Image of Deceit

by Rumer Raines

“I know this whole situation has to be difficult for you, but please, remember we are your family. We love you, Alexis, and just want what’s best for you,” Lola commiserates, and I start to laugh. She raises an eyebrow, looking at me like I have lost my mind.

  “You love me and want what’s best for me? I’ll keep that in mind,” I tell her sarcastically and walk away to unlock the cash register.

  Lola doesn’t say much to me for the remainder of the morning and I keep watching the entrance hoping that Noah shows up. He said he would call and it’s almost noon. When I hear my cell phone ring, I rush behind the counter to grab it, seeing Noah’s name on the caller ID. Noah tells me that he is in the coffee shop and asks me to meet him.

  Noah stares at me with dark, cold, angry eyes and I hold my coffee with both hands to keep myself calm. Why is he looking at me like this? Noah glances at everyone that walks into the coffee shop and I can’t help but notice that he is intense and just seems different.

  “Noah, what’s wrong?” I ask as he lifts his gaze to look at another person walking in.

  Noah narrows his eyes and places both arms on the table, leaning toward me.

  “I need to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me.”

  “Okay. Ask me,” I say softly, and his eyes narrow on me.

  “Was Nick involved in the Mafia when you were fucking him?” Noah growls and I gasp not only from his words but his tone.

  “Noah…” I start to answer, and he slams his fist down on the table shaking my coffee cup.

  “Answer the damn question, Alexis!” Noah hisses and I shake my head not knowing how to answer his question.

  “I don’t know,” I whisper, and Noah pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes.

  “You know, Alexis. Just fucking tell me!” he spits out and I turn to makes sure no one is listening.

  “I don’t know, Noah,” I whisper. Then tell him that I am only recently finding out some things myself.

  “What did you recently find out?” Noah mocks me, and I shake my head, wondering if I really knew him after all.

  “Nothing about Nick. I just found out things about my own brothers.”

  “Are you trying to tell me that you didn’t know your brothers are the fucking mob?” Noah questions me, and I look away from his penetrating gaze as I fight back my tears.

  “Fuck,” Noah curses. Then I hear him let out a small, evil chuckle.

  “You honestly didn’t know. How did you figure it out? he asks.

  I shake my head thinking back to Noah telling me that he was looking for Nick. What am I supposed to tell him? I figured it out when you mentioned looking for your dead brother? I am startled out of my thoughts by Noah calling my name repeatedly. I meet his eyes again and he lifts his eyebrows waiting for my response.

  “I am not talking about them with you.”

  “Tell me about Nick. How long were you with him?” Noah asks, and this isn’t a conversation I want to have either. I guess if I must choose between talking about his brother or mine, the safest choice would be his.

  Noah remains quiet as I tell him how I met Nick and how we hated each other when we first met. I told him how Nick owned the security company that Lola’s father used and how Nick protected Adele. Noah’s eyes become distant as I tell him that I honestly loved Nick and thought we would always be together.

  “Why did he leave?” Noah asks, and I remember that Noah thinks Nick is alive and well. He doesn’t know that Adele’s ex killed Nick and my brothers buried his fucking body.

  “He had another job, Noah. I think he is protecting some other judge.” I lie, and I feel sick realizing that I am no better than Alex or Frank

  Noah chuckles and leans over the table, pulling my hand into his.

  “Alexis… I know you well enough to know when you’re lying. Tell me the truth,” he growls, and I pull my hands away and wipe away the tear that has fallen.

  “You were telling the truth until I asked you about Nick leaving. Where is he, Alexis?” Noah asks me again, and I feel my heart racing and my chest tightening. I can hardly breathe and feel a panic attack coming on. I stare into Noah’s dark, intense eyes as he waits for me to tell him the truth and I feel faint. I hate being put into this fucking situation by my own family. I hate that I must keep quiet and keep their secrets. I hate that I am sitting across from this man that I have fallen in love with and I must lie to him the way everyone has been lying to me.

