Yesterday, she walked into town with Carra and did some shopping from the thrift shops off of Main, from what I could tell she bought a couple pairs of blue jeans and some shirts. She purchased ammo for a .38 revolver and fired some rounds at the gun range before cutting through the cemetery to meet Carra by the end of her shift at the diner.
Carra offered her a small room above the barn she renovated. That woman has many talents, she could sing like an angel and remodel an old barn into a magnificent loft. After her mother passed, two years ago and left her close to 10 acres along the lake, she remodeled the barn because she couldn’t bring herself to live in the main house.
I took Carra’s virginity down by that lake, blocked from view by the tall White Oaks and Sassafras, sweet sixteen and full of fire; She was more woman than a girl. We had been on again, off again ever since. It couldn’t have been easy for her, growing up the way she did, I understood why she needed to figure out who she was but the day she left me in the dust, my world unraveled.
Now she’s back in my life and there’s not a chance in hell I’m letting her go again. I know she’s struggling with me being married but I will resolve that mistake soon. I married Justine six months after Carra left town. I tried to do the right thing and make the marriage work, I never meant to hurt either of them but the heart wants what it wants. Justine, understood, she knew from the start there was only one woman for me. In less than twenty-four hours, I would get to take Carra in my arms and make sure she never wants to let go again. In the meantime, I will my hard cock into submission and hope I don’t get a case of blue balls.
The sun had risen over the tree line when I stepped into the Silver Spoon Diner for a cup of coffee and a glimpse of Carra’s sweet smile. I helped myself to a cup of coffee and sat at the counter while Carra took an order from Mr. and Mrs. Lacey, refilled Dan’s coffee and slipped a tip, left on a corner booth, into the apron wrapped around her thin waist. The old fashioned waitress uniform didn’t do her body justice, but I loved how it hung on her curves, flirting just above her knees.
“I didn’t expect to see you this morning.” A smile tugged at the corners of her delicious lips as she ran her blue eyes up and down my body.
“Had a few things to take care of before I head out.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her in between my legs, letting her feel the power she had on my cock.
“Brie or Bella, whatever her real name is, has been asking questions and making people nervous. Think about telling her.” I said.
Carra played hard to get and squirmed to free herself from my grip brushing her hand across my inner thigh. “Not until I speak to him. Just figure out who she is, before he checks in.”
“When I’m done at the courthouse, I’ll swing by the station and see if I can call in a few favors to get things expedited. I’ll let you know what I find, tonight.”
“You're coming by tonight?” Her smile widened as she threw me a playful wink.
“Honey, I’m spending tonight and every night after, where I should have always been. Inside you.” I slapped money onto the counter for my coffee and strolled out of the diner with a smile on my face and an ache in my pants.
Chapter 28
Brie
I hadn’t been able to find any answers so far, but I was definitely being kept in the dark about something. I could hear Carra and the Sheriff whispering through the flimsy wooden floor boards. On the second night, I laid on the floor with my ear pressed to the boards to find out what they were saying. Their voices were too muffled to understand but after the way Sheriff Nash drilled me about my ID, I didn’t think he believed a word I said. I don’t know what made me trust them, maybe it was fatigue, or maybe it was the pull I had toward Carra. She asked me to trust her and so I did. I told them everything from the rape, to the fire and the abduction, from Cal’s murder to the FBI and my escape. The only thing I didn’t tell them was that I murdered a police officer. I had the gun so Angelo had nothing to use against me. No, that was a secret I planned on keeping.
I slipped into a pair of soft denim jeans and buttoned a sheer red blouse half way up over a black tank top. The clothes I purchased from the local thrift stores made me feel more like myself. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and tucked the pistol into the back of my pants, straightening the shirt layers overtop.
My first stop of the day was the old library; I had hoped I could find something useful there since the townspeople all gave me the same hollow response when I showed the picture around town. The library sat at the end of Main Street overlooking the lake. It was a small two room building built from concrete blocks painted red to match the brick fronts of the buildings up and down the street. It was nothing like the college library with its marble statues lining the massive stairs into the high rise building with large open rooms. This library had only one room.
It was clean and well-light but smelled of damp paper and old books. The look of surprise on the librarian’s face when I walked in reassured me no one would interrupt while I searched for answers. Four metal bookcases, each about six feet tall with double-sided shelves were grouped together across from the librarian’s desk. A few tables and chairs sat empty in the middle of the space. I took a seat and flipped through a stack of dusty old newspapers, looking for any clue why Emilio would be interested in this place. What I found left me breathless. There, in black and white was an obituary that read different from the one I remembered reading. This one referenced funeral arrangements for Bakers Funeral Parlor in Ashe, North Carolina.
I sat in disbelief for several moments before returning the stacks of newspapers to the counter next to a faded street map dated 1852. It was framed and hung above a wooden cabinet that held the towns death records. I opened the top drawer and thumbed through the file cards arranged alphabetically until I found Carracci. Only there wasn’t just one card but two. I stared in disbelief, Carracci, Abigail deceased two years earlier and Carracci, Cal. I read the cards out loud and studied the old map. The burial locations were side by side in the same cemetery I cut through coming back from the shooting range.
