The Sting of Love: USA Today Bestselling Author

by Gray, Khardine

  On a breath, I tie my hair back into a ponytail and make my way downstairs. It smells of breakfast again, and Armand is in the kitchen making eggs. It’s almost like Groundhog Day.

  He looks at me and gives me a tentative smile when I walk in.

  “Good morning,” I say first.

  “Buongiorno, Bellissima. Did you have a good sleep?”

  I don’t know what sort of question that is, but I’ll answer in the manner I think is fitting. “I did, considering I’m being held captive. I slept like a log for a few hours. I guess being kidnapped does have its perks.”

  “Good. I’m glad to hear it,” he answers ignoring my sarcasm, and I bite down hard on my back teeth. He knows I’m angry, and he’s just pissing with me.

  “Good?” I challenge, my voice rises with my annoyance.

  “My dear Willow. I have two daughters, and I know exactly what to say when I get an answer like that,” he states in a matter-of-fact tone that grates me. “Now, sit down and eat up. I won’t have my son bitching at me if he comes back and discovers his woman hasn’t eaten.”

  “I’m not his woman,” I snap, and he quirks a brow.

  “That’s not a discussion I’m going to have with you. Eat.” He looks visibly tired of me. That will work in my favor.

  Unlike yesterday when I served myself, he serves me the eggs and a bit of everything. There’s too much food on the plate, more than what I’d normally select. When he finishes his selection, he gives me a piercing stare, daring me to say something. I don’t but only because I know I’ll probably need the food if everything goes to plan.

  “Where is Donny?” I ask. That’s the last thing I need to know. I need daylight, and if he’s coming back today, I need to head out before he gets back. I need to have as much of the daylight on my side as possible, and pray I can get far, far away.

  “Working. He’ll be here today at some point,” he answers.

  “What time?”

  “I don’t know. You don’t have to worry about that, unless you need him for something else.” He tilts his head to the side, and I frown.

  “No, I don’t.” I don’t need either of them.

  I look away from him and start eating. I finish off the food as quickly as I can then excuse myself. Armand barely looks at me as I leave. He served lunch just after one yesterday and didn’t come to see me until then, so I figure I’ll be free of him for the next few hours. I just have to hope that Donny doesn’t come back any time soon.

  If I’m going to leave, it has to happen now.

  I draw in a deep sigh as I rush back into my room. The first thing I do is place the dresser in front of the door. It was really heavy, but I managed to slide it across without making too much noise. It helps that there’s carpet in this room. If the floor were marble like the rest of the house, the noise would have alerted Armand.

  With that done, I grab a chair and undo the curtains from the windows. I twine them into a series of knots like macramé making sure they’re strong enough to hold my weight.

  Once I finish I secure the end to the grilled bars outside the window. Those are the strongest fixtures to hold everything together. Hope fills my heart when I test out the strength by pulling down hard and it feels like it will work. I just need to be able to get down safely. The rest will be me trying to get across to the beach. That should hopefully be easier.

  This is it. It’s now or never.

  Pulling in a deep breath I lift myself up onto the window bay. Donny comes into my mind as I gaze ahead, and I hate that I think of him in any shape or form. I shouldn’t, and once again, I curse myself that I got it wrong. What I hate, though, is that I still feel something for him. I still have those strong feelings, and I need to forget them.

  I need to remember three things: I don’t know him, I can’t trust him, and he’s dangerous. Those are enough reasons for me to attempt this terrifying escape.

  I use the bars to help me get through the window and balance on the ledge, then hold on to my roped curtains to start my descent.

  Jesus, it’s starting to rain, and the fucking clouds are darkening like there’s going to be a damn storm.

  It’s colder too, very unlike the beach near Lurlene’s house and more like somewhere colder. Like a much colder country.

  I make the mistake of looking down, and shit… the drop is definitely further than twenty feet. The curtains barely make it past fifteen feet, and that’s just a guess. I’ll have to freefall the rest of the way and hope I don’t slip off the rocks.

