He kissed my forehead and said, “Now, you are going to have to be strong. Here is the time. You can’t be weak here, baby. Believe me when I say I don’t want to do this. But your husband promised me a peace treaty. He said that if he got you back, all the killing would stop.”
I wiped my tears away and said, “When? When are you taking me back?”
He grabbed his phone and, without answering me, dialed a number, placing the call on speaker.
“Hello?” I instantly recognized Giovanni’s voice.
“When you wanna do this?” Bryce asked.
“Let me speak to my wife!”
“No.”
I placed a hand on one of Bryce’s, letting him know it was okay. He passed me the phone.
“Hello?”
“Baby! Are you okay?”
“Yes, Giovanni, I’m okay. Bryce is going to bring me back to you. He agrees with your arrangement.” I took a deep breath before continuing. “But I need you to make me a promise.”
“Anything for you, baby. What is it?”
“Giovanni. I don’t want any more bloodshed. No more people dead. You have to promise me that you won’t try to kill Bryce when he brings me back to you. And don’t hurt his mother, either.”
“Awww, baby. All I want is to have you back home safe. If that happens and that is your wish, I promise you, Giselle, this will be over. He has my word. You have my word, baby. I love you.”
I knew my husband was waiting for me to say “I love you” back. So I did. “I love you, too.”
Bryce looked away.
“Baby, put him back on the phone,” Giovanni said.
Bryce took the phone from me and said, “Meet me behind the Game. It’s a bar on Manchester. Meet me there at four A.M. Don’t bring no people, and I won’t bring no people. Just bring my mother, and I will bring Giselle.”
“Yeah, all right. You better have my wife or—”
“Or what?” Bryce countered.
There was a pause before I heard, “You just better have her.”
I couldn’t count the times I had made love to Bryce that night. It was too many to count. And it didn’t make a difference, because he still woke me up at two o’clock in the morning for our trip back to Los Angeles to meet my husband. The car ride was super silent. Neither of us spoke. I wished so badly that he would just turn the car around. But I understood why he didn’t and why he continued on. Giovanni had his mother. And Giovanni was unpredictable.
When Bryce made a left, I saw the bar he was speaking of, but instead of pulling into the parking structure near it, he drove farther down, where there was nothing but dirt and gravel, past two open gates. It was an abandoned space.
We sat in the car and waited.
“You okay?” Bryce asked me.
I nodded, trying my best to hold back my tears. I was not okay.
A few minutes later I saw my husband’s Range Rover turn down the street. Bryce flicked the lights on his car. My husband paused in the street, then drove in our direction. He parked his car on the opposite side of us.
Bryce turned to me. I knew he wanted to kiss me. But I shook my head and kept back my tears.
“What do I do?” I asked him.
“Nothing. Just follow my lead.”
Bryce slipped out of the car and walked over to my side. He opened my door and let me step out. He slipped something into my bra. Then he guided me by my arm to the front side of his car.
The headlights from both vehicles shone. Giovanni followed his lead. He clutched onto a woman, who I knew was Bryce’s mother. She favored Bryce and his brother but also looked like a drug addict. There were bruises on her face, which I knew came from my husband. Jesus Christ, how could he put his hands on an older woman and inflict bruises? Then I felt stupid for even asking myself that. My husband was garbage—that was how he was able to do it.
The wind was blowing our clothes and hair. I watched Bryce nod to Giovanni. At the same time Giovanni released Bryce’s mother, Bryce released me. I was expected to walk to Giovanni, and Bryce’s mom was expected to walk to Bryce. His mother ran past me, sobbing. I turned back and watched her throw herself into Bryce’s arms. I wished I could do the same and leave with him. It was so crazy, because two months ago this was a moment that I had begged and prayed God for, reuniting with my husband. And it was here, and now I didn’t want it at all.
Once I reached my husband, he grabbed me in his arms. That was when I heard Bryce yell, “You know, losing my mom ... it’s almost worth it. To rid the world of a twisted mufucka like you.”
