Hush (18 page)

“God damn, have I gotten weak in my old age?” I asked Red, stepping away from the smoky room.  I wiped my stinging eyes and sucked in a deep breath of unpolluted air.  It had been quite a while since I’d sat in a room with so many lit stogies.  I choked mine down and found a good exit cue as soon as the business was completed, leaving the others to their cigars and numerous bottles of Galliano and red wine.

Red followed closely beside me.  The stench of the smoke flew off of us as we moved through the sitting room towards the corridor.  “I’ve got to find--”

Before the words could escape my lips, I heard a sharp scream in the distance.  I slowed my pace before stopping; Red following suit.  Both of us had our ears turned out like bloodhounds.  “Did you hear that?”  I asked him quietly.

“Yeah, it sounded like a scream,” Red replied.

“Ah, no!” Olivia’s muffled protest rang from the second floor.  I didn’t even think.  My legs carried me in a run up the staircase.  All of the doors at the top of the stairs were closed, but I heard a commotion from the closest room.

I barged in, swinging the door open.  All of my blood turned to fire when I saw a man pinning Olivia to the bed.   Straddling her.  Forcing himself on her.  Putting his hands on her.  She looked up at me, tears streaking her bright red cheeks.  The man looked over his shoulder just in time to see me coming.

I put my hands on him.  I pulled him off her and he released the hold he had on her wrists.  I threw him into an antique dresser next to the door.  When he fell to the floor, I couldn’t stop myself.  So much rage was surging through me that I just started whaling on the man, pounding my fists down on him in a crazed frenzy.  My heart was pounding when Red pulled me off him.

I looked back at Olivia, panting for air.  She stared at me with wide, terrified eyes.  The strap to her dress had broken and she held the fabric up to her chest with her hand.  She’d backed herself up against the headboard.  I walked over to her as the man started pleading with me in Italian.  “Are you okay?” I asked her, still panting.  I wiped away the hair from her face.  “Did he hurt you?  What is this?  Are you bleeding?”  I looked at her bare legs and saw dark red streaks along the length of them.

“It’s wine,” Red said, pointing at Olivia’s overturned wine glass on the floor.

“I thought she was for us,” the man spouted in Italian, blood dripping from his nose and mouth.  “I thought she was for us.  I meant no harm.”

“She is my wife!” I screamed back at him in his native tongue.  “This is my wife.  How dare you put your hands on her?”

The man, still cowering on the floor, held his hands up in a silent surrender.  “My apologies, Mr. Tate.  I meant no harm.  I thought you were bringing her for us.  I didn’t know.  I was only showing her the house.  I would never insult you or your wife like that.  Please forgive me.  Forgive me.”

I could have killed him.  I could have snapped his neck.  I couldn’t even look at him.  I wanted that image of this fat slob on top of my wife out of my head.  I wanted to erase it from Olivia’s, too.  “I come to your country, bring you my very lucrative business, and this is how you repay me?  Do you work for Rinaldo?”

“Yes, yes.  Please forgive me, Mr. Tate.  I meant no harm.  Forgive me, sir.”

My jaw was tight and my hands trembled.  I looked down at the man I had pushed to the brink of tears.  I turned my back on him and grabbed Olivia.  “Come on, baby.  Let me get you out of here.”  I cradled her arm as she slid off the bed.  She huddled herself under my arms, squeezing tightly.  “Here, go with Red.”

Red reached out for Olivia, pulling her into him as he escorted her out of the room.  I moved back to the man, crouching down beside him.  “What’s your name?”  I asked him in Italian.

“Ignacio, sir.  Ignacio Bellini,” he replied hesitantly.

“Ignacio, you’re the luckiest man in the world.  If it hadn’t been for Olivia standing right behind me, you’d be dead right now.  She was the only thing standing between you and your grave.  I promise you if I ever see you again, I will kill you.  Do you doubt me?” Ignacio shook his head quickly.  “Do you believe that I will keep my promise?”  He nodded fervently.  “Good.”  I started to stand.  “One more thing.”  I threw a hard right to his temple.

Ignacio’s unconscious body tipped over sideways as I wiped the blood from my knuckles.

In the car, Red handed me a towel from the front seat.  “Do you need to go to the hospital?” he asked as I tried wiping away the wine that had already stained my flesh.  I shook my head.

The passenger door flew open, startling me.  Callem fell into the seat next to me.  “Go,” he barked to Red before turning to me.  “Olivia,” he sighed.   I couldn’t stop myself.  The tears fell from my eyes as the car pulled away from the estate.  He pulled me into his chest.  “Liv, I’m so sorry.  I’m so sorry.  Are you hurt?  Did he hurt you?”

“No,” I lied.

“What happened?”

