Until I found a way, this was it. I wasn’t going to sleep with Armand and I wasn’t going to dinner with him either. A façade to get me away somewhere private so he could do whatever the hell he wanted to me.
I had two full days and part of Monday.
I’d be leaving Monday night for Italy with him. I wanted my freedom until then.
“You are one stupid bitch, you know that?” he threw back.
“Am I?”
“You know you are. Very stupid bitch. Any woman would kill to be with me. We used to be together Jia. This is just slipping back into who we used to be. That’s all it is baby.”
Every time he reminded me of that I cringed. Yes, I’d been with him for a whole year, but… I didn’t know what he was like.
“I was a different person then.”
“You mean you hadn’t met him yet?” He threw back. He was talking of course about Xander.
I decided not to respond. I couldn’t deny it and didn’t want to.
“Jia, open your eyes to the bigger picture baby. You and me are it. You mustn’t fight this and you mustn’t fight me.”
“I’m not fighting, I’m telling you I don’t want dinner with you.”
“And you won’t have sex with me either.”
“No, I won’t.”
He stepped closer, coming right up to me with his face contorted into a heavy scowl.
“You will.” He lowered and got right up in my face. “What do you think this is going to be. Some little hayride where you tell me what you will and won’t do?”
When I didn’t answer he lashed out, growled and grabbed my shoulders shaking me hard.
I cried out and shoved him hard in his chest. The impact made him let go of me but he came for me again, reaching out to grab me. I slapped him and my fingernails grazed his cheek leaving a print and blood seeping from the wound.
He touched his face and when his hand came away with blood he snarled, his face changing into the evil he was.
When he came for me again I knew I wouldn’t be able to defend myself.
One heavy hand landed across my cheek and sent me down to the ground. I screamed as I fell. The pain that shot across my face went straight to my stomach and made me feel sick like I was going to vomit.
He was the second man to hit me like that. The first was my father weeks ago.
Pa hit me and Armand saw. Pa hitting me opened the floor for Armand to follow suit, as if I was some sort of punching bag for everyone to hit.
I tried to get up but he went down and grabbed my leg, pulling me straight to him and securing himself on top of me, holding me down.
I screamed again knowing what he meant to do.
“Fucking little slut. I’ll show you. You won’t do that again and you won’t say no to me ever again.”
“Get off me!” I cried balling my fists, trying to punch him.
He was too strong.
Way too strong. He smiled down at me and started undoing his belt buckle.
“No,” I cried.
He answered by ripping my top. He ripped it right off causing me to scream again, louder this time.
“Help!” I bawled realizing what he truly meant to do. “Please someone help me!” I wailed but there was little point. I didn’t know who would hear me.
He grabbed my thighs and was about to shove his pants down when a fist sent him flying off me.
That was the best way I could describe it.
The fist came from nowhere. It just appeared at the side of his face and lodged in his cheek in a bone crunching punch that actually snapped his head back before he went flying.
The next thing I saw was Xander throwing himself onto Armand.
I just managed to lift myself up onto my elbows to look at the two.
Armand tried to throw a punch but Xander evaded it and landed a series of punches in Armand’s face. Somehow he got on top of him and the punches were so fast they seemed robotic in movement.
The fear of God rippled through me when I realized he was going to kill him.
I opened my mouth but no words came out.
Frankie came next into my view.
He threw himself on Xander’s back stopping him from punching.
“Kid stop it! Fuck. Stop it. You’ll kill him!” Frankie shouted. “Stop it kid. Xander. Fuckin stop it. It will be worse for her!”
God, it was only those words that made him stop. He stopped punching and Frankie let him go.
Xander backed off Armand and I was surprised when he got up. His face was a mess of blood and bruises.
He looked at Xander then to me.
“Wow, look at the dark knight. You two been fucking around behind my back?” Armand mocked.
“Armand cut it,” Frankie warned. He still had a hold on Xander.
“No, let him talk. Let him say whatever it is he has to say,” Xander retorted. “He thinks it’s such a great thing to force himself on a woman.”
“She wanted me. She wants me,” Armand taunted.
I shivered at his words.
How did I get here?
How did this happen to me?
Pa… that was how.
Pa did this to me. He made Armand think he owned me and could do whatever he wanted to me. I had no choice in the matter.
“Screaming for help doesn’t tend to suggest she wants you.”
“It’s you… your presence that’s caused this shit to happen. You fucking asshole. Things were okay until you came. And look at you now riding in on your horse to save your little slut.”
I always knew he didn’t have much sense. It was clear to me now that he didn’t.
As the word slut left his lips, Xander rushed him again and rammed him straight into the wall. He pressed him up against it, holding his arm at his neck. Armand gasped for breath. This time Frankie didn’t intervene. He allowed Xander to go and he went in for what looked like the kill.
I gasped when Xander pulled his gun and held it to Armand’s head.
“I should fucking kill you for talking about her like that. I should fucking blow your brains out for thinking you could talk about her like that in my presence.”