My husband simply said, “You know one day real soon you will be seeing me again, young ’un.” He then walked me to the passenger side of the car.
“I can’t wait,” was Bryce’s reply.
I knew this was far from being over.
My husband closed the door on my side and got in on his side of the car.
Then we drove away. I couldn’t stop the tears that rolled down my cheeks as I watched Bryce in the side-view mirror. He got smaller and smaller, and then ... he was gone.
Chapter 17
“Listen, baby, I don’t know what happened while you were gone. All I do know is that it haunted my thoughts day and night. And if you feel comfortable talking about it ...”
I closed my eyes as I sat in the bathtub while my husband scrubbed my back. He wanted to discuss the stuff that had transpired. I did not. I didn’t want to discuss anything with him.
He rubbed the washcloth in a circular motion around my back. It made my skin crawl to no end. “I understand if it is hard, but, baby, I have to know. They sent me videos. The first two I couldn’t see, but I was able to see the one of a woman going down on you. Did he or anyone else?”
“No. I wasn’t raped, if that’s what you want to know,” I lied.
I could feel some of the tension leave my husband’s body as his hand relaxed on my back. He also took a deep breath.
“Did anyone touch you in any way?”
“No. I wasn’t touched in the way you are speaking of. Only what you saw on the video.” I tried to keep my voice steady as to not let on the truth. I had definitely been touched, and I had encouraged a lot of the touching Bryce had done, because I wanted it just as much as he wanted it.
A few minutes later, after Giovanni rinsed the soap off of me, he asked, “You about ready to get out?”
I nodded.
He held up a towel for me, and I stood and stepped out of the tub and into it.
My husband would not let up. He followed me like a puppy dog. As I dried off, from the corner of my eye, I saw him strip down to his boxers. I was standing nude in front of him, and was about to pull something to wear out of my drawer, when he said, “Come here, Giselle.”
As I walked toward him, he was grabbing himself between his legs. “See how much he missed you?”
I gave a tight smile.
I knew he was going to want to have sex, but not this soon. As soon as I made it to the bed, he was all over me, when honestly all I wanted was to see my little brother and Lexi and sneak away to call Bryce. I had hid his number in the bottom of my underwear drawer while Giovanni ran my bathwater. The last thing that I wanted was this sick bastard’s hands touching me. All I could think about was what I saw on the DVD and him killing Bryce’s sister and little brother.
My husband started touching me all over; nothing about it felt good. Not like it used to. His kiss left me distracted, and when he licked my nipples, I felt repulsed. And I prayed he didn’t try to go down on me, but he did.
“You like it, baby?”
I lied. “Yes.” But inside I was squirming.
I moaned, though, and told him how good it felt. I even pretended to cum, just so we could get this over with. He mounted me, and I felt even more disgusted.
“I missed you so much,” he said as he stroked in and out of me.
More lies. “I missed you, too.” There was no sensation coming from my pussy, nothing. Only dryness, tig
htness. A soreness from what he was doing. No secretion at all. I wondered if he noticed. All I saw was his dick shoved in the girl’s mouth. And the look of pain on her face as he sodomized her.
When he leaned down to kiss me, I tried to act the part. Like I was enjoying it. And he obviously couldn’t tell, because he came.
A few moments later, after he went into our bathroom and cleaned himself, he came back, got into the bed, and spooned me.
“I thought I was going to go crazy. Honestly, Giselle, I didn’t think I was going to get you back alive. I felt like a piece of myself was missing while you were gone. And your brother was going crazy.”
I smiled at the mention of my little brother. “Where is he?”
“He should be here tomorrow.”
“Okay.” But I would rather see him than you, I thought.
“I told him to give us a little time. He respected that.”
“And Lexi?”
