by Nyx, Angel
“Ah, Bella, we go. Where do you think the fresh flowers come from? Perhaps not as much as we did in the beginning, but his Mama and Papa still visit his grave every week.”
“Oh. I guess it just happens when I’m not there.”
“There is more on your mind, Tesoro. What is it?”
“What are we going to do about Chablis? Someone will start asking questions. All the girls at the club know she and I didn’t get along. What if someone realizes I’m the reason she’s gone?”
I could feel her shaking and carefully pulled her into my arms. Just holding her seemed to help calm her as the shaking slowly subsided. “I have that covered. We will be having a meeting at the club tomorrow. The employees will be told that you were kidnapped by your stalker when you went out to Chablis’ car. You tried to overpower him once you were on the road, and he lost control of his car. He was killed instantly and you were seriously injured from all the broken glass.
After discovering you were taken near Chablis’ car, I confronted her and she admitted she’d known who your stalker was but said nothing because she was jealous.
To avoid being charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, she agreed to take a cash payout and left the city for parts unknown. No one will try to find her because she made sure none of the employees liked her.”
I watched her face as I laid out the plan I’d already put in motion. “As we speak, her apartment is being packed up and loaded into a moving van. I have covered every angle, Amore. No one will ever know anything different.”
“She has family, Gio. Someone is going to eventually report her as a missing person.”
“She has been estranged from her family for a number of years. However, I have that covered as well. Her credit card will be used at several hotels, headed west toward California, before the paper trail will simply disappear. A lone woman, traveling by herself across country, well, anything could happen.”
“You’ve thought of everything. Why am I not surprised by that?”
“Because you know I am quite efficient, Bella.” I kissed her gently. “How are you feeling? Are you hungry?”
“I hurt, but not enough to want a pain pill. They knock me out and I need something in my stomach before I take anything else.”
“Let me order takeout. Chinese?”
“As long as I get some egg drop soup and cream cheese wontons.”
“You can have whatever you wish, Bella.”
“If that’s the case, take me downstairs. Please? I don’t want to spend every waking second in this bed. I promise I won’t try to do anything beyond reaching for a drink.”
I could deny this woman nothing. I picked her up and carried her downstairs. I got her comfortable on the sofa in the family room, gave her the remotes for the television and sound system, then went to order our dinner.
Over the meal, we kept our conversation light. I knew part of that was because Carly was trying to keep herself distracted from the fact she’d killed someone. Right now, she felt nothing in regard to it, but I knew a large part of that was shock. When the shock finally wore off, I was there to hold her while she broke down.
Chapter Forty Nine
Carly
In less than a day, I’d already developed a love-hate relationship with the painkillers the doctor had prescribed. On the one hand, I liked that they took the pain away. On the other hand, I hated that they made my head feel fuzzy. “I don’t want to take a full pill.”
Gio was offering me a pain killer ahead of me dressing to go to the club. I’d refused to stay at his house while he went and told the staff about my ‘accident’.
“Tesoro.”
“Don’t you ‘Tesoro’ me, Gio. I hate the way they make me feel. I wouldn’t take it at all if I thought I could get away with it.” When he looked like he was going to argue, I brought out the big guns. By big guns, I meant the tears. I let my eyes fill with them. “Please, Gio. They make me feel like I’ve gotten really high, and I don’t like feeling that way. I promise I won’t over do it. I won’t even argue if you want to carry me.”
“Oh, Bella, don’t cry. It kills me to see you cry. I will agree as long as you take the rest when we return.”
He kissed me and I sighed against his lips. “Okay. I can do that. Thank you. I need to go by the apartment, too. I need to pick up a few things. And I need to talk to Risa. She’s freaked out because I told her I had an accident.”
“We can go there once we’re done at the club. I have brought someone in to assist Camille in managing it until you are cleared to return.”
That made me frown. “That should have been my call to make, Gio. I’m the manager.”
“And I’m the owner, Amore. It is my decision to make.”
Hard to argue with that logic. “Fine. But whoever it is better not mess up the system we already have,” I grumbled.
“She won’t. Rosalia has already been filled in on how you and Camille split the duties.”
“Rosalia? Your sister? Oh. Well, okay then.” I finally took the half pill with some water and, with Gio’s help, I got dressed to go. Part of me wanted to stay there in the bedroom, to hide from the world, but that wasn’t an option.
We arrived at the club an hour before it opened. Every member of the staff was waiting inside the main room of the club when Gio carried me inside. A chorus of gasps flitted around the room as he carried me to one of the tables and gently set me down.
“Oh my god. Carly. What happened?”
Camille broke the silence in the room and I turned my attention to her. “Some of you were made aware that I had a stalker. Last night, when I went out back to get Chablis’ backup outfit, he grabbed me. He used chloroform to knock me out, but he must not have used enough, because I woke up before we got to wherever he was taking me.”
I paused and took a sip of the water Tony set in front of me. “Thank you, Tony.” I turned my attention back to the others. “I tried to overpower him. I thought if I could at least get the car to stop, I could get away. He lost control and we wrecked. I was cut up, pretty badly. He died on impact.”