God…I’d never seen him look like that.
This was clearly a side to Xander I wasn’t supposed to see. It was one where Armand was defenseless.
Xander pulled the trigger back and my heart jumped in my throat.
It was then that Frankie stepped in and rested a hand on Xander’s shoulder.
Xander glanced back at him and Frankie shook his head.
“Don’t do it kid,” Frankie told him. “Not worth it. Not worth it at all.”
Once again Xander eased off, backing away.
He pointed his gun at Armand though and held it there while Armand actually looked shaken.
“Armand somewhere along the line you mistook me for some kind of weakling.” Xander seethed, glaring at him. “I’m not sure why. Armand Ricci, I’m not the kind of guy to fuck with. Don’t you dare fuck with me or my girl. Please, take that as an invite to come for me. I hope you do.”
Xander lowered his gun to his side and snarled.
Armand in turn scampered away like the fucking rat he was.
As soon as he left Frankie came to me.
“Doll, God are you okay?” he asked. I covered myself. I was wearing a bra but the top was completely torn.
Tears ran down my cheeks.
Crying again, it was all I ever seemed to do - cry.
This time I started weeping from deep within my soul.
Armand tried to rape me. He hit me and tried to rape me. That was the man I was leaving for Europe with in two days’ time. Him.
There would be no one to save me.
No Xander. No Frankie. Nobody.
I’d get to Europe and that would be it.
Xander came to me. I noticed his hands were shaking.
He’d called me his girl.
Was I?
Nothing sounded better to me than that. Thro
ugh this mess nothing had sounded sweeter than being called his. Being his girl… what a dream.
I fell into his embrace when he reached for me.
“Take her home kid and take care of her. I’ll make sure you guys get the day, get out of here.” Frankie nodded.
Xander and I both looked at him at the same time. “Thank you Frankie,” I breathed. I was so weak I could barely talk.
“Thank you,” Xander told him and Frankie nodded.
“I mean it. Get out of this place.”
We didn’t need to be told a third time.
Chapter 13
Jia
Xander took me home and made me something to eat.
It was a sandwich and the cheese had been placed in the bread in chunks. It was like that was how he made his sandwiches.
He brought it to me on a plate while I sat in bed.
“I’m sorry. You probably want something hot. I can’t cook all that well, and I’d rather make you a sandwich than embarrass myself.” He smirked with a little nod.
“This is perfect.” I grinned. “Also, I’m certain your cooking can’t be that bad.”
“Trust me it is. We’re talking no skill at all. It would either be burnt or uneatable. I never learned and by the time I should have, I’d discovered take out.”
I smiled up at him. “That’s one more thing I know about you. Take out though? You look amazing for a guy who has take out. Is that what you have every night?”
I couldn’t believe we were talking about food.
“Nah, not every night. My best friend, Wes, cooks. He’s the cook.”
“You have a best friend?” I mused with another grin. It was nice getting little bits of details about him he hadn’t previously mentioned.
“I have a best friend. A guy I trust with my life and my food.” He chuckled. “He’s the health freak. When I’m not eating his food I have Japanese or Chinese. They’re cooked the healthiest and I make sure I get all the good stuff that way.
“So no pizza? You don’t have pizza?”
“I love pizza, but wave that in front of a guy that loves take out and see how fast he piles on the pounds.”
I actually laughed. “I can’t imagine you gaining weight like that.”
“Oh yeah. It’s happened, nearly couldn’t apply for the marines because of it.”
He handed me the plate and looked at me in my stupid unicorn pajamas.
Armand must have hit me hard because I didn’t know why I chose the most unsexy thing I could find to wear. A stupid t-shirt with a big unicorn on the front and a pair of shorts.
Xander sat on the edge of the bed and gave me a warm smile.
As I looked at him I thought it would be nice to know more, more about him.
Not anything work related. Just stuff about him as a person and things he did. I didn’t know any of that stuff.
Did he like sports? Did he read the morning paper? If so which one?
What did an ex-marine like doing?
He’d said he’d served in Afghanistan. What was it like?
“You’re giving me that look again. Can’t tell what you’re thinking baby.” He chuckled.
“I’m thinking about you. About stuff I don’t know and want to know.”
“Like what?
I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and gave him a playful smile. “Like how long you were a marine.”
“Four years. I joined up when I was twenty two and thought it was the best thing ever. But I hate rules.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” It didn’t at all.
“I don’t like being told what to do. I guess I have a problem with authority.”
“That’s not always a bad thing.”
“No, it is not,” he agreed.
If he’d followed authority there were several instances when he would have looked the other way, and who knew what would have happened to me? It was anyone’s guess as to what extent either Pa or Armand would have gone.
The seriousness came back to his eyes and he reached out and touched my face. There was a bruise on my cheek and I was sure I’d have a shiner in the morning. I used to hear guys talk about that. I knew now what having one felt and looked like, twice now.
“That’s the second time a man’s laid their hands on you and I wasn’t able to stop it from happening,” he said more to himself than me.
