“Then what happened?”
“A lot of naughty stuff,” she admitted.
“Okay, TMI. I’ll take your word for it.”
“Anyway, it led me here, and I am so happy. Now, it’s your turn. Here’s what I have in mind…”
Two hours later, my wedding to Carter was planned. Rosalyn was a rock star—no, super star, hell, I don’t even know how I would describe her, but she’s amazing—and I couldn’t wait to share it all with Carter.
“Can I come in now? Or do I still have to wait?” he asked as he poked his head into my office.
“Oh, you sexy man, get over here and kiss me,” I said as I swung around in my chair to face him.
“With pleasure,” he said. “I love when you are bossy. Where shall I start?” he asked and then kneeled down before me.
“You can kiss me on my lips,” I ordered.
“Oh yeah? Which ones? I do love this game.”
I tightened my legs together and held onto every last piece of control that I had when it came to Carter. He was beyond sexy, and when he played like this, it was thrilling. I wanted to just jump him right here in my office, but that kind of play would have to wait until we got home.
I told him, “As much as I want to continue this game, just kiss me here for now, and I promise you the raincheck of all rainchecks later tonight.”
I tapped my mouth as he licked his and came in for the kiss that nearly made me cry out in pleasure. I was no match for him, but I still tried to push him off me.
“Carter, we can’t.”
He sighed happily and said, “Okay, you win. Tell me about Rosalyn’s call. I thought you would never wrap it up. You know Sally had to block the door.”
“I know, baby, but you deserve some surprises for yourself. You pushed for the earlier date, so let me take over and show you one hell of a good time.”
“I’m all yours, baby. Do your worst,” he smirked.
“I intend to. I love you, Carter, so much.”
“And I love you, Thea, so much.”
Yes, it was going to be a night Carter and I would never forget. He deserved nothing less. Our love was going to be celebrated in an intimate and magical moment. He settled for only a few details and then said he trusted me with the rest.
Oh man, I can’t wait to call Trudie. She is going to flip out. Yes, we want intimate, but no way am I getting married without my best friend.
As the body of Alex Mancini lay dead and cold on the floor of Karen’s new salon, my girl morphed into a state of shock and despair. I wanted to comfort her, but I also needed to get home to the girls to make sure they were okay.
I was never more thankful for securing the girls upstairs with Veronica before all hell broke loose. I had texted her way before we decided to make a move on the building. Veronica ushered them out through the other exit, where one of McCarthy’s men met them and escorted them back to my place. It was a detail I did not have time to tell Karen. I acted on impulse and I was so happy that I did, or I would risk the girls seeing this horrific scene.
Karen was still kneeling beside him, but not close enough to touch him. I watched her bless herself and then cast her head down and cry. I crawled over to her slowly to not frighten her. I had to get her out of there, but would she go?
“Karen, baby, can you stand?” I whispered quietly to her, keeping a safe distance between us.
She said nothing. I waited another minute, and then I finally wrapped my arms around her and picked her up. She didn’t fight me. She leaned her head against me and continued to cry. I carried her over to the still in plastic sofa she had purchased for her shop. I gently placed her down and kissed the top of her head.
I assured her, “I’ll be right back.”
I walked over to McCarthy, who was still dealing with the crime scene. This search involving Alex was always on the down low, so I didn’t have to worry about a mob scene of cops outside with flashing lights. It was a team of only McCarthy, myself, and two patrolmen. The other detective that got the girls out was also involved, but he was only brought up to speed when we needed him. This was how McCarthy worked, and it was fine by me. The less people that knew about this, the better.
“Matt, what happens now?” I asked him.
“I’ll take care of it, Nick. You just take care of your family.”
“Matt, as much as I want to, I need to know a little more than what you are telling me.”
“No, you don’t. In an hour, this will all be forgotten. Nothing happened here tonight. Do you understand what I am saying to you? I hope you do, because I will not repeat it again. Go home, and take care of your family, Nick.”
He wanted me gone. I wanted to get Karen as far away as I could, so I did what Matt instructed. I got Karen in my truck, and then I called Veronica.
Veronica said, “Everything is fine, Nick. The girls are perfect. We were only upstairs for not even a half hour before you texted me to leave through the back way. I simply told the girls that their mommy brought them to the salon just to check out their new room, and I would be taking them home.”
“Did they ask about Karen at all?” I asked.
“They did, but I told them she had to continue working and would be home late.”
“Veronica, I can’t thank you enough for today. I was so worried about them.”
“We are okay, Nick. Thanks to you for loving my daughter the way you do. We can breathe again, and my grandchildren are safe.”
I asked, “So you know then?”
“I assumed.”
“I don’t know when we will be home, if at all. I need to get Karen checked out first, and then we will see.”
“Okay. We love you. Please tell her that for me,” she said.
“I will. I will call you soon,” I said, hanging up.
“Nick?” Karen whispered my name.
“Hey, I’m here.”
“What’s going to happen to Alex? What will they do with his body?”
