Resist Me

by Samantha Lee

His brow shot up and it made him look sexier than hell, she ignored it and held on to her anger. “Really?” he said.

  “Yes, you may not understand the concept of a work/life balance but that doesn’t mean I don’t, because I do. I will not sit here waiting on you to…” Antony didn’t let her finish. He kissed her lightly on the lips. When he pulled back he laughed, she was sure he laughed at the look of shock on her face.

  He put his hand on the small of her back and guided her out of the door, he leaned down and whispered. “I don’t want you to stay this late anymore either. We would have left earlier but I lost track of time. I am sorry.”

  He’s sorry? Yvette didn’t think Antony gave out many apologies, but she was determined to not allow his touch, kiss, or pretty words calm her down. Sal was waiting outside of Antony’s office and together all three walked to the elevator.

  What the hell did they do in that office? Sal didn’t work for B&E, Yvette used the last few hours to check. If he didn’t work here why was he always here? He and Antony behaved like they were working on some big project but what? When they reached the elevator, Sal pushed the down button. Now or never, Yvette thought.

  “Sal you don’t work here but you are here all the time, why is that?” Sal turned toward her, his mouth set in a grim line then he looked at Antony. Yvette followed his gaze and looked up to see a very angry Antony staring down at her. There it was again. She felt a chill run down her spine. Gone was the charm and attraction of moments before. Now, his face was hard and unforgiving, maybe even a little dangerous.

  Antony asked, “Why the fuck do you need to know what Sal does in my office?”

  Yvette cringed at the accusatory tone in his voice, curiosity did kill the cat, and it seemed like her curiosity just pissed off her boss. She sighed, this man was the moodiest man she had ever met. One minute he was kissing her the next minute he was ready to kill her.

  “I was curious for the sake of curiosity. Here I was tonight waiting on two men that were held up in a room with the door closed for hours, working on something, but it couldn’t be work related because he,” Yvette pointed to Sal. “Doesn’t work here.” Antony’s lips were pressed so tight his lips were turning white, but she didn’t care, she ignored her fear, she ignored his anger and pressed on, “So, I started looking into it and…” Yvette’s phone rang at the same time the elevator chimed.

  The elevator doors opened and they walked on, Sal in the front and Antony in the back. That somehow seemed inappropriate to Yvette.

  “You should stop looking and stop asking questions,” Antony said. His voice held finality the conversation was over. She clenched her phone, it rang again, her stomach dropped. It was Donato. It had been a number of days since Donato actually called. He’d taken to sending her texts. She never responded, not once, but that never stopped him. When he got upset that she wouldn’t respond to him, he started sending pictures of his middle finger.

  She was tired of it all and sick of him, and being pushed around by everyone. She answered the call, she glanced at Antony his eyes were trained on her. Yvette knew he wanted to know who she was talking to but she wasn’t going to give him the answer right away, maybe never. She had no reason to report to him.

  “Where the fuck have you been?” Was Donato’s greeting.

  “Around,” Yvette said.

  “Around where? I have been texting you and you haven’t responded once, why?” Donato asked.

  “I already told you. I don’t want you to call me, text me, or seek me out in any way. When will you get that?” Yvette was fed up with everyone, she didn’t know where the bravado came from, but she would use it.

  “You stupid bitch, you don’t get to decide when we are over. I decide that and I haven’t decided to end us, yet,” Donato said.

  “I don’t think you have a choice.”

  Donato began to yell louder, “Do you fucking know who I am! Do you have any idea who you are fucking with?” she kept her voice calm. She waved at Antony. Sal had already left. Seeing that he didn’t work here, he couldn’t park here either. Antony ignored her dismissal and walked behind her. Yvette rolled her eyes at Antony, “I know who you are, you are Donato Belmonte, the man who is determined to make me get a restraining order.”

  ***

  Antony knew it was Donato, he knew that fucker’s voice, but what was Yvette’s connection to the Belmonte’s? The entire walk to her car Yvette was on the phone. With the phone to her ear, she opened the door, got into the car, and closed the door. She didn’t say good night to him, she remained on the phone while that fucking prick cursed her out.

