by Ellie Jean
Shit…
Fifteen hours ago I was wrapped in her arms, lying on her bed, covered in lace, looking enchanting. I didn’t want to leave. The only way I could justify pulling myself away from her was knowing I left her craving me, desiring us and how good we could be after my busy training schedule and fight.
No matter who I am, I will make it work and I will ensure she is safe. But there’s no rush, I’m not expecting to be taking over anytime soon and no-one should be aware I exist. Tomme will announce all of formalities when the time is right.
My bag weighs on my shoulder running up the stairs from the downstairs gym. Sal and Nizo, Andre and Cristo all put me through the wringer. It appears they are excited for this chance like me. It was a long, tiring session but with a short time until the fight, I’ll be doing all I can to beat this chump.
Hitting the call button, sickness piles in my throat.
Half a ring in. “Chuck. Thank god. I need to see you.”
“Shhh. Slow down.” Her breathing is rapid, putting me on high alert. “Are you okay?”
“I have to talk to you urgently. Where are you?” Her voice is high pitched and erratic.
“Sure. Slow down.” I’m trying for calm, but my pulse is racing faster now than it did training. “I will come to y…”
“No.” Yelling down the phone, I stop. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“I need you to slow down, Caroline.” Pacing my room, sweat is beading on my forehead. “Take a breath.”
Hearing her listening to my directions, the nausea subsides. She’s doing what I say. “Now, why do you need to come to me. The state you’re in, you shouldn’t be driving.”
Another deep breath and she begins. “Please don’t leave where you are until I can talk to you. About everything.”
Right, okay…
Caro’s being very cryptic. “You can’t tell me on the phone?”
“I can’t be sure who’s listening.”
My fists clench and wonder what the hell she means. “I am sending a car to your apartment to bring you to me.”
“I’ll be watching for it. And Chuck…”
Blossom sounds calmer. “Yes, Caro.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll do anything for you.” It’s true, I would. She’s embedded herself in my heart and head and there’s not a single thing I wouldn’t do for her. “I’ll be seeing you in less than an hour.”
“You’re not at your apartment?” Desperation fills her voice again.
“Not for now because of training. But don’t worry, the guy coming for you will make sure you’re safe, he’ll call you when to come down. I’ll be waiting.”
“Okay.” Her voice is quiet and I can almost see her wrapped up in her own arms, keeping it together and trying hard not to sound weak.
“We will sort it out soon.”
Her end clicks.
Unsure what transpired then, I call the guy who has been driving me around and tell him to pick up Caroline. I text him the address and her phone number and go for a shower.
I have an hour to get ready.
Caroline’s been sitting in the car for five minutes. She must be waiting for me to come and get her.
She hasn’t called, messaged or knocked on the front door.
Strange.
Jogging down the stairs, I launch out the door toward the car. My stomach full of dread still.
Opening the back door, Caro’s inside shivering.
What the fuck?
“Caroline?” Enclosing her in my arms, her eyes are wide like saucers.
“Come with me.” Her body shakes holding on to me, she walks inside but swivels her head frantically as though she’s expecting the boogey man to jump out. The lounge area might be better for her than my room. Something has spooked her.
“Have a seat. I’ll get you a drink.”
Grabbing my hand, she blurts, “Don’t leave me here alone.”
Soothing my thumb over her hand, I reassure her. “It’s over here. You can see me.”
“Ohh.” Caroline sits on the chair but is on alert.
Fuck, I’m on full alert until we sort out what the hell’s going on.
Giving her a glass of water, her hand shakes but she manages to get a mouthful in. I take it from her and put in on the ground. Kneeling, my hands rest on Caro’s knees. Her normal pink cheeks are pale, and her hair is in a messy bun.
“Blossom.” With a calm voice, I want her looking at me, nowhere else. “Look at me.”
She tries for a weak smile and I brush her lips with mine. Her body relaxes a little and I take her hands under mine. They are cold. Hopefully I can warm them.
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I like making you warm and relaxed.” I smirk and she understands my innuendo, nodding. “But you’re scaring me. Do you think you are okay to tell me what has you panicked?”
Her mouth quivers and she tightly closes her eyes, then reopens them.
“Something happened.” Her voice is low. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” Caro’s knees start to bounce. My hands try to soothe them, warming her freezing skin.
“First, whatever it is, it’s going to be okay. Nothing will hurt you.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about, it’s you.” Her nails dig into my skin, gripping me hard. “I’m sorry.” Urgency takes over and her voice is louder.
Keeping a steadying breath, I ask, “Why?”
I’m intrigued to know what can hurt me. At this point in time, only the cancellation of the fight would mentally scar me but physically I’m in peak condition and with my new skills, I have confidence I can take most problem head-on and win.
“I don’t know where to begin.”
“At a place you feel comfortable.” Kissing her on her lips, I cannot resist. I want her to know I’m with her no matter what comes out of her mouth. From the short time I’ve known Caroline, she’s a strong woman, unbreakable under heavy scrutiny but the Caro sitting in here tonight is afraid, upset and defeated.
