by Sara V. Zook
“Move back. Give him some room,” I told Augie who looked as helpless as I felt. His entire body was smeared in the Triplet’s blood as he’d been incessantly putting pressure on the wound since I’d been here.
“What happened?” the man who I assumed was a doctor asked.
“He got shot,” Seton told him.
“Just one bullet right here?” the man asked as he began to examine the Triplet’s ripped flesh.
“Yeah,” Seton answered.
“It’s tough to know how much internal damage there is without having the technology to take pictures of his organs like I normally would do,” the doctor explained, “but I’ll do my best here. His blood pressure is dropping rapidly.” He began to put on a pair of gloves.
I stood and watched as the minutes brutally ticked on. I could feel Lilah’s stare boring a hole into the back of my head.
The doctor brought out a needle and sedated the Triplet before digging in the wound. It seemed like forever before he finally pulled out the bullet. Then he cleaned up the wound and began patching him up with stitches. He put some more medicine on top of the stitches and then a large bandage over top with tape going around his entire stomach. He rubbed at his brow with the back of his wrist as he looked up at me.
“I’ve done what I can for him.” He took his blood pressure again. “He’s stable, for now. He might need a blood transfusion though. He’s lost a lot. I mean, just look at this place.”
Yeah, it did look like a war zone in here.
“Here’s some pain pills.” He pulled out a bottle from his bag and handed it to me. “He’ll need those around the clock and make sure he takes in plenty of water. He needs an IV bag. Just consider going to the hospital if he takes a turn for the worse.”
I nodded. But I wouldn’t consider it.
“That bandage will need changed tomorrow.” He handed me some gauze and tape. “He’s a strong, healthy dude. I hope he pulls through.”
“Thank you,” I told him, “for coming down here and doing that…under the circumstances.”
The doctor stared at me for a moment before nodding.
“Let me give you some cash for your trouble,” I said, placing the items he’d given me down on the desk so I could get some money out of my jacket pocket.
The man held up his hand. “No. No need.”
I went to open my mouth to persuade him, but he stopped me again.
“Really, I won’t accept it,” he said.
“Okay.”
I watched as the doctor followed Lilah back out of the room. I peeked out to see them talking quietly before walking to the door where they conversed a few more times. I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I wondered if this was the guy Stan had been talking about, the one Lilah had been so friendly with. She gave him a smile and a small hug. I really didn’t know very much about the woman I was sleeping with.
“Can I talk to you for a sec?” I asked Lilah as she pulled away from the hug at my words and told the doctor she’d be right back.
She walked over to me, my eyes still on the doctor. “Is this guy trustworthy?”
Lilah folded her arms in front of her. “Of course he is. Look at what he just did.”
“I’m not saying he’s not good at what he does. I’m asking if you think he’s going to keep his mouth shut about what he just saw.”
The side of her jaw tensed. The thought crossed my mind that maybe I shouldn’t be taking any more risks. Maybe I’d be better off getting rid of this guy right now. I didn’t need to be worrying about anything else.
“He’s not going to say a word, Nicky,” Lilah assured me.
I stared at her for another moment before looking back over to the doctor who still waited by the door for her to return. “Just make damn sure he doesn’t.”
FOURTEEN
CROSS
I squeezed lightly on Mick’s arm. “Thank you,” I whispered to him.
Mick’s eyes darted in Nicky’s direction. “I know you don’t need me to say it, Lilah, but what are you doing around these kind of people? This is serious stuff, criminal stuff you’re involving yourself with.”
I felt a moment of shame wash over me. This was an outsider looking in and seeing the situation for exactly what it was. Mick was smart. He was also a genuinely good person. I was willing to bet this may have been the worst thing he’d ever done, and it was all because I guilt tripped him into it saying the Triplet was going to die. That was enough to bring him here—that and the fact that he was a good friend of mine ages ago. I had no right to drag him into this mess. Then again, I’d gotten what I wanted—at least I hoped—Nicky’s approval. By the looks of him standing over there guarding the door to the room we’d just exited, watching me with Mick like a hawk, he didn’t seem full of gratitude.
