by Cherry Kay
Ari almost chocked on the piece of steak she was swallowing.
“Well, the focus switched kind of fast, don’t you think, Mommy? We haven’t even asked about baby names yet,” Ari said after she washed her food down with a sip of water.
“Yeah, you’re getting two grandchildren now, that’s exciting.” Sandy tried to help Ari out, but her mom’s attention had already shifted and was in gear.
“Yes, but I need for all of my daughters to be happy, that means Ari needs to be married to the man she loves.”
Ari wondered when Mark was going to ask her to marry him. He already said, more than once, that he wanted to spend forever with Ari… maybe he was just the slow to action type… or maybe he hadn’t yet gotten a ring picked out. This was the twenty-first century. It would have been okay if Mark took Ari with him to pick out a ring… but then again Ari didn’t think that was Mark’s style. Knowing him, he’d want all of Ari’s friends and family around to ask her to marry him the old fashioned way.
“Don’t worry, it’ll happen, Mommy,” Ari reassured her mom and she seemed to be content with Ari’s answer. Conversation moved back to the coming new additions to the family and Ari relaxed into the nice dinner they were having.
Ari left her mom’s house and decided to stop and pick up some ice cream. She felt like having an evening in and curling up with a good movie since her managers gave her the night off again. Ari stopped at the grocery store just down the street from her condo. As she was going to and from the parking lot Ari got the eerie feeling that she was being watched.
While she got into her car to head home, Ari made sure she didn’t see Darrel. There was no sign of him and she felt kind of silly. After her talk with Mark and reassuring him that Darrel wasn’t an issue, she was getting paranoid? Ari needed to remember her own words and calm down a little.
Ari took a cleansing breath and got into her car to drive home. She parked in her usual space in the parking garage and got out of the car in a rush to get upstairs because she didn’t want her ice cream to melt. Ari sighed when she realized she left her phone inside the car and turned around, mid-stride, to go and get it. She all but ran right into Darrel’s chest. Ari screamed with her initial surprise, but Darrel grabbed her arm and clapped his hand over her mouth to muffle her second cry of terror.
“You think you can just forget about me? Cut me out of your life? We were going to get married and now you up in here with that other fool? I’ll make sure you and him both know who you belong to.” Darrel’s voice was low and menacing, his breath was hot on Ari’s neck and she wished like hell she hadn’t left her phone in the car.
Ari tried to shove away from Darrel, but he had her arm gripped tightly behind her back and his 100other had a vice grip over her mouth. She kicked up her heel and made contact with something, Darrel grunted and his grip on her loosened a fraction. Ari took the opportunity to wrench free of his grasp and run towards the elevator; at least there she could press the emergency button.
Darrel quickly caught up to her and grabbed her around the waist to slam her against a concrete pillar of the garage. “You stupid bitch, I tried talking to you, but now you’ll see what happens,” Darrel grunted and Ari tried desperately to get away from him. He had his body weight pressed against her and his hand around her neck so she couldn’t do much. Darrel slapped Ari across the face and she screamed as she hit the floor from the force of his blow.
“Stupid bitch,” Darrel spat. He pulled her up from the ground by her hair and Ari lashed out at him. She managed to claw him across the face and Darrel cursed loudly before he landed a punch to her stomach. Ari doubled over and stumbled away from him. Darrel just kept coming at her, until he grabbed her again and pinned her to the floor.
Ari fought her hardest against him, but fear was gripping her and soon she was simply trying to protect herself from his relentless blows to her body and face. Darrel didn’t care that Ari was screaming and sobbing any longer and that was what brought the sounds of police sirens up to the third floor of the garage. Darrel was pulled off of Ari and all she could do was sob as a police officer gently pulled her into a sitting position on the ground. He was talking to Ari, trying to calm her down, but Ari was hysterical and going into shock.
