Bellissimo Fortuna (Beautiful Fortune) (7 page)

“Frank wasn’t happy about the new arrangements?” I can tell by the press of his lips I’m correct. “What more does that man want? His daughter will be loved, provided for, and married to the son of the head of the organization. I don’t know what more he could ask for.”

“Nothing seems to be enough for him, but I don’t believe this whole scenario,” he nods his head towards Frank’s cohorts. “But it isn’t your place, and you need to remember that.” He is putting me in my place, but in all fairness, he is right. I’m losing my cool and I need to step back.

I get where he’s coming from. This isn’t my place, and I don’t want to be that person who oversteps boundaries, but when it comes to Callie, I will throw whatever weight I have to. I don’t buy this whole misunderstanding thing, and from what Luis said he doesn’t either, but I know I won’t get very far in questioning them. You never take your personal transport when dealing with family business. It muddies the waters and puts too much at risk. That is Mob 101 and by Frank ordering otherwise, he just showed his true colors. He is after something, and it isn’t sitting well with me. I just nod and turn around to go get Callie and get her out of here. I barely stop as I get to her, reaching for her hand and leading her away.

“You okay?”

“Nope. Don’t like the way he looks at you, and I don’t trust him.” I try to keep my tone even, I’m not mad at her and don’t want to take it out on her.

“Bronson,” she says as she pulls on my hand to stop me. “Don’t get mixed up in this unless you’re going to follow in your dad’s footsteps. You know the rules, we are the children of bosses’, we don’t question the authority but are protected . . . but there’s always someone willing to overlook the rules.”

“If I do . . . If I chose this life, would you still be by my side?”

“I wouldn’t like it, but there’s nowhere else I would be.” I don’t want this for me, for her, and it’s not how I envisioned our future, but I will do whatever is needed to stay close to her and keep her safe. “There’s other options, you know that.”

Is there? That seems to be the one question over and over. Is there really room for my dreams, my desires in this life I was born into? I shake it off and walk with her back to the car, feeling her hand in mine, almost like a lifeline binding me to her, connecting us and holding us together. “Let’s try and beat Bianca and Dakota back to the house.” I need a distraction and maybe going a couple rounds on a mindless video game with my best friend will help. Callie is a distraction, but she’s also the reason behind all of these feelings. I’ve always wanted to do right by her, now I have to.

Her phone goes off, and I watch her face fall as she reads the text. “Who’s that?”

“My dad.” Her voice is shaking, and her hand is clammy in mine.

“What now?” Fuck, could people just leave us alone for once.

“I think I’m gonna head home tonight.”

“Did he say you had to?” She is biting her lip, tears welling in her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks.

“I just think it’s best.”

“Give me the fucking phone, Callie,” I don’t mean for my tone to be that, but when she flinches away from me, I cuss under my breath. Son of a bitch, I’m scaring her when she’s already traumatized by whatever’s on her phone.

Silently, she hands me the phone, tears streaming down her face.

Don’t make me regret your arrangement. Heard your boy was asking questions - do you think he’d still want you if you looked like this?

Attached is an image that makes me sick. A woman’s beaten and bloodied face stares up at me from the skin. “Jesus, who is this?”

“My mom.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Bronson. I’m sure. I’ve lived it.” I realize this isn’t the first time, that’s why she recognized her so easily. Her laugh catches me off guard. “What’s wrong with me?”

“Babe, this isn’t your fault.”

“No, I don’t care about that. She checked out on being my mom a long time ago. I’ll make sure she’s okay, but she’s probably passed out. What I’m more worried about is his mention of you. He scares me daily, but now I’m just mad.”

“Don’t go home tonight. Stay. I promise I’ll be okay, he isn’t stupid enough to hurt me, and you said your mom is fine.”

She wants to, but I know she won’t. She doesn’t want to rock the boat with her dad, but I’m not letting her go back there. I hate the ultimatum I give her. “If you go back there tonight, I have no choice but to tell my dad about his implied threat.”

Her eyes round. I’ve never threatened her before, and I’ve always made her feel safe, like she had a voice, an outlet with me. I can’t jeopardize her safety. Not now.

“I’m sleeping in Bianca’s room.” I laugh.

“No doubt.”

“I’m mad at you for putting me in this situation.”

Sure she is. “I’m sorry. I know it must be hard choosing between us.”

“There’s no choice. You win every time.” I lean over the console and give her a fast kiss, and before I can lose my head, I start the car and drive home.

Things were so great that summer, date nights, days on the water, Callie safe and with me. With school starting our time will be limited to the weekends and occasional evenings after homework and activities. I’m trying to keep up my grades, watch out for her and Bianca, but somehow I am failing. She is becoming withdrawn, losing weight, losing her spark, and it scares me to death. The stress of her home life is crashing down on her, but I’ll be dammed if I let it crush her.

I watch her press her hand in between her rib cage, applying pressure and wincing. “You okay?”

“Yes,” she lies. I can tell from the breathy tone that she’s hurting.

“Let’s go,” I demand standing up.

“Where?”

“I’m taking you to the doctor.” As she starts protesting, I lean over and pick her up. She has no other option with this, no bargaining, no more telling me she’s fine, or if it’s not better soon she’ll go to the doctor. That’s all I’ve heard for the past two months. She starts crying, and it drives me insane. I can’t stand to see her in any kind of pain. “What? What are you worried about?” Immediately my mind goes to a dark place; what if her dad has been hurting her? I gently lift her shirt up to look at her sternum and suck in a breath when I realize I can count each one of her ribs. “Damn it, Callie. Are you eating at all?”

