“Oh my God,” Aniyah laughed.
Carter laughed, too. “I’m serious. I’m not a tall, model-like, Malibu Barbie doll! I’m a curvy, five-foot four-and-a-half-inch, black woman— with a bad temper. He didn’t fall in love with me because of my looks. Our draw was much deeper than that. We clung to each other because of our pain, and we truly fell in love with each other over time.”
Aniyah nodded. “Yes, I understand. I don’t have to be his type in the looks department. We just have to connect, huh?”
Carter smiled and nodded. “But it helps that you’re hot.”
She chuckled. “Okay, Ri, you’re right. When I looked in the mirror this morning, I didn’t hate what I saw. I guess I am kind of hot aren’t I?” The both laughed and Aniyah kicked Carter’s chair gently. “I shouldn’t be getting love advice from you. I’m seven years older than you,” she said playfully.
Carter chuckled. “Well, falling in love and getting married matures a person quickly. Everything just happened so fast with Nathan and me. It was like back to back to back.” She animated her point with snaps of her fingers. “One day, I’m alone with a name that’s not my own, and the next day, I’m making out with the man destined to be my husband and the father of my child in the middle of the place where I waitressed.” Carter smiled and placed her hand on her flat belly. “I feel really blessed, you know.” Tears gathered in Carter’s eyes, and she cursed her damn hormones. “I don’t know. I’m just finally happy. My marriage is solid, I have my mother, my family … my baby. I went through five years of hell on earth, Aniyah. Now I feel like it was all worth it. The hurt, the heartbreak, the loneliness, the pain. It was all worth it because now I have everything I’ve ever wanted and more. I only wish my father could have been here to see how much I’ve grown.”
Aniyah smiled and squeezed Carter’s hand. Before she could say anything back, the phone rang.
Aniyah immediately reached for it. “It’s probably your husband.”
Carter immediately brightened at the possibility. There were no words to describe how much she missed him.
“Hello, Angelo Salerno’s office. How may I help you?” Aniyah didn’t speak after that, she just listened. After the person on the other end was finished talking, she hung up the phone with a frown. “Umm … Carter. They want you to go to the twenty-sixth floor. They said just wait there for your mother to come up.”
Carter raised her eyebrows and nodded. She stood and walked over to the elevator. When she looked back at Aniyah, she saw sadness on the woman’s face. Carter frowned.
“Niyah? Are you okay?” Carter asked.
Aniyah looked up and tried to hide her expression. “I’m fine, Carter. I’ll talk to you soon, honey.”
Carter nodded slowly and entered the elevator. As soon as she pressed the twenty-sixth floor, she heard Aniyah yell, “I love you, Ri. I’m here for you if you need me.” But before she could respond, the doors closed.
On the twenty-sixth floor, the doors opened, and Carter exited the elevator. The floor was nearly empty. There were only a few men there, and they greeted her and continued their work. Carter sat on one of the desks facing the elevators and waited for her mother. Just when she thought they’d never come up, men from downstairs began to file out of the elevator car. Carter frowned.
Many of them gave her weird looks on their way into the office, and some of them began gathering their coats and guns.
“Let’s go!” one of them yelled at the rest of the men. It was Ryan Mason. He was retired CIA and current Head of Security for the Salerno organized crime family. They obediently moved faster. “The jet’s leaving in thirty minutes! Nobody’s late! Angelo’s orders! Cesare says the rest of you need to be on patrol at Nathan’s penthouse! Check every corner, and I want men on each end of the street with your eyes open!”
To say that Carter was confused would be an understatement. Had something gone wrong downstairs? She stood up and jogged over to Ryan. “Ryan!” she called. He looked up at her briefly, but continued to gather his things. “Is everything okay?” she asked. But as soon as the words fell from her lips she knew the answer … She didn’t know why, but all of a sudden she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Ryan’s eyes instantly filled with … sadness? … sympathy?
He looked away from her. “I can’t really say, Mrs. Salerno,” he said softly. “Your mother, Mickey, and Cesare will return shortly.”
