“Yep, we knew we wanted to settle down here and have the same things our friends had,” Reno added.
Rex looked at her and caressed her jaw. “A woman to share our lives with. One we could settle down and raise a family with.”
Her eyes widened and tears filled them up. That was something she’d long put away as impossibility with the life she had.
He smiled softly. “You can have that, Arabella. Perhaps you’d let us truly get to know you better and share more times like today alone, and you’ll see.” Before she could reply, he kissed her, and in her mind she suddenly started to think that maybe she could have that happily ever after. But for now she was on guard and trying to work through the fear she had.
Rex pulled back and smiled. “God, you’re so beautiful, baby, and your eyes are gorgeous.”
She shyly looked down only for Reno to pull her hand up to his lips and kiss the knuckles. “Slow just might not be so easy with you, darling. Not so easy at all.”
Chapter 11
Arabella was standing near the doorway to the kitchen as the waitresses walked around serving the food she had prepared all afternoon. She should be tired but was so filled with energy that she felt as if she drank a gallon of coffee.
“Arabella?”
She turned toward a woman all dressed up wearing a stylish designer dress and gorgeous jewelry. Arabella felt a bit self-conscious in the white blouse and black skirt she had gotten from Cora, who’d searched through the donation of clothing boxes to find for her. Arabella didn’t want to tell Diane that she only had about four outfits to her name. She had a lot more than this outfit on her bed including some dresses that still had tags on them, too. She smiled thinking about how her sister did that for her.
“Yes?” she replied.
“I’m Elvira, a friend of Diane’s. I own a designer clothing store in Turbank a few towns over. Diane was telling me that you made all the food for this event.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Well, everything was delicious. I mean I usually pick and go home hungry from events but these things that you created are fabulous. I was wondering if you had a business card? You see I’m planning my own private party at my estate in Turbank and need a caterer. Nothing too major but we could go over the menu way beforehand. Do you have a card with you?” she asked.
“Oh, no I don’t but—”
She spotted Mark just as he came up next to her and touched her elbow. “I see you met Elvira. She’s very good friends with Diane and Melissa.”
Arabella smiled.
“Yes, I was just asking Arabella for a business card. I’d like to hire her for an event in a couple of weeks. I needed a phone number and business card.”
“Oh, well I think she’s still waiting on the printer for those, but all you need to do is call me or Diane, leave a phone number Arabella can reach you at, and we’ll be more than happy to get that information to Arabella.”
Elvira smiled and winked. “Fantastic. Thank you, Arabella, and I’ll definitely be calling you this week.”
Arabella watched her walk away and she looked up at Mark.
“Thank you. I totally didn’t know how to handle that.”
“Not a problem. You should ask Brock or Smith to help you design and print out some cards off the computer. They’re awesome at that,” he said and winked.
She felt her cheeks warm. “Well, I really don’t know them that well. Besides, I don’t have a phone number to use, and I’m not sure if we’ll be staying in Pearl long enough to establish business cards. I think I’ll stick to word of mouth for now.”
His smile faltered and he looked around them and then moved closer.
“Arabella, listen. I understand that you’re cautious about trusting people. But if you’re worried that Brock, Smith, Rex, or Reno could hurt you or somehow betray the trust you put in them, don’t be. They are good men. They’re loyal and they already care a lot about you. In fact, they were the first men to ask to be your guardians. There was something they saw in your eyes that pulled at all of them. That’s something special. Believe me, my brothers and I were separated for many years. They were in the military, and when they returned, they were different. They suffered from PTSD. They didn’t think they could transition into civilian life, and then I was led here to Pearl and fell in love with Diane the first time I saw her. This town, the capabilities of the men and women who live here and protect all that live here, is like no other place. I contacted my brothers and told them it was time for a change. I changed my position in the government. They moved out here with me and saw Diane all on their own and fell for her, too. It took us a year to finally make a move. This place is special. The attraction between you, Brock, Smith, Rex, and Reno is one of a kind. Don’t let your fears keep you from being happy.”
She took his words to heart and was impressed by the love he showed in his eyes when he spoke of Diane and his brothers. How right he was that this town and its people were special.
“But there are things standing in the way.”
“You mean the men who you’ve been running from?”
She was shocked that he knew and he quickly countered.
“We protect the women of Pearl and definitely the women and children in the shelter. That name Second Chances is not some silly motto slapped onto a sign. Anna, Stacy, Sage, Millie, and Lena take it all very seriously as they were given second chances at life when they truly thought they were going to die at the hands of some very dangerous, ruthless men. Your fears are understandable, but let me be perfectly clear, honey. We are a very resourceful, capable town of men, your boyfriends included. We can and we will protect you. So my advice is to get those business cards printed out with a contact number and start your new life the way you’ve always wanted it to be. Let us, your men, handle the rest.” He winkled and then Diane approached and hugged his arm.
“Oh God, I told you that your food was going to be a hit. I hope you don’t mind that I told people to call me to contact you and that you were having problems with your phone.” Diane winked and Mark smiled then kissed her cheek.