  Antony walked away pissed, he pulled his key fob out of his pocket. He pushed the unlock button but it didn’t work. He stopped and pushed it again, then hit it on his hand. It must need a new battery, he thought to himself, and sighed. Antony was so frustrated that it only took this one small issue to make him lose his shit. He had reached a personal limit. Antony threw the fob on the ground and proceeded to stomp the shit out of it. It felt good when it broke, he stomped it again, and again. He was thinking about Torre, Peter, Jim, Yvette, Donato, and his father. All the moving pieces he had to understand, control, and eliminate if they posed a threat to the Family.

  Antony was breathing hard when he walked toward his car with his key out, ready to do things old school. Antony took another step toward his car when he heard a tick, then boom! The sound was deafening, his ears rang after the initial thundering that vibrated through his entire body. He felt the intense heat envelope him and his body was in motion. Antony was weightless as he was pushed through the air by an unseen force. His back hit something hard, then he felt nothing at all.

  “How many times-” boom! Yvette screamed, her car windows were all blown out. Yvette had no idea what was happening. She still clutched her phone in her hand, she heard Donato say, “What the fuck was that?” Yvette dropped the phone and stumbled out of the car. Her knees hit the cement ground. On shaky legs she stood, the garage looked like a war zone, scraps of metal fell to the ground, car alarms were sounding all around her. Yvette knew she had to get out of the basement, it was a closed space.

  She shook her head, trying to clear the ringing, and shock of the moment. Pieces of glass were scattered all over the ground. She had glass in her hair, face, and knees. Yvette heard someone moaning to her right. She looked to her right and saw Antony slumped over against a wall, his body bent awkwardly. She tried to walk toward him but she couldn’t seem to keep herself upright or walking straight. She fell to the ground and crawled to him. His face was twisted in pain. His dark hair was ruffled and his clothes were singed around the edges. Dear god, how close was he to his car when the explosion went off. Yvette reached him. Her hands and knees were bloodied from crawling on debris.

  “Antony.” Yvette yelled and shook him lightly, “We have to go now! We can’t stay down here.” She shook him again a little more desperately, “Please, get up.”

  “Yvette?” Antony said groggily.

  “Yes, it’s me. Can you get up?” Antony tried to stand but couldn’t, he felt Yvette’s arm wrap around his waist and pull.

  “Ahhh!” He cried out in pain. He looked down and jutting out of his side was a piece of fiberglass. Yvette let him go when he cried out.

  “Oh my god, Oh my god,” Yvette gingerly ran her hand around the wound. “We have to get you to the hospital. Oh my god. What is happening. Someone HELP!” she yelled.

  “Yvette, Yvette, shut up!” Antony yelled. If he didn’t get her calmed down she would go into shock and he needed her to have her wits about herself if they were both going to survive. “Where is your phone?” he asked.

  “Oh, my phone, my phone, my phone,” she mumbled to herself and crawled back to her car, “I found my phone,” she said and held it in the air. “Now, what?”

  The pain in Antony’s stomach was overwhelming, when he lay still the pain dulled, and became a bearable agony, it hurt when he spoke. He felt the pain every time he exhaled
and clenched his stomach muscles to minimize his movements. He felt the intrusion in his body, and instinctively he wanted to pull it out, but he couldn’t, he knew it would cause him to bleed out. Antony braced himself and yelled, “Call 9-1-1!”

  “Right, 911” she said.

  Antony heard her on the phone, the longer she talked the more frantic she became, “We are in a fucking garage that is on fire. Do you know how many fucking cars are down here with gas in them?” she paused to listen. “Calm down? I can’t calm down. You shouldn’t be worried about how calm I am. You should be working on getting someone down here to rescue us.” She listened again. “I told you where we are. What’s your name? If I get out of here, you can expect a complaint.”

  “Yvette,” Antony yelled. “Bring me the phone.”

  “Hold on,” she said to the 911 operator, “Mr. Carbonaro wants to speak to you.” Yvette was steadier on her legs as she walked back to him. She stayed low to avoid the smoke that gathered above them.

