by Elisa Leigh
now, but it still has me livid. “You’ve said your piece. May I say mine?” When he nods, I give it to him the only way I can, straight.
“Cara is not someone I would toy around with. She is special. I know she doesn’t know how things are around here, but you do. So when I tell you that I’m claiming her and that she’s mine, you understand exactly what I’m saying.”
Eyes wide with disbelief he asks “Really? Are you sure, you only met her today?”
“I respect you but don’t question me again Greg. At school, you are my coach and a teacher, but we both know when we walk off this property things are different. And yes, I know I only met her today, but when you know, you know. She’s it for me.”
He laughs then, and I’m confused. Quirking my eyebrow at him, he laughs harder, then puts his hands up in a placating manner. “Sorry Arnetti, but you did meet that little firecracker of a neice I have right?”
Finally understanding why he’s laughing, I laugh with him. “Yep, claiming her should be fun. Worth it in the end, though.”
When his phone rings he checks to see who it is and holds up his finger to answer it. “Hey Cara, sorry I’m running a little late. I got caught up talking with the guys. I’ll be home soon though okay.” He listens and hangs up a few seconds later.
“Shit I pissed her off. I’m not used to having her here.”
“You do have security at your place, right?”
“Are you serious right now? Of course, I have fucking security. You of all people should know that.” I nod, he was in the Marines for five years, before he moved here three years ago.
“Alright then. That’s all I needed to say. I guess I’ll be seeing you around a lot now?”
I nod. “You will.”
“Let’s go then. I’m exhausted.” He says walking to his door.
While we’re walking to the parking lot, we talk about
practice, and what plays we should use at the game on Friday. We pass Coach’s truck first, and he waves me off. I walk two steps, and I get a text from my IT guy, telling me that there’s a cruiser at Coach’s house. Usually, I get a weekly report about the goings on around town when I sit down for my Sunday meeting with the heads of departments. This afternoon though, I made a call to my IT guy and let him know to keep an eye on Cara. He was instructed to notify me of any activity out of the norm.
“Yo Coach.” He’s in the process of closing his door when he pauses and looks at me. “You have any idea why you have a cruiser at your house?”
“Shit!” He slams his fist on the steering wheel. “No, but I bet you that’s why Cara called me a few minutes ago. How do you know?"
"I told my IT guys to let me know everything that’s going on with Cara. She’s mine. I need to know what’s going on, to keep her safe.”
“Got it. You following me home?”
I nod. “See you there.”
Excitement and dread course through me. I’m happy I get to see my girl again tonight, but I’m not satisfied with the circumstances surrounding it. Following Coach back to his house, I call Ryan, my guy in IT.
“Hey, boss man.”
“Ryan, tell me she’s okay, and we don’t need an ambulance.”
“Bishop, your Princess isn't hurt."
I take a breath and thank God she’s okay. “Thanks, man. Why are the cops at her place then?”
“You’re not going to like it, bro. Someone spray painted her
car.” What the hell?
“Run the tapes. I want to know who did this and why. We already sent out my claim. Everyone knows she’s off limits. This is unacceptable.”
“Got it, man. Do you want me to send Jessie over with the tow?”
“Yeah, send it over.”
“Haven’t met her yet bro, but she’s going to be pissed about her car. It’s a 2018 Dodge Challenger Hellcat. I’m fucking pissed on her behalf.”
I hang up as I pull into her drive. Jumping out of my truck, I follow Coach up the path to where my Princess is standing. She is so fucking strong, talking to the cops on her own. The look she levels me with is mixed with confusion and frustration. I position myself as close to her as I can without spooking her but letting everyone know
without words that she’s mine. I want to take her in my arms and check to make sure she isn’t hurt, but I know she won’t let me, she isn’t there yet.
I shake hands with Officers Richardson and Harris, two men I hired last year. “What do we have officers?”
“Mr. Arnetti, as you can see, someone has defaced Ms. Giordano’s vehicle. We were asking her some questions when you arrived.”
“I’ve got IT working on getting surveillance. We should know who it was soon.”
I walk around her Challenger, and my anger grows as I read what they painted on her car. She’s been here a day, who could she have pissed off to make them do this?
I walk away from the group and take out my phone. I place a call to my security team. “Lamar, I need you to send out a team to Coach Giordano’s residence. I need them to do a full sweep. Have them look for strange activity and lock the house down. Make sure it’s safe for her to stay in.”
“You got it, Boss.”
“I also want you to put a team together. I’ll call you later with the details.”
“Yes, sir. Ah, sir?”
“Go ahead, Lamar.”
“Does this have anything to do with the Princess?”
“Everything.” I hang up and go back to where everyone is standing. Coach looks at me, and I nod, letting him know I’ve taken care of it.
“We have everything we need to file a report. We’ll let you know what we find out from the tapes.”
“Thank you, Officers Richardson and Harris for responding so quickly.”
“Of course. It was nice to meet you, Cara.” They turn and go back to their vehicles.
“Wait.” They stop and turn around.
“Why aren’t you letting my uncle and I know what you find? Why do you keep directing everything to Bishop, when it should be directed to me?”
