The Devil's Masquerade: The Poison

by Jennifer Loren

  “You stole all that stuff?” I ask him.

  “No, I found it,” he says, trying to justify to me while still trying to touch the ground with his toes. “You see this here watch? I will sell it to you for the bargain price of $250.” Narrowing my eyes, I begin to concentrate. “No, I mean … 200? No, my bad, my bad. It’s yours, Nick. Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday! And a special Valentine’s wish to you and your lovely lady,” he says with a gleaming smile. Kayla laughs suddenly. I have to glare at her to get her to stop.

  “I don’t want the damn watch,” I say.

  “No? Okay, how about …” He begins searching frantically through his coat while his feet dangle freely. “You know this would be much easier if you could put me on the ground.” I lower him, and he brushes himself off and then tries to run, not that he gets anywhere with me holding onto him.

  “Why can I not kill him?” I ask Kayla. “He is very annoying.”

  “Because he is a friend of mine an old, very good friend of mine. Ro, this is my husband Nick. Nick this is Ro, otherwise known as Roland Roosevelt. Ro’s a pain in the ass? Sure, but he’s harmless.” She hugs him, wrapping her arms around him as tight as he does her until he looks over at me. He then removes his arms away from her with a wide smile. “He is someone that I shared a lot with,” she says as I begin to remember him myself.

  Before Kayla came back to me, I found out about a man who took her in and protected her from some of the dirt bags she dealt with at that disgusting club she worked at. I sent his mother money to let her stay with them as long as she promised to never say anything. She was a nice lady and wouldn’t take my money, at least not from the man that I sent to her. She thought he was up to no good and was expecting something from Kayla. She beat him with a broom until he left, with my money and all. I felt much better about Kayla’s life after that. She finally found someone I could trust to help her in the right direction. Unfortunately, Kayla was too determined to seek revenge on me and left that good home behind for Pagelle.

  “How have you been Ro?” Kayla says.

  “Oh, you know, keeping up the business and taking care of Momma. She misses you by the way. You should stop by for Sunday dinner at least once in a while. What about you?” He stands out in front of her to look her over. “Wow! Girl you are looking, so damn good. I knew you could look good, but I had no idea. Rich looks good on you! And married to tall, dark, and scary over here!? You seem to be doing well.”

  “And I have two sons,” Kayla says proudly.

  “Two! No? Really? Oh Momma is going to be so excited. Did you name one after me? Little Ro-Ro?” He laughs. They exchange numbers, and after a few minutes of catching up, Ro feels the need to get back to work. “Nice to meet you Scary Nick, but I have to get back to work.”

  “Don’t you think there is a better job for you? This one is liable to get you killed.”

  “Killed? Me? No way, I stealth in and out before anyone can make a move.”

  “Stealth? I guess you weren’t using those skills on me?” I say, causing him to huff with a scrunch of his eyebrows.

  “I am a little off tonight. I have a cold. But when I am in good health … you would be amazed. You would say, ‘Where did that man go? He is like a ghost sneaking in and out of here. I wish I was like him,’” he says with a smile until he looks up at me shaking my head. “Well maybe you wouldn’t.”

  “No, I wouldn’t, but instead of sending you out to inflict your stealth skills on others, why don’t you come with us, and I can help you get a more suitable career,” I say.

  “Really, that’s very nice, but I am more of an entrepreneur type. I prefer not to work for anyone, but thanks anyway Nick. I must get going. I got other business to take care of before the night is over,” Ro says, kissing Kayla on the cheek and straightening out his hat before quickly heading into the dark night. “Stealth!” We suddenly hear him yell.

  “Yeah, stealth but not silent. He’s going to get hurt or arrested within the hour,” I say, shaking my head.

  “Don’t worry about Ro. He always manages to find a way. Now, let’s get you home so you can rest those tense, big, strong muscles of yours.” She smiles with a sweet laugh.

  “Go in and say your goodbyes, Princess, so I can take you home and show you my big strong muscles. I need to relieve my tension as you pointed out,” I say, kissing her plump lips.

