My Beautiful

by J. M. La Rocca

  I couldn’t believe he was showing me all of it. It was exactly what I needed. Everything was right there at my fingertips. “Who else has access here?”

  “Nobody.” He gave me a stern look. “The number to the safe if four, one, six, two. I expect you to remember it. Don’t call me if you forget.”

  He walked past me, out of the room and waited for me to follow. I knew this trust thing was a big deal for him. These past two weeks, he seemed happier too. I was guessing it was because I’d acted like I really wanted to be a part of the business. He constantly talked about us being family, so I knew that played a big part of it too.

  Stepping out of the room Frank pushed the panel closed until it clicked into place and then headed back to his desk. I took a seat in my chair as Frank picked up his desk phone.

  “Yeah, you can send them in now.”

  The door to the office opened a few moments later, and I turned to see Paul walk in with three women. He was dressed up as well in khakis and a button-up shirt, but he was still sporting that fucking leather jacket. There were days I wanted to rip that fucking thing off him and cut it up with my knife. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because the asshole annoyed the fuck out of me.

  The women were dressed in tight short dresses and one in particular was eye fucking me. I looked over at Frank who had a smirk on his face.

  “Since we are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate, I thought I’d take the liberty in providing your companionship.”

  I looked over at the women and then back at Paul. What that fuck was he talking about? “Celebrating what?”

  “You, Nick,” he laughed. “We are celebrating you as a member of our family. For finally realizing this is where you belong.”

  Fuck me.

  I looked over at Paul and the companions, and knew full well that they were paid by the hour. What the fuck was I supposed to do! I couldn’t exactly decline his offer. I still needed to appease him even though I now held the key, literally, to my freedom.

  “This is Chelsea,” Frank said as he got up from his desk. He walked over to the black-haired beauty standing to the left of Paul. She was gorgeous, but not the one I wanted to be taking to dinner. I watched as he grabbed her hand and walked her over to me. He looked down at me and tilted his head to the side. “Don’t worry so much, Nick. Scarlett won’t know anything about it; we’ll keep this between us boys. You’re allowed to have a little fun on the side,” he smirked and winked at me.

  What the fuck was that? I looked over at Paul who was smirking at me too.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Frank. Scarlett and I are not together anymore. We haven’t been for a long time.”

  I kept my face blank and showed no emotion.

  He left Chelsea at my side and walked over to the redhead standing at the side of Paul. He lifted his hand into her hair and yanked back. She let out a squeal that was extinguished when he kissed her.

  I winced as I watch his display of power. The redhead looked to be in her early twenties, or at least, I hoped she was.

  Stepping back from the redhead, he looked over at me. “Is that right? Well then, you’ll really enjoy Chelsea’s company then.”

  With her name being said, she sat on my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. My body tensed and I turned to look at her. She was smirking at me, as if she knew I would let her do anything in front of Frank. I definitely wouldn’t let it get too far, but I was willing to play this game because I had to. I wasn’t about to turn her away, especially with him bringing up Scarlett.

  Forcing my body to relax, I gave Chelsea a smirk and rested my hand on her hip. “Yes, I think I will enjoy Chelsea’s company,” I nodded to Frank.

  He let out a laugh and clapped his hands together. “That’s my boy, Nick. Now, let’s get the fuck out of here and get something to eat.”

  Paul turned with the woman on his arm and walked out the door as I nudged Chelsea out of my lap so I could get up. Frank grabbed the redhead around the waist and started escorting her toward the door when Chelsea finally spoke to me. “Don’t worry, stud. I don’t bite … that hard.” She winked at me and walked toward the door, swaying her hips as she went.

  Fuck, this is going to be a long night.

  We arrived at Moscoto’s after seven. I’d never been there before, but I knew the food was supposed to be excellent and there was a waiting list to get in. I wasn’t sure how Frank was able to get in on such short notice, but I imagined it had to do with his connections.

