Chapter Seventeen
Evangeline
Seven days.
It’s been seven days since our passionate penthouse “date” and Dante’s confession that tore my heart out. His rasped tale of his father’s betrayal proved he believes in me, trusts me. That night was a turning point for us.
Now, I feel we have something, a connection that was strengthened because he confided in me with his story. Dante doesn’t trust easily, but he let me in, allowed me a glimpse into his head, his heart. Something the powerful mobster has likely never done with another human being.
It’s also been seven days of raw, desperate waiting and wanting to see him again. Wanting to touch him again, have him hold me in his protective embrace, making me feel safe from the threats outside my door.
Every day, I can feel Dante’s obsession for my safety.
It’s a lot, but I’m not complaining because I know we physically cannot see each other.
He feels I’m too much of a target for Scarletta if he were to be seen with me.
So, his overbearing concern for my safety when he cannot personally be here is okay with me.
But he’s constantly texting me throughout the day, making sure I’m safe and asking if I need anything. Wanting to know if I’m eating well or if I’m locking my doors at night.
It’s his midnight calls that make me yearn for him.
My pussy grows wet and needy when I take those calls because he’s taught me what it’s like to feel wanted and desired.
Dante’s filthy commands, combined with his raspy growl, send shivers up my spine, making me more than willing to fulfill every dirty fantasy we can create over the phone without seeing one another. His phone sex is next level.
But obviously, prior to Dante, mine was nonexistent. Now it’s improving every day, and I could give him a run for his money thanks to him. He’s an excellent teacher.
Dante has begged me to vanish, to let him spirit me away until he’s crushed the threat that’s my uncle and Scarletta.
But vanish how? This pharmacy isn’t just bricks and mortar.
It’s my family’s legacy. It’s a lifeline for people who need medicine to get well and even provides pain relief for those who need it. I can’t just desert them.
Even with Silas’s illegal shipments happening in the back of the store, there are mothers who want to provide comfort for their sick children, and people with illnesses that require the medicine only I can provide from the pharmacy. They need the services and medicine.
Every morning, I slip on my lab coat and perform the same rituals to keep myself busy and my mind off of what is happening. I take Silas his coffee, fill the waiting prescriptions, take care of our customers, and mix the pharmaceutical compounds.
Normalcy is my armor right now. If I didn’t follow my routines, I’m pretty sure I would lose my mind. The fear of the unknown, on top of trying to second guess Dante or Silas, will drive me over the edge if I allow it to happen.
Seven days without him, worried about what will happen next because Dante had promised he’d draw Scarletta out, exposing both my uncle and his partner. I know he’s weaving a trap that only he’s capable of spinning, and I’m sure he’ll win because, apparently, he always does.
He has also assured me he will administer his own justice, not just leave it to law enforcement, and I feel as if his sentence will be more just than anything the system could provide in the end.
But God, the waiting is tearing me apart.
I hate that my heart jumps at every strange noise or bump in the night.
Being on the sidelines while he plots and plans is not something I enjoy.
After I realized the truth about Silas, it was clear I was going to have to be more proactive.
Figuring out how to do that has been difficult.
Tonight, though, is one of my favorite nights of the year.
Halloween reminds me so much of my mother and father.
They had always made the most of the haunted season, decorating both the store and our home, making them extra spooky.
I carried on the tradition of dressing up for our parade of neighborhood trick or treaters who visit all the local shops up and down the street, handing out buckets of candy until dark.
By the time I turned the closed sign and encouraged the others to go home, my witch’s wig and costume had become itchy, so I changed into my normal leggings and sweatshirt.
Instead of sitting at home alone, I decided to continue working in my lab, finding refuge in my formulas. I know there won’t be any trick or treaters at my small apartment above the store, so I’m working on a holiday bath line, hoping that will get me in the season’s spirit.
The scented pumpkin and spice scrubs and bath bombs are sure to be a hit this year.
This is the part of my job I love. It’s great having the freedom and creativity to develop new products and scents, and it’s also rewarding because I know people will find joy in my creations.
My lab really is my happy place as I try to distract myself from the actual danger lurking outside my door.
The store is quiet tonight with the employees gone and the aisles deserted. Normally, it wouldn’t bother me. Tonight, however, with all I know about Silas, and when I know we’re in a partnership with criminals, I’m on edge.
There are multiple partnerships to worry about. Those include not only Silas and his associate, Scarletta, but mine as well. I’m just as culpable as Silas now, right? After all, I’m literally and figuratively in bed with the infamous Dante Vescari.
Just as I’m dwelling on this, I hear the rusty hinges on the back door leading into the lab screech.
“Hello?” I call out, my voice cracking, and my hand flying to my chest, as if I could still the fluttering of my heart. “Who’s there?”