  “Alexis... Just fucking tell me where he is!” Noah repeats and I close my eyes hoping that I am not about to make a major fuck up.

  “Noah…” I quietly say, and I wipe away the new tears that have started to fall.

  “Nick is dead,” I whisper, and the color slowly drains from Noah’s face.

  Noah

  I think I stopped breathing because everything went black for minutes. I don’t remember anything she said after those words came from her mouth. The next thing I remember is Alexis holding my hand and calling my name. My eyes focus, and she is still sitting across from me and she is crying harder than she was minutes ago. I snatch my hand away from her and I watch her mouth move, but I don’t hear any words come out.

  When I push my chair out to move, Alexis grabs me again and I stare at her, but now I hear her small voice. I shake my head and rub my forehead as I hear her pleading with me to let her explain. I shake her hand off me again and she tilts her head wiping away more pointless tears.

  “How did he die?” I ask, and she catches her breath and leans towards me.

  “Adele’s husband killed him. He killed Nick while he was protecting Adele.”

  “Why wasn’t my family advised, Alexis? If this happened, the cops would have been called and they would have advised my family,” I practically yell at her. Then it hits me, and I start to laugh as I shake my head staring at her.

  “The cops wouldn’t have been called because Adele was fucking the damn mob. Of course, this all makes sense, now doesn’t it? Your brothers got rid of Nick’s body and no one would have noticed until we filed the missing person report. I didn’t think anyone was looking for Nick because they weren’t. Alex knew the name of the detective I talked to about the report. So, I was talking to a dirty cop who told me what Alex told him to say.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and push away Alexis’ hand when she tries to touch me.

  “Noah,” she entreats.

  “How long have you known?”

  “I knew Nick was dead. When I realized you were his brother and didn’t know, I started asking questions. I didn’t realize who you were or that you didn’t know about Nick until you made that toast to Nick. When you went back to Boston, I started asking questions,” she whispers, and I take a deep breath and sigh.

  “Of course, I knew something changed that night. I begged you to tell me what was going on and you wouldn’t. You protected them.”

  “They are my brothers, Noah. They didn’t kill Nick, Garth did.”

  “I should believe you now? As far as I know, Alex killed Nick. We will never know since they probably buried him in fucking cement!” I yell and glance around the coffee shop, which thankfully is empty except for a barista who is focused on her cell phone.

  I push out my chair ready to be done with this conversation and Alexis. Nick is dead, and she knew about it. She has spent all this time with me knowing and she kept her mouth shut. Did I not mean anything to her? I start to walk away and notice that Alexis moves too.

  “Noah,” Alexis says as she stands and grabs my arm. I pull away from her and avoid looking at her.

  “You’re about to get what you wanted, Alexis,” I tell her as I continue to avoid looking at her.

  “What?” she asks.

  “I am going back to Boston. I am done with you.” I close my eyes and walk away from her and I don’t look back. I can feel her eyes on my back as I leave the coffee shop. I don’t stop until I am back in my hotel room, and throwing my things into the suitcase. I stare at the guns laying on the
bed and close my eyes realizing that I need to get rid of them since I can’t go through airport security with them. I pick up one of the guns and for a few seconds, I think about going after them. I can easily kill Alex and Frank Deluca and be at the airport before night.

  I am so tempted to find a damn alley and shoo Frank Deluca in the fucking head before he walks into the club. I would handle Alex Deluca differently. I wouldn’t want to kill him quick and easy. I would want him to suffer. I would break each one of his fucking fingers and beat the hell out of him.

  I make sure both guns are loaded, and I put one in the waistband of my pants and the other in my coat pocket and I head to Deluca’s.

  I feel like a fucking stalker waiting in the alley for any signs of the Delucas.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” a voice says behind me as I feel something hard and cold hit the side of my face.

  “I am waiting for someone,” I whisper and lift my hands as the person shoves me against the building and sticks a hand in my pocket pulling out my pistol. I hear him chuckle as he pats me down. I wonder if I should fight my way out of this

  “You’re in the wrong fucking territory, Hudson,” he says and backs away. I turn around to face the guy that Alexis sent to the townhouse to talk to me. I narrow my eyes at him as I watch him tuck away my pistol, but he still points his at me.

