by Autumn Sand
“Do you think he’ll call?” I ask as I lay my head on his shoulder.
“I hope so.” He links his fingers through mine and squeezes reassuringly.
“He will. Greed will take over,” Tony says. The elevator chimes and Anaya steps off with a cup of coffee in each hand. Tony stands to help his wife.
“Did you find him?” she asks with a furrowed brow.
“Yeah, just waiting for him to call,” Tony responds as he kisses her.
She hands Dante a cup of coffee. I offer my cup to Tony, which he gladly accepts.
“God, I hate hospitals,” Tony says after long moments of us sitting in silence. I know he has a lot of reasons to. Anaya told me about how his mother and sister died. She pats her husband’s knee reassuringly.
Dante’s cell phone rings and we’re all frozen as he pulls it out and answers. “Yeah?” There’s a long pause as we wait to hear what Dante says next. “Yes, seventy-five. We’ll give you half up front and the other half after.” Pause. He purse his lips before responding. “Fine, one hundred large.” Pause. “Yes, half and half.”
Dante gives my ex-husband the hospital information before he hangs up the phone. Looking at Tony, he says, “Shithead upped his price to one hundred.”
“Done,” Tony says, without blinking an eye.
“He’ll come to the hospital tomorrow to speak to the doctors to find out what he needs to do.”
I exhale deeply and say a quick prayer of thanks. “I’ll go and tell the doctor.” Giving Dante a kiss and then Tony a hug, I run down the hospital corridor to speak to the doctor. I come back to the waiting group an hour later.
“Okay. They’ll have to run some more tests on him to make sure he is healthy enough to go through with the procedure. Once we get the all-clear, they’ll have to wipe out Lelia’s immune system before the operation. After the operation, she should start feeling the effects within a few weeks.”
Everyone is relieved as we give each other hugs. Dante goes into Lelia’s room, but she’s still resting. Brenda tells us to go home and she’ll call us when she’s awake. Grudgingly, I finally give in and go home with Dante. Once inside his loft, I see things differently. I have hope once again. Anaya was right; I need to learn to lean on Dante in times of need and vice versa. He came through as promised.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks as he pulls me into his chest from behind, propping his chin on the top of my head.
“I’m thinking about how lucky I am to have you. About how much I love you.” He freezes for a moment before turning me around to face him.
Picking me up in his arms, he swings me around before giving me a kiss. “I love you too. Besides I’m the one who is lucky.”
I open my mouth to object about which one of us is the luckier one but he shakes his head and places me back on the floor.
“Cyma, you’re the one who saved me. Not the other way around. I wasn’t living. I just existed and that was all. Because of you and Lelia, I was able to feel again. So if there is anyone who should be thanking anyone, it is me thanking you.” His eyes are watery and I fall deeper in love with him.
Taking his hand in mine, I walk him to our bed. I undress him and then remove my own clothes. We both slide under the sheets. The coolness of the sheets against the warmth of our bodies sends goosebumps up my spine. I hold Dante in my arms and, without words, I let him know that I will always be his anchor, his true north. I will never let him go.
Chapter 31
Ode To My Family ~ The Cranberries
Tick
The following day at the hospital, Ryan shows up for his tests. Believe it or not, dickhead shows up on time. Cyma is nervous about seeing her ex-husband after so many years, but she is thankful he is going to do this for their daughter, even though it’s for money. He spends the better part of the day at the hospital as the doctors run a series of different tests. Doctor McKinnon places a rush on the results because we don’t have much time to spare for Lelia. Ryan’s tests results come back all clear hours later; guess they don’t test for being an asshole here. Sitting in Doctor Joseph’s office, he goes over the procedure with the three of us.
“Mr. Sawyer, your part of the surgery is actually pretty quick. It’s about two hours. Once we have removed the bone marrow from you, that’s when we will operate on Lelia. Her procedure, of course, is the hardest and longest.”
“How long will I be laid up?” Of course, he’s more worried about himself than his daughter. Doctor Joseph seems a little put off by his question, but he answers anyway.
“You’ll be in the hospital for two days. After which, you can go home to recuperate for the rest of the week, with light activity afterward for the next few weeks, of course.”
