by Skye Turner
I don’t hear anything. He doesn’t speak. Everything is quiet and I’m wondering if he’s going to answer me.
I hear a deep sigh. “Ok. I’ll make the calls.”
He will? “You will?!”
He lets out a surprised chuckle. “Yes, I will. You’ve never asked me for anything before. You make it a point not to ask us for anything. Everything you have and everything you do, is yours. You’re my daughter and I love you, so if you love this man, then he is obviously someone worth getting to know. I’ll make the calls.”
Wow. Is he accepting that I love Cruz?! I’m speechless.
“Oh, and Tifanie?”
“Yes, Sir?”
“How about bringing him to the house for brunch on your next free Sunday. I’d like to sit down with him… and with you.”
I smile. “Yes, Sir. I’ll talk to him and let you know. Thank you.”
He replies, “Do that,” and hangs up.
Leaning my head against the railing, I take a deep, deep breath before I straighten and head back into the house.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cruz
I wake up and look around at the mossy green walls of my momma’s living room. I remember being woken up a lot last night… a lot. Tifanie stayed the night here to take care of me.
I try to sit up and my head protests, but it’s bearable. Slowly turning my head, I look around. The mess is cleaned up and the blood is gone from the carpet. I smell coffee brewing.
As I try to stand, I hear a sleepy, “How are you feeling?”
Grinning down at her as she straightens in the chair, I reply, “Like I got hit with a chair and then stabbed.” She has dark circles under her eyes, testifying to her restless night and her hair is flowing down her back as it circles her head. She looks beautiful.
She stands and grimaces as she pops her back.
Walking over to me, she looks into my eyes and says, “Any double vision?”
I smile as I look at her. “No, but then I could kiss two of you.”
She pulls back with a look of shock and chuckles. “You’re not kissing one of me. I need a toothbrush first. And damn, maybe I should have knocked you over the head a long time ago.”
Rubbing my head where it’s pounding, I smirk. “Not funny.”
My momma pops her head out of the kitchen. “Good morning, baby. Your phone has been ringing for a bit. You might want to check it.” She smiles at Tifanie. “Morning, Tifanie. I have coffee and fresh waffles.”
I mutter, “Hey, dude with a brain injury. I don’t get any waffles?!”
Both of my girls smile. My heart swells. I wasn’t certain of how I’d feel with Tifanie and my momma being around each other, but they seem comfortable and my heart is strangely content.
With a little assistance, I get to the kitchen and we all indulge in waffles.
Four hours later, we’re curled up on my couch since Tifanie is insisting on my taking it easy and my momma was saying she wanted to go in to work; she is an architect. Tif brought me home and is babying me while I alternate between dozing and rolling my eyes at the Twilight marathon she has going on my TV.
After three movies’ worth of watching a shirtless teenager with a lot of muscles and a skinny white guy who appears to sparkle like diamonds in sunlight fight over a reasonably attractive white girl, I ask Tifanie, “What is the fascination with vampires anyway? Why is it sexy to bite people and drink their blood?”
She turns to me. “Really? It’s not the vampires themselves, I don’t think. I think it’s more that they live forever, don’t age… they’re sheer perfection. Well, except for the fact that you have to drink blood to survive. It’s what all humans want. And they have it, so it’s something we’re fascinated with.”
I mutter, “I don’t want to live forever.”
She leans her head on my chest. “I don’t either. But you have the looking perfect part down.” She kisses my arm, above my stitches.
Sighing, I mutter, “I’m far from perfect, Tifanie.”
Turning her head, she looks up at me. “I didn’t say you were perfect. You’re not. You are fatally flawed.”
Well, damn. Tell me how you really feel. I’m fatally flawed. What the hell?!
I frown and she presses her finger to my lips. “Hush. You’re flawed. You have demons. But we all do. You hold onto what happened to your mom as a crutch.” I shake my head. “No, you do. It’s your way of saying, ‘No, stand back. Keep your distance. I’m not worthy.’ But you are. What you fail to realize is that by pushing people away, by not accepting what’s freely offered, you’re not accomplishing anything.
