She used her fingers and the brush to bring her hair up into a tight ponytail. She’d nearly finished when her finger slid across the long row of stitches in the back of her head. She had never felt the extent of her injury until now, and it pissed her off. If Kent, Patrick, and Mitchell weren’t already dead, she would kill their asses all over again.
Carter closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Then it happened again.
It had been happening ever since Nathan had carried her to their room yesterday. Every time Carter closed her eyes, Gianni’s death would play over and over in her head like a movie. It wouldn’t stop. She’d been awake for nearly twenty hours, but it still wouldn’t stop.
After Carter’s temporary insanity yesterday, Nathan had brought her back upstairs. She’d been too exhausted to move, so after the doctor came to the house to see her, she had just stayed upstairs for the rest of the day. Mostly to avoid everything she still had to deal with downstairs. She had told Nathan that she needed time to collect herself after what she’d experienced–and time was exactly what she got. Nathan excused their absence for the rest of the day, telling everyone that they would join them the following day. Carter was grateful for their compliance. She needed the time to recharge.
The evening had consisted of a call to let Jenna know she was okay and then oh-so-sweet silence with the love of her life. Nathan had made sure they had everything they needed in the room so neither of them had to leave it. They had taken a relaxing, hot bath in their huge tub, and Nathan had gently washed her hair, avoiding the stitches. He’d applied her conditioner and then revealed a skill she hadn’t known he had— a skill his mother had taught him, hoping he’d have a little girl one day. He braided her hair in one, long braid. She was glad because that way she wouldn’t have to deal with it till morning. After that, Carter had eaten a small meal. She hadn’t really been that hungry yesterday. She’d been too emotionally drained. But she enjoyed the light meal he provided for her. They had eaten, then had lain in their bed together, holding each other close. Nathan had rested his head against Carter’s chest so he could listen to her heart beat while she ran her fingers through his hair until he fell into a much-needed sleep. She had wanted him to sleep— she could tell he’d needed it. Carter, on the other hand, hadn’t been able to close her eyes. She couldn’t sleep. She’d tried with all of her might, but it had been pointless. Every time she’d closed her eyes, she was in that damn elevator again.
Carter took a deep, shaky breath. Nathan said that Gianni had been buried after a small funeral they had for him while she was still in the coma the doctors had put her in to heal. Carter would never forget Gianni— she’d developed a close friendship with him because they were together all the time. He had been head of her personal security and had driven her everywhere she needed to go.
His death still hadn’t quite become real for Carter. She just wasn’t ready to let him go. It hurt too much. For everyone else, he died a week ago. But to her, it felt like five minutes ago that she and Gianni were attacked in that elevator.
“Hey, beautiful,” Nathan’s deep voice sounded as he came and stood behind her. He looked into her eyes then turned her to face him. “Tell me what it is.”
Carter looked at him curiously. “What do you mean?” she asked.
Nathan grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I see it in your eyes, baby. Tell me.” He kissed her lips softly. “Tell me what’s wrong,” he said softly.
Carter was never able to hide anything from Nathan. He read her like a book. Unable to contain it any longer, Carter confessed her troubles as the tears fell from her eyes. “I can’t even close my eyes without seeing it, Nathan,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Gianni?”
Carter nodded sadly. “I hate it, Nathan. I hate that I was so careless …” Her voice trailed off as she looked away from him.
Nathan took her hand in his and led her to their bed. He sat at the head, and pulled her to his lap, cuddling her close and kissing away her tears.
***
Nathan held Carter close to his heart. He had known Gianni’s death would hit her eventually, and he wished he could do something to ease her pain. But the truth was, he knew he couldn’t. For the second time in her life, Carter had witnessed someone she cared for brutally taken from her. Nathan wished he could bring Kent and Patrick back to life and kill the motherfuckers all over again. But he knew that even if he could, it wouldn’t erase everything that had happened that day. He knew that wasn’t possible. This shit really wasn’t easy.