  Chapter 15

  Savage

  This facility smells. Before I am able to walk in too far, a lady rushes up to me in a panic.

  “Sir, you can’t come in here without prior authorization.”

  “I can do whatever I want,” I say calmly before staring her down. She nods and backs down. “Show me to Mrs. Gillian Jayzon’s room please.” She nods again and rushes in front of me to do just as I asked.

  I open the door to her room and walk into the modest surroundings with a sigh. It looks similar to the home Nicholas grew up in, disturbingly so. The place is disgusting for no reason. Nicholas can surely afford to give his mother better, she must not want it.

  “Who are you?” Gillian asks, looking at me in fear.

  I hold out my hand with a smile, “No need to be scared, my dear. I am a friend.”

  “A friend of Dante’s? He isn’t home right now,” she says oddly. Oh yeah, she’s crazy. I almost forgot.

  “Ah, yes, I know. I spoke to him earlier. He assured me that you could help me though.”

  “Oh, okay. Can I get you something to eat or drink?” she says, offering me a seat.

  “No, thank you …” The very idea of eating or drinking anything from this place is stomach churning. The woman continues to move around the room, cleaning and straightening the same damn things over and over again. “Gillian, I need to ask you an important question. Can you please sit for a moment?” She ignores my question and continues on with no concern for my rapidly growing impatience. I decide the best thing to do is to take her hand and show her where to sit. “Tell me, Gillian. Do you have any children?” She looks at me with wide eyes. “I assure you, I am only asking for your family’s safety.” She shakes her head. Taking a deep breath, I calm and gaze deep into her eyes. “Gillian, tell me, how many children do you have?”

  “No I don’t have any,” she says with sadness.

  “You do too, Gillian. Now stop pouting.”

  “Well, only Nicholas. Dante says he is special, and there is no need to try for another. He was a handsome baby.” I smile and nod in agreement. “But Dante said someone was going to come for him and take him away. Still, he would not let me have another, so I have no children that are my own to keep.” How Dante put up with such drama I will never know.

  “What else did Dante tell you? Did he mention who would be coming for Nicholas?”

  “No, he only said he was evil and would kill us both if we tried to deny him what he wants,” she says, troubled by the idea. It’s true though.

  “And so Dante has no more children with anyone else?” She hesitates and begins cleaning again. Before I can ask again, her door opens.

  “Oh Franky, where is Dante? We have company, and he should be here to entertain him. You know I am not good with such things,” Gillian quickly rambles on at her physician.

  “He is out still, Gillian. He will be back later. Now, please sit and talk to the nice man. You don’t want to be rude do you?” She sits her down next to me. “Gillian, tell us about the other women that Dante is friends with? Tell us about the one you talked to me about before, the beautiful one that Nicholas loved to be around. Didn’t she have a son too?”

  “Did Nicholas enjoy her home because of her, or was it that he was friends with her son?” I ask her.

  “Both I imagine. She was very nice. I went to retrieve Nicholas from her one time, but he was asleep. She said he was sick and needed to rest. Her son slept nearby. He was much smaller than my … Nicholas.”

  “Smaller? Younger you mean?” I ask.

  “He had this tattered bear that he slep
t with. I wanted him to be mine. No one was coming after him, and he was sweet, and I know I could have taken care of him. Dante would be proud of the way I would take care of him.”

  “How do you know no one was coming after that boy?” I ask her, taking her hand so she will focus on the questions I need answered.

  “Dante was making sure of it. He had a plan. Dante always has a plan.” I smile with her. “There was this one time …”

  “Gillian, about the small child with the bear, what was his name?” She shakes her head. “What was his mother’s name?”

  She thinks for some time, and I am afraid her mind is wandering off beyond my question. “Rianne. Yes, Rianne Milio.”

  I smile wide. “Thank you Gillian.” I feel satisfied but wonder if there is more. “Is that the only other woman Dante was friends with? Did you ever visit another or did Nicholas ever talk about another playmate of his that he was especially close to?”

