Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lilly
My body…
It feels broken. It still feels broken and my face still stings.
My eyes flutter open and I see Rosie curled up next to me with her little stuffed pig. It’s then that I remember Christian. I have a vague memory of him giving it to her. He knows about Rosie now and I feel bad that I didn’t say anything before.
He looked so shocked when he saw her, as expected. Then he surprised me with his kindness. Both to me and her.
I never expected that. When I broke down it was for everything, but my tired, weary soul finally saw a moment of refuge. A moment of solace, if only for a moment, and it saw the person who could offer it. Him.
I remember thinking how gentle he was with Rosie.
He’s possibly the only man she’s been around to show compassion.
When he told her he was here to save us from the monsters something inside that had been long dead rose to the surface of my heart.
It was hope. I felt it and it wasn’t based on something I needed to do to make it happen.
It came from the mere fact that I had him.
Rosie heard me calling Brent and his thugs monsters because of what followed after that first knock at the door.
They kept banging on the door after that, but it was how they did it.
They used something that I imagined to be a metal pipe and hit the door at intervals.
They’d go away and come back with the same tactics and their vile words scaring me.
Then to add insult to injury they kept sliding images from porn magazines under the door with messages they’d written of what they were going to do to me when they came in.
That’s what happened and what I had to deal with, shield my child from, and pray to find a way out.
It went on all day and right into the night. By the time Christian got here I was a nervous wreck.
I couldn’t believe it was him. when I first heard his voice I thought I’d gone crazy and was imagining things. Then he said his name and when realization hit that it really was him my heart soared into the heavens.
The shuffle of cutlery makes me jump. It’s not loud but I’m just jumpy. He’s here. He’s still here.
I slip off the bed and make my way out to see him.
He’s made coffee and toast. I have bread in the house and some other sundries. I was waiting for payday to buy decent food. I needed to save what little money I had for gas to get to work. Rosie likes toast and spaghetti-o’s, which comes in handy for months like these.
He’s rolled the sleeve of his t-shirt up his thick forearms and the trace of one of his tattoos is peaking out. Christian walks over to me and cups my face, careful to avoid anywhere that hurt.
“Angel, how are you feeling?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Awful.” I think that’s the only way to describe how I feel. Awful. My voice sounds hoarse from the crying but at least I can talk. we didn’t talk last night.
“Tell me where hurts?”
“My face. My head.” I blow out a ragged breath. “My hip is bruised too.” from where Brent was kneeling.
He looks down at me, at the ratty t-shirt I’m wearing and the pajama bottoms. I just put on what I could yesterday.
“Does anything feel broken?” he asks and I shake my head.
The concern in his eyes grips me and I relies how much I appreciate just that.
I’m twenty six. I’m a long way from being a child, but no matter how old you get it’s nice to have someone to take care of you. Or at the very least, someone who cares.
“Nothing feels broken.” It’s just my heart.
“Okay, tell me who did this to you.” he says and I know the minute I tell him what happened it won’t be the same thing as calling the police.
Calling the police would land Brent in questioning, maybe jail. If I’m lucky I could get him for assault and battery. I say nothing feels broken, but as I stand here I’m shaking. I’m broken and in pain. The only thing stopping me from withering away is Christian’s hands on my skin.
The hardened look on his face and in his eyes is death. I know the look, and I have no sympathy for Brent or any of the guys who were with him.
“His name is Brent. He tried to rape me, his friends held me down. One of them took Rosie from me. She was watching, I …” I’m too choked up to finish.
Fury fills his features and he clenches his jaw. The flush of red that washes over his face is anger. I’ve never seen him angry.
“I’m sorry that happened to you Lilly,” he says. “I’m going to take care of it.”
My lips part. I know what taking care of something means.
“I want you to eat something. After breakfast we can start packing.”
“Packing?” I narrow my eyes.
“You’re coming home, with me.”
“What?” He can’t be serious. “You can’t do that.” God, no one would ever know how much that would mean to me to leave this place.
He raises his brows and cocks his head to the side giving me a questioning glare.
“Watch me. You can’t stay here. I’m already mad as fuck that you’re here in a place like this.
