by Sienna Grant
My phone rings from the side of me, Laura’s name flashing on the screen.
“Ugh what does she want now?” My hands go to my hair as a sigh blows from my mouth. Instead of answering, I dismiss the call. It’s no use letting her believe I want more, it can’t happen - end of, even if I want it to.
Almost as soon as it stops ringing it starts up again. I leave it go on for a couple of rings before picking it up.
“Laura, everything was said in the car this morning.”
“Ste... fano. Help.” Her voice is hoarse and desperate, putting me on edge.
“Laura? What the fuck?” I shout.
“Can you come... an... and pick me up.” She stutters, her breaths heavy and hitching.
Putting the laptop aside, standing up, I slip my trainers on. I hurriedly pick up my keys and run down towards the door with my phone to my ear still.
“Mr Di Marco, do you need to go somewhere?” Shit I forgot about the extra security for a minute.
“I can take myself, thank you. Personal business, I won’t be long.” Not stopping for any longer than I need to, I run out the door, pressing the fob on my R8.
“Laura, are you still there?”
“I’m here.” She’s upset and her voice sounds weak - if someone’s hurt her, I’ll fucking kill them.
“Where are you, sweetheart? You need to tell me.”
“I’m on the car park on the corner of Queen Street, the big one.” Her breath hitches as she begins to cry.
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m on my way. Do I need to grab Angelo…?”
“No. Please... don’t.”
I pull from the drive and head out to the car park; I need to find her; I need to make sure she’s okay. If this is that fucking tool that she’s been hanging about with - he’s fucking dead.
I drive around the large car park, but I can’t see her straight away. The rain is pouring down, beating against my windscreen. I look through the back and forth sway of the window wipers, hoping I can see her, but everything is blurred.
I drive around again and see movement in the far corner. I leave the engine running and get out. Water is puddling in places from the way the rain has come down in the last ten minutes, I walk towards the moving shadow, slowly.
“Laura?” A head pops up at the mention of her name. She tries to move but can’t. “Stay where you are. I’ve got you.”
“Stefano?” She calls out nervously.
“It’s me.” I soothe as I put one arm around her back and the other under her knees. Picking her up carefully and take her back to my car. She’s shivering, her whole body is shaking. She’s soaked through, her hair is sticking to her head and face. I hold her as close to my chest as I can and try to transfer my heat through to her, but it doesn’t work.
Placing her feet on the ground, I open the door and help her in. Once she’s inside, she curls her body up on the chair, resting her cheek against the headrest and closing her eyes. Running around to the other side, I get back in, pulling off almost as soon as my door is shut. I put the blow heater on to stop her from dithering, but it’s not helping. I call Roberto’s number on my hands free and wait for him to pick up.
He answers on the second ring.
“Stefano, where are you?”
“I’ll be back in five minutes, just be outside the house with towels, something's happened.” I cut off the phone and put my foot down, making the engine roar. Pretty much how I’m feeling myself right now.
Once I get back to my house, I lift her out of the car. Roberto is at the front, like I asked him to be and opens the front door for us, after wrapping a large towel around Laura’s back.
“What’s going on?”
“No questions Roberto, I don’t know myself yet... but I will.” I instruct him.
My once determined and confident steps hitch as I pass, but with a shake of my head, I decide to leave it for now. I head on upstairs to my bedroom, placing her gently on the bed and her head softly on the pillow.
Her face has grazes and there’s small cuts around her eyes, with bruising that’s already started to show through. I grab the throw and gently place it over her. The skirt she’s wearing is ripped. The neckline of her top is stretched so much, that it drops down way past her breasts. I pull up the blanket so it’s covering her completely. I’m struggling to hold my anger in right now. I want to find whoever did this and beat ten colours of shit out of them. Then put my gun against their head, pull the motherfucking trigger and blow their brains out, but then that is way too quick for what they’ve done.
Some fucker is going to suffer for this.
Removing her shoes, I pull open the duvet and cover her wet body. Stroking my hand over her wet matted hair, soothing her. Lifting my palm, I see her blood on my hand. Laura’s swollen eyelids begin to flicker, as she tries to open them just a fraction, just enough to hopefully see me.
“Stef?”
“Hey, you’re safe now. I’m here.”
“My head hurts and so does my stomach. I can’t breathe.” She breathes in pants and gasps, as she draws her knees up, wrapping her arms around them.
“Can I see?” I ask softly. She manages a small nod. As I push up her top, the top half of her body is black and blue with bruises. Her cries of pain as I touch her cut through me, torturing me.
“Maybe, we should take you to the hospital?”
“No,” cries Laura. “They’ll get the... police.” I push it up further and see her ribs are black.
“Laura. I need to get someone to take a look at you. I know a doctor. It’ll be fine.” I place my hand on her cheek, softly stroking to calm her. “Do you know who did this?”
She nods, but tears start to roll down her face, using the pad of my fingers, I gently wipe them away.
“Who was it angel? Please tell me so I can do something about it.”
Laura begins to cry, I wrap her up in my arms, holding her close to me, and let her get it out of her system. I feel my eyebrows pull together at the conflicting thoughts that are running rampant through my mind. I can’t stand to see her upset and I hate even more that someone has hurt her.
