Solitude (Cunningham Security Book 4)

by A. K. Evans

  Her brows pulled together. “What’s going on?”

  “I think I love him too much,” I worried.

  “What? Is that even possible?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I think so. It’s just that every time I’m around him I find myself falling harder and harder for him. He does all these little things that seem insignificant, but they mean the world to me. And considering how hesitant he was to open up to me months ago, I’m thrilled with how freely he shares his thoughts with me now.”

  “Communication is a good thing, Jojo. It’s important in any relationship. Why is it a problem?”

  I swallowed hard. “I hate when he’s not around. I don’t mean when I’m here at work or if he’s working. I can do my own thing, but when it’s late at night and I’m home in my bed while I know he is home in his, I want him there with me.”

  “So, why don’t you just tell him this?”

  “I have,” I admitted. “I mean, not to the extent that I feel it, but I’ve told him. I just don’t want to come across as needy.”

  Lorenzo had been so accustomed to being on his own and we were still very new considering we’d only been together for about two months. I couldn’t imagine being in his shoes, going from feeling completely content in solitude to having to adjust to the pressures of a girlfriend who wanted to be with him every night.

  “I don’t think he’ll see it that way,” Ava put in.

  I shook my head. “I have to think about it. We’re still so new. The last thing I want to do is scare him off.”

  She laughed. “You’re crazy. I saw the way he looked at you that night at Carter’s. He’s way into you. And if everything you’ve told me that’s happened since that first night is true, he’s not going to just walk away.”

  “I hope you’re right,” I replied. “We should plan a girls’ night. Me, you, and Kendall.”

  “Sounds good to me,” she agreed. “Figure out a time that works for her and I’m up for it as long as I’m not here. If we go out, though, it’s going to be your job to return the favor I did for you with Lorenzo.”

  I shook my head at her. “And you say I’m the crazy one?”

  “Hey, a girl has needs.”

  Just as I was about to walk out of the back room, Susana opened it. “Ava, Samuel said your client just got here.”

  “I’m coming,” she returned as the two of us followed Susana down the hall to the reception area.

  After getting my tip envelopes and confirming my schedule for the rest of the week, I announced, “Alright, I’m out of here. See you guys tomorrow.”

  “Later, Jojo!”

  I walked outside and started fishing through my purse for my phone. I wanted to call Lorenzo and let him know I was heading home to make dinner and would be ready once he finished at work. We were planning to eat dinner together before going to look at some French Bulldogs. I’d officially decided I wanted one, a gray one, and he wanted to take me to look at them.

  Keeping my head down as I searched my purse, I continued walking. I was moving slow, not paying attention to anything around me. Just as my fingers found my phone, I heard the squealing.

  I stopped dead in my tracks and looked up to see where the sound was coming from. I’d already stepped out into the parking lot and there was nothing in front of me.

  I looked to my right. It was empty.

  By the time I looked to the left, it was too late to react. The car was barreling toward me, and the driver was making no attempt to stop. My hand, still in my purse, tightened around my phone, but my body was frozen.

  I couldn’t move.

  Until I did.

  Because the car had plowed into me, the bumper smashing into my legs, hurling me up over the hood and off the side. My eyes were open as I watched the sky move farther away from me.

  Then, my body plummeted to the ground and my head smacked the pavement as I landed on my side and everything went black.

  “I’m not in a position to talk to you about hiding it, but I wish I would have known sooner what was going on,” I said.

  “Trust me, Lorenzo, it was not easy,” Michael began. “I didn’t think it was a wise idea to hide it. I thought you and your brother should know, but especially you considering our working relationship. Your mom saw things differently, and no matter what my opinion was, I had to respect where she stood with this.”

  I was standing in the back offices of Cunningham Security, where our surveillance systems, back up storage devices, and additional technology was stored. When I arrived at work today, I knew I wanted to clear the air with Michael. We’d all gone to Rocco’s hockey game on Friday, but there wasn’t an opportunity for me to speak with him alone, so I was taking the time to do it today. As soon as I walked into the room and locked eyes with him, I knew he knew precisely why I was there.

  And like a man, he was prepared to hear me out.

  “I appreciate you honoring her wishes. She deserves to have someone who will respect her. I’m hoping you’ll continue to do that for her. But I’ve got to talk about something else. Has she shared with you what she’s been through?”

  Michael nodded. And when he did, I saw the anger and frustration in his face.

  “Good,” I began. “I know you’re a good guy and I saw the way you were with her on Friday. I know you had some shit happen that was completely out of your control. But I still need to say that I expect you to do right by her. She’s endured enough in her life. I want her happy and I don’t want her spending her life alone. I’m sure, given the hand you were dealt, you can appreciate what unwanted solitude is like. I can think of nothing better than the both of you finding each other, but I still need your word that she’s going to be treated like she’s made of porcelain.”

  “Your mother is stronger than you think, Lorenzo.”

  “I know that. There’s not a lot of women who can suffer through what she has and still come out the other side standing. I’m not saying she’s fragile; I just want reassurance that you’re going to treat her like she is.”

  “I always do,” he replied without hesitating.

  “It’s all I can ask.”

