Chapter 18 #2
“No,” Mamma said, squeezing my hands. “Frank’s not saying that.”
“They must’ve hired a PI or someone with tracking skills. It would’ve been easy to gather information on Ethan just from his license plate. A little digging and they’d discover everything.”
For the second time that day, my skin blanched and I felt my stomach roiling. “When my mother was berating him, she got into his face and waggled two fingers before screaming that he was a rapist. Was she trying to tell him that she knew?”
“I don’t know,” Frank said. “But if she’d read that he’d been in rehab, maybe she thought triggering him would send him back to drugs.”
“But he didn’t take them,” I immediately bristled at Frank’s insinuation. “He was told that he’d been getting steroids.”
“Yes, but information on the Internet might not have mentioned that so as not to risk a lawsuit. Your mother probably assumes he’d been a user and if he went back to using, you’d drop him and might return to the church where she wants you. Plus, it would be payback for him allegedly enticing you.”
I dropped my face into my hands. “I’m so sorry. You both love him so much and I was just being selfish knowing things for me would get bad. But you have to believe me. Please know that I never thought my mother would be that vile.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to leave him.”
“Mio caro,” Mamma said and took my hand from my face. “Why would you?”
“Because I might have ruined him. You’ll think differently when we find him and you see what my family did to him because of me.”
“You’re wrong, Jude,” Mamma said. “Frank and I have never seen Ethan happier than when you came to dinner and we watched him with you. If he’s not feeling love, it’s very close.
And if he harms himself, he’ll need you, Jude.
Frank and I are there to love him as a son.
But a partner is a whole other story. Si? Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I nodded because there was no sense in arguing with her or Frank. First, we had to get Ethan back.
“Franco,” Mamma said to her husband. “What next?”
“Call Gabby. If anyone knows what Ethan might do to himself, it’s her,” Frank said.
“Isn’t she at work?” I asked.
“She is,” Frank said, “but she’d want us to notify her even if we didn’t need her help.”
While Frank dug his phone out of his pants, Mamma said to me, “Frank hasn’t eaten. You probably haven’t either. Do you have something light that I can put together?”
I loved how much Mamma looked after her family.
And Ethan had been right when he’d said that she wanted to make sure that people around her were always fed.
I saw that clearly. Food was her love language.
“I think so,” I said and then let Mamma lead me into the kitchen with my mug of half-drank tea in hand.
“Jude, you’re probably not hungry but you should eat to keep up your strength. Even if you only take a few bites.”
“I will,” I said dutifully.
I was handing leftovers to Mamma when Frank came into the kitchen, stabilizing himself on the counter, since he didn’t have his cane. “Gabby wants to talk to you, Jude. Hey Gabby, I’m in the kitchen with Jude and Mamma.”
“Jude, I’m glad you thought to call Dad. He already related the main event but to make sure that my suspicion is correct, you tell me in detail Ethan’s reaction to your mother’s words.”
I pulled out the stool and sat down, giving me a couple of seconds to replay the scene in my mind.
“At first, he was stunned. She called him a pervert a few times, condemning him for seducing me. But when she accused him of raping me… Gabby, he…” I shut my eyes and saw him all over again.
“I won’t ever forget the pain and guilt in his eyes.
She shattered him, Gabby. But the worst was when she waggled two fingers in front of his face when she called him a rapist and he just went somewhere else mentally.
The guilt was written all over his face and I know that when he left, he took my mother’s words to heart about him being with a priest. Which is bullshit.
” My head popped up to look at Frank and Mamma. Sorry, I mouthed.
Frank waved a hand at me.
“Where do you think he is, Gabby?” I asked, desperate to be out of the apartment and looking for him.
“I’ll take you, Jude,” Gabby said. “What are you wearing?”
“What?” I had to have heard wrong. “Does it matter?”
“It might to get you in. We’re going to a club. Do you have black jeans?”
“Yes,” I said, still confused but I wasn’t going to waste time asking questions.
“Put on the tightest pair you have. You looked to be about the same size as Ethan. If you don’t have an equally tight black T-shirt, then wear Ethan’s.
He has a few.” To Frank and her mom, she said, “Without getting into any of my personal stuff outside life with the family, don’t ask questions, please.
It’s not a dancing, drinking place. And it’s totally safe.
I’ve been going for years so don’t worry. ”
While Gabby was still talking, I ran into the bedroom.
