by Shara Azod
Chapter Fourteen
“There is no way. You used to dance? I don’t believe it.” Delilah’s fork dangled midair, bits of dark chocolate hanging on the end of the prongs as if in suspended animation. A noticeably pregnant Angelique Chevalier née Dubois sat as composed as ever, not a hair out of place, looking regal and above it all. There was no way she’d just said she used to be a stripper.
“It was really more burlesque than anything else. I did it as a finger to my family; my father and former stepmother, anyway. Letting loose a little.” The other woman spoke in a hushed whisper, her gaze darting around the stylish bistro before she leaned forward conspiratorially. “You must never, ever mention it to Thierry. He refuses to acknowledge that is actually how we met. I think the thought of his cousins seeing me in that skimpy little costume gives him heart palpitations.” The assembled women all broke into girlish giggles, which was infectious.
Delilah didn’t even know Thierry, but she could sense Angel was dead serious. It was hard to conceive, but Delilah found that she felt completely at ease with the three women she was with. Although Katrina had only brought Angelique and Regina with her, she felt as if she’d already met the others. All three women spoke of the missing Jade, Solange, Soleil, and even Tante Thérèse often and so easily she felt as if she knew them too. Each woman was so open and so easy to get along with, not to mention completely accepting of her. She would have never guessed it based on who and what they were.
“I promise I’ll never bring it up,” Delilah vowed, wondering if Edward would react in a way similar to Angel’s husband.
“Come on, finish up your dessert,” Katrina urged, bouncing in her seat in excitement. “We still have to get you a wedding dress.” Looking down, Delilah was vaguely surprised to see she’d mowed through most of her chocolate torte in record time. Man, the entire meal had been seriously delicious.
Regina’s husband, Remy, owned the place; it seemed like a miracle Regina was as trim as she was with a husband who cooked like this.
“For a woman who tried to run screaming from her own wedding, you’re mighty anxious to get others hitched,” Regina commented drily.
“You have to see Edward Prichard with this woman. He was all loving and…human.” Katrina shrugged, shaking her head. “If she could work the miracle of making him fall, we all need to get on board and make sure they marry as soon as possible.”
Delilah wasn’t sure how she felt about the comment. According to everyone, including David, Edward was some sort of automaton person, but Delilah had never seen it.
“Eddie has always been very affectionate in his way.” No way she couldn’t defend her man. An odd thought, but it was what it was.
“Eddie?”Regina and Angel echoed in unison. “He lets you call him Eddie?”
“See?” Katrina crowed, her chest puffed with pride as if she’d discovered some lost civilization. Oh shit, now she was starting to think like Edward.
“Well I suppose I will need a dress.” She hadn’t even thought about it before now. Edward wanted to do the whole thing at a resort somewhere. The details were such that Delilah felt completely out of her depth, though she had to admit a tropical wedding was a dream come true, albeit one she’d never dared contemplate before.
They went off lined arm-in-arm, another first for Delilah. The affection was so easy between them, as if they were all good friends, like she’d always been their friend.
Women in her experience just weren’t this nice. But then, why wouldn’t they be? There was nothing she had that they didn’t. Love and security could change a multitude of things, she was fast learning. One day, maybe she would feel as they did. Oh God, she prayed it was true.
Telling Edward she loved him and then running had been impulsive. When the words finally came, she just wasn’t ready to face them head on. She still didn’t really know why exactly. She felt them, had for a while, maybe even that first weekend together. Saying them out loud had made her vulnerable. After being guarded for so long, she just didn’t know how to deal with the vulnerability. He wasn’t going to abuse her love and trust, not like some of the disastrous relationships she’s had in the past.
But he held something none of the other men ever did: her whole heart. It just wasn’t possible to keep a part of herself in reserve around him.
Sleepwalking through various stores as she tried on a multitude of dresses pressed into her hands, Delilah found herself both dreading and looking forward to going home. That she referred to the big house in the Garden District as home was huge, but not as huge as coming together with Edward and with her feelings laid out on the table. He’d been waiting for it. She’d been too much of a coward to witness his reaction, but she wouldn’t be able to escape it tonight. Would it be different? How could it not be?
She was far too engrossed in her own thoughts to notice someone slinking behind her as she came out of the dressing room in yet another dress Katrina swore would compliment her figure perfectly. The pure white linen was gorgeous, clinging in all the right places, but she wasn’t so sure about it being an appropriate wedding dress.
Just as she turned to view herself in the full-length three-way mirror just outside the dressing room, someone viciously grabbed her hair from behind, yanking her head back while another huge hand came up around her throat.
Her eyes closed instinctively, tear leaking from the corners of the closed lids. She didn’t want to look; she already knew what she would see. The cloying cologne was one she doubted she’d ever forget. Bull. Oh God, how could she forget that he didn’t let a girl go, ever, without being paid in full what he felt was his due?
