Beautiful Regret

by MJ Nightingale

  “Nah, Blaze needs to be there for Bella. Let me make some headway here first. I’ll let you know if I need the whole posse.”

  “Okay, and keep me posted. I’ll try to make it out there. Even if it is just a quick trip. I want to meet my nephew.”

  He heard the excitement in his brother’s voice. He’d love to see his brothers’ faces when Andreas told them. “I hear you man.” Gio laughed.

  Lisa listened in on the conversation as she continued to work in the kitchen. Her temper abated somewhat. She heard the pride in Gio’s voice and it warmed her up some. She had to remind herself that she had taken Johnny away from them all, and yes, Gio had hurt her last night, but what she had done and kept from them all was far worse. She took the frying pan off the burner after she fried her last piece, and then filled a pot of water to boil the potatoes she had already prepared. The chicken, she set in the oven to keep warm. Gio was laughing, and it was a good to hear.

  She hadn’t heard him laugh like that yet, and he was telling Andreas all about Johnny. She heard the pride in his voice when he talked about his son playing baseball. Then she heard him talking about the callouses on Johnny’s hand from playing the guitar. She couldn’t wait for Gio to hear him play. He was quite remarkable and talented.

  “Okay, Andy. I’ll call you later, man. Say hi to Nikko, Blaze, and the girls for me.” Then there was a pause. “Yeah, okay. I’ll tell, um, tell her.”

  Then there was silence.

  “Tell me what?” she called out and came around the corner, from the kitchen wiping her hands off on a towel.

  “He said I should take you over my knee.”

  Lisa’s eyes widened. Gio was looking at her fiercely. Her eyes widened even further.

  Although Gio knew Andreas’s words had been meant to be a chastisement, it had put the image of Lisa’s incredibly delicious backside in his mind. And even though he was hungry for food, he was suddenly hungry for her too. He licked his lips as he got up from the sofa and approached her slowly. Her green eyes flashed fire, as he took her into his arms, and pulled her towards him.

  “I need to be inside of you, Lisa.” He needed to feed his addiction.

  “Do you?” she spoke the words coolly resisting his pull.

  “Yes,” he stated before his lips took hers in a punishing kiss. His hands were on her ass in an instant, but instead of spanking her, as Andreas suggested, he squeezed and pulled her closer so she could feel every inch of his desire for her.

  She wanted to fight it, but couldn’t and after a few seconds she was engulfed, and immediately she felt her own need for Gio consume her. They were two burning infernos whenever they came near each other, and they only needed a bit of oxygen to fuel the flames.

  Gio’s hands abandoned her rear, and she felt him undoing the buckle on his belt. And she quickly untied the apron she wore, his mother’s. She dropped it and began to strip. In a matter of moments they were both naked and panting and Gio grabbed her hand and once more brought her to the sofa, but instead of letting her lie down, he brought her to the side of the sofa, and made her face the other way. He bent her over the high arm, and quickly slipped a finger inside of her slick heat. She was wet. He stroked her until he was satisfied she was ready, and then he went in, no words, no more preparation, he just sank into her tight pussy, and it was like coming home. He set up a furious pace, and pounded into her, hitting her on her g-spot. She began to squirm.

  She heard his garbled moans as she began to tighten and he then withdrew flipping her over and setting her on the arm of the sofa facing him. He immediately slammed into her when she wrapped her legs around his waist loosely. He fucked her again and again, sliding right in, but he used one hand to play with her clit, as she squeezed her own breasts and pinched her nipples while he watched her. His eyes glowed. She pushed her pelvis up to meet the hand that stroked her until she was close to her release.

  “Oh Yes, yes. Oh, Gio, Gio. That feels, YES!” she came undone and he went over the edge with her. He spewed his come into her, and then withdrew.

  She slid off the armrest as he backed away. His eyes glared into her soul, and her heart beat faster as she stood up facing him.

  “It was always good between us, Lisa.”

  “Yes, it was,” she confirmed, wondering where he was going with this.