  Walking to the door, Chelsea grabbed my hand and wound her fingers with mine. My first instinct was to pull my hand away, but I didn’t want to snatch my hand away and cause her to make a scene. I would play his little game, but there was no way in hell I was taking the five-dollar hooker back to my place. I couldn’t give two fucks if he found out about it either. Going to dinner with her was one thing, but fucking her was another.

  Frank addressed the hostess who checked her list to make sure we were on it. She smiled up at all of us, and then led us through the restaurant to the back where a private room was set up. From what I saw, those rooms were designed so you could still have formal seating and be in the restaurant, but it was blocked off on three sides, leaving one side open for the servers to walk in and out. The only thing I didn’t like about it, and something the owner should have thought about when designing this restaurant, was to put these rooms away from the restroom. It was hard to have privacy when you have bathroom traffic going by constantly.

  We took our seats and gave the waitress our drink orders. I ordered a bourbon, deciding it would be best to get some burning alcohol in me to help get through this evening.

  Pulling my phone from my pocket, I checked it for messages. I knew I wouldn’t have anything since I told Scarlett that I would be busy, but I looked anyway. It was a good distraction, since Chelsea had decided to start rubbing on my thigh. It had been awhile since my cock had gotten any attention, and although I didn’t want to be turned on by Chelsea, my cock had a mind of its own.

  I looked over at her, keeping my arms on the table, and gave her a sneer. That just made the lustful smirk she had on her face grow bigger. This bitch knew what she was doing. She knew I didn’t want her to touch me, but she knew I wouldn’t do anything about it with Frank right there. Turning back toward Frank and Paul’s conversation, I decided to just ignore her attempts to get to me. My cock could get hard all he wanted too, that didn’t mean I would do anything about it.

  The waitress came back with our drinks, and before she could walk from the table, I downed my bourbon, and asked her to bring me another. I welcomed the burn as it went down my throat.

  “Damn, Nick, I guess you are ready to celebrate,” Frank laughed as he took a sip of his Scotch. Placing his glass on the table, he looked at me seriously. “Now that we have all the technicalities out of the way, I wanted to talk to you about leading some of these jobs. These past few weeks, Paul has been taking you out and showing you how it’s done. I know you are apprehensive about the way we do things, but sooner or later, you are going to have to jump off the wagon and get down to business. I also wanted to talk to you about your career.” My eyebrows shot up in surprise at the mention of the band. “If things go well for you, Nick, I won’t have any problem with you continuing with your band, but you will have to remember that family comes first.”

  “My band is my family, Frank, but I’m grateful for your thoughts on the matter. I’ve actually been thinking about bringing it up to you lately. Music has been my life for years and leaving it behind has been hard. I miss it.” I tried not to sound too desperate. I definitely never expected him to bring this up.

  “It’s more reason for you to get the jobs done, right, Nick? All the more reason.”

  Paul broke in and started asking Frank about a job that was done last week dealing with a strip club.

  I tuned them out and ignored the hands that were now roaming my chest. I was guessing that the women were being
paid to please and not talk, because I hadn’t heard any of them say a word, except for Chelsea at the house.

  Picking up my glass of water, I brought it to my lips and looked up out into the walkway to see Scarlett standing there staring in at me.

  I thought I must have been dreaming because why else would she be here. Then I saw the shocked and hurt look on her face as I felt the hands on my chest start to roam lower. I knew then, that this wasn’t a dream and Scarlett was really there, standing in the middle of the walkway staring at another woman with her hands all over me.

  I placed my drink down just as she turned her head and quickly walked past. I let out a sigh and closed my eyes, telling myself I had to stay put. I couldn’t make a scene. I would have to explain all of this later and I hope like hell she believed me. This didn’t look good though and I could only imagine what was going through her head.

  I looked up to see Paul gone and Frank whispering things in the redhead’s ear making her giggle. I wanted to get up and find him, but knew better than to start a fight out in public with Paul. It would only make things harder for me. At least Chelsea had stopped rubbing herself up against me and was now sitting back drinking her wine.