The officers look at me for guidance.
“My Princess-” I start.
“Stop calling me that, I’m not your Princess!”
I smirk “Cara,” I pause, and she rolls her eyes gesturing for me to continue. “My family runs this town. When my father died, I took over. These things would have been brought to my attention eventually if I wasn’t here. Because I am here, they just spoke to me directly.”
With wide eyes, she looks at the officers and they nod, telling her what I’m saying is true. Coach saves us from her impending wrath and goes up to her putting both of his hands on her shoulders.
“Cara let’s go inside and find something for dinner.”
She glares at him and shrugs away from his grasp. She stops next to her car, taking a long look, and wipes at her face.
“Cara, I’ve got someone coming to take it in to be looked at and fixed.”
“Thanks,” she whispers and continues walking into the house.
As soon as the officers drive off, the wrecker arrives. I stand there and watch them, knowing they'll treat the car well, but needing to oversee this for her.
Coach walks up next to me “You know I could have taken care of all of this right?”
“I know. She’s mine to care for now. I take that very seriously.”
“She’s going to fight you on this. What if she doesn’t want to be with you?”
“Greg, I’m not going to force her, if that’s what you’re getting at. She’s a spitfire I’ll give you that, but there's no doubt in my mind that she feels the same way about me. She will fight this, but not because she doesn’t like me.”
He sighs and scrubs his hands down his face. When the wrecker drives off with her car, we go inside. I’d only planned on saying good night, but the smells assailing me are making me salivate. It doesn’t help that I’m starving. Following the heavenly aroma, I walk until I end up in the kitchen where Cara
is putting together a salad.
“Cara you didn’t have to cook. I could have ordered something when I got home.”
She shrugs at Greg’s suggestion and continues working.
“Sure, smells good. What’d you make?” He tries again.
“Chicken cordon bleu with roasted red potatoes, and a Caesar salad. Although, I don't know how the chicken and potatoes are going to taste since they were in the oven a while.”
Finishing the salad, she takes out plates and silverware. “You staying Bishop?” She asks facing away from me.
“You inviting me Princess?” I know I’m pushing it, but I can’t help myself. Although her back is to me, I know she’s smiling, I can hear it in her voice when she says, “If you’d like to have dinner, tell me now.” Walking behind her, I place my hands on the counter on each side of her, trapping her in with my body. She stiffens but makes no move to leave. Leaning down I kiss her cheek and whisper in her ear “Thank you, Princess.”
She shivers but says nothing. Grabbing the plates and silverware, I help Greg set the table in the dining room. When Cara walks in with the salad, we sit to eat. Greg sits at the head of the table, Cara to his left, and I to his right, across from my Princess. Passing the food around we fill our plates with what I’m assuming is going to be a great dinner. We say grace and then dig into the food. Greg and I both groan as we eat our food.
“Cara this is excellent.”
“Well, don’t sound so surprised Uncle Greg, this is what I was studying in school before-” She pauses staring at her food, as she pushes it around with her fork, “you know, before.”
“Cara I-”
“It’s fine, it’s okay.” She mutters staring down at her plate.
There’s an awkward silence, and it’s weird to see two people related, be so distant. My family is very close, in everyone’s business, offering up advice without care if it’s even wanted. We continue eating, and I can’t take the silence anymore, but when I’m about to start talking Cara breaks the ice.
“You guys ready for the game on Friday?”
“They better be fucking ready with as many plays as we’ve run.”
I snort. “My guys are ready. The offense is solid. It’s the defense we have to worry about.”
Greg points his fork at me “You mean Brenton is who we have to worry about. Kid spends too much time socializing and doesn’t pay attention to the ball.”
I shrug and smile, remembering tackling his ass a couple of hours ago. “Keep smiling Bishop, if I see you, Finn and Davey rough him up again at practice, I’ll bench you the first half.”
“I got it Greg, but he needed to learn a lesson.”
Cara starts coughing, and I can tell that she’s swallowed her food wrong. I go around the table and crouch at her side and start rubbing her back. Tears are streaming down her face from coughing, and she’s still breathing a little choppy.
I grab her water and place it at her lips. “Take a sip sweet
girl.” She does and starts breathing better. I continue rubbing her back until she’s back to normal.
“Thanks, Bishop, you’re always coming to my rescue.”
“Always will Princess, always.” I stare into her eyes hoping she hears the sincerity and seriousness of my words. She nibbles on her bottom lip and gives me a small nod.
Chapter 5
Cara
“Thank you for making dinner Cara.” Uncle Greg says with a hesitant smile. I know he feels terrible for dismissing my call earlier, but I’m over it now.
“Not a problem Uncle Greg. I don’t mind.”
“Well since you made dinner, how about I clean up the dishes? And you can walk Bishop out.”
She nods, and we all get up from the table. I walk to the foyer and realize I’m alone. I step back into the kitchen and see Bishop and Uncle Greg speaking so low that I can’t hear what they’re saying. I lean against the archway and wait for them to finish.
When they shake hands, I assume they’re done talking, so I turn around and walk towards the front door again. When I get to the door, and I’m opening it, Bishop puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes lightly.
