Life, Love, & Lies

Scene of the Crime

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:55:00 +0000

“Make a right at the next street and then it’s the fourth house on the left,” Isabella instructed. Blake did as he was told keeping one eye on the road and the other on her, giving special attention to her left knee, which hadn’t stopped shaking since they got into the car. The closer they got to their destination the more it shook and he began to wonder if he should worry about her stomping a hole in the floor. It finally came to a halt when he stopped his SUV at the front gate of a structure that looked more like a hotel than a house for any one family. She took and audible breath and pressed a few buttons on a small remote control that she’d fished out of her purse and the large iron gates creaked open allowing him to pull through into the concourse. Before he could turn off the engine, she hopped out and began charging towards the house.

“Hold on,” he called out of the window as he dug through the glove box. Reluctantly she paused and watched the bright glow of the flashlight he had procured move with him through the pitch black and up to the doorway where she was standing. “Let’s go,” she said as she punched the security code into the keypad on the door.

“Wait a minute! What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m going inside.”

“Not before the police get here. Whoever broke in could still be in there.”

“Did you see any bent bars on the gate? Any broken windows? Was the door kicked in? No one is in there. The alarm system on this house is old and it’s probably just a glitch. I’m going to reset it and tell the police not to bother.”

“No the door wasn’t kicked in, but you’ve got a couple of miles of fence around this place and about a thousand windows. I think it’s possible we could be missing something.”

“Well you can sweep the perimeter if you want; I’m going inside.”

And with that she pushed the door open and stepped into the darkness beyond. Blake stepped in a moment later, the beam of his flashlight swallowed up by the vastness of the foyer. She felt around on the wall for the light switch but came up empty when she flicked it up and down a few times. “Lexie must not have turned the power on yet.”

“Or someone cut the power,” Blake said as he walked further into the house, pointing his flashlight into the darkness with one hand, holding her back with the other each time she tried to walk ahead of him. They checked the living room first, then the dining room and then the kitchen; each of them only containing random pieces of dust covered furniture and stale air. Isabella started toward the great room but Blake pulled her back again.

“Stay behind me!” he commanded in a hushed tone. “We still don’t know if we’re alone here.”

“Well we could see a lot more if you let me light the candelabra by the fireplace.”

“Fine,” he said, pushing her back behind him. “Which way is it?”

“To the left.”

He led the way with his flashlight until it cast a glare off of the metal screen of the fireplace. Defying his hold on her arm, Isabella moved ahead of him and began feeling around for the large box of matches that should’ve been on the mantle. A gentle beam of light began to stream through the large wall of windows in the back of the house as the clouds moved away from the moon. Finally Blake could make out the outline of a sofa, a coffee table, and two chairs. He shined the flashlight toward Isabella, who was fumbling with the box of matches. Offering his help would only elicit more of her stubborn resistance, so he decided to take a look behind the thick curtains framing the bottom windows; it was the perfect place for an intruder to hide.

He pointed his light toward his destination and had only taken a few steps when his foot slipped across something wet on the floor. He stopped short to steady himself, pointed the light on his feet and immediately jumped back when his eyes registered the sight. Before he could say a word, amber candle light filled the room and the entire horrible scene was illuminated. He rushed back to Isabella, desperate to prevent her from seeing it, but it was too late.

“Oh my GOD!!!”

------------------------------------------------

“I don’t think we should’ve done that,” Pierce said, interrupting her thoughts again. Sloane was trying to identify what the unusual, pulling ache was in her stomach. Was it guilt? Is this what real guilt felt like? It couldn’t be since she didn’t necessarily feel bad about what she had done. Strange, maybe, but definitely not bad. Maybe it was anxiety, the worry that someone would trace it back to her. Could you go to jail for something like this? Breaking and entering was a crime, of course, but what about the rest of it? She hadn’t thought about the rest of it. Once the idea popped into her head her movements had been on auto pilot. It was only after they had left the Monacco compound that she realized this lead weight sensation in her abdomen.

“Sloane, did you hear me? I think we went too far this time.” The sound of his feet shuffling as he paced the floor, the beer swishing back and forth in the bottle he was drinking out of, his voice whining incessantly, this damned pit in her stomach: it was all driving her crazy. There were things she needed to think about and things she didn’t want to think about, all these hundreds of things floating around her head, needing to be sorted out and he just kept talking. There had to be a way to shut him up.

“Stop!” she commanded, trying to control the edge in her voice. “I told you we have nothing to worry about. We’re the last people in the world anyone would suspect. I had to do this, there was no other way. I thought I explained all of this to you; I thought you understood.”

“You told me that something had to be done, but I never thought it would be something like this. And I don’t understand, at all. I don’t see why something this extreme was necessary,” he said taking another swig of beer. The look of worry on his face only angered her more, but she pulled it back. Charm would be a much better weapon to wield.

“Don’t worry about the reasons why. What matters is that you would do this for me with no questions asked. That means so much to me,” she said as she grabbed the bottle out of his hand and pulled him towards her by the waistband of his pants. She circled her arms around him, slid her hands up underneath of his sweater, and nibbled at his neck. Aroused, he laced his fingers through her hair, systematically moving his hands down the length of her body and stopping at the small of her back. She yanked them off of her and abruptly pulled the sweater over his head and threw it to the ground. They continued to tear at each other as she nudged him backward, finally pushing him down onto the bed.

Finally she had silenced him, but all of the thoughts that consumed her before had been replaced with an overwhelming carnal itch that needed to be scratched, immediately. She climbed on top of him and leveled her weight on his pelvis, as if it had any real power to keep him down, and began grinding her hips against him. She loved being in the driver’s seat like this, especially with Pierce. He absolutely annoyed the hell out of her and at times she couldn’t stand the sight of him, but there was something about that deep, almost infuriating distaste that ignited a level of passion in her that disturbed and excited her at the same time.

He reached up to grab at her breasts but she smacked his hands away and began attacking his neck again. He reached for her again and she sat back up, this time smacking him playfully across the face, an action that seemed to heighten his pleasure even more as a deep moan escaped his lips. A devilishly satisfied smiled crossed her face as she continued to tease him to the point of frustration. These power struggles were the only part of their relationship she enjoyed, if for no other reason than the fact that she always won.

But all of a sudden he grabbed her by the waist and flipped her on her back, his weight coming down on her heavily. He quickly unzipped his pants and moved the crotch of her panties to the side, pushing himself inside of her before she had a chance to object. He moved quickly and forcefully, the action was so sudden that it took her a few moments to get her barring. The acrid scent of alcohol on is breath made her stomach turn as he panted in time with each thrust. A terrifyingly familiar sense of panic began to run through her and she instinctively began to scoot her hips away from him but he had her pinned and her resistance seemed to entice him all the more. He paused for a split second and playfully grabbed her arms and forced them over her head as she tried to push him off of her. She jerked her face from his lips when he began to pepper her face and neck with kisses.

“No, stop. STOP!!” she screamed as she finally yanked her arm free and slapped him across the face. He recoiled; holding his cheek, a thin stream of tears fell from his eye in response to the stinging blow. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” he shouted as she slid back to the headboard of the bed, hitting it and the wall with a forceful thud. “Stay away from me! Don’t you fucking touch me again!” Pierce scooted away from her, angry, puzzled, his face red and still throbbing with pain. He got up from the bed and turned back towards her ready to explode again, but when his eyes caught hers he realized that they were filled with tears, some of which had begun to fall down her face and collect under her chin. She was shaking, arms clutched around her body, defensive and ready to strike like a wild animal caught in a trap.

He didn’t understand. Just seconds ago she had been tantalizing and teasing him. She had initiated this encounter and turned on him; it didn’t make any sense. He moved towards her again and he could see her limbs stiffen as she pressed herself tighter against the wall. And then suddenly as the last few minutes flashed through his mind he realized where his hands had been, the way her body had pushed back against his, everything that he had assumed was a part of the usual cat a mouse game that she played with him, the fact that every other time they had been together she had been the one in control, all the pieces began to fit.

“Sloane. Look at me,” he said as he eased closer. Her eyes shot up, casting a piercing glare of raw fear and anger, looking through him. They held this stand off for several minutes while he continued to talk her back to reality. “It’s okay Sloane; I’m not going to hurt you. You’re safe. Look at me. You’re safe.” She continued to stare at him bewildered and afraid and as his words penetrated, the man she thought she saw, the monster that had hurt her, began to vanish. She blinked fresh tears from her eyes clearing her blurred vision and blurred thoughts and gasped when she saw Pierce’s eyes staring back at her. She hadn’t been seeing him, hadn’t even been in the present moment and didn’t remember where real time began and the past ended. When he thought it was safe, he sat down on the bed next to her and put his hand just shy of her knee.

“Are you okay?” She jerked her leg away from him and recoiled further into the headboard.

“I’m fine. Just get out. Now. GO!”

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what happened.”

“Nothing happened. I’m just not in the mood to screw you anymore. I told you to stop and you didn’t so I had to make myself clear. Maybe next time you’ll listen.” He let out a sigh and put his hands to his head.

She had done a horrible job of keeping her secret. He had found her out; the proof of it was written all over the look of pity on his face. All of the questions she knew he had, all of the explanations she didn’t want to give; the whole thing made her sick inside. She couldn’t go through this again, even if he was just a lackey and a warm body on a cold night, she couldn’t handle one more person scrutinizing what had happened to her or worse yet, blaming her for it.

“I know what just happened just now,” he said in a somber voice. “I want you to tell me what happened before. What did he do to you? Or do I even have to ask?” The tears came fast, followed by several muffled sobs that Sloane tried and eventually failed to control. Before she knew it Pierce’s arms were around her and she was clinging onto him a wave of emotions threatened to crush her.

How could he know? Without a single word of confirmation Pierce had seen what just about everyone else in her life had always missed. Someone had hurt her badly and unlike her parents, he had seen it in an instant. But they had been in selfish denial, and though neither one had ever said as much, she knew that they blamed her for what happened and their only concern had been sweeping the “ordeal,” as they called it, under the rug like a clump of dust bunnies that one of their maids had missed. They had their money and their reputations to protect and she had been the sacrificial lamb of their greed, left to suffer in silence.

But they weren’t the only ones at fault. Given her temperament and behavior as a teenager she could almost see why their twisted minds couldn’t conceive of something they hadn’t seen with their own eyes. But as far as Sloane was concerned there was no room for leniency for the one person who had been there, in the same room, watching the whole thing take place. She didn’t get a pass, not for her silence in the moment or all of the lies she had told after the fact.

-----------------------------------------

The color of the blood on the floor was the first giveaway that it was fake, and the slick texture of it provided Reese with proof of that as he rubbed a sample of it between his fingers. It was something only a trained eye would recognize immediately, so it was no surprise that Isabella had nearly passed out at the sight of it. Of course the handgun in the puddle of that blood pointed at her mother’s picture that had inexplicably appeared right next to it could have been an equally credible reason.

The blood red spray paint defacing the massive portrait of her family was most likely the reason for the anger he heard in her voice as she explained the situation to one of the cops who was taking her statement, not to mention the fact that anyone would dare call her a liar, not once, but twice. No one called Isabella Monacco a liar and got away with it; that he knew all too well.

He looked up from the red puddle and right into her eyes. They were bloodshot, puffy, drowning in tears, and full of a fear he had only seen one time before: the night of her mother death. Only a sick bastard would do something this horrible and that person would either have to be a part of the small group of people who knew the real story about what happened to Patina Monacco or somehow found out from one of them.

It had taken less than a second to mentally cross out himself and Eden and he couldn't imagine anyone in her family going to such extremes or allowing anyone else to. That only left two people and as much as he hated Nico, he knew that he wasn't capable of something like this. There was only left one person on his short list, one person who not only knew the truth but had been a witness to it. True, if he thought hard enough he might be able to come up with a possible motive, and given the fact that the mansion was virtually abandoned, anyone would have had time and opportunity. But after all this time: could she really be this cruel? He would have to do some serious digging before he would believe that.

He stood up, wiped his hands off with a tissue from his pocket and walked towards the small group that had clustered around Isabella: the two officers who had been called to the scene, Lexie, of course, and the dark haired man that hadn’t left Isabella’s side since he had arrived. Reese had no idea who he was but his close proximity to her made it clear that they were well acquainted. An employee; a business associate perhaps? Whatever the case, he was an unexpected variable that was definitely going to be identified.

He brushed past the mystery man and placed his hand on Isabella’s shoulder; the soft touch eliciting the desired result as she wrapped her arms around him and dissolved into tears again.

“Are you okay?” He cringed a bit as the stupid but necessary question came out of his mouth. She nodded and wiped at her wet face. “I swear, I’m going to find out who’s doing this to you, but until then you need to have security at all times. You can hire whoever you want but I’m going to post an officer at the cottage and one at your office. And before you tell me, ‘no’ --”

“Reese stop,” she whispered. “I’m not going to fight you; I’ll do whatever you think is best.”

“Good. I’ll have someone at the house in an hour; in the meantime you need to get out of here. Where’s your car, I’ll drive you home.” Before she could answer the dark haired man spoke up. “Don’t worry about it officer. I drove her here; I’ll take her back home.” Reese turned toward the stranger and tried to keep his expression even.

“Detective Prescott. And you are?” he said grabbing the man’s hand tightly as he shook it.

“Blake Bolthouse. I’m a friend of Isabella’s,” he said as he glanced at her. She was too dazed to confirm or deny it.

“A friend who drove her to a break-in call in the middle of the night,” Resse shot back.

“It was either that or let her drive here alone. You seem to know her pretty well; I’m sure you know how stubborn she can be.”

“I know everything about her, including how to talk her out of a risky decision like this. Excuse me for a moment,” he said as he walked a few feet away to answer the phone ringing in his pocket.

He spoke to the caller briefly, all the while eyeing Blake as he stood behind Isabella, rubbing her shoulders and leaning in close to whisper something in her ear. She may have thought he was just a friend but it was clear to him that this Bolthouse character wanted a lot more. He cut the call short and walked back towards the two of them.

“I just got a lead on a case that I need to look into. Go home and try to get some sleep. I’ll come over in the morning to check on you,” he said as he pulled Isabella into another hug. He reluctantly let her go and glared at Blake. “Get her home safe.”

“Don’t worry about it Detective; I’ve got it covered.”

Aftermath

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:03:00 +0000

Monacco Desert Cottage - Las Vistas

The garbled ring of the telephone echoed through the water as Isabella held her breath under the dissipating bubbles that floated on top: more reporters calling for more statements. Didn't’ they understand that there wasn’t anything left to say? She was tired of talking about it to the police, to the press, to Lexie. All she wanted to do was forget but with the visions that had been on a continuous loop in her mind that proved impossible. Whenever she let her thoughts wander all she could see was that big black car coming at her, closer and closer, her heart dropping into her stomach, her feet pinned to the ground, her legs unable to move, and then the suddenness of Blake’s body rushing against hers, dragging her to ground and out of the way just in time.

The phone started to ring again so she emerged from the water, threw her towel around her and padded across the cold marble to her closet. “Maybe I can get some peace in here,” she said to herself, as she closed the doors behind her and sat in a heap on the ottoman. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror: not a scratch, not even a bruise. If it hadn’t been all over the news, no one would believe that she had narrowly escaped becoming road kill. Her pristine exterior didn’t match the disheveled mess of pain and anxiety that made up her current state of mind and it was in stark contrast to the torn and aching hole that was in her heart. This “accident” was only the tip of the iceberg; a terrifying metaphor for her life. Maybe it was the jolting warning shot that she needed to realize that it was finally time to finish what she should’ve put an end to long ago.

She had stayed too long for reasons both necessary and selfish, the main one being the tall, criminally handsome man that had recaptured her heart, her soul, and apparently her good sense as well. As sick as it was there was a part of her that hoped that the news stories and tabloids splashed with headlines about her brush with death would be enough to coax him out of hiding and send him charging to her door to make sure she was alright, but as the hours dragged by without so much as a text, those hopes had all but dissolved. And if Reese’s theory was right and it was a planned hit by one of Nico’s enemies, his continued silence only magnified his lack of concern.

Tired and too overwhelmed to think anymore, Isabella stood up, letting her towel fall to the floor, and grabbed her favorite pair of jeans and a sweater. She threw them on and emerged from the temporary shelter of the closet and out into her bedroom. It was quiet and dark, the absence of the sun ushering in the cold night air through the terrace doors. She closed them and put a few logs on the fireplace, and as she lit them, her heart began to sink at the sight of the flames.

It hadn’t been so long ago that she had stood in the same position in the same feeble state of mind wondering how she had gotten to this point. The answer was just as hazy as it had been before, but what was abundantly clear—what tore her heart out to admit—was that Nico wouldn’t be walking back into her life as he had on that night. He had chosen to walk away instead, and she would have to accept it, even if she had no idea how to start. She blinked away the watery film of tears in her eyes and began to walk towards her bed, but the sound of a different kind of ring, the doorbell, stopped her in her tracks. The sound of Lexie’s voice, a few moments later, sent her tearing down the stairs.

**********************************

Phoenix Heights - Downtown Las Vistas

The animal rage that had boiled over inside of her a few hours before had finally begin to settle into a slow simmer as Ivy held up close to the rough brick of the building they were gathered behind, barely moving, intent to stay glued there. It would be hard for him to throw her up against a wall she was already leaning on. She kept her hands open, unclenched, and ready to fly up for protection; listening and waiting for Cross to stop talking.

She could hear Denny apologizing, trying to explain, all too happy to throw her under the bus and absolve himself of any responsibility. It didn’t matter that he was the one who had turned his back on her and left the keys in the ignition; she was going down for this one all alone. She tried to tune the conversation out and kept her eyes straight ahead, but couldn’t help seeing Cross glare at her out of the corner of her eye. It was an empty look, one that she couldn’t quite gage. There was no anger behind it, just two steely grey bullets penetrating through her. She turned away from him as if it would shield her somehow. There was a long pause after Denny finally finished groveling, and then she heard Cross’ voice; the tone was soft, easy, and to her surprise, controlled.

“I want you to dump the car, right now; some place where the cops will find it fast. Leave the tags on it too,” he said to Denny, who gave him a puzzled look and replied, “I don’t get it. They’ll trace it right back to me, which means they’ll trace it back to you.” Cross smiled and gave him a playful smack on the cheek. “That’s why you’re going to say it was stolen. Tell them you didn’t know it was gone until an hour ago,” he said. “Kills two birds with one stone; gives me exactly what I want and covers me at the same time.” Denny opened his mouth to speak again but Cross cut him off. “Look, I know what I’m doing so just get it done,” he yelled, letting his cool facade slip a little before regaining control.

Still puzzled, Denny shook his head affirmatively and then gave Ivy an apologetic look before walking away to follow the order. She continued to avoid eye contact as he studied her from a few feet away before slowly closing the gap between them. She pressed herself closer to the wall, scraping her skin against the graveled surface, and clenched her teeth, stiffening her jaw to minimize the blow she knew was coming.

Cross raised his hand to her face, but didn’t hit her. Instead he brushed her tousled hair from her face and lightly kissed her lips. “Thank you,” he said with a smile, reveling at her confused expression. She started to speak and let out one of the many questions swimming in her head, but thought better of it. He would find a way to use it against her, he always did. No matter how calm his demeanor was now, she knew better than to trust it; the less ammunition he had the better. “What, you don’t think I mean that? I’m serious, what you did today was the best thing anyone could’ve done for me. I’m kinda pissed I didn’t think of it before, but trying to run over that blonde bitch was a damn good idea. Now I don’t have to worry about how to get to that son of a bitch, Nico. As soon as he finds out my name is tied to this, he’ll come to me and I’ll be ready for him.” He stopped talking and began staring at her again, his fake smile diminishing into a tight frown. “I guess the only question is did you do it to help me or to hurt him?”

