Cole (The Leaves)

by Hartnett, J. B.

“Six a.m. It’ll be done. The transfer is going through our New York office, but they’re getting everything ready now. Let me talk to her. I’ve done what you asked. Let me talk to her.”

  “I know you’re not alone, so I’ll make this quick. You get another ten seconds with your beloved. If this is not complete, I’ll send her finger to go with the ring. Do you understand?”

  “Yes. It will be done. Let me talk to her. Please.” I squeezed my eyes closed.

  “Annie, your fidanzante would like to speak with you.”

  “Cole?”

  “Are you okay? It won’t be long my beautiful girl. I’ll never let you out of my sight again.”

  “I love you. He took my ring.” She cried. Her voice was ripping me apart.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay.” I tried to soothe her, but my voice and resolve were breaking.

  “Isn’t that sweet.” Joe said. “That’s enough now. You know I had her first. My little Annie. I need to finish what I started in the alley. I want her going to your bed knowing my cock was inside your newest acquisition, Mr. Carlyle. ”

  Click.

  I’m not sure what took me over then, maybe the devil, maybe all the years of pent up anger and hostility I’d had stored away against my father, but as soon as I stepped away from the phone, I started wailing on him. Gus and Olaf each had an arm, my body bucking to get back to him and beat the living shit out of him. “You did this!!” I spat. “You fucking did this!”

  Two things happened next that I will never forget.

  First, my mom came out of nowhere and stood in front of my father and slapped him across the face. “You better fucking fix this Richard, or so help me God, I will ruin you. That poor girl is the best thing to ever happen to this family. If your greed causes any harm to come to her or our son, any more harm, I’ll kill you myself and I don’t care how many people in this room just heard me threaten you. I’ll gladly go to the chair.”

  Then the second thing I’ll never forget, happened. “Patricia?” He spoke in a voice I only recalled hearing as a kid. A softness I didn’t even know still existed in the man. “I know you’ll never forgive me for what I did. I know I pushed you and Cole away, but I will fix this and when I do, I want you to forgive me. It’s been thirty years, Patricia. My father tried to force me to give you up. I loved you. I didn’t care that you were poor, that we’d be poor, none of that mattered. I wanted you and I wanted our child.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, and then dear old dad stopped speaking to you, wrote you out of the will and you turned around and did the exact same thing to your son. You resented us both and in the end you inherited anyway. Fuck you and your sob story.”

  Holy fuck.

  “I love you Patricia. I will make this right.”

  “I promised ‘til death do us part’, Richard. Fix it and maybe I can stick to that part of our vows. If not, well, you made your bed. And you stopped talking to me. For five years you didn’t speak to me at all. I never stopped loving you. I supported you; I’ve stood by you watching you try to be what your dead father wanted you to be. I’ve waited for thirty years for you to say the words and not once, even when you called to tell me about Cole, not once did you say them. And while we’re at it, maybe you can tell me what happened that day, too?”

  Jesus. I couldn’t think anymore. Every synapse in my brain seemed to be firing at the same time. I shrugged off Olaf and Gus and walked back to the kitchen. I handed shots first to Olaf, then Gus, followed by Daniel and Thug and lastly, I handed one to my father as he approached and held my glass to toast him. “Here’s to getting my girl back.” He clinked my glass and threw the shot back.

  Olaf pulled me outside so everyone could take a deep breath. “Cole, my friend… what can I do? Anything.”

  “Please go and find out exactly what the fucking story is. If I go back inside, I think I’m going to lose it completely.”

  “Hang tight, I’ll try to be quick.”

  I’d since been nursing a beer. I didn’t want to get drunk, knowing the phone might ring again, hoping it would, I needed to keep my wits about me. I needed to keep it together for Anika. I knew my mom was next to me, just from her perfume. It’d never changed. My whole life, she’d been a Chanel woman. Apparently, it was the first gift my father had given her. That should’ve clued me in to the fact she still loved him. But, I had to know for sure. “You love him.” Not a question, a statement.

  “Always,” She replied.

