I smiled back. "Good for you, sweetie."
"Anyway, the reason for this confession is,
well, Troy likes certain things and I figured you need some more
time off work. So, unless he doesn't want to continue getting a
little you know what, you know where, he'll give you all the time
off you need!"
The ensuing laughter
slaughtered my neck muscles, and my ribs,
and
my shoulder. It was worth
it.
When Kayla got back with Alex she was
gleaming! She was downright giddy. I knew she was sandbagging on
something. "You look like you're about to start jumping up and down
and start clapping," I said.
"Maybe..."
Then Conall walked in. My
heart sank. My God, how long had he been gone? He had flowers in
his hand... And a new cut on his face, his
right
eye this time. I knew that had
zero to do with the warehouse I'd been held in.
This boy's been boxing with Trey.
And, yip, Trey kicked his ass. Again!
Kayla's eyes gleamed.
"That's our cue!" she said to Alex, looped her arm around the other
girl's and walked out. Dani stayed, until Kayla poked her head back
in the door and said, "Ahem, Dani, dearie, come along now."
Now
that
had been
a good British accent by an American if I'd ever seen
one.
Conall plopped the flowers by my side. "For"
— he coughed — "you," he said. The gesture had not been very
elegant, but it did the trick. For a man who knew how to create
orgasmically divine playlists, he sure as hell had little clue
about giving a girl flowers when she was lying in bed in a
hospital!
"Thank you."
He walked over to the window. "Flowers
aren't usually my thing. I hope you like them."
"I love them." (Pause.) "Been boxing?"
He nodded, turned to me, then turned back to
look outside.
"I thought you'd run away..." I said.
(Pause.) "I did." An anvil fell on my chest.
(Pause.) "But then I turned back."
"I'm glad you did."
"I'm still trying to figure out how I feel
about it." He bowed his head. I wished I could see his eyes.
"It's OK to be afraid," I said.
"I'm not afraid."
Sure you're not,
baby.
"OK, well,
I
am."
"I'm going to give up my fortune."
Whoa. Really!? "Why?"
"It's not worth it. They wanted ransom,
that's why they took you. As 'payback' for Alex. They used to work
for Istvan — renegades, mercenaries. The last remnants of his
erstwhile empire."
"Erst-what?"
"Erstwhile: Former, as
in,
no more
. As
in, there is no more Istvan and no more of his goons and no more
empire. It's over for this crowd. But there are others. There will
always be others. They're like sharks to blood when it comes to
money. So I'm giving it up."
"OK."
"OK?"
"Yes, OK."
"And all this time I was convinced you were
just a gold-digger, Miss Upper East Side."
"Maybe I'll give up my own money as
well."
He shook his head, sighed heavily.
"What is it?" I asked.
"If only it were that easy. You come from
money, so do I..."
"So even if we give it up, we'll always have
it kind-of-thing, right? If only by connection?"
Silence. Damn it, his
thoughts were so loud he might as well go out and say them.
The only way you'll be safe is to leave me,
Leora.
I preempted: "I'm
never
gonna let you go,
you know? You're stuck with me. I'm gonna stalk your ass all over
the world. And now I know where you live. And I know your friends.
And I know how to flirt with men so that they do what I
want."
He laughed.
"My men are honorable. They wouldn't do
anything against me."
I didn't miss his reference
to them as "his men" but those questions would come later.
"Exactly, which is exactly why all of them, and me, will
always
find you, because
they like me!"
He turned and smiled at me. "I really made a
mistake introducing them to you, didn't I?"
"To your secret mafia? Hell
yeah, you made a mistake. I'm Italian, brother. I'm gonna be the
new frickin Head
Capa
of this English Mob, bro!"
He shook his head, turned fully toward me.
"Only problem is, they're not the mafia. They're the good
guys."
My eyes widened. "Wh — what?"
"They're the good guys.
Trey is some type of intel. He doesn't tell me much either. All I
know is that I can count on him when I need him. He's able to clean
up messes like these. These goons who took you were into other
things as well. They could've come peacefully, I guess." He
shrugged, thinking. "Then we might've had to go to court. But, they
chose to pick a fight. It worked out well. The other guys,
the
Smokey's
crowd, well..." He shrugged. "You know, they've 'got your
back' as you Americans say. They've got my back as well, I guess. I
really don't know how many of them work with Trey, or if they're
all lone rangers helping each other out..."
"Fuck me, that's cool. And you? Are you like
fucking Delta Force or some shit?"
He laughed. "Not a chance. I've never been
in the military."
"Of course, but if you were, you probably
couldn't tell me..."
"No! I'm not! I really am not!"
"OK, I believe you...sort of!"
"Leora, I swear it!"
"So what are you?"
He shrugged. "A man with friends, that's
all."