“She knows,” was his quick response. “I never told my parents you were kidnapped. I didn’t want them to worry. I told them you wanted to do some traveling in Italy, and that is where you have been for the past two months.” He turned my whole body around and said, “Tell me exactly what they did to you, baby.”
I closed my eyes briefly and said, “Nothing. I’m fine. I mean ... you saw what they did on that video. Look, Giovanni, I just want to put that behind me.”
“Okay, baby. It’s just every time I think about what they did ...” He tightened his arms around me in an aggressive manner. All the anger and aggression came back to his face. “Those sick ba—”
“I just want to sleep, husband.”
He smiled, and his hold loosened. “Go ahead, baby. Get some rest. You’re home now, so you know you’re safe.”
After what seemed like an hour of him holding me, I managed to drift off to sleep. But in that hour I never once felt safe. In fact, I felt like I was sleeping with the enemy. Wow. What a change from how it used to be.
The next morning, knocking on the door was what woke me out of my sleep. I looked around for my husband. He was gone. I rose from the bed and slid into a robe.
Expecting it to be either my brother or Lexi, I instantly had a smile on my face when I opened the door. It was Lexi. But the moment I saw the frown on her face, as opposed to hearing a shriek of joy and getting a hug, my smile vanished.
“What are you doing here?” she quizzed.
My head snapped back. I was confused. What did she mean?
“You didn’t hear what the fuck I said? Why are you here, bitch?”
“Lexi, you are supposed to be my best friend. Why are you saying that to me?” I replied in a harsh tone.
“I’m not your fucking friend. Let’s get that shit straight right fucking now! And just to let you know, I was your husband’s source of comfort while you were gone. And that means that I have been in your bed, and I have been fucking your man!”
“Bitch!” a male voice yelled. I watched my brother come out of nowhere and rush up to Lexi. “What the fuck are you trying to upset my sister for?” he growled. “She didn’t do anything to you!”
“Shut the fuck up, Brandon! I say what I want!” Lexi said angrily. “She thinks she is just going to come back, and then I’m not shit—”
“Don’t say another fucking word! You’re not going to humiliate my sister in front of me!” Brandon bellowed, threatening her.
“Fuck you, Brandon! I have been fucking Giovanni, and you know ...”
Her voice trailed off when Brandon snatched her up and slammed her against the wall with so much force, her head hit the wall. “Get the fuck out of here, Lexi!”
I had never seen my brother so aggressive. I didn’t know what to make of it. He had never put his hands on a woman before. Had he changed while I was gone? But I just told myself that the anger came from her disrespecting me.
Lexi snatched herself away from my brother, cast me one hateful look, and sauntered off. And as she walked away, I swallowed a huge lump in my throat. I mean, she was my best friend, and she was telling me that she was fucking my husband. I could care less who my husband was fucking, but I did care who my best friend was fucking. That betrayal hurt.
I did not know how to respond to the situation. I just stood there, staring blankly at her as she turned down the hallway and left.
“Welcome back home, sister.”
I turned my attention back to my brother. I gave a shriek and reached up and hugged him close to me. The moment we embraced, I could feel him sobbing against my shoulder.
It made me cry as well. I had missed my brother. I was still thinking about Lexi betraying me. And, damn, what the fuck was I going to do about my fucked-up situation?
I pulled away from my brother just as he said, “Don’t worry about that bitch. You know that she is trash, and she has always been jealous of you.”
“But she has always been my best friend. It hurts that she would say those things, truth or not. And it hurts that she would do them. And to be honest, I think it is the truth. The man I married is not the man I thought he was.”
“What do you mean?”
I wanted to tell my brother, but what would it do? I didn’t want my brother raging at Giovanni because his shady dealings had gotten me kidnapped. Not when I still had not figured out what I was going to do. And whatever that was, my brother was coming with me. Only where? Without my husband, I didn’t have a pot to piss in. I again regretted letting Giovanni sell my parents’ house. It was probably all a part of his plan, so my brother and I were completely dependent on him.
