Chapter 11
I was exhausted,happy, and strangely at peace. Some of it was attributed to the fact that my father wouldn’t be here until this weekend. Maybe his plane would blow up. It was horrible to think that way. I didn’t want to be like him, but he’d hurt me and my mom so many times. He’d been even more wretched to her. If I knew he’d take the trust fund and leave me alone, I’d sign it over to him in a heartbeat.
He would never leave me alone.
When I’d overheard him talking, there was no mistaking the word liability. I didn’t know why he’d thought that of me, but it didn’t matter. In his mind, whatever he did was justified.
I finished toweling off after a quick shower and dropped the damp towel over the end of my bed. When I’d returned home after having dinner with Thea, I’d felt windblown and dirty. Just as I slipped on my pajama shorts, it sounded like the door opened and then closed. I figured Remy had ordered pizza or something.
Remy wasn’t so bad. He was nice enough to me. It didn’t change the fact that I felt like a prisoner in my own house.
I grabbed my hairbrush and began pulling it through my hair. The length was a bear, but I couldn’t bring myself to cut it, not when I’d lost it twice because my father went into a rage. After about thirty minutes, it was tangle-free, and I curled up on my bed with my phone.
There was a breaking news notification, and I tapped it. The vigilantes had hit a warehouse, and police had released a statement about a group of little girls of varying ages huddled together. There was a picture someone had taken. It was a little grainy, but I knew what I saw. Dimitris Kalantzis stood in the crowd as a stretcher with a little girl was loaded into an ambulance. I let it go, thinking maybe he was just in the area.
Reading on, the reporter who was covering the vigilantes mentioned that crime had steadily gone down in the last three years. Now that I thought about it, he was right. That was about the time my father began mentioning his warehouses and loss of business.
I looked at the picture again and remembered another article I saw when I’d started researching Lucas. One of the reasons I’d picked him was the fact that they didn’t deal in skin. None. Drugs, gambling, guns, yes, but that was it. They had in the past, but they’d gotten out of it… three years ago.
A forgotten detail surfaced as I revisited the picture. Back when I first hatched my plan, I stumbled upon a documentary about the mafia—it’d included Lucas’s family. It was mostly speculation and guesses, but when they’d noted a fine print update, it’d mentioned their move away from the skin trade.
Interestingly enough, that was about three years ago.
Around the time Giana and his dad died.
Puzzle pieces clicked into place, and I gasped.
Lucas’s family were vigilantes, and I was marrying the boss.
I laughed at myself. There was no way I was right. I was reading into things using little more than a theory derived from what most would call a fantastical reenactment of mafia life disguised as a fact in a documentary.
The doorbell chimed twice in quick succession and then again. I grumbled as I set my phone down and got out of bed. Grabbing my robe from where it hung on the bedpost, I slipped it on and began tying it as I walked out of my room. I stopped at the top of the stairs and scanned the open first floor. “Remy?”
I descended the steps, and the doorbell chimed again. Good grief! Someone was impatient. It was a big house. Give me a second.
I paused and wondered if maybe it was a bad idea to answer the door. The thought was stupid. I’d never had anything happen that would make me think someone was here to hurt me.
Most of the time, it was a delivery driver who had found themselves lost and turned around. GPS was great until you were sent to Street instead of Place or Avenue.
When I reached the door, I looked through the peephole. “A balloon?”
Who? Lucas. Had he sent me a gift? I opened the door and realized my mistake almost immediately. Before I could slam the door, a boulder of a man shoved his way in, sending me flying to the ground.
“Grab her,” a man shouted. “We don’t got long.”
Before I could shake the fuzziness from my head, the thick-necked man who barreled through the door yanked me off the floor, nearly dislocating my shoulder.
“What’s going on?” I asked. I must have been in shock, because to my ears, I sounded calm, but I was shaking.
His lips curled up. “You was promised to someone. They’ve paid us to deliver. Now, be a good little girl, or we’ll have to do a little scratching and denting.”
“Pr-pr-promised to who?”
The man leaned down and smiled. “You’ll see soon enough.”
“Well, what is going on here?”
Thea? I tried to find where she was and nearly cried when I saw her with her shoulder leaning against the doorframe.
The other man, less thick, snarled at her. “Maybe the guy would like to play with her too.”
Necky laughed and then abruptly stopped. I looked up, and there was a knife lodged in his throat. He dropped to the floor, and I just stared. I’d seen death in the movies, but up close, I was frozen. That man was alive, and now he was dead. At my feet. In my home.
I somewhat registered a conversation between Thea and a man. No, two men.
Several loud pops later, an arm snaked around my waist. “Claire!”
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t blink. I couldn’t look away. All I could do was watch the dead man’s blood pool on the floor. It was like a macabre abstract painting. He’d planned to kidnap me and take me to someone who wanted to hurt me, but I couldn’t stop myself from wondering who might miss him when he didn’t come home.
