"Let me…"
"NO, don't."
I heard him let out a huff, and I spun on him angrily. "I'm not a whore. I know I must seem like one, since I confessed everything to you about Chris and Marky, but I really thought I had something special with them. I thought…" I shook my head. Of course he thought I was a whore. "Marky treated me differently than the other girls. I told you that. He's a villainous asshole, and I'm glad he got his nuts chopped, but at the time, he treated me differently, and I thought he loved me. I know better now.
“It was the same with Chris, and I was wrong with both of them. You know I was wrong, so is this the way you've decided to tell me I'm wrong again? That you don't love me, that your sweet words are just lies? Because if it is, it really sucks, and I wish you'd just leave me the fuck alone!" I shouted the last part, unable to hold back my rampant tears. I really wished I had a door to slam in his face.
He had backed up out of the study, and he was looking at me wide-eyed. "I…I…uh…" His brow furrowed and his frown deepened. "No," he nearly whispered, and I almost didn't hear him over my sobs. "That's not…" he let out a huff, "I'm not saying that."
I curled up in a ball in the stupid little bed. It felt like a rock compared to his. I had the blankets wrapped up around me, only leaving my face to peek out a little to stare at the wall.
"Gabby," I felt his hand on my back, and I wanted to shake him off, but I cried harder instead. "I wanted to give you a church wedding. We have to get it annulled, if we're going to get married in the church. You know that. I thought it was what you wanted."
I buried my face in my pillow.
"I want to use my christened name, not Collins, and do it in the church. I want to make sure God knows you're mine. I want more than ‘til death do us part. I don't want to part." His voice was getting more strained. "It doesn't have to be a big wedding. I know you don't want a big wedding, but I thought you'd like one all the same. Don't girls want that stuff? At least the dress…my sisters all went nuts over their dresses."
I rolled over and took in his distressed face. "I'm sorry," I whispered.
He had me up in his arms and crushed to his chest in seconds. His face was hidden in my hair, and he was breathing hard, like he was holding back tears. "No, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I thought I could surprise you. I didn't mean to make you…I love you, I do." His arms tightened around me, and he lifted me, carrying me back to our room, back to bed. He tucked me in and wrapped himself around me, as if he was afraid I would disappear. "I know you can't leave me, but I don't want you to want to leave," he whispered in my hair.
"I don't want to leave," I peeked up at him, "Ever."
He let out a sigh of relief and nuzzled into me, like he did every night before we went to sleep. I didn't know what the hell was wrong with me. I should've known better than to question Daniel's feeling for me. He loved me. I knew he loved me. I hated that my insecurities had gotten the better of me and ruined the evening.
The next day, we were on the front porch, kissing slow and easy. I wasn't trying to push to get it heated anymore. I was just taking what he would give me. We heard the telling crunch of tires on the road and looked up to see Anthony parking his car.
"God knows if you're fucking her, Son. You can't hide that from Him, even if you're hiding it from the priest."
"We're not."
"No worries, I got your annulment papers right here. You can fuck her brains out now and be a sinner who does a few Hail Mary's. I slicked a few Holy palms to make sure this goes through." He grinned at me, but I didn't like the look in his eyes. There was an undercurrent of disapproval and hatred. I think Daniel felt it, too, because he tucked me behind him a little. "You're doing it at Marky's wedding. We'll all be there already, no one will suspect a thing, and the place will be crawling with guards. You keep your mouth shut about who you are. You're wearing contacts to hide them eyes. Joey will have them ready for you when you get there. You're going by the names George and Candace and sitting on the bride's side. You're Luisa Marie's distant cousins. Pick them up a toaster or something."
Daniel nodded in agreement.
Anthony seemed to get more pissed all of the sudden. "Ann is gonna have some dresses. You don't fucking let her bring them out here. No one is allowed out here!" he shouted at Daniel. "If that bitch comes anywhere near here…"
"Dad…" he started.