“You are gorgeous. Like inhumanly gorgeous.” I shake my head in denial. “You are. You know it, you can see it. Yet, you refuse to accept it. But as beautiful as your face is… and it’s crazy beautiful, your heart is the most attractive thing about you. I love the face, don’t get me wrong.” She leans up and kisses the scruff on my chin. “The face is amazeballs. But the heart… the heart is what I’m after.”
Wow… she knows how to make a point. I can’t even understand why she’s so interested in me. Maybe that’s the problem though…
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you want me so badly?” I really want to know.
She looks at me and in all seriousness, she says as clearly as she can, “Because you deserve my love.”
Grabbing her, I pull her over me and kiss her. I kiss her with all of the things I can’t say with words in it. I try to tell her with my kiss that her loving me makes me whole. It makes me want to be the best man I can be… for her… and for me.
The sound of a lock and the door opening barely registers as I consume Tifanie.
A soft voice is at the door. “Sorry, guys. Excuse us. I’m so sorry to interrupt.”
Then a humored voice says, “You got cracked in the head and stabbed in the arm; your dick probably doesn’t even work. Stop leading, Legs, on.”
Tifanie pulls back from me and grins. “Your friends are here.”
Laying my head against hers, I mutter, “Why are we friends again?”
She climbs off my lap and I look around her. I see Clove standing there holding the baby. Liam is holding the diaper bag and smirking at me while wiggling his brows. Jessie is just grinning like an idiot and Blue is glaring at him and calling him a moron, while Dade and Melonie are holding delicious smelling bags.
Dade holds one up. “We brought food.”
Clove smiles at me and walks over. “And I brought little John to see his Parain Cruz.” She leans down and kisses my forehead before she sits and nestles the baby in her arms. Liam sits on the back of the chair and stares at the sleeping infant and the woman he loves. He looks up. “You ok, man?”
I gaze at the picture they present and my heart swells with… want?! No, no way. I’ve never wanted kids. Well, I’ve never thought I’d have kids. I’m not thinking about kids. Not my own kids… I’m freaked out enough that Liam and Clove asked me to be John’s godfather. No way I’m thinking about kids!
Jessie and Blue walk all the way into the room and my living room is suddenly bursting at the seams. Dade places the bags down on the coffee table and says he’s going to the kitchen for plates and forks.
Within minutes, I’m surrounded by my family as they all ask what happened and how Lucian got to me. Dade finally asks, “Why did he want to meet with you so badly anyway? What did he want?”
The thing that has me the most worried about everything that went down yesterday is that I don’t know what he wanted. He never gave a purpose for wanting to see me so damn badly. I’m worried that we haven’t seen the last of him. Thankfully, we did get the restraining orders and we were called first thing this morning that they already went through. That was insanely fast in my opinion. I thought it would take weeks.
Shrugging, I look around at the room. “I don’t know what he wanted. He never said. I got there and he was in the room with Momma. She was nervou
s and I flipped. I started screaming at him and things escalated from there. Before I knew it, he’d grabbed the chair and hit me with it, then he stabbed me in the arm with the broken arm from it before I was able to get control. He never said what he wanted. I’m thinking it’s not good, whatever it is. For him to flip out like that and immediately attack me… yeah, whatever he wants… it’s not good.”
Dade says quietly, “We have your back, man… whatever you need. There’re two reasons for the visit. One… we wanted to see for ourselves that you were ok. And two… Bradi is on her way over here for damage control. TMZ already has this story and they’re broadcasting it everywhere. We need to have a pow-wow to see how you want this handled.” He looks at me sadly. “I’m sorry, man. Your business is everywhere and I hate that Corrin is about to be subjected to this shit.”
FUCK!! I didn’t even think about that. I’m famous. Bayou Stix is famous and I’m in Bayou Stix. I never thought about the repercussions of the fight yesterday. SHIT! I need to call my momma. She needs to know what’s about to happen. Son of a bitch!
