by Katie Dowe
“I’ll be in the living room. If you need anything, just call me.”
As he turned to leave Kenzie hesitated. “Wait! Could you help me take my shoes off, please?”
Gianni nodded. He sat her on the toilet seat before he bent down on one knee. His hands worked slowly, pulling the strap loose before slipping the heel from her foot. The man copied his actions on her left foot. He ran a hand over her ankle making her wince.
“It looks like a sprain. I’ll get some ice.”
Kenzie nodded. When she heard him leave the bedroom, she wiggled herself out of her clothes as best she could. Leaning over, she picked up a bottle of pink bubble bath. Rose scented, her favorite. She squeezed the bottle under the faucet until the bath became filled with foamy bubbles. She managed to tug all of her clothes off, but standing up was proving difficult. Her hands gripped the tub as she lifted herself up, but she could barely move the ankle. Kenzie heard footsteps behind her. Gianni stood still for a moment, an ice pack in his hand.
“Are you having trouble?” He asked.
Kenzie could see him looking anywhere, but at her. That made her grin. “Yes, I could use some help.”
Gianni nodded. The man slipped his arms around her waist, his body pressed up against the curve of her ass. She heard him inhale sharply before he helped her up and into the tub. The warm water made the tension gradually melt from her body.
Gianni reached a hand into the bathtub. Slowly, he pulled her left leg out of the water. He’d draped a wash cloth over the ice pack. She held her breath as he moved her sore ankle to the ice pack, exhaling only once the coolness touched her skin.
“Thank you.”
Gianni nodded. “Call me when you’re ready to get out. If you need me.”
Kenzie watched him leave once more. She sighed. Okay, so he was pretty good at his job. She was happy that he’d been there today. Still, she wondered how the gray hooded man knew she’d be in the park. It wasn’t like she’d announced it to anyone, she hadn’t noticed anyone following her all day. It made her nervous. She slipped further beneath the water, her pink hair dipping into the suds.
She didn’t want to admit it, but it scared her. Just the thought of the man made her press her hand to the knife wound. It was closed now, healed, but the scar remained. It always would. The woman could feel herself on the brink of tears again. Why was this happening to her? She had been so nice before, so considerate and someone still hated her. Or loved her as the man always proclaimed. Even when she’d been in the hospital he’d sent letters. Once she was in recovery, he sent twice as many. The thought forced a shiver up her spine.
What if he won’t stop until he kills me? What if they can’t catch him? I don’t want to die.
Or at least, not yet. She was still young. There was still the world to see, songs to be written, places to explore. Kenzie made herself stop thinking about it. There was nothing she could do about it at that exact moment so there was no point in worrying. All she would do is set herself up for another panic attack. The woman leaned her head back on the tub. Everything would be okay.
The water was cold when Kenzie finally pushed herself out of the tub. She didn’t call Gianni, though he had checked on her several times since the bath had started. At first, it was kind of cute. Then it got annoying, fast. She wasn’t used to having someone look after her. The girl left home at sixteen, barely visited if she could help it. There was too much to be done, she didn’t have time for other people.
The ice pack coupled with one of her leftover pain pills had given her the ability to at least pull herself out of the tub. She wrapped the towel around her before limping to her bedroom. The closet was open. She decided on a soft, cotton summer dress that tied around the neck. When she was done she walked out of the room, examining the hallway before she stepped out fully.
The apartment had everything she could need or want, but she did long for her old place. It had been a large apartment, beautifully decorated since she was twenty-two. It had a feeling to it that this place was missing. It was home. She walked towards the kitchen wondering if they’d at least stocked the place with food. On her way, she passed a few doors. Curious, she peeked her head inside.
The first room was filled with workout equipment, nothing fancy there. She closed the door before moving on. The next room was another bathroom. It was almost as nice as hers minus the jacuzzi tub. The soft, blue and green of the bathroom mixed with sandy browns reminded her of the beach. When she opened the door to the last room, she stared.
Gianni stood with his back turned from her. His shirt was off, the muscles of his back rippling as he was in the middle of putting on another one. His dark hair was longer than she’d thought as she watched him push it back, tucking some behind his ear. The man turned around to see her standing in the door, mouth open.
“I’m guessing your bath is done?”
Kenzie nodded distractedly before she found her voice. “Are you living here?”
“For a while, yes. How can I watch you at a hotel?”
“You could have rented another apartment.”
Gianni shook his head. He flipped the lights off as he walked up to her, cutting off the view of his bedroom. The maroon colored shirt he wore stretched across his broad chest. She wondered what the rest of him looked like.
“Are you hungry?”
“Hmm hungry? What do you mean?” She asked before her eyes went wide. “Oh! Like food. I could eat. I think I was heading there already.”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t know anything right now.”
The man looked at her before he slowly walked around her. “Okay. You’re a little strange.”
They went to the kitchen together, him helping her along whenever she started limping again. When they reached the kitchen she walked to the fridge before sticking her head in. It was beyond stocked with food. She looked through everything, her stomach twisting in hunger.
