by Rose Cody
“Where does it come from?” She asks, her voice just a whisper.
“I help people out.” He says, shaking his head. “Well, that’s what I tell myself anyway…”
She turns to him, looking into his eyes to detect any deception as he spills.
“I made a lot of money investing for my clients…” He says. “So, I figured, why not use my money to invest.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.” She says to him, resting her cheek against the seat.
“People come to me for money. And I give them money. Then they pay me back with interest…” He explains. “I keep it off the books, but it’s not like I’m some big and evil man…”
“So, you’re a loan shark…?” She asks, squinting her eyes at him.
“Ugh… what a word.” He says, shaking his head. “I just borrow a little money here and there.”
“And if someone can’t pay you back? She asks, her heart pounding in her chest.
“I get paid back.” He says, clearing his throat.
“And if they can’t?” She asks again, firmly.
“If they don’t…” He says, pausing as he sighs and shrugs his shoulders. “Well, if they don’t… Olivia, I always get my money back one way or another.”
She nods her head up and down as she looks out the window back towards the party.
“And those people are….?” She asks, turning back to him. “Your partners?”
“Hmpf, no.” He snorts. “I own a lot of them, though.”
“They guy you walked off with, the one from the office earlier…” She asks, slowly. “He owes you money?”
“No.” He says, shaking his head. “He’s given out a few loans here and there and now wants me to partner up with him. Fat shit thinks he’s a big shot and wants to take me on. He can come back to me when he has the deeds to a third of the city in his bank vault. Then, maybe…”
She sits up tall, taking in a deep breath before slowly letting it back out.
“And my car, that was a trick to get me to owe you, huh?” She asks, her face flushing hot with anger.
He sits back in his seat, closing his eyes as he sighs.
“No.” He whispers, his voice soft and low. “I’ve never expected anything back for your car. You just looked like you really needed some help.”
She nods her head slowly up and down as she watches him press the start button to start the engine before he looks around his mirrors and begins to back up.
“I honestly just wanted to help you.” He says again as they drive off.
Chapter 17
Olivia rolls over onto her side, rubbing the old mascara from her eyelashes as she snuggles her cheek into the pillow.
“Not even worth going in today.” She whispers to herself as she pushes herself up from her mattress before swinging her legs off the side of her bed.
She sits up, yawning as she stretches before rubbing her tired eyes once again.
“If I even still have a job…” She huffs, sighing out deeply as she stands up.
She walks over to her bedroom window before reaching out in front of her and pulling back the heavy lace curtains to look outside, her heart aching as she gazes at the sparkling dew on her front lawn.
“Well, what did I expect?” She asks herself, walking back towards her bed. “I knew it wasn’t a date from the get go… so why am I so upset about this?”
She sits down on her mattress, sinking it in before pulling her tank top off of her and tossing it down to the ground. She does the same with her lounge shorts and panties, laying back as she pushes them down before kicking them off to the side.
“Everything he says and does is just… sleazy.” She whispers to herself, shaking her head as she squints her eyes towards the ceiling. “An office sex girl? Loan sharking? Blackmail? Come on, Olivia!”
She sits back up, standing up off of her bed before walking over to her dresser. Olivia opens the top drawer, pulling out a fresh set of light blue cotton panties before shutting the drawer and pulling out the next one to get a clean t-shirt and a new pair of fluffy sweatpants. If she’s going to skip out on all of her responsibilities, she may as well be comfortable doing it.
“So, why do I like him so much?” She asks herself. “If he’s such a bad guy, why do my knees feel weak when I’m around him?
She walks out of her room, closing the door behind her as she takes the few steps across her hallways fluffy carpet to the bathroom down the hall.
Olivia pushes open the bathroom door lazily before dragging her feet onto the cool, tile floor. She drops her fresh clothes onto the granite counter top before walking over to her shower and opening the glass door.
She turns on the facet, walking back over to her counter as she waits for the water to heat up. Olivia picks up her shampoo from the rack, flipping open the lid before bringing it up to her nose to breath in the floral-tea scent.
She shivers as she yawns out one last time as she walks back towards the shower to completely clean off last night.
“What the fuck does it matter?” She asks herself, sighing as she steps under the hot shower. “No matter what, I’d still need the money.”
She closes her eyes as she lets her head fall back into the water, soaking her hair, before squeezing a generous dollop of shampoo into her hands.
She rubs it along her scalp, massaging to lather it up before squeezing her eyes shut and rinsing it away.
“Hello?” She calls out, spinning around as she hears the hinges of her bathroom door slowly squeal open.