Ivy bit her tongue in an effort to remove the stunned look she had on her face and struggled to come up with a quick response, but it was too late, he was onto her. Without warning he grabbed her up into a tight embrace that nearly squeezed the wind out of her. She gasped for air and tried to wiggle free as he lifted her feet off the ground and held her face up to his, taunting her with a sinister smile before slamming her back against the hard brick wall. A tear fell down her check as the rough rock cut into her shoulder, but Cross didn’t relent.

Now she could see it, though blurry tears; the psychotic rage that was always behind his eyes, the visceral evil that fueled everything he did. If she were anyone else, he could kill her right here, right now and think nothing of it, but there was only one reason why he wouldn’t, and if it still applied, if his twisted love for her rang true, it would be her only saving grace. When he finally released his grip, letting her fall to the hard ground below, she realized there was a shred of something left in his heart for her. If she was going to stay alive she would have to play on it.

“I did it for you,” she lied chocking back a sob. “Only for you.” Her shoulder burned as the cool night air bit into the wound, but she mustered up all the strength she had and lifted her hand up to grab his. “You have to believe I did this for you. I love you Cross.” He studied her skeptically before returning the grasp. He yanked her up hard, sending a shooting pain through her arm, and as if none of the last few minutes had happened he pulled her into a gentle embrace and stroked her hair, comforting her. “We’ll see about that baby. We’ll see.”

***************************

“Isabella should be down shortly. I’m sure she’s already told you this a hundred times by now, but thank you so much! I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been there,” Lexie absently shook Blake’s hand and beamed at him like he was some kind of rock star or the President, only letting go when he began to pull it out of her grasp. “There’s no need to thank me, anyone else would’ve done the same.”

They made small talk for a few moments more before he heard the quick footsteps coming down the stairs and stopping short once they reached the bottom. Isabella paused there before walking further into the room. Her eyes were red, slightly puffy and failed to hide their disappointment that he wasn’t the person she had expected.

“Hey,” he said with a tentative smile, wondering if you were supposed to smile at a person who had almost been killed just hours before. He had done it briefly, when they had both landed on the ground, his body heavy on top of hers, but then thought better of it. He was happy to be that close to her, of course, but more so, that he had been able to push her out of harm’s way. He had wondered if the scowl he had received in return was because of that smile, but reasoned that nearly being plowed down by a speeding car had more to do with it. Either way, smiling at her now felt all too natural but wrong, so he tried his best to keep his expression even.

“I’ll be in my room if you need me,” Lexie said as she left the room. Isabella nodded and without a word turned away from Blake and walked out onto the patio. He followed, slightly puzzled by her demeanor. She seemed annoyed now, angry even, which was the polar opposite of the dazed and confused state he had expected to find her in. He closed the door behind him and rubbed at the goose bumps that the cool desert breeze had raised on his arm.

“I’m sorry to show up like this. I was going to get your number from Blair and call you but --”

“I’m fine,” she interrupted.

“I figured you’d say that, so I decided to come and see for myself. We both know you’re not fine.”

She kept her back to him standing silently behind the wall he could feel her building up around herself. How stubborn could one woman be? They didn’t know each other well, but after everything that had happened he hadn’t expected her to be this guarded, at least not with him.

“Okay. I just wanted to make sure you were alright, but now that I know you can handle playing target practice with speeding cars, I won’t worry about it anymore. I’ll just go. Sorry to bother you.” He turned to leave but, when he felt her hand graze his shoulder, he turned back toward her and was surprised to see tears streaming down her face. Before he could take another step she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into her.

Blake stood stiff, unsure if he should move, for fear of what she might do next--what he might do next. The wind had kicked up again, but the breeze did nothing to cool the heat that had been ignited by her touch. Her warm tears, wetting his shirt, didn’t help either, nor did the heavy heaves and falls of her chest against his. He lifted his arms around her and began to smooth his fingers up and down her back, being careful not to move them too far south. The corners of his mouth rose again into a smile, and, similar to the struggle that was going on in the lower region of his body, he fought it back down, anxious to remain in control.

Her emotional surrender was brief only lasting a few moments before she pulled away from him, wiped the tears from her face and scowled. “Don’t ever do anything that stupid again, especially not for me.”

“What?”

“You could’ve been killed!” she said trying to control her tone.

“So I was supposed to just stand there and let you get killed instead?”

“It wouldn’t have been the end of the world,” she whispered.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” she said with a tired sigh. “Blake, I’m grateful that you were there to save me, but you would be better off not getting involved in this mess that’s passing for my life, especially now.”

“Oh, so you admit that things are a mess, that you don’t have it all under control? Finally! Did it really take something like this for you to get the message?”

Isabella finally gave a smile to match the one Blake refused to hide any longer. She wiped at the residual tears on her face just as he raised his hand to brush the hair away from her eyes. They stood still, watching each other as their hands touched in midair and just as he was about to say something else, Lexie flew through the patio door; her face riddled with concern.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said, inadvertently fixating on Isabella’s hand jerking away from Blake’s. “I just got a call from the security company. Someone or something tripped the alarm at the mansion; on the gate and the front door. I thought it might be the maintenance crew but they aren’t scheduled to be there until next week and I haven’t given them the key yet anyway. I think there’s been a break in; I’m going to call the police.”

“God! This is all I need right now. Go ahead and make the call. Tell them I’ll meet them there.” She began to walk back into the house after Lexie when Blake grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“You’re not seriously thinking of going over there by yourself, are you?” he said incredulously.

“Didn’t we just have a conversation about you not getting involved in my life? The police are on their way; I’ll be fine.”

“There you go with that word again. What is it going to take for you to realize that you’re not superwoman? I’m not letting you go over there alone and that’s all there is to it. Come on, I’m driving.”

Close Encounters

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:34:00 +0000

Hard Body Fitness Studio – Downtown Las Vistas

Left, right, left, right, left, right. Sloane’s feet slammed down on the rubber belt in quick succession as she increased her speed on the treadmill. Her arms pumped up and down, flicking large beads of sweat as she continued to sprint. Nearly an hour had gone by but she was still too wired up to stop. She could’ve pulled a freight train she was running so hard.

What the hell am I going to do, she thought to herself; her mind racing just as fast as her legs. If this was what going crazy felt like she understood why most people who did ended up running to hide somewhere, anywhere. She didn’t have such a luxury. Very shortly there would be nowhere in the world she could hide; it would be too late.

She increased her speed another notch and tried to shake the vision of that horrifying scenario out of her head. Panicking was a waste of time; she needed to do something, now. The media frenzy and rumors were supposed to have been enough to drive Isabella away and at first she could’ve kissed whoever it was that had leaked the story to the press, especially since that person clearly wasn’t Pierce. But things had gotten way out of control.

The drug scandal had gotten the federal government involved, criminal charges were pending, and the Monacco business was in serious question. All of it should’ve been enough for the woman to get on the first plane out of town; any sane person would’ve been gone a long time ago. But not Isabella. She had stayed and there was only one reason that Sloane could think of. He was on his way to straighten things out and no matter what it took she could never, ever let that happen. Time was running out, she could feel it in her bones. Isabella had to go...permanently.

She gritted her teeth and began to run even harder, but her right foot slipped out from under her, sending her airborne. Her hands missed the handle bars as she reached out to grab them but she managed to bang on the stop button as her body fell down hard onto the belt below. The machine finally came to a stop. Sweat dripped from her hair into her eyes and she pulled herself back up onto the machine and held on tightly to the handle bars to steady her trembling legs. What the hell is wrong with me? I could’ve killed myself, she thought as she tried to catch her breath. Kill myself, she thought again and let the words bounce around in her head over and over. And suddenly it hit her, hard, with a clarity she had never felt before. As awful as it would be, there was no way around it at this point. She knew exactly what she needed to do.

She hopped off the treadmill and began to move fast, past the sauna, and into the locker room. There wasn’t even time for a shower; she needed to strike now. She grabbed her bag out of the locker and started running for her car, clumsily dialing a number on her cell phone.

“Pierce, its Sloane. I need you to stop whatever you’re doing and meet me downtown. NOW!!”

------------------------------------------------------

Phoenix Heights – Downtown Las Vistas

“Did you get it?” Rider pressed as Jessie approached, holding a folded napkin in her hand. He reached out to grab it, but she jerked away before he could. “Tell me again why you wanted this?” she said, slipping the napkin down the front of her shirt and crossing her arms across her chest. “Just give me the damn thing Jessie! I don’t have time for the games.” Jessie smiled and put her arms down. “Why don’t you just get it yourself?” “Because I don’t put my hands in toxic waste. Give it to me, now!” he shouted.

She turned her back and began to walk away when Wes grabbed her from behind and plunged his hand down into her bra and retrieved the prize. “Get the hell off of me Wes!” she shrieked. Rider ducked out of the path of her balled up fist as it whizzed by and made hard contact with Wes’ chin. He took a few steps away while the two of them tussled, unfolded the napkin and read the scribbled handwriting on it.

Just what he had been looking for: a name and an address of someone who had allegedly known Bianca’s mother. Maybe it wouldn’t add up to much but it was a step in the right direction. Rider turned back to his friends and was surprised to see Wes held up in Jessie’s choke hold. But there was another sight, just down the street, that pulled at his attention.

The shiny jet black body and sparkling chrome wheels could’ve been found on any car, but the steel grey eyes that were peering out of the window at him were distinctive and disturbing. He had seen them the last time he was here and just like before they were piercing into him like a laser. He put the napkin in his pocket and began to move toward the car.

“Where are you going?” Wes said, as he wriggled free from Jessie’s grip. “That car…I’ve seen it before,” Rider replied as he inched down the street. Suddenly the engine started and the car jolted away from the curb and sped past him down the street, leaving him with only a flash of the three occupants; the grey eyed bandit, another man and a woman who looked vaguely familiar as well.

“Who was that?” Wes said.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Give me your keys. I’m driving.”

----------------------------------------------------------------

Palisades Drive – Downtown Las Vistas

Blake made his way down Palisades Ave. dodging the random office workers running into the coffee shops and cafes trying to grab a quick lunch. He ignored the socialites and house wives with their miniature dogs and baby carriages in toe, who took up the entire sidewalk to talk and gossip, forcing him to nearly walk in the street. He passed by the scantily clad gold diggers searching for their next mark and all the cute college girls cutting class to go shopping. He kept walking, kept moving forward, only one thing, or rather, one person planted in his focus.

He only stopped short when he passed by a flower shop and was slapped in the face with the scent of jasmine, an instant reminder of the woman he couldn’t seem to forget. It had been in her hair and washed down the crease of her neck. He closed his eyes briefly and inhaled, each subsequent breath taking him back to the few moments he had held her in his arms.

The sharp beep of a car horn jolted him back to reality and realized he had reached the corner. He looked up and no sooner had the image of her face left his mind did his eyes take in the real thing, looking back at him from across the street. Recognition and a clear yet cautious smile crossed her face when their eyes met; a welcome contrast to the blank stare that she usually greeted him with. The light changed and to his surprise she began walking towards him. He wasted no time stepping off the curb to meet her halfway, the anticipation of what might come next propelling him forward.

Past & Present Pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 01:23:00 +0000

Sagebrush Memorial Cemetary

“Please, please pick up.” The phone rang three more times before Isabella finally ended the call. She had been trying Eden all afternoon; at the house, on her cell, even Reese didn’t know where she was. She probably should’ve asked him to come instead of rushing him off the phone. She should’ve accepted when Lexie had offered to go with her. She should’ve, but she didn’t. Instinct had led her to dial the first few digits of Nico’s number, but involving him wasn’t an option at this point. So instead she sat there, glued to the car seat, terrified to get out, but determined to do so anyway. Stubbornness was the trait her father had passed down and she had gotten the lion’s share of it.

So what had her mother given her? Beauty? Definitely. Grace? For the most part. Her angelic patience? Absolutely not. As much as she reminded everyone else of her mother, she couldn’t think of anything she possessed that would hope to live up to the woman that her mother had been. Maybe it was her secret shame about that fact that had kept her away for this long. Maybe it was far more complicated. Whatever it was, hadn’t stopped her from being there now and it wasn’t going to chase her away either. The one big ‘to do’ on her long list of things to accomplish was getting done now, today, right this minute, no matter what; even if she had to do it alone.

--------------------------------------------------

The large trees shading the area he was standing in provided cover from the sun -- that was high and hot as hell for this time of year -- as well as from any prying eyes that might happen upon him. He wasn't really worried about crying, he had stopped that a long time ago - all he wanted was some private time alone with the birthday girl. He had put his phone on vibrate, so as not to be disturbed, but that was all it had done for the last few minutes, buzzing and wiggling in his pocket. He took it out and looked at it; A.J., checking on him, most likely at Blair’s prompting. He hit the decline button to ignore the call and then held it down until the phone turned completely off. He was fine and A.J. would get the message eventually.

A few feet away from him the gravestone stood planted in the ground, stiff and grey, clean, looking almost brand new, and as usual a large fresh bouquet of white lilies had been placed in the flower holder next to it. The sight of them ignited a slow and angry burn inside of him not only because they were there in place of the bouquet he had planned to put there, but because Skye had never liked lilies in the first place; one of the many details about her that the person who sent them had never paid attention to. That asshole will never learn, he thought to himself as he pushed aside a few of the buds in search of a card of some kind, but came up empty.

He shrugged it off and stared pensively at the inscription on the headstone. Skye Haughton Bolthouse, Always in My Heart. They were not his words -- qualifying what she meant to him in a short phrase wasn't possible, but the sentiment certainly applied. And he hated to admit it, but he knew that the person who had it inscribed felt the same way.

The contrasting emotions that hit him whenever he came here were a part of the reason why his visits were so infrequent. Grief, anger, and guilt all rolled up into a knot in his chest; a pain that had been unbearable at first, but dulled over time. He remembered the first few weeks after Skye’s death, he had practically camped out next to the soft mound of disturbed earth she was buried under, trying to make sense of it all, trying to understand how he could still be living when she wasn’t. Now that dirt was firm under his feet, compacted, and healing. But there were still hairline fractures here and there that matched the ones on his heart -- fissures that prevented it from working the way it had with her, the way that it should.

Until recently he had given up wondering if he would ever fully recover. He had accepted that the void she left was infinite and unfillable, despite his constant efforts to do so with all the women he slept with. But something had changed and no matter how many ways he tried to explain it away he knew that “something” was actually a beautiful blond someone who had awakened a part of him he thought was dead. Maybe Blair was right, he probably should leave his fixation on Isabella alone.

It was complicated for all of the reasons she named. But so was the feeling he got whenever he thought of her, or saw her, or heard her voice. She drew him in in a way that no other woman had since Skye, almost as if sharing the same space with her was like finding his way back to a home he’d never known. It didn’t matter that the connection made no sense, for the first time in a long time it was there, he could feel it, he could feel something, anything at all for another person. Was he really supposed to just walk away from that because it might be inconvenient?

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh, putting his flowers in front of the headstone. This wasn’t the time or place to think about whatever it was between he and Isabella. He bent down and read her name again, silently to himself like a prayer, whispered his “I love you’s” and then rose to leave. He had only gotten a few steps away when the sound of a soft whimper caught his ear. He turned in the direction it came from and stood dumbfounded as his eyes registered the sight before him.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Isabella sucked in a labored breath and slapped her hand across her mouth, trapping the end of the unexpected sob that had escaped. Until that moment she hadn’t realized that her mother’s death hadn’t been completely real to her. Thousands of miles away it had been easy to feed the fantasy that she had held onto in her mind; her mother was still vividly alive in her memories and everything that had happened, was on an indefinite vacation. But now, here she stood, face to face with a cold stone reminder that there had been an end point to her mother’s life, a moment that was burned into her soul forever.

She continued to take deep breaths and blink back tears, but the emotions were overwhelming her. Her shoulders shook as she tried in vain to control herself and her knees began to buckle under the weight of her pain. There was a reason she had put this off for so long, one that had seemed selfish before, but the physical affect her anguish was having on her became a validation for why she had stayed away. She could deal with all the rumors, the press, the angry board members, even the verbal beating that he father would bring with him when he finally showed up. She was strong enough to handle all of things by herself; but not this. Reliving this pain was one thing she couldn't handle alone.

Past & Present Pt. 1

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:41:00 +0000

Ronstad & Bradshaw, LLP - Downtown Las Vistas

“So you are alive. I was beginning to wonder if you had fallen off the face of the earth,” Blair said as Blake walked into her office. He placed a large gift basket on her desk and took a seat. His sister was the incarnation of their mother: same intense blue eyes, thick jet black hair, and the same nurturing spirit that, while comforting, had the capacity to annoy him as well. It wasn’t that her near hovering concern was unwelcome; rather, it simply reminded him far too much of what he had been missing from their mother in the years he had been estranged from his parents.

She looked at him now, stern yet still loving, arms folded, just the way his mother used too whenever he came to her with his tail between his legs, sullen and apologetic for whatever devilment had gotten the better of him. But unlike his sister, a time had come when his mistakes became too much for his mother to handle and Blair had been his protective surrogate ever since.

When she didn’t immediately reach for the package he pushed it towards her. She paused for a moment, hesitating to give into the bribe, before tearing into the shrink wrap. She grabbed a bottle of body wash from the basket, opened the top and sniffed. “Lavender Vanilla,” she sighed, closing her eyes to savor the fragrance. “What did I do to deserve such a lavish gift?”

“It’s a thank you and an apology,” Blake replied, ignoring her sarcasm. “For what exactly?” she said as she rubbed her hands with lotion from the basket. “For putting up with my shit all the time and for the way I acted the last time we saw each other.” She smiled at him and shook her head affirmatively. “I suppose I can grant you forgiveness, just this once. I should apologize too actually. I know you don’t like talking about Skye. I shouldn’t have thrown it in your face that way.”

“I’m fine with talking about Skye. You’re the one who always makes a big deal of it.”

“Okay, then why did you get all huffy when I brought it up the other day?”

“Because you were trying to compare that situation with my so-called interest in Isabella Monacco.”

“And you don’t see the similarities? Skye was the wrong woman then, Isabella is the wrong woman now. Sure, the circumstances are very different, but the outcome would be exactly the same. I don’t want to see you make the same mistake twice. It cost you so much the first time.”

“You mean it cost all of us too much; I know that’s what you’re thinking even if you won’t say it.”

“Fine, I’ll admit that my concern isn’t completely about you. I have a lot to lose if you started something with her that went sour, which it would. But have you stopped to think about what it would mean to be involved with her? Paparazzi everywhere all the time, media scandals, bad press for you and your business, and lets not even talk about having to deal with her tyrant of a father. Carlos Monacco may be thousands of miles away but he is still a powerful man and as far as he’s concerned, your business involvements with Thad make you the enemy. I hate to say it, but you’ve already lost family over something like this; why would you want to risk everything else?

Blake folded his arms and tried hard to keep his expression neutral as he let Blair’s words sink in. He had thought of nothing other than what he thought he wanted from Isabella, and, physical aspects aside, he still wasn’t completely sure what that was. All he knew was that the answer to that question required time and exploration; two things that she had adamantly withheld from him. “I’m not risking anything, because I’m not involved in anything, with anyone and I’m probably not going to be, so this conversation is pointless. And for the record, I’m not the only one who destroyed our family and I’m not the one standing in the way of fixing it.”

“I know that Blake; I didn’t mean it that way. Mom and Dad have their way of thinking about things and so does Blaise. None of it is necessarily right, but I just wish that there was some way that things could go back to the way they were before.”

“That’s never going to happen Blair. He’s not coming back, and as long as our brother stays away nothing is ever going to change. He still blames me for everything that happened and they’ll continue to blame me for driving him away. I’m the problem for him. Until he accepts his part in what happened and forgives me he’s going to keep on running from reality.”

