by Reina Torres
Valerio heard the tension in his voice and saw the dark look in the other man’s eyes. It was worry… concern.
“What happened?”
The first policeman hesitated.
“I’m sure you gentleman have heard about our firm. If not, I can get the Chief of Police and the District Attorney on the phone to vouch for us.”
The second policeman waved him off. “No need for that, sir. We’re just being careful.”
Valerio heard the truth in their words. “I appreciate that.”
The officer jumped right in. “We responded to a call at Miss Rossetti’s apartment tonight.” One of the men looked at him to gauge his reaction. “It was a fire alarm.”
He nodded once, struggling to fight his bear back down. He wanted to turn around and leave them at the elevator and go upstairs to Allegra, but he knew there was more to the story.
“Someone set the blaze intentionally.”
That, he could have guessed.
“There was quite a bit of damaged before the flames. Pillows and bedding were slashed. Stereo broken, smashed to pieces. There was quite a bit of damage before they poured what smelled like gasoline on… well, they poured gasoline on the bed and lit it on fire.
“We called the Director of the music group she plays with. They told us about you.”
Valerio picked it up from there. “And you came down instead of calling, because you wanted to make sure that Allegra was alive and well.”
“And that she’s here because she wants to be, Mr. Orsino.”
“You can follow me upstairs if that is truly your aim.” He looked at them in turn. “But if your intent is to upset Allegra then I will have you forcibly removed from the building.”
He stepped back into the elevator and waited. One of the policemen stepped inside, the other hovered outside the door for a minute.
Valerio waited patiently. He was in no hurry to take them home. It was the policeman already inside the elevator that spoke to his partner. “You coming, Joe?”
The other man looked Valerio over from head to toe. “And just who will ‘remove’ us from the building, sir?”
Valerio saw the man wince and knew that the policeman had seen his eyes bleed black for a milli-second. “Me.”
Allegra yawned and heard Essa chuckle from behind his music stand.
“Sorry,” she started to apologize and yawned again. “Really,” she turned toward the rest of the orchestra, “my apologizes.”
Zane, a young man from Seattle who had a true talent for the French Horn, called out from the Brass section. “No worries, Allegra. I was out late last night too.”
Allegra smiled in the direction of his voice.
“Just last night?” Linda scoffed from her seat. “You mean ‘again.’”
Essa tapped his baton on the stand. “Gentlemen? Ladies? Focus?”
The group settled down and Essa continued to speak. “After our successful performance at the Zoo, our Board of Directors have organized another event in public before our next big concert.”
An excited rumble of voices moved through the group. Allegra tensed up and tried not to show it.
It was hard enough to focus on the concert, but adding another event was just about enough to give her a panic attack. Being in public was another adventure for her, one that she’d never felt entirely confident about when she could see. Going out in front of a large crowd now should be easier since she couldn’t see them, but it had its ups and downs. It would, she decided, depend upon the venue.
When Essa started to explain the event, Allegra could barely keep her focus on his voice, so she struggled to put a look on her face that said she was paying attention, but in fact, she hadn’t heard a word of it.
It was, she decided, a merciful gift when Essa called a break. She started to move and heard someone clearing their throat. “It’s Zane. Let me take that for you.”
“Thanks,” she felt him draw her cello from her hand and heard him set it into her stand, “that’s really sweet of you.”
He laughed. “Not really,” she thought she heard him shrug and wondered how much starch he’d put into his shirt, “I’m kind of tired of everyone else getting to talk to you.”
“You can always talk to me,” she shook her head.
“Sure, sure,” he didn’t sound convinced, “I already had my horn in the case when I thought Essa was going to call I break. That way I could be the first one out of my chair.”
She laughed, feeling a little bit of her stress melting away. “You make it sound like such a competitive thing.”
A breath wooshed from his lungs. “It was. I had to elbow Mr. Connolly out of the way to get here first.”
“Mr. Connolly?” Allegra didn’t immediately place the name. “Thomas Connolly, the trumpet player?”
“Yep, that’s him,” Zane whispered to her in a voice made for the stage rather than secrets. “That sneaky bastard. I think he’s got a thing for you.”
That had her laughing out loud. “He’s a total gentleman and isn’t he in his sixties?”
Another laugh, this time from behind Zack. “I’m seventy-two. God bless you, Allegra.”
She shrugged. “You sound so young for your age, Thomas.”
“Seriously though,” Zack sighed, “are you going to your dressing room? I’d be happy to help you.”
Allegra was about to refuse, but he kind of sounded a little eager and she didn’t mind the company. It beat moving slowly around the room, just in case. The others were really helpful in keeping their instruments in their cases and keeping the cases in their designated area so that she wouldn’t trip.
It was just being nice. Some of the instruments in the group cost a pretty penny. Her own cello was worth a few hundred thousand dollars. The criminal judge hadn’t given Lance much of a jail sentence, but the civil judge had certainly enjoyed levying a huge financial price tag on Lance and his family during the civil trial. Part of the judgment was to replace her cello; which Lance had destroyed along with her sight.
