Haven

by J D Worth

  “What?” He points up to the Moon, and I follow his finger, gazing at the wonder in the sky. He gives Chaz a final, crushing kick. I catch the asshole’s limp body lurching back from the abrasive blow. We gaze down at him. “That works too.” Green Eyes chuckles into the darkness.

  A large buff guy with short buzzed hair swings around the berm. “Wondering what was taking you so long. Did you grab the JD?” he asks, still a distance away before taking in the surrounding scene.

  “Give me ten minutes, Cal. I gotta escort these two back to the resort,” Green Eyes says. He steps into my space, making quick work of knotting his shirt at my hip and rolling up the sleeves to my elbows. I stare up at him again. “Lick your lips,” his voice draws a feather light whisper. After wetting my lips, he swipes the remaining blood away with his thumb. The cut stings, releasing more blood into my mouth. Checking to see if his friend left, he turns in front of me. Cal seems intent on staying, so Green Eyes widens his stance, blocking my view on purpose. I take a small curious step to the side anyway, checking out his friend, my real personal handler.

  Cal takes his time surveying our figures in the semidarkness. His eyes land to where Green Eyes dropped Chaz. Blood seeps from his nose while his body rests at an unnatural position in the sand. “What the fuck, Mace?”

  My toes sink further into the damp sand. Cal takes a strong interest, eyeing me with a hardness that makes me want to hide behind ‘Mace.’ If this big, beefy guy rushed up to me, I’d retreat from his massive presence. His posture goes rigid as he squares his shoulders towards us. “Fuck! Did this Yankee bastard try something?”

  “Got it handled, brother.” Mace remains calm and unfazed, playing down the situation for his friend, who’s as intimidating as he is. “His pompous Yankee ass had too much to drink at the wedding. If you wanna help, drop Pretty Boy here off at Sonny’s bar.” Cal hasn’t taken his eyes off from me once. I know he’s being cautious around me. I’m the obvious outsider and fellow “Yankee” from the resort. Not to mention, his next security job.

  Cal questions, “Sonny’s?”

  “He’s wasted, so no blow back. When he sobers up and starts shooting his sorry ass mouth, Sonny’s boys will take care of him. If he wants to get fucked up, we’ll show him how it’s done in the South.”

  Cal laughs, taking his focus off me and making eye contact with Mace. “You’re right. This little shit won’t ever dare step foot below the Mason-Dixon again. Damn, I should’ve thought of that myself.” Cal throws the useless sack of shit over his shoulder with ease.

  “I work in construction,” he shares as I stare in amazement. He grins at me. “You good?”

  “Thanks, I’m better now. I’m enjoying the bottle of Jack that I just stole back from Mace.” I gesture to the bottle of whiskey cradled to my chest. My smile comes out lopsided due to my fat lip. Mace snickers.

  “You’re her, huh? The infamous Audrey.”

  “I’m not infamous.”

  Mace’s deep voice slices through the air. “Princess. Through and through.”

  “Yeah?” Cal asks.

  I look to Mace. “You stole that private dossier while doing recon on me for your friend? How strongly did my family paint me as a wild child?”

  “You’re holding a stolen bottle of JD.” His eyes crinkle as he grins. “Like I said…”

  “I’ll return the bottle after a few more sips. However, you stole the whiskey first!”

  Cal winks at me. “You’re a total goof, aren’t you?”

  “I’ve been called worse,” I mutter. Cal lets out a big belly laugh. “Cal, are you my personal bodyguard or handler by chance?”

  “Do you need one? Trouble seems to follow you.” Cal’s hold on Chaz tightens, but he aims his chin toward Mace.

  “Ah, no!” I straighten my posture. “Mrs. Aster didn’t hire you?”

  “You mean for security at the resort? I work there too, but she didn’t personally hire me.” He hitches his thumb towards Chaz. “This is more up my ally. You wouldn’t believe how many drunk, rich punks I gotta cart back to their suites. Given the nature of the private retreat, they seem to let loose. Last night, I had to drag a naked tanked hooligan from the eighteenth hole on the golf course. I’m not sure they pay me enough for the indecency I suffer.”