“He not the only one who’s running.”

“What does that mean?”

“Blake you didn’t leave town but emotionally you’re running just as fast as he is. You work all the time, there isn’t a night that you and A.J. aren’t hanging out at the club drinking and picking up bimbos, you haven’t had a real girlfriend since Skye, you just sleep with one after another. Have you gone out on more than three dates with anybody? Have you even let one of them stick around long enough to spend the night? I don’t think you’ve ever slowed down enough to let what happened really register. You think you’ve moved on but you’re still stuck in the same place that he is, wishing things had been different, wishing that Skye was still here. I’m not blind. I don’t say anything because I know you’re still hurting, whether you want to admit it or not, but I remember what today it is and I’m pretty sure those flowers aren’t for me, are they?” she said motioning to the bouquet in the chair.

Blake looked down at the flowers and smiled. “No, they’re not. I’m taking them to the cemetery after I leave here. Her birthday is the only time I go anymore. Everything about the situation has registered with me. You may not like the way I’ve dealt with it and it may not be the best way, but I‘ve accepted what happened and my part in it. It’s over and I can’t undo it. What is there to hold onto? Trust me I’ve moved on.” It wasn’t a total lie but it wasn’t the complete truth either.

“I wish you could hear how cavalier you sound. I’m not buying one bit of it but since you’re being so stubborn I’ll drop it...for now. As long as your ‘moving on’ doesn’t have anything to do with Isabella I won’t push the issue. I’m begging you, for your own good and hers, just leave this one alone.”

Blake opened his mouth to respond when he noticed that his sister was no longer looking at him, but past him to someone standing in the doorway. He turned to see who it was and felt the all too familiar jolt to his chest when his eyes met the deep sapphire blue pair that were staring back at him. Speak of the devil, he thought to himself.

*****************

Isabella stared at Blake from the doorway for a few seconds before taking a tentative step inside. Judging from the look on her face, he was the last person she expected to see there or at the least the last person she wanted to see. “I know I’m early. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” She walked in; staying close to the perimeter of the room, keeping what he felt was a deliberate distance from him.

“Not at all,” Blair replied. “Blake was just leaving.” She threw a stern look his way, urging him to leave, before answering the phone on her desk that had started to ring. She spoke to the caller for a few moments before hanging up and moving toward the door. “I’m sorry, I have to pop into a meeting for a few minutes. I’ll be right back and we can get to work.” She turned to Blake and put a firm grip on his shoulder as he rose from his seat. “Thank you for the gift and for stopping by. We’ll talk later; and don’t forget to have Celeste validate your parking ticket...on your way out!” She unclenched her hand and shot him another serious glare as she walked away.

Isabella moved past Blake and put her purse down in the empty chair in front of Blair’s desk. He inhaled sharply as he caught the scent of shampoo mixed with her perfume as she passed. “White roses,” she said looking down at the bouquet of flowers in the chair beside her. “I’ll have to remember that Blair likes those. I think about fifty dozen will be a start to thank her for everything she’s doing for me.” “Actually she likes red ones, but she likes bubble bath better. Those are for someone else,” he said as he scooped them up. “I’m sure they are,” she replied.

He didn’t know whether to take her remark as a jab or an off handed comment. He knew what she thought of him or at least what she thought she knew about him; and his behavior, past and present, didn’t contradict those notions. But if she would give him a chance, if he could just get more than a few moments alone with her.

He watched her as she moved toward the window and stared out at the park across the street, her expression dazed and somber. He looked out the door of Blair’s office and down the hall towards the conference room. She was still there deeply engaged in addressing a group of what he assumed were co-workers or clients. He looked back at Isabella and the empty room around them and realized that, as inappropriate as it was, this was his time, his chance, right now. For however long he had before Blair returned he finally had this woman all to himself and he wasn’t going to waste another moment of this opportunity.

The wheels in his head began turning, trying to come up with the right things to say, but his body was two steps ahead, moving toward her; his hand reached out and landed on her shoulder with a grip that is far more intense than he had intended. And he didn’t release it when she looked up at him in surprise. Instead he held on and said the only thing that felt right, “You can’t keep this up forever.” If he had ever been unsure of the connection between them before he would never doubt it again. The energy flowing between them was strong and mutual; a fact that she proved as she shrugged his hand off of her and increased the space between to keep it at a more manageable distance.

“What are you talking about?” she said, glaring at him, her expression a combination of disbelief and anger. He closed the gap between them and answered her question. “You know what I’m talking about. Everything around you is going to hell but you walk in here like you’ve got everything under control. This front you’re putting on won’t work for much longer. It’s not real and neither is how you’re dealing with all of this.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“Exactly, and even I can tell it’s fake. How long do you think you can keep this up before you break?”

“As long as I have too,” she said crossing her arms. “You don’t understand the position I’m in. You don’t get it, no one does.”

“Then why don’t you explain it to me.”

“Why would I explain anything to you? I barely know you?”

“You’ve said that already.”

“Because it’s true.”

“What difference does it make? You know a lot of people and I bet you haven’t confided in one of them because you don’t think they’ll understand either, right?”

“That’s right, so why do you think you’ll be any different?” Isabella planted her hand on the back of the chair she was standing next to and leaned closer to him. Who the hell did he think he was, challenging her like this? He was hitting too close to home, too close to the truth.

“Because, like you’ve said, I don’t know you and I don’t have an interest in seeing you lie to the world or yourself. I’m not on the pile of all this shit you’re trying to hold together. Things don’t fall apart for me if you fall apart. All I want is a chance to know who you are.”

“And why on earth would you want to know that?” Blake move forward and put his hand on top of hers and held her gaze. “You know why.”

“I’m sorry Isabella, that took longer than I -” Blair stopped short as she entered the room. She looked at Isabella, then at her brother, and then down at their hands, still connected on the ridge of the chair back. “Blake, I thought you were gone,” she said, the edge on her voice was nearly a hiss. Isabella quickly slipped her hand from underneath of his as they both turned their attention to Blair.

“He was just leaving,” she said as she folded her arms tightly across her body shutting him out again, her eyes locked on his, becoming cold and more distant by the second, warning him not to push things any further. After a moment he relented and slowly moved his hand from the chair and into his pocket. He scooped up the flowers from the chair with his other hand and gave his sister a sheepish grin and a kiss on the check as he left. “Nice seeing you again Isabella. Sis, I’ll give you a call later.” “Oh yes, we’re definitely going to talk later,” she said, maintaining her scowl until as he walked out the door.

Opposition

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 22:09:00 +0000

Ronstad & Bradshaw, LLP - Downtown Las Vistas

Little children were playing in the park across the street, running around after each other, taking turns on the swings, teetering up and down on the seesaw. For the second day in a row the same older couple came and sat on down on one of the benches, sharing a bag of what she could only assume were peanuts from the street vendor they had stopped at before. She watched a flock of birds move from tree to tree, taking off and landing in sync together. Simple events that weren’t very interesting and probably happened day after day, but for some reason she couldn’t help but be sucked in as if her life depended on cataloging each one.

She could hear Blair’s voice in the background, words coming a mile a minute, muffled, peripheral; few of them penetrating the wall that was around her now as she starred off into space, escaping again. She could stay suspended in this mental purgatory forever, wedged somewhere between consciousness and daydreaming. It felt better than paying attention to what was happening in the real world, infinitely better than listening to the deafening sounds of her world crashing down around her.

Every morning she woke up with the foolish notion that things would be a little better, a little easier to deal with, but every morning, despite having changed her number three times, the phones would start ringing off the hook again and she would realize that she had been wrong.

The press was relentless, calling every and anyone she ever knew, news vans posted outside of her neighborhood and her office, everyone desperate to get a comment or a statement of some kind. Law enforcement was no better, they had been crawling around MSI headquarters and the shipping yard looking for any shred of evidence that would nail her to the wall. They had even searched all of her houses and impounded all of the cars that hadn’t been in storage. Nothing was off limits anymore, everything about her business, her family, and her personal life was exposed and the only thing left for anyone to wonder about was how she felt about it all. That was a question that even she hadn’t come up with an answer for.

“Issy? Issy! Did you hear me?” Isabella finally broke her gaze out the window and looked at Blair, shaking her head affirmatively. “I heard you. I’ll do whatever you think is best.” Blair put down the file she had been looking at and walked around and sat on the edge of her desk. “Why don’t we pick this up tomorrow. I’ve got enough to work on for the rest of my life and we only have a few more details to cover to get ready for the board meeting anyway.” Isabella gave her a weak smile. “I’m so sorry about all of this Blair. I should’ve told you what was going on, I just never thought..... but its no excuse. I should’ve been thinking, I should’ve known better. I can’t believe I let him do this to me.”

“Don’t focus on what we can’t change. We have to look forward, not back. Things are under as much control as they can be right now. I have everyone on my team working on this and we are going to find a way to suppress anything they might find in this investigation. Your publicist is working on a statement as we speak and all of the shareholders I’ve talked to are on your side. They don’t think for a minute you had anything to do with this.”

“What about my father? What does he have to say? Have you gotten in touch with him yet?”

“No, his assistant said that he was already on a business trip before everything hit the fan. He’s supposedly unreachable.”

“That’s what she told me too. I’ve called the staff at all of our houses, the pilot, the captains on both yachts, no one has seen or heard from him in over a week. He would never stay out of touch for this long. Something’s up.”

“I’m sure he’s fine, he’s probably keeping a low profile.”

“Even from me? He should be all over this and ripping into me for letting it happen, but he hasn’t said a word. This is way out of character for him. Something is definitely not right.”

“Well what do you think he’s doing then?”

“I don’t know, but whatever it is, I know I’m not going to like it.”

*********************************

De Santos Residence - Azura Beach

What in the world is going on?, Bianca thought as she watched from the window as her father argue with someone over the phone for the third time in an hour. Bits and pieces where all she had been able to pick up but there were three things she knew for sure: 1) It was about his “business” as he always referred to it, 2) It wasn’t good, and 3) Isabella Monacco was involved. How it all fit together was the missing piece she hoped to find on this latest eavesdropping mission. She unlocked the window and began to slowly ease it up so that she could hear better, when she felt some one's hand on her shoulder.

“What are you doing in here?!” she shouted as she jumped back from Rider’s touch. “That’s a question I should be asking you. But I think I already know the answer, he said as he moved past her and put the window back down and locked it. “He’s not talking in the house because he doesn’t want you to hear it. You don’t need to anyway.” He watched her walk away from him to sit on her bed. The protected little princess, pouting on her pink bed, in her pink room.

He had never been in here before and as he looked around he took in all the little details he never knew. The stack of CDs on her desk revealed that they liked some of the same bands; they had one or two of the same books; she liked, no, loved Paris, as she had multiple pictures of the Eiffel Tower strewn around.

He peaked into the bathroom through the open door. More pink there too, a small bottle of Channel No. 5, which must have been the powdery, yet floral fragrance that he had smelled on her skin lately, and a delicate pair of pink lace panties she had left laying on the floor. He abruptly looked away, closed his eyes, and shook his head, trying to loosen the thoughts that came with the sight of those panties. He shouldn’t have come in here in the first place and now it was time for him to leave; way past time. He moved for the door but her defeated little voice stopped him.

“I’m tired of everybody trying to keep things from me. Why does he act like I’m so fragile? I can handle things; I’m not a kid anymore.” Rider turned back in her direction, just in time to see a single tear form in the corner of her eye that she quickly wiped away. Reluctantly, he sat down on the bed beside her, purposely maintaining as much space between then as possible without falling off. “You are a kid,” he said, reminding herself of that fact just as much as he was reminding her. “He’s trying to protect you. Their business is no joke Bianca and it’s nothing you want to be involved in at all. Trust me, it’s for your own good.”

“God I'm sick of hearing that!” she shouted, jumping up from the bed. “First of all their “business” is drug dealing. I’m not an idiot Rider, I know what they do. My father is a drug dealer, so is Rook. Auto body work didn’t buy this house, or the cars, or all the shoes and clothes I get; drugs did. They don’t carry guns for fun. They use them to threaten and kill people. I know all about it, I’ve always know, no matter how hard you’ve all tried to keep it from me. I know and I don’t care. What sucks is not knowing what’s going to happen next. Is my father going to get arrested? Is he going to get hurt or killed? Should I be happy when he comes home with presents for me or should I be concerned that he’s going to disappear for days after that? Am I going to find out something else crazy, like all the stuff about my mother? Am I ever going to really know everything? I don’t know! That’s why I have to spy on him. I can’t trust him to tell me anything. And if you think that’s for my own good, I can’t trust you either.”

Rider reached out and grabbed her arm when she turned to walk away, and, surprising them both, pulled her into his arms against her resistance until she relented and broke down into tears. She let him hold her for a long moment and this time he let himself enjoy the feeling he had shrugged off before. When she had calmed down, she released herself from his grip and took a step back, taking in a look in his eyes that she had never seen before. Rider had his moments, but other than the night by the pool he hadn’t shown her the slightest bit of kindness or sympathy. What was different now?

“You can trust me,” he said breaking the tense silence. “I know this hard for you, that’s why I didn’t say anything about you being at that diner the other day. That and the fact that I was covering my own ass. I was hoping that you would get the hell over all this, but I see you’re just as nosy as ever,” he said with a smile that she cautiously returned. “I’m just tired of being in the dark about my own life,” she said increasing the space between them, which he quickly closed, placing his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll tell you what; If you stop snooping and sneaking out of the house, I’ll help you find out what you want to know. Deal?” She squinted at him skeptically before shaking the hand he had extended. It was improbable and out of the blue, but Rider’s new-found kindness and generosity were the only things she had to work with right now. What other choice did she have but to take them at face value. “Deal,” she replied.

****************************************

Later that afternoon........De Santos Bros. Auto Body - Downtown Las Vistas

“I hope you’re happy now!” Reese said startling Nico and the two mechanics that were standing next to him. He motioned for the men to leave and they quickly obeyed as he spun around to face his visitor. “You got a warrant or something?” Nico asked, clearly agitated by his presence. “I don’t, but Luke will be by with one at some point today.” “Well then I’ll deal with him later. You can get the fuck out,” he growled as he turned his back and began to walk away.

Reese let out a laugh as he followed him further into the garage bay. “I don’t get you. You’re one of the most calculating, defensive, slick ass criminals I know but five minutes around her makes you dumb as a bag of rocks. I just want to know if it was worth it. Whatever it is you think you have with her, was it worth all this? I knew she was beyond saving a long time ago, but you? I thought you’d have had the sense to stop things before they went this far.

Nico rattled around with some tools on the bench, not speaking, refusing to look back, trying to keep his temper in check, realizing he wouldn’t be able to, when Reese started talking again. “There are Feds all over her office, her house, everywhere. She’s not used to this shit and she’s scared to death. If they find anything, if this has your name written on it in any way-” Nico spun around, rage propelling his body, knocking screw drivers and wrenches to the floor with a piercing clang. “What?!! What the hell do you mean if I had anything to do with it? You know I would never do this to her. What the fuck is wrong with you?!!”

“Come on Nico, all the pieces fit. You’ve got “product” to buy and sell, she’s got a yard full of boats and empty crates that get shipped all over the world. It’s the perfect scenario. You just kept pouring gas on that stupid torch she’s still carrying around for you so that you could get what you wanted and leave her holding the bag. The problem is you got greedy, stayed too long and now you’re neck deep in shit too. She doesn’t deserve this, especially not from a thug like you. Be a man! Take the wrap for the mess you’ve made and clear her name. For once in you life do that right thing.

Nico sucked in a ragged breath and slowly walked up close to Reese, keeping his voice venomous and low. “I guess you would know all that; doing the right thing. Because you’ve never made a mistake in your life have you Boy Scout? You’ve never slipped up and gone down the wrong path, right? And you’ve definitely never gotten caught up in some bullshit over a woman right? Reese’s face drew up tightly, stiffened with anger as Nico continued. “No, that’s not something anyone would ever believe you were capable of. Never in a million years. Right?”

He paused for a moment, watching the heat coming off of his former friend. He had never seen him this angry before and the thought of Reese loosing control, charging at him was enticing. One hit, that’s all he needed to take and then he would have free reign to beat the crap out of him, a vice he was dying to indulge in.

But Reese pulled back, took a breath and did his best to remain calm. “That was a long time ago and helping me then didn’t make you some kind of hero. You were in the wrong place at the right time and that situation is the only reason you’re on this side of a jail cell. Remember that!”

“Well you remember this. You and I both know that I didn’t do this to her. I love her; she loves me and there isn’t a damn thing you or anyone else can do about it. So if you thought coming over here huffing and puffing and poking your chest out was going to make you her hero, you’re dead wrong. Take your cape off and stop wasting your time. As long as I’m breathing you are never going to be anymore to her than you’ve always been; just a friend. Now get the fuck out of here!!”

The Tipping Point

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 02:00:00 +0000

8:45am Monacco Desert Cottage - Vista Glenn

Her hand slid from underneath the warmth of her pillow and began methodically rubbing up and down the length her legs that, at some point, had been tucked up against her chest. The raised goose bumps dotting her skin began to recede as the chill ran down to her feet. She used her other hand to blindly pull the tightly made bed covers down until she was able to tuck herself underneath of them, pulled them up high, bunching them up to her neck to keep out the cool breeze that had wafted into the room. It wasn’t until the sun peaked out from behind a cloud and flashed through her window, that she realized it was morning.

She kept her eyes shut and without even looking, she knew he wasn’t there; it wouldn’t be this cold if he was. But she needed confirmation, so she allowed her disbelieving hand to shoot out from around her body and go on a fruitless search of the left side of her bed. Nothing but cold stiff sheets and a large void were Nico was supposed to be. Her hand retreated back to its duty of warming her skin, but this time it registered that there was a barrier she hadn’t noticed before: nylon stockings. She lifted the cover and, finally opening her eyes, looked down to see that she was still wearing her clothes from the night before. She let the blanket fall back over her and lay still for a few moments before propping herself up on her arm and leaning over to the nightstand to check her phone. Just as she suspected there were no missed calls and no messages.

Her fingers began to dial his number again, but she thought better of it, and slammed the phone back down. Throwing the covers off of her in one fluid motion, she swung her half-warm legs out, letting them dangle over the edge of the mattress. She sat there for a moment, adjusting her eyes to the sunlight beaming in her face. Anger began to bubble up inside of her as she realized that the cycle that she had been in for the past few days was starting up again: calling him, getting no answer, not hearing from him, worrying about him, calling again, and again, and again. Things had looked like they were on the road to normalcy when she had finally spoken to him the day before, but now, as she sat on the edge of her empty bed, stood up and alone, she realized that she couldn’t have been more wrong. As of last night he was alive and well with nothing stopping him from fulfilling his promise to come over. If he didn’t want to see her that was his choice; she wasn’t going to chase him anymore.

She stripped off her clothes, threw on a robe, and went to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee, as if she needed to be anymore on edge than she was already. She held the mug tightly, letting the heated porcelain warm her hands, and turned to leave as she took her first sip. The sight of the phantom package, supposedly sent by her dead mother, turned that sip into a startled and burning gulp when she noticed it on the counter. She put the mug down and approached it cautiously as if it might sprout teeth and bite her. Her preoccupation with Nico had allowed her to temporarily file away any curiosity she had, but now that she was face to face with it again it couldn’t be ignored.

Lexie had begun investigating its origins the moment she saw the return address, which was nothing more than a fake P.O. box registered in Glasgow, England, her mother’s home town. She had checked with the courier company both locally and overseas to get any information she could: credit card numbers, a description of the person who had dropped it off, names of anyone who had handled it before it got to the destination. She had gotten every piece of information she could except for what was contained inside; that, Isabella would have to investigate personally.