Tightening her grasp on my hands, her faint voice begins. “I was kidnapped when I was ten years old.” My breath hitches as does hers. “My father is very protective of me so he was able to strike some kind of deal with people to have me returned. I have only recently found out he still is indebted to them.”
“Christ, Caro. Do you know who they were?” Knowing this took place seventeen years ago doesn’t dull the anger flowing through me. “Did they physically hurt you?”
“I was with them for a short period and they didn’t hurt me really. I’ve kept it locked up so it couldn’t mentally hurt me anymore.”
Moving from my knees to her side, I push my arm behind her and pull her close to me. Her head rests on my shoulder. I’m loaded like a spring coil ready to take on whoever kidnapped my girl. It may be late, but those bastards deserve to be killed.
“Have they come after you again? Is that what’s wrong?”
“No.” Shaking her head she whispers but I hear, “They might.”
“I will keep you safe.” Kissing the top of her head, my lips linger.
“I hope so, but I’m not sure even you can.”
Grinning, I hold her tighter to reassure her. “I make a promise, I will keep you safe.”
Softening next to me, her hardened body starts to thaw. Fingers trace aimlessly on my jeans, her blue eyes reach mine. “Thank you. I appreciate it. But there’s more.”
I had a feeling there would be, her face is ghostlike still.
“I’m listening.” My voice is quiet, concern etched on my face.
“This morning my father came to my office and interrupted my post-orgasmic bliss to tell me he has security following me. I flipped out. I didn’t know. How the fuck didn’t I notice men following me every-fucking-where I went?” Caro’s body becomes rigid. “I’m so stupid.”
“No. They are obviously very good at their job. I’m sure his intentions were good.”
“Perhaps, but
that’s all beside the point. The point being, one of them overheard something I said to Starcy. I overheard you say something the other night that confused me. Playing on my mind, I asked her for help.”
“Good idea. But you know you can ask me.”
“I know this now, but I had to get my head in the right space, ‘cause you see…” Choking on her words she stops. Rubbing her back, the pain inscribed on her face deepens.
“Deep breath, Blossom.”
She does as she’s told. “The people who kidnapped me belonged to a mafia crime syndicate. They were the Bas… Ba…”
My heart drops to my stomach.
It couldn’t be.
My vision blurs.
Excess saliva pools in my mouth, a burn rises up my throat.
“The Basilios.” Once again it’s a whisper but it’s loud and clear, slamming through my ears.
Jolting away from her like I’m diseased and I’m going to infect her, I stand, pacing the floor. “Fuck.” I have no words, how do I explain something I wasn’t a part of, yet they are my family. No wonder she’s scared, coming to the house of the family who fucking kidnapped her when she was ten. Who kidnaps a young girl? Damn, my family has a lot to answer for.
“Chuck. It’s okay.” Small tears slide down her cheeks, but she’s telling me it’s okay. Throwing my fist at the wall a few times, the plaster crumples making a loud sound but her cries stop me.
She’s sobbing, head in her hands, convulsing in front of me.
Damn. Striding to her, I have to think about Caroline first.
“God, I’m sorry, Blossom.” Reaching out my arms, her eyes red-rimmed, her body wracking with strain, she walks into them without hesitation. I’m unsure if she’s comforting me, or I, her.
“It’s not your fault. The sins aren’t yours, I know this. But I cannot forgive them.” Caroline is much stronger than me.
“I will personally find out who would do such a despicable act and give my own punishment.”
“I know you will.”
Studying Caro, there’s not a hint of disgust speaking her thoughts out loud. Squeezing her a little tighter, I’m blessed to have found her.
“Fuck, I’m lucky to have you.”
The first real smile tonight graces her face and her eyes light up. “I know that too.” I kiss the top of her head. “But there’s another problem.”
“Hell, there’s more?” It’s like a bad dose of food poisoning. More keeps coming.
Nodding, her voice is stronger. “My father knows who you are. Security overheard me with Starcy, who then reported back to Father they’d found out the name of the man I was seeing.”
“They told him I’m a Basilio.” Fuck. This is a problem.
“Yes, but before he came to me, he’s told the Ferraro family about you. This family retrieved me from the kidnappers.”
I’ve heard the name passed around when I’ve been skilled up about other crime families surrounding New York. I know they are large, they’ve been in the game for a long time and they’d like to take over our turf. Them knowing there’s a new blood son on the scene could be the cause of a war, at the very least my death will be ordered. No old family out there, thinking Tomme Basilio is about to die, will let a young one step in their way of taking over our turf.
“It’s going to be okay. Knowing I’m a Basilio shouldn’t mean anything to them. I’m just another worker.” Trying to calm her, I lie through my teeth. My lungs seize together.
“Are you sure?”
“Nothing will hurt you, not my family or anyone else because you are mine. I promise you, I will keep you safe.” There’s nothing I won’t do to ensure Caroline is safe.
“And what about you?”
“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
Her eyes roll and she shakes her head.
I grin.
Tomme’s going to go berserk, but not before I go ballistic first.
Chuck
Fuck, Caroline’s one brave lady.
Willingly coming to a house of the bastards who kidnapped her. Putting herself in danger to fight for me. To guard me.