I pulled away.  “He came in after we separated; after you went to the other room.  He saw me in the foyer and started talking to me.  I told him I loved the house and he offered to show me upstairs.  I didn’t want to say no.  I thought that’d be bad for your relationship with him, you know, rude.  So I went with him.  He took me into that room.  He closed the door.” I shook my head, remembering the slight panic that rose in my gut when I realized what was about to happen.  “He advanced on me and I tried to leave, but he--”  I felt the bile rising as more tears blinded me.  I blinked them away and Callem wiped them off my cheeks.

“Oh my God, Liv, did he hit you?”  With his thumb and forefinger, Callem turned my head to look at my cheek.  I could feel the heat from where Ignacio’s hand stuck my skin so I figured it was probably bruising.

I pushed his hand away, hiding my face.  “He said he knew you.  He said he was there to see you.  Why would he do that to me if he knew you; if he knew you were only in the other room?”  Callem shook his head.  His brow was twisted and his mouth was tight.  “What did you say to him?  What did he say to you?”

Callem sighed.  “He was talking out of his ass, trying to act like he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

“What gifts did you bring?” I asked abruptly.

“What?”

“What gifts did you bring?  When I mentioned you, he said you brought gifts and he loves Americans.  What did you bring for them?  The cigars?”

Callem licked his lips.  “No, I didn’t bring the cigars.”  He looked away from me, eyeing Red in the rear view mirror.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked calmly.  “Please, just tell me the truth.  I think I deserve to know.”

“He thought,” Callem started, hesitating.  “He thought you were a prostitute.”

“What?!  Why would he think that?  He thought I was the gift?” I spouted.   Callem nodded.  “What would make him think that?  Have you brought prostitutes before?”

“No.”

“Then why would he think that?  What would make him think I’m a prostitute?  Do I look like a prostitute?”

“No, honey, slow down,” Callem hushed me.  “Don’t take this as an insult.  These men are very rich and very powerful.  It’s not uncommon for them to use the services of a working girl.”

“But why me?  Why did he think I was a prostitute?  Because I mentioned you?  Why would you bring a prostitute to a casual business meeting if you haven’t ever done it before?”

“I haven’t ever brought a prostitute anywhere.  That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a prostitute at a party like that before.  It happens more than you’d think.  Women don’t usually go to those kinds of affairs unless they’re there for a greater purpose.”  My stomach turned.  I groaned, leaning back in the seat.  “The other men thought that’s why you were there, too.  I just didn’t tell you.  I was able to tell them ahead of time in Italian who you were and what you were to me so they wouldn’t upset you.  Ignacio came in later.  I didn’t have a chance to explain your presence.”

I felt disgusting.  “And I thought that’s just how they treated woman, ogling them like that.  They really thought I was just a piece of ass, didn’t they?”

Callem wrapped his arm around me.  “I should have warned you ahead of time.  I didn’t want to upset you and I figured I’d be able to clue them in before anything happened.  I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

“Have you ever been to a party with a prostitute at it?”

Callem paused.  “Yes.”

I didn’t know if I was asking questions I wanted to know the answer to, but I couldn’t stop myself.  “Have you ever been with a prostitute?” I asked quietly.

“No.”

I sighed heavily, puffing my cheeks out. “I just want to get back to the hotel.  Can we just get back please?  I don’t want to think about this right now.”

This is the second time Callem had saved me from a potential assault.  That’s two too many times to be in that kind of a situation.  I fell onto Callem’s shoulder as Red drove us through the Italian countryside.

I swung the door open slowly.  Olivia was lying on her side, hugging the edge of the bed.  She couldn’t get any farther from my side of the bed if she tried.  I was surprised she was even sleeping in here, since she’s been sneaking off to the couch in the middle of the night lately.  The light from the street lamps seeped into the room, trickling across the bedding, caressing her curves like a vicious tease.  I inhaled deeply as I tiptoed in, trying not to wake her.

It had been far too long since she and I had made love.  Through all the rage and anger surging through us, I still yearned for her.  You’d think all the tension would keep my mind far from those thoughts, but I couldn’t stop myself.  Even in times like these, I have needs.

Pulling back the covers, I glided underneath.  I waited to see if she’d stir, but she remained still.  Killing the space between us, I made my way closer to her.  Carefully, my wandering fingertips skimmed over her delicate skin.  She was wearing a pair of short shorts that were easy enough to deflect with my prying hands.  They friskily moved up her body and under her tight tank top, clouding my head.

I started kissing her neck when she finally woke.  “What are you doing?” she mumbled, pulling away from me.  My arms were already wrapped around her so I could keep a bit of a hold on her.  “Cal, let me go,” she growled, kicking her feet to the side of the bed.

“Come on, Liv,” I murmured in her ear, groping her with more force. 

“Callem, get your hands off me,” she grunted, fighting me.

