Nine
Loretta
I’m doing everything that I can to fight back the tears that are dueling to escape their prison.
For the first five minutes I am winning the fight, the second five minutes I lose a couple of tears.
By the thirty-minute mark, the tears are slowly making their way down my cheeks.
Someone has written “whore” on the side of my car and then set it on fire.
The cops are saying it’s random, but my gut is telling me I should be scared.
I set the last food order down on its table when two things happen all at once.
The dam on my emotions is obliterated, and Satan himself slams through the door so hard that it nearly comes off its hinges.
Everyone in the building jumps at the sudden noise.
He looks around the room, seeming to search for something or someone.
Maybe I am just like my momma and losing my mind to think that he is looking for me.
Hell, the fact that I want him to be looking for me is a sign in itself that I’ve lost it.
I’ve met this man a total of two times, and here I am, wanting him to hold me and tell me that everything is going to be okay. That I’m not losing my mind.
When his gaze lands on me, he starts at my feet, slowly scanning up my body.
My body instantly responds to the fire I see burning in his eyes.
He finally makes it to my tear-stained face, and the fire turns molten.
Without a word, he opens his arms as he starts toward me.
His first steps break me out of my frozen state, and I’m nearly sprinting across the room to him.
I slam into his chest, and his enormous arms wrap around me, with one hand holding the back of my head.
Saying nothing, I just finally let go of everything I’ve been trying to hold together for the last half hour or so.
He leans down, speaking in a low rumble. “It’s going to be okay, my Blood Rose. Don’t you worry about anything. I’ll find out who did this and why.”
I just shake my head as much as I can with his hold on my head and grip onto him tighter. We stand there in silence for a long time until someone clears their throat to my left. Vito loosens his hold on my head so I can look over at who it is.
Lotty is standing there with a shit-eating grin on her face. “Vito, my boy! I’m glad to see you’ve got my girls back. Take her on home and make sure everything is well. We’re all good here.”
I open my mouth to protest, but she gives me a sharp look before swatting me with the towel in hand.
Vito cups my cheek, rubbing his thumb back and forth. “I need to know you’re okay. Let me do this.”
Officer Jackson's words come back to me, and I take a step back from him, shaking my head. Vito’s face darkens at my dismissal, and unlike my stepfather, the guards at the prison, and Alan, I don’t feel scared or like something isn’t right.
Don’t get it twisted, I know he could hurt, maybe even kill, me if he chose to, but I know deep down that he never would.
Even so, I can’t risk going back to prison.
I take a step back, breaking out of his hold.
“Loretta, what are you doing?” he asks, confusion written all over his face as his hand falls away from my face.
“I can’t go with you,” I state quietly but firmly.
“Why not? I’m just going to take you home,” Vito questions, still not looking happy.
“Thank you for offering to do that.” I use my apron to wipe the tears that are still running down my face. “But it wouldn’t be good for either of us if I let you take me home.”
Vito follows my retreating steps, reaching out to cup both sides of my face so I can’t look away from him. “I just want to make sure that you are safe and taken care of like I’ve been doing. Just let me keep doing that.”
His words make little sense to me. “What do you mean, like you have been doing? I just met you a few weeks ago, Vito.”
I try my damnedest to work through when or if I could have seen or met this man, but he is not one to be forgotten.
A memory comes to mind once again of the night my stepfather was killed.
The Shadow Man stood in the corner of my room, not saying anything but watching me.
I remember telling him he was in the wrong room before rolling over and going back to sleep.
The memory is one I’ve played over and over in my mind, trying to find a way to learn the identity of the man so I could exonerate myself, but if he was the Shadow Man, why would I feel as if I knew him?
I make a decision right there to ask the question. “Was it you?”
Vito’s brows furrow. “What do you mean? Are you okay?”
“That night in my room. The night that everything went to shit. It was you, wasn’t it?” I know I’m screaming about this in the middle of the diner right now, though I don’t give a damn, I need to know .
Shock, frustration, and even a little fear flash across his face before he speaks. “Loretta, this is not the time nor the place for us to have this conversation. Why don’t you let me take you home, and I’ll answer whatever questions you might have?”
“I will not go anywhere with you.” I throw my hands up. “I let two conversations convince me that maybe you were a decent guy. My judge of character and picker are just as broken as my mother's.”