It had taken him numerous nights and numerous talks with his father before he could look at himself in the mirror. He’d failed. He hadn’t protected Carter when she had needed him most, and that made him feel worse than shit.
Nathan held Carter tighter as the memories of the worst day of his life made their way to the forefront of his mind.
***
Five days ago.
Nathan paced back and forth in the emergency room waiting area, wondering what the fuck was taking that doctor so long to get out here and tell him what was going on with his fiancé! Carter was unconscious when they had brought her in, but she’d still had a strong pulse. His beautiful rose was a fighter, and Nathan knew she wouldn’t give up. She’d promised him she would come back to him, and he believed her. No matter where they were or what happened to them, he and Carter would always find their way back to one another.
“Nate!”
Nathan stopped pacing and looked toward the waiting room entrance to see Kyle and the rest of the guys jogging through the doors. Kyle made it to Nathan first with a shirt in hand for Nathan to put on. Not that he gave a shit about a shirt, but it was probably a little scary to have a six-foot-five, shirtless, blonde man with bloody fingerprints on his face pacing back and forth in the middle of the emergency waiting room. His original shirt was covered in Carter’s blood, and Nathan couldn’t even look at it without losing faith that she would live through this. He knew he would never be able to forgive himself for this, for not being able to prevent this from happening.
“Nate, what happened?” Kyle asked, bringing Nathan to the present and away from his thoughts. “Is that her blood?” he asked, seeing Nathan’s blood-stained face. “Where is she? Please tell me she’s all right, Nate.”
Kyle was hysterical, and Nathan didn’t blame him. He had been the same way. Sometimes he forgot how much Kyle cared for Carter. It was hard to remember when he had become so wrapped up in her his damn self.
Nathan swallowed, cleared his throat, and looked at Kyle— the rest of the guys stood behind him waiting for an answer as well. “She’s strong,” he said, trying to hold himself together, but his voice cracked and gave away how he was actually feeling. He wasn’t able to hide his emotions like he usually could. This was just too much. “Fuck,” he groaned and ran his fingers through his hair, a tear escaping his eye. “Honest to God, man.” He looked directly at Kyle, seeing the man’s eyes fill with dread as he waited for Nathan’s next words. “I don’t know.” Nathan’s jaw clenched as both rage and sadness made their way back into his system. “I can’t get any help around here!” Nathan yelled toward the door Carter had been rushed through when they’d first arrived. “No one will tell me where the fuck my fiancé is! Or if she’s even alive!”
“All right, all right, Nate. Calm down, man,” Kyle said, placing his hand on Nathan’s shoulder.
Nathan jerked away from Kyle’s hand, stormed to the nurse’s station, and slammed his hand on the counter. “Excuse me! I’ve been standing out here for a fucking hour waiting to hear something about my fiancé! Petite girl, African American, blood gushing from her goddamn head!”
The nurse looked at him with fear in his eyes and swallowed. “Sir, I said you just have to …”
Nathan hit the counter so hard it shook everything on it. “I’m not waiting anymore. Where is she?” Nathan shouted, and all of the nurses flinched.
&nb
sp; Four security men burst through the doors, heading straight toward Nathan. Nathan turned to them with cold gray eyes, ready to break the neck of any motherfucker that dared put one finger on him. He’d just call it therapy to justify it to himself later.
“What’s going on out here?” one of the security men said.
“Nothing that you can assist with,” a soft, heavily-accented female voice said behind Nathan.
Nathan turned around and saw Anastacia Stone walking toward him, and he tensed. He had forgotten she was here. Even though she had been with them the entire time, he had managed to put all of his focus on Carter, and Carter alone. God, it was not easy looking at those eyes right now. It was the worst torture.
She walked in front of Nathan, standing between him and the security guards. “I’ll handle him. You can all run along. There isn’t anything you can do.” She looked directly in one man’s eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Well ma’am I just need to …”
“Need to what? Calm him down? Well, you can’t, so there is no point in even trying. Go away and try to feel important somewhere else,” she said dismissively.