  “How could you love him?” There was no hiding the disgust in my voice.

  “He was my first everything, Cole.”

  “Even now? After everything that’s happened?”

  “I only ever wanted him to turn around and tell me the things he said when we were first together. We struggled in the beginning, but we were so happy. Then as time went on, the guilt just swallowed him up. Five long years he’d been kicked out of his family. In the end, a loophole made him the inheritor after his brother died. Your father was the only relative. I think your grandfather did it on purpose. He loved your father, but his pride prevented him from telling him that.”

  “I had no idea Mom.” I said, shaking my head. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you’ve had such a hard life.”

  “Cole, my life has been a cakewalk compared to your dear girl. Your father will get her home safe. That’s a promise I can keep. I know he will. He has more than just the loss of some silly hotels at stake; he has his wife, his son and his future daughter-in-law to think about. Dear, where’s the box?”

  “What box?” I knew what she was talking about, but I didn’t want her to know.

  “I’ll take care of it. I’ll clean the ring and you’ll never have to see that box again. I’m your mother, Cole. You’re the other great love of my life. I’m not exactly a delicate flower, you know.”

  “I know, Mom.” I said squeezing her hand. “You’ll have to ask Father.”

  “Okay, Olaf is coming. He’ll explain everything. Keep the faith. She’ll be back in your arms before you know it.”

  “I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too, Cole.”

  Cole 4

  Anika

  After Joe ended the call, I felt a little more hopeful. Whatever Cole had put into action, it was enough to satisfy Joe. It didn’t stop his threats though, and more than anything, I wished he would stop trying to antagonize Cole.

  I closed my eyes and felt the sheer exhaustion take me to sleep. I didn’t dream. My dreams would start when I was back in Cole’s arms again. That was a dream I hoped I never woke from.

  The scent of greasy food hit the room, and I opened my eyes to see the familiar red and white writing across the bag. If I did die, at least I would have the best French fries in the world as my last meal.

  “Annie? Open your mouth.” Joe commanded. I was starving and the smell would have been a new kind of torture if he denied me a taste. I ate everything he put in front of me, which included a cheeseburger. He held a straw to my lips every now and then, so I could drink the soda he offered.

  We were in a bedroom in an apartment, or that’s what I assumed. I didn’t hear anything outside. It could have been because it was late at night, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t make any noise, not sure how Joe would react. He seemed… kind. There was no concern I’d be suffering from Stockholm syndrome or anything, but I got the impression this had very little to do with his family’s company and everything to do with that girl.

  I had a memory, just a flash of one, where he spoke to me in Italian and called me Serena. He was tender and loving. In fact, most of the time I could handle his forcefulness, until I fought him. Then I learned, if I was quiet and pliant and went somewhere else in my head to escape… it would be over before I knew it.

  “Annie? Annie?” He cooed. I must have fallen asleep again. “I would like you to tell me why you love?”

  “What do you mean?” I wasn’t sure exactly what he was asking me. In my mental state, I needed more guidance from him.


  “Your Cole?” He prompted.

  Again, I had no idea how to respond to this. Mostly, because I didn’t know what his reaction would be. Would I be sealing my fate? Would he be satisfied killing me if he knew Cole would suffer? So I stayed silent.

  “You are afraid of me.” He stated. “I will not kill you now, Annie. Let us wait. I will be checking something shortly and making another call to your Cole. To pass the time, I would like to know why you are in love with him.”

  He said it like Cole was the devil himself… or his son at the very least. “He’s not his father.” I answered softly.

  Joe had been sitting on the bed beside me, but he stood up and loomed. The way his eyes travelled over my body made me feel naked. His gaze was lecherous and what I feared might happen, was happening.

  He slipped his arms out of each sleeve of his suit, each button of his shirt undone and his short sleeve undershirt pulled over his head. His buckle opened, zipper down, shoes flipped off at the heel, and socks removed until he stood before me, naked. His dark skin was unblemished, his body hair dark and sparse and his penis hung flaccid between his legs.

