by M. D. Melai
“Don’t be,” Adela said as she grabbed my hand. “Don’t be sorry for the mistakes I made. They were my choices—my wrongs. I never planned on returning. And yes, I missed you and Benny a lot, but since coming back, it’s been really hard on me. I have to live with the repercussions of everything. It’s a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but I was just so worried. I couldn’t just sit there, thousands of miles away, knowing you were in danger each and every day. I had to come and help. When it’s all over with, if you want me around, then I will stick around, and if not… I promise I will walk away.”
I acknowledged what she was promising, and I figured I would try to get more information out of her. Maybe things could make more sense once I found out more about her, and why my father never mentioned any of this to me or Benito.
“So, why did my father…I mean Massimo agree to you leaving? I can’t imagine him allowing that. He wouldn’t do that—I know he wouldn’t.”
“He didn’t at first,” she said as she smiled at the memory. “He actually forbade me to leave, but then one afternoon you, me, and Rosaria were out shopping and we noticed a man following us around. To make a long story short, he tried to take you from me, and well, Rosaria shot him.”
The look on my face must have been priceless, because Adela patted my hand.
“Don’t worry, he lived…unfortunately.”
It was then that I noticed even our nail technicians had stopped working and spoke to each other in Chinese, before starting on our toes again. I didn’t dare look at them.
“Want to know who it was?” she asked.
I nodded my head.
Of course I wanted to know.
“James.”
My eyes went wide.
James.
That made a lot of sense considering his extra hostility towards me. I was the one that got away.
“James was new,” Adela continued. “My father had a sick way of doing things. He was testing James’ ability and mine at the same time. I passed, James failed. Massimo and I knew then that he wouldn’t give up until he finished what he set out to do.
“As bad of an idea as he thought it was, it was his fierce love for you and Benny that kept him from not stopping me in the end. We both wanted the same thing for the two of you—to live long, happy lives together.”
I looked at her for a moment, trying to think of my new words carefully. “How come you told Massimo to take me as his own if you wanted me and Benito to stay together?”
“I have no excuse for that one, I was simply scared. Benny was so young… I didn’t know how he would take my absence. I also knew Benny worked a lot, and I didn’t think he could handle being a father and working for your family all at the same time. But I was wrong, and I shouldn’t have doubted him.” She looked so upset, and I could tell she was battling internally with the road she had chosen for both Benito and me.
“It wasn’t the wrong choice,” I said as I dipped my head so our eyes could meet. “Gabby is sweet, and I love her, but I’m glad she wasn’t my stepmother all these years. My mother has been my rock. I wouldn’t have it any other way. She has loved me through it all and handled me with grace. As for me and Benito, we have a good relationship. The late teenage years up until recently have been a little rocky, but knowing what I know now, I get it, and it’s all good. I love my life—well, for the most part I do.”
And with that, our conversation about the past was over with. Maybe Adela just needed to know that I was okay with everything, and truly, I was.
We were almost done with our pedicures when Adela spoke up. “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?” I asked quizzically.
“Play with your necklace like that,” she stated as she nodded her head towards my locket. I hadn’t realized I was running the locket back and forth across the chain. I did it one more time before I let it settle back in the middle of my chest.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I sometimes do it when I’m nervous or deep in thought.”
“It’s very beautiful. Where did you get it?”
“Emilio gave it to me, almost two years ago for Christmas.”
“He’s a very handsome young man.” She smiled at me, egging me to tell her about him.
“Yes, he is,” I laughed, and then sighed.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked.
“It’s…complicated.”
“Which part? Your relationship with Emilio, or with Lucas?”
I looked at her puzzled.
How could she know that?
“Elle,” she said, answering my question before I could ask it.
“Ah, I should have known.”
“Why don’t you tell me about them?” she said about the time they finished with our toes.
The nail techs helped us up off the chairs, and we headed to the nail drying station. As soon as we settled in, Adela turned back towards me, ready for me to start.
“Umm, where to begin…,” I said as I thought about it. “I met Lucas almost three years ago. Violet hooked us up, and he has been around ever since. He is very handsome and funny. He’s also adventurous, and very supportive of me, even when I don’t make the greatest decisions. I can tell him anything and he won’t judge me or think I’m insane. He’s like my best friend, and I really love him.
“Then there’s Emilio. He’s mysterious, loyal to a fault, and protective. He is guilt ridden, but he loves unconditionally. We have these great moments together, and then he’ll turn around and close me right back out, building back up a wall he cautiously keeps between us at times. He irritates me, gets under my skin, and makes me crazy…,” I said, taking a breath.
“But you…”
“Love him,” I finished Adela’s sentence.
“I can see that.” She smiled at me.
“See, I told you it was complicated.”
“It sounds like it. I wish I had some friendly advice for you, but I'm not really an expert in that area. You’re passionate about each one, differently, I can tell. All I have to say is that you have a hard decision to make…eventually. But don’t stress over it. Trust me when I say that your heart will lead you to the right one, it will. Mine, at least, did that much for me.