She pulled the package closer to her and brushed her hand lightly across her mother’s name before ripping off the wrapping and removing the box top. Inside, underneath of a mound of tissue paper, was a silk scarf, identical to the one her mother wore, inscribed with the word LIAR written in blood red lipstick. She yanked it out of the box and threw it on the counter; fear, anger, and a million questions filling her mind. Who would want to do something like this and what animal would use her mother’s memory to do it?

“Oh my God!” Lexie shrieked, causing Isabella to nearly jump out of her skin. She had been so distracted by the offending gift she hadn’t heard her walk up from behind. “Put this in a plastic bag, call Reese and ask him to have the forensics lab take a look at this; take the wrapping paper too. Tell him to put a rush on it please,” Isabella said pushing the package away from her. “Are you okay?” Lexie asked. “I’m fine, for now. Thank you.” Lexie gave her boss a concerned pat on the shoulder before taking the box away. Isabella took a deep breath, picked up her coffee mug again, now very tempted to add a shot of liquid courage to it, and took a sip. What the hell does this mean, she thought to herself.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

9:00am Las Vistas Police Dept. – Downtown Las Vistas

The clock on the wall had to be broken. It was 9 o’clock when he first looked at it and it read the same time now. He’d lost track of how long he’d been sitting there in that chair, his butt had numbed and thawed several times over and at one point he’d even fallen asleep at the table. Hours had obviously passed, but if that clock was right, it meant that he had been here for twelve of them, trapped between four ashy grey walls; saying nothing, going nowhere and late as hell to where he had been headed in the first place.

He let out a sigh as he thought about Isabella and how worried she must have been. She was probably even pissed at this point and she had every right to be. Even though this situation wasn’t his fault, shutting her out all this time had laid the ground work for the argument he knew was coming. He would take everything she dished out; he had to. After all, he was the one who had doubted the love and loyalty that she had gone beyond proving, and right now all he wanted, besides his freedom, was to make things right with her and enjoy the make-up sex that would be the reward for his groveling.

What the hell is taking so long, he thought to himself as he shifted his position in the chair. By now he should’ve called his attorney, had his paperwork processed, and he should’ve been walking out the door; but he wasn’t. He was sitting here, neck and back stiff, dog tired, mad as a hornet, waiting for another round of questioning to begin.

And so it did as Officer Luke Barrett burst through the door again. Unmoved, Nico returned the challenging stare he was given and remained silent. Luke let out a frustrated sigh and began his next attempt to crack the unbreakable man. “It’s late—well, early at this point—and I’m tired. You’re tired. You say you don’t know anything and I know that’s a crock of shit. I think you know exactly what happened and you probably did it yourself, but for the sake of argument, let’s just say that you didn’t’ pull the trigger. Let’s say you didn’t have someone else do it. How do you explain the fact that we have evidence that you were in that room when Lorenzo St. James died?” Nico sat silently, giving nothing more than an angry smirk before leaning back in his seat, maintaining his blank stare.

“Okay, fine!” Luke shouted as he hopped up from his seat, sending the chair crashing to the ground. “If this is how you want things to go, that’s fine. I’ll just send this evidence over to the DA’s office and let them take it from there. I don’t have to time for this shit.” A sadistic smile crossed Nico’s face as he stood up from the table as well.

“You know what I’m tired of? I’m tired of you acting like I’m a fucking idiot. You and I have done this dance more than once and just because it’s been a while doesn’t mean I’ve suddenly become retarded. You don’t have shit on me. No evidence, no witnesses, you might have a motive but then so do half a dozen other people he screwed over. Lorenzo was begging to get popped and I wish I could say I did it, but it wasn’t me. I didn’t know anything last night, I don’t know anything now, and I’m not going to know anything later. I don’t need this shit and that’s the last time I’m going to say it. Give me a fucking phone so I can call my lawyer and get the hell out of here. NOW!!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

12:05 pm Carlyle Residence - Azura Beach

In local news today, shipping heiress Isabella Monacco has come under fire once again. Allegations of an illegal drug operation within Monacco Shipping International were made by an MSI employee while he was being detained for possession of an illegal substance. According to police, the employee, whose identity has not been revealed, stated that he was one of many “delivery men” that smuggled drugs into and out of the MSI shipping yard between cargo drops, a practice that he says began several months ago, shortly after Isabella Monacco took over the role of CEO.

----------------------------------------------------

De Santos Bros. Auto Body - Downtown Las Vistas

This revelation comes about just as a series of photos have emerged, capturing Ms. Monacco in compromising positions with Nico De Santos, alleged leader of the city’s most notorious drug trafficking gang and person of interest in the murder of Lorenzo St. James. Ms. Monacco vehemently denied any connection to De Santos when rumors of a romantic relationship were reported upon her return to Las Vistas, but these photos, that show the two convening at her home and his place of business on numerous occasions, in most cases in the middle of the night, prove otherwise.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Stevens Public Relations - Downtown Las Vistas

The implications of this relationship along with the drug ring allegations have MSI shareholders, as well as officials at both the SEC and the Department of Justice, on high alert. While no official investigation into the business dealings of Monacco Shipping International has been announced, Jonathan Van Cleef, Director of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the DOJ issued this warning: “Our office has been contacted about this matter and any criminal connections or impropriety in this situation will be handled swiftly and appropriately.” Representatives for Ms. Monacco and her company could not be immediately reached for comment. We will continue to bring you up to the minute coverage as this breaking story unfolds.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Monacco Desert Cottage - Vista Glenn

“Boss, I think you need to see this.”

“That bastard!”

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Author's Note: Not that I expect anyone to notice this, but I changed the box that Isabella's "gift" came in. In the previous episode there was a big, awful looking red box on the counter and here the box is smaller and blue. This is in no way pivotal to the plot and honestly isn't worth mentioning but it bothered the hell out of me so I figured I would address it. That is all.

Complications

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Stevens Public Relations Offices - Downtown Las Vistas

"Did you send it?"

"I told you I would get it done baby."

"Did anyone see you?"

"No I had someone else do it"

"Damn it Pierce!"

"Relax sweetness. She has no good reason to screw herself by telling anyone anything. She’s been well paid. Now come here."

"No!" Sloane hissed through gritted teeth as she pushed him away. "You better make sure she doesn’t say a damn word. No one can know where this came from and I swear to God if someone at your job gets a hold of this information I’ll kill you!" she said grabbing the front of his shirt in her fist releasing it only when his troubled expression let her know he understood.

"Nothing goes to print without my say so, you know that. Look, I’ve done everything you asked me to do and I’ve made sure that there is no way any of it is coming back to you. Everything is going to work out, just trust me. I haven’t let you down yet baby, right?" Pierce moved closer to her, extending his arms again to hold her, but he was shot down. "No, not yet, but you will. It’s only a matter of time."

**************************************************

Mariposa Restaurant - Downtown Las Vistas

Blake sat at the bar glancing at his watch. A.J. had already kept him waiting for an hour and he still hadn’t shown up which meant he was probably occupied with his latest bed mate. Thad hadn’t arrived either which really boiled his blood. He hated these quarterly meetings that the two of them insisted on. Spreadsheets and revenue statements had never been his thing and he would’ve much rather curled up with a bottle of Cognac and a well endowed woman, like A.J. was probably doing. He wanted to get out of there, and not just because he was bored to tears.

So far he had successfully adhered to his decision and kept away from Isabella, but tonight, with the two of them in the same vicinity, being so close to her had proven a difficult test of his resolve. His eyes had been glued to her the whole night and as he glanced across the room he caught her in his gaze again; her dress virtually painted to her frame, the bodice gripping her body like a vice. He imagined that it had been a time consuming task for her to get it on -- if he could have his way it would only take him seconds to get it off of her.

Stop it, he thought to himself averting his eyes from her briefly to a random spot on the floor and then back up again. Blair was right, his fascination with her was a problem and not just for her career aspirations. The physical attraction he had to her was unlike anything he’d felt before and it was only heightened by an equally strong emotional pull that made utterly no sense to him. He barely knew this woman but everything about her from the curves of her face, her smile, her laugh, and all the buried emotions he could see so clearly when he looked in her eyes was as familiar as if he had experienced it a thousand times before.

She was like a foreign language he’d never heard before but was somehow able to speak fluently, and for other reasons he couldn't comprehend, he knew that he wasn’t feeling this connection alone. The anxious look on her face every time their eyes met was proof of that. She was right there with him as uncomfortably drawn to him as he was to her, but she was far from ready to acknowledge it let alone explore it. He, on the other hand, was well past the point of denying what he wanted, what he needed. Whatever this was between them, the time had come for him to act on it and somehow he had to convince her that it was okay for her to do the same.

******************************’*

“This is an excellent proposal Isabella, exactly what we were looking for. I’ll have my assistant call yours to set up another meeting later in the week to iron out all the details. You’ve really brought this company back from the brink. Your father should be very proud of the success you’ve made here.”

“Thank you Mr. McNeil you should call him and tell him that. He would love to hear from you. I’m sorry we had to cut this short but I understand you have another engagement.” She smiled sweetly as the lie came out of her mouth. As happy as she was to have secured another important contract she wasn’t at all sorry that the meeting had to end. She was more than ready to leave and the fact that Nico was coming over was at the top of the list of reasons why. All the texting and talking they’d done over the phone the night before had only scratched the surface of how much she needed to be near him, feel his skin on hers, feel his love and strength wrapped around her; inside of her.

As she stood up to shake his hand she felt the other reason she wanted to leave boring his steel blue eyes into the back of her skull. She glanced in his direction and sure enough he was still there, his gaze fixed firmly on her. They’d been playing this staring game all night, this time, however, he gave her a weak smile just before he turned his head away again. It shouldn't have made much of a difference; men stared at her all the time, but something about the way he did it made her feel exposed; that intense and knowing stare that sliced right through her, as if he was trying to see straight into her soul.

It was the same feeling she had the night of his club opening, and that day she had literally bumped into him at the restaurant; an ever tightening knot in her stomach every time she found herself in his line of sight. The feeling was even more pronounced now only a few feet away; his eyes waiting for hers to look back up at him, waiting to connect with her in some way.

Refusing to give him her full attention, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other until Mr. McNeil was blocking her view of him. She exchanged a few more pleasantries with the group before they finally left the table, exposing her again. She looked in his direction again but to her surprise Blake had moved from his seat at the bar and was in the process of walking across the restaurant with an obvious destination in mind.

Isabella turned away from him, began to casually fidget with her hair but stopped herself. He was a cocky, although attractive, playboy with no more interest in her than another notch in his bed post. What was she so nervous about? She took a controlled breath as she heard his footsteps stop right behind her. “Isabella. How nice to see you again.”

Isabella turned around quickly, startled by the fact that the voice she heard was the last one she expected. Thad Carlyle stood in front of her, arms crossed with a devilish look in his eyes, smiling at her like a cat that had just swallowed a canary. She folded her arms in kind and took a step a back trying hard to pull back the disgusted look she knew was written all over her face. “What do you want Thad?”

“Whoa, whoa,” he said putting his arms up in front of his chest as if he were blocking a hit. “Is that anyway to talk to a family friend?”

“Friend? Friends don’t lie, they don’t cheat, they don’t steal, they don’t nearly run other friends companies into the ground, and they certainly don’t encourage key executives at other companies not to do business with said company. Our parents might have been friends Thad, be we never were; not now and not ever.”

The angry smile that crossed his face let her know that she had hit a nerve but instead of becoming indignant he let out a fake laugh. “Clearly we have a difference of opinion on how things transpired during my tenure running MSI. I’m sure if we talk things through you might see this from my point of view. Maybe if you had the same facts that I’ve got, know what I know, see what I’ve seen....I have no doubt you would see what a valuable asset I am to you; professionally and personally.”

“The only asset of value you have to offer me Thad is your absence from my life, professionally, personally, and otherwise. Now get out of my way!” she replied as she made her move to leave, but someone else was in her way. “Hey Thad, is everything okay here?” Blake said putting a hand on his shoulder but directing the question to Isabella. “Everything is fine Blake. Ms. Monacco and I are just getting our positions straight. I really hoped that you’d reconsider for your own sake, but I definitely know where I stand now.”

“I’m glad you do, because it is the only permanent position you’ll have with me or my company.” She turned to leave, intentionally brushing past him and then turned her attention to Blake. “You should be more careful of the company you keep, all snakes bite eventually; especially this one,” she said as she made her way to the door. Once again he watched her walk away from him and any chance he had to pursue their connection further. As much as fate seemed to put them in the same place at the same time it also repeatedly put something his way, keeping him stuck at square one where she was concerned. There had to be some way he could move forward, some way to get her alone.

“Oh she’s going to get bitten; bitten hard,” Thad said, interrupting his thoughts. “And it will be her own damn fault.”

***********************************************************

South Coast Highway - Las Vistas Foothills

Nico, adjusted his rear view mirror to deflect the blinding glare of the flashing red and blue lights behind him and, as a precaution, flicked on his right turn signal as he steered the car in the same direction, stirring up sand into a hazy cloud of dust as he came to an abrupt stop on the side of the road. The cops that patrolled this highway were proven assholes and he'd be damned if he was going to get a ticket on a stupid technicality. The cop had been following him for quite a few miles before the lights and sirens started and something didn't feel right about it. He had just gotten his brake lights replaced, his tags were current, and although he was anxious to get to where he was going, he hadn't been speeding. Every instinct he had told him that this was no routine stop.

He took out his cell phone from the center console to call Isabella; he would just have to add being late to the list things he’d done wrong lately where she was concerned. But as he looked into his rear view again, the sight of the officer approaching stopped him mid-dial.

"Nico, it's been a while." Luke said with an angry smile on his face.
"Not long enough."
" How about I take you for a ride downtown so we can catch up? Get the hell out of that car with your hands up. NOW!!"

***********************************

Monacco Desert Cottage - Las Vistas

Isabella slammed her car door, still boiling from her encounter with Thad. Who the hell did that bastard think he was? Family friend her ass. He had done everything in his power to sabotage her efforts to clean up his mess, but he hadn’t succeeded. That’s what made his words, his demeanor, the confidence he had displayed so puzzling. The only communication they had had since their first run in were the few dirty looks they exchanged when they happened to wind up in the same pubic space or the second hand rumblings she’d heard from prospective business partners about his attempts black ball her. Now all of a sudden he was seeking her out to chat and clear up her so-called misunderstandings? It didn’t make sense and it wasn’t how he operated. Something was up and she needed to find out what that was, and fast.

That would have to wait though, Nico would be there soon and she needed to get ready. She walked into the house and before she could call Lexie’s name, she was standing in front of her, an unusually worried look on her face. “I’ve been trying to call you,” she said stepping up closer to her, almost blocking her way into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong Lexie?”

“I don’t know if it’s wrong, but it’s definitely not right.” She took a breath before continuing.
“You got a package today from someone who couldn’t possibly have sent it.”

“What do you mean? Who is it from?”

“It’s from....your mother.”

Friends & Enemies

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 03:31:00 +0000

Fountain Park - Downtown Las Vistas

“Have you finally gotten what I've been asking for?” Thad spoke, continuing to look straight ahead as if he didn't know the man sitting next to him. “Yes. Her house is too secluded and the neighborhood is gated. I had to wait for her to go to him.”

The man pulled an envelope from his pocket and tossed it onto the empty space on the bench beside him. Thad discreetly scooped it up and began thumbing through the pictures. “And she finally did, just like I knew she would. When it comes to the opposite sex, she's a junkie just like her father. Stupid spoiled bitch.”

“There seemed to more there than just that,” the man said in a matter-of-fact tone, looking away from Thad who turned his head to look at him this time. “And you had a whole lot of fucking time to examine that didn't you? You insisted on playing things safe, respecting privacy, decency--”

“The law, maybe?” the man said, emotionless, looking straight ahead again. “Whatever you want to call it, there should be nothing illegal about taking pictures of people when they do things outside of the confines of their home, I don't care if it is on their patio. If she really didn't want anyone see it she would've kept it inside.”

“It is what it is. You got what you wanted and now I'm out of it. I expect my money first thing in the morning, Thad; no later.” Thaddeus gave him a silent nod and with that the man stood from the bench and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

“Well, no time like the present,” he said as he stuffed the envelope into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “Pam, connect me with Mr. Van Cleef at the Department of Justice, right now.”

********************************************

Guttierrez Residence - Vista Glen

“So that’s all that Reese said? He hasn’t seen him but he thinks he knows where he’s been? Did he say what even that means?” Isabella stood with her arms crossed, holding herself in place, trying not to start pacing again; trying to stop thinking about the fact that she just saw her best friend’s husband in town when he wasn’t supposed to be; trying figure out if she should tell her; trying to stop feeling selfish for asking about the man that she loves when her friend should be keeping an eye on her own. Most of all she was desperately trying to hold off the anxious feeling that was churning in her stomach, threatening to drive her crazy. If Reese thought he knew were Nico had been that meant he wasn’t in jail or dead, yet, but it didn’t mean that he wasn’t in trouble. It also didn’t mean that he was. She was getting ahead of herself. She had to hold it together especially in front of Zoe.

Eden put her daughter down on the floor with a toy to occupy her and looked at her friend with calm reassurance. “I think it means that Nico or one of his, uh, people, may have rubbed Reese the wrong way today, but nothing major. He would’ve told me if he was in jail or something like that. He keeps up with him, you know; almost looks after him in a way. As much as they pretend to hate each other, Reese still cares what happens to him. They were best friends and that doesn’t just dissolve completely.”

Isabella unclenched her arms from around her body and let out a sigh, doing her best to return the smile that her friend was giving her. That was the thing about Eden, she always found a way to make things feel like they were going to be okay, eventually. “I’m sorry. I feel like a teenager asking you to ask your brother if his friend still likes me. This is ridiculous. He’s going to call me. I know he’s going to call me.”

“That’s exactly what we used to tell you in high school,” Eden said, looking at Isabella pensively and she stared right back. That look, one that they had shared several times, where no words were ever exchanged but the same thing was always communicated and left to drift off into the silence until another subject came up. They both knew that the “we” Eden referenced went beyond just the two of them, but they never spoke about their thrid, as if she was the outcast member of a singing group that hadn’t been replaced and was seldom mentioned in interviews. This time, however, Isabella decided that she was finally ready to buck that tradition.

“You can say her name Eden. It’s okay.”

“Is it really? You haven’t said it yet. Not once in all the time you’ve been back. That’s the only reason I haven’t.”

“I know.”

“Is is it still that hard to think about her?

“Yes.” Isabella said the one word answer as if it was an answer, as if it explained everything she had felt about Sloane. It wasn’t an answer and it was as quick and vague as the demise of their relationship.

She had pushed the memories so far away, that at times, she managed to forget that they lived in the same city, especially since, up to this point, they had never run into each other. It was almost as if the woman didn’t exist and until this moment she was a ghost that Isabella had stopped worrying about encountering. So why was it still so hard to think about her? She decided not to leave Eden hanging; to at least start trying to peel back the layers of questions and pain and loss that she had compartmentalized and left for dead.

“When I first came back, you were the only person I wanted to see because I missed you and at least I knew you wouldn’t hate me. I was afraid to see Nico, but it was different with him. He didn’t know what happened. I was just gone one day and I never tried to contact him again. There were things I had to explain to him, I had to let him know how I felt, how much I loved him. With Sloane its completely the opposite. I’m the one that doesn’t know what happened. One day she just hated me, for no reason. She kept saying that I should know what I had done, but I didn’t and I still don’t, and all of this happened when my mother died. The one time in my life when I needed her the most she wasn’t there and the things she was saying just made everything worse. In one day I lost my mother and my best friend. I lost someone who was like a sister to me. I lost everything all at once. Its a piece of the past that’s still broken and thinking about it just....hurts.”