  Moments later, Scarlett walked slowly past, staring me down. I could tell she’d been crying. I felt like a fucking ass as I just sat there and looked at her. I didn’t have to see Frank to know he was looking at her too, but the only person she was staring down was me.

  Paul walked in from behind her with a smug look on his face. I knew that motherfucker went after her. He was definitely going to get knocked the fuck out. Just as soon as we were alone again, I was going to beat him down until he wasn’t able to get up.

  Turning her head, she walked past without another look. I felt like someone had punched me in the gut and my chest hurt. I wanted to go do damage control, but I knew that wasn’t possible right at that moment. I’d definitely be stopping by her house later.

  “Well, Nick, it seems as though your girl is having a hard time getting over you. Did you see that stare down, Frank? I ran into her on the way to the bathroom and told her I’d be more than happy to help ease her heartache,” Paul laughed.

  My fists were still balled on the table and I’d give anything to just be able to punch him in the fucking face. I was grinding my teeth so badly I wouldn’t be surprised if they all heard it. Paul looked over at me and gave me a wink.

  I knew he was trying to get me to start something. I had to take a deep breath to calm my nerves before I started a scene.

  With a change of subject, the rest of the evening was filled with talk of business. Why he insisted on talking about some of the things he did in front of those woman was beyond me, but I guessed they would know better than to open their mouths and repeat anything. In this business, nobody would notice a whore going missing, and I’m sure he made that clear to them too.

  I left the restaurant with Chelsea an hour and a half later. Since we all arrived separately, I told him I would be heading home and Chelsea was all too thrilled to be riding along with me.

  “Where do you live?”

  She looked over at me with a big smile on her face and told me her address. I didn’t say another word to her. My mind was filled with what I would say to Scarlett. I knew I had a lot of explaining to do. I just hoped she believed me when I told her that nothing was going on.

  I pulled up to the address she gave me, leaving the car in drive. She smiled as she clicked her seatbelt off, then she looked at me. The smile faded from her face. “Are you not coming up?”

  “No.” I left it at that. There was no need to explain any further, but she looked at me confused, like she didn’t know what to do. “Get the fuck out, Chelsea. I’ve got shit to do and you are wasting my time.”

  “But−”

  “Get out,” I growled.

  She furrowed her eyebrows and scowled at me. “Fine, dick,” she blurted as she opened the door. She got out, and as she went to slam the door, I started pulling away before the door had the chance.

  Yeah, I was being a dick. The story of my life.

  As I made my way back down to Westwood, I pulled Kevin’s name up on my phone to give him a call. I wanted to find out if Scarlett had made it home. I didn’t want to call her because I knew that she probably wouldn’t pick up.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, are you outside Scarlett’s?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Did she make it home?”

  “Yeah, she got home about an hour ago. She seemed pretty out of it. Jules dropped her off and headed off with that Brent guy. It’s been pretty quiet though. I’m pretty sure she went to bed.”

  Fuck. “Alright, do me a favor and stay out there tonight. It’s a long story, but I don’t trust Paul.”

  “It’s all right, man. I’ll stay out here. I’m jacked up on some caffeine anyway. We’ll talk tomorrow. I’ll call you when she leaves for work, then I’ll head home.”

  I turned around and headed toward my house since I didn’t want to bug her if she was already in bed. It killed me knowing that she was probably balled up in her bed crying, but I knew she needed her space. I didn’t want to push her. I’d contact her after she’d had a night to rest. “Thanks, I owe you one.”

  I raised my hand to my head and moaned. My head was killing me. My eyes fluttered open, but my vision was blurry. Blinking a couple of times and rubbing my eyes to clear my vision, the first thing I noticed was that I wasn’t in my room.

