30. ~Julian~
30
~Julian~
“All done,” I said, stepping back from Bianca Leone after finishing stitching up a particularly nasty gash across her cheek.
She grabbed a mirror off the counter and took a look at what I’d done. “Impressive work.”
“That means a lot coming from a surgeon,” Cat told me, as she stood in the Charon Manor kitchen a few feet from us, typing rapidly on her phone.
“Well, I’m no Milo, but I can handle a couple of minor stitches here and there.” I eyed her. “What’s the deal with the Leone Estate?”
While I’d treated her mom, Cat had been working on hacking into the surveillance cameras there to try to get a picture of what was happening, and how Nico and Milo were, because with them immersed in that shitshow, we’d figured they wouldn’t be reachable.
I’d also been able to tell from her reactions to the initial state of her mom when we’d brought her back here that she’d needed to focus on something else in order to keep her emotions in check. As if the day hadn’t already been bad enough for her as it was without this adding to it all.
She finally walked over to us, barely able to look at her mom directly because of the upsetting state of her, and she focused on her phone in her hand, telling me, “The Lone Gunners took out the security system when they first arrived, which cut the surveillance feeds, so it wasn’t as simple as merely accessing that.”
“That’s simple?” her mom questioned wryly.
I smiled at her and thumbed Cat. “For this fierce tech whiz, yeah.”
Cat rolled her eyes, then reported, “I had to improvise, and I tapped into the camera apps of a few Marchetti and Leone personnel, activating them and using them to piece together a picture of what’s going on. Fortunately, there were several soldiers with their phones out, using them to keep their superiors updated on various aspects of the invasion. As such, I was able to confirm that Nico and Milo are fine. The Lone Gunners retreated around ten minutes ago. The ground floor of the mansion is in utter carnage, glass and debris everywhere, fires that they’re fighting to put out without having to alert the authorities. There are several casualties and even fatalities. Even that Madam they were looking to do business with whom owns that chain of brothels just outside the city was killed during the attack, so that’s off the table for them now. Santino will be furious about that, given what already happened with his human trafficking startup. You know, along with the fact that a force dared to attack his domain at all? I can’t determine the numbers yet where the fatalities or casualties are concerned. Unfortunately, Leo survived, along with that Capo, Gio, that you all hate, and even Angelo.”
Before I could get a word out, let alone absorb all the information she’d just imparted, she came to me, urgency spilling from her, as she told me, “You need to lie low for a while. After what you told me happened in that room with Angelo, he’ll consider you marked. He won’t just take the warning and stand down, believe me. He’s still holding a nasty grudge against me, for fuck’s sakes, for rejecting him years ago, and look how that’s playing out now. Even after lying low for a while, once you head back out into the world, you’ll need to up security around you.”
“Marked, huh? Like, for death? Little old me?”
“Not for death. You’re too high-profile for him to risk that. But marked for him to mess with.” She winced. “To harm too. You need to take my warnings seriously, Julian.”
I stroked her arm, assuring her, “I will, darlin’.”
As much as I despised the idea of giving an abusive tormentor like Angelo Simone any power of me whatsoever, I could see just how worried she was about the situation. So, if I could give her some peace of mind right now, I would. “I’ll remain here for a while until things die down a little.”
“Thank you,” she said, beaming up at me.
“Or you should all come with me,” Bianca spoke.
“That can’t happen, Mom,” Cat told her.
“Come here,” Bianca urged.
When Cat hesitated, Bianca assured her, “It looks worse than it is. These are just superficial injuries. I’ll be fine. I am fine.”
Cat walked to her and took Bianca’s outstretched hands. Pain blanketed her mom’s features as she took in her daughter in her dirtied and torn wedding dress, the cost of our escape through the forest that the Leone Estate backed onto.
“I didn’t want this for you. Truth be told, I didn’t want you married at all. You’re too free for that, full of determination and lofty business aspirations. I hated the idea of anything getting in the way of that. But to be forced into marriage is another awful thing altogether. It makes me sick to my stomach. The fact I wasn’t there too… it’s just…”
“Mom, I told you that we’re just playing the game. It’s not as dire as the families believe it to be.”
Yeah, she’d told her mom the whole deal on our way back here.
There hadn’t really been much choice with the state she’d been in. Cat had needed to prove to her that she was safe with us in coming back to Nico’s place.
“It’s arguably all the more dangerous. The people you’re going up against… this could very well be a suicide mission, Caterina.”
“It won’t be. I promise. And I’m going to do this, follow through with it all, for the both of us. That bastard will pay for what he’s done to us.”
“I don’t want revenge, just peace,” her mom uttered sadly.