He looked back at Arabella. “See, we all are here to support your new business venture in Pearl.”
She smiled and wondered if it could all change for the better this easily or what?
* * * *
Cora watched Arabella sleeping. She’d woken up during the night crying and shaking in fear. She had cuddled into the corner of the bed and was pleading for Kever to stop. It tore at Cora’s heart as her mom cried and they consoled Arabella, calming her down so she could rest. She had been so excited when she’d returned from Diane’s party. She told them about the other potential jobs and about Mark’s conversation with her. But seeing her crying every night in her sleep and shaking in fear was too much to handle. It was time to ask for the help that Arabella wasn’t willing to ask for.
She hugged her mom and left the cottage early. She had asked Anna to set everything up at the sheriff’s department. Wyatt would be there and she assumed that Mark Santos might be there. She just asked that Brock, Smith, Rex, and Reno weren’t present. She felt that it would be a total stab in the back to her sister. If the men told those guys afterward, then so be it, but she wasn’t going to be the one to do that to Arabella.
She walked to the truck and Anna was waiting. She squeezed Cora’s hand and gave a reassuring smile.
“Only Wyatt and Mark will be there. They didn’t want you to feel overwhelmed. However, you must know that they’re kind of breaking the rules with this. Rex and Reno were the ones to officially ask to be your guardians along with Smith and Brock.”
“I understand, but Arabella is going to be angry enough at me. I don’t need her hating me forever. Let’s just get this over with before I chicken out.”
Anna smiled and they headed toward the sheriff’s department.
When they arrived, Cora was surprised to see Rex there. He immediately smiled and waved at her and approached.
“Wha
t’s going on? How are you?” he asked and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. She thought he was so nice. His whole team was and she wanted them to make her sister happy and keep her safe.
Before she could answer, Wyatt was there to greet them. “Hi, hun. Hi, Cora.”
She said hello.
Wyatt looked at Rex, who now seemed to understand that something official was going down here.
“Come on into my office. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, water?”
“No thank you,” she said then started walking into Wyatt’s office.
“Wyatt, if something is going down, we should be in there. We’re her guardians,” he said.
Wyatt shook his head. “We need to stretch the rules a bit. We’ll talk later.” He closed the door and Cora could see the concern and hurt expression on Rex’s face.
She swallowed hard. “Let him in, Wyatt. My sister is already going to be very angry with me, and Rex, Reno, Brock, and Smith have been so wonderful to us. It wouldn’t be right.”
“Are you certain?” Wyatt asked.
She looked at Mark, who gave a reassuring smile. “Yes.”
Wyatt called to Rex and told him to come into the room. He did and when he came inside he took the seat right next to Cora and took her hand into his.
“What’s going on, honey? Is everything okay?” he asked as Wyatt closed the door.
She stared at his blue eyes and sensed his sincerity. He would make a great husband for her sister, so would the others.
“I know Arabella is going to be upset with me for doing this, but she can’t go on the way she’s been going. She’s burnt out. She’s changed so much because of me.”
“What do you mean because of you?”
“She’s risked her life to save me, the kids, and Mom. She still can’t eat right, and the nightmares, the way she cries and huddles in the corner, is killing us.”
“She hasn’t spoken to the counselors?” Wyatt asked her.
Cora wiped her eyes. “No, she refuses. She’s not used to accepting help and forget about asking for help.”
“Yeah, I noticed that about her. She’s strong-willed and very independent,” Mark added.
“She’s a hard worker and she’s so smart. They wanted her in the police academy in Chicago, but she had to turn them down.”
“Really, that’s impressive,” Rex said.
“She worked as a chef and the money was great, plus with the crappy neighborhood we were living in and the guy I was dating being involved with illegal stuff, she couldn’t exactly take that job as a cop. Arabella saved our lives by risking her own life. My boyfriend was abusive. He started getting worse and he would bring his partner and friends around and they made me do things, run errands, and set up meetings for deals.”
“What kind of deals?”
“Ones with very bad men who’d killed before. They were involved with the different mafias like the Cubans, the Russians, and the Puerto Ricans.”
“What exactly were your boyfriend and his friends into?” Mark asked, looking serious.
“What weren’t they into is the better question. They dealt with stealing cars and flipping them. They stole paintings, valuables they could then resell on the black market, but something bigger was going down right before we had to split.”
“Something bigger?” Wyatt asked.
“Yes, it’s what led to us having to leave. You see, things had gotten progressively worse and Anthony, that’s his name, he was losing his patience with me. I’d just had baby Liam and I was tired. The baby had some problems because Anthony pushed me around a lot during the pregnancy.” Rex squeezed her hand and she moved it as she locked gazes with him. “Arabella would get so upset. She would talk back to Anthony and he would threaten her. She was forced to keep her mouth shut or Anthony would take out his anger on me. He was pissed one night because I couldn’t help him, and as I said, the abuse got worse. He started hitting me. It was a bad night,” she told them, leaving out the part about how Arabella had to do the job for her. She had no idea what went down that night and she wouldn’t incriminate her sister. Whatever she did, she had to do. Cora saw the ripped dress, the scratches on her shoulders but nothing more.