Fingers tugged on my chin, and my eyes were on Lucas.
“I’ve got you.”
He had me?
“She’s in shock. I’m getting her out of here,” Lucas said.
“Thea?”
“Thea’s fine, but I need to get you somewhere safe.”
“Somewhere safe.” I nodded. “Okay.”
It wasn’t until my skin connected with cool black leather that I realized Lucas put me in the car. The driver’s side door whooshed open, and he was sitting behind the wheel. He clipped my seatbelt in place, and the engine revved.
Lucas was on the phone. With the way he was talking, it must have been one of his brothers. “Yeah, I’ve got her. Take him to the warehouse. I want to talk to him once I get her settled.”
Blood rushed through my ears as I tried to process what had just happened. It was too much. Too much. The words repeated until everything went black.
“Claire.”My name was a whisper. “Claire, hey, wake up.”
The cloud I floated on was soft and warm. When I breathed deeply, something spicy filled my nose. The familiar spicy scent of Lucas. I slowly opened my eyes, and the night’s events rushed back with blinding speed. The men. The violence. The blood.
I realized I was on a bed, and I scrambled back until I hit the headboard. My hands went to my head. My stomach was in knots. Panic was building in my chest. I couldn’t breathe.
“Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Lucas came into focus as his warm honey voice coated my ears and addled brain. “You’re okay. You’re at my condo, and you’re safe.”
He gave me a second to let that sink in. I swallowed and looked at him. Dimitris, the little girl, and the conclusion I’d come to hit me. I’d laughed it off, but as I was looking at Lucas, I knew I was right. I knew it.
I wanted to tell him I’d figured it out, to pelt him with questions, and to understand why. A deep sense of self-preservation kicked in, and I quickly decided that it would be a bad idea to say anything. He didn’t know me, and what I knew could get him and his entire family killed. He’d kill me to prevent that from happening, and I couldn’t say it wouldn’t be justified.
Instead, I used my expertise in burying things that I didn’t want to remember and asked, “What happened?”
“We’re not exactly sure yet, but we got one of the guys who tried to kidnap you. He will fill us in.” Lucas growled the last sentence.
An image of the man with the knife in his throat, his hand on the knife handle, played in my head—the bewildered look in his eyes. “There was so much blood. I’ve never seen so much. It just…” I took a breath. “So much.”
“I know, and I’m sorry you had to see that. I wish I could erase it from your memory.”
My shoulders relaxed, and my gaze dropped to my hands. “Me too. I wonder if he had a family. I wonder if he had children.” I lifted my head, my eyes meeting his. He had a strange look in his eyes.
His head tilted as his eyebrows furrowed. “He was going to hurt you.”
“I know,” I whispered. I wasn’t even making any sense to myself. I should have wanted him dead, but I didn’t. “Why were you at my house?”
“Well, Franklin wanted me to keep an eye on you while he was gone. I just felt like you needed to stay with me while he was out of town, and when I arrived, your door was busted open.”
“Oh.” My father. Of course, that would’ve been the only reason. “Wait. Did you say you wanted me to stay with you while he was gone?”
“Or longer.” He smiled. “I don’t like you being at that house.”
A long moment passed between us. I had a whirlwind of emotions tickling my spine and making my head spin. He wanted me to stay with him.
More images played, and there was Thea. “Was I imagining Thea being there?”
He shook his head, smiling. “No. We weren’t sure how much trouble Remy was going to give us, and I wasn’t leaving you there.”
“Where’s Remy? Is he okay?”
“Thea found him knocked out in the bushes. He’s fine; he’s just got a whopper of a headache, according to her. We think he was lured out.”
The balloon! I wrapped my arms around my middle. “There was a balloon on the porch. I thought…” Tears burned my eyes as they flooded my vision. “I thought maybe… that maybe…” I couldn’t tell him what I thought. Lucas Kalantzis wouldn’t have a balloon delivered to my house to surprise me. At best, he tolerated me at this point, and he kissed me because I was the closest available candidate.
“Thought what?”
“Nothing. It was stupid to open the door. I should have known something was up because I couldn’t find Remy. I’m such an idiot.” I looked around. “Where am I?”
“Answer the question first. What did you think?”
“It’s not important.”
He took my chin and forced me to look him in the eyes. “What did you think?” He enunciated each word.
It wasn’t like he didn’t know I was pathetic and stupid. What was one more item on the long list of bullet points? “That you sent it.”
“You’re not an idiot.” He kissed my nose. “You’re sweet and trusting. Those aren’t bad qualities.”
“Unless you’re being kidnapped, and then they suck.”
He laughed. “You’re kinda feisty. You know that, right?”