“Holy shit. Thank God you’re okay. Well, besides the injuries.”
I smiled faintly at Camille. “Yeah. I’m lucky to be alive.” She had no idea how true those words were.
“Uh, as anyone else noticed we’re missing someone?”
I looked over at Midori.
“Chablis? She’s not here.”
Before I could respond, Gio spoke up.
“Chablis no longer works here. Once I discovered Carly was taken near her car, I questioned her. It turned out, Chablis knew Carly’s stalker. She was partly responsible for Carly’s kidnapping. When I offered to give her a cash payout, as long as she left New Orleans and never came back, no charges would be pressed. She was smart enough to take the offer.”
“That bitch. What the fuck? Are you saying she helped him?”
Camille sounded like she wanted to hunt Chablis down and hurt her. That was just one of the many reasons she was such a good friend.
“Si. It was her responsibility to get Carly outside so he could grab her.”
“She was jealous,” I said before anyone could ask why. “She wanted to be manager...and she wanted Gio. She thought, with me out of the way, she could get both.”
“Fucking cunt. If I ever see her face again, I’m going to make her regret it.”
“Thanks, Camille.” I smiled a little. “I don’t think she’ll be back, though.”
Again, Gio took over.
“Until the doctor clears Carly to return to work, my sister, Rosalia, will be helping Camille with the manager responsibilities. It’ll be at least a few weeks before she’ll be able to come back.”
“Carly, girl, you just worry about healing. We’ve got this. I’ve already introduced myself to everyone.”
I hadn’t realized Rosa was already there until she stepped forward. “Hey, Rosa. Are you sure? These ladies can be a handful. Especially Camille.”
>
“Bite me, bitch.”
“Bare it.”
Camille and I both laughed and it helped release some of the tension in the room.
“I think I can handle it. You have met my brothers, right? If I can handle them, this is a piece of cake.”
“Watch it, mia sorella.”
I laughed again at the way Rosalia stuck her tongue out at Gio. “Once I’m feeling a little better, I’ll try to come in, just to see everyone.”
“You better.”
When Camille hugged me it made me tear up.
“I need to get Carly home so she can rest.”
I said my goodbyes to everyone. Back in the car, I settled next to Gio and rested my head on his shoulder.
“Perhaps we should go to your apartment another time.”
“No. I need to go today. Please.”
“Such a stubborn woman. All right, Tesoro.”
Thankfully, the drive to the apartment wasn’t very long. Again, Gio carried me. When we reached my apartment, I called Risa so she could come see me, and then went into my bedroom to grab a few more things. I also got some more of Eli’s clothes for him.
“Carly? Oh, shit. I know you said you were in an accident, but...I had no idea it was this bad.”
“Hey, Risa. Yeah. At least I’m alive, right? I have a favor to ask you. Would you be willing to come stay at Gio’s with Eli and I, to help me with Eli until I’m healed?”
I watched Risa’s face. I’d previously described Gio’s home for her. She knew it was huge. And beautiful.
“Um. Wow. As long as Gio’s okay with it, sure. I miss the squirt.”
I looked at Gio and arched a brow. “Well?”
“You are always welcome in my home. I know you are like family to Carly and Eli and that makes you famiglia.”
Thank you, I mouthed at Gio. I hadn’t asked him about it and I felt kind of bad springing the idea on him. In all honesty, I hadn’t planned to ask her to come stay. I didn’t get the idea to do so until I saw her.
“Let me go pack a bag, then. Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”
I watched Risa leave. “Thank you for letting her come with us.”
“I can deny you nothing, Amore. I would have liked to have been warned you were going to make the offer.”
“It was kind of spur of the moment. I realized it wasn’t fair to expect your mother to take Eli all the time. This way, she won’t have to.”
“Always thinking of others. You are a good woman, Carly.”
“You forgot stupid. If I’d been smart, I wouldn’t have gone outside by myself. I just thought...I thought it was safe, you know? I thought I’d be fine.”
Gio knelt in front of where I was sitting and took my face in his hands. “You are not stupid, Bella. You have a good heart and you didn’t think your stalker would do anything beyond sending you notes. You had no idea Chablis was setting you up.”
“But I should have, Gio. I should have known she was up to something when she said her outfit had a tear in it and she’d left her backup in her car. She never did that.”
He pressed a finger to my lips. “Enough. We cannot change what happened. It’s over. You’re safe. And you will heal.”
Part of me wanted to keep arguing but I was suddenly drained. “Will you take me down to the car to wait for Risa? I’m just so exhausted all of a sudden.”
“Of course, Tesoro.”
He carried me down to the car and I leaned my head back on the seat while I waited for Risa to be finished packing her bag. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, he was tucking me into bed back at the house.
“Sleep, Amore.”
His words flitted through my mind and I felt a faint smile grace my lips before I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter Fifty
Gio
Waking up with Carly in my arms felt so right. This was what I wanted every morning for the rest of my life. The problem was, the woman was stubborn. I knew she would fight it. She was hesitant to let me in before she was attacked. Now? I could already feel her trying to pull away and put her walls back up.