“All men cheat is what I mean.”
Brandon laughed. “Put some clothes on, and we can go get something to eat, Giselle. I’ll meet you downstairs,” he said before turning and walking away.
“Okay.” I went back into the bedroom, showered, and threw a pair of jeans on and a top. After I dressed, I took out Bryce’s number and called him from the cordless we had in our bedroom. I had to hear his voice.
“Hello?”
I paused and licked my dry lips, not knowing what to say.
“It’s good to hear your voice, Giselle.”
At that, I burst out crying.
“Don’t cry, baby.”
“I want to see you.”
“No. It’s too soon. Let some time pass between us.”
“Okay. But I miss you. I miss you so much, Bryce. I don’t know what you did to me.”
He chuckled. “Damn, baby. That shit is good to hear.”
When I heard our bedroom door open, my heart sped up. “I have to go. Bye.” I hung up the phone quickly and spun around just in time to see my husband enter the room.
He stood in front of me. “Hey, babe.”
“Hey.”
He looked at me, all dressed, and asked, “Are you going somewhere?”
“Brandon wants to take me out to get something to eat.”
“Oh. I was hoping we could spend some time together.”
I thought back to the past, about how he would get jealous if I spent time away from him with Lexi or my brother. I had thought it was cute and that he just couldn’t get enough of his wife. Now I just thought it was his way of trying to control me.
“I just want to catch up with my brother. I won’t be gone long.” I hoped I didn’t look guilty for just calling another man. I looked away, because my husband continued to study my face, and said, “Anyway, we won’t be gone long.”
“Why don’t you take one of the guards with you?”
“I’m fine. I don’t need a security guard to follow me around!” I walked up to him and distractedly gave him a dull kiss on his lips. “Where is my purse?” I hadn’t had it since the day I was kidnapped.
He opened a drawer, pulled it out, and handed it to me.
When I looked inside, I noticed my iPhone was there but not my keys. Oh well, I could get them later. My phone battery was dead. Since my brother had an iPhone, too, I figured I could charge mine in his car.
/> Giovanni said nothing. But as I walked out of the room and into the hallway, I turned and saw that he had stepped out of the room and was watching me. My husband had never watched me so much before. I hoped he couldn’t read what my heart told me and how I felt now. That I really didn’t love him or want him anymore.
Lunch with my brother was so much fun. It gave me a chance to take my mind off the state of things, even though I had to dodge several questions about Bryce. Brandon was relentless. “Who took you?” “Where did they keep you?” “Did they rape you?” I assured my brother the best I could that I was never hurt. I also lied and said I didn’t know the names of those who had kidnapped me. He seemed convinced and left it alone.
We went to Roscoe’s in Long Beach. It kinda reminded me of when we were teens, with not too many cares in the world, other than the trials and tribulations of being teens, dealing with homework, finals, peer pressure, what clothes to wear, and staying in style. This was a different time now. And the fear I had been experiencing since I found out the truth about Giovanni made me feel how I felt after my father passed. That everything would be on my shoulders. Because I knew that eventually, I would have to leave Giovanni. I just didn’t know when, or how we were going to survive when I did.
“I’m just glad you are home safe. I’m not going to rehash the shit over and over with you. I don’t want you to get PTSD. You’re home. And, man, I’m just glad you are home and you are unharmed. And I’m sure my boy Giovanni is going to be on them fools.”
I hoped not. I didn’t want Bryce to get hurt. So I prayed Giovanni really would do what he promised and drop this shit.
The waitress brought our food to us.
While Brandon dug into his, I smiled and watched him eat. He stuffed pieces of waffle in his mouth and poured damn near half the bottle of hot sauce on his chicken. When he saw me watching him, he busted up laughing.
I started laughing, too, which made him laugh harder. Then he started coughing like he was choking on his food. I panicked, stood from my seat, and rushed over to him. I patted him on his back until his coughing subsided.
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