“Loretta, you’re making a scene. We can and will discuss this anywhere but standing in the middle of some fucking diner. Now get your things and let me take you home,” Vito demands as if I’m a child that’s throwing a tantrum.
“Stay away from me. I don’t know you or want to know you. I hoped for a second there could be something, but there isn’t. Just stay away from me,” I tell him, too tired to even continue this shit show.
“Please, I’ll explain everything just …” Vito tries, but I hold my hand up, stopping him.
“No. I’m going home, and you're going wherever it is you go. Thank you for all your help in my yard,” I say softly before turning to walk away from him before he can see the return of my tears.
I push through the door to the kitchen to find Drew and Lotty standing there wide-eyed. They just stare at me as I storm into the small office where I keep my bag and throw it over my shoulder. I come back out to see them still standing there with their mouths now hanging open.
“What is y’all’s problem?” I demand with my hands on my hips.
“Do you have any idea who that man is?” Drew gasps out with fear all over his face.
“Who? Vito?” I point over my shoulder.
“Yes, Vito!” he whisper-yells. “That man is second in command for the Kardoni Family. Oh, and he’s also said to be the not-so-secret little brother to Giaco, who is second to the largest crime family out of Atlanta.”
“Wait?” I rub my forehead. “Did you say the second for the Kardoni Family? As in the family that runs and owns this entire town and ninety percent of the mountain? Who is known for their not-so-legitimate affairs?”
“The one and the same.” Drew nods slowly.
Anger like I’ve never felt swells up inside me like a freight train barreling down the tracks.
For the first time since my life exploded five fucking years ago, things start to make some sense.
Which means he has known since the first time I met him who I was and what he did. I will not let that man do it again.
“I’m leaving out the back and going home. I can’t deal with anything else tonight. Lotty, thank you for letting me go. I’ll check in tomorrow morning,” I tell them as I head for the door.
“Loretta, sweetie, how do you plan to get home?” Lotty calls at my back.
“I’m going to go ask one of the lovely officers out front for a ride,” I tell her while adding under my breath, “And pray I don’t have a fucking panic attack on the way.”
“Just be safe, Loretta. I couldn’t bear to lose you too,” Lotty calls at my back.
Pausing before going through the door, I look back at her. “I love you too, Lotty.”
Slowly I sneak around the side of the building, being sure to stay out of the lights and away from the windows.
I know Vito is still inside as we never heard the door open again.
Meaning I just must make it across the parking lot and convince an officer to take me home before he leaves and catches me.
The two officers eye me as I make my way over to them.
They stop talking when they see me coming toward them.
“Can we help you with something, ma’am?” the shorter of the two says to me.
“Yes, since my car is, well, you know, not working. Is there anyway that one of you would be willing to take me to my home?”
They look at each other before the tall blond calls over his shoulder, “Captain, Miss Wagner is asking for transport home. Is that something we can do?”
Captain looks over at us, but before he can answer, another voice answers.
“No!” Vito thunders, coming out of the of the diner. “I will take her home.”
Spinning on my heels, I glare at the giant marching toward me. “You will not be taking me home. I will have an officer take me so you can do whatever it is you are meant to be doing.”
“Loretta, get your ass in the SUV, and when we get to your home, we will then talk about everything.” He is now nose to chest with me.
“Thank you, Vit—” He cuts me off with a hand over my mouth.
Keeping his hand still over my mouth, he leans down so he is whispering into my ear. “Loretta, you will either get in the SUV on your own or I will throw you over my shoulder and put you there myself. You have exactly three seconds to decide.”
Narrowing my eyes, I do the most childish thing I can think of. I lick his hand, surprising him enough to cause him to pull it away in shock.
“Did you just fucking lick me?” he whispers.
I decide not to answer him. Instead, I just stick my tongue out at him like a child before turning away from him. He takes longer to get over the shock of it all than I would have thought he would, but when he does, the man doesn’t disappoint.
I feel his breath across my ear with his next words. “If using that tongue is something you want to do, I have some much better ideas on how you can use it. Now, have you made your choice? Are you walking or am I throwing you over my shoulder?”
My mouth drops open in shock as I turn to look at him over my shoulder. Our faces are so close that if either of us moved just the slightest, our lips would touch. My body lights on fire with the desire to do just that. I must have stayed quiet too long because the decision is made for me.