“You stopped other things from happening to me.”
He shook his head. “Have I? What happens Monday? What happens then?”
“Xander, I hear you but what can we do? My father…” my voice trailed off when I thought of the crux of the matter. “I’m scared of him Xander. I’m scared of what he can do. People don’t defy him, they just don’t. I think we’ve been lucky so far because of the distraction of what’s going on. That’s what I think. It’s also made him act in this overbearing crazy way. He’ll kill you Xander. He would kill you right in front of me to teach me a lesson.” That was what I could see happening.
I was certain that today’s ruckus wouldn’t go down well if Armand told Pa what had happened.
“Jia, I’m not scared of your father, or the fact that he could kill me. It doesn’t scare me. What does scare me is failing in my duties because I’m torn. Over the years I’ve learned there comes a time when the choices you make can have an impact on others in a really big way. For good and bad. A big part of me is always trying to do the right thing. But…sometimes doing the right thing conflicts with what I want most. That’s where I am now.”
“I understand,” I told him. Understanding was the only thing I could do. Telling him that I did was the simple answer, and the simplest thing to do. I had to try and understand.
“Jia if there’s a way I’ll find it,” he promised. “If there’s a way for us to be together, I’ll find it. I think about it all the time and every time I do the obstacles hit me. All the ways it could go wrong. The consequences of me simply putting you in my car and driving like hell out of here. Never to return. All I can say for now is that if there’s any way for me to be with you, I will find it.”
Dare I hope. “Thank you. Thank you for saying that.”
“I mean it.” The deep conviction in his eyes reached out to me.
“I know.” I knew he did. There was so much going on though. I did take comfort in knowing he cared and that it was real between us. Real enough for him to factor me in the way he was.
“I’m glad you know. I am… Believe me when I say that I truly hate this situation with you and Armand. I hate it Jia. Makes me feel helpless and useless. I can’t possibly describe how much I hate it. And, every time I see him he does something to remind me of how bad the situation is. Look at today. It was just fucked up.”
Today was a snap shot of what my life would be like with Armand.
It ripped the fabric of reason from beneath me and left me floating in midair not knowing what to do, or where I was going. It left me empty with darkness filling my soul. Draining hope from me.
“It means a lot that you said that.”
“I mean it. It was bad Jia and I nearly killed him. I think I would have if Frankie hadn’t stop me.”
Today with Armand was bad, but there was more wasn’t there?
There was what I saw the other day with Frankie, and the suspicions Frankie raised.
Should I even tell Xander?
It wasn’t that we saw anything big happen but the significant thing about it was it was suspicious.
“It grieves me to no end that I’m going to end up with someone like that. He’s not someone I can trust, and… I saw something the other day. Something suspicious. Maybe it will be of interest to you.”
“What was it?” He looked curious.
“Armand exchanging a packet with a guy and it crossed my mind that maybe it was him who allowed those people to come in the night of the shoot out.”
“Did you see the guy?”
“Looked Italian like a boss. That was what I thought. I doubt it though.
The other crime families don’t just come on Marchesi turf like that, not even casually. They keep away. Whatever it was it looked suspicious.” I left out what Frankie said. I didn’t want to drop his name when I didn’t need to. It wouldn’t be right.
“Thank you. I’ll consider it.”
I breathed out a sigh. “Did that just make me an informant?”
“No, and I won’t ask you to be either. We don’t talk about any of that stuff when we’re together.”
I smiled at that.
“Could we… could we just forget. Like we always do?” I asked. “We could pretend that we’re back to a week or so ago and we’re together.”
“I can do that. What should we do?”
“Can you just lie next to me. I just want you to hold me, even for a little while.”
“Of course, baby.” He shuffled and I rested against his chest while I nibbled on the sandwich.
“Xander.” I thought I’d start talking about something else. Something to bring the conversation back to finding out more things about him.
“Yeah?” He stroked my cheek.
“I want to know more about you. Not your job. But you. What do you like? What don’t you like?”
His sensual lips arched and I savored the rise and fall of his chest. “I like peanut butter and I hate ketchup.”
I lifted my head and laughed. “I hate peanut butter and I totally love ketchup. I have it with everything.”
He made a face of distaste. “God Jia, the thing looks like blood. The nasty kind.”
“It tastes amazing and there’s spicy ketchup.”
“Spicy blood.”
I laughed and really looked at him as he smirked. This talk of food and the mundane made me think of other things too, other things I could ask.
We talked just like that for hours and it felt great.
We were truly inside that bubble and I allowed myself to be there in the moment.
As night fell I found myself wondering what forever would feel like with him. I was getting married in weeks.
Marriage in my head was forever and I’d always prayed I’d find someone I’d love beyond life and death.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
I was supposed to be over the moon with excitement and joy while engaged and I was supposed to be in love. That was the key point of significance. I was supposed to be in love with my man and counting down the days to be his.
Tease of Spades: Game of Love Series Page 10