  Antony used willpower alone to lift his hand. Yvette placed her small phone in his hand, he gritted his teeth against the pain. “Hello? My name is Antony Carbonaro,” Antony listened to the woman try to placate him with a calm voice and promises of safety. “Look, I don’t need any of that shit. I need you to get someone to the south side of the parking garage. There is a fire exit they can enter through that is relatively clear. Yvette and I will meet your people there in fifteen minutes. And lady trust me if you ever want to feel safe in this city again you should not let me die in this garage.” He hung up. His family was legendary in this city for good and bad reasons, but one thing was for sure every police officer down to secretary, knew the Carbonaro’s for one reason or another.

  Yvette took the phone from him and put it down her blouse. Antony tried to sit up again but couldn’t, he was worried that moving around would only embed the fiberglass deeper into his stomach and cause greater harm. He looked around for anything he could use to help him. He couldn’t find anything. He would have to try to get to the south side of the garage the best he could.

  “What did she say?” Yvette asked. “Will they meet us on the south side of the garage?”

  “Yes,” Antony said. He wasn’t willing to put any more energy into conversation, because he would need all his energy to move his body. “Help me up,” Yvette almost wrapped her arms around his waist, “No, don’t pull around my waist, move your hands up to my chest.” Yvette pulled Antony up. He stood and almost fainted. The pain was excruciating, he wanted to cry but he couldn’t, he had to keep it together, for Yvette.

  He and Yvette stumbled to the south side entrance and there were people there waiting for them but it wasn’t the ambulance.

  “Mr. Carbonaro!” they yelled and pushed Yvette aside, she hit the brick wall behind her and slid to the ground. Yvette watched the group of well-dressed men help Antony the rest of the way out of the garage. Just as they were leaving the garage, another loud boom echoed through the underground parking structure and pushed the group backward. Yvette watched Antony and Sal stumble backward. Her eyes locked with Antony’s briefly, before he slumped lifelessly in Sal’s arms.

  Yvette pulled her knees to her chest, tucked her head in her legs and rocked. Her body hurt, she felt cuts and pieces of glass all over her body. She didn’t know how much glass was embedded in her skin. Yvette ran her fingers through her hair, pieces of glass stabbed her fingers that were tangled in her hair. She pulled her hand from her hair, and felt the sharp pain of her hair tearing off from her scalp. She wanted to cry, she wanted to wail, but there was no point. Nobody paid any attention to her, everyone was worried about Antony, she was worried about Antony too.

  Sal pulled the phone from his pocket, “Boss, Antony is in bad shape but he is alive.” He listened, “Right,” he said. “Memorial Hospital is close, but having ten men stationed at his door might be against hospital policy.”

  Sal could hear the tapping sound of Pio’s shoes hitting the hardwood floors in his home office. “Boy, do you fucking know who you are talking to? I don’t think you do, I am your fucking boss, do what I said to do,” there was silence, “Let me warn you, if my son dies, you will die with him, so it is in your best interest to make sure my son lives, he was under your protection when this happened. You are responsible. I will meet you at the hospital.” Pio hung up the phone. Sal wouldn’t let Antony die because he was his friend, he didn’t fear death, he knew one day death would come for him.

  Yvette’s head hurt from the sound of the ambulances, fire trucks, and police officers. Yvette watched the paramedics push Antony into the ambulance, she wanted to cry, she felt lost and confused, then something heavy dropped around Yvette’s shoulders. She looked up and saw a paramedic standing there. He had kind eyes and his face was a mask of worry. He sank down against the wall next to her. He pulled out the clipboard he kept under his arm and gave her a small smile. “Hello, I am Steven, I am going to ask you a few questions is that okay?

  Yvette nodded.

  “Let’s start with the basics, are you hurt anywhere?” he asked.

  Yvette was still trying to process the events of the night. Her body shook with fear, the burn of unshed tears was hard to keep at bay, she almost died today. Tears pricked her eyes, but she wouldn’t let them fall, she blinked several times to regain her composure. She had to be strong because there was no one she could lean on, and if she broke now she wouldn’t be able to put herself back together. She knew that as certain as she knew she needed air to breathe. She had to keep moving forward.

