me down."
Liam scratches his neck awkwardly, he didnt know what to say to that.
"I know what my partner does, and how he does it. And im certainly not going to watch as he takes her too.", Rushmore mutters,"i know, you must think of me as the cruelest person alive, but let me assure you...there are people a lot worse wandering around the streets of New York."
Liam looks at his superior. Speechless.
Its silent for a long time, as Liam struggles to find his words.
He then takes a few steps towards the chair infront of Rushmore, and plops onto it, letting out an exhausted sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
He hadnt slept all night. Since Rushmore had called him he failed to calm his brain, which kept replaying thousand scenarios in which he never managed to keep Cecilia safe.

Liam paces around his apartment what feels like 10 hours. His mind was racing and his palms were starting to get sweaty. This is exactly why he had never let anyone in before. Because now, he had put his only friend in danger, and she didnt even know.
He lets out a deep breath, trying to calm his thoughts, like he did in the past. But somehow it wasnt working.
"Fucking hell..", he mutters, before grabbing the phone again and dialing Pablos number.
"Do you realize what time it is?", a sleepy Pablo sounds through the other line.
"Cecilia is in danger.", Liam blurts out, not having the nerve to apologize for waking him up.
Its silent for a long time as Liam continues pacing around his apartment nervously.
"I told-", Pablo starts with a sigh, but is immediately cut off by Liam.
"You told me what? That i shouldn't befriend her?", he growls, growing more impatient by the second,"that is not the fucking point, Pablo! The point is that someone is going to take her, kill her even, if i dont act! .... Fuck!"
He spins around and punches the wall beside him, making the paint crumble off and his knuckles split open. He would never admit it to himself but he needed help. He didnt know what to do and that was what bothered him the most. He steps back from the wall, starring at his bleeding hand intently while waiting for Pablo to say something.
"Tell me what happened.", Pablo retorts calmly,"dont miss any detail."
Pablo had every reason not to be calm right now, but the fact that Liam was confused, that he didnt know how to act surprised him. He had never seen him like this before and it made Pablo wonder just how much Liam cared about that girl.
"Rushmore's partner, someone i never heared of before has taken interest in Cecilia.", Liam begins.
"And what exactly is so dangerous about that?", Pablo asks, while his brain tries to work out who Rushmores mysterious partner was.
"Well, the dangerous thing about him is, that he trades with fucking girls!", Liam exclaims.
"And Rushmore isnt doing anything about it?", Pablo asks taken back by Liams words. That was definitely not good. He didnt wish for anyone to fall into the hands of such traders, but especially he didnt wish it for that girl.
"I think he is ready to work against his own partner considering he had called me a couple of hours earlier to warn me. The only question is why he is ready to work against him. I thought Mafia bosses these days are inseparable.", Liam states confused.
"They are.", Pablo retorts a little distant, he was already working on a way to get that girl out of harms way,"Listen boy, i dont know why Rushmore would help you, maybe it has something to do with her father. But if i were you I'd check that out.", he pauses shifting in his bed knocking his pillow down in the process,"meanwhile im going to figure something out. So calm down and get back to your normal fucking self! The last thing we need is for you to freak out and jeopardize everything, got it?"
Its silent for a second again. Liam sighs, cracking a small smile. He knew that despite everything, he could still count on Pablo whenever shit was about to get real.
"Got it, oldtimer. Thank you.", he answers and soon the line goes dead.

"So what the fuck are we going to do now?", Liam finally asks, breaking out of his trance like state. He looks at Rushmore, who was now pacing around the room nervously.
He really was worried about Dubois daughter. He knew that once Giorgio had set something into his thick skull, there was no way of getting him to back down.

Daddy!!!

Rushmore shuts his eyes, frowning.

Daddy, please help me!!

A small layer of sweat starts to form on his forehead.

Say goodbye to your little girl, Rushmore! This will teach you that i, Fiorelli, am the most powerful man alive!

He leans against the immense windows, looking out at the skyline of New York, looking at the people hurriedly running in and out of the shops and buildings. He sighs.
Sometimes he wished he just was a normal guy, with a normal family and a normal job.
Maybe then, his daughter would have survived.

Daddy!!!!

"You're going to look after her. 24/7.", he pauses turning around to look at Collins," Until i figure out what to do next. Your other jobs, i mean targets, will have to wait until the danger is gone."
Liam raises from the chair. He looks at Rushnore with some form of respect for the first time he started working for him.
"Yes, sir.", he says, turning around and heading for the door.
"Collins!", Rushmore calls, making Liam stop and turn around again, one eyebrow raised.
"I never answered your question.", Rushmore says.
Now both of Liams eyebrows raise as he waits for his superior to continue.
"Dubois already lost his wife.", Rushmore says turning back around to face the city,"he's a good man, he doesn't deserve the pain of loosing his child too."