  Panic filled me at not remembering what happened the previous night. I tried to sit up in bed, but my body felt heavy. I moaned some more and rolled to my side, which wasn’t a good idea; intense nausea rocked my stomach. Trying to control the urge to vomit all over myself, I rolled off the bed and noticed a toilet in the corner of the room. I crawled as quickly as I could and made it just before my stomach emptied into the bowl. I heaved until there was nothing left and sat back against the cold wall, clutching my pounding head as tears rolled down my face.

  I had no idea where I was or what had happened.

  Lifting my head slowly, I took in my surroundings. A door was on the wall across from the one I was sitting against and the bed that I was sleeping on to the left. The only other thing in there was the toilet I just threw up in.

  I was in a cell and I needed to get the hell out.

  Taking my time, I stood up, using the wall for support. My body felt so weak. I tried like hell to remember what I did last night. I looked down at my clothes, noticing that I was wearing my sleep shorts and a tank top. Obviously, I had been home either in bed or about to go to bed.

  Staring at the ground, I played the events over in my head. The last thing I remembered was going to work. Everything else was just a blur.

  Taking small, heavy steps, I made my way over to the door. I didn’t have far to walk since the room wasn’t that big. It was probably an eight-by-eight room. The wall with the door was solid concrete. The rest of the walls were brick, and from the looks of it, it was very old.

  Reaching the door, I lifted my hand, grabbed the knob and slowly turned it. It turned, but when I tried to pull it open, it wouldn’t budge. Pulling harder and harder, I tried to force the door open, but nothing happened.

  Tears streamed down my face and I wasn’t able to compose myself any longer. I banged on the door with my fists. “Help me! Open the door! Is anybody there? Please … open up!”

  I leaned my forehead against the wooden door and willed my head to stop pounding. The yelling only made it worse and nobody seemed to hear me. My heart was pounding out of my chest and my body was starting to shake. I was terrified and alone, not knowing what the hell was going on.

  Pushing away from the door I trudged back to the welcoming bed; the softness of the pillow a reprieve for my pounding head. I tried to hold back the sobs that escaped my lips, knowing it was only going to make my head hurt worse, but they came anyway.

  With tired eyes and a weak body, I wasn’t able to hold onto
consciousness, so I drifted into blackness once again.

  Subconsciously hearing a clicking noise, my eyes flew open. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach as I saw a man walking toward the bed. With all the strength I had regained in my body, I quickly rolled off the bed and curled up into a ball in the corner of the room, hiding my tear streaked face against my knees.

  “Now, now, child, there is no need to be afraid,” a low husky voice spoke.

  Slowly, I lifted my head and made eye contact with an older man who looked to be in his late fifties. His hair was silvered and he was wearing dark brown pants and a yellow button-up long-sleeve shirt.

  He set a tray of food on the floor by the bed then walked over to me, making sure to keep a good bit of distance between us. Then, he crouched down and looked me over.

  “Who are you?” I asked with a cracked voice, wiping the tears from my eyes.

  I could tell just by lifting my hands to wipe my face that my strength was coming back to me, but my head was still pounding.

  “My name is Vic TraPani,” he smiled.

  “Why am I here?” I whined as more tears fell from my eyes.

  He tilted his head at me and furrowed his brow. “All will be answered in due time, Scarlett. There is no need to cry. No harm will come to you.”

  That made me cry harder. “Then let me go. Why am I here? I don’t even know who you are. How did I get here?” I was crying so hysterically, I thought my heart would pound out of my chest. I just wanted some answers. “People will know I’m missing.”

  He nodded his head then slowly stood up. “I brought you some food. The drugs that were in your system should have worn off by now. You need to eat to get your strength back. Don’t sit here and let the food go to waste, nothing has been done to it. If you don’t eat and waste it, you will not get anything more to eat until tomorrow. There is also something there for the headache I know you are bound to have. Eat, take the medicine, and rest. Your questions will be answered shortly.” With that being said, he left. I heard a click from the outside, then his footstep as he walked away from the room.