  Mace retorts, “You weren’t complaining when he paid you five big ones.”

  “Still, you think I want his junk anywhere near me?”

  Pegging the spoiled pretty boy as the obnoxious son of a tech giant, I speak up, “Next time you run across a young guest whose proclivity for nudity will guarantee embarrassment, take him directly to his father. You’ll triple your tip. Grandmothers pay even more.”

  Cal bellows out a hearty laugh. He aims his grin towards Mace, asking, “You just had to antagonize Trent for his tattoo makeup, didn’t cha? Even got a drunk after your sorry ass. Whatcha do, steal his woman while you were at it?”

  Mace returns a tight smile. “I’ll have Jax meet you in twenty. Make sure you buy the house several rounds. Remember, brother, no blow back.” Mace pulls out a wad of money, handing over several hundreds to Cal.

  Cal motions to me. “Don’t worry. This little shit won’t swipe your Jack again. Though, can’t say the same ’bout Mace. He’s the one who swiped the hooligan’s expensive Italian suit.” Cal smacks Mace on the shoulder in passing.

  “Just take the trash out, brother!” Mace throws back in a playful way. Cal laughs while turning back around the berm. Once he’s gone, Mace turns his intense expression back to me. “What’s your real deal? Are you a wild child playing up the good girl angle?”

  “No! Cal was wrangling with his anger, and you were downplaying the situation. The last thing I need is more trouble, so I gave him venture capitalist advice as a distraction. Who are you? The moral police? Teaching that kid a lesson by stealing his suit. You stole from the bar and the wedding gift baskets. What kind of grifter are you?”

  Mace’s eyes slide down to his white shirt, reminding me of the predicament I am in. “You got any more bullshit you need to get off your chest?”

  I toss my hands up and drop them in defeat. They go limp against my body. “Yes, I am in a state of … disrepair, and I’m obviously massively upset by this notion.” I fail my arms around me. “I don’t know how to stop all of this!”

  Mace’s forehead folds with worry lines. “Pretty Boy is not gonna touch you again.”

  “You may have taken care of Chaz, but I still have family obligations tonight.” If I blow off the press photos or share this experience with my family, my grandmother will send me back to the city tonight. They’ll spin my accusations as a jealous child sabotaging my father’s wedding. Lilith will never allow me an ounce of freedom again, assigning a bodyguard and driver to watch over me. She’d go as far as cutting all my funds, rendering me dependent. All for the sake of teaching me a hard lesson of where my place is in the family: the obedient daughter. I hang my head in resignation as shame settles into my deepest cracks.

  “You’re good, Princess.” Mace lifts my chin.

  Beaten down, I let my head fall to the side. “No, you don’t understand. By trying to take an actual breather, I messed everything up! Fredrick is flying back to New York as we speak. What am I supposed to do? I have to appear in family photos for the press, and my family won’t believe me even wearing this spectacular getup.” Glancing down at the white shirt hiding my ripped dress, there’s isn’t much I can do. “No, I don’t know how to stop my emotions from raging out of control!”

  One side of his face scrunches up at me. “Out of everything that’s happening, you wanna axe your emotions?”

  “Yes,” I exclaim.

  Two girls and a guy emerge from around the berm. The guy speaks up, “Cal told us ’bout the little shit he was dropping at Sonny’s. What can I do to help, brother?”

  “Jax, we gotta meet up with Cal. Work your valet magic and find something that’ll pass. I
’ll meet you in ten.”

  “More than glad to rid a sorry as shit Yankee!” Jax gives Mace a shoulder pat before he takes off toward the resort. A discomfort lodges in my throat. Still, to this day, I never realized how strong the divide is. I should when it’s blaringly obvious. The North is bloated with excessive wealth while poverty passes down generations like unwanted heirlooms in the South.