"She could've been followed. You want that? You want that you'd be taken, and her and Ann as well? You say you love them, but you're acting like it's bullshit. Don't fuck with me, boy. You do as I say and nothing more."
I was full-on hiding behind Daniel now. He nodded in agreement with his father. Anthony slapped the papers down on the porch and then stalked back to his car. He spun out, his tires kicking up gravel as he went.
Going into hiding was sounding better all the time.
The closer we got to the wedding date, the antsier Daniel became. He was nearly jumping out of his skin, when it came time to leave. He pulled a box out from under the bathroom sink. I had never thought to look in there, and I think I wouldn't have believed what I saw if I had.
There was a double-breasted gun holster that fit right under Daniel's suit coat. He grabbed another box out from behind the washing machine and pulled out two very large handguns. He checked the clips, and then he slipped two more clips into the pockets of the holster. Once everything was in place, he took a deep breath and then nodded at me. "Okay, I'm ready to go. Stay close by me at all times. Do you understand?"
I nodded yes, but he cupped my cheeks, looking me straight in the eyes. "It's not safe for me or you. I don't trust Anthony, and I don't know if someone is going to try and make a play for me, when I come out in the open. If someone goes to grab me, I want you to get back and take cover. I need you to stay clear of the gunfire."
He was scaring the shit out of me. I was a shaking mess, but I nodded yes.
He pulled me into his arms tightly and kissed the top of my head. "Once we get through this, we'll be married. It'll be worth it, you'll see.
I took a deep shuddering breath. "Yeah." I didn't say it with as much confidence as I had hoped.
He stepped back, looking down at me worried. "We don't have to do this. Just say the word…"
"No, I want to marry you. We're doing it. I just didn't realize…" My eyes settled on the guns.
"Yeah, well, I tried to warn you."
I nodded. "You did. I guess it's just different to hear it than it is to see it. I believed you, but I guess it never sank in, until right now."
"Are you okay to do this? We don't have to go. We can find another way to get married."
I shook my head at him. "This way, your family can be there. Your dad said there'd be guards. We should be fine." I didn't believe a word I said, but I knew us being married in the church was just as important to him as it was to me. His family being there was the icing on the cake.
We parked around the back of the church. Joey held the back door open for us and pulled us both into a side room. Daniel struggled with his contacts, but finally got them in. He now had dark brown eyes. I gave him a reassuring smile. "They look great."
He let out a breath, trying to steady himself. We had been given an invitation with the names George and Candace on it. Daniel led me to the usher, holding onto my hand painfully tight, with his eyes darting all over, taking in everyone around him. The usher seated us by the back door, close to the exit, and I wondered if he had been told to put us there.
Daniel had me squished hard into his side, with his gun digging into me. I turned my face into his shoulder, as we waited for everyone else to arrive.
Marky walked up the center aisle in his tux, greeting a few people as he went. His eyes landed on me and Daniel, and my gut wrenched. I didn't like him looking at me, and I didn't want to look at him. I hated that he had seen and touched parts of me that didn't belong to him. My lapse in judgment made me feel like a whore. I wished no one had ever touched
me but Daniel. The regret hit me like a wrecking ball.
A baby crying drew Marky's attention away from me, and an older woman brought a little blue bundle to him. He smiled down at his son, making me feel sicker. He kissed his son and gave the woman a squeeze. I felt so out of place. It was wrong for me to be there. Any minute now, a woman would be walking down the aisle to him and become his wife. I was ashamed to be here. I couldn't stand to be in the same room with them. She was to be his wife, and I was the whore. I wouldn't have wanted her here if it was the other way around.
I tried to squirm out of Daniel's grip, but he wasn't letting up. "Daniel, please." He looked down at me, and my distress finally registered. "I need to get out of here. I can't be here and watch that."
He looked so hurt, and I realized he probably thought I was upset because I still loved Marky. The truth was the best way to go. "Being in here makes me feel like a whore." His eyes widened, and my breathing hitched. "Please, can we just not be in here for this. I can't do this. I can't look at his wife and pretend everything is okay. That we never…he wasn't mine, we weren't married. I don't belong here. I don't want to ruin her day."