  “And even though, I’m still pissed as hell at you for keeping Johnny from me, I can’t seem to resist you.” He wanted to be honest with her.

  “Y-yes,” the word slipped out and she tried to keep the emotion out of it.

  “I’m not ready to jump back into more, Lisa. Not now. Are you okay with this?” he asked as his eyes focused on her.

  She nodded numbly. It was like he had dumped a bucket of cold water over her head, but at least he was talking. She swallowed past the lump in her throat trying to get out her own words. “You think there ever may be . . .” She couldn’t finish the question when she saw that flicker of doubt cross his face again.

  “I don’t know.” He simply shrugged his shoulders. They stood like that a moment. Time stood still. He shook his head, and bent to pick up his clothes. “I’m going to take a quick shower before dinner,” he stated, and when he saw her eyes narrow briefly and glimmer with unshed tears, he added, “Care to join me?”

  Lisa wanted to say no. She wanted more. But again, she couldn’t expect more than this. She wiped away the tear before it could fall. “Yes. Okay. Let me shut off the oven, and stove. I’ll be up in a minute.”

  “Hurry.” He gave her soft smile and a kiss on the cheek before turning to head up the stairs.

  She nodded and made her way back into the kitchen resigned to accept whatever he was willing to offer, for now.

  Dinner was late, but good. Gio had not had a lot of home cooked meals in some time, except for Sunday dinners. But he had also been on the road a lot lately, and even missed some of those.

  The chicken cutlets, mashed potatoes, and spinach reminded him again how much of his life with Lisa, before Albert had come into the picture, he missed. Simple things.

  Again, he watched Lisa as she picked at her food.

  “Not hungry? We worked up quite a bit of an appetite,” he attempted to tease her.

  “No, yes, just thinking,” she muttered nonchalantly and stabbed a piece of chicken and took a small bite.

  “What’s up?” He hoped her mood was not about their talk earlier. He hoped she understood that he needed time.

  “I miss Johnny.” And I was hoping for more. “I know Mary goes to see him when she can, and she tells me he is holding up well, but this restraining order is killing me. I want to hold my son.”

  “Maybe the lawyer will have some good news for us tomorrow. I went and had the paternity test this morning and they were supposed to send someone to the school to get a swab from Johnny. My guy called me, the one Rodriguez referred me too. He said he’ll have confirmation tomorrow, and then appeal to family services for visitation. Because Albert’s name is not on the birth certificate, he says I should get visitation, but it might have to be supervised. He will deliver papers to Albert as soon as the blood tests are conclusive and get the orders processed with Social Services. The fact that Johnny already knows I’m his dad will help speed things along. Thanks for telling him about me,” he added wanting to cheer her up with some good news.

  “You are his father, always have been. I just wished I would have told you sooner. I have so many regrets.” Again, she was apologizing. She would do it every day of her life if that is what it took.

  Gio just nodded and continued to eat. She seemed so lost and he had no clue how to make the situation better, so he just focused on his food. He was nearly finished with the large serving she had given him.

  To fill the silence she went on. “I know I made a bad choice, but at the time I didn’t think I had one. Gio, I am sorry.” Again, he just nodded. Lisa sighed and took a small bite of the mashed potatoes. When he didn’t respond, she took his lead and changed
the subject. “I do hope my attorney can get the order lifted. I hate having Johnny in limbo, even if it is only a week or two.”

  “I hear you on that,” Gio finally spoke. “At least if he is with your sister, he is with family. I’m sure they will place him there, and I’ll get to see him.”

  Now it was her turn to just nod. She cleared her throat and added, “I’m glad everything went well with your first visit. We didn’t get to talk much about it last night. Mary sent me the pictures, and a couple of videos.”

  “A couple of videos?” he asked. He only remembered her recording that good bye video.

  “She took some candid video when you two were sitting in the alcove.” She smiled at the note of enthusiasm and curiosity in his tone.

  “Oh, okay. I’d love to see them, or if you could send them to my phone that would be even better. I can send them to my brothers. They would love to see him.”