I’m all kinds of wrong for her, but she’s all kinds of right for me. Can we work? Or is it because she’s hurt and it’s confusing my feelings…? Maybe seeing her messed up like this has made me realise that whether we’re together or not, she’s still in the crossfire.
“Laura?” She doesn’t answer me. As I look down at her still form, I realise that she’s cried herself to sleep. I shift from under her, carefully laying her head on the pillow again and pulling my forearm out from under her head. Taking another look at her lying there defenceless, innocent, and bashed up, fuels my fire. I leave her while she’s sleeping and head downstairs.
I grab a bottle of water and some paracetamol from the kitchen and head for Roberto.
“How is she?” He asks quietly.
I sigh. “She’s not good. I think she may have a broken rib; she’s struggling to catch her breath. I need you to call the doctor, but make sure he knows it’s completely confidential. No paperwork and the bill is paid in cash. Angelo isn’t to know about this.” I stress.
“Of course.” He agrees. “Does she know who did it?”
“Yeah, I haven’t got it out of her yet though, but rest assured when I do find out - the fuckers dead.”
Chapter Twelve
Laura
I don’t think there’s a place on my body that doesn’t ache, hurt, or throb. I think my insides are twisted by how much they’re hurting. My face feels like it’s going to explode - the tears are making my eyes sting even more. I haven’t even got the energy to lift my hand and wipe them away, so I just let them fall. My hands feel heavy to pick up, they’re like lead weights, so instead I leave them where they are.
I try and lift my head from the pillow, but I change my mind when I smell Stefano’s scent on it. It gives me comfort, like he’s right next to me.
I look around the room, we
ll, I try, considering my one eye is only half open and the pain is crucifying me. I’d love to know what made him do it. Why attack me? We were getting on really well - I know I mentioned Stefano once or twice. That I rejected his advances when he tried to kiss me, but I don’t see him that way. I can’t pretend to like someone and lead them on, it’s not me. The last thing I remember is my head bouncing off the ground. He’d kicked me, punched me and when I woke, he was gone. I was surprised when I found I still had my phone on me. All I can remember hearing was, ‘you deserve it.’
The door opens and Stefano walks in, stopping me from sinking inside my head any further.
“You’re awake.” He says softly as he nears me. He’s holding a glass of water in his hand. He places it on the side and sits on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore.” I answer with a croak in my voice. “Thanks.”
He smiles. I think this is the most tender I’ve ever seen him. I like it. The only other time I saw him a little vulnerable was when Chrissy died. I slide my hand out of the blanket and reach towards his. He cups mine in both of his, holding it tightly.
“Fuck, Laura. I didn’t know what to think when I heard you on the phone…” He blows out a heavy sigh, “I need to know who did this?”
“If I tell you, what can you do?” I sniff.
“I’ll make the bastard pay.”
His palm is warm against my skin, as he cups my cheek. His thumb smoothing tenderly across my swollen cheekbone. It hurts, but I bite back the pain and lap up the attention.
“Look at what they’ve done to you. You need to give me a name, sweetheart.”
The expression on his face makes me feel even weaker and I know I can’t hide it from him. I know he’ll find out in the end, so I may as well tell him from the start. I don’t want him angry with me, I need him.
“It was... It was Rhys…”
“That fucker.” He growls, pushing up abruptly from the bed, striding to the bay window and looking out, his hands fisting into his hair “I knew he’d have something to do with this. There was just something about him, I knew I didn’t trust him.”
“What are you going to do?” I force out weakly.
He walks back over and sits down again. Leaning towards me, his lips press against my forehead, gently placing a kiss, giving me comfort.
“Don’t you worry. He won’t come near you again. That I can promise.” He hides his eyes from me, but I know he means it; the threat is there in his voice.
“Stefano? Will you lay next to me?”
“I don’t think that would go down well…”
“Please, just for a little while?” I beg, cutting him off. I need to be close to him, even if it’s only for five minutes.
He has some kind of internal debate on the what right thing to do is, but in the end, he walks around to the other side of the bed and lies down, shuffling over to me and lifts his arm. I lift my head awkwardly and place it on his chest.
“You’ve got blood in your hair.”
“Is it bad?”
“A little. I’ve got Roberto ringing for a doctor. He should be here soon.”
“I don’t want a doctor; they’ll tell the police and I don’t want them to know. He told me no police. He said if I did, he’d come back and next time it would be much worse.” I cry out, as I tell in one breath.
“Hey, you listen to me…” he lifts my chin with his finger, “He’s never going to get near you, let alone lay a finger on you again. As for the doctor, he’s private. It’s totally confidential. I want you looked at; I think he may have broken one of your ribs.” He sighs with a frown, “You need to tell your family.”
“Oh my god, I can’t. My mum will worry and my brothers will go mental.”
“I don’t blame them and if they didn’t, I want to know why. Look, just tell them you were mugged and the nearest house to come to, was mine.”
I nod, agreeing with the made-up story, now I just have to put it into practise.
“Have you got my phone?”