“I know what I’m doing,” I assured him.
Mick opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, then decided against it. “Just please be careful.”
I nodded. “Thank you so much for coming. You saved that man’s life.”
“But how do I know if his life was worth saving?” he asked.
I was taken aback by his words. “Isn’t every life worth saving?”
He shrugged. “How do I know how he got that gunshot wound? What if he was trying to rape a woman or physically abuse someone?”
“He wasn’t.”
Mick’s eyes searched mine. It was as if he wanted to reach out and touch my shoulder, my arm…anything, but he also sensed Nicky’s stare, so he didn’t. “He’s still not out of the woods yet. He still could die.”
A lump formed in my throat. “He’ll make it.”
“I can’t do this again, Lilah.”
“I know,” I told him. The shame washed over me again. “You’d better get going. Thanks again. Seriously.”
Mick studied me for one more second before turning to leave.
Swallowing down the lingering guilt of my own reflection in Mick’s eyes, I turned to find Nicky again. He was pacing back and forth. I’d seen him do it a dozen times before. His hair was standing on end as though he’d been ripping on it. I had to tell myself that this was just a stressful situation, that he hadn’t meant to snap at me. That’s what people do when they’re faced with horrible situations. They freak out. Completely understandable, wasn’t it?
I walked over to him and reached out to touch his arm. I wanted to be his soothing calm in a time of torrential storm.
But again, he jerked away from me so that he was out of my reach.
“Nicky, please.” The tears returned. What the hell was going on with him? I didn’t understand what I’d done.
“Just stop, Lilah. Stop. Don’t touch me right now. Just…don’t.”
My mouth fell open a little.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Nicky growled.
“I’m not looking at you like anything!” I belted out. “I’m trying to comfort you.”
“I don’t want comforted right now.”
He was still freaking out, his eyes wild and fierce as if he no longer trusted anyone, not even me. I moved a few steps away from him as I watched him pull out his phone from his pocket and press it to his ear.
“Yeah, Remmy?” he said, hurrying around the corner to get some privacy.
I wrapped my arms around myself. Here I was living my dream. Cain Designs was my dream come true. It was breathtaking inside, the clothing top of the line along with the customers that ran their fingers along my fabric. I was independent from Mark. He was cut out of my life completely. And who did I have to thank for all of this? Nicky.
In looking around again, goose bumps popped up on my arms as I rubbed at the skin to try to shake the sudden chill. What had I gotten myself into? I’d let Nicky help me. I’d let Nicky into my life. I’d let Nicky completely take over my life for me. Who was I kidding? This may be my dream, but Nicky owned it. Cain Designs was his. Tonight was evident of that.
There was blood everywhere, all over t
he beautiful floors. It was symbolic really of my own stained life. I was trying to start over again, make a name for myself in Haven after having made poor choices in the past. Didn’t matter. There were still these stains blotting through. The blood of Mark was still on my head even though I hadn’t been the one to pull the trigger. Letting Nicky do that deed for me just gave him more power. How hadn’t I thought of this all before? For heaven’s sake, he’d made a room full of guns and a meeting table around it, a room I hadn’t even known existed in the midst of my store, for moments like these so that he could hide out when needed. When he chose this location, had he chosen it for me or for himself? I was beginning to wonder and second guess everything Nicky had done for me. There now seemed to be a reason for every step he’d taken with me.
The tears overflowed. I couldn’t stop them. I didn’t want to anyway. I needed a release, so I let myself sob as I continued to stare at all the blood. There was so much blood everywhere. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I went into a small, open back room and reached for a mop and a bottle of bleach. I had to keep myself busy right now. I needed to clean up this mess so that it didn’t look like a crime scene. I began tipping the bleach over, the strong odor burning my nostrils as I scrubbed furiously with the mop. The chemical mixed with the Triplet’s lost blood.