  His mood had brightened with talk of their son and Lisa found comfort in that. “Absolutely,” she agreed right away and fished out her phone which was in her purse on the seat next to her.

  He watched her send the video clips and noticed the sadness still there in her eyes. He understood her fear. She must be worried she wouldn’t be able to clear her name. “Lisa, I’m going to prove your innocence. I will. You’re not going to lose your son.”

  Lisa sighed. “How can you be sure? I could go away for this.”

  “I know the video surveillance looks bad, the receipts, but you have a good lawyer, it could be all circumstantial. You’ve got a lot going for you too. Albert is sick. The school knows what a neglectful bastard he is. The kid knows. You’ve got tapes, and pictures to prove it.” He emphasized all the positives of the case. They had plenty although they needed more.

  “But he’s got a good lawyer too. He could say he has a fetish. I was willing. I am vengeful. You never know with a jury. It’s my word against his. We need more proof than we have now.”

  “And we will get it. But remember, all’s we really need is reasonable doubt.” He captured her hand in his, the one that was nervously scrunching up her paper napkin. “You are gonna to be okay.”

  “I hope so.”

  “I got Nikko coming to tail him tomorrow. I got a surveillance van today. I’ve got guys bugging his house phone and office phone tonight. I’ve got a techie giving me daily reports on who he calls, and who calls him on his cell. I’ve got Andreas checking his credit card statement daily. I’m on this.” Her eyes lifted to his and he could see her mood was changing.

  Lisa looked in surprise. “You did all that?” she questioned.

  “Yeah today. And your lawyer is working on getting information too. Did you do your part? Get the birth certificate, the kid’s social security stuff.”

  Lisa nodded. “I went to my parents this morning, and have everything here.” She indicated her purse and the large envelope inside what appeared to be a freezer bag. “I had it one of those fireproof, waterproof cases in the garage. They had doctors’ appointments this morning so they were out. I have the videos and pictures too on a flash drive.”

  “Good girl.” He patted her hand and released it. “We can give that to your attorney tomorrow. We’re meeting him at 1:00 in his office. We’ll miss Nikko. Shoot.”

  “No actually he called,” Lisa informed him. “Alex will come here, about noon. He’s bringing one of his investigators and wants to ask some questions.”

  “Oh, perfect.” Gio was glad they were all coming here instead. They could get a lot taken care of. “Nikko should be in by then. We can all figure out our next steps.”

  Lisa was feeling better. Gio had been busy today, and he had been true to his word. She picked her fork back up and took a bite of spinach while Gio finished eating as well.

  “Oh, hey. That reminds me. Do you know a Connie Wheeler?” he asked when he pushed his plate away.

  “The name doesn’t sound familiar. Why?” she asked pushing her own plate away.

  “Albert called her yesterday. Just wondering. It was the only call to a woman as far as I could tell. And he spoke to her for quite some time.”

  “I can’t place it. We could google her, see if anything comes up,” she suggested.

  “Good idea. I’ll have Andreas check into it too.” He pulled out his phone and typed in the name. Right away he had several hits. He hit images and his eyes widened in shock. “Oooh, lookie, lookie,” he showed Lisa the image that popped up on his phone.

  “A dancer?” Lisa asked. An exotic dancer, it seemed from the looks of the picture.

  “Yeah, and from what I am reading here, she works at The Scene. You ever hear of it?”

  “No.”

  Gio did some more typing pulling up the night club’s webpage. “Whoa. Lisa! Jackpot. The Scene just opened up about four years ago. I remember the place now. It was just before we moved to Tampa. It’s a club where people can go and role play. You pay a fee, and they have all kinds of ‘entertainers’ that act it out for you. High priced drinks, and anything goes, it says. You pay to watch, more to actually be in The Scene. We were worried about the place adding to the work load of the sex crimes unit, but they had all the permits, the security in place. It was raided a few times, but nothing but consenting people each time. Does that sound like a place Albert might go?”