Hell, it was fucking heartbreaking.
Cat gave her hands a squeeze. “And you’ll have it. We’re going to get you far away from here. He won’t be able to track you down this time. You’ll be safe.”
Bianca shook her head in despair. “There’s no true peace for me without you safe, my sweetheart.”
I stepped forward and told her, “We have her covered. She’s not alone.” I smiled at Cat. “And she never will be again.”
“I appreciate that my daughter finally has a support system around her, but it’s still no guarantee with what you’re all up against.” She eyed Cat. “I know Joey trained you well, but you’re still not invincible.”
“Joey?” I queried.
Cat grimaced. “Long story.”
“One of your secrets you’re working on revealing to us?”
“It’s not really my secret to tell, because it implicates somebody else and risks their safety.” She gave her mom a look. “Or it wasn’t supposed to be my secret to tell.”
“I’m sorry,” Bianca said. “It’s hard to keep track of who knows what.”
“It’s all right, Mom. I get it. There’s a lot happening. And I hit you with a lot of major revelations tonight.” She laid her hand on her shoulder. “Get cleaned up, then get some sleep. You’re safe here. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
“I’ll show you to one of the spare rooms,” I said.
She nodded and rose from the stool with a heavy sigh. “That would be nice, thank you.”
“Make a list of whatever you need and I’ll have it brought in for you.”
She smiled out at me. “Much appreciated.”
“I’ll help you get settled,” Cat insisted, coming along with us.
At least that would give her some peace of mind.
She still hadn’t had time to wrap her head around all the rest yet.
The fact that her mom would be in the wind soon, cut off from her completely for the foreseeable future.
The fact she was now married to Nico.
The fact that this place was now suddenly to become her home.
So many heavy changes, it was a lot for anyone to wrap their head around.
Even Caterina Leone, as strong and as resilient as she was.
I watched as Cat closed the door and finally stepped out of the guestroom that her mom was now staying in.
She jolted when she saw me standing there, leaning against the wall.
“You’ve been waiting out here the whole time for me to help her get settled?”
“And texting with Milo and Nico. They’re on their way back here now.”
“Good. Thank goodness.”
I held out my hand to her. “Come. I’ll give you a proper tour.”
She smiled and took it, and we started down the corridor together.
“So, Nico mentioned that you’ve actually been here before, but just briefly, right?”
“Yeah, during our war. I broke in while he and Milo were out and I fucked up a couple of his Viking statues.”
“Damn.”
“A lot has changed since those days.”
“So much that it’s a lot to even begin to wrap your head around, yeah?”
“It definitely is,” she admitted, giving a little glimpse into her vulnerability over it all.
I let go of her hand and wrapped my arm around her instead, tucking her into my side. “You’re not alone anymore. We’re here to help. We’ll figure it all out together.”
“I’d like that,” she said, sinking into me.
Emotion clogged my throat at her actually being open and letting me in, trusting me, instead of throwing up a wall or hiding how she really felt about it all.
It was such a precious thing for somebody like her to offer up.
I kissed the top of her head. “We’ve got you. We’ve got each other. That’s what it means to be a part of us, Cat. To be ours.”
Unfortunately, my phone buzzed, cutting into the heartfelt moment between us. I cursed myself for not turning off my notifications for the night—at least my social media notifications.
“Is that the boys?” she asked.
“No.” The sound was different and distinctive to me. “Just comments, messages, and all that coming in from my IG. Sunday is usually a big night for me posting new content, recapping my week and all the apparently exciting things I’ve been up to. My followers and Carver Babes are just wondering where I am.”
Amusement danced in her eyes. “Wow. I see.”
“Yeah, it’s a whole thing.”
She stared at me intently. “You need to keep busy always, don’t you? Many distractions are necessary for you?”
“Yeah,” I admitted.
“To keep your mind off certain things?” she pushed, albeit very carefully.
I put the pieces together, realizing where this was coming from. “This is about what you heard Milo say concerning being triggered when he and Nico went to meet with the Lone Gunners that first time years back?”
She nodded. “Your father hurt you, didn’t he? Badly.”
I swallowed hard. “He did. For many years.”
“Was he the cause of the scars on your back? I saw them when we came together that night, interspersed amongst those beautiful black angel wings spanning the length of your back.”
Instead of focusing on that, I told her, “Those wings I had inked as a symbol of me escaping all of that, of soaring above it and moving forward.”
“That’s beautiful.” She caressed my shirt as we continued walking together with her tucked into my side. “I’m so sorry you had to go through something like that. You’ve built an amazing life for yourself since those dark days, so much to be proud of. It’s a hell of an inspiration.”