I want to jump up and rage, but I don’t. I hold it in. A hand on my knee brings me back. Tifanie looks at me. “It’s ok, Cruz. We’ll figure it out. None of that was your fault. Lucian is the one who’s going to get the fallout from this. Not you. Not your mom. But why don’t you go call her. I can go get her and bring her here if you want. It might be better to have her close until this blows over.”
“Tifanie is right. You need to get your momma and keep her here. People are going to swarm her like vultures. We can work with this. We can spin it, but it might be best if she’s here too.” We turn and see Bradi and Micah at the door. She walks in with her tablet already out. “I’m already working on something, but let’s get your momma here too so I can go over everything with everyone.” She looks at Dade. “Jude and Lexi on the way?” He nods.
Shit! Jumping up, I leave them in the living room and go call my momma. I hear everyone talking animatedly as I walk out.
As I dial, I feel a hand on my back. Turning, I see Tifanie. “I’m sorry. I know this is the last thing you want. I’ll help however I can.”
I nod at her as the phone rings. I don’t trust myself to speak right now.
Momma answers. “Hello?”
“Hey, Momma. It’s me. I’m going to come get you. You need to pack a bag that will last like a week. The media has the story about Lucian and what happened yesterday. They are going to try to talk to you because of the band. Because of me.”
“I know, sweet boy. The phone has been ringing off the hook since you left and there are people camped on the street. I couldn’t get my car out of the garage to go to the office. You shouldn’t come here though. They’ll follow us.”
I don’t know what to do. I have to get her, but I can’t risk having them follow me back here either.
“Ok, let me figure it out. I’ll call you back. Close all the drapes and windows though and lock the doors. Pack your bag. I’ll call you back in a minute.”
I hang up and throw the phone against the wall! “FUCK!”
Tifanie picks up my phone and hands it to me. She says, “I’m on it. I’ll take care of it. Head back into the living room with your friends. And don’t get upset. It’ll make your head worse.” She leans up and kisses me lightly. “I’m on it. I’m not a Bellaforte for nothing.”
What does she mean? She’s going to involve her family to help?
Turning, we see Dade in the doorway watching us. “She’s right. She can do things we can’t. Let’s let her get Corrin and we can brainstorm here about what to do.” He claps me on the back. “It’s going to be cool, man.”
Nodding, I follow him as he leads me back into the room. The room filled with my friends. “Yeah.”
I’m trying to convince myself to believe him.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tifanie
I was able to call my father and borrow one of their cars so it wouldn’t be anything anyone recognized. As I park my car at the mansion to pick it up, my mom meets me on the porch. She’s wringing her hands together and there are tears in her eyes. “It’s true? Lucian Wormer is Cruz’s father? He raped and beat his mother and she got pregnant? And then he showed up yesterday and attacked Cruz? It’s all true?”
I nod at her. “Yes, Mother. It’s true. Cruz is a good man. His mother is an amazingly strong woman.”
She reaches out and touches my hair. “Oh baby, I’m so sorry. We were horrible to him when he was here. You love him. You love him and we love you, so we are going to help you. Whatever you need, you just let us know. No woman should endure that. And now, they are parading her story all over the news… it’s like reliving it over and over and over. That poor woman.”
I’ve never seen my mother like this. Reaching out, I take her hands. “Thank you. I need to get over there and get her. She’s there alone and I don’t want someone to get into the house or make her feel threatened. I need to get her, as soon as possible.”
She nods and hands me the keys. “Of course. You go. Be careful.” She touches my face again. “You’re so strong. So unlike me. It’s always scared me that we’re so different, but I’m so proud of you. I’ve always been proud of you. You be careful. Ok, go. Take the truck.”
I nod. I’m a little choked up, but I can’t dwell on that right now. Right now, getting to Corrin is my priority. I’ll deal with my own family later. “I’ll call y’all later. Once we get to Cruz’s house. Thank you, Momma.”