“But the one thing that I am an expert in, and that I will give advice about, is that when you do make your decision, and you know that one is the one—don’t let them slip through your fingers,” she said as she hung her head and raised her hand to shield her eyes. “You’ll regret it forever if you do.”
***
The rest of our outing had been nice, and I even went out with her the next day as well. She didn’t ask me anymore personal questions, and I didn’t feel the need to bring them up. It felt good connecting with her at the nail salon, but those conversations were reserved for my mother and Violet. Instead, we focused on just getting to know each other. So, we talked about the small things: favorite ice cream, food, music, etc. We had more in common than I expected, but I found out I was a lot more like Benito than I had realized.
Dante walked through our shop’s front door around eight that evening. We normally were out of here by then, but we had several projects that were ending soon. And since Christmas was right around the corner, we were making sure that all of our projects were on schedule and would be finished by the time the holiday came around.
“You ready?” he called out as he plopped down on the couch in the waiting area.
“Be there in a minute,” Violet called as she closed the folder she was holding in her hand. “We good?” she asked, taking one last look at me.
“I think we’re good from here until after the holidays,” I said as I rose from my office chair. “Then we will be slammed again.”
“Always a good thing!” She smiled as she headed out my office door.
A few minutes later, Violet and I turned off all the lights, locked up, and were walking towards my car with Dante.
I gave Violet a hug and told her and Dan
te to have a good time at dinner tonight. He had made reservations at a restaurant Violet had been dying to try for months.
“Be careful on your way home,” Dante said, giving me a hug before the two of them watched me as I climbed into my car.
“Call Emilio,” I said to my voice activated system as I pulled into traffic. Since it was just the two of us for dinner, I thought I would just pick something up.
It rang two times before he picked up.
“On your way home?” was the first thing he asked.
“Yes,” I sighed, “finally.”
“It’s rare, but I actually beat you home,” he laughed.
“Yes, it is,” I said, laughing slightly myself. “I was wondering if you wanted me to pick something up for dinner?”
“Sure, what did you have in mind?”
“I was thinking a cheeseburger and curly fries sounded good.”
“Sounds good to me,” Emilio laughed.
“Okay, if you call it in, then I will pick it up when I come through town. Tell them, maybe thirty minutes or so.” There was a diner in town that made the best hamburgers and curly fries I had ever tasted.
“How about I wait fifteen minutes and then call?”
“Perfect!”
“Same as always?” Emilio asked.
“You know it!” I laughed.
We talked for a while longer, and I was nearing the tunnel to cross from New York into New Jersey, when I switched lanes again. But this time, something caught my eye. An SUV that I had seen earlier was following a little too closely. In New York traffic, that isn’t such a big deal, but for some reason, a sick feeling hit the pit of my stomach.
I carefully changed lanes again, and the SUV followed. It must have been souped-up, because the SUV kept up with my every move. I changed lanes two more times before I heard Emilio say my name.
“Liliana, are you still there?” he asked me, but then talked to himself next. “It says we’re connected.”
“Emilio, I think we have a problem,” I said nervously.
“What do you mean?” he asked, clearly concerned.
“Someone is following me, I think,” I said as I pushed the gas pedal down a little further.
“You think, or you know?”
“I know.”
It was too late, though. The person driving realized that I had recognized that they were following me. They sped up and bumped the back of my Camaro.
“Emilio!” I yelled as I lurched forward. This time, I punched the gas pedal as fast and as hard as I could.
“Liliana, what’s going on?” he asked franticly.
“Someone is following me. They just hit my car,” my voice rose with every word I said.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“I’m…,” I said as they hit me again. “Emilio, I’m scared!”
“Where are you?” he yelled again.
It was the last thing I heard him say as the SUV behind me rammed me so hard that my hands slipped on the steering wheel, hit the end call button, and cut him off midsentence.
My Camaro immediately jerked to the left. It was too late to correct it, though. The only thing I could do was watch the front of my dashboard as my car lifted off the ground.
I was midway in the air when the car phone rang. Faith’s name flashed cross the dashboard the second my car slammed into the pavement.
One. Two. Three.
Three flips. That is how many I counted before my car came to a halt. I knew I had hit someone, or something. But what, I didn’t know. All I could hope for was that everyone was okay.
I was in shock, but awake and alive.
I tried moving, but I couldn’t. My arms were starting to sting like they were on fire. When I looked down at them, they were covered in blood, and I could see shards of glass sticking out of them. I started looking around the car, realizing I was suspended in the air, with nothing but my seatbelt holding me into place. My entire passenger side was gone—everything.
I needed to get out of here. The pressure from my seatbelt was starting to make it hard to breathe, and it was cutting into me.
I heard someone as they scaled the side of my car, and was so relieved, until the person’s face came into view. I started to scream about the time he stuck a needle into my arm.
“It’s okay, princess,” James said as my eyes started to close. “We will take really good care of you.”