I washed my face, brushed my hair and made a quick change as per Gabby’s standards.
I added Ethan’s leather bracelet for good luck.
He’d never worn it with me, but I had a suspicion that where we were headed, leather was going to fit in just fine.
Ten minutes later, I was in the kitchen again. Mamma had food in the microwave.
“Jude,” Frank said. “Gabby was going to tell her boss that she had a family emergency and leave immediately.”
“I hope she doesn’t get in trouble,” I said. “Ethan doesn’t need to feel guilty about anything else.”
“No, she won’t,” he assured me. “She’s been bartending there since her college days. Her boss knows she wouldn’t ask to leave on a busy night unless it was an emergency. And this is one.”
“Sit,” Mamma told me. She put a small portion of Chinese food in front of me. “Mangiare, Jude. Eat,” she repeated in English. “Even just a few bites.”
I picked up the fork and once I had a taste, I ate without further urging. “Thank you, Mamma. I was hungry.”
She made a plate for Frank with the rest of the carton and added a serving of Thai food that I’d gotten for lunch. Then she set about making a grilled cheese sandwich.
I finished my food and brought the plate to the sink.
“You’d better go down and wait out front, Jude,” Frank said. “The bar’s not far.”
Grabbing my wallet and house keys, I quickly hugged both of them. “Thank you.”
“Go,” Mamma said but I detected a few rogue tear drops.
I jogged to the elevator and tapped the palm of my hand on the cool metal of the door with impatience. Going down five stories never took so long, and when the elevator stopped to pick up a passenger and her dog on the third floor, I cursed inwardly.
Right, and of course on the ground floor, I held the door for her to exit first because my nature hardly ever allowed me to be other than polite. I was outside, shifting from one foot to another, for only a minute before Gabby pulled up in an Audi.
She pushed the door open even before I got to the car, and I wasn’t even buckled yet before she sped off.
I felt bad because she didn’t look good.
Being July, the sun was still bright at seven and the light highlighted the bags under her eyes and stress lines bracketing her mouth.
I couldn’t say anything because I’d met her only once, but I also couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
Before she could say anything, I said, “Sorry my mother caused all this, Gabby. You don’t need this stress. But thank you.”
“It’s Ethan we’re talking about,” Gabby said simply. “I would’ve been mad as fuck if you or my dad kept me in the dark. Plus, I’m the only one who knows where he is.”
“Which is?”
“Hard Limit. It’s a BDSM club.” Gabby gave me a sidelong glance. “Is that going to be a problem? I brought you because I’m sure Ethan’s going to want you there. But if you feel uncomfortable—”
“It’s fine,” I said and put my hand on Gabby’s arm for just a moment as a gesture of my sincerity.
“I was in the seminary at twenty and never had a chance to discover a lot about… anything, really,” I scoffed.
“Except for being gay. But when Ethan told me that he was a submissive, he also asked me to read about BDSM, especially the dynamic between a submissive and a dominant.”
Gabby tested the speed limit as she drove, but she glanced at me. “I’ve done mild impact scenes with him. Non-sexual, and Belle has always been present. But it works for us because Belle doesn’t have any tolerance for pain. And Ethan likes it hard. Which I’m sure drove him to Hard Limit.”
“Is it a private club?” I asked.
“Uh-huh, I’ve been a member for over ten years and Ethan had joined even before he and I met.”
I didn’t like the idea of Ethan being desperate and having a Dom take advantage. “So, the Doms who might agree to do a scene with Ethan are reputable?”
“Yes, Master Beckett and his wife have the majority of stock in the club and are the founding members. He has a stellar reputation as a Dom and has very strict rules. And to answer your question, if a Dom suspects that Ethan is seeking to have a scene to punish himself, the Dom will refuse to play with him. If the Dom is concerned enough about Ethan’s disposition, he might ask Master Beckett to intervene. ”
I sighed in relief. “Thank you for easing my worry.”
“And here we are,” Gabby said as she turned onto a paved drive that led up to a gatehouse. Instead of an attendant, there was a Smart-card reader. After Gabby inserted her personal code with her cell phone, the iron gates opened, and she continued to the parking lot.
“Wow!” was all I said, staring at a high stone wall topped with barbwire.
“Yeah, Gabby said, cutting the engine. “When Master Beckett and his wife, Natasha purchased the property, they made safety a priority. The building before renovation had been a warehouse for ship containers, and the surrounding port area host to a varied group of lowlifes.”