“It’s alright, ma’am, you’re safe now. That creep is going to be locked up for a long time. He wasn’t going to stop until you were dead.” The words that did get to Ari made her cry even harder and another officer took over with Ari until the ambulance came riding into the garage.
“I d—didn’t know ambulances came in van s—size…” Ari stuttered through her chattering teeth. She was shivering all of a sudden and she didn’t know why.
“Well, when they need to get into a parking garage with low clearance they do.” The officers seemed relieved that Ari was at least talking now instead of crying. Everything happened in a blur after that. The paramedics assessed Ari and saw that she had to be taken to the hospital. The police told Ari they would show up needing a statement from her once she was taken care of and then Ari was being loaded into the ambulance and driven to the nearest hospital. She finally passed out somewhere along the ride.
Mark
Mark had just picked up Ari’s engagement ring when he got a call from Ruben, the security guy he had hired hours too late.
“She was beaten pretty badly, sir, she has a few bruised ribs, a concussion, and lacerations all over her torso. Her face is bruised up… this guy went to town on her.”
Mark felt as if someone had a death grip around his heart and was pulling it slowly from his chest. Mark didn’t care what prison Darrel was headed to at the moment. Mark would make sure Darrel answered for every mark he left on Ari, and then he’d have him transferred to a prison in fucking Mexico.
“I’m on the next flight out, I need you to find me everything on his whereabouts. This man has to pay,” Mark said shortly before he ended the call with Ruben. Mark rode in tightly restrained silence to the airport and Paul didn’t say a word about Mark’s phone call.
Before Mark boarded his plane, he said goodbye to his faithful driver and then focused on getting to Ari. Mark needed to make sure she was okay, and then he had to pay Darrel a visit and made sure he ended up in the shittiest prison Mark could arrange he be locked up in.
During the entire flight, Mark sat tightly restrained, Ari was his world and he let her down. He didn’t protect her, he had all the resources anyone could ever need, whether they be legit or shady, and Mark didn’t use a damn one to keep her safe. Instead, he let himself get completely wrapped up in the high of being with her that he let his practical self go. He acted too late and he’d never forgive himself for it.
Now Ari had been beaten within an inch of her life and she was in a fucking hospital bed. Mark couldn’t help but take the blame, he could have prevented it all, but he didn’t.
Mark tried to keep his head, but it was slowly going along with the crushing of his heart. He needed to see her; he needed to make sure she would truly be okay. The fucking plane finally landed and Mark all but leapt from the emergency hatch to get to his car. He had the driver speed to the hospital and nearly throttled the security officer sitting at the visitor desk. The man was taking too long just to tell Mark where Ari’s room was.
Mark found out that it was room ten-eleven and he rode the elevator up to the tenth floor impatiently before he ran down the hall to Ari’s room, ignoring the alarmed calls from the nurse’s station.
“Ari…” Mark breathed when he got through the sliding glass door to her room.
Thank goodness it was a private room. She was just lying there on the hospital bed with the remote to the TV in her hand. She was staring blankly at the screen and Mark had to say her name again before she looked over at him.
“Ari, baby… God, I’m so fucking sorry.” Mark walked over to Ari’s bed and took in her bruised cheek, busted lip and the bruising around her neck that he could make out. A pink jacket he recognized as the one she sometime
s wore around the house covered the rest.
“Mark… you’re back—did my sisters call you?” Her voice was hoarse and she sounded as if she was in a daze. She was probably still in shock.
“Not yet, I found out as I was on the way to the airport to come back to you. I’m so sorry baby, I was too late, and I should have hired the security for you when you first told me about Darrel. I shouldn’t have let him get to you.”
Ari snapped out of her daze when Mark started to blame himself.
“You think this is your fault?” Ari asked, her voice low, but surprised.
Mark carefully took her hand in his. It was cool and he covered it with his other hand to try and warm her up.
“It’s not your fault, Ari. I could have protected you, but I was too caught up in everything else. I should have kept you safe.” Mark hung his head; he was tearing up and didn’t want to cry in front of her on top of failing to keep her safe.