  “Dante has many friends, female especially. He is wanted by many women, but he always comes home to me. They can pretend all they want, but he is still my husband.”

  “Yes, yes Gillian, he is. You are the one he cares for above them all, even that woman you can’t stand,” I say, assuming there has to be at least one she couldn’t stand. Sure enough, her eyes begin to squint as her lips tense.

  “I really didn’t like her at all. I told Dante she didn’t bother me, but I lied. She was very pushy, and her daughter was even worse. This one time she brought her daughter over with her, and I caught her trying to rock my son to sleep. Nicholas was so small then, and that little girl was not much older. I was so angry that I smacked her. I didn’t mean to, but she could have dropped him taking him out of his crib. That woman came at me, but I didn’t care. I didn’t like her being there anyway. Dante calmed her down and told me to apologize to her and her daughter and he would make sure they never came over again. I apologized, but I really didn’t mean to hurt the little girl. I told Dante that, and he said he understood. Dante kept his promise though, and I never saw that woman again until I stopped into a store to buy a new dress. Can you believe that woman owned the store?! I tried to leave, but all she wanted to do was discuss Dante.”

  “What about Dante?” I ask her.

  “Hmm, I don’t remember. She was very frustrating, and I just wanted her to go away and leave me alone.”

  “You do remember, Gillian. Now, tell Mr. Savage what happened with the woman.”

  “Why should I? It is none of his business,” Gillian snaps.

  “Now, you know I love you and want the best for you, and you want the best for me too, right?” Gillian nods to her supposed doctor. “You want to be with Dante, and I want to be with Nick. Mr. Savage has promised to make sure all that happens for us. We can both be happy but only if we help give him the answers he needs.”

  “Just ask Dante. He remembers things better than I, or ask Nicholas. He was there at the shop, too.”

  “Nicholas was at the shop?” I ask her. “Why?”

  “He was talking to that woman’s daughter. I’m tired. I need to go to bed now. I have to get up early for work in the morning.”

  I’ll be damned! This crazy ass woman is going to drive me to insanity. “Fine. Go to bed. Ria see me outside before I leave,” I say, exiting quickly before I break this woman’s neck in frustration.

  “Sir, your anger nearly gave you away.”

  “Gave me away? To that insanity in there? Don’t insult me. That woman is no threat to me. And don’t you dare correct me ever again,” I say to her pale-faced expression. “If you want my grandson then I expect you to do whatever it takes to please me. I also expect that you will stop fucking that reprehensible Marius Cane. For as long as I live, I will never understand that man’s draw.”

  “But …”

  “But nothing! You do as I say and only as I say. No one else. If you continue with that man, then you will never feel my grandson’s flesh inside you, and you will never bare his children. I will not have any part of him tainted. Do you understand me, Ria?”

  “Yes,” she mutters quietly.

  I leave her behind and return home to meet up with Galena, who is clearly still angry with me for forcing her to sleep in the servants’ house for a week. I don’t know why she bothers; her silence is something to be celebrated, not feared.

  “I want you to find a woman for me. She owned a clothing store and was sleeping with your brother before Nicholas was born. I have a feeling she had a daughter that is also my granddaughter. I want her found, and I want to verify for myself if she is worthy.”

  “And if she is not you will kill a full grown woman who is no threat to you? Just let her be,” Galena says to me boldly. I grab her throat and squeeze until her tongue shows.

  “I am getting so tired of your mouth! Speak to me that way again, and I will cut your tongue out. Now, go do as I ask.”

  Everyone that I can’t account for is a threat to me. Anyone that wanders freely with my family blood becomes a target to be used against me, used to drain my energy, to drain my power, and I can’t have my weakest blood relatives easily available to my enemies. It is bad enough that they are watching Nicholas. I don’t need them seeking out any others. I need to advance my strategies and force Nicholas home now.