"You must've done something very decent to
gain those friends. Because mere companions don't just put each
other in death's way for another mere companion."
"Maybe I did. Maybe they
just have big hearts. Or maybe they're
your
friends more than mine. They
like you, you know?"
They like me because of
you; because they, for whatever unknown reason, think I can "take
care of" you. No pressure, Leora.
"Yeah,
right... You! You, Mr. Williams, are a mystery, an endless
mystery."
He sat by my side, held my
hand. "Leora, there are sides of me that you've seen which no one
else has. There are other sides that, maybe, you will never see.
But there's only one thing you
need
to know about me. I'm crazy about you. And I will
never hurt you. And I will always be there for you."
I squeezed his hand. "Damn it, if I didn't
hurt so bad, I'd love to go 'swimming' again."
He smiled.
Kayla shot her head in the door. "And, did
you say yes!?"
Conall shooed her
away.
Yes?
Oh no,
don't ask me to marry you, bro. I mean, love is cool, but... My
mind whirled. Why was I suddenly so nervous? What about home? My
dad? Why was I feeling so anxious? Isn't this what all girls
want?
"Leora, I need more
'friends' to keep us safe. And I need someone to head up security
at the house. Trey can't because of his commitments, neither can
any of the other guys because they work for him or because they
need to stay low-key or something. But even if they could, if you
and I are going to be together, and if we're stuck with the magnets
of filth —
money!
— to us no matter what we do, then we need protection.
Lots
of it. I thought of
asking Kayla's boyfriend if he'd come over and work for me, head up
security for my home."
"Brad from Bushwick?"
"I think his name is just 'Brad.'"
"Whatever. That's how I remember it. But
why?"
"He's a good guy. I remember how he stood by
us when..."
Yeah, when you beat the
shit out of that Raphael punk
. "I see, but
if he came here then — "
"Then Kayla would have a reason to
stay."
"Uh-huh?"
"And so would you."
My face flushed.
"Goddamnit, I
so
need a swim right now."
"So, is that a yes? Will you stay?"
"Yes! But only if we
swim
every
night!"
"I was thinking more like twice a day."
My eyes rolled back, I squeezed my legs.
Darn it, where's a pool when you need
one?
It took over a week before Conall and I
could do any sort of swimming. Finally we did, in his room, to one
of his magnificent playlists.
"I booked us a place in Switzerland," he
said when we were done. "Three weeks from now."
"Why so long?"
"Just to be safe."
"The recommended waiting time for the pill
is two weeks."
"Leora, in all honesty" —
he rubbed my stomach — "I have
no
problem creating a child with you..."
Oh motherfucker, that just made me
so
hot and I have no idea
why!
"...but part of our deal of you
staying here is that you'll go to university next year. So, I'm not
risking that."
I rolled my eyes. Heck,
I
did
want a
college education, but these things are so friggin hard to think of
after a good, nose-diving
swim
.
"It's 'college.' I told you that. Not
'university.'" OK, fine, maybe I was being a little childish.
"A college is a
section
of a university.
You Americans have it all wrong."
"No, the English are
wrong!" I put my hand down between his legs. Damn, he was ready for
another round... "Conall, how
do
you do it?"
He shrugged.
My phone buzzed. I ignored it. I started
rubbing him, kissing him. It buzzed a second time.
Then it rang. "Damn it!"
"Just let it ring," said Conall.
"No, if it's Kayla I have to answer. That's
our agreement."
It
was
Kayla. I sighed. Fine, I'd
interrupted her in
much
worse circumstances...
Conall caressed my crotch as I answered the
phone and I giggled. "Bad timing! I hope it's important!" I
said.
"Bianca's dead."
Suddenly Conall's hand felt uncomfortable. I
moved it away.
I fought myself to a sitting position. My
ribs still hurt big-time.
"Wh — what?"
"Bianca Henshaw, she's
dead, Leora.
Dead
.
They found her at Raphael's place. She'd been..." Kayla was
frantic. We'd hated Bianca at school. And we'd tried to warn her
about her drug-dealing scumbag of a boyfriend; Kayla's
ex.
"I see... That's horrible."
"That's not the point, baby. Raphael's
missing."
Well, good
riddance.
"So what?"
"That means he's no longer
Mr. 'I'm The Man For Drugs in NYC.' That was the only thing he was
holding onto that kept him from coming to get you and
Conall,
and
me.
And
Brad.
Leo, what if he's coming for us? No one can find him. What if he
knows we're here?"
I lost all strength in my arm. "I — I see.
Th — thanks, Kayla, I'll tell Conall."
I put the phone off. "Tell me what?" said
Conall.
A floorboard creaked outside the
bedroom.
In my mind, I screamed.
Hi, I'm Rachel Dunning. I suffer
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