I had planned on returning to the range, to fire as many rounds as it took until my hands no longer trembled from the weight of the gun, but my plans had changed.
I left the stillness of the empty library and walked around the lake toward the cemetery. Once I passed through the iron gates at the entrance, I counted markers until I found the exact locations as recorded on the file card but there was only one grave, Abigail.
Someone had brought fresh-cut flowers that withered and slumped in the metal vase next to the headstone. It was a beautiful monument. The passage ‘Beloved mother of Cal and Carra’ etched in the marble slab, left me breathless. Cal and Carra, my instincts had been right. I was being kept in the dark.
I flew like the wind down the hill and out the iron gates all the way to the diner to confront Carra. I positioned myself in front of her blocking her movement. My skin heated with anger, the raw emotion causing my voice to tremble, “How long where you going to keep your relation to Cal a secret? I trusted you, I told you everything, and you didn’t feel the need to tell me?”
Her eyes locked on mine. “Until I could confirm who you are and why you’re here. All I know for sure is you share a name with the man who plunged a three-inch blade into my brother’s gut and left him to die!” Her voice rose to meet my frustration, “you’re not the only one with questions but we’re not talking about this here. I’ll meet you at the house in an hour.”
Chapter 29
Cal
I sat in the interrogation room across from Agent Kent and her crony doing their best impersonation of good cop, bad cop. Her blue suit hugged her perky breast and her partner stood behind her tipping his head, gesturing for me to look. I assumed from his point of view he could see down the white blouse underneath her jacket. It was a weak attempt at male bonding to make me comfortable enough to confide in him. I had no intention of telling them what they wanted to
know.
Agent Kent straightened in her chair and set the pen and notepad on the table between us. “Mr. Carracci, all we want to know is why you’re in New York City.”
I forced myself to remain calm despite my growing impatience. “I already told you, Angelo Deluca has Brie and since you don’t seem interested in doing your job, I came to get her back.”
Agent Kent folded her hands in front of her. “The purpose of the witness relocation program is to keep you away from the suspect. I need to know how you came about this information and if you’ve had any direct contact with Mr. Deluca or Ms. Morgan.”
I never intended to be a snitch, that’s not how we handle these matters. I only agreed to enter the witness relocation program to protect my identity and that of the family. In fact, Vinny left me no choice. By the time I woke from surgery, three days after being stabbed, they had already made the deal and my death was headlining the newspapers.
The FBI were first to arrive on the scene since they were surveilling Deluca to build a RICO case against him. I negotiated the terms of my temporary relocation to Ashe, North Carolina. The secluded Blue Ridge Mountain town where Carra and I grew up was the perfect place to lie low. There was only one person outside the town that knew of our location and Vinny would go to his grave before betraying my mother.
“Agent Davidson paid me a visit last week. I don’t like that guy. He’s a real asshole, pushing for information that could boost his career. The asshole wanted me to identify photographs of Deluca’s crew. He had one of Brie.”
I thought about how I thumbed through the pictures, committing each one to memory, until I came across one I already knew. My heart leaped out of my chest as I stared into the face of the only woman I had ever genuinely loved. The painful memory of learning she had died while I laid unconscious in that hospital room came flooding back. The ache retched at my insides worse than the stabbing, the surgery or the extensive rehab that followed. It had been months and although my wounds were on the mend, my heart would remain forever broken without her.
My reaction must have shown on my face because Agent Davidson questioned me about Bella Morgan. He was fucking clueless. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I stared at the picture of Brie and it all became clear, Angelo was never after the stake for Vinny’s poker game, he was always after Brie.
He was going to pay for attempting to off me but using Brie as a pawn was a debt he could only satisfy with his blood.
Davidson left without the information he wanted and I packed a bag.
Over the lake, the glow of the late summer sun appeared in the clear strip of sky between the parting clouds. The rainy morning would soon change over to a sweltering afternoon.
Carra appeared particularly irritated as she hastened her stride across the bridge. “You will never believe who I just ran into.” Her mood grew even more agitated when she noticed the duffel bag. “Where are you going?
“New York. I need to take care of something.” I secured the bag to the back of my bike with a bungee cord.
“What are you talking about, Cal? You know you can’t leave Ashe.”
“Stop worrying so much Carra and trust me. I can’t explain right now. I’ll call you in a few days.”
I swung my leg over my bike, but before I could start it, her hand closed over my arm. “Wait a minute. I didn’t get to tell you, Justine paid me a visit today, she wanted to give me her blessing to pursue Nash once they finalize their divorce.”
I choked back my impatience. I needed to get to Brie, “Look Carra, I may not have always liked you dating my best friend but with everything that has happened the past two years, we’re not the same people we used to be. Not everyone will hurt you, sweetie. Nash has always loved you and he always will, so stop being so stubborn.”
“But…”
“But nothing, Car, do you love him?” Call it twin intuition but I didn’t need to hear the words to know what was in her heart. What had always been in her heart. “Sometimes you have to look backwards before you can move forward. With the two of you, either direction you look starts and ends with each other. I have to go now.”