“No, no, Mark, I don’t blame you at all. It couldn’t be prevented. Something would have happened, he was too disturbed to be put off by you or any security you could have hired. I don’t blame you, so you shouldn’t blame yourself… please just help me move past this now…” Ari whispered.
Mark hated that she sounded so subdued. He’d beat that fucker Darrel ten times worse than he beat Ari. Mark didn’t care how many strings he had to pull, Darrel was going to pay and then rot in jail for the rest of his life.
“Don’t worry baby, I’ve got you. I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” Mark held Ari’s hand in his securely and then softly pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Tell me what hurts… I need to know what he did to you.”
Ari looked at Mark with wide eyes, but he wouldn’t explain himself. Ari knew Mark; she knew what he would do.
Mark gently unzipped Ari’s jacket and saw the bruises along her rib cage. He pushed her sleeves up and saw the cuts and bruises on her arms. Ari even let him feel the stitches she had to have near the base of her skull from being slammed around by that fucker. Mark saw what he had to see and he knew what he had to do. First he needed to take care of Ari, though.
“Can I get into bed with you?” Mark asked. She nodded and he carefully got in next to her, she rested against his chest and he felt her take a shuddering breath. Soon, Ari was asleep and Mark refused to let her go.
“Oh, she’s finally asleep.” A nurse came in followed by who Mark assumed to be Ari’s doctor.
“I’m her husband… can you tell me what’s going on with her?” Mark directed his question at both the doctor and nurse. In a lot of cases, the nurse knew more than the doctor did, as they were the ones who were with patients all throughout the day or night.
“Of course. Ari was brought into the hospital late last night, she was unconscious initially, but soon regained consciousness once we got her into the emergency room. She has a concussion and had to get stitches to patch up a nasty gash at the back of her head. Other than that, she has severe bruising on a few of her ribs, but her breathing isn’t compromised, thankfully. Then there are the more minor cuts and bruises, but we’re keeping her here until tomorrow to monitor her sleeping and waking patterns. She hasn’t slept at all since she was brought to the hospital and with the amount of painkillers she’s on, we found that as cause for concern.” The doctor was professional and Mark appreciated her telling him everything straight up even though they knew Ari didn’t have a ring on her finger.
“Have the police been in to get a statement from her yet?” Mark asked, the doctor looked to the nurse who shook his head.
“Not yet, they just phoned us to let us know they’ll be here within the next couple of hours.”
Mark nodded, he wasn’t exactly happy that the cops would be disturbing Ari while she rested, but Mark needed to talk to them about Darrel. Any information Mark could get would be best.
By the time the cops showed up, the nurse had come in to wake Ari and make sure she still knew how old she was, where she was, that sort of thing. While the nurse was checking Ari out, Mark stepped outside to speak with the cops, but he was sidetracked by Ari’s family showing up.
“Mark! You’re here, God, I’ve been trying to reach you, but you wouldn’t answer your phone.” Sandy was speaking before she even reached Mark with the rest of Ari’s family. Miss Marie, Lisa, her husband Marcus and even Brooklyn were here. Mark was surprised, though, to see Kevin trailing close behind Sandy. Mark thought they were just dating.
“Yeah, you probably tried to call while I was on the flight over. I came straight here. The nurse is checking her over. She managed to get a couple hours of sleep,” Mark told them. Thankfully, they didn’t question how Mark knew about Ari if Sandy wasn’t able to reach him. Everyone went in to see her and Mark walked over to the two police officers waiting across the hall from Ari’s room.
“Mark Robinson, we understand you’re involved with Miss Francis. Can we ask you a couple of questions about Darrel Porter? Just for the record?” Mark nodded and gestured for the officer to go ahead and ask him whatever they needed.
“So what do you know about Mr. Porter?”