Eden’s put a hand on her shoulder. “I know what you mean, I lost two sisters that day.” Isabella gripped Eden’s hand, giving her a sad smile of acknowledgement. She had forgotten that she wasn’t the only one whose world had been altered. She began to speak but Eden smiled back and shook her head. “Its okay. I’m glad I’ve gotten one of you back.”

*****************************

Author's Note: There was actually a very short (one pic) third scene where Nico finally reaches out to Issy that was supposed to go with this update, but my stupid game crashed just as I was about to take the shot. Needless to say I wasn't loading the game again for one shot that didn't have any real writing to go with it. Instead I've opted to post this link of their Twitter conversation that will be somewhat important for next episode.

Crossing Paths Pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 01:47:00 +0000

Blake shifted his weight on the hard seat of his chair, so that the left side of his butt wouldn’t fall asleep again and stretched his legs out, fighting for space with the pile of shopping bags at his feet. He pulled out his phone to check his emails; nothing since he had looked ten minutes ago. How long could it take to find one damn dress, he thought to himself. He had left to grab something to eat 30 minutes ago and she still wasn’t finished. It was already quarter to five and he had to pick up Rachel at seven. She was going have to hurry up or he would have to cut this short, an option he didn’t like given that he had yet to be properly rewarded for his patience.

“Jamie, baby, are you almost ready?” he called out, trying to mask his irritation. “Yeah, I think this is the one, come tell me what you think.” Rolling his eyes, he made a quick sweep of the store, making sure none of the sales girls would see him slip through the archway of the dressing room and made his way to where she was. His jaw almost hit the floor when she pulled back the curtain.

“Yes, gorgeous I think that is the one,” he said gripping his hands around her waist and then sliding them further down. He tugged at the thigh high hem and let the tight fabric snap back against her skin before burying his face in her neck and tugging at the zipper. “Blake stop,” she giggled as she slipped from his grasp. He entered into the cubicle and pulled the curtain closed and pulled her into passionate kiss. This time she didn’t resist, and flashed him a coy smile. Maybe he would get his reward after all.

Without another thought about where they were or who might hear them, he continued his pursuit of her, nibbling on her earlobe and hiking the dress up above her hips. Her body compiled with his every touch, just as he knew she would. This is was the game he was good at; persistence breaking down hesitation, pursuit leading to a capture and no matter what happened after this, he would be the winner. Gain everything and lose nothing. It was the only way to play.

“Excuse me,” a high pitched voice said from the other side of the curtain. “Only one person is allowed in a dressing room at a time. And that person shouldn’t be a man.” They had been caught, a thought that made Blake even more excited, but he composed himself, gently moved Jamie’s hands off of the waistband of his pants, and zipped them back up while she pulled down her dress. Pulling the curtain open he flashed a smile at the saleswoman. “It’s a shame you have such strict rules, otherwise I could’ve asked you to join us.” He couldn’t help but laugh at the disgusted expression on her face as he walked past her and out of the dressing area. He pulled out his phone again. He would have to push his date with Rachel back a few hours; there was no way he was going to leave this business unfinished.

“Will that be all for you today Ms. Monacco?” The saleswoman’s words stopped Blake mid-dial and he gripped the phone tightly so as not to drop it. Without thinking he whipped his head in the direction the voice had come from. Sure enough, without warning, there she was. His eyes raked up the length of her body taking in every inch from her painfully high stilettos all the way up to her face and into her deep blue eyes. Everything he remembered and everything he had tried so hard to forget.

He pulled his eyes off of her and looked back down at the phone he was nearly crushing with his hand. It had been several weeks since he had decided to give up the foolish game of cat and mouse he’d been playing with her and get back to his old self and he honestly thought he had been successful. He was out at the club every night, sleeping with a different girl or two every night; no strings and no regrets. She had been out of sight and out of mind which had allowed him to believe that whatever feelings he had for her had passed. But as he reluctantly moved his head back in her direction, his eyes betraying him as well, the tight feeling in his chest at the sight of her confirmed it; if he ever thought she was out of his system, he was dead wrong.

Just then he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Jamie dressed with her shopping bags in toe. “Blake, I said I’m ready to go. Didn’t you hear me?” He hadn’t, and shook his head accordingly before taking a few bags from her. “I know you said you’ve got plans later but I thought you could cancel them and we could go back to your place,” she said seductively stroking his arm. “No. Not tonight baby. There’s a problem I need to take care of.”

*******************************************************

“Damn it,” Isabella muttered to herself as she checked her cell phone again. No missed calls or voicemails. Her trip to Nico’s garage had left her with nothing more than a few one word answers from the service manager and ogling stares from the other mechanics and as time continued to crawl by she was beginning to worry more about his physical well being than his emotional state. There was only one person that she knew of who might be able eliminate one of the many disturbing possibilities floating around in her head.

She gripped her phone again and began to scroll through her contacts for Reese’s work number. She began walking down the block toward where her car was parked as the phone rang; once again she was greeted by a recorded message that she hung up on abruptly. Maybe Eden knew where he was. Just as she was about to dial her number, movement in her peripheral vision caught her eye.

She looked up, squinted her eyes a bit to focus, focused hard. A man walking down the street, something very familiar about him; was that Cyrus? It couldn’t be. Eden had said that he was still out of town. But still, it looked very much like him, the hair, body build, and skin tone. Just as she was about to call his name her phone rang. “Eden, I was just about to call you,” she said as she looked back up to catch another glimpse of the man on the street. He was gone.

****************************************************

“I’m in the middle of something Eden, can this wait?” The wheels in Reese’ head were turning as he glanced down at the body at his feet. Lorenzo St. James, one of the city’s most wanted drug traffickers was laying there dead and he was hot on the trail of the killer; his sister had horrible timing. “This will just take a minute. I just got off the phone with Issy. She hasn’t heard from Nico in a few days and she’s worried about him. She wanted me to check with you to see if you…knew anything, if you know what I mean.”

Did he know anything? A flash of anger surged through him. Issy still didn’t get it. The very fact that she had to ask him, a cop, about where her so-called boyfriend was should’ve told her to run fast and far away; but it didn’t. She was still holding on, desperate to make wine out of sewer water. He looked back at the body and then at a plastic bag he was crushing with his hand. He held it up to the light, studied its contents again. A small matchbook with the imprint: DeSantos Bros. Auto Body stared back at him; an incriminating identifier that might be the beginning of the end of a few things in Nico’s world. “Reese are you there?” Eden asked when he didn’t immediately answer. “I’m here. You can tell her that I don’t know where he is now, but I have a damn good idea about where he’s been.”

Crossing Paths Pt. 1

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 22:19:00 +0000

“Foul!” Wes shouted as Rider’s shoulder plowed into him sending him to the ground. “Bullshit,” Rider shouted back as the ball left his hands and flew towards the basket, hitting the rim rather than going through the net. “You bumped into me and I’m the one with the ball. If anyone has a foul it’s you.” Wes sat up but remained on the ground, winded from the fall. “Fine, then I call a time out. Take your damn shots.”

Rider stepped up to the line and raised the ball up over his head, squinting a bit to aim at the basket. “Hey,” Wes shouted, intentionally trying to break his concentration. “You going to the party at Marco’s tonight or are you stuck babysitting again?” Rider lowered the ball and glared at him, annoyed. “I told you, I’m not babysitting, just watching Nico’s shit. Sometimes that includes his kid and sometimes it doesn’t. I’ll go as long as your girl has a friend or sister for me. I’m not going to sit around like an asshole while you two go at it. ”

Wes laughed as he got to his feet. “I’ll hook something up for you. Trust me.” Rider chuffed at the thought. The last time Wes ‘hooked him up’ he had spent the night ducking one of the most unfortunate looking girls he’d ever seen. The fact that she was nearly twice his height was an insult to injury. “Whatever,” Rider replied. “Make sure she’s not a fucking dog this time.”

“Just take you damn shots,” Wes mumbled. Rider postured again trying to get the line of his arms in sync with the position of the basket. He squinted again, focusing intently on the rim and the net, but suddenly, something else crept into his line of sight; movement across the street, something so familiar but grossly out of place. He lowered the ball and opened his squinted eye to get a good look. “What the hell?”

*******************************************

“I’ll have the cheese fries and a root beer,” Bianca said to the waitress behind the counter. “That all?” the woman asked as she scribbled down Bianca’s order. “Yes,” she replied. The waitress ripped the order sheet off of its pad and slammed it on the counter behind her before heading back into the kitchen. Bianca studied her surroundings intently: greasy yellow walls, stained counters, and the sickening smell of bacon fat mingling with ammonia. Could her mother really have worked in a place like this? Could her family have owned it in this condition? It was unfathomable. Places like this only existed in the movies as far as Bianca was concerned and the version of her mother that she had conjured up in her head didn’t fit in here at all. As desperate as she was to find the answers to all the questions swimming in her head, she began to wonder if this particular journey had been a mistake.

“What the hell are you doing?” Bianca felt a large hand grip her forcefully on the shoulder. Fear, and the tightness of the clutch, forced her body to turn swiftly in the direction the pain. A wave of relief began to wash over her as she looked up to see that it wasn’t her father or Rook, but just as quickly as her mind registered who it was ,that relief was pushed aside by a flash of anger. Rider stared back at her, just as angry and annoyed as she was, waiting for an answer to his question.

“I’m minding my own business; you should try it sometime,” she spat, jerking her shoulder from his grasp. Rider pulled his hand back and balled a tight fist trying to control his increasing fury. Her whereabouts where very much his business, especially when she decided to walk around in a shitty part of town by herself. A sheltered kid like her didn’t have a clue about hard living. She could’ve gotten herself mugged, or shot, and he didn’t even want to think about the number of dirt bags who would love to have five minutes alone with her in a back alley. He grew even more livid as he thought about the position she had put herself in; the position she put him in by looking for trouble even if it wasn’t technically on his watch. But more than that he was angry because he couldn’t just look the other way and leave her there, and not because Nico and Rook would’ve killed him if he had, but because there was a big part of him that cared too much about her to do such a thing.

“Let’s go,” he demanded, but she didn’t budge. “You can either come with me now or I can send Nico back for you; your choice.” The two of them stood in a silent stand off for a few more moments before she begrudgingly rose from the stool and pushed past him. As she moved from his line of sight, he came face to face with another intense pair of eyes staring him down. He had been so focused on Bianca that he only now noticed the man that had been sitting next to her the whole time intensely following their conversation. He unapologetically returned the glare, almost daring him to do something about it, but he didn’t. Instead the man softened his expression slightly and seemed to almost smile at Rider. Confused, yet sufficiently satisfied that he had held his ground, Rider gave the stranger one last fierce look before following Bianca out the door.

***************************************************

Stepping over a puddle of oil or gas or some other mud brown substance that gave off a harsh chemical odor, Isabella made her way to the two men standing outside of Nico’s body shop. They were crouched next to an old pick-up truck, struggling with a lug nut, engrossed in the task, completely oblivious to the sound of her high heels clicking and clacking against the cracked asphalt. She stopped a few feet away from them and cleared her throat to indicate her presence.

The older of the two men looked up at her and a slow smile crossed his face followed by a hint of recognition as he stood up, shielded his eyes from the sun and got a good look at her. Isabella had never seen him before but it didn’t take a genius to figure out how he knew her face. Her desperation to find out what was going on with Nico had clouded her judgment about searching for him publicly. I should’ve worn my sunglasses, she thought to herself. “Can I help you ma’am?” the man said as he wiped his grease smudged hands on his jeans. The younger man stared intently at her, his eyes grazing every inch of her body, but said nothing.

“I’m looking for Nico. Is he here?” The men looked at each other briefly and then back at her; the older one resuming his duty as the unofficial spokesman. “No ma’am, he’s not here right now. Can I help you with something?” “No thank you, I just really need to speak with him. Do you know when he’ll be back?” Again the men exchanged cryptic glances before the younger one finally broke his silence. “He’s taking care of something important; don’t expect him back for a while,” he said, the tone of his voice stiff and serious. His previously wandering eyes now stared firmly into hers as if he was trying to convey a deeper unspoken message. It came through loud and clear; no matter who she was or how many ways she asked, they weren’t going to tell her anything.

In spite of the silent warning, she parted her lips again to ask another question but thought better of it. There was no use in trying to bang her head against Nico’s well paid stone wall. She simply scowled at the men, turned around and began walking back to her car. “When and if he ever comes back tell him to call me,” she shouted over her shoulder. Trying to get a straight answer from his inner circle had been a mistake. If she wanted to find out what was going on she was going to have to look outside of the box and into possibilities that she’d rather not examine. She gave the men one last look as she got into the car, started the engine and headed to her next destination.

Next Move

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 02:30:00 +0000

Nico shot straight up as the loud blast of a car horn echoed in the garage beyond his office and the sharp pain in his neck that resulted sent his hand up to soothe it with a tight massaging grip. The buzz of an air drill and lug nuts clinking on the ground a few seconds later confirmed his assumption that Carlos, his service manager, had arrived at work, it also explained the horn. Groggy and irritated, he slowly turned to look up at the clock on the wall. It was 8:25am. Somewhere between berating himself about his fight with Bianca and going over the week’s profit sheet, now a crumpled heap of papers on the floor, he had managed to doze off.

He peeled himself off the sticky leather couch, walked through the stifling haze that filled his office, and over to the window to confront the rouge air conditioning unit that had stopped working. A few knob turns and forceful whacks later the stubborn machine kicked on and he stood in front of it while his skin dried out enough for his shirt to come unglued from his body.

He caught the faint reflection of his face in the glass; heavily packed dark bags hung under his eyes, and his face was peppered with gritty stubble and stray particles from the couch cushions. He looked just as shitty as he felt but seeing the reflection of his disheveled appearance was better than the horrified expression his daughter had worn the night before. The one that was burned into his memory forever; the one that had said in no uncertain terms that he was the biggest disappointment she had ever seen; the one he feared he would never be able to change.

He jumped startled again when he felt a sudden vibration on his right thigh. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the offending object. The red flashing light on his cell phone reminded him of another beautiful face full of disappointment that had stared him down when he had explained himself the first time. He punched in his pass code to unlock the phone; six missed calls all from her, but no message.

Maybe she was worried, wanted to see how things went, or maybe she’d changed her mind, had some time to think about things, and wasn’t as understanding as she had been before. Maybe, as it was for his daughter, the truth was too much for her to handle and she wanted to cut her loses and bail. He couldn’t blame her if that was the case, but he wasn’t ready to deal with that either. He switched his phone off; if she wanted out she’d have to catch him first.

“What are you doing here so early?” Rook said as he entered the room and shut the door. Nico glanced at him before taking a seat at his desk. “Why the hell are you so late,” he challenged his brother. “I had to take Rider to school because the idiot missed the bus. What’s your problem anyway?” Rook stared at Nico and waited for a response that never came; but he didn’t really need one.

“Bianca’s still not talking to you? You should’ve told her the truth a long time ago.” Nico gave him a murderous glare but still said nothing. “She’s a kid, she’ll get over it. Just give her a week or two. That’s a lot of shit to dump on a person out of nowhere. Trust me, she’ll come around.” Rook paused before asking a question he knew he would probably regret. “What about your chick, how’d she handle the truth, or did you forget to tell her too?”

“How many times do I have to tell you to keep her name out your mouth?! This has nothing to do with you so keep your mind on the shit you’re supposed to take care of. What’s going on with this deal with Lorenzo? You said he would have what I asked for a week ago. What’s taking so long?!” If Rook wanted to push his buttons he had no problem shoving right back. He didn’t need another ‘I told you so’ and he certainly didn’t need another person rubbing his nose in his mistakes. What he needed was some semblance of stability, control; two things he was fresh out of. Something had to stay in line, work out right, and if it wasn’t going to happen in his personal life he would make damn sure it would happen with his business.

Rook clenched his fist and took a breath trying to summon some patience for his brother’s attitude. “He’s having issues getting it through customs; I told you that last night . Everything will be straight in a day or two. Just relax!”

Disregarding him, Nico yanked open his desk drawer wrapped his finger around the cool steel handle of his gun and in one fluid motion hopped up from his seat and shoved it into the waist band of his pants. “I’ll relax when I get what I want. Lorenzo owes me and I’m tired of waiting.” He moved from behind the desk and pushed past Rook, flinging the door open with enough force to send it slamming into the concrete wall. Rook watched him storm out of the office only to return a few seconds later. He stared at Rook incredulously before barking out his order. “Let’s go!”

*************************************************

Isabella stood in the middle of her newly renovated office and peered out the window. The view was the same as it had been when she was a child visiting her father there; high up on top of the world, the cars and people below like ants. Thaddeus Carlyle and all of the tacky revisions he had made to her father’s office were gone leaving only her chic and modern aesthetic and her name on the door. This was all hers now, not her father’s, not Thad’s, just hers. The question was: how long would it stay that way?

She picked up one of the photo frames that adorned the credenza behind her desk and stared at it. It had been the first day of work at MSI for the young and naïve girl staring back at her; her smile tight and timid, hands clasped behind her back, a look of anxious reluctance in her eyes. She was a different person now than the girl in the photo, but somehow her reflection in the glass wasn’t too far off from that of her former self.

Her father’s expression couldn’t hide how proud he was of her that day; finally able to fit effortlessly into the mold he had so carefully chiseled out for her. Over the years she had watched that face change back and forth; giving and than withholding, dangling his approval over her head if any part of her slipped out of place. Right now she had his full confidence, but it was only a matter of time before some small infraction would prompt him to try and snatch it back. She wouldn’t let him get away with that again. He had put her in the driver’s seat and this time she had not intention of relinquishing the wheel.

She set the frame back down and grabbed the cell phone sitting next to it. No missed calls or messages. She hit redial for what seemed like the hundredth time only to be faced with the same computerized voicemail greeting she had hoped to get past. Again she hung up without leaving a message. “Nico where are you,” she said to the phone as if it had the answer. They hadn’t spoken since the night he told her about Bianca’s mother. That had been almost two days ago and since their reunion they had never gone that long without speaking.

His silence left her to assume that things were not going well, which didn’t surprise her. She was still trying to deal with the details of Nico’s revelation herself; she could only imagine how the truth was affecting his daughter. No matter what was going on she wanted to be there for him, but once again it seemed like he was shutting out.

Bianca’s plight reasonably brought up the questions she still had about her own mother, before and after her death. How could she have left her the way she did? Where was she now? Heaven? Hell? Somewhere in between? They were questions that she felt too ashamed to think let alone ask of someone who couldn’t even answer her. They were the main reason that, when she first came back to town, she had opted to have Lexie send a floral arrangement to the cemetery rather than make the trip herself. She still wasn’t ready and with everything else going on it was the last thing she could handle.

A soft knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts. “Ms. Monacco, Eden Prescott just called to cancel your lunch appointment. Her husband is not back from his business trip and she doesn’t have a sitter for her daughter.” “Thank you Chelsea.” She glanced at her watch; almost 12:30pm. “I’m going out for a while please remind me to call Eden when I get back and you can reach me on my cell if there are any urgent calls. I have some things to take care of.”

**************************************************

Bianca gripped the rail on the seat in front of her, bracing for another jarring bump as the bus hit another pothole. If she didn’t know better she would’ve thought the driver was doing it on purpose, but on this particular street the gaping holes were the rule rather than the exception. She squinted her eyes trying to make out the name of the street they were approaching: Sagebrush, she whispered to herself. Not the one she was looking for but if it meant getting off the raggedy diesel machine it would do. She pulled on the cord to her right to signal the driver to stop and hopped out of the seat before he even began to slow down. Her desire to exit the torture chamber seemed to be propelling her forward more the momentum of the bus.