He nodded okay and carefully guided me out to the foyer.
There were a few people milling around out there, so he led me into a side room, so no one would question why we weren't in our seats. He pulled me into his arms and held me, his face tucked into my hair and mine into his chest.
"What do you mean you lost him? How the hell did you lose him?" we heard Anthony growling at someone. "You were supposed to keep an eye on those two, and they get snagged right from under your fucking nose! You three, search the perimeter."
"You should probably let them know you're in here," a voice from across the room startled us. We turned around, and standing there was a priest with a soft smile. "I'm guessing you're Daniel and Gabby?"
Daniel narrowed his eyes at him, and I felt him shift a hand to one of his guns subtly. "We're George and…"
"Candace," the priest finished. Daniel's eyes darted for the door. "I have a ceremony to attend to, but I suggest you let Mr. Valente know your whereabouts, before he causes a huge scene, ruining the happy couple's union."
He slipped out a door at the back of the room that most likely led to his pulpit. Once he was gone, I shoved Daniel toward the door. "Don't let Anthony ruin their wedding."
Daniel glanced at the door across the room and then stepped out of the one we had come in through back into the foyer, my eyes nervously trained on him, as he pulled the door closed behind him.
He had only been gone a second, when I felt a cloth cover my face and my body being dragged backwards across the room toward the back door. I hoped the goons checking the perimeter would see me being dragged away, or else I was screwed. I tried to fight, but I was out before I could get a good kick in. My last thought was of Daniel. I wished we had been married before I died, because I knew I wasn't getting out of this alive.
Chapter 33 – Dancing with Demons
The road to hell was bumpy and long. I woke up in what I was pretty sure was a car trunk. That was what it felt like to the side of my face that was rubbing against the rough fibers beneath me. My whole body hurt, especially where ties of some sort were digging into me. I couldn’t tell what they were, because I couldn’t move or see at all. I was wrapped up so tightly my skin burned.
My thighs were bound tightly together and lashed to my chest. My knees and hands were bound to their mates and then each other, with my wrists pinched between my knees. My legs were folded, my ankles and shins tied to my thighs. I was effectively scrunched and tied into a tiny ball, with something that was cutting into my skin horribly, and I couldn’t move my hands at all to find out what the hell it was. My eyes hurt from the tight blindfold I was wearing. It was so snug it hurt my nose. I tried to get my face to my thumbs, so I could move it or at least loosen it a little, but the big rubber thing they had stuffed into my mouth prevented me from getting too close. The more I squirmed, the more it hurt.
I didn’t see, but I felt the warm sun hit my skin and knew my opportunity to escape was over for now. Whoever it was grabbed some sort of makeshift handle that ran across my chest and over my arms. The braces for it cut into my lower back. The compression shorts I had put on under my dress for the wedding were the only thing saving my ass and lower thighs from being cut into.
“Ha, I was gonna come help carry her in, and you got her wound up like she’s in a shopping bag. Isn’t that bitch too heavy to carry in one hand?”
“Her? Nah, watch, I can even curl her.” I felt myself being lifted, and I banged painfully into someone’s forearm. I whimpered, unable to cry out, because of the big rubber thing they had shoved into my mouth.
“I got it ready. Drop her in, so she knows what’s coming.”
I felt myself fall into icy water. My cuts stung, and I tried to gasp for air, only to fill my nose with water. I attempted to thrash and pull myself up, but it was fruitless. I could barely rock myself. There was no way to get up, but the pain of my body didn’t stop me from trying, causing my ties to cut into me deeper.
I felt myself being yanked up. “Not too long, we need her awake to talk.”
“Dude, bring the chain over here. We can hook her on that. We can dunk her for hours and not get tired if she’s dangling from that thing.”
“She’d better not take hours. She’s just a cunt, anyways. I’m sure she’ll sing as soon as the gag is off her face.”