“Oh, okay, that’s not so bad.”
“What about Lelia?” Cyma asks.
“If she takes to the bone marrow transplant, I see no reason for us not to see a difference in her pretty early on. The first forty-eight hours will be the toughest, but after that, she’ll be in the hospital for about another month or two, depending on how fast she takes to it.”
Cyma and I let out a breath, and I squeeze her hand. We’re going to be a family soon.
“So we have scheduled the operation for next week, Monday at 6 a.m. You’ll have to check into the hospital Sunday morning. We’ll have to run some more tests.”
“Okay, I can do that.” Ryan picks at dirt underneath his fingernails.
“Well, are there any more questions?”
“No.” He stands quickly and heads toward the door. “Guess I’ll see you this coming Sunday.”
“Good to meet you, Mr. Sawyer.”
I shake the doctor’s hand and follow Cyma as the dickhead steps out the door.
“Thank for doing this, Ryan,” Cyma says in a soft voice as she holds my hand.
His eyes zero in on her hand in mine, and he sneers at her. I make a move toward him, but she squeezes my hand. “Never thought you went for the gangster type.”
“Never thought I would marry a loser, but hey, we can’t win them all.” He adjusts his clothing. “Would you like to see Lelia?”
He looks down the hall, trying to avoid eye contact with her. “Umm, no. Got shit to do. This took longer than I expected.” He turns toward the elevators but stops to face us. “You’ll have half my money when I get here on Sunday?”
“Yes. Cash, as we agreed.” He nods quickly and shifts from one foot to another.
He scratches his neck. “You look good.” Then he turns back toward elevators again.
We make our way to Lelia’s room. “He’s a real winner. What the hell did you see in him?”
“I was young with low self-esteem. Self-esteem that got lower when I was with him because he constantly put me down and made me feel like I wasn’t worth anyone’s time. He actually made me think I was lucky to have him.”
Cupping her heart-shaped face in my hand, I assure her, “He wasn’t worth your time. He wasn’t even worth breathing the same air as you. I hope you know that.”
“I do now. Thanks to you. You helped me to feel pretty. You don’t even seem to notice all my stretch marks.”
My fingers trail down her stomach. “Those stretch marks are from giving birth to the incredible creature in that room. I cherish those marks just the way I cherish her. Besides, I’m hoping to add to those stretch marks one day.”
“Are you talking about adding a plus one to our family?” She gives me the smile that I love and I want to find an empty room and fuck her senseless.
“I’m thinking about adding a plus two or three to our family. So, baby, get ready.”
***
Tony, Anaya, Cyma, and I are back at the hospital on Sunday, waiting for Ryan to show up. He’s already two hours late. I’ve tried his cell phone several times, but it goes straight to voicemail. The doctor is starting to get impatient as well.
“I should’ve known the fucker was going to pull this shit.” I want to punch something, preferab
ly him. Yeah, he would make a very good punching bag if he were here.
“He’s a money-hungry asshole. He’ll show up,” Cyma says in a comforting voice. The four of us are on edge as we watch time tick by.
Lelia is awake and is being tested again. This poor kid has been poked and prodded, and she never complains. I get a headache and I want sympathy from the world. I start to rack my brains, trying to figure out a plan B.
“They can test me. You never know, I might be a match,” I say.
“They can test me also.” Tony stands next to me.
With tears in her eyes, she raises a trembling hand to her mouth. “Thank you both so much. But I know Ryan will be here. I just know it.” She wrings her hands together and starts pacing the floor. I hate seeing her like this. I want to wrap her and Lelia into my protective arms and never let harm come their way. I don’t ever want to see tears of sadness in her eyes again. God, if I can just make the pain go away for her. Brenda comes out to tell us Lelia is done with her tests. Cyma goes into her room to sit with her, leaving the three of us in the waiting room.
“Should we go out to search for him?” Tony asks as he strokes Anaya’s back.
“Not sure if I should leave Cyma just yet. She’s trying to put on a brave front, but I know her. She’s ready to crack.”
“I’ll stay while the two of you search for him,” Anaya adds.