“If you scream, bitch, I swear I will cut your throat right here.” His fetid breath was an affront to the senses. She had to gasp not to choke as the earth seemed to start spinning out of whack. “You think you can just walk away? And not pay me? That motherfucker you’re shacking up with is going to give me what I want if he ever wants to see you again. You’d better pray that pussy you’ve been so damn stingy with is worth it.”
He wasn’t yelling, keeping his voice low enough not to be heard by others milling around the smallish boutique. The mirrors just outside the dressing room was blocked from view from the rest of the store by racks of dresses, she supposed to give those coming in and out of the dressing room to view potential purchases privacy.
Unfortunately the women she’d come here with were still milling about for the perfect dress, for her. The thought made her knees buckle, bile rushing from her stomach to her throat. She didn’t want any of them to see her like this. It was humiliating—a living embodiment from her past, thrust into the present to ruin her future.
“I’m going to have some fun with your sweet ass,” Bull promised, moving backwards slowly toward the rear of the store. “That rich bastard won’t want you back when I’m through with you. But that’ll be our little secret until I get my money, no?” She was going to throw up. As it was she was fighting off fainting. If Bull managed to get her out of the store, it would all be over for her. She had to find a way out of his grasp, but how? The pressure on her throat wouldn’t let her utter more than weak, ineffectual grunts. She wasn’t in reach of anything that could be used as a weapon. Death seemed to be as sure as the solid muscle mass keeping her immobile.
“Hey, Delilah, how did that dress… What the fuck?” Katrina. Delilah’s eyes fell open, her mouth working on the word run, but it didn’t come. Instead of shock, disgust or even sympathy coming from the other woman, Delilah saw anger. Anger and the mythical female retribution she’d heard about in jokes but never really seen in life. Right in front of her, Katrina Smith Chevalier changed from sophisticated lawyer and wife to something far baser, elemental, fucking frightening. She dropped the dresses that had been slung over her arms, and calmly pulled out a gun, taking time to set up and aim as if she were working on a still target instead of a man trying to drag dead weight back toward an exit. Delilah did her part; her mind working furiously, she w
ent limp, remembering somewhat belated that it was harder to carry dead weight than a struggling person.
Bull grunted, his grip around her throat and waist getting tighter. “You’re just as likely to hit her as me, you stupid cunt!” He was no longer trying to be quiet. There was a hush in the store only interrupted by a tingling of the front entrance bell. No doubt people abandoning ship.
Katrina smiled. It was cold and ruthless, without mercy, without reservation. “I have a very clear shot of your head.”
Bull faltered, his grip on her throat and waist slipping just enough for Delilah to literally throw herself to the floor and roll. She had no idea what happened behind her, just heard a loud thump and Bull’s corresponding roar just before the “POP” of the gun went off. When she was able to scramble to her feet, Bull was on the ground, blood seeping from the knee area of his pants. Amazingly David was there, hovering over him raining punches down on Bull’s face. Where the hell had he come from?
“Come on, let’s get you out of here,” Angelique and Katrina were pushing her toward the door Bull had been trying to drag her through.
“But the dress…Bull…David… ” It was all too much. Even outside, Delilah was having a hard time breathing. She barely made it to just behind a dumpster in the alley before the contents of breakfast and lunch reappeared.
The world wouldn’t stop spinning. She gasped, struggling to hold on to consciousness, but she knew she was going to fail.
“Here, eat this.” Angelique pressed a plain cracker in her hand. “It will make you feel better.”
And it did. A little, anyway. Katrina ran off to get the car, while Angel stayed with her. How sad, a pregnant woman helping her stay on her feet. She’d never been so grateful as when she finally climbed into the cool interior of the backseat.
“Regina?” It was too much effort to form complete sentences. Her throat was raw, her head pounding, and her stomach, though calmer, still seemed to be on a roller coaster.
“She’ll stay and deal with the police,” Angelique informed her. “Katrina, please stop at the CVS. We need to get Delilah something for her stomach before heading home.” It was the last thing Delilah heard before slipping off into oblivion.
*****
Edward rushed home as soon as Mrs. Kelley called him. The housekeeper was frantic; he’d never heard the woman so distraught, and she’d worked for the family since her late teens. Her worry for Katrina was real, scaring years off of him. If anything happened to her…
“Where is she?” he barked as he rushed into the house.
Mrs. Kelley looked up the staircase, enough for him. He vaulted up the steps, tearing into the bedroom at the end of the hall. Angelique and Katrina Chevalier were sitting next to the bed where Delilah lay, far too still for his liking. He would’ve rushed to her side, but he found himself blocked by a surprisingly strong Katrina. With a single hand to his chest, she stopped him midflight.
“Outside,” she insisted in a soft voice. He didn’t want to go. Looking toward the bed again, he made to step around the woman only to be halted again. “She’s sleeping, she needs her rest. Please, Edward, outside.”
Gritting his teeth, he complied, mentally giving the woman two minutes. Then he was going to check on Delilah himself.