It’s not safe. I’m not leaving you here, and this is no place for Rosie to live.
You’re both coming to stay with me whether you like it or not. ”
“But we can’t impose on you like that.”
“Lilly, you heard me. Now do what I’ve asked.” He releases his grip on me and nods. “You hear me?”
“I hear you.”
“I’ll arrange for a doctor to see you once you get to my place and we’ll take it from there.”
We stare at each other for a few moments and I realize this is really happening. he’s here and he’s serious. We’re leaving this place.
“Thank you…” I say, my lips tremble and my soul quivers.
He lowers and plants a kiss on my forehead, then lingers there for a few seconds. I can’t help but feel that spark again. That spark that has been blurring the lines between us. I know this is the part where I’m supposed to have that reality check. I’m just too tired to do it today.
Rosie calls for me and he lifts his head, looking to the bedroom.
He didn’t ask about her. Maybe he want me to actually tell him. Maybe he’ll ask later. Maybe I’ve spoiled this by not saying anything. what if he doesn’t want me anymore? The woman he thinks I am is this single woman without a child to take care off. someone he can play with at The Dark Odyssey.
I’m not that person anymore.
When he moves away from me, walks back over to the kitchen counter, and picks up a plate with a little pancake on it I swallow my thoughts. He made a pig face on the pancake with the syrup and fruit. It looks like Rosie’s little pig.
“Eat,” he tells me then he makes his way into the bedroom. Rosie sits up when she sees him and smiles. He’s the first guy she’s ever smiled at.
“Good morning, baby girl. Look what I made for you,” Christian says with a smile.
“Oh wow, it’s Piggie,” Rosie bubbles and starts giggling. “She has no hair though.”
Christian laughs. “I thought we could do a better job tomorrow. I have cool stuff we can use for her hair. Will you be a good little principessa and eat this for me?”
“What’s that?” Rosie asks with wide eyes.
“Oh, it means princess in…my country.”
“what country?”
“It’s a far away land called Italy.”
“I can be a princess there if I eat this? Like Princess Arial?”
Christian nods and my heart squeezes. “You’re already a princess. All girls are.”
Watching him with her pulls on my heart.
I promised myself two things when I left Columbia. The first was to do everything in my power to keep Rosie safe and the next was to make sure I was never again with any man who would treat us the way Miguel did.
In my head being in the mafia was enough of a heads up to stay away, but Christian has made me do a full turn around in my mind.
He couldn’t have shocked me more that he has.
* * *
“It’s time to go,” Christian says glancing at his watch.
We’re packed up and ready. There wasn’t much worth taking so it didn’t take long to pack and he did most of the work.
Rosie is sitting on the sofa holding her little bag she always takes with her, and I’m wearing a baseball cap to hide my face.
There’s a knock at the door that makes me jump.
“It’s okay, those are my people,” Christian says planting a hand on my arm to calm me.
His people… I wonder who’s here.
He made a few phone calls earlier but I didn’t catch any of what he said. the conversations were brief.
Christian moves over to the door, looks through the peephole and opens it. Six men are outside. I recognize Salvatore. The others are definitely his brothers. I know two of them are owners of the club but I’m not sure which two. I haven’t met them all yet. The guy at the end looks like Christian.
“We got them,” the guy with the graying temples says and I wonder if he means Brent.
“Thanks,” Christian answers. “I’ll join you in a sec.”
They move away but the guy who looks like Christian stays and comes in.
“Lilly, Rosie this is my brother Georgiou. He’s going to take you to my place. I’ll catch up with you in a little while and bring the boxes. You just get there and make yourself at home,” Christian explains.
“Come, we need to go now,” Georgiou says with an etch of wariness in his voice.
“Okay. Thanks,” I say and take Rosie’s hand. I look to Christian as we walk out and when I see the hardness come back into his face I know I’m right. They found Brent.
We go left for the elevator and he goes right, toward the corner where Brent lives. There’s a muffling sound that sounds like someone’s trying to talk but can’t. I swear I hear quiet sobs too.
We get in the elevator and it goes down. At about the halfway mark I hear it. a gun shot, then another and another, and another. And… another.
There were five of them including Brent.
I think they got one bullet each.