I had lost track of time, but the mess was cleaned up. I was exhausted, my eyes puffy from crying, but the job was done. The boutique looked lovely again, and my tears had dried in the process. I stood up and wiped my forehead with the back of my hand as I placed the mop and almost-empty bleach bottle back where I’d retrieved it from.
There was a banging on the front doors of the store.
What time was it?
It had to be in the middle of the night now.
I could see flashing lights through the windows. The police.
Trembling, I took a few steps backward. What did they want? I couldn’t face them now. They’d see right through me.
“Motherfucker,” Nicky cursed from behind me. He was freaking out seeing those lights. How could he not be? I was. “He finally made his way here.”
I didn’t know what he was talking about.
And as if just on cue, I felt his warm hands slide down along my neck and end positioned on my shoulders. Even if Nicky didn’t want me to comfort him, I, on the other hand, craved the soothing power of his touch. He leaned over, his hot breath grazing my ear, as he kissed the side of my cheek.
“You can do this, Lilah,” he whispered. “Don’t be nervous.”
Yeah, right.
“Be calm, answer his questions, get rid of him, okay?”
I closed my eyes for a moment, the tears glossing over them again. How could he have been so angry one moment and so sweet the next? He was just using me right now to save his own ass, that’s how.
“I’m going back into the room,” Nicky told me as the policeman pounded on the door again, the flashing lights now reflecting off of the walls of Cain Designs. “Be strong, baby. Be strong.”
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself over to the doors. I plastered a fake smile on my face as I took in the sight of the officer. He was a small man, lean and short, with a scraggly brown goatee.
“Miss Lilah Cross?”
I raised my eyebrows. “That’s me. What can I do for you?”
“Ma’am, I’m Detective Stephen Thomas.”
I swallowed.
“Mind if I ask you a few questions?”
I didn’t plan on inviting him inside the boutique. I blocked the door with my body and intended on staying there knowing that Nicky and his men were only a room away. I nodded my head. “Sure. I’ll do my best to help any way I can.” Be cooperative, Lilah. Lay the niceness on thick.
“Do you know Nicky Cain?”
Way to get straight to the point. “I do.”
“How do you know him?”
“He’s my boyfriend.”
The officer nodded, suspicion evident in his eyes. “When was the last time you saw him?”
I tapped my finger against my chin as if in deep thought when really I was internally freaking out. “This morning when I left the house.”
“Haven’t heard from him all day?”
“Why all the questions about Nicky? Is everything okay with him?”
Detective Thomas stared at me for a moment before his eyes peered behind me into the store. “What does your boyfriend do for a living?”
“A living?”
“Yeah, you know, his occupation.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Think.
“Actually we’re business partners.”
The officer’s eyebrows raised.
I pressed my lips together. “You know, this is Cain Designs. It’s our boutique—together.”
“That’s what he does is help you run this…place?”
“Uh-huh.” I nodded my head for extra emphasis.
“No one has been in here tonight?”
“I closed up earlier and was working on some projects at my desk.”
“Alone?”
“Alone. Why?”
He didn’t answer. His eyes kept darting to the empty space behind me. I kept my body positioned in the entranceway so he couldn’t just stroll right in without physically pushing past me.
“What’s that strong smell?” His nose went up in the air like a dog. “Is that bleach?”
My hand went up to my head as I scratched at my scalp nervously. “Yeah. Cleaner. I was just cleaning up the place and locking up for the night. Going to head home soon.”
The detective looked like he wasn’t buying it. “Mind if I come in for a moment and take a look around?”
I was sure my heart had just skipped a couple beats in a row. “Am I under some sort of investigation, Detective Thomas?” I asked him.
“No…”
“Then I assume you don’t have a warrant?”