  “I need you two to make her photo op ready.” Mace looks between the two girls. “Violet, grab your bag of tricks,” Mace asks the striking petite girl wearing a sundress with a matching scarf wrapped around her long blonde hair. Violet runs back to grab her bag. The tall, raven-haired woman crosses her arms while assessing me. Her brows snap together, as she challenges me. I’m an unwelcome guest at their beach party. I’m not about to bring up the fact that I’m the owner of the private beach on which they’re partying when Mace is giving me a hand. “Payton?” Mace places his hands on her face. “Sweetheart, she needs your help too.”

  I offer, “I think—”

  “We’ve got it, Princess.” Snapping my mouth shut, I watch their intimate exchange.

  Payton sneers at Mace. “Yeah, I heard you! I’m only doing this to help Violet.” He murmurs in her ear. She eases off the harsh look she’s giving him. He smiles at her and plants a kiss on her forehead.

  Violet jets forward, holding up a colorful patchwork bag. “I’ve always got my magical bag, Mace!” She shares a lighthearted laugh. “In fact, Trent needed my assistance earlier.”

  Mace turns his attention to my ankle, asking, “You think you can walk on that bum ankle? You’re hobbling at best.”

  “I went down hard. There’s no doubt I sprained my ankle.” The pain in my stomach seems to be overpowering all my other surfacing injuries. Right now, they’re the least of my worries. I could be shipped off tomorrow to a strict reform summer program. Lilith could drop me into another grueling analyst gig, and I won’t see daylight until Harvard. Lilith and William hold my future in their hands, so there isn’t much I can do.

  “Hop on,” Mace says, offering me a piggyback ride.

  “The dress is too tight,” I rasp. He lifts me up, locking his hands under my rear and steers us to the resort.

  “Not the kitchen. All the vendors are using that entry point. Thankfully, the Secret Service took off an hour ago with their charges,” Mace commands, guiding us around the back to the employee entrance.

  “Oh, my shoes! I left them in the sand by the kitchen door.”

  “I’ll grab ’em when I sweep back through,” Mace states, leading us down a long hallway into the women’s employee locker room. The flickering overhead fluorescents lends to the surreal environment. He eases me down and checks my ankle. “It’s swollen, but you’re able to put weight on your foot. Looks like a bad sprain to me.” He stands up and brushes his thumb over my bleeding lip again. “Trust these ladies here.” I stare at him in wonder, amazed how quickly he flipped the situation in my favor. His eyes darken as he steps into the shadowed hall, heading out without another word.

  “Ah, Mace?” I say with hesitation, testing out his peculiar name.

  He swings back around, wincing in my direction as he takes me in under the gritty lights. “Yes, Princess?”

  “Thank you for—” I use my hands to motion the words I’m unable to make out: rescuing me from a sexual assault and helping me save face with my family.

  He steps back in my direction. “Here’s the thing ’bout emotions, you can’t stop ’em no matter how hard you try. You can’t stuff ’em deep inside either. Whether you use drugs, alcohol, or sex to forget, I’ll tell you right now they don’t work. You deal with ’em the moment they come up. That’s how you move on.” Hit by whiplash, I waver in my spot. A cold dose of reality evicts all remnants of anger from me. “Just so you know, a guest gave me his gift basket for a last minute security favor I pulled for him. The naked golf hooligan was giving Cal a hard time, ripping his uniform in the process. Cal’s on the hook to replace his own uniform, so that little shithead got what he deserved.”

  Business is what I understand. My mind overtakes my rampant emotional state. Calmness settles over me. “No, that’s not right. The uniforms are a business expenditure the Aster Resort, as a company, purchases from a midscale New York clothing distributer.”

  Mace shares, “Only the first one is free.”

  “They can’t legally claim the suits as an expense and make you pay as well.” This isn’t the first I’ve heard of the shady business practices the Asters like to pull on unsuspecting employees. I can’t wait to clean up all facets of the Aster Empire by starting at the top and getting rid of Lilith.