“But what about Dante? Where is he?”
“He’s downstairs waiting for us.”
“Why?”
“Mrs. Salerno, please don’t,” he pleaded with her. “I don’t want to be disrespectful and walk away from you, but I have to go, just—” he placed a hand on her shoulder “— be strong,” he said right before grabbing the rest of his things and sprinting toward the elevator with his men close behind him.
Be strong? Carter thought. Who runs out after saying something like that to someone?
Carter was beginning to worry. What the hell was going on?
The other elevator opened, and Cesare, Mikilo, and her mother came out, each of them talking frantically on their phones. Carter stood helplessly, wondering what the hell had happened. She saw the same emotion in her mother’s eyes that she had seen in Ryan’s eyes.
“Mom?” Carter asked as her worry quickly turned to dread.
Cesare and Anastacia hung up their phones and began talking to one another in hushed tones. Mickey, on the other hand, was still arguing with someone on the phone. Carter thought it may have been Lucca.
“Is Kyle okay? Was he hurt? What about Nathan?”
When she heard Mickey asking those questions, an intense fear shot through her body.
“Mom!” she called to Anastacia.
Anastacia stopped conversing with Cesare, and they both looked her way. Their eyes conveyed that they didn’t want to tell her anything. Something happened, and she wanted to know what it was— right now.
“What’s going on?” she asked, not caring about sharpness of her tone.
Neither Cesare nor Anastacia responded immediately, which irritated Carter. “Say something! Is it Luchini?”
“No,” Cesare spoke softly, and once again that same emotion flashed through his eyes. “Luchini is handled for now …”
“Then what the hell is this? What’s going on?” Carter looked at her unusually silent mother. “Mom? Is-is it Kyle?” Carter could barely say the words as she began to feel light-headed.
Anastacia swallowed as sadness and regret masked her face. “Carterina … I think maybe you should have a seat,” she said softly.
Have a seat? Why would she need to have a seat? She was talking as if someone—
Carter inhaled a deep, shaky breath as her heart tightened painfully in her chest. A biting sensation stung the backs of her eyes as hot tears began to fill them. “Where is my husband?” Carter felt a chill. She hugged her body tightly as she began to shiver.
Anastacia sighed as devastation filled her eyes. “Carter, please, have a—”
“No!” Carter screamed. “Where is my husband?”
Cesare reached out for her. “Carterina—”
Carter snatched herself away from him and turned to go get her cell phone. “Fine!” she yelled, an angry sadness washing over her. “I’ll find out myself. I’ll just call him.”
Carter proceeded to call Nathan’s cell phone. He always answered her calls. But by the fourth unanswered call, Carter had tears streaming down her face. “This doesn’t make any sense! Why isn’t he answering?” she cried. His voicemail picked up once again. “Bubby, please call me back,” she sobbed desperately. She felt a soft hand on her shoulder.
“Carterina,” her mother said softly.
Carter slowly removed the phone from her ear and looked into her mother’s sad eyes.
“I got a call about five minutes ago, baby girl …”
“No, no, no …” Carter cried the word over and over again and clutched her belly.
“Nathan and his father were on their way to their jet, and they were attacked. Nathan and Kyle’s car was the target of gunfire. Nathan pushed Kyle from the car to protect him and was … shot—”
“What?”
“He drove off. Kyle said he was going after the car because he spotted Silas …”
“Why would he do that?” she sobbed “Where is he? Please, tell me he’s okay, Mama. Please …”
She shook her head sadly. “Carter, they’ve been looking for him for hours …”
“Tell them to look harder!” Carter yelled. Her mother reached out for her, and Carter moved from her touch. “Stop!” she screamed. “I need to go with them! I need to find him! You don’t understand!” Carter tried to storm past her mother, but she was pulled back.
“Carterina, please be calm …”
“I need to find my husband!” she shouted.