Once again she found herself clinging precariously to a pasty metal bar as the bus screeched to a halt at the corner. The doors flew open drawing in the seething stench of burning oil and garbage. “You know where you’re going honey?” The driver’s gravely voice startled her as much as her first good look at exactly where she was. Trash littered the sidewalks like carpet, the grungy brick buildings that lined the street where packed so tightly together they nearly squeezed out the sunlight, and the group of disheveled looking men lining the wall of the one directly in front of her didn’t make things look any better. And while she knew the name and address of the place she was headed her surroundings quickly set her straight; she had no damn clue where she was going. She nodded absently to the driver before moving down the steps and onto the curb.

From what she saw on the map, the streets on this side of the city were in alphabetical order. It should only be two more blocks up to Quixote, she reasoned before definitively deciding on which way to go. If it came down to it she could always make her way to Rook’s place which was within a few blocks of the water tower that she could see in the distance. But that would be her last resort as it would require a damn good explanation of why she was on this side of the tracks and not in school where she belonged.

The reason wasn’t even completely clear to her in the first place but it was mostly fueled by the results of a web search on her mother’s name and the unrelenting curiosity that followed. The name Jenna Torres has brought up several pages of links that she had sifted through one by one connecting the few pieces of information her father had given her, coming up empty, eliminating duplicate entries and out right dead ends until she found an obituary listing in a news archive.

As awful as it looked, her mother had lived in this neighborhood all of her short life and her family was well known in the area, the article had said. She was a waitress at the diner around the corner from her house, the diner that her parents had owned, the diner that was still there on the corner of 8th Street and Quixote, the diner Bianca was on her way to now. She wanted to find out more about her mother, a lot more than what her father had revealed. The woman had given her life, she was a part of her, she had a right to know who she was and where she came from. That was as good a reason as any and it was as much of an explanation as anyone was going to get.

She covered the few blocks quickly and nearly passed her destination until the flickering red light of the OPEN sign caught her eye. If not for the sign and the movement of people inside, she would have written the place off as one of the many long abandoned buildings she had passed on her journey. The walls were covered in spray paint, as was the custom in this neighborhood, and the grounds surrounding the structure where poorly kept and strewn with trash. She looked up at the street sign on the corner. 8th and Quixote; this was definitely the right place. Well, it’s now or never, she thought to herself as she walked to the door.

Truth Hurts

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 19:02:00 +0000

10:00pm – De Santos Residence – Azura Beach

Nico slammed the door to his car and stood outside looking up at the window of his daughter’s room. The light was on; she was still awake. He had left the house at the crack of dawn and stayed at the garage until well after dark. He had even taken the long, long way home: the scenic bypass around the city, back up through the foothills and down the coastline. No radio, no CDs, just dead silence and his thoughts. He was strategizing, trying to come up with the right way to handle this, but most of all he was stalling. The few days he had taken to let himself and Bianca calm down hadn’t given way to a solution to his dilemma. No matter how many ways he tried to get around it, he had no other choice but to tell his daughter the truth.

He entered the house throwing his keys down on table in the foyer and walked past the kitchen forgoing his usual ritual of downing the bottle of beer that his housekeeper, Ms. Brooks, left out for him. He trudged up the steps and paused at the top, listening out for the usual sounds of music or the television coming from Bianca’s room. Hearing nothing, he quietly eased up to her door and listened again; dead silence. Maybe she was asleep.

He made a futile attempt to knock, as it wasn’t his custom anyway, and slowly pushed the door open and went inside. The television was off as was her stereo; she wasn’t even so much as talking on the phone, just laying across the bed, her back to him, her head resting in the palm of her hand. She turned towards sound of the door closing and, realizing that it was him, rolled her eyes as she resumed her previous position. She was definitely awake and definitely still upset.

"Bianca I want to talk to you,” he said as he walked up to the side of her bed, but she didn't respond, didn’t even move. He paused for a moment and let out a sigh before continuing. She wasn’t going to give him an inch; she was as stubborn as a mule, just like him. "I don't like how I left things the other night. I know that you're probably confused about a lot of things that you've heard and I've made it worse by not telling you the truth, but whatever you think, whatever people have been telling you, it's not true. There are things that you don't know; things that you need to know."

Bianca turned back towards him again, an incredulous look on her face, and abruptly hopped up off the bed and over to her desk. She kept her back to him and began restacking a toppled pile of books, fumbling around with loose pens and paper clips, shoving CD cases back onto the shelf; anything to distract her from the painful tightening in her chest. Her eyes fluttered fiercely as she tried to blink back the tears. She didn't want any part of this, not his 'truth' or his excuses. He had made his choice and it wasn't her, and that's all she needed to know. "Don't worry about it dad, I get it now. You want to be with her and I'm in the way. You can tell her everything is fine, her daughter doesn't want a thing from her. She doesn't have to worry about her dirty little secret coming out and she doesn't have to worry about me. Not that she ever did."

If she had been trying the hide the pain in her voice she had failed. He heard every ounce of it and it cut into him, sharp and deep. She didn't understand a thing. She was hurt and confused and he was the only one to blame. "Bianca," he said in a somber voice, "You need to let me explain." He closed the gap between them and put his hand on her shoulder, the grip gentle yet firm, but no sooner than he had touched her she shrugged him off. “There’s nothing to explain. I know exactly where you stand!”

Nico snatched the stack of CDs she was holding and slammed them down on the desk shattering some of the plastic cases. “You don’t know a damn thing, so why don’t you go sit down and listen to what I have to say!” Again she didn’t move and several moments passed with the two of them staring at each other, both determined and unflinching. She studied his face when his expression softened for an instant exposing something beyond the piercing rage in his eyes; a troubled vulnerability she had never seen before.

Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe he had chosen her after all and had spent all this time trying to get her mother to see reason. Maybe he had finally given up on the shrew and had come to apologize, or maybe by some miracle he had gotten through to her, made her see what a mistake she had made by leaving them both. Maybe he did have something more to offer than his usual ‘that’s the way things are because I said so’ rationale. She had to be missing something. Why else would he push so hard for her to hear him out? His face tightened up again urging her to submit to his demand and, as much as she wanted to stand her ground, Bianca’s desperate curiosity forced her to break her gaze and retreat to a perch at the edge of her bed. “Go ahead,” she said, her reserved defiance evident in her refusal to look at him.

He took the chair from her desk and sat down in front of her. Any hope of having the ‘right thing to say’ well out his grasp, he decided the fast and painful approach was the only thing to go with. Rip the band aid off quickly and it would only sting for a minute. “Isabella Monacco is not your mother,” he said. A look of irritated skepticism crossed her face and held his hand up, cutting of the rebuttal that was on the tip of her tongue. “I know how it looks and I know what’s in the tabloids but it’s just not true. I should never have let you believe that it was.” Still not convinced, Bianca sucked her teeth and crossed her arms tightly against her torso.

“She was my girlfriend a long time ago, before you were born. We broke up when she left town and I met another girl. I got that girl pregnant, and she’s your mother, not Isabella. Her name was Jenna Torres and she…” but before he could go on Bianca caught the word he had tried to gloss over. Her arms unclenched and dropped heavily at her sides. Her bottom lip began to quiver slightly and a glassy film began to cover her eyes. “Her name was Jenna Torres? So…she is…really dead?” “Yes, she’s dead. She died when you were a few months old.” He stopped talking and watched her for a few moments, her puzzled and sorrowful gaze piercing a hole into his chest, her eyes pleading for answers that he didn’t want to give her, pain that he didn’t want to inflict on her or himself.

How it happened was her inevitable next question, and that was the one he had dreaded the most because he never really had a solid answer for it himself. He had never been able to put his mind around how he could’ve been so stupid and careless, how he could’ve ever underestimated the person who had taken Jenna’s life. Whether it was a calculated move or simple bad timing was irrelevant in his mind; at the end of it all he had made the series of stupid decisions that had caused her to end up in the cross fire.

Swallowing hard and fighting with his own threatening tears he started mentally piecing together a coherent sentence to start with. “Your mother died because of me. Somebody thought I owed them for something that I had nothing to do with. They were after me; they wanted to get to me. I thought I had the situation under control and that you and your mother were safe, but I was wrong,” he said, diverting his eyes from her. “When they couldn’t find me they came after the two of you instead and when they did, I wasn’t there. I should’ve been but I wasn’t and by the time I got there it was too late.” One rogue tear dropped from his eye and he got up from the chair and walked away from her to the other side of the room.

Bianca sat in disbelief, as she watched her father wrestle with the deep emotion that was consuming him. He was like a raw open wound that someone had poured salt in. At the same time the weight of what he had just told her was hitting her hard, worse than her previous delusions about Isabella Monacco. Even if they had been true and the woman hadn’t wanted her, she would’ve at least had a living, breathing possibility that things could change, that she could have the mother/daughter relationship that had proven to be much more important to her than she’d realized. That possibility was gone forever and the indescribable loss she felt was overwhelming. Tears began to stream down her face, each one falling faster than the one before, and her body shook as she struggled to breathe between sobs.

Unable to stand watching her cry anymore, he sat down beside her and put his arms around her shivering frame, but once again she jerked away from him, the ragged look in her eyes revealing that there was much more than sadness there. “Why didn’t you tell me all this before?” she demanded. I had a right to know that she was dead. Why did you let me think that woman was my mother, that she didn’t want me? I had a right to know!”

Nico’s stomach twisted into guilt ridden knots. Had he just told her the truth from the beginning, found some way to be honest when she had asked him the first time when she was a child. ‘Where’s my mommy?’ she had said, her innocent little face as lost and confused as it was now. She wouldn’t have understood then either, but she would have grown up knowing the truth, having years to adjust to the reality instead of being slapped in the face with it all at once. Instead he had been secretive and withholding and put her in a position to ask for her own misery. It was a selfish mistake he would never forgive himself for.

He sat speechless for a moment and finally found his voice at the unfamiliar end of an apology. “Bianca, I’m sorry. I know it wasn’t fair but I didn’t think you would understand. I was only trying to protect you.” She stiffened up and cast a disgusted glare at him. “Well you failed…again. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Just leave me alone!” With that she retreated to her bathroom and slammed the door leaving him shell shocked and forced to pick up the pieces of his broken pride.

*************************************************

Later that night…

“Are you coming, kid?” Rook stood at the front steps looking back at Rider as Ms. Brooks opened the door. “No, I’m staying out here.” Rook shot him a puzzled look before going inside. “Fine, suit yourself.” Rider frowned as he watched him disappear into the house. This would be the one time Rook had brought him along while he talked business with Nico. But there was no way he was going in there, not tonight. Instead he opted to wait outside, leaning back on the car door, a move he would surely catch hell for if Rook saw him doing it. He didn’t care though; something more important than Rook’s paint job had him uneasy. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened the last time he was here, alone in the dark with Bianca.

Comforting her had felt strange yet necessary, and worst of all, in some deep dark place inside of him, having her in his arms had felt good. But in his limited experience the things that he thought were “good” turned out to be “bad” and the “bad” things that this “good” feeling could lead to all began and ended with Nico jamming something into his body whether it be a fist, a knife, or a gun. If he knew anything for sure it was that anyone who messed with Bianca De Santos wouldn’t be messing with her for long.

Nothing had really happened and anyone who looked at it would probably agree, but he still felt that he had violated Nico’s trust in some way; maybe not by his actions but certainly by the thoughts that had accompanied them. He had been so consumed with guilt and fear that he had barely even let those thoughts play all the way out. His confusion about where they had come from in the first place was also throwing him for a loop.

Last thing he knew he couldn’t stand the girl and he was sure that the feeling was mutual. So what the hell had happened in those few minutes? He kept going over it and over it in his head. He looked up at the house, at her window. The lights were out in her room; she was probably sleeping. Another strange and inappropriate thought popped in his head and he grimaced as his body reverberated in disgust at the image that had been conjured up. Bianca was a kid and practically like a little sister to him. How the hell was it possible for him to hate her one minute and want to hold her the next?

The sound of gravel crunching under tires startled him and he turned to see a car slowly approaching him. Although it was dark outside the car’s headlights were off and the slight illumination of the street lights only allowed him to guess at its make and model. He started to move towards it but the driver suddenly started backing up. Before he knew it the car had made a quick three point turn and sped off in the opposite direction. They must have been lost, he thought to himself before resuming his position and diving back into his troubling thoughts.

Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:41:00 +0000

Nico stood on the familiar stone steps in front of Isabella’s house, sullen and paralyzed with apprehension. He had stood in that same spot not so long ago – his heart in his throat – wondering if she would let him in, hear him out, let him tell her how much he still felt for her. Miraculously, she did let him in and everything in his life after that moment had changed for what he wanted to believe was the better.

Despite the happiness that night led to, there had always been something else between them as well – a quiet but clearly visible elephant in the room, things they didn’t talk about, tried not to think about, and all but pretended didn’t exist. They had slowly chipped away at a few of the obstacles, but one, the biggest one of all, still stood in their way and couldn’t be dissolved as easily. It was that thing, that insidious “it” that had him standing there again hesitating to ring the bell and begin a conversation that might threaten everything they had reclaimed.

The front door opened before he could make a definitive move and Isabella slipped out into the darkness, approaching him tentatively. “What are you doing here?” she asked him, the same question she had posed that first night. The anger that had been laced in her voice then was absent, but the hint of hesitation still lingered. He stood gazing at her, his restlessness calming in her presence, before pulling her close to him and wrapping her in his arms, finding comfort in her embrace, her head pressed against his chest, her hands sliding up and down his back, soothing and safe. He held her there for a long moment, long enough for him to get lost in it and long enough to let her know that something wasn’t right.

She pulled back, staring up at him, trying to catch something in his expression. “What happened? Is something wrong?” Another silent pause, followed by him taking her by the hand through the house and out onto the patio. He let her hand go and took a few steps past where she had stopped, looking off into the distant mountain range beyond the borders of what had served as their safe haven from the outside world. He tried to collect his thoughts and took a deep breath before he began.

“It’s my daughter, Bianca,” he said turning towards her. Her chest rose with a sharp inhale; the look spreading across her face – a blend of sadness and fear – was exactly what he had expected but no less difficult to face. “Bianca. That’s a pretty name,” she said in a whisper, more to herself than to him. “We had a fight before I came here. She’s been asking questions…about her mother.”

Isabella shut her eyes briefly, trying to carefully swallow the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. Here it was, the topic she had been dreading as much as he had; the questions that had been eating at her, but more than that, his answers to those questions. She shifted her gaze to her own reflection in the moonlit pool. His eyes were still on her and she could feel them searching for a reaction, but she didn’t have just one. There were hundreds even thousands of thoughts running through her mind, stirring emotions that conjured up a myriad of words to say, difficult words, words that could never be taken back once spoken. She swallowed them back down and decided to pose an obvious question instead.

“So I assume she’s heard the rumors about me? She thinks I’m her mother,” Isabella said taking a step away from him as he took one in her direction. “Yes. She asked about you, about us. She thinks you left me because of her,” he replied. She continued to stare into the still blue water this time catching his reflection moving slowly toward her but before he could get too close, she turned her back to him. “What did you tell her?” she said, struggling to maintain an even tone. “I told her the truth; a part of it at least.”

She took another step away, increasing the space between them even further. “So what is the truth Nico? Who is her mother and exactly how old is she?” He let out a sigh, well aware of where this was going. “She just turned 15 this year.” Isabella shook her head slowly taking in the information, confirming what she had suspected. “Issy I know what you’re thinking, but please just let me explain.”

“Explain what Nico?! I can do the math. You got someone pregnant barely a month after I left! All the time you claimed to be dying without me you were sleeping with somebody else. If what we had was so special how could you have done that? What if I had come back? Do you know what that would’ve done to me?” She couldn’t hold it anymore. Her tears began to fall fast and she held onto herself to keep from shaking as she let out an anguished breath. “If you could do that…it just makes me question how real any of it was in the first place.”

“How the hell can you say that?! Of course it was real! I wasn’t sleeping with her; it wasn’t like that. You were gone and I was sick of feeling like shit about it and she…she was just there. I barely knew her and it was one night, one stupid fucking night. I didn’t see her again until I found out she was pregnant.” He paused for a moment in an effort to calm down. “That’s when I knew we were over, when I gave up on us. It’s the only reason I gave up.”

Completely closing the gap between them he grabbed her from behind and held on in spite of her initial resistance. “I know how it looks but I can’t erase it, I can’t take it back and I wouldn’t because I love my daughter, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t love you. Please tell me you believe that.”

“I want to Nico, I really do. I’m not stupid, I knew you would be with other women, but so soon after I left? I couldn’t have done that and it just hurts to know that you could, even if I was gone and even if it was a million years ago. It changes who I thought we were. That’s different to me now and I wish it wasn’t.”

He tightened his grip around her hoping that the intense emotions he was feeling would somehow penetrate the walls he could feel her putting up. She turned around to face him again and he reluctantly met her eyes. The hurt, and confusion and distance behind them was unmistakable. “Come on angel, you can’t let what happened in the past stop us; we’ve come too damn far. I’ve always loved you. You know I always will.”

She stared back at him, remaining silent, her tense expression beginning to soften a bit. He pulled her into him and pressed his lips softly against her forehead, and then on one check and then the other, each kiss requesting permission to go further, and after an uncertain moment, she released her resolve and gave him full access. She wrapped her arms around his neck feeling herself getting caught up in the passion that always burned between them, but before she got totally carried away she pulled back to his dismay. She wanted to get lost in their love for one another, forget about the doubts she was having and the complications in their way, but they couldn’t keep running. Sooner or later they were going to have to face reality and she was determined to force them do it now.

“What’s wrong?” he said, maintaining a strong grip around her waist. “We have to deal with this. We can’t keep on acting like Bianca doesn’t exist. No matter what you told her she still thinks that I’m her mother and you need to tell her the whole truth, not just a part of it. She has a right to know what happened. Why won’t you tell her?”

Nico let out a frustrated sigh, looked away from her, irritated, his jaw tightly clenched. “I can’t. I know she needs to know, but I don’t know how to tell her. What happened to her mother was my fault, she’ll never understand it. I can’t tell her Issy, I just can’t!” Isabella turned his face back to hers, lightly caressed the sides of it with her hands. Whatever it was, it had been bottled up for far too long; he needed to get it out and she needed to hear it. “If you can’t tell her, will you try to tell me?”

***********************************************************************

Rider walked out onto the quiet darkness of the patio, pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took a drag, catching the reflection of the lit end in the blue abyss of the pool. He flicked off some ashes and watched the red embers float through the air and land on the surface of the water before disappearing. He was sick of the pool, sick of the sofa, the TV, the whole damn house. Most of all he was sick of being stuck babysitting a teenaged brat while Nico and Rook ran the streets without him.

He took another drag, blew it out, and shut his eyes in an effort to relax but they flew back open when he heard a faint noise to his left. He scanned the darkened patio to make sure that the assumption that he was alone was correct. Seeing nothing, he resumed his position and took another drag but once again his thoughts were interrupted by the noise.

He stepped out onto the catwalk that stretched across the pool and as he approached the middle of the walkway he began to make out the silhouette of someone sitting on the ground. “Who’s there?!” he called out as he cautiously moved closer. The person didn’t speak and again he heard the soft noise that had alerted him in the first place. It sounded like sniffling. He moved toward it swiftly, fists balled, ready to attack and just as he was about to pounce the moon peaked out from behind the clouds illuminating the identity of the intruder. It was Bianca, curled up in a shivering ball, her eyes clamped shut, her face puffy and wet.

Rider broke his gait and stood over her in shocked silence. He had never seen her cry before and as mean as she always was to him, he hadn’t thought it was even possible. Still, there she was, the evidence that she could streaming down her face. He threw his cigarette down, stomped it out with his shoe and sat down next to her, but maintained a good distance just in case the wounded animal decided to strike.

