by Anna Lewis
“Promise me, you won’t go after him again?” I stood in front of him and he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“I won’t go after him again,” he said solemnly, and I gave him a light kiss on the cheek that wasn’t bruised.
“I’d kiss you on the lips, but I don’t want to get you sick…” I smirked at him and he chuckled, then winced. “How bad did he hurt you?” I asked.
“Cracked a rib…broke my nose, the rest is just bruising,” he said in a low voice that held anger in it.
“Gio is going to…freak out,” I sighed and Josh groaned.
“I didn’t even…fuck,” he murmured and closed his eyes, guilt already etching into his features.
“Hey, let’s just…relax and take this one day at a time.”
***
Joshua
Maddy fell asleep pretty quickly once we got into bed. Her fever had inched back and knocked her out. The fucking pain in my side and on my face wouldn’t subside. I had a migraine from the damn broken nose and couldn’t find any comfortable position to sleep in. How the people at the emergency room suggested I sleep only made the pain worse, which was somehow supposed to be a good thing.
“Told you this was stupid, man,” Marcus’s voice echoed in my mind as I remembered what happened just hours ago. Marcus was chained up to an open pipe in the warehouse wall just as Mo and Jason were. They weren’t badly beaten or anything, roughed up at the most it seemed. But Giovanni had a big show of his men, there were probably ten to twelve milling about the empty warehouse. Well empty apart from a couple of black sedans. Who knew what was inside of them.
“It was stupid Joshua; you came into my territory. But look, I’m not going to kill you or any of your guys. This is strictly non-aggressive…I just want to make things clear. You won’t win. I’ll end up with Maddison and Jr as I should, and we’ll continue on as we always have. You can only make it more difficult for yourself and more fun for me.” Giovanni’s sickeningly calm and collected voice haunted me. The man was less imposing than I thought he would be. Only six foot at the most, lean, handsome I guess, but his eyes…they weren’t a common dark brown. I looked into his eyes, and they were black. It pissed me off that I was still thinking about him, about my failure, because I’m sure that’s what the evil in those eyes wanted.
“This isn’t a game!” I had shouted back at him, indignant and pissed beyond reason as I laid at his feet, hands tied behind my back like some abducted fool. But I was a fool who played right into a trap.
My hands balled into fists at my side and I quietly left the bedroom making my way to the office downstairs. I couldn’t just let things go and wait for fucking Giovanni to come to the city and take Maddy and Gio. No, I was going to find the best damn P.I. in the city and have him track Giovanni. Whatever info we had on him I’d send straight to the police. I needed to be in a position where I knew each and every one of Giovanni’s movements, so that when he did come to the city, Jackson’s guys could handle him.
“Josh, shouldn’t you be resting?” Jackson asked when I stepped into the office.
“Yeah…I just wanted to make sure of some things…” I said distractedly.
“You’ll see. Anyhow, the next time you send anyone snooping around here in Chicago, the next time you come to Chicago, that’s it. I don’t care about the intensive cleanup of taking you and your pathetic security team out. I will do it.” Giovanni’s voice still hadn’t shut up. His hateful words from that warehouse echoing up and down my spine like the worst chill. To prove his threat was real he’d beaten the shit out of me then, taking advantage of my being tied up and on the floor. I winced on a sigh as my side felt as if it were being stabbed with a poker, the very real pain from my cracked rib brought me out of the fresh memory.
“We have everything under control, we’re back to normal here,” Terry said in assurance.
“No, I know…but as for the information Mo and Jason got on Giovanni in Chicago, have you turned that over to the police?” I asked.
“We have, the pertinent information anyway. All they did was pass it on to Chicago PD.” I nodded and took as deep of a breath as I could without hurting myself.
“Tell Mo and Jason to keep their gazes closer to home, none of your men goes back to Chicago…” I said slowly.
“What do you mean? How else are we supposed to watch Giovanni’s movements?” Jackson almost protested.
“We will…just not using PI’s that Giovanni and his men already know,” I said pointedly, and it dawned on Jackson as to where I was going.