  A moment of silence stretched between us. I was just about to walk out when he called, “Lorenzo?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Since I met your mom, she’s always had something weighing on her. As time went on and we got to know one another, I learned about her past and, incidentally, yours. It finally hit me about four months ago where that cloud hanging over her head was coming from.”

  I braced for it.

  “It was guilt. Guilt over what she could have done differently so that you wouldn’t have secluded yourself and kept yourself from experiencing real love. Over the last month, I’ve seen that storm cloud vanish. Knowing you’ve finally found a way to let go of whatever was holding you back from finding your happiness has finally given her the chance to let go of her guilt. I’ve never seen her happier.”

  Guilt seeped into me.

  Jolie had mentioned something like this to me once, but hearing it from Michael, who had spent months with my mom, was different.

  He must have realized where my mind was because he went on. “Don’t go there, Lorenzo. You had your reasons, valid ones, for living the way you did. Your mom’s concerns are expected and normal. I’ve got a grown daughter and I’ll always worry about her. I just wanted you to know that it’s a good thing you’ve both found a way to pick yourselves up from something awful and move on in a healthy way. She’s proud of you and she loves you. To that end, I can’t tell you how happy she is that you’ve found Jolie. Having only met her Friday, I’ve got to say you two are the definition of opposites attract. She’s perfect for you. I see it. Your mom sees it. We’re both happy for you.”

  Just then, Dom walked into the room. “Hey, De Luca. You got a minute?”

  I gave him a nod and looked back to Michael. “Thanks, Michael.”

  He smiled.

  I turned toward Dom.

/>   Before he could get out a word, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw Jolie’s name on the display.

  Looking up at Dom, I noted, “It’s your sister. Give me a minute.”

  I put the phone to my ear and answered, “Hey baby. You finished at work?”

  Dom started to walk away.

  “Oh my God,” the voice screamed into the phone. “You have to hurry!”

  Dom stopped walking, easily hearing the screaming in the phone.

  “Hello?” I called, my body tense and alert.

  “Lorenzo, this is Ava.”

  Ava was frantic, sobbing uncontrollably. I put my phone on speaker.

  “Ava, what’s wrong? Where’s Jolie?”

  Dom went alert and closed the distance between us.

  “She’s…oh my God, it was awful. They came out of nowhere and just hit her.”

  My gut clenched.

  “Who, Ava? Is someone with you? What happened? Where are you? Where’s Jolie?”

  “Jolie was walking to her car after work. Someone just,” she paused to breathe through her sobbing. “They just hit her with their car and took off. She went flying, Lorenzo. It was bad.”

  “Where is she?”

  “The ambulance just took her to Rising Sun Medical Center,” she cried. “She wouldn’t wake up. Oh my God. I saw it happen, so I’m waiting here for the police, but I’m coming as soon as I can.”

  “Right. Thanks for calling me.”

  I disconnected the call and heard Michael order, “You two, hospital. I’ll take care of the rest and let the boys know.”

  Wanting to waste no time, Dom and I took off.

  “I’m calling Kendall on my way there,” Dom called out as he ran toward his truck. “Keep you posted if she knows anything yet.”

  I got in my truck and squealed out of the lot.

  As an adult, I never felt this feeling.

  I’d worked so many cases over the years, some very high-risk, and I never felt the fear I was feeling right now. Never on a case.

  The last time I felt like this was when I was hiding my brother in one of our bedrooms while nobody was protecting our mother.

  I sped to the hospital, Dom pulling in to a spot right next to me. We jumped out and took off running toward the building.

  We ran inside. I was prepared to tear down walls to find Jolie, but two seconds after we were in, we saw Kendall. Her horrified, puffy, red-rimmed eyes met ours.

  “She’s unconscious,” she whispered. “At a minimum, she’s got a ton of scrapes, cuts, and bruising all along her left side. That would be the best-case scenario.”

  “She’s unconscious, Kendall. This is more than scrapes and cuts,” Dom pointed out.

  Kendall nodded quickly while she tried to stop herself from breaking down into tears. “I don’t know much about the accident, but from what they told me, her head hit the pavement first. This could be very bad.”

  At that, Kendall completely lost it. Dom pulled his sister toward him, holding her in his arms, and offered her comfort.

  “Can we see her?” I pleaded.

  Kendall shook her head. “I was a mess,” she sobbed. “They…they made me get out. She’ll need X-rays and CT scans. It could be a while before we know exactly how bad it is.”

  We had no choice but to wait.

  I thought I was going to crawl out of my skin not knowing if she was alright.

  I didn’t care what happened as long as she survived.

  It didn’t matter to me how many cuts or scrapes she had.

  I didn’t care if she had broken bones.

  It wouldn’t matter if bruises marred her body.

  I just needed to know that she was going to survive.

  Kendall managed to bring us to a private area of the hospital where we could wait. An hour passed when my phone rang.

  Jolie’s name was on the screen.

  “Ava?” I answered.

  “Hey, Lorenzo. I’m here at the hospital. Where is she?”

  “Hang tight. I’ll come out to meet you.”