I pulled the clutch, and the engine came alive underneath me, but before I drove off I added, “Just tell him.”
Once I cleared the local roads, I opened the throttle wide and let the miles speed away beneath the black wheels of my bike with no regard for the speed limit. I gave a squeeze to the throttle, coaxing even more power until I topped out at a speed of 110, my knee just skimming the pavement when I took the bends. I ignored the wind that hit my face and shot up underneath the frames of my sunglasses. Brie was in danger and it was killing me from the inside. I was meant to be her protector, and no matter the cost I would get her out of harm’s way, I could not fail again.
As the hours ticked by my visions of her grew. I had tried to push her memory aside to cope with the loss but in that moment it welled up and spilled out.
“Fine, Mr. Carracci. I will let you leave because I know you won’t accept an escort back to North Carolina but don’t let me find out you’ve had any contact with them. Let me do my job or this whole thing blows up.”
“Understood. Now if you don’t mind I was heading back to Ashe before you picked me up. Brie’s not there.” I rose from my chair and hurried out of the station before she could ask more questions. I didn’t want to be late to meet Chainz, he had a special delivery waiting for me.
The FBI didn’t need to know the plans I had in the works or what I’d been up to since I’d been in town.
I parked my bike a block away and walked toward the address registered as the private home of Angelo Deluca, keeping my head down as I approached a tall stone wall. It was already dark and even though I dressed in all black, I had to stay out of sight so I didn’t tip him off that I was alive and coming for her. I assumed security cameras monitored the place so I positioned myself behind a row of trees and scaled the height of the wall using my legs and arms to lift myself up. I flattened my body along the top to study the surroundings.
One light in the house was on. It was a first-floor room but from my position I couldn’t see in. Three men were guarding the house and alternating shifts around it. They favored their right sides, I assumed they were packing heat on their hips. Motion detectors were in operation but I needed to get closer to count how many there were without being seen.
I lowered myself over the wall, flattening against it and digging my heel in the dirt until I uncovered a rock. I picked it up and threw it in the yard towards the front of the house clearing the way to the back when the guards ran towards it. Being careful to stay in the shadows I followed the edge of the wall around the back and noted the gardens and a large pool area. Two balconies jetted out from the second floor, one on each side of the house. This was not a one-man job, I needed reinforcements to get her out. Using another rock as a distraction I climbed back over the wall and walked to my bike.
After securing my 9mm in the top box of my bike, I retrieved my cell and called for the cavalry. “Hey, it’s me I need your help.”
He met my request with agitation. “Cal, what the fucks going on?”
“I’m outside Deluca’s compound. I need help to get back something that's mine.” I straddled my bike and put the key in the ignition.
“Fuck, Cal, don’t be stupid. Our families have had a truce for 24 years, I can’t have you going in there. That’s an order.”
“I think Deluca’s broken that truce, don’t you Uncle Vinny? The family needs to retaliate, but he’s got Brie.”
The line went silent for so long I checked to see if I had dropped the call. “Are you sure?” his steal voice wavered with concern.
“I don’t have eyes on her but I’m sure. How fast can you get someone here?” I lifted the kickstand and straightened my bike.
“Cal, listen to me. A plan is already in motion. We will strike and take back the territory we gave up. The Bianchi Family forfeited their rights to it when this prick tr
ied to kill you. I’m texting you an address. Get here.”
I retrieved the text with an address, fired up the engine and tore out of there as fast as I could. There wasn’t a minute to waste.
♥♥♥
While the crew slept, I paced the terrace of the furnished penthouse suite in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, watching the city soak up the sunrise. I had managed an hour of sleep but the internal argument running through my head left me no time for sleep. I could work with what Vinny’s crew had put together, but I needed to escalate the time line, I needed to take action now. I ran through the list and background of the people who had invested money into Angel Enterprises, which from what I could tell was a fictitious business. The money was most likely being used to carry out Angelo’s schemes. The cities wealthiest were among the names but a few stood out.
I moved inside and positioned myself in front of a laptop on the dining room table and ran a search for John Davis. While Davis productions billed itself as a modeling agency, I knew it for its independent porn productions. I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed my mark. His gambling addiction had him on the line with Vinny for thirty large and no way of paying the vig. After our enforcer broke his legs, he coerced his girlfriend into making low budget porn to keep up with the demand. We arranged for him to play in our low level games and his winnings went towards paying back his debt. His losses kept him in over his head, which benefited me. I countered the deal, agreeing to wipe his debt clean if his girlfriend landed an audition, in which Davis co-starred for his own personal film collection. When the job was complete, he was to bring me the film and deliver John a message. When I was sure they both agreed to the terms and understood they must do the job today, I disconnected the call. I never understood why such a beautiful girl would let a sleaze bag like him drive her to such things but as long as she was in the game I may as well put her talents to good use. Davis would cave under the threat of blackmail after being caught with an underage girl. The withdrawal of one large investor would be enough to unravel Angelo’s Poncey Scheme.
Resurrection (The Vendetta Series Book 1) Page 12