“Oooh this, with this and some of this on the side,” she mumbled to herself as she went through the cabinets as well.
Kenzie limped over to the stove, wincing when she came to a stop. When she looked up Gianni was next to her, a hand on her shoulder as he steadied her. The man looked at the food that she’d pulled down.
“What are you cooking and why are you trying to give yourself a heart attack?”
“Two words: Potato chip burger.”
“That’s three words.”
“Are you going to help me cook or criticize my English language skills?”
Gianni pursed his lips. “Hard to tell at this point.”
Kenzie rolled her eyes. “Give me the ground beef.”
Chapter 3
Kenzie was almost glad her ankle was screwed up. It was enough of a reason to call Cassie, tell her everything that had happened. The girl let her off the hook, wished her better soon then undoubtedly went off to party. It would have been nice to hang out with Benjamin though. As if he heard her thoughts, a get well text popped up on her phone. She smiled before slipping her phone back into her pocket.
Gianni was looking at the plate in front of him as if it contained poison. He poked at the burger. Kenzie watched him for a few minutes before shaking her head. Since he’d helped her, she thought it was only nice if she made him some food too. Now, he was picking the burger apart.
“What’s wrong with it?” She finally asked.
“Do you always burn your food?”
“It’s not burnt. It’s well done.”
“Burnt.”
Kenzie rolled her eyes at him. She looked down at her food. Okay, it wasn’t a gourmet meal, but it had gotten her through plenty of drunken nights and low grocery days. She pushed at her bun.
“It’s not like you can do any better,” she mumbled.
One of Gianni’s eyebrows shot up. She watched him stand up, push back his chair and disappear into the kitchen. Sounds drifted from the kitchen, pots, cleaning,
chopping. She shrugged. He was a weird man. She limped over to the couch, propped her foot up and watched TV for a while. There was already a story about her being attacked in the park. She blew out her breath in a huge puff. Great.
There was even a video of the thing. Not the whole thing, but the moment when Gianni, whose back was facing the camera, pulled a gun on the guy. The commentator’s speculated about who he might be, but so far they didn’t have a clue she’d hired security. Kenzie groaned as she leaned her head against the couch. She had just wanted a moment of peace.
“Here.”
The woman looked up as he held a plate out to her. It looked like a regular plate of spaghetti with bread on the side to her. He pushed it out again until she took it from him. When she took a bite of the food, she melted.
“This is really good. Why is it so good? It’s just spaghetti.”
“That’s because I actually make it right. Eat up.”
“Thank you.”
Gianni nodded before sitting in a chair beside the couch. Sick of seeing her face on the TV, she flipped the channel to an old black and white cop noir film. They were some of her favorite movies. The drama, the style, it was beautiful. She glanced over at Gianni. He seemed to approve at least as his eyes were glued to the TV.
“Hey, Gianni.”
“Yeah?”
“How old are you?”
Kenzie watched him choke, a grin coming to his face. “That’s such a weird question. Why?”
“I just want to know.”
The man looked at her for a moment before returning his eyes to the screen. “I’m thirty-two.”
An older guy. That could be fun.
Kenzie sat her half empty plate on the coffee table. “Want to have sex?”
For a moment, she thought he would choke for real. It made her wonder if she still knew CPR. The man looked at her with wide eyes.
“What is wrong with you?”
She shrugged. “I just thought you’d want to.”
“No, I don’t want to. This is my job. I don’t need anything interfering with it.”
Kenzie huffed, her lips pouting out. “You’re no fun.”
“So I’ve heard.”
The possibility of a little bedtime sex gone, Kenzie sighed. She pushed herself up from the couch, holding her hand out when he started to stand to help her. The walk down the hall was a slow one. She wondered how long it would take for the sprain to heal, she didn’t like the thought of being cooped up inside of the apartment for too long. When she reached her room, she grabbed her laptop and opened up the email from Marco. The demo tracks were there, thirteen in all. Some had partial lyrics, some not at all. Kenzie liked to write her own lyrics, so she shied away from writers. Grabbing her headphones, she popped them in and went to work.
*****
It took a week for her sprain to heal completely. In that time she limped around the house, wrote lyrics and pestered Gianni every chance she got. Through it all, she had to admit that he was growing on her. Sometimes he’d bring takeout back when she was in the middle of a writing session and forgot to eat. Other times he’d create hearty dishes and they’d eat together on the couch, watching a movie. At first, he didn’t talk much. Kenzie was determined to know about him though, so she didn’t give up.
At first, she blamed her curiosity on the boredom of being cooped up in the apartment, but she knew that was a lie. She liked him. It wasn’t love, but more like lust for everything about him. There were rare occurrences when he smiled, that made her whole body warm. Sometimes he’d place a hand in just the right spot to make her want to climb on his lap and ride him. Mostly, he was the quiet protection she needed. He would disappear until she called him, then he’d appear without her ever hearing him walk up. She slept better at night because of him.