“I know someone…who’s really good at his job, but he costs a hefty penny,” Terry spoke up then, almost raising his hand to do so.
“What’s his name? Can you set up a meeting?” I asked, and he nodded.
“Consider it done, and his name is Kane. Kind of hard core, but it’s his actual name,” he said with a small chuckle.
“Thanks Terry,” I mumbled.
“Josh…I…” Jackson started to apologize for something, but I wasn’t having it.
“This whole thing, what happened in Chicago is on me, you warned me. I didn’t listen. It’s on me. Let’s just focus on the here and now. Hopefully…if this Kane agrees to work with us we can get critical info on Giovanni and finally be one step ahead of him.”
“His father’s organization is…way bigger than we anticipated. Giovanni’s reach is…” Jackson shook his head slowly.
“Either way, he isn’t getting Maddy and Gio. I’ll do anything I have to, to make sure that doesn’t happen,” I said, fully aware of how dark my tone sounded.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Terry chuckled, almost nervously.
“Yeah…sorry, I’m just…well, you know. Terry let me know when you’ve contacted Kane,” I said, recovering from my fumble and he gave me a two fingered salute before I left. I took another painkiller before getting into bed with Maddy. She was fast asleep so didn’t wake as I jostled around, trying to get comfortable.
“You’re nothing, nothing but an old friend and you will be again once Maddison gets bored of you and realizes I’m the stronger man.”
Even though the pain meds made me groggy, I stayed awake watching Maddy sleep, until Giovanni’s hateful words drifted from my mind and Maddy’s sleeping face filled it. I couldn’t hold my eyelids open any longer and finally fell asleep hearing myself vow to keep her and Gio safe over and over again in my mind.
* * *
“Josh?” I woke to Gio’s hesitant voice and his hand gently pushing on my shoulder. I groaned as I opened my eyes. I felt like fucking Frankenstein. My face was throbbing with pain, and my side felt as though I had sword stuck in it.
“Gio…hey,” I murmured as I grit my teeth and sat up. He was standing at the side of the bed, his book bag on and his hair a little ruffled. “What time is it?”
“It’s after school. Mommy told me you got hurt this morning and to let you rest, but you were sleeping a long time…so…” his eyes constantly roamed my face, his eyebrows pinched together.
“I’ll be alright, you know that?” He nodded once and climbed onto the bed, sitting next to my knees.
“My d—did he do that to you?” he asked while taking off his book bag, not making eye contact. I made the mistake of sighing, but hid my wince. Where was Maddy? “Mommy told me not to worry, that you were just in an accident.”
“I was in an accident. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it’s nothing that you have to worry about,” I told him, holding his gaze. After a moment Gio nodded.
“Okay…well I wanted to show you something from school…” he went on to tell me about his day and I wished I could breathe a sigh of relief. The main focus of all this, keeping Giovanni away from us, was making sure Gio got to be happy and grow up like a regular kid. He didn’t need to be exposed to his father’s evil anymore.
“So where’s your mom?” I asked him after looking at his popsicle stick bridge blue prints. His class was working on the
project all week from what I gleaned.
“She’s getting medicine for her cold,” he said and added, “Aunt Aida is here, she’s making dinner.”
“Alright, well why don’t you get started on your homework and I’ll be out in a few minutes.” Gio nodded and hopped off the bed to go to the living room. How I envied him his dauntless mobility. Groaning as I got up, I hoped like hell Terry was able to set up the meeting with Kane. I needed to be in control of the Giovanni situation before he set foot in New York City.
***
Maddy
As I grabbed the Tylenol from the counter I felt like vomiting, nausea hit me in an intense wave and I had to hold my breath until it passed. Going out for a walk on my own to the drug store had been a far stretch. Of course Jackson and the new big guy, Marcus, came along. They were always three steps behind me. I needed to visit a certain other aisle as well and I felt so beyond awkward having them there. Then again, ever since Joshua’s stupidity in going to Chicago, they didn’t want to wait outside, just in case.