“So what’s wrong with you?” he asked matter-of-factly determined not to be lulled into a false sense of safety in spite of her weakened condition. She remained silent and began hurriedly wiping at her tear stained face. “Look, either tell me what the problem is or suck it up. Nico will probably be back soon and I don’t feel like holding the bag for all this balling you’re doing.”

“Don’t worry about it. He doesn’t care anyway,” she said between sniffs, “he’s got someone else’s feelings to worry about.” Rider shot her a confused look. “What are you talking about? Does he have some new girlfriend you don’t like or something? Why are you crying about that, you know he doesn’t keep those broads around long.”

“She’s not some broad,” Bianca spat, a defensive edge to her voice. “She’s my mother and she’s the one who doesn’t like me, I guess.” The thought brought more tears to her eyes and she batted them rapidly to keep them for falling. Once again Rider’s expression was clouded with confusion. “Your mother? I didn’t…you never said…well who is she?”

“It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t want me, she only wants him and he doesn’t care. I can’t believe he doesn’t even care. How can he not care?” she said looking up at him as if he had the answer. Rider stared back at her, the look in her eyes making him desperately uncomfortable, eliciting a strange sensation, a burning ache in his chest that he’d never felt before. She turned away from him as another stream of tears began to fall and instead of obeying the voice in his head telling him to get up and walk away, he found himself reaching his arm around her and pulling her closer to him.

“Hey, don’t cry. You know Nico loves you. Why else would he bother the hell out of me to look after you? He wouldn’t do that if he didn’t care. There has to be another reason, but if she really doesn’t want you than fuck her. You don’t need her anyway. I never knew my parents and I’m just fine.” He peered down, watching in awe as she buried her face deeper into his chest, her sobbing becoming more intense. Clearly whatever he had just said had been the wrong thing.

As he moved to put his other arm around her he caught a reflection of the two of them in the pool and the reality of what he was doing hit him. He was crossing a boundary that was way past his comfort level and the ramifications of his physical proximity to Nico’s daughter were not ones he wanted to explore. Abruptly he slid his arm from around her and casually patted her on the shoulder before scooting a few inches away.

Bianca had been so lost in her emotions that his sudden movement startled her. She looked up at him again dismayed to find the look of concern he wore before had been replaced by something that bordered on annoyance. She was even more disturbed when she realized that she was still clinging onto his shirt. She let it go, straightened up and began the business of fixing her face again.

“Sorry,” she said as she got to her feet and began walking back to the house. “Don’t worry about,” he called after her. He watched her disappear into the darkness of the house before reaching in his pocket and grabbing another cigarette. He needed something to take the edge off of his frayed nerves. He lit it and took a long slow drag. He felt bad for the kid, but whatever was going on between her and her father was going to stay between them. No matter what it was that had happened to him a few moments before, he was determined not to get involved again.

Inquest

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 04:14:00 +0000

“It’s about fucking time you showed up!” Rook was already hot and tired and the extra hour he had stood outside waiting hadn’t made things any better. “I told you I would be late. If you were stupid enough to wait out here that’s on you.” Nico shot back as he got out of the car and walked around to the trunk.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere, where did you expect me to wait, under a damn rock?” He hopped off the hood of the car he was driving and met Nico half way between the two cars. “Here’s the money. It’s only 50K. You tell Tex he’ll get the other half when I get the rest of my shipment. I don’t do IOU’s.”

“We would’ve had the rest of the shipment if you had been where you were supposed to be the other night. You knew damn well it was a two car job.” Rook snatched the bag and turned to walk back to his car when Nico grabbed his shoulder. “What the hell is your problem? If you’ve got something on your mind I suggest you tell me about it now!”

Rook turned back to his brother, eyes hot with anger. The sun flashed out from behind a passing cloud, momentarily blinding him, forcing him to squint, and making his expression even surlier. He had been telling Nico the problem for weeks trying to get him to see the train wreck waiting happen. It hadn’t gotten him anywhere so far. “There’s no point in me explaining it to you again. Maybe I should tell your little princess to pass the message along. Maybe if it comes out of her mouth you’ll get the picture.”

“I told you before to leave her out of this Rook. I won’t say it again.” Rook shook his head in frustration. The brick wall was up again and there was no getting through. “I don’t want her in it; for your sake and hers. But I’m not really the one you have to worry about am I?” Rook stared at his brother for a long moment making sure he got his meaning.

“If you’re talking about her father, it’s not an issue and if you’re talking about that other asshole, he’s in jail. He knows better than to fuck with me anyway,” Nico said sternly. Rook let out an incredulous laugh. “You’re way out of the loop brother. Cross got sprung last week and if you think her daddy doesn’t know what’s up you’re a bigger fool than I thought. But you keep right on believing you’re untouchable, and since I’m suddenly the one with all the brains I’ll try to cover both our asses since you won’t.” With that he got in his car, turned on the engine while Nico stood brooding.

“By the way the cops showed up at the garage looking for you. You’d better get Bergman and go down to the station before they come back. We don’t have time for you to be held overnight again.” Nico was about to ask for details when Rook turned away from him abruptly, put the car in gear drove away, leaving him standing alone to contemplate his next move.

****************************

Bianca had been up since dawn, restless as usual, and had run downstairs and posted up near the front door the minute she heard his car pull up in the driveway. She hadn’t seen him in days which was somewhat of a relief as she hadn’t worked up the nerve to ask him the one question she needed an answer to above all else. He came in and breezed past her with little more than a hello and a pat on the head, and went straight to his room and hopped into the shower.

She went into the living room where Rider was crashed out on the sofa, slobber escaping the side of mouth and the quite hum of his snore filling the otherwise silent house. She sat down on the floor, plucked the remote control out from its hiding place under the sofa and flicked the television on turning the volume up full blast; jarring Rider out of his sleep.

“What the hell Bianca?!” He shouted, the devious smile on her face infuriating him even further. “Don’t do that again. I thought someone had broken in or something.” She turned the volume back to a reasonable level before hopping up on the sofa next to him. “Don’t worry you’re off duty, my dad is home.”

“Good,” he said, rubbing the crust out of his eyes before shoving his feet into his shoes and getting up to leave. “I’m sick of sleeping on this damn couch all the time. Tell him I’m going to meet up with Rook at the garage. I’ve got my cell if he needs me.” He put his hands in his pockets and then bent over the sofa and began digging in the cushions freeing the loose change that had spilled out them while he slept. Just as he was about to make his way to the door Nico came down the stairs.

“Dad, I need to talk to you,” Bianca said, her voice just above a whisper. “I can’t right now baby. I have to go. We’ll talk when I come back.” He gave her a quick kiss on the check and headed for the door with Rider on his heels. “Where are you going?” Nico said to him. “Rook wanted me to meet him at the garage.” “That will have to wait, he’s got other business to deal with now. Besides I need you to stay here and keep an eye on things. If a man named Bergman calls tell him to get me on my cell. I’ll see you two later.” With that, he flew out of the door before the boy could put up a fight.

Rider let out a frustrated sigh, threw up his hands, kicked his shoes back off and slumped down on the sofa. “Give me the remote. If I have to stay her we’re not watching this kiddie shit you like.” He demanded. Bianca stared at him a moment before throwing the remote control straight at his head. “Oww! What the hell was that for?”

She got up from the sofa and walked to the other side of the room. “I don’t want you here any more than you want to be here Rider. Just go the garage; get out of here! I won’t tell my father. It’s not like I could anyway, he’s never home.” Rider studied her for a moment. Maybe this was some kind of test that Nico had put her up to just to see if he would abandon his post. He threw his feet up on the sofa, leaned back and began flipping channels. “Just stay out of my way Bianca. I mean it,” he said in a stiff voice, refusing to look in her direction.

She leveled an angry gaze at him before heading to her room, where she plopped down on the bed and began to sob. Her already strained relationship with her father seemed to be withering even further, the uncertainty about her mother was tearing at her heart, she’d been through ever emotion in the world and worst of all she had no one at all to share it with. Things couldn’t continue like this. Something had to give and she decided right then and there that the something would be her father. No matter what, she was going to make him tell her the truth tonight.

******************************

“So you’re just going to sit there; not say anything at all? Ivy sat in her chair defiant, arms and legs crossed, refusing to look at him. “Look, I’m trying to do this the easy way with you, but if all you’re going to give me is attitude I’ll let Cross handle it. He’s going to be anything but nice.” Ivy turned to him, a look of icy contempt in her eyes, and still said nothing. “Fine! It’ll be your ass, not mine.”

“Don’t worry about it Denny. If she doesn’t want to talk she doesn’t have to.” Cross said as he entered the room. His rough voice startled Ivy even more than the door slamming behind him. He stood glaring at her from a moment before moving closer. Denny, looked down at her and shook his head before he and his counterpart moved aside to give Cross better access. “You two take a break. I’ll take care of this,” he said, motioning for them to leave. Ivy stared down at the floor trying to sneak glances of him as he paced back and forth in front of her. She was trying to see his expression, read his face to see just how angry he was and estimate the damage he might do to her. Finally he stopped right in front of her and looked down at her with a wicked smile.

“Look baby, I’m not mad okay. You love that asshole and you don’t want to cross him. I get it. Wish I could’ve gotten the same treatment but...whatever. As a matter of fact I feel bad for you. You’re just a dumb broad protecting her man; faithful to the end right?” Cross snickered slightly before moving closer to her; his quick footsteps causing her to flinch instinctually. Again he didn’t hit her, but instead, knelt down in front of her with a beguiling look of concern. He stayed there, silent for a few moments until Ivy finally turned her head to look at him. He put his hand on her knee and began to rub it slowly, almost as if he was trying to calm her frayed nerves.

“Why the hell do you want to protect that fucking coward?!” he snarled. “I know everything Ivy, how you lied for him, stole for him, held his stash, let him fuck you six ways from Sunday. What did you get for it all? Huh?” Ivy sat in a silent panic. He was acting more strangely than he ever had. She didn’t know what to think of his words or his actions, but history had proven that there was always a calm before one of his storms. Unable to control her emotions she let tears fall from her eyes and she flinched again when his hand came up to her face to wipe them away.

“It’s alright baby. I know he didn’t give you shit, did he? He broke your heart, fucked you over and left you to die. The same damn thing you did to me.” The look of concern on his face morphed into disgust for a split second before he got to his feet and started pacing again. “And after all that you still want to keep his secrets. I thought you were smarter than that baby. But I guess karma is a bitch right? You leave me for him, and he leaves you for somebody else.” Ivy’s eyes shot wide open. He did know everything about what happened between her and Nico and the condescending smile on his face made her think he knew a lot more than she did.

“What makes you think he’s got someone else?” She stammered, her curiosity getting the better of her. Cross looked at her from a moment before he answered. The hollow lump in his chest that passed for a heart felt sorry for her in one respect, but his pride was telling him to dig the dagger in deeper. “I’ve been following him around for a few days and he’s always with her, every night. I know where he lives now by the way so you don’t have to worry about spilling that little bit of info,” he said, patting her on the shoulder. “I can see why he’s with her though-- that chick is fucking hot.”

Ivy slumped over in her chair, the revelation hitting her hard. Cross ignored it and kept going. “Don’t worry, she’s not one of your slutty friends if that’s what you thought. No, this is a rich bitch, high class, no hair color kits and press on nails. All first class flights and holidays in St. Barts and shit like that. Why the hell would he stay with you when he could have all that? Why would anyone?” He leaned down, right up in her face and jerked her chin up so that they were eye to eye. Ivy was hysterical, her tears dripping down her face and running onto his hands.

“Damn it stop crying! He’s a lying piece of shit and he doesn’t want you. Nobody wants you Ivy. Not like I do,” he hissed in her ear. “Do you understand that? Is it clear now? Are you going to quit protecting that bastard and tell me what I need to know or do I have to get through to you the hard way? What’s it going to be baby? Are you with me or are you still with him?”

******************************

Nico trudged up the stairs slowly shortening the distance to his room. It had been a long afternoon at the police station followed by an even longer night at the garage. He hated doing product inventory—legal or illicit—but he didn’t fully trust anyone to do it straight from a shipment; his micro managing costing him free time he would have rather spent with a certain beautiful blonde. Now he was dog tired and all he wanted to do was sleep.

He reached the top of his climb, pivoted into the hallway and came face to face with Bianca standing outside his room arms crossed, waiting. “Hey baby doll. What are you still doing up?” he said patting her on the head as he moved past her. “Dad, I need to ask you something?”

“Can it wait for a few hours? I really beat.” “No, it can’t wait. It’s important.” Her response and her tone were unexpected as was the stern look on her face. Whatever it was she wanted to talk about was not something he was going to like.

“What’s going on,” he said, his concern evident. “Dad,” she replied, her voice teetering between fear and conviction, “I want to know about my mother.” The question fell on him like a ton of bricks. It was the last thing he expected to come out of her mouth and the implications of the answer struck a cold stream of fear through his body. He quickly hardened his expression, trying not to give anything away, and countered her question with one of his own. “Where on earth did that come from? You’ve never wanted to know about it before.”

“I’ve asked you before dad but you never wanted to talk about it; always saying I wasn’t old enough to understand. I’m not a little kid anymore and I want to know. Who is she? Why don’t you ever talk about her? What does she look like? Where is she? Why isn’t she here? Dad I need to know!”

The pain and confusion in her voice broke his heart. He had dodged this bullet for years, naively hoping that it would never come up again; that he would never have to tell his daughter the sordid truth. But he had only been fooling himself. Of course she would want to know, she had a right to know, she needed to know. But that didn’t make telling her any easier. The anguish and guilt he felt had always stopped him from being honest with her and they were still obstacles in his path now. As much as he knew he should, he just couldn’t do it. Fears affirmed and his stomach churning, Nico turned his back to her willing himself not to fall apart. The truth was dancing on the tip of his tongue begging to be set free, but still he resisted.

“Look Bianca, I’m tired. I need to get some rest. We’ll talk about this later,” he said turning to walk away, but she grabbed his arm to stop him. “No dad, I want to know now! Why won’t you tell me who she is?” He wheeled around glaring at her, his fear morphing into anger. “I said we’ll talk about it later Bianca, now go to bed.” He snatched his arm from her grip and stalked into his room.

To his surprise he heard her footsteps following him. She stood in the doorway holding off his ice cold stare with one of her own. If he had thought they were finished he had another think coming; she wasn’t backing down. Realizing that she would have to force the issue she shelved the rest of her warning shots and came with the heavy artillery. “How do you know Isabella Monacco?” she said. Nico kept his expression tight trying not to flinch at that name, but she was on to him. “You do know her, don’t you? You’ve known her for years. I saw the picture of the two of you that you’ve got under the dresser. Is she my mother? Is she?!”

He stood in stiff silence, anger coursing through his body, desperately trying to swallow his fear, and daring any of the tears lapping at the edge of his eyelids to budge. He hadn’t expected any of this and had no idea how to answer her truthfully without making things more of a mess than they already were. She had backed him into a corner and like a wounded animal he bit back.

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about so I suggest you drop this right now!” he shouted. Unfazed by the threatening tone of his voice and more determined than ever she pressed harder. “It’s true isn’t it? She is my mother. She’s the reason you don’t come home at night. Why doesn’t she want to see me?” Her stern face fell into despair as the revelations kept coming. “Does she even know what I look like? Why are you keeping her from me? She doesn’t want me does she? She left me with you and she doesn’t want me. How can you be with her when she doesn’t want me?

“Damn it Bianca just drop this, please!” he shouted again, his voice cracking with emotion. “Just tell me the truth! She left you because of me. That’s why you don’t want me to know about her. That’s why she looked right past me when I saw her. She left you and you want her back, but she doesn’t want me!”

The devastation on her face was killing him and his temper had reached the boiling point. He wanted this to stop…now. Not knowing what else to do he exploded. “That woman is not your mother. Your mother is dead okay? I don’t talk about her because she’s dead, I don’t have pictures of her because she’s dead. She’s gone, I can’t bring her back, and if having me isn’t good enough than I’m sorry. Case closed!”

His outburst had the silencing effect that he intended, but it came at a cost. She stopped shouting and stood staring at him in disbelief before firing off one last shot. “Liar!” she shouted as she ran out of his room; the sound of her door slamming elicited a single tear to fall from his eyes before he charged out of the house and drove away.

Dangerous Ground

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Mon, 10 May 2010 16:04:00 +0000

Ivy’s eyes shot open as the piercing sound of sirens jarred her out of her sleep. The blur of flashing lights reflected off the walls of the bedroom briefly illuminating her surroundings and sending a shock wave through her body. It had really happened. She was really back here again. She looked over her shoulder at the half naked man snoring beside her and cringed. How could she have let this happen; let him put his filthy hands on her? Quietly and slowly she eased out of the bed being careful not make any noise. Where were her clothes? They had to be there somewhere. She had to find them fast and make a run for it.

She felt around on the floor, her eyes squinting in the shadowy darkness of the room trying to make out anything that looked like it would cover her body. A trash bag would do at this point; she just had to get the hell out of there now. She swiped her hands under the bed and found her bra and panties in a ball. She threw them on and found her shoes when she nearly stumbled over them. The abrupt pause in the man’s snoring caused her to freeze in her tracks and when it resumed she put on what she had and quietly made her way to the stairs.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a deep gravelly voice called out to her sending her heart into her throat. “I’d hate to have to chase you down and I’m sure you’d hate for me to catch you.” His hazy eyes gripped her form and followed it as she back peddled and took a seat on the edge of the bed. Her body remained stiff as she watched him pick up a pack of cigarettes from the night stand and light one. He took a drag with one hand and blew the thick smoke directly at her before picking up his gun with the other.

“You know, I’ve never had to use this on you, but I will if that’s what it takes. You know that right?” Trying to keep it together she looked away from him and nodded slowly. “You’re lucky I haven’t used it yet considering what you’ve already done. Guess I still have a soft spot for you or something. That’s what jail does to you; makes you miss everything on the outside, even the shit that’s bad for you.”

“That’s too bad Cross, because I didn’t miss you at all.” Ivy said, momentarily forgetting that he still had the gun in his hand. “That’s not what you said last night baby,” he said with a laugh that made her skin crawl. She didn’t remember much about the night before, but the mere thought of his skin on hers made her sick. “I guess it makes sense that you didn’t seeing how comfortable you got with that coward ass boyfriend of yours; or should I say ex-boyfriend, right red?”

“Don’t call me that!” she snapped. He laughed again as he put out his cigarette and scooted towards her. “Just because it looks brown from a distance doesn’t mean the roots don’t show. I know who you are deep down Ivy, just a simpering little bitch who’ll move her ass where ever the money goes even if it’s to my enemy; even if it puts me behind bars.” She could hear the thick anger lacing his voice; a familiar sign of the storm that built up inside him when he was about to loose control. It had been years ago, but her heart began to race again when she thought of the aftermath of his last blow up.

“Fuck the fact that I was the one who got you off the corner, I was the one who put you through rehab, I was the one that gave any kind of a damn about you at all and you turn on me for that bastard’s chump change? You pathetic ungrateful bitch!” As his voice rose in anger so did he and just as she thought he was about to hit her he stopped short, turned around and walked to the other side of the room.”

She had closed her eyes and shielded herself with her arms, anticipating a blow that didn’t come and when she uncoiled, she sat in silence for a few moments watching him stare out the window before she spoke again. “Why should I be grateful to you Cross?! You got me hooked on the drugs that put me on the corner in the first place. If anything got me off it, it was whatever passes for guilt for you.”

He let out a ragged sigh; his shame preventing him from facing her. “You’re never going to let me forget that are you? Nothing I ever did was good enough for you to get the hell over that was it?!” She looked away from him, letting her silence be his answer. He continured to stare out the window trying to swallow down the pain that came with the memories of their early years together; regret and guilt thick enough for him to choke on. But as his thoughts moved to the truth of what she’d done to him that pain transformed into a blind rage he could no longer contain. He realized that any possibility of forgiving her betrayal was gone.