  Lisa made an unpleasant sound. “You know it is. It sounds exactly like his kind of place. But he had his usual haunts, and that was not one my detectives knew about. But it is a newer club. He used to go to a place called Beat.” Lisa made a face and snorted once more. “He also never called anyone from his cell either that worked in those places. He paid for his memberships in cash. But role playing, acting out fantasy, well that is right up his alley. Do they do bondage there?” she asked.

  Gio nodded as he scrolled through the photos on the websites events page. “Yeah, and then some.”

  “How can that stuff be legal?” Lisa shook her head.

  “I don’t judge. To each their own, as long as they consent, but I’m not into that. As long as no one is being forced, we can’t do a thing about it.”

  Lisa nodded her understanding. “Yeah, well, I guess I am speaking out of personal experience. It’s not for me.” She picked up her glass and took a sip and then a thought struck her. “Hey, what if Albert’s been going there, to have some fantasies fulfilled. How would he get them to fulfill his? He would have to call, I guess, and tell them what he wanted, or email, or write instructions.”

  “Good idea. Let’s have your lawyer look up that angle. Getting into his email accounts may need a court order. And the pics you got, might convince a judge for the need of one.”

  “Great. True.” Lisa nodded.

  Gio was typing on his phone once more. “Holy hell!”

  “What?” Lisa asked trying to see what he was looking at. He turned the phone to her. It was Connie Wheeler’s Facebook page. “Shit!” she exclaimed.

  “Yeah, she looks like you. Fuck, you know what this means? She could be the girl in the video surveillance images.”

  “Oh my God, Gio. Do you think so?” Lisa held her breath and scrutinized the pictures more closely before he took the phone back.

  “I do.” This could be the break they needed. He smiled at her excitedly and then continued scrolling through the woman’s other photos. “The red hair, she is about your height. I think if we print these out and give them to Alex he might be able to convince a judge. He’s got motive to frame you, and I’m sure the judge will allow some leeway here.”

  “That would be great if he does.”

  “And if we can find a money trail, shit, that will give you plenty of reasonable doubt.” Gio put his cell phone away as Lisa got up from the table to clear away the dishes. It was great having a new lead. He would be definitely digging up more on this Connie person. In the meantime, Gio got up and began to help Lisa.

  He bumped into her as she stooped to open the dish washer, and once again he found himself rock hard. In
an instant. Lisa laughed nervously noticing his erection on the way up.

  “Gio, keep it down man. A girl needs a break,” she teased.

  “Puh-lease. You did that on purpose.” He teased. He turned the tables on her and blamed her, but she gave him a dirty look while laughing. He made a grab for her.

  She continued to laugh, as he reached for her and pulled her to his chest. His lips began to descend, but her words stopped him. “Where is this going, Gio?”

  He let her go. “I don’t know, Lisa. It’s too soon for happy ever after. I thought I made that clear.”

  She pressed her head against his chest and muttered into it. “I just want to know if it’s too late . . . or too soon. Can you at least give me that?” she asked afraid of the answer, but the question had been weighing on her all day.

  “I think . . . I don’t know.” Again, he wanted to be honest. He kissed the top of her head softly before she raised her eyes to his.

  Her look of disappointment flashed across her face, but disappeared in an instant and was replaced by anger as she pushed away from him.

  Gio sighed in frustration and took a step back holding up his hands in resignation. His eyes narrowed while facing her. “Don’t be mad, Lisa. You have no right. I know you have been to hell and back, but god dammit, it was your choice.”

  “I told you, I didn’t think I had one at the time,” she cried.

  “But you did. And that is what I’m having the biggest problem with here. That you don’t see it that way. You chose your parents, your sisters over me, over Johnny.” Her head whipped up, and he could tell that last phrase had set her off. “That’s how I see it. I don’t think I can trust you again. Not to pick me. Us.”

  “Gio, I didn’t think. . .” she held up her hands begging him to understand. But he was already gone. She heard the clanging of the door, and then his car roaring off into the night.