“Okay can you guys at least just…keep this part of our errand to yourselves?” I had stopped them by turning on my heel and they both seemed a little surprised, but nodded without a word. I went ahead to where they kept tampons, prenatal vitamins, and condoms all in one aisle. Stopping when I came to the pregnancy tests. Sure I had an on and off fever and was feeling dizzy and probably did have a cold or something, but I’m also really late for my period and birth control wasn’t one hundred percent foolproof. Add that to the fact that Josh and I never used a condom and well…I think I might be pregnant.
“Shit…” Marcus mumbled under his breath as I reached for two tests and I glanced over my shoulder to see Jackson glancing at him. They both wore equal expressions of being pissed off.
“What’s…wrong?” I asked slowly.
“You being pregnant? That just puts a lot more urgency on the Giovanni situation,” Jackson said softly.
“Well I don’t know for sure…so just—like I said, say nothing.” I stared both of them down and they each nodded, sort of like Gio did when he’s been scolded and knows I’m right. When we got back to the penthouse, Jackson actually hid the pregnancy tests for me, promising to put it in my bedside drawer for me.
“Hi Mommy, are you feeling better yet?” Gio was first to greet me, all the way from the breakfast bar. Aunt Aida was just setting out dinner, which smelled amazing. Josh was finally awake and sitting gingerly at the breakfast bar as well. His bruising had gotten darker, though his swelling wasn’t as bad. His nose was getting back to normal size, as was his cheek.
“A little better, I think the cool air helped,” I smiled and went over to kiss him on the cheek. Josh gave me a light peck on the lips and Aunt Aida gave me a huge hug.
“I made your favorite…” she said and didn’t even have to finish speaking.
“Dumpling soup!” Gio laughed at my exuberance as I dropped the Tylenol off on the counter and went to sit with everyone else. My earlier nausea forgotten.
“So how are you feeling?” I asked Josh while rubbing his back. He looked at me with a small smile and simply shrugged. When he turned his head to focus on his soup I bit my lip in worry. Either he was having a hard time with something and didn’t want to talk about it with Gio and Aida around, or…maybe he was upset with me? I mean…I did bring the crazy that was Giovanni into his life.
“I’m surprised Maddy, usually you’d be tearing into that,” Aida said, noticing I was lost in my thoughts. I smiled and took a spoonful of her signature soup. As soon as I had it in my mouth I focused completely on the soup, everything else almost melting away.
“Mommy looks like she’s in heaven,” Gio giggled and I nearly choked on my soup, laughing.
“I am, this soup is the best,” I said and took another bite. I glanced at Josh who had a small smile on his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes at all. He was definitely distracted. Glancing at Aida I saw she noticed as well. My chest started to feel tight with some anxiety and I went back to quietly eating my soup and also feeling a bit awkward.
Aunt Aida didn’t stay after dinner, though she did promise to be back around the time Gio got off from school tomorrow. I got Gio ready for bed and he played a quick game of checkers with Josh before he put Gio to bed.
“Hey…” I caught Josh trying to clean up the living room, his face registering pain every time he bent down even slightly.
“Hey, how’s the fever?” he asked, gesturing to the Tylenol on the counter.
“It’s…okay,” I said, “nothing too bad. How is your pain?” I asked him, almost cautiously walking over to help him clean up.
“Nothing too bad to handle once I’m up and moving,” he said, shrugging it off like any other guy.
“How have you been feeling? You were sort of quiet the entire evening,” I hedged.
“It’s nothing…just the pain killers make me space out a little bit,” he said offhandedly. I chewed on my lip again and finished putting away the board game for him. “I’m going to go check on some e-mails for a little while,” he said and left to head upstairs. I pursed my lips and decided to let him go, maybe he just needed time alone…hell, maybe he was just feeling spacey because of the meds.
I tiptoed upstairs after a while. Josh wasn’t anywhere in sight around the bedroom so I went ahead and snuck the pregnancy tests downstairs to finally see what was what. After waiting the appropriate times for the results to show up, I went and checked the tests. Both said the same thing, I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry.