“What happened next?”
“Kever, that’s Anthony’s partner, he had a thing for Arabella, and well, Arabella was scared of him. He, too, was Special Forces and he would talk about how he would brutally assault men who tried double-crossing them, never mind what he did while serving in the military. Anthony said that Kever did sick things. But his eyes were always on Arabella. One afternoon he showed up at the house with Anthony. But instead of sticking around the living room with me and Anthony as Anthony made some phone calls, he headed upstairs.” Cora stopped and took a deep breath.
“She’s a good woman, Rex. Everything she’s done was to protect my children, our mom, and me. She could have been raped that afternoon right upstairs in her own bedroom.” Tears fell from Cora’s eyes. She rambled on.
“I remember hearing my sister beg for Kever to stop. She was crying, and my mom heard her and mom headed up the stairs and I feared that Kever would hurt her, too. These men do what they want when they want to and there’s no questioning them. The things they talked about doing and completing were very bad, very disgusting things.”
“What happened to Arabella and your mom?” Rex asked, and he looked so angry. She could tell that he cared for Arabella. She had to make things right and help Arabella find happiness.
“Anthony yelled to Kever to come downstairs. There was some kind of business problem. That call saved her from getting raped. When Kever came downstairs, he was tucking in his shirt…There was blood on it.”
“Blood?” Wyatt asked.
She looked at him, and then at Rex.
“He cut her. Threatened to kill her.”
“Jesus. Poor Arabella.”
“No wonder she’s been having nightmares. The poor thing,” Mark said.
“What was the deal about that had gone wrong? Is it something that led to you all running?” Wyatt asked her.
She took a deep breath and explained about how fearful they were and how Arabella secretly recorded Anthony beating Cora and then hurting baby Julia to get to Cora. She explained about the deal and about money, a key, and some documents.
“Rex, Arabella was trying to get us the time we needed to escape. She never would have done the things she did to save us unless it was life or death.”
“What did she do?” he asked.
“She broke into the place where the key was. It was some warehouse and she didn’t know why the key was there but she said there were other things. Things she didn’t tell us but frightened her and it made her demand that we leave right away. I knew that Kever would make an attempt on her again, and that Anthony had no boundaries when it came to the babies, so when Arabella said she would take care of us, I believed her and we started packing up. Anthony showed up demanding to know what we were doing. He attacked, and it got bad. Arabella fought him, using her martial arts and somehow she was able to keep him back from hurting the babies and until the police showed up. I pressed charges and he was arrested.
“Arabella knew this guy, a detective, and she contacted him, gave him the videos she took of the abuse, the discussion on the phone about the deal, the key, and some documents. She gave the detective the key, too. We left town just trying to get out of there before Kever and the others came after us. Arabella used a burner phone to call the detective and she found out that the judge gave me full custody and took all rights away from Anthony, and he was charged with money laundering, and selling illegal guns.”
“How do you know that this guy Anthony and his partner Kever are still searching for you?” Mark asked.
“You don’t know these men. They are ruthless killers, criminals that don’t abide by any laws or rules. Anthony told the judge that he was going to kill the kids and me the moment he was released. That’s what got the judge to take away all par
ental rights. Kever wants Arabella. He will do anything to get her and that’s a fact. That’s what brought me here today. She can’t move on with her life because there is that constant fear that Kever is coming for her to finish what he started. He’s Special Forces, and he told her things, things that torture her at night. They nearly found us a year into our travels, but Arabella fought off the two guys who worked for Kever. She’s had to be everything. The breadwinner, the protector, the mother, the sole provider and protector of all of us.
“Now we are here, after three years on the run and Arabella is exhausted, nearly defeated from the fear. She’s lost so much weight, and she continues to want to run. There are opportunities here for all of us. But she doesn’t want to bring danger here and she’s still trying to protect us. I need your help. I need you to ensure that we’ll be safe here. I will do whatever is necessary to give Arabella a chance at happiness.” She turned to Rex and held his gaze.
“We need their full names and we’ll have a bunch of other questions for you, Cora,” Mark said.
“It’s why I’m here, but please, you have to take precautions. We’ve kept under the radar for this long. Any searches on the computer, any proof of our whereabouts will send up a red flag and bring these men here. We won’t survive this time around. Arabella won’t.”
“I promise you, Cora, that we’re going to do everything we can to fix this, and to put these men behind bars where they belong.”
“You can’t tell Arabella what I shared with you, Rex. She’s going to be angry enough at me.”
“Coming here was the right thing to do. My team and I care about her so much already. We don’t want her to leave Pearl. We want her to be ours.” Cora smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek.
“She cares for the four of you already. Probably even loves you, but she’s been fighting for so long. She always puts everyone else’s needs and desires before her own. She needs love, compassion, and patience.”
Soldiers of Pearl 1: Invasion of Hearts (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 17