Olivia tries opening her eyes, but the burning soap blinds her.
“Fucking soap.” She hisses out as she rubs her eyes.
Olivia reaches out of her shower, feeling around for her hanging towel when she feels a sharp pressure wrap around her wrist as she’s grabbed.
“Oh, my God!” She screams out, her heart racing in her chest as she feels herself being pulled out of her shower.
She struggles as she feels someone push themselves up against her, wrapping their arm tightly around her waist as they press a towel against her mouth to cover her screams.
“Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up, lady.” The man says, grunting as he struggles to keep his hold on her as he pulls her out of the bathroom and down the hallway.
She cries out as the towel falls away from her as he pushes her into her bedroom, shutting the door behind them, her tears washing away the soap as sobs onto the floor.
“Please, what do you want? What do you want?! I’ll do anything… Anything!” She begs, her voice coming out in gasps as she hyperventilates. “My grandmother’s jewelry is in a small black box in the back of my closet, please, there is quite a lot of it and it’s all real gold…”
He laughs nervously as she watches him pace back and forth around the room.
“Please, you can have it. And I won’t even call the police! No one will ever even know you’re here!” She cries.
Olivia gasps, her heart nearly stopping as the man races towards her as she curls into a ball on the floor. She holds her breath, her body too paralyzed with fear to even tremble as she hears the unmistakable sound of a gun cock as the solid metal presses into the side of her head.
“I said shut the fuck up. What do you not understand about ‘shut the fuck up’?” The man says, his voice deep as Olivia slowly nods her head up and down. “Now, I don’t want your fucking jewelry, miss. I’m here for you. We’re going to make this little deal happen…”
Chapter 18
Vincent sighs out deeply, scratching the back of his head on the bricks as he leans into the wall in the alley behind Condello Investments.
He brings his burning cigarette up to his lips before inhaling in deeply, relaxing as he exhales a grey cloud of smoke, his eyes closing as the nicotine hits him.
“For fuck sakes…” He whispers to himself as he takes another drag.
He knew it was a bad idea to invite her out… a girl that sweet doesn’t belong in his world, she’s far
too innocent.
“This has gotten so out of control.” He says to himself. “I don’t want this and neither does she.”
He tosses his smoke to the ground, stepping on it and twisting it into the cement with his leather shoe to snuff it out before walking back over to the emergency exit, kicking the box propping the door open out of the way before sneaking back inside.
He takes a deep breath, his stomach slightly nervous as he walks past his office and down the hall to the reception area, raising his arms as he sees Lisa.
“She didn’t come in today?” He asks, shrugging his shoulders as he watches her shake her head.
“No.” She says. “She hasn’t shown up and she hasn’t called in. Maybe she’s hung over from your little party last night.”
“We didn’t get drunk, we even left early.” He says, rubbing his fingers along his temples.
“Oh, yeah?” Lisa asks. “She doesn’t really seem like the type to just skip out for no reason.”
“Well, I bet she had a reason…” He says to himself, sighing.
“I’ll let you know if she comes in, Mr. Condello.” Lisa says, sighing out of her nose as she scrunches up her lip to the side of her face.
“That would be great, Lisa, thank you.” He says, tapping his hands along the dividing wall of the reception area before turning to walk back down the hallway.
He jobs back down the hall to his office, slamming the frosted door behind him as he walks over to his desk and picks his cellphone up from the pile of papers it’s resting atop of.
He leans back in his chair, dialing Olivia’s number before closing his eyes as he listens to it ring, his heart dropping as his call goes to voice mail.
“Okay, I get it, you’re not going to pick up for me right now.” He says, speaking into his phone. “I’m a scumbag. I know. And I understand if you’re hurt by that, but I really need to speak with you. Pick up your phone. I’m just going to keep calling and calling…” He pauses, swallowing hard. “Just call me back, Olivia…”
He hangs up before tossing his cell back onto his desk. Vincent picks up a pencil, flicking it back and forth between his fingers as he taps it on his desk as his stomach rolls before tossing that aside, too.
He opens his drawer, pulling out Olivia’s contract before folding it in half and stuffing it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He grabs his phone and his keys before getting up and stomping out of his office, locking the frosted door behind him before jogging down the long hallway.
“Lisa!” He says, catching her attention as he turns to face her, walking backwards towards the big glass door. “If anyone calls, I’m gone for the rest of the day!”
“Alright, boss.” She calls back to him, giving a little wave as he pushes open the heavy glass door.
He runs over to his black BMW, unlocking the doors with the power lock button on his keychain before pulling it open and sliding inside. He starts his car, reaching over to buckle his seatbelt before taking a deep nervous breath.
