“Then I wouldn’t worry,” Melissa says with a small smile. “If he’s in the same clip, then it’s not much use as blackmail. You could leverage it against him, just as much as he could against you. Maybe you’re safer than you think, at least as far as that’s concerned.”
I lean back in the booth and look out the window where I can clearly see Tony sitting just down the street. Melissa’s words fill me with reassurance, and I breathe easier as a weight seems to lift from my chest. “You’re right,” I tell her, “I don’t think he ever intended to use it against me. He said he just liked seeing me…how did he put it… so ‘fierce and beautiful.’”
“Well, that sounds like a healthy relationship,” Melissa says sarcastically as she grins at me. “Seriously, you need to put some space between you two until you can be certain that this turf war is finished. You know if you need a place to stay, you can crash with me until the repairs are finished at Monroe’s.”
“No, if there’s still any danger then I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I dragged you into it. The Russians all saw me. They know everything about me, including what I look like, and they’ve already tricked me once,” I tell her. “I think you’re right, though. I may need to get out of town for a bit. I have to tell Maximo why first and let him know that I’m pregnant.”
“He doesn’t know yet?” Melissa raises an eyebrow at me. “And he already has his men sticking to you and following you around? Once you tell him about the baby, he’s never going to let you out of his sight.”
“I feel safe with him, even though I know rationally that I’m not,” I admit.
“You need some space from that man,” Melissa repeats. “You need time to grieve your father and get ready for everything that’s about to change if you go through with this pregnancy. Do you need some money? Is that part of what’s holding you back? I can help…”
“No, no. I’m actually doing really well there at least. I justcan’t leave, though. If I even tried to drive myself to the airport, the man who is following me would call Maximo and they would just bring me back to him.”
“Connie, I can call you an Uber right now to pick you up and take you anywhere you want to go.”
“I just can’t ditch him and disappear! I have to let Maximo know what I’m doing, and why,” I protest.
“You need to quit worrying about him. This guy Maximo sounds like he’s been love-bombing you, and not in the good way. Knocking you up on top of everything else makes me think he’s trying to trap you into a relationship.”
“It’s not like that,” I protest as I reach for a piece of pizza. “If anything, the pregnancy is my fault. I was on the pill up until the fire. I just assumed it would keep working even if I missed a few days. I meant to get them refilled sooner, but with everything that was going on I just?—”
“And you weren’t using condoms?” Melissa interrupts me with a raised eyebrow as she also takes another slice.
“I mean, sometimes, at first, sure. But we were having a lot of sex…” I trail off again as I feel my cheeks flush. I’m not sure if it’s embarrassment or from the flood of memories of how Maximo touches me. From the heat gathering in my belly, I think it might be the latter.
Melissa stares at my face for a moment before bursting into laughter. “I haven’t seen you blush like that since the party we went to in high school. You remember, when someone tore Derek Garland’s pants down and he fell on you with his dong out?”
“You need another story. You have way too much fun telling that one every time we hang out,” I chide her, even though I couldn’t help giggling at the memory. “I seem to recall you yelling that it looked like a turtle hiding in hedges.”
“Yeah, I felt bad about that afterwards, but it’s notsomething you can really apologize to a dude for, you know? ‘Sorry I freaked out about your ugly little dick’ wouldn’t have helped him recover from that embarrassment.”
“I’ll make sure to tell him you want to apologize at our class reunion one day,” I tease her.
“I will kill you myself,” she deadpans before we both snort in laughter.
I pick up the napkin to dab at my eyes when they start to water. It feels so good to just sit here and giggle with my oldest friend that I don’t even notice the two men in dark suits until they stop right by our table.
“This her?” the taller of the two men asks as he removes a gun from inside his suit coat and levels the muzzle at me.
“Yeah, that’s her,” the shorter, stockier one replies as he also draws a pistol.
“What about the friend?” the taller man asks as I stare at him in stunned silence.
Melissa reacts first, pulling herself up in the booth and screaming, “Someone call the police!”
Before she can say anything else, the stocky man grabs her by the hair and jerks her head backwards, then slams the butt of his pistol down onto her nose. Blood explodes across the table as he throws Melissa down onto the bench and her limp body slides under the table.
“Melissa!” I shout as I try to lean down to see her just before the taller man snatches me by my hair and pulls me to my feet. I twist around and try to claw at his face, but when I raise my hands, he punches me in the stomach so hard I feel the pizza I just ate rise in my throat. A second later, I vomit all over his shoes.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” the man sneers as he jerks me by my hair towards the kitchen. “Move.” His voice is pure ice. “Try anything else, and I’ll put a bullet in your knee. Got it?”
I’m too stunned to reply. A sharp, primal terror slices through me, not for myself, but for the tiny, fragile life inside me that didn’t ask for any of this. My hands curl protectively over my stomach even as he drags me away from the booth.
Melissa’s legs are all that’s sticking out into the aisle, still and unmoving on the floor. The half-full pitcher of beer has been knocked over and is dripping onto her feet.
That’s the last I see of her as I’m hauled towards the back of the restaurant, kicking and screaming, desperate to try to escape this latest horror. The few other patrons in the restaurant stare at us in stunned silence, as if this is happening on a screen instead of right in front of them.
“Help me!TONY!” I scream, praying my voice will carry to outside where he’s waiting. “Melissa!” I choke out as I’m dragged away.
I don’t know who sent these men, or where they’re taking me, only that whatever waits for me at the end of this… Maximo won’t reach me in time.
To Be Continued in His Savage Bride…