I heard the rattle of a chain, and when I was hooked onto the end of it, the ties cut deep into my flesh. I let out a mumbled cry. If my blindfold hadn’t been soaked by ice water, it would’ve been by tears.
Someone licked my cheek, and I felt the pop of the gag being released. I couldn’t stop the gasping wail of pain that filled the room and echoed off of vast walls.
“Sounds like you’re hurting, little girl.” The chain was shaken, and the restraints cut deeper. I felt hot breath against my ear. “You weren’t our target, but we know you know where he lives. Tell us and we’ll leave you on the side of the road to be found.”
I was in too much pain to speak, not that I would ever give up Daniel’s position. The sting of a hard slap caused me to swing. “Open your fucking mouth and tell us where that little Valente shit lives. Stop your fucking crying and talk!”
I couldn’t do anything but cry.
“Drop her.” I was plunged into the water, stinging the cuts, but the cool water against my throbbing cheek was welcome. In some sick way, it settled me down, and I prayed they would just leave me down there in the water to drown.
All too soon, the binds were pulled tight again, and I was raised out of the water. They cut even deeper into my cold flesh. The heat of my thighs against my chest was actually welcomed.
Someone grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked me to their face. Their sour breath filled my nose. “Tell me where the hell little Danny lives.” He shook me and screamed in my face again, “Tell me!” His rancid spittle flew across my cheek. I had my crying under control, but I still wasn’t talking. “Drop her again.” He sounded furious. The chain was released, and I literally dropped, my back hitting the bottom of the tub hard, and it knocked the wind out of me. I lay silently on the bottom of the tank longer than the time before. I was on the verge of passing out, when I was jolted upward.
“No one is coming to save you, you little cunt. I had an inside man say that you ran crying from the church. You fucking left on your own and disappeared. You’re the skank who ran out on the Valente family. They’re gonna kill you if I don’t.” He stepped back and punched my ribs hard, causing me to swing back and forth.
Some asshole in the distance was laughing. “She’s a fucking piñata. Do it again!”
I heard a dark chuckle and was punched again, this time across the face. If my eyes had been open, I would have seen stars. My restraints cut into me deeper. “Talk, you fucking bitch. Where are they hiding Daniel?”
I must have go
ne insane, because I started laughing. I knew I was dead, and there was no way I was going to give up Daniel, so he could go through this, too. I was hit hard in the other side of my body, and I felt something crack. My body spun, and my bindings pulled tighter with every turn and sway. “Drop the cunt!”
I was dropped, but because I was swinging, I hit the side of the tub, before I fell face first to the bottom of it. I was left down there longer this time. My body was made numb by the ice water and adrenaline. Again, I was almost unconscious, when they yanked me back out of the water. I took a mouthful of it with me, and when the bastard grabbed my hair, I spit in the general direction his voice came from. I must have hit him, because the idiot with him was laughing his ass off.
I was beaten like a piñata then, before I was dropped down again. A different voice spoke from further away. I could hear my previous captor in the distance, cussing about his wet clothes.
“Just tell us where he lives. No one is coming for you. There’s no reason to draw this out and torture yourself more, honey. Just tell us what we want to know, and I’ll leave you by the roadside.”
“In a fucking pile of ants!” the angry wet man yelled from across the room. “Fuck that, just kill the bitch. She ain’t talking.”
“You hear that, honey? You don’t want to die, do you?” The sweet-talking devil pushed some of my damp hair from my face. “Just tell us where Daniel lives, and this can all be over.”
He heard me gasp and whimper from the pain of breathing and thought I was conceding.
“How about you just give us some clues? I know you don’t want to turn on them, but a few clues ain’t really ratting them out, is it, honey?”
“Kill the bitch, and let’s get the fuck out of here before someone notices we’re missing.”
“I told you, we ain’t killing her. If they want to do it, so be it, but I’m just leaving her to be found. She can’t ID us, and she has no clue as to where the hell we are.”
“Just fucking drown her and let’s go.”
Straight Up Interfererence Page 23