The dim light from the hall falls on my uncle as he steps through the open door. Silas’s jaw is tense, and his eyes are icy. Definitely not like the uncle I grew up with, I don’t even know this man.
“Evening, Eve,” he greets coldly.
My stomach lurches. “Uncle … what are you doing here?”
He just stares as if I’m some kind of nuisance or a problem he can’t wait to be rid of. How has he changed so much in such a short period of time?
Silas walks inside the lab, stepping closer, and one meaty hand clamps around my wrist in a painful grip, which I’m sure will bruise, causing me to drop the small bottle of oil I had been using. The shattering sound echoes off the wall, making the strange encounter even worse.
As I try to wrench away, two more people saunter into the room behind him. It’s Scarletta and another tall, overly muscular man who is bursting out of his too-small shirt, a smarmy smile spread across his face in anticipation. Who is he? Scarletta’s henchman?
Scarletta’s toothy grin glows white, his oily hair is greased back, but it’s his eyes that are the most disturbing. They shine brightly with savage glee.
“You should be thanking me, Eve,” my uncle says, voice booming.
“Let me go, Silas!” My plea catches in my throat as I try to pull my wrist free. “What are you doing?”
Silas tightens his grip, pulling me off my stool and handing me to the ape who walked in with Scarletta. The man chuckles, seemingly eager to lay his hands on me. The beefy guy is easily holding me in place by my upper arms as I struggle, now facing Scarletta and Silas.
“You’ve become quite the distraction, little dove,” Scarletta purrs as he prowls into my personal space, amused at my attempt to get away. The large lab suddenly feels too small, tight, and cramped.
He leans in, his breath reeking of cigarettes and booze, making me turn my head in disgust. “You owe us answers, little Evangeline, and we are going to get them one way or another.” His threat sends shivers down my spine. “So, tell us, what’s Dante planning?”
Staring at him, my resting bitch face reveals nothing. “I don’t know.” I wouldn’t tell him even if I knew anything. He and the other two deserve everything Dante has planned for them. Even my uncle.
Scarletta’s lip curls as he runs a finger along my jaw. “You’re lying, girl. I’m thinking he shares a lot with you. After all, you pretend to be so innocent, but we all know you have been Dante’s slut for a while now. And I’m also betting you’re his pretty little weakness.”
He steps back, admiring me as one would a prize. “I think it’s time Dante pays for refusing to turn over what should be mine.”
“When Dante finds out…,” I start to say, but he steps forward, slapping me hard across the side of my face.
His gaudy rings make the blow feel as if I were hit with a brick.
My head spins, and my back hits the man behind me, making him let out a sinister chuckle again.
There’s a copper taste of blood filling my mouth because I’m pretty sure I just bit my tongue.
My breathing and heartbeat are so rapid that my chest is heaving now. I think I may pass out, and I know my face is already beginning to swell as I can only stare at the way Scarletta looms over me.
Meanwhile, the “ape”, as I call him, still maintains a hard grip on my arms. But Silas is distracted, having a coughing fit in the corner, clutching a bloody handkerchief to his mouth.
“Dante’s precious weakness,” Scarletta gloats menacingly, and I want to tell him he doesn’t possess an ounce of the intimidating presence Dante does.
When Dante Vescari steps into a room, he owns it. After all, he did the same to me in this very lab. The sleazy criminals surrounding me, however, including my uncle, are wasted space. But they are in fact criminals. This means I don’t know what they’re capable of doing to me.
“Uncle ... please…,” I cry, angry at myself because of how pitiful and weak I sound, but hoping Silas remembers all that my family was to him. All that I’ve been to him. His niece.
But he doesn’t look at me. He’s still standing to the side, looking pale and gaunt, sickly.
Good. He should suffer.
“If you kill me…” I say through gritted teeth, directed towards Scarletta now. My voice barely above a whisper.
“Kill you?” Scarletta laughs, a high-pitched unsettling noise. “No, girl. We have other plans for you.” He nods to the “ape”. “Show her, Antony.”
So, the ape does have a name. I’ll make sure I remember it for Dante.
Antony reaches into his coat with one hand and pulls out a syringe. He holds it between us. “A gift for Dante’s pet.”
My heart hammers. My lungs seize.
“No!” I lunge, but Antony spins me around and shoves me against the glass wall. The glass rattles behind me.
Scarletta’s grin widens. “We’ll soon see how much he loves you.”
Tears sting my eyes. “You won’t get away with this.”
“Oh, but we will,” Antony says, his voice a promise. He slaps the syringe into Scarletta’s hand.
For weeks, I’ve trusted Dante’s shadows to shield me.
But now, the darkness closes in with the prick of the syringe, and I know the night belongs to the evil surrounding me. And I also know with a sick clarity that I’m nothing but bait in their savage war.