Chapter 33
As she left Golden Years, she knew she needed to go and speak to Niko. She also thought it might be worth looking into getting some counseling. She’d wanted to for years, but she’d just never made it a priority. It might be time.
Her mind was filled with the things Pops told her, the things she’d heard Niko and Jessie saying, and the things she thought of herself as she went down the path around the back of Golden Years down toward the river.
She was going to her studio to meditate for a while.
When she rounded the corner of the building, she was suddenly confronted by Brock.
He stood in front of her, blocking the path.
She turned around to go back the way she came, but he moved and cut her off.
“Brock, I don’t have time for this.” She attempted once again to go around him, but he put his arm up on the wall and crowded in on her.
Behind her was a corner of the building. He literally had her cornered. She could scream, but the wall they were against was the laundry facility, and with all the dryers and washers going, she doubted anyone would hear her.
“Tiara, just listen, okay? This is stupid. I forgive you for everything.”
She could smell alcohol on Brock’s breath, and panic rose in her throat. She knew she needed to stay calm and take deep breaths. “Brock, move.”
“We can just forget the past two years happened, okay?” He reached out for her face, and she flinched as she stepped back, away from him, which landed her deeper in the corner, giving her nowhere to go.
Brock did not appreciate the fact that she’d flinched away from him. “Why are you acting like that? You know I’d never hurt you!”
She could see he was getting angrier. She needed help. She reached into her tote to try and find her phone discreetly. Unfortunately, he noticed.
“What are you doing?” He took a step closer to her.
“Brock, you need to leave.” She felt her phone in the bottom of the bag and pulled it out. Her hands were shaking.
“What are you doing?” He pulled her arm out of her bag.
She glanced as her arm came out and tried to dial nine one one, she got the nine when he snatched the phone from her.
“I just want to talk!” he yelled, holding her phone away from her.
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Why are you being like this? You’re my wife!”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are! Everything you have I own. Your studio, I bought. Pops in here.” He slammed his fist on the wall of the building. “That’s my money. I paid for that! I own you.”
She could argue with him, tell him she hadn’t spent a dime of his money on any of it, but just her knowing that was enough.
“Brock, you need to leave me alone.”
“Why? Because of that asshole?” He took another step closer, and she had no choice but to retreat. Her back was now literally against the wall. “Were you fucking him the entire time we were married?”
She wasn’t going to respond to that. Not that she could even if she wanted to. Her lips were numb, and so were her legs, her hands, and her feet.
“Answer me!” he screamed, and his spit flew in her face.
“Son, I think this conversation is over.”
Tiana’s heart was pounding so loud in her head, but over it she was ninety percent sure that was the voice of Arthur Santino.
Brock looked over his shoulder. “Mind your own business, old man.”
Tiana glanced to the side, she could only barely see past Brock’s shoulder, but she saw it was Mr. Santino. Relief washed over her. She knew she was safe. Brock, however, she feared, was not going to fare as well.
Arthur Santino was somewhat of a legend in Hope Falls. No one knew what his backstory was, but he’d done pretty epic, heroic feats on several occasions. Saved more than one life.
“Son, when you scream at a young lady, you make it my business.”
“Look grandpa, I don’t want to go to jail today for elder abuse, so fuck off,” Brock threatened.
“So you abuse women and the elderly, is that to compensate for something?”
Brock’s nostrils flared like a bull ready to charge, and he turned all the way around to face Mr. Santino. When he did, Tiana rushed out from the corner and was running to get help when she looked over her shoulder and saw…
“What did you say, old man?” Brock puffed up his chest, hovering eight inches taller than Mr. Santino.
“I said so you abuse women and—”
Before he got the rest of the sentence out, Brock took a swing at Mr. Santino but missed. Mr. Santino reached up and grabbed Brock by the throat, but just the center of his throat, like where his Adam’s apple would be.
The entire thing happened in a matter of seconds. Tiana stopped running and watched as Mr. Santino looked as though he was not exerting any energy whatsoever, and Brock was turning red, then purple, then dropped to his knees while his arms were flailing at his sides.
Mr. Santino bent down and said as languidly as could be, “I’m gonna remove my hand in five to ten seconds and when I do, you are going to apologize to the young lady and then promise her that you will never harass or bother her again.
And you will keep that promise, or you will deal with me. Do you understand?”
Brock nodded as his eyes bulged out of his head. When Mr. Santino released his grip, Brock’s hand covered his throat, and there was visible panic on his face as he gasped for air.
“Can’t hear that apology son, you’re gonna have to speak up.”
“I’m…sorry…” he managed between jagged breaths.
“And?” Mr. Santino prompted.
“And I will never harass or bother you again.” Brock started to straighten and adjust his shirt and tried to stand up when Mr. Santino had him by the throat again.
Brock’s eyes were even wider that time in shock. He wasn’t the only one, Tiana jumped back, too. She hadn’t been expecting that. Brock was trying to pull Mr. Santino’s arms down, but it was futile.
Mr. Santino bent down and got an inch from his face, and in a coldly calm voice said, “In a few seconds, you’re gonna lose consciousness.
When you wake up, if you wake up, you’re going to have one doozy of a headache because of the lack of oxygen reaching your brain as we speak…
” He slowed down his speech pattern. “You are going to have some brain damage. Not a lot. Just enough to make you a little slow. From this day forward, you won’t be yourself.
When you try to figure things out, simple things, things you took for granted knowing, your brain is gonna be a few steps behind.
And you’re gonna wonder, is this because I’m tired, I’m dumb, or is it because of my tiny dick syndrome?
