Chapter 36 Violet
Chapter Thirty-Six
VIOLET
“No,” I say to the doctor and nurse, “I’m fine. I wasn’t hurt.”
The nurse frowns in the private room at the hospital where Cade took me and Gianna. The other girls are being treated, too, I presume. I heard something about a safe house, but some of them weren’t even able to speak English, so I think the authorities have them.
I keep looking over my shoulder, expecting some assault team to swoop into the antiseptic halls of the private hospital in Queens and take down Cade.
But no one does.
No one even blinks at the big mafioso guys who drove us here, either.
No one mentions their guns I can see peeking out.
Probably, no one dares. Or else, Enzo’s uncle threatened everyone.
I don’t know. I don’t care.
I just want to be with Cade and make sure Gianna’s okay.
“I’m fine. She’s…” A sob threatens to unravel me.
Cade steps in. “Violet’s only been missing a few hours. Gianna? Almost a year, and I think you need to run a lot of tests.”
The doctor nods, and the orderlies help Gianna on a gurney and wheel her away.
Someone met us at the car in the parking lot when we got here and handed us a bag of clothes. From the way the men acted, it could have been this uncle Gino. I don’t know. Right now, I don’t care.
I’m in sweatpants and a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt.
The shoes are slippers, so they don’t bother me as they slap the ground when I walk, following Cade to the small, private waiting room.
“Sit.”
There’s something so quietly commanding in his voice that I do so, and he starts to pace, irritation now taking over from the fear that made him hold me so tightly earlier. Fear and relief.
The irritation weirdly makes my heart flip harder over him.
He loves me, and all these emotions are part of it. He loves me enough to be pissed off at me right now, and I don’t know if I’m going crazy, but it makes me want to hug him tight.
Cade stops and spins to face me, pointing a finger at me.
“What you did was utterly stupid, and I’m so pissed off right now I could break things.” His dark eyes glow with inner fire. “But what you did also took guts. I’m beyond annoyed that you disobeyed me, but yeah, you’re brave. Dumb, but brave.”
“Thanks, but you don’t actually own me. And I’m a lot smarter than you give me credit for,” I snap, my heart soaring.
He glares. “Wanna bet? I fucking own your ass, Vi. And I think you’re the smartest person I’ve met.” He rubs a hand over his face. “Fuck…I’m just glad you’re okay.”
His phone buzzes, and he whips it out, reading something, then firing off a text.
“The other girls? Are they okay?”
“Hmm? Oh yeah, Enzo said Zayne said they’re good.”
“Did you find more?” I ask him.
“Not there, but they’ve found more.” He puts his phone away and comes over, sitting next to me and wraps his arms around me. “Focus on you for once, Vi. Not everyone else.”
“I’m fine.” I rest my head a moment on his chest.
The strong beat of his heart is some kind of lifeblood I need.
Then I lift my head. “I really am fine. Just shaken. He tried to touch me, but I kicked Thomas.” I swallow. “I’m unscathed.”
He frowns. “You have a bruise.”
“I’m good, Cade, really. Gianna, on the other hand, she’s been through a horrific ordeal that’s going to take a long time and a lot of therapy to get through.”
Cade tilts my head up and kisses my lips. “With you as a friend, she’ll be fine.”
I kiss him back, our tongues tangling and coiling together as we get lost in the magic of the kiss, the tingles of need and desire that spring to life inside me.
God, I love this man.
He ends the kiss and whispers, “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
My heart swoops and melts, and I kiss him again. “I love you, too, Cade.”
We grin at each other like morons.
And then I run a finger over his abs. “You know what would make me love you more?”
He frowns, looking a little puzzled. “What, woman? Brownies for life?”
“Not a brownie girl.” I’m lying. And I bite back a grin. “No, I prefer information. The dirtier, the better.”
A warning light hits his eyes. “Violet…”
I ignore it and his tone. “Undying love, Cade, in exchange for you telling me what happened with Enzo in Cancun.”
He laughs and groans. “Brutal.”
“All’s fair.” I kiss him. “Come on, just tell me. I’ll make it worthwhile.
Cade laughs. “What happened to undying love?”
“You already have that.” I sigh. “So, now I’m bribing you.”
“Fuck, woman, I thought you’d forgotten Cancun?”
“I’ll never forget Cancun. I need to know. Please?”
He laughs again. “Are you going ever give up on that?”
I shake my head. “Never. And if you think I will, then you don’t know me very well.”
“You’re the most stubborn, annoying woman I’ve met.” His lips brush mine. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Soo, are you going to tell me?”
“Fine.” Cade sighs. “I’ll tell you only on the condition you never tell Enzo I told you. I’ll never hear the end of it otherwise.”
“I promise I’ll never tell.”
“Okay, so, this was five years ago, long before we ever met.” He looks up at the ceiling. “We were in Cancun for a wedding. Anyway, Enzo likes to be a hound dog, he likes women, anyway, anyhow, and he was totally into this chick. To be fair she was hot.”
I punch him in the arm, trying not to laugh.
“Not at hot as you, Vi.” But he grins. “Anyway, he got her attention, and they almost hooked up. The thing is before anything more than some kisses happened, his uncle—not Gino—pointed out she was the daughter of his aunt’s mother’s cousin or something like that. A distant cousin.”
I can’t hold in the laughter, and his dirty look only makes me laugh harder.