Nathan stood there in silence, too curious to speak. He didn’t want to interfere in the exchange because he was too fascinated by Carter’s mother. The resemblance was uncanny, but there were very noticeable differences between them, at least to Nathan. She looked to be in her early thirties instead of her actual age, which had to be between forty and forty-five. She had long black hair, but not as long or as thick as Carter’s. Her hair was silky, like his, whereas Carter’s hair was a much different texture than his own— a thick, soft cloud that Nathan loved to feel against his skin. Her eyes were the same color, but they lacked the warmth always present in the eyes of his Carter. They were also smaller than her daughter’s expressive, almond-shaped eyes. Anastacia was definitely taller than Carter, too— about 4 inches taller. How anyone would mistake Carter for her was beyond Nathan. He just didn’t get it. He didn’t feel like looking behind him to see the reaction of the guys. He figured he’d just focus on the door that led to Carter and try not to burst through it and look for her himself.
“Ma’am if he doesn’t get himself under control now, we will …”
“Call the police? So they can take him out of here while his fiancé is back there fighting for her life? That’s your solution? If so, it isn’t a very good one, and perhaps you should consider a career change.”
“But …”
“But nothing,” she said, putting one hand up, effectively silencing the man. “The only thing you can do to keep things in order out here is go back there and ask Carterina Stone’s doctor to come out here to give her family an update. Other than that, you are useless. Now leave. I am going to speak to my future son-in-law, and I will not have you four here causing him more stress while he waits to hear an update on the woman who is to be his wife.” Anastacia’s voice remained soft, but her tone was firm and brooked no argument. The man stood for a moment, sizing up Anastacia, who stood in the same spot never breaking eye contact, and then nodded his head. He turned and left the waiting room, the other three men following him.
Nathan stood rooted to the floor, still too curious to move. What the hell was she going to say to him? He couldn’t for the life of him believe that she’d intervened in a situation on his behalf. He couldn’t even believe that she had called him her son-in-law. Jesus Christ, this was just too weird.
Anastasia waited for the men to leave, then turned her attention to Nathan. He made eye contact with her even though it pained him to look at her, to look into those hazel eyes. But for the first time since getting the call from Mitchell earlier today, Nathan was able to keep himself in check and hide his emotions.
Anastacia stared at Nathan blankly before her expression softened and concern masked her face. “Fighting those men will not make you feel better, dear Nathan.” Her tone had become sweet and tender, losing every bit of the bite it had had when she’d spoke to the security officer. Nathan remained speechless. “Carterina is fine. I promise you she will make it through this and be stronger than before. She has strong blood, and she is definitely not easy to kill. She is too stubborn for that, as you probably already know.” A faint smile graced her lips, and Nathan couldn’t help but mirror her smile at the thought of his stubborn little bride-to-be. “You must keep yourself busy, dear. You have much to arrange. Carterina will need you when she makes it through this.” She looked behind him at the rest of the guys, ignoring the shock in their wide eyes. “She will need all of you. Come with me, and we will start making arrangements for her to recover— away from the city. It isn’t safe for her here. Too many people know about her now.”
“What does that mean?” Nathan asked, speaking to Anastacia for the first time.
“That is a talk that Carterina should be present for,” she said as she placed her hand on his shoulder and began to lead him back to the waiting room. He didn’t know why, but he felt like he had no choice but to go with her. She turned to the guys and signaled for them to follow as well, and to Nathan’s surprise, they followed without a word, each of them still too stunned to speak.
Nathan looked down at the woman, “How did you know about Mitchell?” he asked.
Anastacia looked up at him, nodded, and then motioned for him to sit in one of the waiting room chairs. Anastacia took the seat next to Nathan, and the guys all sat in the chairs surrounding them to hear Anastacia’s answer.
“I have men in the Salerno Organization who work for me for reasons all of you are far too young to know about,” she said, looking directly into Nathan’s eyes.
“You have men in our organization?” Nathan asked, shocked and confused as to how that was possible.
“Yes I do, but you do not have to worry. They are men who are loyal to you and your father, Nathan. I would never harm either of you, even if your father does hate me,” she said, frowning.