“Thank you,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “Maybe we’ll get into the details of what happened back then some other time. But for now, I want to keep things positive for you after everything you went through today.”
And I needed to cast out the skin-crawling sensation that had afflicted me since we’d veered down that conversational path.
“Okay,” she agreed, getting that I couldn’t go into it anymore right now.
Fortunately, as we made our way down the corridor, our shoes clacking on the bold and sleek black marble floor, melding well with the dark gray walls that were broken up with striking black and white geometric patterned wallpaper every few feet, we reached Milo’s room.
“First stop on our tour,” I said, pushing open the door and leading her inside. “The bedroom of our powerhouse babe, Emilio Bardi,” I announced with a dramatic flourish.
The sweetest little giggle escaped her, making me grin.
The gray wall theme was continued inside, just like with all the bedrooms in the mansion, but the framed bright and multicolored images broke it up a hell of a lot, each photo of a fantastical creature that Milo was fond of—dragons, witches, phoenixes, elves.
On the opposite side of the room to his bed that was covered in black and crimson striped sheets, the headboard black just like the frame, with a bright crimson rug around it, there was a long workbench spanning the entire length of the wall.
“Wow,” Cat breathed, walking over there in a near-trance as she took in the dozens of figurines Milo was in the process of painting—a whole lot of fantasy creatures. He also had glass shelves of them displayed throughout the room.
“He really gets into all this when he has some downtime.”
“It’s amazing,” she said, crouching down to take a look at a sorcerer figurine holding a magical staff that was half painted. “He’s really good.”
“Yeah, he’s got a steady hand.” I smiled to myself. “In more ways than one.”
She chuckled. “Yeah.” As she rose back to her full height, she suddenly turned to me and asked worriedly, “Crap, are we supposed to be in here? Did he give you permission?”
“He owes me. I was the one who tidied this shithole up last night in anticipation of you coming here. There were empty plates, books, clothes all over the floor, a moldy apple, you name it. And the bathroom was another story altogether. You really don’t want to know. It’s why his room is over on this side of the mansion, far away from Nico’s bedroom. He can’t stand all that mess.”
“Huh, I never would have guessed,” she said, as we headed out and continued down the upper floor over on this side of the place. “That was nice of you to neaten it up for him.”
“Well, we wanted this place ready for your arrival.” I winked at her. “It wasn’t just for him.”
She beamed up at me and held my arm tightly to her as we walked. “You’re a real sweetheart, aren’t you?”
“I can be. To a select few.”
She chuckled and then we headed down the black, winding staircase to the main floor.
I pointed at the four statues lining either side of this corridor. “And there are the Viking statues, now all fixed up and in perfect condition again.”
“Hey, he deserved taking that hit. He sent me a severed fucking finger!”
“I thought that was retaliation for slashing your tires?”
“Nope, it was for the finger.”
“Ah. Well, either way, it’s fucked-up.”
“It certainly was.”
I looked out at her. “Loved it, didn’t you?”
A coy smile spread over her face. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
Sure.
I pointed out some of the paintings hanging on the walls as we strode along of Roman and Greek gods.
“He certainly loves his mythology,” she commented. “Even calling this place Charon. It’s the name of the ferrymen in Greek mythology who transported dead souls across the Styx.”
“Yeah, kind of like you with your King Arthur stuff. There’s a bust of Zeus in his home office here, too. And for our last stop, I’ll show you the fountain with a statue of Aphrodite. It’s near the hot tub.”
I watched her taking everything in.
I showed her the large kitchen again, this time with a proper overview. Last time I’d been focused on treating her mom and Cat had been on her phone the entire time too, so she hadn’t really had time to take it in. It was all monochrome and top-of-the-line sleek black appliances, a white marble kitchen island, then the breakfast nook in the corner with white leather seats. We passed by the library, Nico’s study—that was locked and he wouldn’t like me randomly heading in there without his permission, so I left it—a den, and one of the living rooms.
Then we walked across the lobby and up the double winding staircase toward another set of bedrooms.
I led her toward Nico’s, but then pulled up short and told her, “Yours is right next to his. Do you want to get out of your dirtied wedding dress first while we’re right here before we continue the rest of the tour?” It couldn’t be nice to be stuck in that thing—for several reasons. I should’ve thought of it sooner, but I’d been on a role since I’d seen her interest in my tour idea and the fact that it had been cheering her up.
“Actually, yeah, that would be nice. I think I’ll take a quick shower as well.”
“Sure thing. Meet me in the first living room I showed you when you’re done.”
“Will do,” she said, opening the door.
“I know you didn’t want to bring a whole lot of your stuff over, because you still have your apartment and everything, so we included a few extra things to make sure you’re comfortable. Have a look around, settle in, whatever you need to do.”