He reaches across me, the woodsy smell of his body spray or aftershave, I’m not sure which, wafts up my nose, comforting me. He looks down at me, his sorrowful eyes cutting through me like a knife.
“I’ll text my mum and tell her I’m not coming back. That I’m staying with Jennah, she won’t worry about me then.
Taking the phone from the table, he holds his weight up on his elbow as I send the message. Once it’s done, I power it off and slide the phone underneath the pillow. Settling my head back against him.
Stefano begins to fidget and I know he’s getting uncomfortable.
“Hey, sit up if you can, you’ve got some tablets to take.” He takes them from his pocket and picks up the water, until I’m half sitting up. I take them both together and swill them down. He takes the glass from me, placing it on the drawers on his side. Lying back down on my side and snuggling my cheek back into the pillow, I curl myself up.
“I’ll speak to Angelo, if it’s easier?”
“Would you?”
“Yeah just get some rest.” He seems awkward, like he wants to touch me, but can’t, or won’t. Stefano’s hands are the only ones I want on me, soothing and making me better.
Chapter Thirteen
Stefano
I watch her doze off to sleep, her face lined with pain. The tracks of her tears staining her beautiful face, as they dry to her cheeks. I’ve managed to keep my anger to a minimum, but now she’s asleep it’s amped back up again. I’m raging that someone could even do this to her, but for the life of me I can’t think why he would want to.
I was dying to hold her, but I can’t let myself be weakened. If I weaken now, I’ll be done for. I make sure she’s covered up and sit on the side of the bed. Cradling my head in my hands, I rest my elbows on my knees. Scrubbing my palms over my face to rid the weariness I’m feeling, wracking my brain for a motive. Maybe it was random, but from what I saw from him, he didn’t seem the violent kind. Well, he’s messed with the wrong one. I’ll teach him a lesson he’s never going to forget. Maybe he can only hit women…?
Pulling in a deep breath and slowly blowing it out with my hands at the back of my head, I know what I have to do.
I stand from the bed, checking on her one last time before heading downstairs. When I reach the last step, I shout for Roberto.
“Boss?”
“I want to find everything you can on Rhys Duffy. I mean everything. Family, known names, whatever you can and I want to know about it. Don’t leave any stone unturned.”
“Yes boss.” There’s an knock at the door as I’m talking to Roberto. As the door opens, I notice the doctor standing on the other side. Nodding at Logan, my security detail, he shows him in. I walk towards the him and hold out my hand as he does the same.
“Thank you for getting here quickly. I’ll show you upstairs. A friend of mine has been attacked, she’s asleep at the moment but I’ll wake her.” I tell him as we reach the bedroom.
Opening the door, we walk through and I gently wake Laura up. Her eyes flutter open, softly
“The Doctors here.” A groan drawing out as she moves.
“Do you know if there’s been any sexual assault?” He asks.
I shake my head, “I don’t think so.”
“Okay, leave her with me.”
“Laura I’ll be just outside the door.” The anxious look in her eyes bothers me. “It’s okay the doctors going to help you. I’ll be right outside, I promise.” Her nod relaxes me a little, but not by much.
I pull the door shut behind me as I hear the doctor talking to her. He tells her his name and asks where it hurts. Her cries of pain make me shudder, seeing the bruising was bad enough.
As soon as I know where to find that little fucker, he’s going to wish he’d never met her.
I make the dreaded call I promised Laura I’d make and wait for Angelo to answer his phone.
“Stefano, everything alright?”
“We
need to talk, it’s about Laura and I’d prefer not to do it over the phone.”
“What’s wrong? Just tell me.” His anxious voice on the other end weakens my composure.
“If you insist. She's been attacked, I need you to get your arse around here.”
“You fucking what?” Angelo bellows.
“See you soon.”
I put the phone down and go back to waiting for the doctor to finish up.
Twenty minutes later the door opens. “Doc?”
“Okay, from what I can tell, she has two broken ribs on one side and maybe a fracture on the other. Without an X-Ray I can only assume. I’d like to get her into hospital to check though.
“No. She won’t go.”
He sighs. “Most of it looks like bad bruising. Her face will go down. The bruising on her stomach and back is mainly from the ribs, but I think some of it is tissue damage. So, with plenty of rest it will heal itself. Plenty of fluids and paracetamol. Ibuprofen will be effective; she can take those together. There was no sexual assault, she’s a very lucky girl.”
“Thanks Doc. See Roberto and he’ll pay you.”
He holds his hand out to me, I take it, shaking it with a tight-lipped smile.
“Oh, the cut on her head is fine. It’s not too deep, but I’ve cleaned it properly. If she has any problems, please call me and I’ll be back right away.”
“Thanks Doc.”
I open the door as he walks away and peer into the room. She looks small and innocent, lying in the middle of the huge bed in the foetal position, her knees drawn up to her chest again. Closing the door quietly, I head into the bathroom and I turn on the taps, running her a hot bath. I don’t have bubble bath and that girly shit, so I pour some shower gel into the water just to make it frothy.
“Laura. I’m running a bath for you.”
Her eyelids flutter open slowly, “I always knew you could be sweet…” She flashes a small, but cheeky smile at me.