“Sorry about that Princess, I had to talk to your uncle for a minute. Do you mind walking me out?” Turning my head, I look behind me at Bishop, “Nope.”
The walk to his Escalade is a quiet one that takes less than a minute. Stopping in front of his door, he looks down at me. “I’m sorry someone did that to your car Princess. I will find out who it was and they will pay for what they’ve done.”
“I am too. It’s the last thing my dad, and I did together.”
He looks at me with complete tenderness and care over what I’m going through.
“Was it his?”
“Hmm?”
“The car? Was it his car?”
“Oh no, it’s all mine.” I laugh, of course, that’s what he’d assume. “I have an affinity for muscle cars, the look and feel of them, how fast they can go. I’m not a gearhead, neither was my dad so we couldn’t rebuild one like I wanted to do at first. I still wanted one though and my dad knew that, so we designed Susie together.”
“Susie?”
“I named my car after the first woman to be appointed as the executive pastry chef at the white house. Women’s lib and all that."
He looks confused.
"I want to be a pastry chef.” I laugh awkwardly as Bishop gives me the strangest look like he’s fearful and impressed by me at the same time. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter. Susie means a lot to me. I’ll get her repainted, and it will be all right.”
Clutching my arms as the wind blows against me, I realize I’m only in a short sleeve white t-shirt and some yoga pants. My feet are bare, and the temperature is dropping quickly.
“So stupid, I’m sorry Princess I didn’t think about how cold it was out here. Jump in my truck. I’ll turn the heat on.”
I hesitate and look at the house and then back at Bishop. “I should get back inside. I don’t want Uncle Greg to worry.”
“I asked him if we could talk for a few minutes. He said he didn’t mind.” Holding his hands up in surrender he says “I want to get to know you, Cara.”
That’s the best offer I’ve had in a few weeks, and I can’t help myself when I whisper “Okay.”
Walking me around to the passenger side he opens the door, and I attempt to get in. It’s higher than I thought and I have to place one foot on the floorboard and reach up for the side handle. I’m still not tall enough. Bishop laughs behind me. “Here, let me help you in baby.” Grabbing my hips, he lifts me onto the seat.
I move so that my legs are in and he closes the door. While he comes around to his door, I cross my legs in the seat, so I'm sitting Indian style, and I start rubbing my arms to get warm. Getting into the truck, Bishop starts it and turns the heat on. “It should be warm in a second.” He turns in his seat, and I face him, resting my back against the door. Grinning at the man who is breaking through all my defenses, I ask “Wanna play twenty questions?”
He laughs, “Yes, you go first.”
Tapping my chin, I think for a second “When’s your birthday?”
“June 7th, I turned nineteen this summer. Yours?”
“October 26th, I’ll be turning eighteen. Nineteen?”
“My dad died a couple years ago. I ended up taking the year off to deal with the aftermath. He was the leader of the town, and that was passed to me when he died. I had a lot to learn. I took the year off, and went back to finish.”
“Why didn’t you just get your GED?”
“My best friends were still in school. I wasn’t ready to give up on the rest of my childhood, even destiny was knocking.”
“I get that. I considered going the GED route when I moved down here, but Uncle Greg asked me to reconsider.”
“I’m glad he did. I have no doubt we would have met eventually, but I’m glad we met now.”
I bite my lip. “Me too.”
We ke
ep playing twenty questions, and I learn that his favorite color is blue, he loves popcorn and sweet tea, likes playing football and is good, but doesn’t want to make it a career. He’s staying home to finish his degree in business management. I’m impressed when he tells me that by the time he graduates high school he’ll have his Associate’s degree. I’ve never met anyone my age who is as focused and determined as he is. I tell him I love turquoise, salty foods and unsweet tea, at which he makes a gagging sound, and I laugh. I tell him that I don’t play sports nor do I watch or understand them. He lets me know that he’s going to teach me all about football, whether I like it or not. I roll my eyes at him, which I can tell only makes him more determined.
We talk about so many things, and I begin to lose track of time. Our likes, dislikes, favorite music, and movies. We are two very different people and don’t have many similarities, which might seem awkward, but for me it’s interesting. He tells me about his family and how close they all are. That makes me smile. I wish I had a family like that growing up. I’ve felt so alone since my grandmother died when I was ten. She was the only mother I ever knew, and it shattered me only to have my dad around. He tried hard for me, bought me anything I desired and listened to me when he could, but was always busy with work, so I spent a lot of time alone or with friends. I don’t talk to Bishop about my family because it’s too painful to visit that subject out loud. Changing the subject, I tell him something I’m proud of, something I earned with merit, not through my father’s connections.
“I have an internship set up in Chicago this summer with a famous pastry chef.”
He gets quiet and his happy mood changes to quiet and distant. I grab his hand “Hey what just happened here?” Pulling my hand to his mouth, he kisses it and sets it down with his on the armrest, not releasing it.
“Cara, my Princess, the idea of you leaving me, even after such a short time of knowing you, is not something I want to contemplate.”
I squeeze his hand so he’ll look at me. “That’s still a long way off, you never know what life has in store for us, or where we’ll be in June.”