Thirteen
Loretta
Light streams through the window across my face, breaking me from the best sleep I’ve ever had.
Stretching, I take in the sweat soreness that only comes from being worked over.
Images from last night flash through my mind as I reach out, finding the bed beside me cold.
Sitting up in bed, I look around for Vito, and when I don’t find him, I slide out of bed, walking into the living room.
Not seeing him there either, my heart breaks knowing that he left in the middle of the night.
“Well, it appears you really are disposable to that man,” I say out loud to no one in particular.
Going into the kitchen, I fix myself something to eat.
Once I’ve got my breakfast, I make my way into the living room, taking a seat on the couch to watch some trash T.V.
and wallow in the fact that I am alone, and try not to think about what Vito admitted without admitting.
I’m so lost in the way other people get to live their lives that when someone knocks on the door, I scream as if someone were trying to murder me.
Standing, I walk over to the discarded black leggings that I’ve been too lazy to pick up and slide them up my legs before going to answer the door. Without looking to see who is at the door, I want to slap myself when I see who is on the other side.
Alan steps up, wrapping me in a hug. “Oh my god, Loretta, are you okay? I heard about what happened to your car.”
I finally get my hands between us and push him off me. “I wasn’t in the car so I’m fine!”
“That’ll be good,” Alan says, leaning on the door frame so I can’t shut the door in his face. “Do you have plans today?”
“Well, actually I was just about to …” I start to say when a man I’ve never seen before steps up onto the porch.
“Ms. Wagner, are you ready to go? Mr. Kardoni is getting concerned since you haven’t answered the phone or returned any of his messages,” the man says firmly.
Alan looks between us, rage written all over his face. “She was just telling me that she would spend the day with me.”
His lie causes ice to flow through my veins. Alan looks back at me with an eyebrow raised as if daring me to disagree with him. The man behind him in a suit clears his throat before pulling out his phone and putting it to his ear.
“Yes, sir, she is right here.” The man glares at Alan. “We will head that way as soon as she gathers the things she needs for the trip. Yes, Sir.”
He holds the phone out to me. “Mr. Kardoni would like to speak with you.”
I take the phone from his hand, still not having any idea who this man or this Mr. Kardoni is.
“Hello?” I ask, placing the phone to my ear.
“My Blood Rose,” Vito sighs into the phone.
Instantly I relax. “You left me here alone after promising I wouldn’t be alone anymore.” I’m very aware I sound like a child, but I don’t rightly give a damn.
My feelings are hurt, and I want him to know it.
“I know, baby. I had shit that couldn’t wait,” he tells me. “Is that why you’re not answering your phone? Because you're mad I left?”
I can hear the self-satisfied smirk he is currently wearing.
“No, more disappointed I had to handle myself without you,” I sass back, grinning when he hisses and then groans.
Alan’s anger skyrockets at my words. “No woman of any decorum should speak like that in front of a man she isn’t with.”
“Who the fuck is that, Loretta?” Vito asks, on high alert.
I look Alan in the face and fight the feeling to run and hide from him. “Alan has decided I am not a woman of decorum.”
Vito cusses. “Blood Rose, listen to me. Alan is not a man to be trifled with. Get what you need that you cannot go without and let my man bring you to me. I will buy you whatever clothes and such you need when we get to Nashville.”
Laughing at the absurdity of the situation, I shake my head. “Vito, I can’t just run away to Nashville with you. I’ve got to work.”
“I am not playing, Blood Rose. Get in the car and let my man bring you to me. I cannot explain it all to you right now but will when you get here. Just trust me, okay?” A man of Vito’s caliber doesn’t typically beg, so to hear him doing it now, I can’t deny him even if I want to.
“Okay, Vito. I’m just going to grab my purse and then we’ll be on our way,” I tell him before handing to phone back to the guy.
As I bring my hand back, intending to go and gather my things, Alan’s hand snaps out, grabbing my wrist. He squeezes it until I hiss in pain, and then he pulls me into him.
“Mark my words, if you leave here with that man and go to Vito, you will regret it. I’ve been patient, letting you adjust to the idea of this. You are about to push me to my limit, Loretta, and I am not a man you want to push,” he fumes.
“Alan, thank you for stopping by to check on me, but I have somewhere I need to be. So if you will kindly leave not only my home but my property, I would greatly fucking appreciate it.” My words drip with acid.
I snatch my wrist free and turn away, grabbing my purse from the spot I dropped it when Vito and I got here last night. Luckily, I find my favorite pair of slides by the door. Stepping up, I eye the man still standing in my doorway and showing no sign of moving.
I look around him, talking to Vito’s man, who is still waiting for me. “Excuse me, can you call the police and let them know that I have a trespasser who refuses to leave?”
The thunderclouds in Alan’s eyes grow to hurricane level. “This isn’t over. I mean it. If you do this, there will be consequences to be paid.” He then turns and leaves.
I step through the door, pulling it closed behind me and making sure it’s locked. “Lead the way. I’m sorry, what was your name again?”
He gives me a small smile before dipping his head. “You can call me Clark.”
The man turns, making his way down my stairs and to an idling SUV on the street.
He opens the back door, and I slide in and buckle my seat belt as he climbs into the driver's seat and then pulls away from my house. We don’t make it five minutes up the road before the man’s phone is ringing through the stereo.
Clark pushes a button on the steering wheel.
“Are you on the road yet?” Vito demands.
I lean forward and place my hand on his shoulder to stop him from answering. “Yes, Sir. We’re on our way. Can you tell me where we’re going and what we’re doing?”
“I’ll do my best to answer those questions when you get here. I’m walking into a meeting,” Vito answers quickly.
“Sounds good! I’ll see you soon,” I tell him, my chest getting tight as my anxiety climbs with the fact I have no idea where I’m going.
I lay my head back on the seat and close my eyes trying to come down from the shit that just went down. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know, I feel as if I’m floating. Breathing in deeply, Vito’s scent wraps around me, so I snuggle tighter into him, and he chuckles.
“I got you, my Blood Rose,” he whispers.
I look up at the bottom of his chin. “Why do you call me that?”
Not expecting him to answer my question, I start to close my eyes again, and then he does. “Like a blood rose, you’re one of a kind. Dark, beautiful, and dangerous if someone doesn’t know how to handle you.”
“That’s sweet and dark at the same time,” I mumble.
I wake up sometime later in the back of another car, but this time there are more people. I stretch my arms above my head. Looking around, I see Vito beside me, then a young woman sitting next to an older gentleman in the row in front of us and then two men in the very front.
“So, we’re going to Nashville?” I ask him.
Vito looks up from his phone, smiling at me before kissing my temple. “Yeah, we’re going to Nashville. When we get there you can go shopping for the things you need.”
“Thank you,” I say around a yawn. “Why did we have to leave so quickly? Is there something I need to know?”
“We’ve been planning this trip for a few weeks. You were the newest addition to the trip,” Vito smirks.