  This is it. I start to pant and slow my breathing to steady me. I breathe in and out, and just as I’m about to step off the ledge, I hear it. A knock on the door.

  Shit. It’s Armand. He’s gonna know soon enough that I’m not in the room. Jesus… I’ve gotten this far. I’m outside. I can’t give up. Not now.

  I position myself and step off the ledge, gripping the curtains as tightly as I can so I don’t fall.

  It holds, but I know from the minimal strength in it that it won’t support me for long.

  More knocking comes, and the sound pierces through me, along with fear and the wind. I press my feet to the smooth wall and slowly ease myself down. Down I go, as steadily as I can against the shaking in my hands and my soul.

  I can’t hear the knocking anymore. What I hear is the clash of the sea against the rocks as the storm in the distance stirs the waters. The waves roll in, and it’s then I notice the tide beginning to rise over the area I hoped to cross. I can just about see the tops of the rocks and the beach.

  I slide down the curtains and get to the end, where I hang suspended in the air. It’s so far down. I know I’m going to hurt myself, but I’m not ready to accept yet that this was a bad idea.

  I think of Lurlene and how much she means to me. I think of how close we’ve always been and how grateful I’ve been to have her in my life, especially during all the rough times. She was always there for me, and now I have to be there for her too.

  That thought fills me with courage, and I let go of the curtain. I fall, and even though I try to bend my knees to ease the impact, I fall hard and hit the mass of rocks below. I scream from the pain that shoots up my legs, and blood covers my knees. The salty sea water washing over me stings the cuts and soaks me.

  It takes me a few minutes to right myself and calm down. I shuffle up to stand, readying myself for the next part of this mission. This was the part I feared because I couldn’t see the corners of the house. I hobble across the rock, and my damn heart sinks when I see that the section of the beach I saw was just a mere patch. I’d still have to swim for a good twenty meters before I could get to the next set of rocks.

  Where the hell did Donny bring me? Fuck him.

  He was definitely right. Nobody would find me here, and I can’t find my way back. Shit. This is all such fucking shit.

  I take off my shoes. They’ll have to stay. With the waves coming in and out the way they are, I won’t be able to swim with my shoes on.

  I immerse myself in the cold water and start swimming. It’s at that point I accept this was a bad idea.

  It’s the current—it’s too strong. As soon as I get in, it pulls me in the rage of the sea and I try to swim against it. I propel myself forward, swimming with everything inside me. Kicking against the waves and the rain that starts to fall heavily. Suddenly, the storm is upon me. Wind rushes through the water and pushes me to and fro. I swim, and I can’t see anymore where I’m going.

  It’s all too much, and I’m so weak. I manage to turn my body around and see a rock just ahead of me. That was supposed to be where I was going. Beyond the rock is the beach. At least I think so.

  I swim now, no longer thinking of Lurlene. I’m swimming for survival because I don’t want to die here. I can’t separate my tears from the water. It all blends into one.

  I kick against the current and manage to get to the rock. I try to reach for it, but it’s so slippery it takes me a few tries before I can get a firm grip to
pull myself up.

  I only just manage to, but as I get up there, I see I’m no better off than I was. In a few minutes, I’ll have no choice and will be back in the sea when the tide pushes the waters higher.

  “Willow!” a panicked voice calls to me. The voice in my dreams from the man who holds me. The man I shouldn’t have been with. “Willow!”

  It’s Donny.

  I turn my head and see him running down a path, but it all looks like water to me.

  I reach my hand out and lose my grip, slipping off into the sea. An angry wave crashes into me as I do. I scream as it takes me down, pulling me under. I just managed to see Donny dive in.

  That’s all I saw. It’s probably the last thing I’ll see above water. My hands move, but the current is stronger and I’m deeper than I was before. I’m not used to swimming out to such deep, troubled waters. I hardly went in the sea when I was in LA, always opting for the pool.