As they walked around the room, Zack kept up a stream of conversation all on his own. She was actually glad he did. Since the early morning visit from the NYPD, Allegra had been running on empty.
At first, she hadn’t questioned their appearance more than on its surface. The two officers had peppered her with questions about whether or not she wanted to be with Valerio at his home. It had all been shock at the beginning, but after a while she got angry. One of the officers was pretty nice about it all, but the other one seemed to think that she couldn’t very well be trusted to make a decision about where she should live.
And when he started to question whether or not Valerio had done enough to make his home ‘safe’ enough for her, she’d nearly lost her temper. Okay, so she’d lost her temper when he’d all but insinuated that she was no more capable to care for herself than a baby.
It hadn’t ended up all that bad. Angry sex was everything she’d never expected and pretty breathtaking in its power.
As Zack pushed open her dressing room door, Allegra yawned again.
“I’m sorry, Zack.”
He chuckled and remained in her doorway as she moved into her dressing room, her hand reaching out for the arm to her couch. Once she touched it she settled back into the soft cushions to relax.
“It’s okay, Allegra. I just wanted to say I really enjoyed your performance at the zoo.”
She smiled and picked up a throw pillow to hold. “Thanks, that’s really nice of you to say.”
“It’s not nice if it’s the truth,” he told her and then went silent for a moment. “Hey, I was wondering-”
“Hmm?” She was fighting off the ZZZs.
“Are you really serious about that guy?”
“That guy?” She shook herself a little, struggling to stay awake. “Valerio?”
“Yeah,” he cleared his throat, “the big guy that looks like he could bench press a Buick. He’s been dropping you off and picking you up. And
yeah, he’s like one of those guys on those Romance book covers, not that I read them, ‘cause I don’t, but you know the type… tall, dark, broodingly handsome.”
“Zack? If you want to ask Valerio out”-
“Whoa!” She heard him pace back a few steps and then return to the doorway, his voice lowered into an energetic hiss. “I’m not after him.”
“What, then why…” the answer kind of popped up in her head, “wait… are you saying that-”
“I was just kind of hoping that you guys weren’t… exclusive. You know?” His voice lowered a bit, becoming strained. “Maybe you’d like to go out with me. Maybe dinner,” he started, “a concert, a movie- oh wait. That’s stupid, Zack. Good one. I mean-”
“Zack?” She waited a moment but he kept talking. “Zack?”
His rolling comments stopped short. “Yeah?”
She bit her lip for a moment and then let it go. “I don’t think we’ve discussed exactly what we are,” she didn’t like hedging around the truth. Allegra didn’t think she could explain the whole ‘mate’ thing without letting too much out of the bag. “But, I’m totally in love with Valerio.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I thought I’d totally missed out, but I just had to ask. Just in case.”
She shook her head. “No worries, Zack. Really, I’m tickled. Shocked, but tickled. I’m glad you did ask.”
“Hey,” he sighed, “I’m always too late.” His voice dimmed at the end. “If you want I’ll come back and take you back to your chair in a bit. Maybe after you read the note on your table.”
“Note?”
Zack moved passed her into the room, stopped at her makeup table and then back to her. “Hold out your hand.”
She did and felt the crisp envelope in her hand. “Thanks.”
“You want me to read it?” He sounded a little more nervous now.
Testing the outside of the envelope, she felt the raised braille letters on the paper inside. “No, I think I have this, thanks.”
Zack mumbled his goodbye and stepped outside.
Allegra leaned back in her chair and opened the envelope. She was expecting a letter from her physical therapist and was eager to hear the news from her old friend. Dropped the envelope down on her lap she set the paper on the seat cushion beside her and started to read.
Call off your dog, Allegra.
You better tell him to leave my parents alone.
I’m tired of you ruining my life.
Don’t make that mistake again.
Chapter Thirteen
Allegra heard someone call her name when she stepped out onto the street.
“Allegra! Wait there.”
Smiling, Allegra waited for Natale to reach her side.
“What are you doing here?”
Taking her arm, Natale gave it a squeeze. “Salvatore and I came to pick you up and bring you back home.”
“Salvatore? Really, why?”
“Because you’re family.” The low rumble of sound beyond the warmth of Natale against her side. “Unless you have any errands that we may help with, we can bring you home.”
Home.
As odd as it sounded, it felt good too.
“If you’re busy, I can catch a cab or-”
“Busy? Never too busy for you.” Natale’s voice was a rush of enthusiasm. “Maybe you’ll let us take you to get something to eat on the way.”
Allegra couldn’t help but smile at the bright tone of Natale’s voice. She was completely the opposite from Salvatore in that regard. He was a deep, dark rumbling bass and Natale was a warm-hearted mezzo, full of sharps and syncopated rhythms.
“I’m fine, thank you.” Allegra surrendered herself to Natale’s enthusiasm as she led her toward the car. “Where’s Valerio?”
“See, Salvatore? I told you she couldn’t help herself.” Natale took Allegra’s hand and set it on the frame of the car. “The door’s right here, Allegra.”
Allegra got in and moved over so that Natale could come in after her. It only took a few more seconds to get everyone inside.