He glared at me. That’s right, you bastard. I’m not a moron. “If you want to come back tomorrow during regular hours, I can fit you for a new suit if you want.” I added an extra wide smile.
He was getting pretty pissed off with me.
“No?” I raised my eyebrows. “Not interested in fashion, officer?” I sighed. “If I’ve answered all your questions, I’m going to lock up now and go home. Been a long day, and I’m tired. There’s nothing in here but expensive clothes and myself.”
Detective Thomas, thoroughly annoyed with me, took one last glance inside as if just waiting for something to happen. Honestly, I wasn’t sure myself if this calmness that was happening inside the store was going to persist or erupt into another ball of chaos considering everything that had recently taken place. I felt as though I were the glue holding everything together right now. That scared the shit out of me feeling how I felt at this exact moment—on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It was like I was headed toward two different places, either jail or the loony bin.
“I’ll be in touch, Miss Cross,” the detective stated, turning to leave.
I closed the doors and hurried to lock them again. I waited by the window until the flashing lights on top of the police car proceeded to go on down the street before I was able to let out the air I’d been holding in. I stood there against the wall, my entire body trembling as a loud sob escaped my throat. I buried my face in my hands and wept, letting the pent-up emotions pour out of me.
I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and pull me in. Nicky held me up so that I could still stand as I breathed in his sweet scent. He stroked the back of my head, his fingers gliding through my hair as he nuzzled the side of my face with his nose.
“You did such a good job, baby,” he whispered to me. “Such a good job.”
I didn’t have the energy to speak for a few minutes. I just let him hold me, used him as the strength I didn’t have right now.
“I’m going to have Augie drive you home. I’ll see you there, okay? Just rest and I’ll be there soon.”
I nodded.
“Lilah,�
�� he whispered, cupping my face between his hands and forcing me to look up at him beneath my damp lashes. “Did you catch that cop’s name?”
I sniffled, then nodded again.
He raised his eyebrows, waiting.
This was my sweet Nicky. He’d transformed again, caging the monstrous side of himself. This was the man who could melt my heart with a single touch.
“Thomas. Stephen Thomas.”
“Thank you, baby.” He leaned down and took my lips in his.
FIFTEEN
CAIN
In the days following the incident at Cain Designs, the Triplet had managed to pull through. I was worried about that doctor Lilah had brought in saying something. He seemed like the type who would go home and contemplate the situation, let his morals keep him up at night and then go turn himself in, thus turning me in along with him. He could do a lot of damage if he talked. I was still wondering if I should let him live. One of the main reasons I hadn’t acted on anything was because of Lilah. If she found out he died suddenly, she’d be madder than hell, and I’d end up suffering the brunt of that wrath. If she got pissed off enough, she could do even more damage by turning on me. It was one of those situations where I was weighing out in my mind who would cause me a bigger hit. Lilah. Definitely Lilah.
The Triplet was recovering at the mansion. I had beefed up security even more. More cameras. More men being on scene as eyes outside of the mansion. More alarms that could be triggered if someone tried to cross over onto the property without proper codes.
But I was going crazy—absolutely out of my fucking mind with worrying about everything and anything. Someone was definitely not on my side. I called the men to come to the meeting room to discuss what was on my mind—although I thought more or less it may end up with me yelling at every single one of them.
I stood in front of the windows in the meeting room that overlooked Haven. I could hear the men filing into the room minutes later. I continued to keep my back to them, though I didn’t like feeling vulnerable, not seeing them face to face, as if someone was going to put a knife in me right then and there. There was also a thrill about continuing to stand in this position knowing that even though one of them could kill me so easily, they wouldn’t. They were behind me, like they should be, the city outstretched before me. My standing like this was symbolic of a position of status. I’d watched Carmine do this and hadn’t really understood it—until now. Through the anxiety and paranoia, there was a surge of power ripping through me. I closed my eyes and attempted to focus on that single energy of supremacy.