“He ended it immediately. They didn’t hook up biblically or anything. But this girl was into finding herself a husband, and he fit her bill. The girl got upset that he ended things so…abruptly. Told her father Enzo took advantage of her.”
“She did not!”
“She did. And the man was insanely overprotective. He kidnapped Enzo with the intention of torturing him.”
“And uncle Gino did nothing?”
He rolls his eyes. “Gino wasn’t at that wedding. He probably had a horsehead to put in someone’s bed in the Bronx, or something. He’s a busy man. Who…” He frowns. “Likes Mickey Mouse.”
“I knew he got me these clothes.”
Cade ignores me. “Anyway, I managed to sneak into the compound and rescue Enzo before anything happened to him. But we got caught sneaking out. It seems, he kidnapped Enzo when he was getting ready to go out, right after a shower when he was getting dressed, and he only had on his underwear.
“So, there we were, being chased through the streets of Cancun, Enzo in his underwear with a literal shotgun-toting father and the girl chasing him, screaming that she’d made it all up, and…that they were related.”
If Cade wasn’t holding me, I might fall out of my chair and be rolling around laughing my ass off on the floor.
I wipe the tears from my eyes. “Wait. Who told her?”
“Me. Anyway, that was the night before the wedding. We got uninvited because the father refused to attend if Enzo was there.”
“I can’t wait to use that story against him,” I joke, gulping in air.
Cade narrows his eyes. “I’ll punish you so bad if you let on you know.”
I kiss his cheek. “For me, that’s not a deterrent. It’s more like a reward.”
He rolls his eyes. “What the hell will I do with you?”
“Love me?”
“I already do.”
I sit with Gianna. Cade’s off with Enzo to talk but said he’d wait for me outside.
Gianna looks at me. “Thank you.”
“You did it, not me. If you weren’t so strong, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Did…are you okay?” she asks.
I nod. “I even got the all-clear.”
Gianna fidgets with her bed sheet. “They said Mom’s on her way. I don’t…I don’t know what to do.”
“Your mom’s gonna be so happy to see you. There’s no need to be nervous.” I start to rise, but Gianna shakes her head.
“Please stay.”
I sit back down and take her hand. “Of course, I will.”
Gianna has nothing to worry about. I’ve met her mom, and I remember how nice she was, and can only guess at the pain she’s been through.
“What if she blames me, wha—”
“She won’t.”
Gianna’s about to speak when the door opens, and Cassandra flies in, her face tear-stained, makeup free, and a smile that’s so loaded with love and crushed hope coming back to life.
“Oh, my baby!” She opens her arms as I get up to move out of the way, out of the room.
“Mom.” They hug and cry and cling.
Shit, even I tear up, a lump in my throat forming and my vision blurring. I blink furiously, dashing at my eyes as I witness an intensely private moment of such pure happiness.
Cassandra sits on the bed, Gianna’s head on her mother’s shoulder, skinny arms around her as her mom holds her.
Cassandra looks at me, clearly not caring she isn’t the vision of perfection. Her T-shirt is on inside out, and I’m betting she was sleeping when she got the call and her world changed forever.
Husband no doubt going to prison or worse. His career is over, crushed by his involvement. And her daughter found.
“Thank you for saving my Gia. I remember you at the office.” I see why she’s such a perfect political asset because she pulls herself together in moments while still showing her vulnerable side. “You knew Joseph was involved then, didn’t you?”
I swallow. “I had a hunch.”
“You’re a heroine. Saving my baby.”
But my cheeks burn as I shake my head. “My boyfriend, Cade…it was mostly him who tracked Gianna down.” I head to the door and pause, saying, “I hope we can stay in touch, be friends, but if not, that’s okay, too. I’ll leave you to have some alone time.”
I walk out and find Cade.
“Hey,” he says, as Enzo hangs by the door. “I was coming to find you. Slight change of plans. Can you wait here. I know the doctor thought it might be good to have you in overnight.”
“Do that, and I kill you.”
“I’ll be back.” He swallows a smile. “Someone will be watching you.”
“What are you up to?”
He looks at me. “Taking care of Joseph. Zayne has Thomas already, but Joseph is slippery. He isn’t on the data we got.”
I frown. “But…”
“We’ll take care of him. I’m gonna make sure he never hurts anyone else again.”
Just like whatever Zayne’s going to do to Thomas, I think. He might be in law enforcement, but he’s clearly involved on some level with Cade.
After they leave, I go down to the café and get some food and coffee and then I call Lia.
“Amazing,” my friend says, “that we’ve been spending so much time together, and I haven’t seen or heard from you.”
I take a sip of the coffee. “I’m sorry, I am. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. It’s just been a shit few weeks.”
Lia sniffs. “Well, it’s going to take a lot of wine to earn my forgiveness.” She pauses. “How are things with Cade? He was pissed off when he called and found out you’ve been lying to him. Thanks for the heads up by the way.”
“Come on, I’ve gotten you out of trouble.”
“Not the same.” But she laughs. “Can we hang this weekend?”
“Yes, please.”
After I hang up, I wander back up to Gianna’s room.
She’s still with her mom, and my heart aches a little.
I don’t have a mom, but if I did, I’d want a Cassandra.
But I have something as good. Lia. And I have Cade. Apart from Lia, he’s the first person to make me feel truly part of a family, and I can’t wait to see where the future takes us.