“I don’t know, Karen.”
“You don’t know? Or you won’t tell me?”
“I swear to you that I do not know. I would never lie to you. No one could predict what Alex was going to do tonight,” I told her.
“You suspected, am I right?”
“Yes, you are. He was a danger to you, babe, and to the girls. After discovering that he had been in contact with Gigi, I knew he was coming for all of you. I just didn’t know the extent of his crazed mind.”
“Do you think he was going to hurt me? Or the girls?” she asked.
“You already know how I feel. What I want to know is what you think.”
“The Alex that charged me back there at my shop was not the same man I married, not the same man that fathered my children. Yeah, he fucked up more times than I care to remember, but he was never violent, nor would I ever believe he would harm us. The look in his eyes was something I had never seen before. It was as if he became someone totally different.”
“Karen, I am so sorry.”
“I know, I am too. What am I going to tell my daughters? How am I ever going to be able to look at Gigi again? She loved him, and now he’s gone. I still don’t know what he may have said to her or what he was planning. For all I know, he may have tried to kidnap them and take the girls far away from me,” she said as she began to cry again and hold her head in frustration.
“Karen, I know you want answers. I do too, but they are not going to come tonight for either one of us. Let me please take care of you tonight, and then I will speak with Matt in the morning.”
She nodded and then remained silent until I drove us home. By the time I pulled into my driveway, it was late and most of the lights were turned off. Karen walked in before me and went right upstairs to be with the girls. I didn’t follow, knowing she needed space.
I took a shower in my downstairs bathroom, needing to wash away the events of all that happened with Alex. Matt made it sound like a covert operation: all would be erased and never talked abou
t again. I wish I could believe that, but I had too many questions and would need answers if Karen and I were going to survive this and move forward with our lives. I walked out of the steam-filled room, draped in only a towel around my waist. I didn’t want to go back upstairs knowing Karen was up there taking time. Luckily for me, I had clean laundry folded on top of the washing machine. I grabbed a pair of sweats and then walked into the kitchen to fix myself something to eat. It would be so easy to down some shots of Jack, but I felt a beer and sandwich would have to do.
I waited and waited, and after two hours of hiding downstairs, I finally walked up to our bedroom. I knew she wouldn’t be in there waiting for me, but I was exhausted and needed to get some sleep. There were no calls or texts from Matt, only one from Tom, telling me the rest of my shifts for this week were covered and to take all the time I needed to get myself back to 100%. If only it was that easy.
I could never share with anyone what happened tonight at Karen’s shop. It would be a secret that I would be forced to take to the grave with me. But I knew I could live with it, because my girls were safe now and I would do everything in my power to make things right again.
“Nick, are you awake?” I thought I heard her voice, but I wasn’t sure if I was still dreaming.
The room was dark because the heavy drapes I had on my four windows. I hated to wake up to the sun blinding me. I rolled over, and then I heard her again.
“Nick, please talk to me. I’m sorry for shutting you out.”
I may have not been fully awake a minute ago, but I was now and wasn’t going to lay here and listen to Karen blame herself. I quickly rolled over and clicked on the side table light. She was sitting beside me with tear-stained cheeks. I glanced at the clock and noticed it was nearly noon. Holy shit! I never sleep this late.
“Come here, babe,” I said as I opened my arms for her.
She came to me without hesitation, and then I breathed her in. She felt amazing against me. Karen was home. My life. My future.
“I am so sorry, Nick,” she said through her tears.
“For what, baby? You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s my fault, all of it.”
“No, it’s not. It’s Alex’s, and I know that now. I’m just sorry it took me this long to figure it out. He played me, Nick. He used the two things that I could never compete with, our girls. He knew that I would take that money with no questions. It was owed to me, so I never thought beyond it. God, I was so stupid to trust him.”
“No, you’re not. Like I said last night, no one could have predicted what he was going to do.”
“He was going to kill me, Nick, wasn’t he?”
“It looked that way. Babe, where are the girls?”
“At school,” she said.
“Really? I would have thought you would have kept them home today.”
“I thought about it, but normalcy is best. They knew nothing of what happened yesterday, and I’m not sure if I will ever tell them.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Alex was a throwaway kid. He was bounced around from one foster home to the next. He has no family to speak of, and I doubt he will be missed by whatever friends he had.”
“Karen, he was your husband and father to your girls. It’s okay to feel something.”
“I don’t hate him, Nick. I never did, nor do I blame you for what happened.”
She hadn’t let go of me and remained in my arms while talking with me. I kissed her gently and wasn’t letting her go. She turned in my arms and snuggled even closer.
She said, “I was scared. I was scared that I may have lost you. Just know that I’m not going anywhere. Last night was about the girls. I needed to be close to them. To make sure they were okay, which they were. Both slept so soundly underneath their covers, and each holding their favorite doll or stuffed animal. I slept with Gigi, and then this morning I was awakened by Trinity jumping on top of me. They both wondered why I was in there with them, but I just played it off and said I wanted to be. Of course, they asked about you. I told them you worked really late and were sleeping. Trinity didn’t care and wanted to pile driver on you, but her big sis stopped her in time.”