  I regret it now.

  My body gives up, and I sink, deeper and deeper, until strong arms secure themselves around me and pull me up. I’m moving up and up, but I can’t focus beyond that part.

  It’s not until I break through the water’s surface that I see him. His face is as troubled as the storm. It’s contorted in fear and worry, and the vein on the side of his head pulses as he swims forward with me secured in his arms, taking rough powerful strokes.

  “Donny,” I whisper his name, but no real words come out. My voice is carried away with the wind.

  My head lulls to the side as I hear his name being called. I see Armand ahead. He’s standing on the shore. I see now that I definitely wouldn’t have made it. I couldn’t see my surroundings well enough to plan the escape I was hoping to make. Armand stands on a thin strip of land. He tosses a rope to us, and Donny catches it. Armand pulls us in, reeling us to safety.

  Donny continues to hold me as we go up, then he carries me onto the shore where I start coughing, sputtering up the water that went down my throat.

  “Are you okay?” Armand cries.

  I nod and embarrassment fills me, turning me crimson against the shiver of the cold water that’s seeped into my bones. I shift my gaze to Donny and gasp when I see blood running down the side of his head. He wipes it away but more comes.

  “Donny—”

  He cuts me off by reaching for me, lifting me up and himself too to stand.

  With a savage growl he grabs my shoulders and scowls deeply. Beads of water run down his face mingling with the rain. I’ve never seen him look so angry and he’s well in his right to be so. I could have gotten us both killed.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he shouts. “You want to get yourself killed? You think I brought you all the fucking way here for you to jump out of the fucking window and into the sea? You could have died Willow.”

  I start to tremble, feeling very foolish.

  “I’m sorry. I know it was stupid,” I attempt, trembling as my wet clothes cling to my skin.

  “Yes it was fucking stupid.” His eyes blaze and snap wider. The sharp movement makes the blood start coming faster in a stream down from the top of his eye to his cheek covering the whole side of his face. Guilt sweeps through me at the sight. I don’t know when he hit his head. I don’t know when he got hurt but he did and it’s because of me.

  “Donny you’re hurt. You’re bleeding,” I say.

  “Fuck it. We’re talking. I don’t give a shit about blood. What you did was dangerous. What if I hadn’t gotten to you? The current in the sea here is vicious. Ready to kill and claim. We could have both gone.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “What were you thinking?”

  “My aunt... I don’t want anything to happen to her,” I stutter.

  “Willow, I told you I have people watching her.”

  “I was just worried. I wanted to warn her. I know what I did was completely crazy,” I try to explain.

  “Completely crazy?” He laughs but it’s not laughter of humor. It’s a crude sardonic laugh and he sounds like he’s laughing at himself. “Fuck. Crazy? Trying to protect you is driving me insane. Loving you is driving me fucking crazy, and I can’t stop.”

  His words send a lance of shock through me. We stare at each other, deep and intense as I process his words.

  Love...

  The thought sends all that I feel for him rushing back to my heart.

  As I look at him the love he speaks of reflects through his panic stricken gaze. It shimmers and surges through me holding me in place, commanding my attention.

  The tenderness grips me forcing me to look deeper through the window of his eyes. That’s where I see his soul. Love flows there, deep and strong, spellbinding. More powerful than anything I’ve ever seen in anyone for me.

  In that moment I know all that I felt for him was real, and all that we experienced together was real. All of it was real, all of it was true and what I felt for him was love too.

  My heart throbs, and my pulse races at the acceptance. Truth then washes over me, pushing aside my fears and everything that made me want to escape.

  Donny cups my face and rivets his gaze to mine. His face softens and the hammering in my heart slows.

  “Willow, I need you to trust me,” he says. “I know the situation is complete shit and trusting me is a big ask considering what I did to get you here. But I need you to trust me.”