  Her first step was to answer Steven’s question, “Yes.” She couldn’t find it in herself to say more than yes, she felt her mind on the precipice of breaking. She was looking into the abyss of madness, but she couldn’t go there. She couldn’t think too much on what happened, she couldn’t let the reality of her situation, the close call with death, pull her under.

  Steven gave her an assessing look, “Let me get a gurney.”

  Yvette waited for Steven and rocked against the wall, she began to think about the data she needed to figure out, the weather for the weekend, her favorite books, anything but what happened to her, anything.

  “Can you stand?” Yvette looked up, it was Steven, “Yes, I believe so.”

  “Let’s give it a try.” He smiled at her, and she was comforted by it. She stood up and walked to the gurney, it was two feet in front of her but she struggled. She stumbled, her legs felt like loose noodles. Thankfully, Steven caught her. Her entire body trembled.

  With Steven’s help Yvette reached the gurney, now how to get on it. Steven stopped her, “I can help you up.” He asked. She nodded. He put a hand on each hip and gently lifted her off the ground. When she felt the firm mattress under her, she swung her legs around and laid back.

  Steven strapped her in tightly, “What hospital do you want to go to?”

  “Memorial please.” Yvette said then closed her eyes shutting out all of the images of the destruction around her.

  Chapter Eight

  Yvette lay on the hospital bed. She was being poked and prodded by Dr. Wong, who was pulling the larger pieces of glass out of her hands. He was good looking. His smile made her feel comfortable, he had a goodness about him that was almost tangible. Yvette winced, she wouldn’t take anything stronger than ibuprofen to ease the pain, she had to get herself home, and she couldn’t do that under the influence. She suffered through the sharp pain she felt when the doctor pulled out pieces of glass. The piece Dr. Wong was pulling out now hurt, and she winced. The doctor noticed her wince in pain.

  “I am so sorry, I am trying to go as fast as I can.” He looked her in her eyes, “It will be over soon, I promise.”

  “I bet and it will only hurt the first time too, right?” Yvette joked. He laughed, his smile reached his beautiful dark brown eyes.

  Yvette swooned over his barely perceptible Asian accent. The sides of his hair were cut close but she could still see the gray that speckled the edges. He was
in shape and his body showed it. The body underneath his white coat, and blue drawstring pants was all man. It didn’t hurt that he was a doctor, successful in his own right. But more importantly he seemed safe. She wouldn’t lose herself in the tempest of desire and emotion. She could calmly interact with him and go about her daily life without being thrown about in a storm of never ending emotions.

  Yvette glanced at his face again from her perch on the bed, he was really handsome. She really wanted to engage him, ask him if he was seeing anyone. The absence of a ring told her he wasn’t married but was he single? She shook her head, no, he probably wasn’t. Good looking successful men like him weren’t kept on the market for long, they sold fast, but she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe there might be a chance.

  “There, all done.” He said and smiled at her again, damn, that smile.

  “Thank you, is there anything I need to know about aftercare? And are you sure I won’t die tomorrow from any of this?” Yvette waved a hand down her body, she knew she looked the mess she felt.

  He laughed again, but this time she wasn’t joking. While he was working on her she felt safe, if anything happened he would be there to fix her. Her mind could wander to frivolous thoughts, but as soon as he said he was done, reality came rushing back, and she wanted to know what she should expect next.

  Yvette always thought she would follow her parents lead and end up in an early grave. She stressed over it for a long time, watching where she went and at what time. She still felt like death had one hand held up to knock on her door but she had been able to breathe a little easier these days. But now, she had been in an explosion and had glass strewn through her hair and body. This situation did not ease her anxieties but gave them credence to come in from the dark, like a long lost friend.

  Yvette felt the uncomfortable sensation in her eyes that told her she was about to cry, she wouldn’t cry here, no. She had a saying she learned from a friend, eat your feelings and cry in the shower, we have shit to do. Yvette had shit to do and none of it involved her crying, not over the past, not over her fucked up present, not over her dismal future. Her emotions properly pushed back she felt a surge of strength and braveness, she jumped off the table and landed on her feet forgetting the state of her body. She crumbled to the floor.