  I made the short walk from where we were to the front to get Ava. She looked a mess. As I indicated she should follow me, I saw Pierce, Cruz, and Holden walking in, their faces grim.

  The guys made their way over to me. “Come back,” I urged. “Dom’s back here. Kendall is, too.”

  We made our way back to where Kendall and Dom were waiting, consumed with grief and worry for their sister. Dom saw us, stood, and immediately walked over.

  “What do you know?” he asked.

  “They’re going to pull the footage from the parking lot cameras to see what’s on them. It was a hit and run. We don’t know if it was random or specific.”

  The thought never crossed my mind.

  Why would someone ever come after Jolie?

  “Ava, you said you saw what happened,” I remarked. “Can you tell us what you saw?”

  She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. “We had just been talking to each other in the back. She was getting ready to leave; my first client had arrived. I was out in the front reception area when she walked out. I wasn’t paying attention, but then I heard the tires squealing. When I looked up, I saw the car moving toward her. I was frozen. She was, too.”

  Ava stopped speaking, swiping at the tears on her face. Kendall moved toward her and hugged her.

  “I’m so sorry, Kendall. I should have reacted quicker.”

  “It’s not your fault, Ava. What happened next?”

  “The car didn’t slow down. I couldn’t make out if the driver was a man or a woman, but the car just plowed right into her. She flew up onto the hood, up into the air, and off the side. She landed on her side, but her head took the impact.”

  Fuck.

  Fuck.

  “What does this mean, Kendall?”

  Kendall shook her head, closing her eyes. “She could have anything from a mild concussion to severe head trauma. We won’t know until she wakes up.”

  “She will wake up, though, right?” I confirmed.

  Kendall’s haunted eyes came to mine. “She better.”

  I couldn’t process anything after that. If Jolie didn’t wake up, I wasn’t sure I’d survive. Deep down, I knew I’d spend the rest of my life searching again for peace, something I’d managed to do once in my life. Peace I only ever found in solitude. Before she came into my life, I found that place. The eye of the hurricane. Everything outside it was chaos, but I was safe as long as I was there.

  Now, I was out in the storm.

  And I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I’d never find serenity again without the sounds of Jolie’s voice and laughter surrounding me.

  “Is Detective Baines on this?” Dom asked the guys.

  “Yeah,” Pierce replied. “He knows we’re getting involved and, given that family is affected, he understands we’re not going to do anything to jeopardize the investigation…not that we ever would anyway.”

  Dom paced the room. “I’m calling Colton and Memphis after I call Ekko. Kendall, you should call Mom and Dad.”

  While Kendall and Dom called their family, I sat there silent. I could have called Rocco or my mom, but I couldn’t. Calling them and telling them meant it was real. And until I saw her for myself, I didn’t want to do anything.

  What felt like hours later, even though it hadn’t been that long, hospital staff entered the room.

  “How is she?” Kendall asked after she’d indicated that it was okay to share the news about Jolie to everyone in the room.

  “Stable,” the doctor answered. “She’s going to be hurting for a while. There’s very severe bruising all down her left side. Jolie is one tough cookie, though. She didn’t sustain any broken bones, but she does have a severely sprained knee and ankle, which is likely from the initial impact with the front end of the vehicle. The biggest area of concern is her head, specifically the brain. We did a CT scan and didn’t find any bleeding, which is a great sign. There’s definitely
a severe concussion, though, but we won’t know the extent of that until she wakes for more than a few minutes.”

  “She woke up?” I asked.

  The doctor nodded. “Yes, but it wasn’t for long. She was scared and disoriented.”

  “Can we see her?” Dom questioned the doctor.

  “Sure. I think she’s up on the third floor. Kendall, you can get the exact room number there. I’ll be on all night, so I will be checking in on her throughout the evening.”

  “Thanks, Doc,” Kendall replied.

  At that, we followed Kendall and made our way to the third floor.

  The ride on the elevator felt like it took forever, which was good because I used that time to prepare myself for what I was going to see when I walked into Jolie’s room. Something told me that despite having witnessed my father abuse my mother for years and seeing the bruises on her body, this was going to be completely different.

  When I walked into Jolie’s room, I realized I was right.

  Battered.

  There was no other way to describe it. Walking into Jolie’s hospital room, I found her sleeping in her bed completely battered.

  Just as the doctor said, there were cuts, scrapes, and bruises covering her left side. Most of her left arm had been bandaged up. I could tell her face had been cleaned of the blood that had to have come from one of the wounds there. The left side of her face was red and shiny, covered with ointment.

  A blanket covered her body from her waist down, but I knew her leg wasn’t going to look good at all.

  Her eyes were closed.

  I moved to the right side of her bed, picked her hand up and kissed it before resting the back of it against my forehead. Kendall and Ava were in tears standing on the left side of the bed.

  I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder. When I turned my head to the side, I saw Dom there. He had one hand on me, the other on his sister’s uninjured leg.

  Pierce, Cruz, and Holden stood against the wall at the foot of the bed. Their faces were littered with concern, anger, and frustration.

  We hadn’t been there more than five minutes when Colton and Memphis walked in. They had come from the station, seeing as they were still in uniform. The looks on their faces could best be described as agony.