  “Well, they do, Princess.”

  Payton says from behind, “That means they’ve been double dipping for years,” No doubt, the Asters have been profiting off their poor employees from the start.

  I reply, “I’d say that practice is done if all the employees here band together and stand their ground.”

  Mace bows his head. I’m trying to make good with him for assuming the worst. My chest pings as he departs again. When I turn around, two sets of quizzical eyes deepen their focus upon me.

  “Ah, my name is Audrey. I met Green Eyes, umm I mean Mace, while he was stealing a bottle of Jack Daniels from my father’s wedding,” I say, easing back into the uncomfortable situation of why we are here.

  “That sounds about right. You pegged him as Green Eyes, huh? I’m Violet, and this is Payton. The sweet and dopey tattooed guy is my boyfriend Jax. The gargantuan one is Cal.” Payton bumps her shoulder and Violet looks up to her. “Compared to little ole me, Cal is huge! There ain’t no denying it, sister. He’s got a foot and a half on me. I’m used to being around big men. My daddy, Walt, is huge.” Violet smiles back at me. “Sorry, my friend can be rude and excessively grumpy,” she says, placing makeup on the ledge of a long mirror.

  “Mace told me about Cal before so I wouldn’t be taken aback when I met him. Security protocols for my family requires that we meet with all the team members.”

  “That makes sense.” Violet nods.

  Payton gazes at my lip and draws an imaginary line down my chest, my arms, and my knuckles. The blood has crusted over the open cuts. She frowns, rushing out of the room.

  “Oh, no. Did I give the wrong impression about Mace? Are they dating?”

  Violet laughs hard. “No. Mace has Darla who’s the love of his life!” She pauses before sharing, “Payton needs time to warm up to outsiders. She hardly trusts anyone. It took me a whole year when I first met her. We’re the best of friends now.”

  “I’m sorry for ruining everyone’s evening by crashing your party.”

  “No worries, but are you sure you’re okay? You sprained your ankle and tore your dress?” Violet asks as her brow puckers, patting a stool for me to sit on.

  “Yes,” I reply, clearing my constricted throat. “Before Mace showed up, I was able to land a decent punch.”

  “Oh, dear!” Violet sways back, racing her eyes over me.

  “She sure as shit drew blood too.” Payton displays a smug smile, returning with several bags of ice and a stack of towels. “I work here as seasonal wait staff.” She places one bag by my lip for me to hold in place. She wraps another bag in a towel around my sore ankle and adds the last to my wrist. Now, I know that Mace informed her of my injuries when he whispered in her ear.

  “We’ve all worked here as seasonal staff,” Violet says with sarcastic flair.

  Payton dampens a towel in warm water and wipes my neck. “You have some blood here.” We both notice the fine sprays of blood across Mace’s white shirt. Chilling shivers crawl across my skin.

  “Do you mind?” Payton undoes the knot before unbuttoning the shirt. I shake my head no, lifting my arms so she can remove the shirt easier.

  Payton drops the shirt to the floor. Violet gasps. Smears of dark crimson paint my neck and chest, leaving behind the evidence of my horrific en
counter. My ripped dress reveals more of the tragic tale. So do the angry red welts all over my pale white skin.

  Violet whispers on the verge of watery tears, “Maybe we should call Candace?”

  Payton’s steady eyes meet mine as she asks, “Do you need to go to the hospital?” The heavy implication lies in her voice. “The closest one is up the coast in Northport. My sister Candace works nights as a nurse there, and she’d meet us in the emergency room.”

  “No, honest. I really need to get back to my father’s reception. Mace stopped him before—” My throat clamps up. The girls hold their breath while shock ripples over them. A tear bounces down Violet’s cheek.

  Payton gazes at me while Violet places her hand on my shoulder, comforting me. An introspective silence befalls the three of us. Payton gently washes the blood from my body. She points out the different marks that Violet needs to cover with foundation. Every so often, Violet sweeps stray tears from her eyes. Crying is not an option for me.