I’m one lucky son of a bitch.
Caro looks lovely, hair draped across my pillow, her face finally peaceful.
It took only fifteen minutes for her to pass out in my bed, relaxing after exhaustion depleted her normally strong mind and body. Small breaths and silent murmurs tell me she’s out for the long haul. I wouldn’t leave Blossom alone in this place unless I knew she would stay asleep.
Waking up alone could be catastrophic for her.
Striding down to my father’s office, it’s late but I will find him somewhere in this fortress.
I’d wanted to tear strips from him, wrap my bare hands around his neck until he begged for forgiveness or cried like Caroline did. But my pent-up anger diminished, stroking Caro’s hair, listening to her breathing. Observing her beauty and magnetism compelling me to wrap her in my arms and never let her go.
She’s a sedative to my fury and temper.
Clear thoughts pass through my mind.
The simple fact being, I can’t work for this family unless some major changes occur. Hearing about a child being used to make money for powerful men is beyond my comprehension. I won’t work for anyone that condones this, or beating innocent people. I don’t want my name associated with thugs. Fuck, I won’t have any part of it. I’d rather disappear.
Shaking my head, I hope it really doesn’t come to that.
A dim light shines from his ajar door.
Pushing back the door, my father sits drinking a glass of his choice of alcohol.
“Come in.” His voice is weary.
I was anyway but looking at him now with a sense of my own resolution, I see years’ worth of strain around his eyes and sagging shoulders bearing the brunt of many battles, death and thousands if not millions of life-changing decisions.
“Tomme.” With a chin lift, I take a seat opposite him.
“How’s your training? Sal and Nizo say you have this title in the bag.”
“There’s no doubt I can win this.”
“Good.” Closing his eyes, he murmurs. “My son, the world champion.” Opening his eyes, he holds them on me. “I’m proud of you.” Rubbing his chest, his voice is strong. “Of what you’ve achieved.”
Rubbing my ear and my neck, I struggle for words. “Thank you.”
“Our reunion hasn’t been the best, I understand, but I made my choice and I would do the same again. It’s kept you and your mother safe.”
He could have gone about it another way I’m sure, but he didn’t and there’s no good playing the what-if game. Hindsight is a luxury my father and mother didn’t have.
“What was your passion?”
A brief smile touches the edges of his mouth. His breath heaves in and out. “I would muck around with push bikes day in day out when I was young, I loved cars from a young age and the mechanics behind them. I’d wanted to become a mechanic at sixteen, learn the trade. I volunteered at a local mechanic. Thinking back, he probably had no choice because he owed a favor to my dad. At eighteen, my dream died.”
Nodding slowly, my body is weighted by his words. His life was vastly different to mine because of him.
“I can’t take over this business the way it is.”
There’s no surprise in his eyes. “You’re so much like Fiorella. Wise, humble, and an inner strength which will get you far.”
I shift in my seat. “This family’s fortune and name has been built on fear, death, and getting money by any means. It’s not how I operate and I won’t.”
“It’s how I was raised and my father before him. You show weakness and you die.”
“I understand, but tell me this, Father, how can kidnapping a ten-year-old be acceptable in anyone’s world?”
“It’s not.”
At least he’s not trying to make excuses.
“There was only one. A young girl.” He drinks from
his glass in thought.
“So you remember it?”
“It’s not something you forget.” Scrubbing his face, he contemplates his words. “Scared, young and so innocent. She was used as a pawn for a greater purpose in our world. It was despicable, deplorable, but no one speaks out of turn to Vincent Basilio. A bullet would be between your eyes faster than you can blink. He was making some statement to the rest of New York City, nothing was above him and he would use any method, scrupulous or not, to get what he wanted. And he wasn’t relinquishing head of the city to anyone without a major war.”
“See.” I draw in a long breath and control myself. “I can’t operate like that. I believe respect is earned. People must know we will actually help them and provide for them in times of pain and battle just as they will know if they don’t respect our families, they will be held accountable. But bullets in heads or bodies, kidnapping and breaking bones because you’re trying to rough someone up, is disgusting. The family I want to be a part of, isn’t that. We should pride ourselves on being at the top because of legitimate business ventures, assisting our families who have sacrificed with us over the years and teaching them ways to handle ours and their business with dignity and hard work, not because they could end up at the bottom of a lake somewhere weighted with concrete blocks.”
Sighing, a smile takes over his face. Is it relief? “And this is why I’ve brought you in, Ciro.”
I should buck at the name, but my chin literally hits the ground.
“I resented my father, hated him and even when he died, I felt no grief. Only happiness. But it was too late. No preparations were made for me to take over. Families were trying to take us out, the Russians wanted our territory and we both lost many lives. I’d been bred to be like Vincent. I was a younger version of him, I studied and copied his every movement and skill from the age of eighteen. I had to keep the family together, stay strong and the course he wanted us to go.” Out of breath, she draws in a large inhale, releasing it. “Behind the scenes I’ve started a way forward for us, but not until after your fight and you’re completely ready.”
Scratching my day’s old stubble, contemplating his words, I am unsure what to say.