  Chapter 16

  Nick

  I am sound asleep with Kayla in my arms when my mother calls me in the middle of the night, whispering. I can barely understand her, and I have to sit up and ask her again and again why she is calling me. She never calls me unless she is looking for my Dad; she still thinks he is always with me. I assume that is what she is doing now, but she never mentions my father’s name.

  “Nicholas, there are some people here, and I don’t know them.”

  “What? Where are you?” I ask still in a sleepy daze.

  “I am at home, under my bed. These people came in and started going through all my things. They threw stuff everywhere. It will take me forever to clean this up. Tell your father to come home immediately before they mess up anything else. He is going to be so angry when he sees this.”

  “Kayla, stay here and lock down the house. Don’t let anyone in until I get back.” I don’t even bother hanging up before jumping out of bed. I call in a team of my men to meet me at my mother’s care facility. No one is to make a move until I get there. When I pull up to the facility, I meet up with my men and quickly talk them through the plan I came up with on my way here. My mother is no longer answering her phone, and when I enter the facility, I find no one manning the receptionist area or any of the nurse’s stations. Further into the facility, I find some men dragging my mother out a back door. I have never seen these people before, and I don’t waste time getting to know them. I beat them down and retrieve my mother. Another group comes up from behind me, but my men have my back, and they have little trouble dealing with these people. We begin to get things back under control when I am distracted by an image out of the corner of my eye, “Kayla?” I stop in mid-fight and chase after my wife as she runs away. Only by the time I catch up to her, I discover that she is not my wife after all. “Who are you?” I grip the woman harder, but she does nothing but stare at me. “I said who are you?” She struggles to get away from me, so I take hold of her neck and ask again. “Who are you?” She grips my hand on her throat and fights for breath when she looks up at me with innocent eyes, and suddenly, I see Kayla. I gasp, releasing her instantly, and before I have a chance to make sense of it all, the woman is gone. My heart speeds, but my mother’s cries change my concentration. I rush back to her as men attack her, beating her with all they have. Rushing to get to her, I take hold of one after the other and rip them apart. My mother lies on the ground, bleeding and crying, with little ability to move at all. The scene breaks my heart, and I feel a horrible guilt weigh me down. “Mom, let me help you back to your room.” I pick her up, carry her to the nearest bed, and immediately seek out someone to take care of her. I find Franky passed out on the flo
or bleeding herself. “Franky? Are you okay? Franky?” I check her over carefully and try to revive her until she finally opens her eyes.

  “Nick? Oh Nick, these people they took your mother!” Franky says, getting up and struggling to find her way out the door.

  “Don’t worry. I got her, but she is hurt and needs a doctor. Can you help her?” Franky instantly begins to cry and tell me she is sorry and that she tried to stop them, but she couldn’t handle them all on her own. She has no idea how they got in or past security, but I do. Her panicked rambling means she is clearly in no shape to help my mother; she obviously needs help herself. A few quick calls and both Franky and my mother are rushed to the nearest hospital.

  My anxiety increases as time goes by, and I still have no word on my mother. To make things worse, not long after we arrive, Savage shows up with a concerned expression. “What are you doing here?” I ask him.

  “I heard what happened. Contrary to what you may believe, I am very concerned about you Nicholas, especially after what happened the other night. So I have some of my people watching out for you. How is the rest of your family?”

  “They are fine. I just talked to Kayla, my … one of my best men is with them,” I say, stopping myself from calling Ryan out as my brother.

  “Are you sure? These people are not ones to give up easily, and they are certainly not ones that your usual guards can handle. They won’t stop until they have you vulnerable. They are testing you to figure out how to kill you, and you are making it easy for them. They don’t realize who you are. If you would do what I told you to do, then you wouldn’t have to worry about your family.” He stops briefly to look over at Franky as she approaches me with a weak smile. “Or your girlfriends,” he hums with a questioning expression.

  I snap my head back in his direction. “She is only a friend that got caught up in this mess because of me.”

  “Nick, I am so sorry …” she cries, crashing into my chest.