“Good morning, Bella. How are you feeling?”
“Like someone used me as a carving board. Oh, wait, they did.”
“At least it didn’t dull that sharp tongue of yours.” I leaned in and kissed her. “Are you hurting?”
“It’s livable. Seriously, Gio. I don’t like taking pills. Addiction runs in my family and I know pain pills can easily become addicting.”
“I would never let that happen, Carly.” I brushed her hair back from her face. “Promise me you will tell me when you need something for it. If you’re tense, you will not heal as quickly.”
I could tell she wanted to argue with me. I waited to see what she would do. When she heaved a sigh, I knew she was giving in to my request.
“Fine. Just promise me you won’t let me get addicted.”
“You have my word, Bella. If you won’t take what Doc prescribed, then I want you to take some Tylenol. It will help, at least some, with the pain.”
When she nodded her agreement I slid out of bed and went to the bathroom to get the bottle I kept in the medicine cabinet. I brought a glass of water with me, and after shaking two pills into the palm of my hand, I offered them to her.
I waited until she took them before I gave her another gentle kiss. "I will be back with breakfast. You just relax." When she started to argue, I pressed a finger to her lips. "Carly, you need to rest and heal. Let me do this for you. Let me take care of you."
"It's hard, Gio. It's been just me and Eli for so long. Sure, Mama would help with Eli while I was at work, until I moved to Hollygrove and met Risa, but when it came to me, I was on my own."
"I know, Amore, but you aren't alone anymore."
"I'll try to remember that."
"Good girl."
Her eyes lit up when I called her that and I filed it away for later. We would come back to it at a later date.
When I returned with breakfast, I helped her get propped up and joined her on the bed. "I have to leave for a few hours this afternoon. I have some business to attend to. I'm glad you have Risa here to keep you company."
She didn't need to know what that business was.
"Before you go, will you help me change my bandages?"
"Of course, Tesoro. We'll do that after we eat." This would be the first time Carly would see the extent of her attack. I had no idea how she was going to react.
Chapter Fifty One
Carly
It was time. The big reveal. I stood in front of the mirror and swallowed back bile. I felt like I was going to be sick and I hadn't even removed the bandages yet. My hand shook as I lifted it.
"Let me."
"No. I have to do this myself, Gio. You can take care of the ones on my chest, stomach, and side."
"Okay, Tesoro. If that's what you wish."
It wasn't a matter of what I wanted to do. It was what I needed to do.
Taking a steadying breath to calm myself, I slowly peeled back the tape adhering the bandage to the left side of my face. I kept the bandage in place for a moment before I finally lowered it.
My brain didn't want to accept what my eyes were seeing. He didn't just cut my face, he carved it. Four long gashes, the first going from just below my temple to my jaw, decorated the left side of my face. Now I knew why smiling hurt so much.
A sound escaped it. It sounded like a wounded animal and it was so unlike me. The bile I'd swallowed before came rushing up and I barely made it to the toilet in time.
Every scrap of food I'd eaten at breakfast came up and I wretched until it was just dry heaves.
"Bella."
"Don't. Don't call me that. I'm not beautiful. I'm a monster. He made me a monster."
"You will always be beautiful to me, Carly. Always. Neither scars, nor age, will ever change that."
His arms wrapped around me and I leaned into his strength. Afte
r a moment, he scooped me up and carried me back to the bed.
"Let me take care of you."
I didn't have the energy to deny him. I nodded and closed my eyes. His fingers were gentle as he smeared ointment on each cut. By the time he'd tended to them all, and had clean bandages covering them, I felt drained.
"Will you hold me until you have to leave?" I hated the weakness in my voice.
"Of course, Amore. Whatever you need, all you have to do is ask."
I curled up next to him, head resting on his chest. “Gio? I think I need to take a pain pill.” After my mad dash to the bathroom, I was hurting.
“I will give you half and leave the rest for you should you need it.”
“Always looking out for me.” Tears slipped from my eyes.
“Talk to me, Carly. It kills me to see you so broken, Bella.”
“He didn’t just cut me, Gio. He carved me like a fucking turkey on Thanksgiving. I can’t...how am I going to make anyone believe this,” and I waved at my face, “is from a car accident? One look and they’ll know a knife did it.”
“We’ll figure it out. If you feel you need to tell them the truth, I will support your decision, Amore. For now, rest.”
I finally let my eyes close after several minutes of just staring at the wall across from the bed. I didn’t think I would be able to sleep, despite how exhausted I felt. How could a person do something so vile to another human being?
Sometime later, I was awakened from my troubled sleep by Gio moving to get up. “I didn’t think I’d really fall asleep. All I’m doing is sleeping.”
“Carly, Bella, your body needs the rest to heal. You went through hell. That kind of trauma requires a lot of energy to heal. Relax, let your body rest, and I will be back in a few hours.”
We shared a quick kiss and I watched him go. I didn’t ask what the business he needed to attend to was. I didn’t want to know. Plausible deniability. If I don’t know, I can’t be called out for lying.