“Sis, I can’t tell you how much I owe you for all your support.” I pull her into a hug.
“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were putting the moves on my wife.”
Still hugging Anaya, I tell him, “You’re just jealous because I’m better looking.” Anaya punches me playfully in the stomach and goes back over to Tony, giving him a kiss.
“I got the girl after all,” Tony jokes. It feels good to have this lighthearted moment with the two people I consider to be my family. These past few weeks have been so stressful, I feel like we don’t have time to laugh anymore.
“When Cyma comes back out, I’ll tell her that we’ll go and search for dickhead.” My cell phone rings. Glancing down, I see it’s an unknown number. I answer the phone, hoping it’s from dickhead. “Yeah?”
“Tick, my old friend, good of you to answer my call.” The sound of Wheeler’s voice comes through the line.
“What the fuck do you want, Wheeler?” At the sound of Wheeler’s name, Tony is instantly by my side.
“Now, now, is that anyway to talk to your old business acquaintance?”
Trying to clamp down on my temper, I grip the phone tighter. “Get to the point, Wheeler. Got shit to do.”
“Got something of yours. Thought perhaps you would like to stop by and start negotiations for it.”
“Something of mine? What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Ryan Sawyer.”
My heart plummets to the pit of my stomach. I can’t believe we got outplayed by Wheeler. “Where are you?”
“I’ll text you the details.” He hangs up the phone.
Staring at my phone in disbelief, I’m unable to form words as my mind races. “What did Wheeler want?” Tony asks.
“He has Ryan.”
Tony’s face is crestfallen. “Fuck!”
“He’s going to text me the address. He wants to negotiate.”
“I bet he does. I’ll call Manny and Magnum.” Tony goes off to a corner to start making phone calls.
Anaya, who is now standing next to me, says, “You’ll get him back.”
“Yeah, but at what cost? Wheeler is a sick son of a bitch. I have to bring Ryan back no matter what because Lelia’s life depends on it.” Anger overtakes me and I want to punch the wall. Clenching my fists together, I breathe through my rage. “Fuck, I can’t believe we got outplayed. We were so focused on finding Ryan, we weren’t looking as hard for Wheeler as we should have been. I fucking dropped the ball.”
“It’s not your fault.” Anaya tries to soothe me, but it’s not working.
“What’s not your fault?” Cyma asks as she approaches us. Fuck me. How the hell am I going to explain this to her?
I turn to Tony for advice as he shakes his head. No choice but to give it to her straight. “Wheeler has Ryan.” A yelp escapes her lips and she covers her mouth. I place both hands on her shoulders. “He wants a meeting so we can negotiate.”
She bites her knuckle and closes her eyes. “Oh, my God.”
Taking her into my arms, I hold her to me tightly. “It’ll be okay. I’ll bring him back safely.”
She sobs into my shoulder as my conscience floods with guilt for letting her and Lelia down. I swear on my life that is an error I’ll never make again.
Chapter 32
How I Could Just Kill A Man ~ Cypress Hill
Tick
Tony and I race to the meeting place in Long Island after receiving Wheeler’s text a few hours after his initial phone call. Magnum, Manny, and a few of our other crew are meeting us there. When I get my hands on Wheeler, he’s going to beg me for his life before I put a bullet in his fucking head. The more my thoughts drift to killing Wheeler, the heavier my lead foot gets on the accelerator. I’m no longer a rational man who’ll try to keep his temper in check. I’m now a man hell-bent on a mission to kill Wheeler and make him pay for what he has done to our little girl. Pulling up to the restaurant, I check my gun, taking the safety off. Tony does the same as he follows me to the rear of the building.
“Manny and Magnum an ETA of five minutes,” Tony whispers as we near the back.
“More than enough time.”
We get to the back and some of Wheeler’s men are standing outside. One of them opens the door for us. Stepping inside the kitchen area, I can tell the restaurant is closed. We’re frisked right off the bat and our weapons are taken. Don’t need a weapon to kill this fucker. I’ll get more pleasure out of killing him with my bare hands. We follow one of his men to the front of the restaurant where we see Ryan tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth. Taking a quick inventory of him, I note he appears to be okay. He probably didn’t bother to put up a fight.