Easily, I pulled her back onto the bed and against me.  “Olivia, stop,” I said through clenched teeth.

“What are you doing, Cal?  Stop it.  Let go of me.  Cal, just stop it.”  Her voice waned as I kicked my leg over her.  As I pulled myself on top of her, she started throwing punches at me.  I wrangled her wrists and pushed them to the mattress.

“Why are you fighting me?” I snapped.  Her wrists wiggled under my hands forcefully.  I wasn’t holding her out of lust anymore.  I was holding her out of resentment now.  “Stop fighting me, Liv.”

“Are you really going to do this?  Cal, don’t.” Her face twisted.

I stared down at her.  I clenched my teeth in frustration as I squeezed her wrists before shoving off her with a snarl.  I sat on the edge of the bed fuming.  My fingers dug into the side of the mattress as I heard Olivia’s breathing slow down.  “This is not going to happen again,” I barked over my shoulder.  “Next time, you better not fight me.”

“Why fight with me when you can pay for someone who’s willing, or at least appears willing.”

I spun around and slapped her across the face.  There was so much swelling through me that I couldn’t stop myself.  Her eyes grew wide as she brought her hand to her cheek where I’d just struck her.  I didn’t mean to hit her.  I didn’t want to hit her.  I shouldn’t have hit her, but I did.  I had just hit my wife.  I just slapped the woman I loved because she denied me sex and insulted me.  What was wrong with me?

Instead of apologizing to her, I stormed out of the room.  I needed to get it together.  I was losing it, and not just because I hadn’t had any sex.  Everything she’d been saying was true.  I was the only one to blame.  I should have done something; said something when I had the chance.  I could have avoided all of this.  I was an idiot if I thought things would so easily change for us.  She wanted to fight against me when all I wanted to do was fight for her.  I suppose some battles were worth fighting.

“Good morning, Nick,” I said kindly as Nick held the back door of the car open for me.

“Good morning, Olivia,” he replied before closing the door behind me.  He drove me to the hospital in silence.  I’d been back to work for nearly two months now.  Nick was still following me like a lost puppy, driving me where I needed to go, monitoring my emails and phone calls, blocking me from getting too close to him, as if he knew I would try to make such a maneuver.  Or perhaps Callem believed me to be so sly and warned Nick of that fact ahead of time.

So instead of trying to get close to Nick, I was working on my other plan.  Even though Callem’s techs were able to monitor the internet usage on my office computer, they weren’t able to monitor all usage of every computer in the hospital.  And since Nick can’t follow me around the hospital every day, they’ve even managed to hack into the security feed so they can play big brother all day long.

I learned of this the hard way.  Callem hadn’t initially told me that he was watching me from the cameras.  One day he caught me making a phone call from the nurse’s station.  Though I was only calling Erin, he gave me an earful and cracked down on me a little harder, if that’s even possible.

It’s terrifying to think how much power he has and to know what he’s capable of.  It kills me to follow his rules and lay in bed next to him every night, but I know if I just do this now, play his game for a little while, I’ll get my retribution.  I can’t mess this up or I won’t get another chance.  I’m one mistake away from becoming unemployed again.

Nick dropped me off in the parking garage.  “Are you doing anything for lunch?” I asked him as I stepped out of the car.

He looked at me for a long moment.  “No,” he replied uneasily.

“Well, I’m already sick of hospital food and didn’t know if you’d be able to pick me up so I can go out and get something.  I could always walk, but I figured I should ask first.”

“Thank you.  Yes, I can pick you up to take you to lunch.  What time?”

I shrugged.  “I’m not exactly sure.  It’s always hard telling.  I’ll call you when I need a ride, is that okay?  Are you going to be in the area or in Huntington?”

“I’ll be at the office so you’ll probably want to give me some time to make my way over here.”

I nodded before shutting the door behind me.

Since I was still the new girl, and still the youngest oncologist on the payroll, I hadn’t had the time to get to know any of the other doctor’s.  I’d met them all, just in passing, however.  I had a feeling I wouldn’t be on staff too long so I wasn’t too concerned about building relationships.

As the morning slipped on and I moved from appointment to appointment, I kept watching for the right moment.  There were so many places Callem’s hand didn’t extend into the hospital.  Patient rooms, the OR, and the x-ray rooms, as well as a few other places I didn’t frequent.  It would have been suspicious if I was seen going into janitor's closets or other offices that weren’t mine.

I had my first opportunity for sabotage that afternoon.  As my nurse was concluding an appointment with one of my patients, she was called away to another room, leaving her laptop behind.  I hopped onto the computer in a flash and scrolled through the internet to get the information I needed before she returned.  Since there were no cameras in the room and no one monitoring the internet usage on her computer, I was in the clear.  I had gotten what I needed without any inclination from Callem or his dogs.  Now, I had to find a way to put it to good use.