  “What are you really doing here? You don’t seem like the type to hang around in alleys with pistols. Not to mention that other gun you have tucked away,” he says and lifts an eyebrow to me.

  “If you know I have it, why didn’t you take it? I can easily pull it out and kill you.”

  “I’m not new to this, Hudson. You would be dead before you reached it. I also don’t think Alexis would fall for a killer.”

  “She did fall for one, Nick.” I spit out and close my eyes at the thought of my brother being involved with these fucking killers.

  “What exactly are you planning, Hudson? You thought you would sneak up on the Delucas and try to avenge Nick? Let me show you something.” Oliver walks past me and points to a red light that is on the building and walks over to another small red light. He turns back to me with a smirk.

  “We have more fucking security in this alley than at the airport. I have been watching you for the last ten minutes wondering what the fuck you were doing. You might want to thank God that it was me and not the Delucas. If it was them, I would probably be wiping your blood out of this damn alley while Thomas was getting rid of your body.”

  “Is that what happened with Nick?” I ask, and Oliver closes his eyes and sighs.

  “What happened to Nick shouldn’t have happened. If I were you, I would stop asking questions that you don’t want the answers to,” Oliver warns, and I tilt my head looking at him.

  “What are you saying?”

  “I am saying Nick is dead. You should stick with the story you were told. Otherwise, you may hear things you don’t want to hear. Go back to Boston and run that business of yours,” Oliver tells me and turns to walk away, but I grab his arm and he stares at my hand and looks up at me.

  “What are you saying?” I ask, and Oliver pulls his arm away from me.

  “I’ll do you a big favor, Hudson and I’ll give you a little tip. You go back to your life, but don’t take your eyes off that little sister-in-law of yours,” he advises. Then he walks back into Deluca’s and the door slams. I decide to follow him, but when I try to open the door, he’s locked it. What the fuck is he talking about and why shouldn’t I take my eyes off Sam?

  Alexis

  I finally did it. I told Noah that Nick is dead. He looked at me like I killed Nick myself. Noah and I have had arguments before, but the look he gave me was heartbreaking. Noah said he was going back to Boston and I wouldn’t hear from him again. I forced myself to drive past the townhouse and there wasn’t any sign of Noah. I feel like I have fallen back into the lonely existence I was in before I met Noah. The weird thing is it feels even worse than it felt with Nick.

  Chance and I have gotten closer. I have cried on his shoulder and confided as much as I could to him. I have barely talked to Lola or Adele, unless it was store related. I have also avoided Frank and Alex and haven’t seen either of them for weeks. I do feel a little guilty that I have been skipping out on our regular Sunday family dinners. I just can’t force myself to sit at a table with any of them.

  I hesitate when Chance suggests we check out a new club that he heard was all the rave. He eventually talks me into it and several drinks later, we are both laughing and dancing.

  We are drunk and barely able to walk when we leave the club. We leave our cars parked and take a taxi to my place since it’s closer. The next morning, I feel like I am on a tightrope. I can see myself with my arms spread as I try to keep myself from falling off. As I am about to fall, I wake up and realize that I slept on the couch and I was about to fall off. I catch myself and as I sit up, I see Chance is sleeping on the floor beside me. He is lying on his back with his mouth wide open as he drools.

  I shake Chance to wake him and he growls and rubs his eyes. He closes his eyes and reopens them as he glances at me with a shocked look on his face.

  “Did we?” he questions as he looks between the two of us, not noticing that we are both fully dressed

  “NO!” I yell, and I start to step over him and the sudden movement upsets my stomach and I fall back onto the couch.

  Chance sighs and pulls himself off the floor and sits on the couch next to me. He lays his head on the back of the couch and I turn to the clock to see that we only have a few hours before we should go to the store. I put my hand on Chance’s knee and give it a small squeeze before telling him that I’m going to jump in the shower and then will make us coffee.