“It hurts to, and when I do, it won’t stay down.”

Shit. I break all records and get her to the doctor in no time at all. She lets me go back with her and after some poking and prodding, her crying; he tells us it’s an ulcer. A fucking bleeding ulcer most likely caused from stress. I make a promise to myself to take every burden from her and carry it myself. Taking her back to my house, I watch her sleep, not wanting to leave her side. The medicine he gave her for pain knocked her out, and I made sure we had bland food for her to eat until she felt better. I’ll take her monthly until her blood counts are up and she is out of danger. One more reason I can’t leave at the end of the year and go away to school.

Chapter 7

Callie

I know he’s been worried since the doctor diagnosed me with the ulcer. I’m feeling much better, slowly getting my appetite back, but he won’t quit hovering.

“Bronson, this isn’t something you can fix. You can’t cure everything.”

“I’ll make sure you take your medicine, get your blood work, and heal. Callie, this could have been much worse. You’ve got to quit doing this to yourself.
You
can’t control everything.” I know he’s worried. I see the concern all over his face. When you add in the fact this is something out of his power, and he blames my dad for this situation, he is a wee bit overbearing. I will overlook the way he just talked to me.

“I get it. Sorry, but you have to lighten up. These are the last few months we have together until you go away to school. Let’s not spend them arguing.” He narrows his eyes at me, not liking when I discuss the inevitable elephant in the room. College. Going away. He swears he doesn’t want to, but I fight him every step.

“I have other options,” he warns me.

“I know this, we’ve talked about it until we’re blue in the face. Don’t let us being together change your plans. We have a lifetime. We’ll be fine.
I’ll
be fine. You go be awesome.” Shaking his head at me, pulling his lips into a thin line, he shows he is annoyed. He is unbreakable as far as this is concerned, but I feel strongly about him not altering his plans.

“How’s your dad been lately?” The one subject he uses to trump what I want.

“Fine, actually. He’s been gone a lot in meetings.” He is studying my response. I don’t ever actually lie to him but do skirt the truth and divert his questioning.

“Your mom?”

“Same. Either buried in a bottle of booze or doped up on pills. Parenting at its best. I believe the Mother of the Year Award should be arriving any time now.” He laughs at this.

“God, you’re a smartass.” I know he was trying to bring up the reasons he should stay, but I’ve been handling this for almost seventeen years. Well, tomorrow will be seventeen because it will be my birthday.

“I’m your smartass, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Kissing my nose, he says, “Nope, you’re perfect the way you are. I could do with less attitude when I’m trying to protect you, though.”

“I’m not giving you attitude. I just want you to succeed in whatever you want. I know you haven’t made up your mind about your future, but regardless, you’re going to college. And to FSU.”

“I’m not going to FSU. I told you USF has the same courses and is only an hour away. I can commute and not much will change.” I roll my eyes at him. He, in turn, raises his eyebrow at me, warning me subtly that isn’t a smart move.

“Okay, moving along,” I hold up my hands in front of me, surrendering to this conversation. “Tell me what we’re doing tomorrow for my birthday.” We have so many things coming up: my birthday, his birthday next month, and then prom. The dreaded graduation is looming, too, when the fork in the road will be chosen. He will decide his path, and I hope it is at FSU. I have a bad feeling about my dad, and I don’t want him anywhere near here. I’ll miss seeing him every day, but we’ll survive. I have Bianca, and I’m glad Dakota is still planning on going away to school. Those two are going to get caught eventually, and it won’t be pretty. Luckily, I have distracted Bronson, so they’ve been fortunate.

“Tomorrow, we’re going out on the boat now that it is warm again. But, tomorrow night, you’re all mine. I had to flip Bianca for tonight or tomorrow, luckily I won. I bribed her so she could have you uninterrupted tonight. Dakota and I are hanging out, so I’ll be out of your hair.” I love spending time with my best friend, but I don’t like being far away from Bronson. I need to get used to it, though. I don’t ever want to feel like a burden to him, and I don’t want that to factor in to his decision to stay here for school. So, I plaster on a smile and act like I’m thrilled for all of us.

“What will y’all do?”

“Maybe spar.” He shrugs his shoulders. “I owe him a few hits and kicks for sneaking around with my sister.” Oh shit! I can’t reply to him without giving myself away. “What? Didn’t think I noticed? And my own girlfriend covering for them.” Double shit!

“I can explain,” I start. But, I can’t. He’s right, but they wouldn’t have had to sneak if he wasn’t so unreasonable. I can’t tell him that, though.

“Save it. I’m pissed nobody shared it with me and really fucking mad at Dakota for not being man enough to come to me, but I can’t stop them. I could try, and probably succeed, but that’s a bit hypocritical.” He waves his hand between him and me. He’s right, and I’m glad he isn’t going all caveman right now.

“Aw, somebody is behaving like a big boy. You need a treat.” I lean in to kiss him, and he unexpectedly lifts me up over his body and owns my lips. Devouring. Teasing. As soon as I feel the brush of his tongue, he takes it away, tempting me, pushing me beyond my normal limits. I pull the back of his hair, capitalizing on his shock, and try to turn the tables, dominate him in this. He allows this for a moment and then takes over. Both of us are breathless when we pull away. I stare into his eyes, my chest heaving, and see the love, passion, and desire that I feel reflected in his eyes. I’m so frustrated he keeps stopping our forward progression. I get holding off on sex, but damn, can’t a girl get him to cop a feel. Or can I at least see some part of him naked?