“Glad you could join us for dinner.” I turn to see Wheeler and Jay sitting at a table in the corner, eating steaks.
“Nice of you to invite us,” Tony says through gritted teeth.
Pushing his plate away and throwing his napkin on the table, Wheeler stands and rushes toward us. “You know, I never did like you Tony. You’re a pussy-whipped motherfucker. You’re nothing like your brother, Ignacio, or Old Man DeLuca.”
Tony’s jaw twitches with anger. “Can’t say if I liked you or not since you weren’t really on my radar. I tend not to pay attention to the rodents. That’s what exterminators are for.”
Wheeler takes a step closer to Tony, and I can see this going downhill fast if I don’t step in. I stand in between them. “You wanted to deal, so let’s deal.”
Wheeler stares angrily at Tony before turning his concentration back to me again. “Yeah. Well, we got a package that you need.”
“So what do you want for the package?” I ask.
“We want Ignacio’s business. You give that to us, and we got us a deal.”
“Why would you need Ignacio’s business? What about your deal with El Diablo?”
His nostrils flare as he regains his composure. Guess he didn’t figure we knew about it. Then it dawns on me. He needs Ignacio’s business to get in with El Diablo. Why else would El Diablo want to deal with him and Jay? They aren’t the brightest criminals out there. They’re second-rate at best. The only reason they moved up in Ignacio’s organization was because their fathers were a couple of Old Man DeLuca’s captains. They weren’t even considered top earners for Ignacio.
“Our dealings with El Diablo is none of your fucking business,” Jay says.
“You want my brother’s business, so I would say this merits a conversation.”
“Fuck you, Tony. You want this fucker for that brat’s surgery. That trumps all,” Wheeler says, as he takes out h
is gun and points it toward Ryan, who begins to shake. Poor guy just can’t seem to catch a break today.
I stand in front of Ryan so the gun is now pointed toward me. Tony moves to stand next to me. “All right, Wheeler, ball’s in your court. You want Ignacio’s business in exchange for Ryan, then you got it.”
“What’s the catch?” Wheeler asks.
“No catch. There’s a sick little girl whose life is depending on getting Ryan to the hospital as soon as possible. I don’t have time to waste with the fucking games,” Tony says.
Wheeler seems to ponder it for a moment. “Fine, make the phone call. I want my entire crew back.”
“If they want to go with you. They seem happy with the new arrangement.”
His face turns red as he closes his lips tights and narrows his eyes. “My crew is loyal to me.”
“Your crew is loyal to the highest payer.” Tony’s voice is flat as if he is ready to move on with the conversation.
“Fuck you, pretty boy. Make the goddamn call now.”
Tony takes out his cell phone and dials. “We’re turning over Ignacio’s business to Wheeler and Jay.” Pause. “Yeah, get things rolling now.” Pause. “We’ll have a meeting tonight.” He hangs up the phone and glances at Wheeler. “Done. We can have a sit down while Tick takes Ryan to the hospital.”
Wheeler nods toward Jay. Jay unties Ryan and removes the gag. Ryan stands and ambles over to me with slightly parted lips. I push Ryan toward the back of the restaurant and follow behind him. We’re cutting this close. Manny and Magnum will be busting in here locked and loaded soon, and I need to get Ryan out of harm’s way. But sometimes, I can go through all the details of my plan and triple check it, and things still go all to shit. Well, that is exactly what happened.
I was supposed to get Ryan in the car before our crew bursts into the restaurant guns blazing. I would, in turn, come back into the restaurant and kill Wheeler. Well, things went extremely downhill and took a different turn of events. As I push Ryan toward the back of the restaurant, we hear gunshots coming from outside. We both freeze in our steps as I try to discern what to do next. Knocking Ryan to the floor, I cover him with my body. The lights in the restaurant go off and the only light to be seen is from the streetlights outside the windows. The only sound I can hear is our breathing. I peek over to my right and see Tony is crouched low on the ground. Our eyes meet and we both know that something has gone wrong with the plan. Wheeler and Jay rise and peer around the restaurant with muddled expressions on their faces.