She stared at me in wonder.
I smiled. “Told you we’ve got you, darlin’.”
With that, I stepped back and let her do what she needed to.
As the door closed, I headed back down the staircase.
The mansion was eerily quiet.
And I didn’t like it.
Not one bit.
All too quickly, without necessary distractions, my mind started whirring and heading down dark and dangerous paths.
I shoved the barrel of the gun down Angelo’s throat.
“You really wanted to be swallowing a cock, but all you get is this. I’m off the menu. Accept that and let it the fuck go.” I drove it deeper, making the bastard retch and claw at the floor. “Come at me or mine again and this will look like nothing.”
Abruptly, I ripped it out, and he vomited all over the carpet.
It had been a long time since I’d been in that darkly violent headspace.
It wasn’t the norm for me, nor something that I liked doing.
During our mission with the human trafficking ring takedown, I’d been adrenaline-junkie violent, focused on the thrill of it. The excitement and the major rush that it was.
But tonight, Angelo had pushed me to the bad side of it all.
He’d fucking triggered me.
It hadn’t just been the violent threat he’d posed—and that had been bad enough.
It had been the sexual threat I’d felt coming off him in dangerous waves.
The fuck I was gonna endure anything like that again.
I’d lived through it already and I’d barely survived it.
Ah, fuck.
As soon as that thought hit me, it opened a door that I was usually so good at keeping closed, especially with all my distractions in place.
Before I knew it, they were all spiraling, the brutal memories of what I’d suffered through in the past swirling around me and assaulting me over and over.
I staggered back against the lobby wall and brought my hands to my face, trying to get a grip, trying to shove it all back down and bury it.
“Sunshine.”
I jolted as a big hand landed on my shoulder.
I dropped my hands from my face with a gasp, my eyes wide, my body fucking shuddering.
And then I was looking out at Milo.
Nico was to his side a little ways behind him, watching warily.
“I thought this would happen after what that shithead did tonight,” Milo told Nico over his shoulder, before turning his attention back to me. “Breathe. Nice and easy. Focus. I’m here. We’re here. You’re safe. All the rest is long gone, in the past. You’re in the here and now, rooted to this place.”
I slowly nodded, letting his words roll over me.
“I’m okay,” I murmured, after a little while, steadying my breathing and managing to focus on the here and now and pull away from all the rest, all that bleakness and abuse that had been enveloping me.
He stroked my shoulder, then stepped back, and I pushed off the wall.
“Is everything—” I started to ask him and Nico.
“Everything is fine,” Nico assured me. “We’re all safe to be here. Cleanup is underway at the Leone Estate and that’s the focus right now, along with Marco and Santino sending out two dozen soldiers to track the Lone Gunners. They won’t find them, I already have my sources confirming that they’re disappearing, going to ground. No one has any idea that Bianca Leone is here, so we’re good there, too. And Santino agreed that it’s best that Caterina is here in the home of her new husband tonight, given what just went down.”
“Just like you planned.”
“Exactly.”
“A shit-ton of collateral damage, though.”
“No innocent collateral damage,” he pointed out.
“I didn’t like those fucking club guys being involved in the first place and—”
Milo stepped up to me. “It’s okay, Sunshine. I know. I know you’re worked up. How about we get you showered and dressed in something that’s not covered in dirt, blood, and grass stains, yeah?” he suggested, looking at my now ruined suit. “I’ll help you to get your mind far away from all that nastiness.”
The erotic nature of the suggestion wasn’t lost on me.
Yeah, if I took control of him like that, I’d be back on even steadier ground.
But it could also be a little dangerous when I was like this, when I’d just gone to that bad place.
“You’re sure?”
“Of course.”
“You’ll need a safe word.”
“My usual. Sprinkles.”
“And a signal too.”
He nodded, agreeing to my terms. “You’ve got it.”
“Where’s Caterina?” Nico asked me. “Bianca?”
“Bianca has crashed for the night a few doors down from Milo’s room. Caterina is upstairs in the room you assigned to her. She’s taking a shower, getting changed, and just generally taking a much-needed beat.”
“Okay,” he said, taking that in. “I’ll give her some time.”
“Plus, you can clean up too,” I said, gesturing at his bloodied state, just like Milo’s.
“Just a few scratches,” Milo assured me, before I could ask just that. “I promise. We took your words to heart, just like you asked.”
“Or demanded,” Nico said.
“It’s only because I love you two assholes so much.”
He grinned. “We know, J.”
“Right back at you,” Milo told me.
I gave them one of my classic winks, then Milo led me away, while Nico headed on up the staircase.