“She’s fine, I swear, she’s sleeping. There was a, uh, little run-in with Bull—”
“Bull, as in Jean-Paul Gautier?” Damn it, he’d been too late, by hours.
“Yes, that would be him.” Katrina looked impressed he knew, as if it mattered.
All that mattered was Delilah. “Did he touch her?” If he’d laid one finger on Delilah, Edward wasn’t so sure he wouldn’t kill him. That he was going to suffer was a given; death would be too easy. Yet he wouldn’t be able to hold back.
“I shot him, your nephew beat him down pretty good.” She shrugged. “The police took him away after Angel and I got her out of the store. As far as the official record is concerned, we were never there. Officially, he tried to abduct Regina for some unknown reason, and David happened by and saved her.”
“What in the hell was David doing there?” He was going to have a long talk with his nephew, although he had to admit he was grateful as hell others had been around to help Delilah. It didn’t alleviate the guilt that he should have neutralized the threat to her long before now.
“Following Bull, it seems. He went into the store because he became concerned after Bull had been inside the store for too long. He didn’t know we were there.”
“I need to see Delilah.” He had to make sure for himself she was all right.
Katrina shot him a strange look, kind of a half-smile of a woman with a juicy secret. What the devil was that about?
“Trust me, let her rest for now. I’m sure there are a few things you wish to take care of while she’s sleeping.” Damn it to hell and back, Katrina was right. Jaw clenched, he looked back toward the door. His heart hurt when he considered how close he came to losing her, how she’d almost gotten hurt because he hadn’t taken care of her the way he should have. “But, uh, you may want to take a little look in the bathroom before you go.”
That was just strange, and perhaps even a little ominous. Edward was too frightened not to, by the way the woman was doing a weird smirking grin thing. He walked into the bathroom by a side door, knowing if he went back into the bedroom he wouldn’t leave. At first he didn’t see a thing out of place, but then a small obelisk-shaped object caught his eye. It was starkly white against the bluish-gray marble counter, with dual tiny windows on the front. There was a dark pink line going through both windows.
What on earth could…
“Oh my God, she’s pregnant.”
***
Edward simply had no patience for the bickering Chevalier men who all seemed to be arguing over the privilege of who would be confronting Bull in the only windowless, camera-less interrogation room without a two-way system in the precinct.
He would, of course, but he had no intention of fighting over it. Instead he headed to the room where Red was being kept. The man had no clue why he had been brought in, but given his chosen lifestyle, the arrest couldn’t have been much of a shock.
A single police officer accompanied Edward in the room as he sat as if he were entering a business meeting, arranging various folders in front of him.
“What the hell, man? Why the fuck are you here?” Although Red spoke with bravado, Edward noted his eyes darted to the uniformed officer and then to the door.
His feet, however, were shackled to the floor even though his hands were free. Edward needed him to be able to sign documents.
“Here I have a detailed list of most of your criminal activities for the past five years.”Edward kept his voice neutral, his face devoid of expression. Red hadn’t been with Bull this afternoon, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been aware of what his partner was doing. “We have extortion, bribery, prostitution, solicitation, grand theft, aggravated assault…” He spread out pictures and statements, some real, some not, on the table. “And attempted kidnapping of my fiancée.” Red’s face drained of color at the last statement. “I never attempted to kidnap your damn fiancée. I don’t even know who you’re talking about.” Despite the proclamation, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, beads of sweat popping out on his forehead.
“Delilah Thomas was attacked today while shopping. One Mr. Jean-Paul Gautier attempted to take her by force. I have detailed documentation showing that this man is your partner in enterprise both legal and illegal. Is this not true?” Red made a series of garbled grunts, but didn’t answer. He did begin to move in his seat as if agitated by some unseen force.
“I see.” Edward looked back down at the papers in front of him, pretending to study them. “There would be enough here to at the very least make sure you never get out of prison.”
“I swear I didn’t know anything about it. Bull, he doesn’t think things through sometimes.” The man swallowed. “What do you want? I’ll give you a
nything.” Red was sweating profusely now, his eyes almost as big as his entire head.
“I rather thought you might.” Edward extracted the deed to Sailor’s Delight as well as three other strip clubs/brothels Red co-owned. “Sign these.” As he also expected, Red didn’t bother reading them. “Thank you.” Edward rose from his chair, gathering up the papers and placing them back in his briefcase. When he turned to go, Red called out.
“Wait a minute! What about me? Can I go?”
A cold smile spread on his lips as he turned back to the shackled man.
“The police have some questions for you involving a few other things I forgot to mention.” Maybe he hadn’t mentioned them to Red, but he had been instrumental in building a rock solid case against the man. “Rest assured our dealings are over, as long as you never even attempt to think about my future wife.” That, of course, wouldn’t be the end of it. For the years Delilah had to endure under the asshole, Edward would extract his pound of flesh. Eugene Washington was about to find federal prison a harsh, unforgiving place, much more than usual.