***
Joshua
“So he’s agreed to come by tonight?” I asked and Terry nodded.
“He realizes the gravity of your situation and wants to help as soon as he can, but he can be here tomorrow morning if you can’t meet him tonight.”
“No, no…tell him to come on over,” I said and ran my fingers through my hair. I was pretty sure I heard Maddy go back upstairs after watching TV. Though why she didn’t just watch the one in our room I don’t know. I couldn’t focus on work too much, there was a lot being demanded of me what with the new board just getting its feet wet. Our company was growing fast and publicly which meant I, as the major owner and founder of the company, had a lot of press I should be dealing with. Interviews and all that crap were piling up, but my face was…well, I didn’t want to have some scandal preceding my young company’s success. Nor could I heft interview after interview on my partners.
“Josh?” I snapped out of it and focused on Terry. Jackson was studiously looking at the surveillance monitors, which wasn’t his job really, he should be about to turn in for the night.
“Sorry, what’d you say Terry?” I asked him and he gestured to Jackson.
“Jack is taking the night shift on surveillance, Thomas’s wife went into labor so he’ll be out for a few days. But I’ll stay for your meeting with Kane,” he assured me.
“Sure, sure…thanks,” I said, shaking his hand and glancing at Jackson again. “Everything alright Jackson? You don’t mind staying do you?”
He snapped out of whatever train of thought he was on and nodded.
“Yeah, yeah, everything’s good here. Don’t worry,” he said, his speech a little rushed. But Jackson’s never been one to keep me out of the loop so I let his odd behavior go. I went upstairs, as quickly as I could manage, and found Maddy on the bed, curled up and reading her tablet.
“Hey, still up?” I asked, she usually went to sleep by ten at the latest since she had early shifts at the hospital.
“Yeah…they gave me the day off tomorrow, don’t want me getting everyone sick and all,” she said softly. “Thought I mentioned it earlier,” she said without looking up.
“Oh, okay then.” I sat next to her on the bed and she sat up, pausing her reading to give me her full attention. She seemed tired, her eyes a little distant.
“Are you coming to bed…?” she asked, almost hesitantly.
“No…I uh, have some stuff to
finish up. I’ll be back in an hour,” I said, feeling like shit for lying to her…again.
“I’ll wait up for you?” she asked softly, her fingers lightly brushing my lips. It took everything in me to keep up the nonchalance. I wanted her bad, I wanted to be so close that she was my own skin and I hers…but I had to take care of the bigger things first.
“You don’t have to, you know, with the fever and all, I know you’re trying to fight it off.” I gave her a small smile and kissed her on the lips, she was still warm.
“Alright…” she sighed. I pushed a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear and held her green gaze for a moment.
“You know I love you right?” She nodded, her eyes filling with everything she wanted to say, but didn’t…or wouldn’t, I wasn’t sure.
“I love you too,” was all she did say.
I got up then and left her with her tablet. By the time I got downstairs Terry was in the living room talking to a man as big as Marcus. Though his longish blond hair was pulled into a bun and his gaze was like a laser focus as he watched me come down.
“Mr. Aberdeen,” he said in greeting and with a slight nod of his head. I went to shake his hand and saw his eyes taking in my injuries. “I take it you’ve had an eventful time in Chicago,” he said and I wondered if he was making a joke, or being kind of snarky. But Terry smirked next to him, so I let it go.
“Eventful to say the least. Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice.” I gestured for him to have a seat on the couch as I lowered into a sofa chair.
“It’s no problem, to be honest I have a special interest in the Spesato Mafia of Chicago. They are a rather extensive organization, always coincidentally linked in one way or another to all the gang and gun violence associated with the city’s South Side. Terry had reached out to me wondering if I had any information to help. Well I have quite a bit, amassed over countless months, on Giovanni Spesato and his father,Ennio.” A bit of hope and some relief found its way into my chest, it seemed like Kane was everything I needed.