Mark took a deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Ari told me their relationship ended violently. He abused her and she left him. Now, a year or so later, he showed up at Ari’s lounge accosting her outside. I saw it and sent him away. Ever since then, he’s been calling her. Ari told me he followed her home before last night and she told him they were over for good. He threatened her and she called the police to file for a restraining order. A few days later he left her old engagement ring outside her door. Then last night…” Mark trailed off.
“Before you go in there to talk to Ari… can you tell me if there is any chance he could get out of prison?” Mark asked the officers bluntly and they glanced at each other warily. Mark didn’t think a person went to jail for assault for the rest of his life. “Can you tell me where he’s being held? I’d like to pay the man a visit,” Mark said. The officers glanced at each other once more before the officer with the notepad decided to tell Mark. Darrel was being held at the Broward County correctional facility. That’s all the information Mark needed.
“Thank you, officers,” Mark dismissed them before he walked down the hall, already making a call to collect on a few favors he had owed to him.
***
Mark stayed with Ari all night, even past visiting hours. He couldn’t bring himself to leave her for too long, she was too fragile. So Mark stayed, even though all she did was sleep for most of the time.
The next afternoon, the doctor discharged Ari and prescribed her some pain medication in case her ribs hurt too much or she had a bad headache from the concussion. Mark couldn’t help the anger that swelled in his chest when faced with the fact that Ari even had to go through any of it.
Mark helped Ari into his car and his driver took them to Miss Marie’s house. Mark didn’t think Ari would want to be near her place and their house on Castilla Isle wasn’t done being renovated yet.
“Mark you must shower and at least shave. I know you love my daughter and want to be with her. But you must take care of yourself, too,” Miss Marie scolded Mark once Ari was settled in her old bedroom. Brooklyn was upstairs with her while Mark came down to get Ari something to eat.
“I just… need to be there for her, Miss Marie,” Mark said truthfully. Ari’s mom kissed Mark on the cheek before patting his arm reassuringly.
“She will be all right, Clarissa is a strong girl. She won’t be all right if you keep hovering and worrying and beating yourself up over this.”
Mark sighed, Miss Marie was right.
“Okay, I’ll take a shower, but can you bring her up some food? She’s hungry.”
Miss Marie reassured Mark that she and Brooklyn would take care of Ari while Mark showered.
“Oh, and Mark, we did not know what of yours to bring from Ari’s condo, so you might want to run over there for a shower and pack a bag for yourself.”
“Baby, I have to go and get some clothes, but I’ll be back soon. Your mom is fixing you something to eat.” Mark held Ari’s hand while he spoke to her. She looked so small all curled up on her bed. Brooklyn was sitting in a purple egg chair next to Ari’s bed.
“Okay, hurry back,” Ari said before Mark kissed her softly on the lips. Mark nodded to Brooklyn on his way out of her room and then he was on the phone while hurrying to his car. He gave the driver the rest of the night off because tonight Mark was going to take care of Darrel once and for all.
“Is everything taken care of?” Mark made sure all his ducks were in a row before going to the location his connection arranged for Mark.
“Yes, sir. A Darrel Porter is being transferred to holding for a court appearance; my guys are making the transfer. You need to be at the parking lot on Broward and Fifth in twenty minutes. Afterward, Porter will be convicted without trial for ten years in prison, which is the max amount of time for assault with the intent to kill. After a few years or so in the American institution, after he’s well forgotten by any public eyes, Darrel will be smuggled out and transferred to a lovely Mexican prison in Sinaloa.”
Mark was pleased with what he heard. He wanted Darrel to pay for what he did to Ari and he would, tenfold.
“I’m on my way to the lot now. Your debt with me has been paid with this, Angelo,” Mark said in way of thanks.
“Any time, we are, after all, family. I’m sure we will have need of each other in the future. Don’t bruise your knuckles, Marco,” Angelo warned him before ending the call. Mark hoped that his cousin wouldn’t take this as some beginning to a shady relationship between the two, but he couldn’t deny that his cousin got things done… and the guy didn’t even live in the states.