  I was suddenly aware of every inch of my body, every pore, every hair on high alert. He settled his knees on either side of my hips and laid his upper body over my still clothed one. Then he whispered in my ear, “Annie, I want to thank you. I would never have survived those years without her, if it had not been for you. I have never loved as deeply as I did Serena. No one understood. I have not had a woman since I had you all those years ago… I have saved myself for this day, to be reunited with her. So tell me, Annie, tell me of your Cole.”

  I was shaking, everywhere. My teeth were chattering. I took a deep breath, as best I could with his weight on my chest and his groin pressing on my full bladder. I took another breath and thought about this. I never wanted to look back, assuming I survived, and romanticize the time I spent with Joe, my captor. There was nothing beautiful about it, nothing. Joe was a sick man. Now that I really understood that, I was better able to prepare myself mentally, so I could get through this ordeal with the least amount of emotional and psychological damage.

  One more deep breath and I closed my eyes and pictured Cole’s living room. I pictured myself walking to the couch, him reaching out to pull me to him as I nuzzled into his chest… then I explained why I loved him. But I wasn’t talking to Joe. I was talking to Cole. “When I wake up, it’s to his kiss on my forehead. He tells me I’m beautiful every day. He’s always gentle with me. He knows my pain and I know his, and neither one of us is afraid to swim through the darkness of the other. The world could be falling down around us, but together we would be impenetrable. He is the other half of my heart, the other half of my soul… without him, I’m incomplete.”

  He rose from me then and didn’t say another word. He got dressed, walked to a small table and turned on a laptop. My hands began to throb, as did my bladder, so I closed my eyes and drifted.

  “We have to sleep, Cole.”

  “One more kiss…”

  “You can keep kissing me, and then when I wake up, I’ll be well rested and I can kiss you back.” I smiled, but kept my heavy eyelids closed.

  “Baby…” He said nothing more. It wasn’t until I woke, with his hand between my legs and the small kisses on my neck, that I knew I’d fallen asleep.

  “What a wonderful way to wake up.”

  “And baby, you are absolutely ready.” He stated, as his finger glided inside me. “Warm, soft and perfect.”

  I held his head, grabbing his hair as he kissed me and brought me closer to heaven with his hand. I let out a small moan.

  “That’s it, baby.” He said, “This is all for you.”

  “Zio…”

  “She cannot…”

  My eyes shot open.

  “Was that a nice dream you were having Annie?”

  It was, until I woke up.

  Cole 5

  Cole

  The slider opened and closed again. I expected Olaf to sit down across from me, but it wasn’t him. It was my father. I didn’t acknowledge him; instead I took a swig of my beer.

  “Don’t get drunk. She’s going to need you to be strong if he calls again.”

  “Really? You’re gonna tell me what to do? If it didn’t sound so juvenile, I’d tell you you’re not the boss of me, but wait, oh yeah, you fucking are the boss of me.” I took another drink.

  “Son…” He started quietly.

  “No. Don’t do that; don’t throw that at me right now.” I shook my head, but still didn’t look at him.

  “Fine, Cole.” He slowly reached up and took the bottle from my hand. “I mean it. She needs you to be strong and the more you drink, the more emotional you’re going to get. Now then, here is what I can tell you. I know you think I’m an opportunist and most of the time, I am. However, in this instance, Cole, I am not. The three Drago brothers wanted to concentrate on the vineyard and sell off everything else. They confided in me that they had sent Giuseppe’s son to Italy some years ago, but he was back. He wanted to keep the hotels, Giuseppe Junior felt it was his birthright. He’d learned more about wine-making, traveled different vineyards and regions to improve the family business. When he came back, doing everything his family had asked, they continued to put him off. They pretended that the vineyard was failing…”

  “I thought it was?” I asked.

  “They lied to him. The financials of the company were never made public, it was industry gossip. Lies perpetuated by myself and the three Drago brothers. They did this Cole, because Giuseppe Junior had been involved with his cousin. More specifically, his underage cousin. She was young, Cole.”

