Chapter 14 Losing Friendships #2
“Who do you think got me this job in the first place?”
“You started—”
“Six years ago in the kitchens,” she interjects. “No one remembered me. Everyone thought I moved on after the hotel sold. It’s a big place.”
My hands clench into the table’s edge. “You met Gabriel here.”
“Uh-huh. He’s hotter…smarter…and said I’d have everything I wanted long as I did what he said. I waited for him, too, when he was imprisoned. After Leonardo got him out, I started helping Gabriel regain his family fortune again. Then, I told him about you, and he said you needed to be gone.”
Thoughts tumble, reeling to grasp reality.
“You’ve been working with Gabriel? So, that means…Gabriel has been calling the shots, not Matteo? It was him.”
She scoffs again. “Oh no, Matteo hates you, too.”
“Where’s Gabriel?”
She gets quiet, pursing her lips.
Anger simmers in my gut, replacing some of the hurt as I realize I was right. Matteo had been used. He wasn’t wholly innocent, but if Gabriel has been whispering in Charlotte’s ear, then he was doing it to Matteo, too. He was out there, pulling the damn strings. Fuck.
“Charlotte.” She tries to ignore me, acting nonchalant now. “He lied to you, then used you to get to me and Leo. He’s lying about whatever promise he gave you.”
“No…he loves me,” she says confidently.
“Listen, please—”
“What are you going to do? Torture me? You don’t have the balls.” I stare at her, and she shrugs. “Leonardo doesn’t hurt women.”
Almost brokenly, I say, “Gabriel does.”
Charlotte stares down at the ground. For a moment, I think I’m getting through to her until she looks up. Bitter coldness warped with resolve drives a chill down my spine.
She knows. And she doesn’t care.
The door opens. I stand fully as Mila steps in and moves to the side for Leo to enter.
He keeps a rigid expression as Charlotte looks at him, and fear flashes over her face.
It seeps through her features as he doesn’t say a word, moving to grab one of the chairs and drags it across the floor.
Metal screeches. Both Charlotte and I flinch at the sound as he places it before her, and then starts to unbutton his sleeves to roll up.
Mila closes the door, taking the jacket she was wearing off and pulls out two knifes that were hidden within.
The air is heavy, and each breath feels like bricks in my chest. Charlotte suddenly looks at me with terror, eyes going wide.
Leo’s commanding, rigid presence pulses as he comes over to me, and then gently traces a finger along my jaw; a vast juxtaposition of what he represents right now.
“Wait in my office.”
My blood runs cold at the command. The mask he’s perfected doesn’t shift, a callous numbness.
“Wait! No, Autumn… don’t leave,” Charlotte begins to beg.
“Gag her,” Leo instructs Mila.
I start walking out of the room as Charlotte screams and starts to cry. Her restraints clatter against the metal chair as my own legs want to give out.
“Autumn! Don’t, please, umfh—” Charlotte’s voice is muffled as I get to the door, hand on the knob.
I peer over my shoulder, noticing the tears now streaming down Charlotte’s face with the gag back in her mouth.
She looks at me, shaking her head, but then looks to Mila who’s stripped down to her tank top and holds up a knife.
I turn away when Leo sits and Mila holds the knife to Charlotte’s throat.
Quickly, I step through the door and shut it hard behind me. Harsh reality floods me as I stare at the carpet. That’s why he has Mila—a female captain, to do what he won’t. My hand trembles as I press it against my mouth, feeling the need to hurl.
I rub my hands over my face as I start walking to Leo’s office. I’m on the verge of screaming or crying, fighting to breathe normally as I step through the next door into the main hallway. There, I freeze when I see Isaac speaking with Chiari, Grant, and Alba.
Shame lines Grant’s features, eyes immediately avoiding mine. Chiari and Isaac both have dour expressions. But it’s Alba’s that makes me want to breakdown. Hers contorts into shame. She starts to move but stops as if she’s unsure she’s allowed to even approach. My heart aches.
I head directly to her, opening my arms. She accepts the gesture, embracing me as she apologizes. Spanish and English mix, overlapping each other as she continues, and then begs me saying that she didn’t know.
“Alba.” I stop her, stepping back and holding her shoulders. “I trust you. Lo sé.”
She nods solemnly, reaching up and grabbing my hands. I look at Grant and Chiari next.