“Anyway,” Natale started to speak when the car pulled away from the curb, “Val wanted us to make sure you got home safely. He and Uberto are on a plane.”
“A plane?” Allegra couldn’t help the shock that staggered her. “Where to?”
She heard a moment of hesitation in the silence of the car.
Salvatore answer the question. “Geneva.”
“Geneva.” The word settled on her shoulders like bricks. “Is that where Lance is?”
“The court ordered his parents to divulge his location.”
“Salvatore!” Natale laughed. “His voice makes it sound so much more ominous than it is.” Allegra heard a solid whack. “Try not to scare her, okay?”
“Sorry.”
Allegra heard a note of humor in his voice.
“I wasn’t trying to scare you.”
“It’s not your fault.” Her mind was already working over the bits and pieces in her head. The note said that her ‘dog’ had gone to his parents. Valerio had gone to see the Singletons. She cringed, understanding what that visit had likely been like. Before the trial, she’d only met Erik and Lana Singleton a few times when they’d come to student performances. They didn’t come to other events, the small personal interactions at school. No, the Singletons had a public image to protect. They came for the high-profile moments and that was all that mattered.
In the court, she could almost feel their eyes on her when they were in the room. She had a feeling that Mrs. Singleton hated her the most. Allegra had been the woman who had seduced her son and the woman who he had intended to perform with around the world. She was, as Mrs. Singleton had called her on the stand, ‘an interloper of the worst kind. A woman with a hippy name and rotund figure who should have thanked her stars that a man as fine and talented and handsome as Lance was had even taken notice of her in the first place.’
The trouble was, she felt that way. Felt that way.
But that was a long time ago.
That was before she woke up in a hospital bed only to find out that the rest of her life was going to be in the dark.
“Can’t you have them just turn around?” She felt a tightness in her chest. “They don’t have to go and see him. It’s not necessary.”
There was a pall over the mood in the car, a grey moody fog that she felt as if it lay over her skin. “What are you worried about?” Salvatore’s voice was cautious and she felt as if he was watching her carefully to see her reaction.
“I’m worried about Valerio.”
“Worried?” This time it was Natale who shifted over from one bench seat to sit beside her. “Why?”
Allegra felt Natale’s fingers fit between hers, offering strength. And she took it gladly. Turning toward Salvatore, she answered. “I don’t want your brothers to get hurt. Lance can seem so sweet and sincere.” She pulled her hand free from Natale and fumbled for her purse to look for her phone, but the anxiety riding her emotions made it extremely difficult to pull it out of her purse. She dropped it twice before she heard Natale’s calm voice in her ear.
“Here, use my phone.” Allegra felt Natale take a hold of her wrist and set the phone in her hand. “It’s dialing.”
The call went to voicemail and Allegra left Valerio a short message. She didn’t have to be long-winded at a time like that. Actually, she worried that a long-winded explanation would only dilute the strength of her conviction.
“If you have to talk to him, don’t turn your back on him.” When she pulled the phone away from her ear she held it out toward Natale. “Thank you.”
“Happy to help,” Natale pointed out. “You’re one of us now.”
Allegra didn’t want to tell Natale that wasn’t how she felt. Not at all like one of them. Things were changing too soon, too fast. She felt confused, worried. The notes. They weren’t helping either. If anything, it was likely a horrible prank. The early morning visit from the police? Just to see if she wa
s willingly living with Valerio?
An odd thought filtered through her brain. Maybe the notes were from Mrs. Singleton? She’d been the coldest of the two, speaking in the press until the court had ordered her to stop. She’d accused Allegra of playing games with Lance. It would make sense that it was his mother. She certainly knew enough to send the notes. Making her afraid would be just what Lana Singleton would enjoy. Unbidden, a memory surfaced and replayed in her head like an mp3 file. “Young women play so many games in this day and age. They seduce and control, they tease, and then when they’re done with a young man they throw them away like trash. Maybe it’s time that she knows what it feels like.”
It could be as easy as that, Lana was just trying to upset her, get under her skin, hold her hostage with fear.
That seemed more likely than Lance coming back. He’d begun a new life after he left prison. Why would he come back to New York? Why would he come back after her?
She knew she didn’t have all the answers, but she’d also been kept in the dark by Valerio. Visiting the Singletons, going to the court, what else didn’t she know?
Allegra felt like she was losing control over her life again… or maybe she’d never really had any control in the first place.
A nagging ache in her stomach had her closing her eyes and trying to fall asleep on the way back to the Orsino penthouse.
Valerio entered the penthouse and looked over at his bedroom door. It was closed and he hoped Allegra was asleep on the other side of it. He’d received a call from Natale while he’d been on his way back in the Corvi Industries jet. Natale had expressed some concern about Allegra.
After they’d picked her up from rehearsal, she’d retreated into herself a bit. It wasn’t anything specific that Natale could pinpoint, but she thought he’d appreciate the information and he did.
His earlier decision to hide the truth about her apartment from her was weighing heavily on him. His instinct had been to protect her. She had already been hurt physically and emotionally. Did she need to know that all of her belongings were gone?