  Anguish fills his face. What I see is sincerity. It tells me that if I ever needed to trust anyone it’s now and it’s him.

  I nod and he pulls me close to his chest, cupping the back of my head like I belong to him. I snuggle against him feeling the rapid beat of his heart.

  “Willow,” he whispers in my ear and I grab on to his shirt, closing my eyes to savor the safety I feel in his arms.

  Loving me is making him crazy, loving him must have made me crazy too.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Willow

  Donny fell asleep after Armand stitched up his cut. It was quite deep and sliced across the ridge of his left brow. Although Armand took care of it, I would have felt more reassured if we’d gone to the hospital. I’m starting to worry because Donny has been sleeping for hours and night fell long ago.

  I changed into a long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants, then decided to stay in Donny’s room which seemed to be the master bedroom. Unlike the rest of the house, the king sized bed with the mahogany bedframe and the wrought iron chandelier hanging over it creates more of a medieval presence.

  I’ve been sitting in the chair beside Donny’s bed, watching over him in his deep slumber. Just like always when I’ve seen him asleep I found myself looking at the angles and planes in his face. Even with the stitch over his eye and the black and blue bruise surrounding the area he still has that beauty.

  Right now he’s the sleeping giant in a calmed state. Awake he’s the dark avenging angel. Vicious and fearsome, brave. The only man to fight for me.

  I feel so awful that he got hurt. I would never have attempted to escape if I’d known the danger. Desperation to make sure Lurlene was safe and get myself out of trouble got the better of me and I didn’t think things through.

  I keep remembering his words –loving me made him crazy. I wonder if he knew what he said and what it meant to hear it. He seems to be the kind of man who doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean. It was just the way it came out that makes me wonder if he meant to tell me such a truth. Maybe he realized I needed to hear it to truly trust him and know why he was doing what he was doing.

  We haven’t known each other for long and people like Mom would tell me I’d lost my mind for thinking I was in love, and worse for falling for a mobster.

  I glance at the window, at the shadows dancing against the night sky. In them the tempestuous storm still rages, worse than earlier, and the waves in the distance crash against the rocks.

  I could be at the bottom of the sea now. Dead.

  It’s such a scary thought. I was about to drown when Donny saved me
. The sea would have literally claimed me.

  My throat suddenly goes dry so I turn to get some water on the nightstand but see that the jug is empty. I forgot that I finished it. Armand brought it up earlier. I should refill it so if Donny wakes he can have some.

  Raising to my feet I take the tray with the jug and the glasses and head down to the kitchen.

  Armand is in there making what smells like some sort of chocolate mixture. He’s standing over the stove mixing it with a wooden spoon in a little pot. He’s wearing a dressing gown and has his reading glasses on too. He gives me a warm smile when he sees me.

  “My dear I was just about to check on you,” he says.

  “Thanks, the water finished and I thought I’d come down to refill it.”

  “I’ll take care of that,” he says, taking the tray from me. “Is Donny still asleep?” Worry fills his eyes.

  “Yeah. He’s still sleeping. Armand, do you think maybe we should go to the hospital?”

  “By morning I’ll know. I think he’s more tired than anything.”

  “I’m sure my drama didn’t help.”

  “Don’t think about it,” he replies.

  He hasn’t said anything to me about what I did yet and I don’t think he will, although I sense he wants to. It would be easier if he ripped into me too the way Donny did. After all Donny is his son, and my carelessness could have had worse results.

  “I’m really sorry I tried to escape,” I offer, feeling guilty again.

  “I can see that. There’s no need to make you feel worse than you already do.”

  “Thanks, I just… feel awful that he got hurt.”

  “Bella, my son is a very strong person. Tough as they come and used to battling all sorts. I think he’s going to be okay. He hasn’t rested much over the last few days so it’s expected that he’d be sleeping for as long as he is.” He gives me a reassuring nod that makes me feel slightly better. “Come, sit with me for a while and have some of this.”