Because that tiny dick made you think it was a good idea to bully people who were vulnerable so you could feel like a big man. Do you feel like a big man now?”
Brock’s face was turning blue as he shook his head no.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Mr. Santino released his grip, and Brock slid to the ground completely limp and unconscious.
“He’s going to have brain damage?” Tiana asked, horrified that she’d allowed things to get to this point.
“Nah, just a bad headache. But he’s gonna think he does. And he’s gonna doubt himself for the rest of his life. And that’s what I call a nice bit of karma.”
Tiana threw her arms around Mr. Santino. “Thank you.”
He didn’t hug her back, he just patted her on the shoulder with his left hand. “Nothin’ to thank me for. Just teachin’ the boy some manners.”
“What happened?” Tiana heard Niko’s voice, and she looked while still clinging to Mr. Santino. She saw Niko looking at Brock on the ground before he scanned her from head to toe. “Are you okay?”
She dropped her arms. “Thanks to Mr. Santino, I am.”
He was already walking off back to the cottage he shared with Yaya, like he hadn’t just done something totally badass. “Who is he?” she asked.
“I think AJ knows, I can try to find out.”
She felt her eyes light up. “Really?”
He nodded, but he was still looking her up and down. “Are you okay? Really?”
“Yeah, Brock just showed up, and he wouldn’t leave, but…it’s fine.” She didn’t want to think about it.
Niko looked past her. “Is that your phone?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Oh yeah.” It was on the ground by Brock. He’d taken it from her, so it must have slipped from his hand.
She started to go get it, but Niko stopped her and went to pick it up. She could see he was really tempted to kick him or punch him while he was down, but he didn’t. He picked up her phone, dusted it off, and brought it to her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Looking for you.”
“You found me.” She smiled.
He lifted his hand and brushed a stray curl behind her ear. “I was worried when you didn’t come home after your classes.”
“I did actually.”
His forehead wrinkled. “You did?”
She nodded.
“Do you want to go for a drive?”
They’d started going for drives when Niko found out it was one of Tiana’s favorite pastimes. She didn’t love driving, but she loved being a passenger and looking at the scenery, especially someplace as picturesque as Hope Falls.
“Yes.”
He helped her into the SUV, and as they were driving away, Brock was starting to come to. She wondered what he would think when he woke up, and no one was around.
They drove for a little bit before Niko asked, “When did you come home?”
“When Jessie was there.” She took a breath. “I heard her say that the PR stunt worked and that people believed we were a couple. That you hired paparazzi, and that’s what really sold it.”
He looked over at her. “Did you hear what I said?”
“What you said?”
“When she said that, did you hear what I said?”
“No, I just left.”
He pulled the car over to the side of the road, a road she wasn’t even sure she’d ever been on, it was in the woods surrounded by trees and he turned off the engine. “I didn’t hire any paparazzi. It was Brock.”
“Brock hired papara—”
“No, he hired a private investigator who has been following you even before he came to town. And that P.I. sold those pictures.”
“A P.I.”
“I told Jessie I didn’t hire the pap, and she let it go, but I didn’t. When she left, it bothered me, so I called AJ. He called me back in twenty minutes and told me the name of the P.I.”
“Is he still following me?”
“No, he’s not, but I don’t know if someone else is.”
“I think Mr. Santino might have put the fear of God in Brock.”
“Really.” Niko’s face lit up. “I wish I could have seen that.”
“It was pretty badass.” Tiana couldn’t help but smile. She’d never seen Brock look so scared and helpless. She didn’t condone violence, but, in this case, she made an exception.
They were staring at each other smiling, both basking in the glow of Brock being put in his place, but then the energy shifted. Both their smiles dropped.
“I’m sorry you heard that stuff about our relationship.” Niko reached out and cupped her face. She leaned into his touch, and his thumb brushed along her jaw. “I did tell Jessie that it was fake.”
“It was.” Tiana shrugged. “I don’t even know why it bothered me to hear that it was a PR stunt. That it was being used to clean up your reputation. It’s fine. It was a fake relationship.”
He shook his head as he grinned. “It was never fake for me.” His eyes brimmed with sincerity.
“I put that on the table because I thought it would be a way to get close to you. That maybe you would consider being my fake girlfriend, even if you wouldn’t consider actually dating me.
But it was never fake. I think I’ve been half in love with you since I saw you across the bar at the ESPYs ten years ago.
” His thumb trailed along her neck, and she wondered if he could feel her pulse racing.
“I meant what I said last night, I love you. You don’t have to believe me, and I know you don’t feel the same.
” He grinned. “Although that’s very hard for me to believe because, let’s face it, I’m pretty irresistible, but that’s fine, I’ll wait as long as it takes for you to realize how amazing I am.
I can even start a petition if I need to—”
“I love you.” Tiana felt like she’d just jumped off a cliff, like she was falling.
She’d told Brock she loved him, and at the time she’d believed it, but it hadn’t felt like this. This felt like…she wasn’t sure what this felt like.
Niko froze. “What?”
“I love you,” she repeated, this time she just felt like she jumped off a large boulder.
She watched as his chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. His thumb traced her lips as he stared at her mouth. “Say it one more time.”
A smile spread across her face. “I love you.”
His mouth crashed to hers, and he kissed her until nothing else existed except the two of them.
When she crawled onto his lap and started ripping off his shirt, he stopped her, looked around, and laid her down, making sure no one could see her before he finished what she started.
She knew that she would always be safe and protected in his arms, in his heart, and in his love.