She cupped Carter’s face roughly. “Stop and listen!” she yelled, her voice cracking with emotion. “They found his car, Carter. And his shirt— covered in blood.”
Carter started hyperventilating. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, and the room began to spin. An unexpected wave of nausea crashed into her. “I’m going to be sick,” she gasped.
Her mother rushed her across the room and grabbed the trash can just in time. Carter held both sides of it and let go, emptying her body of everything she had taken in that day …
***
Carter was rushed through the doors, out of the Salerno Organization’s building. She could feel a hand on her back and hear the sound of a million voices as she walked numbly to wherever they were leading her. She could barely see through the tears in her eyes, barely make out what the voices were saying to her over the sound of her heart breaking into a million pieces.
“Nathan was shot …”
Her mother’s words just kept playing over and over in her head.
“They don’t know where he is …”
Why don’t you know where he is? Why didn’t anyone go with him?
“He went after Silas …”
A soft sob escaped Carter’s lips. What was she going to do? She had to do something. They expected her to just sit and wait while Nathan could be in some unknown place fighting for his life? How could she do that? How did they expect her to sit still while her husband, the person she lived and breathed for, the father of her child, was somewhere hurt and alone?
Carter tried to look around and gather her surroundings. She knew they were in front of the S.O. building, and the sidewalk was packed with people getting off work, headed home. She could hear the voices of her mother, Cesare, and Mickey close to her— arguing about something. It sounded like they were arguing with the drivers about hurrying up so they could get her to her and Nathan’s home in the country. Why were they worried about her? They should be getting on a plane to go look for Nathan.
Carter wandered mindlessly toward the edge of the sidewalk, contemplating walking into oncoming traffic. Though that wouldn’t solve anything, it’d certainly numb the pain. But it would be stupid to do something that would kill her and their unborn child. Nathan wouldn’t understand— he’d hate her for it. Carter wandered even further away from the chaos. She had no clue where she was walking because she wasn’t thinking. Once she couldn’t hear Mickey, Cesare, or her mother’s voices anymore, she closed her eyes. She shut out everything going on around her in effort to feel him, to feel her husband. Carter knew in her heart that he was hurt badly and in pain. Tears poured from her eyes.
He needed her, and she couldn’t get to him. She needed to be there to take care of him. She knew he was strong, but what if he needed her help, and she wasn’t there. She’d never be able to live through it. A memory flashed through her mind, a recent memory. Something Nathan had said to her when she confessed on their yacht, some fears she had about Silas … “You, of all people, should know not to underestimate me. I will fight for you, and me— us— until my last breath. And my last breath isn’t coming anytime soon. I promise …” Carter smiled through her tears. She could feel him. She could feel his promise. Nathan was the strongest man she’d ever known, and Carter felt him. He had to be alive. He had to be coming back to her.
Carter’s thoughts were interrupted when she felt something hit her leg. She looked down to the ground and saw the assaulting object lying in front of her. When she squatted down to examine the object, she frowned. It was a large gold coin. It said 1973 and a picture of the St. Louis Arch decorated the back of it. Carter inhaled a deep breath as a memory of her lying in bed, staring at a coin resembling this one flashed through her mind. She knew this coin. She used to have one, but she was positive that she’d left it when she left-
“My, my, my. My little caterpillar has become a butterfly …”
Carter’s body went completely still when his voice hit her ears. Oh my God— it’s not possible.
But it was possible. He kneeled down right in front of her and when Carter lifted her gaze, they locked eyes.
Carter didn’t believe it. It couldn’t be him. But only one person had ever called her his “little caterpillar” … “Henry?” she whispered.
It was Henry. Carter’s first boyfriend from St. Louis. The guy who had taken her virginity. Standing in front of her now, looking nothing like the sweet, Christian boy he had been back in St. Louis three years ago.
“Indeed, love,” he said, a sinister smile on his face and his voice giving way to a British accent. “But let’s clear something up before we go. My name is not Henry.”