  “Let me guess. He replaced her with Anika?” I felt the bile rise in my throat.

  “That seems to be the assumption, yes.”

  Fuck.

  “Giuseppe Senior had him investigated twelve years ago, but they’d been watching him longer. His father learned that he’d been having a relationship with a single mother and providing her with drugs and money. The family sent him to Sicily the first time because he’d molested his cousin, Serena. Then he came back, apparently found Anika and her mother and, well, you know the rest. I’m not sure when he figured it out, but our guess would be at the charity auction. Giuseppe, or Joe, is the one that paid twenty-five grand for her painting. He could’ve been following you before she was attacked the first time and just gone into that bar on accident, but I doubt that. I think this was a terrible coincidence.”

  “Why now? I’ve been running Trinity for a while… why now? Why not act when the buy-out was fresh? It would have been more vulnerable? The board, everyone who was employed by them, they hated me because in their minds, I was you. That would’ve been the perfect time.” Business wise, this made no sense.

  “He’s desperate. They made sure when he came back into the country, Serena was gone. Hidden from him. They assumed he would just stay in Italy, Cole. They hadn’t planned on him not only coming back, but making it his mission to take back Trinity, strengthen the vineyards and if he succeeded… get Serena.”

  “I brought him back into her life. If he…” It was clear to me that I’d done this to her. This was my fault.

  “He won’t touch her, Cole.” He said evenly.

  “How do you know? Look what he’s already done to her!”

  “He has too much to lose. He thinks she’s the key to getting the company and Serena back.” He paused. “But you understand why we can’t involve the authorities with this?”

  “Yes, I do.” I stared at the chaise lounge directly across from me and closed my eyes, remembering Anika sitting there.

  “For all we know, that could’ve been an ugly trick.”

  I closed my eyes again and remembered watching the skin on her bare back lit by the dim lights inside the house. I could see the outline of the branches and the large script letter, wondering if she was going to add my initial as well. So beautiful. “Her tattoo.”

 
“What about it?” He asked.

  “I know you think it’s trashy…”

  “I never said that Cole. That girl has class. Emma had no class at all and there wasn’t a tattoo or a hair out of place on that Gucci-clad gold-digger.”

  “It’s a tree.” I explained the obvious. “She told me she chose a tree because they never really die. They lose their leaves, but they grow again. At the bottom of her back are leaves. Some are red, some are gold, some are brown, a few are green… it’s beautiful. But each leaf represents something terrible that happened to her. Except the green ones. Those are good memories. I know they weren’t all Joe, some were at the hands of her mother, but I know he did terrible things to her. When I met her, just after, he’d shown up and he tried to… but he didn’t succeed. It left her shaken. I sang to her when she had an anxiety attack like Mom used to. She said it saved her. I have to save her. All I want to do is protect her and I failed. I failed her.” I couldn’t keep my tears at bay any longer and I didn’t fuckin’ care if my father saw my weakness.

  Before I could stop him, my father pulled me into his chest. He’s not that much bigger than I am, but somehow he swallowed me up in his large build. I couldn’t help but release heaving sobs and I could barely catch my breath. He grabbed my shoulders and gave me a shake.

  “You know I’m a powerful man, Cole. You can ask me for anything, anything at all, and I’ll make it happen. I have only ever wanted you by my side, son. I just went about it the wrong way. I owe you. I almost lost you because of my stupidity and my pride. The same goddamn pride my father lost me to. I had to clean your blood from my fingernails, Cole. I had to have the bathroom in that apartment re-tiled but the worst part of all was calling your mother… and then your letter.”

  “You know about the letter?” I couldn’t believe my mom would’ve shared the suicide note I’d written… unless she never got it. We never spoke of it.

  “I don’t know what came over me that day, Cole. I don’t know why I pulled that gun out.” It’s hard to forgive someone that pulled a gun on you. “But I need you to know, I would never have pulled that trigger. The damn thing wasn’t even loaded. I was desperate to get you to listen to me. I couldn’t understand why you hated me so much, why you never wanted to do anything with me.”