I tried to pull away, but he held me still. With his free hand, he smoothed my hair back and just stared at me. The longer he stared, the harder it was to breathe. I wondered if I begged him to kiss me if he would. Part of me thought that wouldn’t be enough. He was quicksand, and I was slowly sinking.
When he dropped his hand, I was so disappointed I almost whimpered. “Well, you’re safe now.”
I looked around. The walls were painted soft blue-gray. If the dresser was any indication, the furniture was minimalist and black. I could see a rug jutting out from under the bed. It didn’t feel like he was trying to impress anyone. It was beautiful and so peaceful. I didn’t know that I would want to leave when my father returned.
Lucas’s apartment felt more like home than that two-story prison had ever felt.
“The bathroom is next door, and you’re free to use it or mine in the master. I didn’t put you in my room because I didn’t want you to think I’d force you to do anything.”
I got the impression I took him off guard when I launched myself at him and threw my arms around his neck. “Thank you.”
Laughter rumbled in his chest and into mine. “You’re mine, Claire, and I take care of what’s mine.”
His.Did that mean for now? Did it continue after I turned twenty-one? The questions were on the tip of my tongue, burning to be asked, but I couldn’t. What if I didn’t like the answers? The moment was comforting, and his arms felt so, so good.
“Do you want to clean up?” He asked as he leaned back.
“I don’t have any clothes.” I suddenly realized I was in skimpy pajamas. My face burned, and I palmed my cheeks, trying to cool them.
“Thea brought some of your things over while you were asleep. They’re by the door.”
I jerked my head to the doorway and smiled. “Thank you.” I returned my focus to Lucas. “How long have I been here?”
“A while. I need to leave and take care of a few things, but I didn’t want you to wake up alone in a strange place.” He stood, pulling me with him. “Let me give you a tour.”
I patted myself down. “My robe.”
“Thea packed you one.” His tone was somber.
“Oh,” I said as I processed that perhaps my robe had blood on it, and he didn’t want me waking up to that.
Lucas tangled his fingers in mine, and I followed him out of the room. “This is your home. You’re free to go wherever you want and use whatever you want.”
He led me down the hall. “That’s the guest bathroom, and across from it is the second guest bedroom.” We walked a few feet, and I felt like I’d entered an inner sanctum, like Batman was showing me his bat cave. A large bank of windows lined the west wall, and dark curtains ran from ceiling to floor. The walls were a darker gray. A massive king-size bed was the centerpiece, and the bedding was a soft gray-blue. We took a left, and I was standing in my dream bathroom.
To the side, as I walked in, there was a bench. A thoughtful touch. I could picture taking my shoes off or simply taking a second before I showered. There was a ginormous tub in the middle of the room, and it was located within the shower area that was walled off with glass. I’d seen these types of shower-bath combos and loved them. Two doors were framing the shower, and he untangled his hand and waved me ahead of him.
I stepped inside the most incredible wraparound closet I’d ever seen. His clothing was hung by color—which I found interesting. And he called me organized?
We continued making our way through it, and there was an entire empty section. “A closet so big you don’t have enough clothes to fill it?”
“I have plenty of clothes. I’ve made room for yours.”
I looked at him. Room for mine? In his closet? Did that mean he wanted me to stay in his room… in his bed?
Like he’d read my mind, a smile played on his lips. “You don’t have to sleep in my bed to keep your clothes in my closet.”
He kept this up, and he wouldn”t be able to keep me out of it. “I love it. I feel like I designed it myself,” I said as we exited the other door.
We left the bathroom, walked out of the master, and back down the hall that opened into a large living room. To the left was a gourmet kitchen. He did own a restaurant, so that wasn’t all that surprising.
“If you get hungry, help yourself to whatever I have.” He stepped closer. “Okay, that’s the tour. I need to leave for a while, but I won’t be gone long.”
I chewed my lip as I realized I’d be in his condo alone. “Okay.”
“You’re safe, Claire. I’ve got someone outside who won’t let anyone harm you.”
Did he think that was my issue? I didn’t want him to leave. I wanted to snuggle into his chest with his arms around me and fall asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.
I was mental. Completely off my rocker. Two days ago, I could have pushed him off a cliff, and today, I wanted to smother him in kisses. I was losing it. He wanted my trust fund…
Only when my eyes connected with his, my heart rejected that entire notion.
Lucas walked to the door and paused. “I’ll see you later.”
Before I could stop myself, I ran to him and threw my arms around his chest. “Please come back to me. Please be safe.”
His hands came to rest on either side of my head and tilted it up, and his eyes were so stormy. ”I will,” he said. Then he bent down and pressed his lips to mine. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”
There was a moment of hesitation, and he was out the door.
I hated that he was gone, and I hated that I felt that way. This agreement was only supposed to last three weeks, and my feelings for him were messing up my plan to leave Chicago for good.