“You know I would have loved that.”
“I know, but I wanted you to sleep. I got up, and mom helped me get them ready and cook breakfast. I took them to school and then had a meeting with their principal.”
“What did you say?”
“Don’t worry, Nick. I didn’t say anything. She came up to me and asked if all was okay, nosey bitch that she is. I told her everything was fine and I was simply taking my girls to school.”
“Did she ask anything else?”
“No, because I didn’t give her the opportunity to do so. And, just so you know, mom has already packed her bags and moved back home.”
“What? She didn’t have to do that.”
“I know, and I told her that. She said she missed her home and wanted to get back into her routine, which I understand completely. She felt we needed this time for ourselves. We will see her on Friday. She wants to come by and take pictures of Gigi in her dress, and of course, her handsome escort.”
“Karen, are you okay? I mean, really okay with me still taking Gigi to her father/daughter dance?”
“I am. I have to be, Nick. And there is no way I am going to disappoint Gigi by not allowing her to go. She’s so excited.”
“That’s great, and I am happy to hear it, but we need to speak with her about Alex. It has to be hard for her keeping this from us.”
She said, “We will talk to her today. I just need today to gather my thoughts and then we can talk to her tonight after dinner. I don’t want her to feel she did anything wrong by not telling me.”
“Of course, I agree. I have to see Matt, and then I’ll be back. Please don’t go over to the shop until I get home, okay?”
“I wasn’t planning on it. I’m going to go over to the bar and check on this week’s deliveries. Would you mind if I did that?”
“Not at all. Just don’t take a detour to the shop. I mean it, Karen. Please wait for me.”
“I promise, babe. You have my word.”
By the time I showered, dressed, and ate, it was almost three o’clock. Karen already left to go pick up the girls. I had several messages from Matt, asking me to meet him back at Karen’s shop. I was already late and didn’t want to talk about it over the phone, so I reluctantly drove over and parked my truck in the back alley. Matt was already there waiting for me. I used my key and shut off the now repaired alarm. How did Matt manage getting in without setting it off? I was going to ask, and he just gave me a look telling me it would be better not knowing. I walked in first, with Matt following close behind. We walked into the main salon area and clicked on the lights.
“It’s okay, Nick. As you can see, all cleaned up,” he said.
My heart was in my throat as I completely opened my eyes and scanned the room. It was perfect, not a trace left of the horrific scene that took place here yesterday.
He said, “I know you have questions for me, but it’s better for you to remain in the dark for all of it. You need to let it go and never look back.”
“Matt, that’s not good enough. I have to be able to tell Karen something. She needs to have closure.”
“Her closure happened yesterday when her piece of shit husband went down and didn’t get back up. He would have killed her, you know that, right?”
“No, I don’t know, not entirely,” I argued.
“Well, it’s not up for debate, because he’s gone. If it makes you feel any better, we had him cremated.”
“How did you ever manage to have all of this go away?” I waved my hand around the room, still seeing visions of Alex’s body.
“Let’s just say I know some people that work very low under the radar, and who owed me some long overdue favors. I’ve been a cop for over twenty years, Nick. You learn a lot along the way, and sometimes you do things that are necessary for the
greater good. Please let this go. It’s over.”
“What about your guys?” I asked.
“They will never talk, and as far as they are concerned, it never happened. I have to be going. Take care of yourself, Nick, and your family. See you down at the bar. The drinks will be on you.”
He gave me a half bro hug and then left me alone in Karen’s shop. What the fuck! How the hell am I ever going to be okay with this? I didn’t give it anymore thought and just drove home to be with Karen. When I got there, she was cleaning the kitchen, scrubbing the floors on her hands and knees. I called out to her, but she didn’t respond.
“Hey,” I said louder, and then she finally jumped at the sight of me.
She removed her headphones and looked up at me.
I asked, “What are you doing? And why are you on the floor?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I was cleaning, Nick. It’s not unheard of.”
“I know that, babe, but why are you working so hard when I thought you might take some time to rest today?”
“This made me feel better, and now I’m done. Where have you been?”
“Come on, let’s take a walk and I’ll tell you.”
She let out a sigh and then reached for my hand. We walked a few blocks before either one of us said anything. This was hard, and I wasn’t sure how much to tell her.
She said, “Just tell me, Nick, before you hyperventilate. Did you talk with Matt?”
“I did. We met at your shop.”
“And?” she asked.
“It’s like it never happened.”
“But it did, and I am going—no, we are going—to have to live with that for the rest of our lives. How will I ever be okay with this?”
“I don’t know, Karen, but we will find a way. We have to, baby. Somehow, we just have to. I love you, babe. What we have is worth fighting for because I know what we have is real. I love you. I love Gigi and Trinity, and if you three will have me, I want to marry you and officially make us a family.”
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