“She used all of us. Not your fault. I blame none of you,” I whisper. Chiari nods once, keeping that grim expression. Grant is practically stone. Alba pats my hands, letting go. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Long as you’re done for today, go home. Por favor. Isaac…make sure they do safely.”
“Of course, Miss Autumn.”
I give Alba another hug, then give Chiari a nod as they head for the elevator. Grant continues to avert his gaze. The elevator doors open, and they start to get on, until I say, “Grant.”
He pauses before the doors. The pride I’ve seen on his face long gone.
“She used all of us,” I murmur. “You’ve done your job perfectly.”
He straightens a little, and then does that little bow nod of his. “Have a pleasant evening…Mrs. Luciano.”
I stare as they leave, doors closing. Almost in a daze, I go into Leo’s office and sit down in his chair.
My gaze lands on the briefcase. I open it, but stop.
I instead pull the other disc out and I insert it into Leo’s computer to play the video.
The screen flickers, showing the secret camera Enigma installed three days ago, pointed directly at where the briefcase was placed.
I watch Charlotte come in to clean, then bring out the key she stole from his desk, using it to steal the three cases, and hides them in her work cart.
I shut it off, taking the disc out and toss it across his desk.
Anger churns along with disgust. I stare, recalling those first moments in telling myself if I wanted dirt on someone was to become a maid.
How that thinking got me to formulate all that blackmail.
I was so concentrated of my own plans, I missed her entirely.
The headache worsens, making me feel sick.
The violation of my life pierces through me, knowing how involved she once was. Every day and hour we spent together. For fuck sakes, she did my fucking laundry. The friendship I believed was real, became only a means to an end. For Gabriel.
Once more that bastard has leached his bloodied foulness into my life. Every facet and crack seem to be filled with the vileness that’s him. How much more would he take? Who else will he destroy to get what he wanted?
Through Charlotte, they’d endangered more than just me and Leo.
The hotel staff. The Crew. Innocent people who worked here.
She threw away their safety and friendship because she wanted my fucking position but with Gabriel?
Fury trickles over me, hands shaking as I recall the bitterness in her eyes. She knew.
“You knew!”
Betrayal, that feeling I knew all too well squeezes tightly. My privacy twisted into a weapon to harm me and those I cared about.
“—private fucking information, to the police without my consent!?”
Before I can stop, I stand and grab the briefcase to throw it.
It cracks against the window, echoing with a sharp noise as it busts open.
Movie cases tumble out, scattering across the floor.
I stand over them, each breath heavier than the next as my hands shake.
Tears stream down my cheeks. Where else will be tainted like my apartment?
Blue Java? Luna Stella? The estate…the hotel…
the motorcycles…what else will they get their hands on and devastate?
A hand touches my shoulder. I spin with a shriek, attempting to hit whoever grabbed me. My wrists are grasped before I can. I come face to face with Leo who looks at me with a too calm expression. I gulp in breaths, staring at him through blurry vision.
How fucking long had I been standing here?
“Breathe,” he says softly, loosening his hold on my wrists.
My hands drop, slumping to my sides as I try to regain my breath. There’s a pain along my spine and my lungs hurt. Anxiety drives itself deep as I start to flick my gaze over him, searching for blood.
“Autumn.”
“Is she dead?”
“No.” My gaze snaps to his. Leo carefully steps closer. “I’m sending her to California, making her start over.”
Knowing her fate should calm me, but it doesn’t.
The panic attack continues to climb, crawling over my skin as my hands shake, reaching for his shirt.
I numbly open it enough to see the tattoos on his skin.
He doesn’t budge as I trace my fingers over the ink, trying to ground myself with something I know is real.
“Autumn, Mila barely hurt her,” Leo tries to reassure me. “Fear of pain was enough for her to talk. I’m giving her a chance to start over, but I won’t be as merciful if she tries again. She gets this once.”
Leo cups my face, gently tilting my head back to look up at him. Everything is blurry as it hurts to breathe. I finally whisper brokenly, “Red.”
He picks me up, carrying me to one of the couches to sit as he cradles me against his chest. Leo rocks me as the sobs finally come. I clutch him, trembling as I heave for every breath. My brain becomes fuzzy, making the edges of my vision dim.
“She…was in…our home,” I gasp between sobs. “A lie…she told…”
Leo keeps me in his arms, holding me as I sob over another crack in my heart.
In this moment, I understood more than ever why Leo made sure our marriage was secret to everyone. I cry harder, hating that his instincts were right and how devouring that paranoia could become.