Vincent reaches inside of his pocket, dialing his last called number before putting his phone up to his ear.
“Olivia.” He starts, his voice low and strong. “I really don’t care if you don’t want to talk to me. I’m coming over.”
Chapter 19
Olivia sobs silently on the floor as she feels him tie her hands behind her back tightly with a zip tie before he gently wraps her in the sheet from her bed.
“Please don’t kill me.” She begs, her voice soft and almost non-existent as she tries to speak over the lump in her throat.
“Kill you? Sweetheart, I’m not here to kill you. I don’t want to hurt you at all.” He says, leaning down to her. “But your boyfriend needs to agree to work with me. If I have you, then I can make a deal.”
“You have the wrong girl!” She says, lifting her tear stained face off the floor. “I don’t even have a boyfriend. You got the wrong house!”
“Look at me.” He says, roughly grabbing her chin. “I know exactly who you are.”
She gasps, nodding her head up and down as she recognizes the fat man from the office and the party, his balding hair a bit disheveled but his body still stuffed into the same grey suit.
“And I know you know exactly what I’m talking about.” He says, letting her head drop to the floor.
“No.” She says shaking her head. “I don’t know anything, I promise. I don’t even remember your name! So if you leave, please! Please, I won’t say anything!”
She wails out, her heart sinking as she hears her cellphone ring on top of her bedside table.
“Please!” She begs as she watches him walk over and pick up her phone.
“Oh! You don’t know anything, right?” He says, waving his gun in the air as he walks back over to her and faces her phone’s screen in her face. “You don’t know anything, and that’s why you’re getting a call right now from Vincent Condello, right?”
“He’s just my boss. I just work there. I hardly know him.” She sobs, recoiling as he throws her phone at her, hitting her in the shoulder.
“You listen to me, sweetheart.” He says, walking over to her before kneeling down in front of her. “But you’re going to have to forgive me if I don’t believe that a man who owns half the fucking city is going to bring his plant watering girl to a fucking mob party!” He yells, spitting on her as he voice raises louder and louder.
He grabs her by the shoulder, lifting her up off the ground before tossing her onto her bed.
“You understand how that doesn’t make sense!?” He screams, walking over to her phone on the ground before picking it up and turning on the screen as he steps back over to her.
She nods her head, desperately trying to cover herself back up with the sheet as it falls off her shoulder.
“Now,” He says, ripping the zip-tie around her wrist with a pocket knife before handing her the phone. “You have 30 seconds to get him on the phone or I blow your face off.”
Her hands tremble as she nods her head up and down, the tears flowing down her cheeks as she tries to punch in Vincent’s number.
She drops her phone onto her lap as she feels him press the barrel of the gun against her temple once more, before pushing it into her face as he reaches down to pick up the phone again, forcefully putting it into her hand.
“Get him here… NOW!” He screams at her as she brings the ringing phone up to her ear.
She takes a deep shaking breath as she counts the seconds listening to the phone ring.
“He’s not answering…” She sobs, her tired eyes looking up at the man as he slowly drags the gun across her face to rest it in between her eyes. “He’ll call me back. I know he’ll call me back! We just have to wait a little bit… Please, let’s just wait! And then I’ll make him do whatever you want, please, I promise!”
“FUCK!” He huffs, slapping the back of his hand hard across her face as he yells.
She cries, holding her hands over her mouth to hold in the sobs as he paces back and forth around her room.
Her heart stops as she hears her front door bell ring.
“Don’t you make a fucking sound.” He whispers to her harshly, as he walks over to the window and peeks outside. “Get up and get dressed.” He says, turning back to her and pointing the gun in her direction. “We got company.”
Chapter 20
“You’re going to need to move a little faster than this, sweetheart.” He says, poking the barrel of the gun into her back as he pushes her out of her room and down the hallway.
She nods her head up and down, trying to hurry down the stairs on her shaking legs as she buttons up her cardigan.
“I’m trying, I’m trying.” She says, wiping away her tears as she tries her best to swallow the lump in her throat.
“Let him in.” He says, backing up out of the foyer into the living room, the barrel of his gun locked on her. “And if you say anything… ANYTHING at all about me at all I will not hesitate to shoot you dead.”
&nbs
p; She nods her head up and down, the lump in her throat returning.
“Get him inside. Shut and lock the door behind him. Do NOT say a word!” He continues, motioning with his gun towards the door.
Olivia wipes her eyes one last time before unlocking the deadbolt on her front door. She wraps her trembling fingers around the knob, turning it nervously before pushing on it to open her heavy front door.