Without another word, he raised something resembling a gun and pulled the trigger. I sounded like a gun firing, but the object flying toward her wasn’t a bullet. Something small pierced her neck, and in an instant, darkness overtook her …
***
Two minutes earlier— Reno.
Reno searched through the growing crowd of people frantically, hoping that he’d spot Carter. He had no idea how he’d lost her. The last time he saw her she was standing on the side walk with her head down. He’d only looked away for a moment, and when he looked up, she was gone.
Civilians continued to fill the side walk, and Reno was beginning to lose hope that he’d find her in the crowd. Deciding that it’d be better to come clean and get help locating her, he went to Cesare, praying the man wouldn’t kick his ass for not watching closely enough.
Reno quickly pushed his way through the people until he stood in front of Cesare. “Cesare,” he said, out of breath. Cesare looked at him with a frown, but didn’t cease his phone conversation. “I lost, Carter,” Reno confessed.
Cesare immediately dropped the phone to his side. “You did what?” he shouted.
As soon Cesare shouted at him Reno saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. “There she is!” he pointed at her right before the sound of a gunshot pierced the air.
***
It had happened too fast. One second, Cesare was on the phone trying to contact his son— who would have been shot and killed had Nathan not protected him— Mickey was making arrangements for Carter’s departure, and Anastacia was having a heated argument with their driver, who was stuck in traffic, and the next second … a gun went off.
Their heads snapped in the direction of the sound as terror struck each of their hearts. Carter’s hand moved to her neck and her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she dropped. She fell toward the ground, but a man with light caramel-colored skin scooped her up like a rag doll and ran with her like an Olympic track star through the screaming civilians. It happened in a matter of three seconds, and everything after that happened just as quickly.
Mickey pursued Carter’s captor. He pushed and shoved through the terrified people to find her, praying to God that the fucker didn’t get too far. How could he have been so careless? He could have sworn she was right beside him and Reno. “Carter!” He shouted her name at the top of his lungs as he frantically searched for her. How the fuck did this happen so quickly? Devastation more intense than a
nything Mickey had ever felt overtook his body. He couldn’t find her! He was breathing hard and racing through the street praying for just a—
And there it was. He saw the man toss Carter into a black SUV and jump in after her. then the car sped off. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman with long, black hair running faster than he’d ever seen a woman run before … Mickey only had a second to register that it was Anastacia before he was hit by an oncoming car. His body bounced off the hood of the car, and he tumbled to the ground. Cars came to screeching stops around him, but he quickly stood to his feet, shook off the pain, and continued his pursuit…
***
Anastacia ran harder and faster than she’d ever run in her life. She didn’t know where she found the strength. All she knew was that the SUV was getting away— with her baby.
Tears blurred her vision when his name entered her mind. This wouldn’t have happened if he had been here. She had thought everything was safe since Silas had been spotted by Nathan in Russia— but she’d been wrong. That thought alone made Anastacia run faster. Now she understood how a mother could lift a car off of her child in a moment of desperation. A mother’s love could make a woman more powerful than she had ever imagined possible.
Anastacia ran through the streets with no thoughts of oncoming traffic. Her eyes were focused on one thing— the black SUV. Horns blared and cars came to screeching halts, but she continued to follow the SUV. She ran over the tops of cars and dodged traffic until she finally found a way to get to it.
She was close enough now to see the driver, and when she saw her, she ran faster. She watched the young woman’s eyes widen at the sight of her charging toward the car. The driver turned and yelled to whomever was in the back and then gave Anastacia an evil smirk. Anastacia jumped the last few cars between them, and the SUV came to a stop, but before she made it to the car door, the driver raised a gun and fired off two bullets— one connected with Anastacia’s body. The impact from the shot made her stumble back two steps. The SUV roared as the driver floored the accelerator and drove off. Anastacia heard the oncoming car before she saw it, but just before impact, big arms wrapped around her, turning her body. Their bodies bounced off the car and rolled to the edge of the sidewalk.
Dangerous Beauty: Part Two: A Mafia Princess Page 39