When the week was up, she was feeling more like herself. Half of the songs in her notebook were fully fleshed out songs. And she was missing her friends terribly. Gianni wouldn’t even allow them to know where she lived. As he said, the less people who knew, the better. She would have argued with him on the point, but she knew he was at least right about that.
It was still early morning when she walked out of her room wearing a pair of jean shorts with a band t-shirt. Her hair had been dyed purple and was pulled into two pigtails. Her usual boots or heels were discarded in favor for a pair of sensible, studded sneakers. She grabbed her backpack as she hit the door.
”Where are you going?”
Gianni stood in the entrance of the kitchen. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, only a pair of red, flannel pajama pants. The black mug in his hands was undoubtedly filled with coffee as the smell had filled up the entire apartment. His hair was disheveled, but Kenzie found that alluring. His chest was smooth, muscular and his hips were small. The pants slid down a bit revealing a deep v that she couldn’t take her eyes off of.
“Kenzie?”
“Hmmm? Oh, studio. I’m going to the studio. I have to record these songs.”
“I’ll get dressed and come with you.”
As he walked back to his room, Kenzie followed after him. She leaned against the doorway as he pulled out a suit. The woman shook her head.
“You want a bit of advice? The suit’s nice, really nice, but you’ll never catch anyone with that thing on. I mean, you look like you’d shoot someone.”
“It’s not my job to catch anyone, just stop them.”
“That’s my point though. If you were dressed normally, people would just think, I don’t know, that you were one of my friends or something. Then maybe the police would actually stand a chance of catching this guy so I can have my life back. Come on, is it really that hard to blend? You have to wear something besides suits when you’re not working.”
Gianni seemed to mull over her words before he pushed her out of the room. She waited by the front door, texting on her phone. Just when she was losing what little patience she possessed, she heard him walking up the hallway. A grin spread across her lips.
He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that fit in all of the right places. He wore a plain black t-shirt with black and white chucks. Kenzie couldn’t hold back her laugh. He stopped in his tracks.
“I’m gonna go change.”
Kenzie ran over to him, grabbing his arm. “No, don’t! You look good. I just didn’t think you remembered how to look like people.”
Gianni grumbled as he grabbed his wallet, stuffing it into his pocket. She knew the gun had already been placed on him before he left the room. When they left together, another guard took their place to watch over the apartment. They rode the elevator down in silence before Kenzie started to speak.
“Don’t,” Gianni said before she could even get out a word. “Just don’t.”
Kenzie zipped her lips with her fingers. When they emerged in the lobby the day was still bright. A few people walked around, but no one paid any attention to them. They walked through the doors to the waiting car outside. Kenzie slipped into the backseat, glad to be outside again. Now that she was better though, she knew she couldn’t avoid the party with Cassie. She silently wished for the good days, when she could lie to a friend, tell them she was sick then do her own thing. Now lying just meant her face was all over the internet the next day as they described in detail exactly what she’d been doing and at what time. It had happened once before, she tried not to repeat it.
“I see you’re feeling better! Look at that smile,” Marco said as she walked through the door.
“Stop kissing ass. Let’s make music.”
The man grinned. “Let’s do it.”
Kenzie spent the next six hours in the studio singing the same songs over and over until she thought she would get sick of her own songs. She could see Gianni sitting in the corner of the room, a book in his hands. Every once in a while, he’d look up and their eyes would meet. A shiver would run down Kenzie’s spine as she tried not to grin like she was back in high school.
Marco handed her a bottle of water once she’d finished the last song. She sat down for a moment, trying to make her voice work. She was out of practice she realized. Marco promised to set her up with a voice coach.
“It’s bound to happen. You haven’t had the chance to get much singing done. I’ll make sure you’re smooth by the time your concert comes around.”
“Thanks, Marco,” she said as she stood up from the chair. “I’ve got to get going, but I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Where ya going? We still got daylight left.”
“Tomorrow,” she called over her shoulder as she left the recording booth.
There was a list of things she needed to do before she could meet up with Cassie and Ben. First, she had to find a dress. Then, something to match the dress since her usual crazy shoes were out. After that she had to put herself together. The only good thing in all of the planning was the fact that she’d get to drink her ass off for free. As they pulled up in front of the dress shop, Kenzie heard Gianni groan quietly.
“I heard that,” she said while still texting. “What do you have against shopping?”
“It takes too long.”
Kenzie laughed, bringing a grin to his face. “Well, if you want to get out of here earlier, help me pick out a dress,” she said as she stepped through the door he held open.
Punk Pride wasn’t the normal dress shop, it was her kind of dress shop. A row of dresses immediately caught her eye. She slipped one from the rack and held it up to herself in the mirror. Making a face, she put it back.
“Kenzie! I haven’t seen you in forever.”
Kenzie smiled as she kissed Lilly’s cheek. The woman not only ran the store, she designed half of the things they carried. Kenzie had been shopping there since she first started her singing career. She had made the little boutique famous.