She nods and steps back as she lets a sob out. “Be careful.” I race for the garage and get the truck. Gunning the engine, I take off with a wave at the porch.
It takes me a bit to get to Corrin’s house. There’s a lot of traffic and media on the street and surrounding her house. Seriously, why are they doing this? This seems extreme, but what the hell do I know?!
I decide to park on the street behind hers. I can see her house from here and I’m surprised no one else figured this out. Parking under a tree, I head across her neighbors’ yards. I’m trespassing, but I’m not hurting anything, so I hope no one stops me.
Glancing around as I get to her yard, I see nothing, so I sprint to the door and knock on the back glass. A few minutes later I hear her footsteps approach the door. Quietly, so as not to draw attention back here, I say, “Corrin, open up. It’s Tifanie.”
I hear the locks unclick and she glances out as she opens the door. I slip in and we close it back and relock everything.
She takes a deep breath. “Dear lord, why are so many people out there? I’m not famous. I’m a nobody. This is crazy.”
Walking through the house, I peek out the front window and see slews of reporters and news vans. It seems like total overkill to me too. “I have no idea. Cruz is famous, but not that damn famous. I think this is more about the Wormers than anything else.”
She shudders. “Damn him straight to hell!”
I agree with her. “Are you ready to go? Where’s your bag?”
She points to the table where she has a small suitcase and another small travel bag. Grabbing the suitcase, I mutter, “Ok, let me make sure it’s clear and then we’ll head to the truck. I’m parked on the next street, so we’ll have to cross through some yards, but no one saw me that I could tell, so we should be able to get back undetected.”
She nods, but her eyes are huge in her face and she looks terrified. Taking her hands, I try to calm her down some. “Corrin, I know this is insane. It’s scary and I’m not even certain what all is going on, but it’ll all be ok. I believe that.”
She nods and smiles determinedly. “You’re right. Just another something we need to overcome. We’ll be fine.”
Squeezing her hand one more time, I open the back door. As I’m about to step out, it’s roughly shoved in and hits me in the face. I scream out as I feel my nose crack and try to shove back against it, but I’m weakened from the impact. The door is pushed in and then a body is in front of us. “Well, well… look what w
e have here. This is better than expected. I thought Corrin would be the one to get me what I wanted, but now I have both of the women in my son’s life. You just made this too easy.”
Blood is pouring from my broken nose as I glare up at Lucian Wormer. “How did you get here?”
Corrin screams at him to get out and Lucian levels a gun at her. “Scream one more time and I will shoot you. Shut up, bitch. With the circus out front, I don’t need my plan ruined.”
My eyes are trying to focus on the gun in his hand as he points it at Cruz’s mother. I’m struggling to stay upright. Lucian looks at me and grabs my arm as he yanks. “Damn, you look like shit. Such a shame to mar up that beautiful face.” He runs the barrel of the gun over my cheek and I stand tall and glare at him, though my insides are shaking and I’m about to vomit from the concussion he just gave me. He’s insane. Not just evil, but insane too. I have to stay in control. I have to keep a level head.
Saying nothing and fighting back the desire to pass out, I just glare at him. He grimaces. “Get a towel. That’s a lot of blood.”
He’s right though. If I lose too much blood, I’ll be severely weakened and I need to try to keep my strength and my wits about me if I’m going to get Corrin and myself out of this mess. It’s bad enough I’m already wounded from the door.
Grabbing a dish towel off the counter, I hold it against my nose and tip my head back slightly while applying pressure. I don’t want to tip my head too far because that will just allow the blood to run down my throat. I try to make eye contact with Corrin, but she’s too focused on the gun. Lucian gestures to the living room. “Ladies first.”
Finally, Corrin looks at me and I try to convey a message. We’re getting out of this. I don’t know how and I don’t know what he’s planning, but we’re getting out of this shit. She seems to understand. She nods.