  When I am out of the shower, Chance is still lying where I originally left him.

  “How about we both call in and have Lola and Adele work today?” he moans, and I consider it for a few seconds and realize that it’s not an option.

  “That would require me talking to them and I am not ready for that,” I respond. Chance follows me into the kitchen.

  “They are your family,” he reminds me.

  “If I am told that one more time…” I threaten, and Chance holds his hands up as if he is surrendering to me.

  “Would you mind if I took a shower?” Chance asks, and I shake my head. While Chance is in the shower, I decide to run out to buy us breakfast. I walk two blocks to get us some bagels. When I return Chance is still in the shower. I know he was always anal, but he has been in the shower for at least thirty minutes.

  I glance at the clock and notice that another five minutes have passed, and Chance is still in the damn shower. I walk to the bathroom door and knock yelling for Chance to finish up because we do have to work today. Chance doesn’t answer me. “CHANCE! What is going on in there?” I yell, but he doesn’t answer.

  When I open the door, I gasp as there is blood smeared down the glass of the shower door. I shake my head, trembling as I walk closer and yank open the shower door as Chance’s bloody body is slumped on the shower floor. The water is washing his blood down the drain and there are bullet holes all over his chest.

  I scream and fall to the floor as I shake Chance’s lifeless body. I stand up and run to the phone to call the cops. I dial 911 and I am shaking so badly it takes forever to even dial the three numbers. I yell into the phone, “He’s dead!” and the operator tells me a car is on the way. They ask for my name and I yell, ”I’m Alexis Deluca.”

  I watch the cops parade around my home looking for evidence. One of the detectives sits next to me on the floor and starts to question me. I don’t have any more answers for him. I went out to get bagels, he was in the shower, and when I checked on him he was dead.

  “How long were you gone, Ms. Deluca?” he asks, and I narrow my eyes at him. He thinks I did it?

  “I already told you,” I whisper.

  “I need you to come to the station for more questioning,
Ms. Deluca,” he advises me. I look up just in time to see a black body bag being zipped up.

  “Ms. Deluca won’t be going anywhere with you right now. I’ll bring her to the station later if you still have questions.” I hear a familiar voice and I look up to see Oliver, who is now discussing me with the detective. I close my eyes to blink back the tears while watching Chance’s body being wheeled off. I can hear raised voices in the background, followed by scrambling feet and a few minutes later I hear the door slam.

  I feel a tender hand pulling me off the ground and I am soon sitting on my couch. Those same tender hands squeeze my knees and I realize that Oliver is kneeling in front of me with concern in his eyes.

  “Are you okay?” he asks.

  I nod, and then he asks, “What happened, Alexis?”

  I start to cry, as I explain to him about going out last night with Chance, who fell asleep and so, spent the night. I then explain about going to get bagels and then realizing he had been in the shower for a long time, I went to check on him and found him dead.

  “How did you know to come?” I ask as I wipe away tears, and Oliver takes a deep breath and sits on the couch next to me.

  “When the name Deluca comes across a police scanner, our people notice. They gave me a heads up.”

  “What about Frank and Alex? Do they know?” I ask hoping they don’t find out about this. They will be pissed that I called the cops. Maybe I should have called them first, but I just couldn’t.

  “Not yet,” Oliver says.

  “Please. They can’t find out about this, Oliver,” I beg, and Oliver’s eyes widen.

  “Do you honestly believe I can keep this from them? You called the cops, it will be front page of the Chicago Tribune. Not to mention, you’re a Deluca. I can see it now former Chicago detective with a suspected mob ties, has a sister who shoots a man in her shower,” Oliver says, as he stands to walk toward the bathroom which now has that awful yellow tape blocking off the doorway.

  “Grab a bag, Alexis. You can’t stay here.”

  “I can’t…Oh, my God… the store. Chance and I were supposed to be at the store hours ago.” I start to panic and Oliver over walks to me and puts his hands on my shoulders.