Then everything went black.
Chapter 24
The black slowly started to fade and the light took over as my eyes tried to flutter open.
The light was so bright that I had to close my eyes. I tried to pull my hands up to cover my face, but I couldn’t move.
Panic set in.
Why couldn’t I move?
My head was pounding, my chest was killing me, and breathing was difficult. I felt like I had been run over by a freight train.
Slightly disorientated, it took me a few minutes, but eventually, my eyes adjusted to the light that was hanging directly above my head.
I took a quick scan of the room. It looked more like a surgical room, just more run down. The windows were boarded up, and it had a lingering smell of formaldehyde.
I was lying down on a hard surface, and when I tried to sit up, I found that I was restrained. My arms and legs locked. I glanced down to find the latches were inches thick and made of metal. I was stuck.
Where was I? What was going on? How did I get here?
Everything started coming back to me in that moment.
The car tailing me. The crash. James.
I had to get out of here, but how? I surveyed the room once again. There wasn’t one thing that could help me. Besides the table I was lying on, there wasn’t any other furniture in the room. What I did see, though, sent my thoughts into overdrive as I looked at a tray of surgical tools, set off to the side, barely in my line of sight.
Did they perform surgery on me? Was that why I was hurting so bad? What the hell did they do to me?
I tried to move again, but no such luck. The pain I was feeling was starting to get to me.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I was feeling light headed, and my stomach was feeling uneasy.
“Sleeping beauty finally woke up,” James said as he threw open a door, which slammed it into the wall as he entered the room. He was alone, and suddenly that made me very nervous.
“Where am I?” I asked as sternly as I could. I was hurt, scared, and trying not to let him see any of it—that would just fuel his fire.
“Now, why would I tell you that, princess?” he asked. “All you need to know is the likelihood of you leaving is…zero.”
“My family will come for me,” I replied more stern than I had a moment ago. “Just wait.”
“Oh, you mean because of the tracker in your necklace?” he asked, and I immediately sucked in a breath. My eyes flew to my chest, nothing. It wasn’t there—I was in trouble. “I destroyed it,” he said smugly.
James started to chuckle as he walked around the table and looked at me. “It’s funny seeing the color drain from your face—well, what color was left. Did I break your little heart with what I said?”
Mad. That was what I was. If I wouldn’t have been strapped down, then I would have reached up and smacked that smile off of his face. I tried to wiggle myself free, again, to do so, but the cuffs held me in place, which only made James laugh more.
“James, what are you doing to the poor girl?” I heard a woman say. I didn’t recognize the voice, so I knew it wasn’t Faith. The thought of it being someone new made me cringe.
The woman made her way to my side, and when I looked up at her, my thoughts were confirmed—I didn’t know this woman. She had red hair and crystal blue eyes. She was wearing scrubs and a lab coat over them.
Doctor? Nurse?
“Lily, how are you feeling?” she asked me, catching me off-guard.
“I was doing fine until he showed up,” I said as I gestured toward
James.
Her eyes cut to James as she tilted her head toward the door.
“Will you give us a moment?” she asked, before looking back down at me and giving me a forced smile.
“What? I don’t get to stay and watch?” James proclaimed.
“I think you have done enough damage,” she retorted. “Damage I had to fix.”
“Feisty,” James said with a smile. “I like it. Fine, I will leave, but I will be back.” He spun on his heels and was out the door seconds later, shutting it forcefully behind him.
The woman gave me another soft smile as she pulled her stethoscope from around her neck, and listened to my heart and lungs. She looked in my ears, nose, and eyes next.
“Everything sounds good and you’re looking well, all things considered,” she started. “But before I get into your medical needs, I should introduce myself. I’m Olivia, I know Adela.”
Olivia?
I remembered Adela mentioning an Olivia. Was this her? I hoped so. Adela said she could be trusted—she was an ally. That would explain her kind smile and delicate touch.
“Adela asked me to watch over you, if anything was to happen. I’m the resident Heinrich doctor, like Dr. Silas is for your family,” Olivia said with a smile. “Now, as for your injuries, you didn’t sustain any critical ones. No broken bones. You hit your head and have a good sized protrusion on it.”
I don’t remember hitting my head.
“There was a lot of glass that had to remove, and some bleeding around your stomach. I was able to make a small incision,” she said as she lifted my tank top up, “right here. It should heal quite nicely. I tried best with the sutures, trying to make sure there would be minimal scarring in all places.”
“That’s okay,” I responded flatly. “It’ll go nicely with my other ones.”
“Yes, I did notice you had a few on your face and body.”
“Apparently it’s a requirement in this lifestyle. The more scars, the merrier,” I said sarcastically.
“Apparently.”
We were both quiet for a moment. I was lost in my own thoughts, and Olivia was checking my vitals again.
She was very sweet and reminded me a lot of Adela. There were also similarities in their looks, and I couldn’t help myself when I asked if they were related at all.