Nathan studied her eyes, searching for something to help him understand her. She was Carter’s mother, and Nathan still couldn’t believe she was here. “When did you find out Carter was in New York?” He needed to make sense of her sudden appearance.
“My men told me that she had been found by you and was coming back with you to New York. We later heard that she was living with the Russian, which we knew was you. I rushed here to see if it was actually my little girl, and it was.” Anastacia smiled. A smile that reminded Nathan of Carter. “I saw her with you, and I was happy that she was alive and that you two had found each other again after nineteen years.”
Nathan’s eyes widened. “You know about that?”
Anastacia laughed softly “Of course, I do. Leaving my baby girl wasn’t a choice, dear boy. I never wanted to be a ghost in her life. I … I just had to,” she said sadly, then smiled again and held out her hand. “Give me your hand, dear.”
Nathan obediently gave her his hand.
“We will wait for her together, like this. Hand in hand.” She gave him a shaky smile and finally allowed him to see the many emotions in her hazel eyes. “I’m scared, too, sweetheart. But we will be strong for her. All of us will. She told you she would come back to you, Nathan. My baby has never broken a promise.”
***
Nathan hadn’t let go of Anastacia’s hand until the doctor came through the doors and told him he could go back to Carter. He hadn’t even broken the hold when his father arrived and stared in shock at Anastacia. Nathan hadn’t been able to do anything during that time in the waiting room but pray, stare at those doors, and hold Anastacia’s hand. He had needed her strength and her words, and he was grateful for her presence. Not only had she helped Nathan get through one of the hardest hours of his life, she had also saved both his and Carter’s life. Nathan knew of the stories about Anastacia Stone, but the woman who sat in the waiting room with him, the woman who had been helping to take care of Carter, was not the woman who had been described to him at all. The Anastacia Stone Nathan had been
getting to know for the past few days was a mother, a mother who loved her daughter more than life itself.
“Nathan,” Carter said softly.
Nathan looked into the sad eyes of his beautiful rose. “Yes, baby?” He softly wiped the tears from her eyes.
“I’m sorry for everything …”
“Hey, hey. Don’t do that,” Nathan said quickly. He caressed her face. “You have nothing to apologize for. None of it was your fault.”
Carter sat up and turned to straddle Nathan’s lap. “It wasn’t your fault, either.” Nathan frowned and shook his head. He didn’t want her to continue, but she did. “Please don’t, Nathan,” Carter pleaded.
“Don’t what?” Nathan asked, the frown still on his face. He didn’t think he was ready for the conversation that was about to come. He didn’t want Carter to tell him that this wasn’t his fault— because it was. Nathan had put Carter in that dangerous situation, and it had almost gotten both of them killed.
“Don’t blame yourself for what happened. It wasn’t your fault,” she said, and Nathan looked away from her. The shame he felt over this made it impossible for him to look her in the eye.
Carter tried to get Nathan to look at her, but Nathan resisted. “Carter, baby, I don’t want you to—”
“To what? Tell the truth? But it is the truth. It wasn’t your fault. What happened was fucked up, but neither of us could have predicted it. It just happened.”
Nathan frowned and shook his head “You don’t understand, Carter,” Nathan said firmly.
“Yes, I do. You think you should have done more to protect me, that you failed me. But you didn’t, Nathan.”
“Yes … I … did,” Nathan said, looking into her eyes. He swallowed the lump in his throat and fought against his emotions as he met her eyes. He placed his hands on each side her face as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. “You almost died. Carter. Do you understand that? I held you in my arms with my face close to yours just so I could make sure you were still breathing. And there was blood … everywhere. You lost so much blood … and I didn’t know what to do for you! I was helpless, and I was the one who had put you in that situation! Mitchell was never out for you— you were innocent. You had everything taken from you, and you didn’t deserve it. You didn’t deserve any of this,” Nathan said, trying to make her understand.
Dangerous Beauty: Part Two: A Mafia Princess Page 5