“Fine then, fuck it,” he said turning back to her. “If I couldn’t make you happy then I’ll make sure you suffer, the way I have.” He charged towards her lifting her from the bed and slamming her against the wall; his large hands gripped tightly around her throat as she struggled to breath. “You gave away what I loved,” he said raking his eyes down the length of her body. “Now I’m going to take away what you love one piece at a time — and you’re going to help me do it.”

Reality Check

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 21:11:00 +0000

Monacco Desert Residence – Vista Glenn

“Hello daddy.” Isabella reluctantly held the phone to her ear listening to her father’s rough voice. It contained a variation of tenderness mixed with brute as it always had, and as usual, it sent a variation of conflicting emotions charging through her; comfort, fear, love, loathing, confidence, and complete mistrust. She had always been a daddy’s girl and with a man like her father, that title came with a heavy price. Nothing was ever simple when it came to him.

“Nice to finally hear your voice Mi’ja. It’s just a shame that the threat of a surprise visit is the only way to get you on the phone. There must be something going on there that you don’t want me to know about.” Isabella shifted uncomfortably, absently looking at the clock on the wall. Nico would be there soon. It was down right scary how intuitive her father could be.

“I’ve been busy doing your bidding. That’s what you wanted isn’t it?” she said, raising her voice. “I’ve got things under control here, there’s no need for you to come all the way to the states to check up on me.” She tried hard to conceal the desperation in her voice but got the feeling she hadn’t been successful. But if her father could hear it he didn’t let on.

“So that must mean that the Syntec Global deal is moving along well. You’re not letting Marc Bauer give you any shit are you?” “No daddy. Mr. Bauer understands exactly what I want and expect. He’ll give it to me in due time if he’s smart.” Carlos let out a chuckle. The girl sounded just like he did when he was her age; hard nosed, determined, and blindly naive. “Okay querida. I trust you. I just don’t like being put off. You are my daughter. I love you. It’s your voice I want to hear…at least every now and again. Okay?”

Isabella smiled in spite of herself. That was the effect he had on her. One minute she wanted to fight with him and next minute she wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his arms. As many turbulent times as there had been in their lives, she still considered him her rock; the one constant that would always be there. “Okay daddy. I love you too. Talk to you later.”

********************************************

LV International Airport – Hanger #27

Rook looked down at his watch for the third time in 20 minutes. He must have it set wrong; Nico would never be this late. Just as he let that rational sink in it was loudly contradicted by the deep drone of the clock tower in the distance -- 10:30 and still no Nico.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his brother’s number again. It rang once and went straight to voicemail. Irritated he dialed the house number. It rang several times until a male voice answered. “Who the hell is this?!” he growled.

"It’s Rider. What’s going on?”

“What the hell are you doing there? Put Nico on the phone.” Rook was growing impatient with Nico’s blatant disregard for his time.

“He’s not here. He asked me to stay here and keep an eye on Bianca while he went to meet you.”

“Well he’s obviously he’s not here so where the hell his he? Did he say he was going somewhere else?”

“No, just to see you,” Rider replied, a hint of concern growing in his voice.

“Fine, if he calls or comes back tell him to forget it, I’m leaving.” Rook abruptly hung up and headed for his car.

At this rate they would never get this deal done and it had to be done soon. It was the third time in a week that Nico had either been late or hadn’t bothered to show up at all. It was getting old and Rook was damn tired of it.

On the few occasions he had seen his brother he was only there physically as his mind seemed a million miles away; and he didn’t have to guess why. Rook’s face contorted into anger as the realization hit him. Nico had ignored his advice and abandoned his better judgment. He was with her…..again.

****************************************

Monacco Residence – Vista Glenn

It was late, the sun long gone; the sound of crickets chirping resonated in the air. Lexie was downstairs fumbling around in the kitchen, Nico’s phone had been vibrating wildly on and off for the last hour and somewhere out in the distance a coyote was howling, but somehow, as they sat together on the terrace, it seemed like they were the only two people on earth.

Nico’s mood had calmed considerably from the state he was in when he first arrived. His expression, usually a scowl, had been especially surly and he had barely said two words to her before carrying her to her room and throwing her on the bed. To say that he had been anxious was an understatement. “So do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” Isabella said resting her head against his chest, his arms wrapped around her. The way he held her felt more like he was trying to comfort himself rather than her. “Who says there’s anything wrong?” he said in a tired voice.

“Well, you come over here and practically tear my clothes off; barely say hello. It seemed like you were getting out a little frustration. I’m not saying I mind, but that wasn’t all about me was it?” He let out a snicker and squeezed his arms around her tighter. “It was mostly about you. You know I can’t control myself when I’m near you,” he said, letting a smile cross his face.

“Okay, if it was only mostly about me what was the rest of it about?” Nico shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t want to talk about my problems. I just want to enjoy being here with you,” he said as he stroked her hair and kissed her on the top of the head in an effort to pacify her curiosity. “And am I supposed to enjoy myself when I can feel you brooding behind me? Come on, tell me what’s wrong,” she said turning to look at him.

He let out a slightly frustrated sigh. “Look, it’s about work, okay. I don’t want to go there with you. Besides the less you know about what I do the better. A lot of it you really shouldn’t want to know anyway.” He tried to soften the hardness of his expression when he saw her reaction to what he had just said.

Isabella turned around and put her back to him. She sat silently; Reese’s words beginning to echo in her mind. Though she and Nico were virtually skin to skin, she was painfully aware of a distance between them; a void of circumstance that they had always been unconsciously careful not to address. But it was there now, wedging itself further and further between them as their silence drew out.

Finally, amidst his own discomfort Nico broke it. “I know what you’re thinking right now. But he’s not right about everything.” Isabella turned toward him again. “Who,” she said. “Reese. You’re thinking about whatever the hell he said to you about me, but it’s not all true. He only knows the stuff in his police reports and what he’s heard about me.”

“Then what is true Nico? I know he’s not right about everything he said but is he right about anything? I know a lot has happened, but what? What is it? It’s not just what you do or who you associate with. What are these things that have happened to you that are so awful? I feel like you’re keeping me at arms length sometimes; like I’m not getting all of you. There’s a whole part of your life that’s a mystery to me. Why won’t you let me all the way in?”

“Because I don’t want you to be a part of that,” he said, rising from the lounger, his tone more aggressive than he intended. “I don’t want you to know that side of me. I hate that side. You might hate me too if you knew some of the things I’ve done.” He held her gaze for a long moment searching for any sign of hesitation on her part but the expression on her face reassured him that his last statement could never be true. He knew she could never hate him, but right now she was the one that needed reassurance of his feelings.

“You’re already all the way in here," he said pointing to his heart. “It’s all yours and it’s the only place you need to be. I love you. I’m not going to let anything happen to you or what we have. I don’t want to hide anything from you, but if it keeps you safe than it’s just going to have to be that way. You’ve got to understand that.”

His heart was the only place she wanted to be; she had already been away from it for too long. Still, being excluded from any part of him, even if it was a dark place she’d be better off staying out of, made her anxious. It was a problem that had the potential to get worse and it wasn’t the only issue between them. Nico didn’t exactly have full access to her life either. They never spoke about it, but their sneaking around was just as much a protection for her professional reputation as it was a safety precaution. And then of course there was the matter of the “other important person in his life” that they pretended didn’t exist when they were together—his daughter. That was definitely a topic she was in no way ready to deal with. She put the thought out of her mind as quickly as it came and decided to quit while she was ahead.

Finally she stood and gave him a weak smile. “I don’t like it Nico, but I understand,” she said, not entirely sure if she was telling the truth. “I just don’t want anything to come between us again. Not now.” He took her in his arms and kissed her forehead. “Trust me angel. Nothing will.”

The Spider & the Fly

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:46:00 +0000

Ivy sat alone at the bar; eyes glossed over, headache pounding, and hunched over her drink like a dog protecting its food. Nursing the emotional wounds that Nico had left on her heart had sent her spiraling into a vicious cycle of drinking, crying, and drinking some more. It had gone on for the last few weeks and didn’t show any signs of stopping. She couldn’t say that she had had a lot of love in her life, but she had loved him to a fault and in turn, he had made a fool of her for it. Their violent exchange had been unexpected and she was still at a loss for how any of it began. He had been happy with her, hadn’t he? At least happy enough to take her out occasionally and sleep with her every other night. But there was someone else now. Someone that had come out of nowhere, some other woman that he cared enough about to end things with her for good. That fact had cut the deepest and put her over the edge.

She was deep in despair over her situation. No money, no place to live, and no Nico. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks and the blaring music from the jukebox camouflaged her muffled cries. She was all alone and he didn’t care. The one person in the world who meant anything to her didn’t even care.

“Benny I need another shot,” she said, her speech slurring a bit. She pushed her empty glass toward the bartender and he quickly complied as Ivy absently gazed at the large bottle of rum and the steady stream of brown liquid escaping its mouth. She threw her head back and guzzled it down and was about to ask for another when someone else beat her to it. “Give the lady another shot Benny; on me.”

*************************************************

Sloane woke up with a start, the images of her dream still flashing before her as she blinked her eyes, trying to focus them in the darkness. Every time she closed her eyes it was the same thing. That dream, that memory, that terrible night replaying over and over again. And it always ended the same way with those eyes boring holes into her soul. She felt those eyes watching her all the time now ever since Isabella had returned.

Rational or not her blame for it all lay squarely on her former friend and her need to drive her out of Las Vistas had become a near obsession. Her nerves on edge and her mind still polluted with visions, she hopped out of bed and rushed into her bathroom.

Stripping off her night clothes she got into the shower, slammed the door and hurriedly turned on the cold valve as far as it would go, nearly breaking it off. The ice cold water took its effect, biting her warm skin and jolting her out of her hallucination. She stood shivering for a long while letting the water run over her head, washing the disturbing nightmare from her psyche.

When she was sufficiently cleansed she got out, dried off, and poured herself a large glass of wine. Taking liberal gulps, she made her way to the large wall of windows in her loft and looked down at the city below. There had to be some way to make this stop, to get that blonde bitch the hell out of her life for good. She’d been racking her brain for weeks and had always come up empty. Silent tears began to run down her face. One of them teetered on her chin before dropping into her glass. She took another sip and let out a frustrated sigh.

“She's got to get out of here,” she said to herself. “Time is running out.” Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. Only one person that could be at this hour, she thought herself as she rolled her eyes and made her way to answer it.

“Hey sexy,” Pierce said as she opened the door, his eyes trained on her body, nearly undressing her with them. Her not so subtle hints that she wanted nothing to do with him hadn’t penetrated and recently, at some of her weaker moments, she had made the mistake of sleeping with him a few times, further confusing the issue. But tonight he would get no play, at least not from her. “Not tonight Pierce,” she said shielding herself from his gaze with her arms. His eyes were just as cold and beady as the ones in her dream. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Well I can get you there; come on baby let me in.” He stepped forward and began to ease his way into her apartment, but she pressed her weight against the door catching him in the opening. “I said no Pierce. Go the hell away!” “Come on, I’ve been thinking about you all day.” He wedged himself further through the door and used the hand that was inside to lightly graze her backside. “I’ve got some news good news for you too.”

Her interest slightly piqued and too tired to keep up the physical stand off she relented and without warning removed her pressure on the door allowing it to fly open and causing him to stumble forward into the apartment. He caught his balance, closed the door and followed her into the living room. “You can’t stay long. I’m tired and I’m not hosting a sleep over.”

“Come on Sloane. My wife is out of town and I set up a good excuse to spend the whole night with you. At least let me stay a little while.” She regarded him with a scowl and went back to her wine. “Fine, but I don’t know why you would. Nothing’s going happen.” He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. The sly smile on his face let her know that she hadn’t squelched his expectations in the least.

“So what’s the news I’m supposed to like?”

“One of my editors is thinking of running a story about Isabella Monacco. Something about her and Nico De Santos.”

“What about them? I already fed you everything about their high school puppy love.”

“Yeah well they’ve got more than that going on now. We’ve got a few candids of them together, just waiting on a real money shot.” He slid closer to her and began rubbing her shoulders.

Sloane wriggled from his grip and scooted away glaring at him. “I thought you’d be happy. We’re going to do some “then” and “now” shots with his mug shot and her prom picture; hopefully we can get some nude, or at least half nude, shots that we can blur; archives has tons more stuff we can use. It’s going to be great!”

His excitement made her expression soften a bit. His twisted little heart was in the right place but it wasn’t enough. Isabella would deny the story and Nico simply wouldn’t comment at all. It might cause a momentary uproar but certainly not enough to get her to leave. Worse yet it might bring another unwanted player into the game. She needed more; and suddenly, as she recalled something Pierce had just said, it came to her.

“Pierce you said something about archives a minute ago. What archives?’ Pierce regarded her cautiously. “We’ve got an archives department. Every story we’ve ever done is on file. Why? You can’t get in there if that’s what you’re thinking.” “ No, that’s not what I meant,”’ she said abruptly jumping up from the sofa and moving to her office. She quickly returned with a small piece of paper with scribbled writing on it. Standing in front of him she seductively slipped it down the opening of her robe.

Pierce’s bewildered expression spread into smile as he rose from the sofa to retrieve it, but Sloane pushed him back down and put her foot up on his knee. “You want it? I’ll let you get it and everything else you want, but you have to do something for me in return.” Aroused, he swallowed hard trying to contain himself. “What? Whatever it is you can have it.”

Sloane smiled as she lowered herself into his lap. He raised his hands to touch her but she slapped them away with a devious grin and leaned in close to him grazing her lips against his ear. “There’s a name on that paper. I want you to get me everything you can find on that name. Articles, pictures, even police reports. I want everything.” She paused for a moment, letting her breath tickle his skin before she leaned back giving him full access to slip his hand down into the folds of her robe and retrieve the treasure she had buried.

He unfolded it, read the name and stared at her for a moment. “Are you sure you want to do this?”” he asked. “Absolutely,” she replied as she began untying sash. “Consider it done,” he said reaching around her waist and pulling her into a deep kiss. Sloane closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and tried to control her gag reflex.

Warning Signs

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:06:00 +0000

“Okay, the last thing to cover is the potential acquisition of Whitfield Unlimited. They have a packing plant on the east side of town that MSI could easily leverage as a requisite use facility for all shipping requests over a certain size. Very profitable situation there,” Blair handed Isabella the perspectives on the company and waited for the answer she knew was coming. Isabella gave them a quick scan and slid them back across the table. “I think it’s a great idea Blair. Please draw up an offer and send it to Mr. Whitfield. I’m having dinner with him tomorrow night.”

The light chime of the door bell interrupted their business meeting. Isabella moved to answer it and as she approached the door a smile spread across her face when she recognized her visitor. “Reese, what are you doing here?” “I came to drop this off," he said holding up a shopping bag and returning her smile. “You left it in Eden’s car the other day. I happened to be over there and told her I’d get it to you.”

“Thank you,” she said taking the bag and gesturing for him to come into the house. “I’m not disturbing you am I? The bag isn’t really the only reason I’m here.” Isabella turned back to the dinning room where Blair was already gathering up her things to leave. “Don’t worry about it. We were finishing up anyway. Isabella, I’ll have the offer set up and sent out by tomorrow morning.” Blair grabbed her briefcase, acknowledged Reese with a nod, and headed out the front door.

He sat down in the living room as she went to the kitchen to get him something to drink. Without realizing it, his gaze followed her shapely silhouette as she walked away from him; an unexpected reaction that he shook himself out of immediately. He put his hand up to rub the back of his neck and felt the slight wetness of his palm. He wiped it off on the sofa cushion and shifted in his seat trying to get himself together. After all this time she still made him a little nervous.

“So what’s going on?” she said setting a glass of water in front of him. “I know you’re not here to talk about the weather.” Reese took a sip of the water and inhaled sharply before he began. “Look Issy, Eden told me about you and Nico and I know you’re happy, but….” he let out a sigh, knowing she wouldn’t like what he was about to say. “You don’t know him anymore. He’s different. He’s not the same person he was when we were kids. I’m not just saying this because he’s a known criminal, which should be a consideration in the first place, but he’s been through a lot of crazy stuff. Things that have really messed him up, badly.”

Isabella gave him a knowing smile. He was being protective, which was a welcome revelation given the history between them. “Well clearly Eden still can’t keep a secret. I know he’s changed Reese, but deep down he’s still the same in a lot of ways. I know you too have had your differences and I blame myself for a lot of that, but his heart is still good, despite what he does. You used to be his best friend; I know you can still see that, even a little.”

He looked away from her briefly, realizing that he was talking to a wall. Whatever hold Nico had on her before had only tightened; she was already in too deep on to be receptive to his warnings. But he had come here for a reason and he was going to get out everything he had to say. Whatever she did with it was up to her. “He’s not evil, I know that. But a good heart doesn’t excuse the fact that he’s got half the town under his thumb out of fear and the other have soaked in drug money. This isn’t cops and robbers Isabella; he’s a walking target. People want to kill him and everyone that’s important to him. Do you really think you’re exempt from that?” Reese kept his eyes on her, his face serious, hoping that something was getting through.

She averted her eyes and let out a breath; her expression becoming distant and almost pained. When she turned back to him he could see tears glistening in her eyes, but she blinked them back before they could fall. “I know what I’m dealing with Reese, but I also know that Nico would never let anything happen to me. Never.” Incredulous, he closed his eyes and shook his head. “Famous last words. What did he do hire a bodyguard for you? He can’t be with you every second and that’s all it takes for someone to take a shot. Wake up Issy! You’ve got to let this go!!”

Isabella opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of the front door slamming startled them both. “So she’s got to let me go, huh Boy Scout?” Nico stood in the entryway arms crossed and ready to spit venom, but he kept his composure. “The door was unlocked. You might want to tell her not to let that happen again since you want to be her damn watch dog all of a sudden.”

Isabella stood up and walked towards him quickly making herself a barrier between the two men. “Nico stop. Reese was just concerned, that’s all,” she said trying to pacify him and prevent things from escalating. Nico grabbed her by the waist and kissed her passionately, unmistakably marking his territory. “I’ll just bet he was,” he said in a low growl when he finally released her.

Reese stood up from the sofa and began walking past them towards the door. “I’m gonna go. Think about what I said Issy; you know where to find me if you ever need anything.” “She won’t. I’ve got her covered,” Nico shouted after him. He heard Isabella call out a feeble goodbye just before the door slammed behind him.

None of this would end well; he knew it and deep down so did she. Once again he had tried and failed to get her to realize that she and Nico would never work and once again she had ignored him in the face of her feelings for the asshole. But one thing was definitely different. This time he wouldn’t be the nice guy that came in last; he wasn’t even entering this race. He could only hope that she faced reality before it was too late.

********************************************************

“Carlos, how are you?” Blair rolled her eyes as she knew this phone call would mean that her work day wasn’t quite over yet. “Not good Ms. Bolthouse, not good at all. I haven’t heard from my daughter in weeks and please don’t misunderstand, while I so enjoy hearing your voice I’d prefer to hear hers. What is Isabella so busy with that she can’t take a 5 minute phone call from her father?”

“I just came from seeing her. Have you tried her place?” Blair winced as she already knew the answer to that question. “Of course I have. Lexie said that she was out entertaining clients. I’d love to know just who she’s entertaining at this hour.” “Well you know what they say, the city never sleeps,” she said with a laugh trying to lighten his mood. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Yes. You tell my daughter that I want to speak to her, not you and not Lexie. I’m trusting her with my legacy and she damn well better understand that she is going to have answer to me, directly. If she doesn’t, I’m afraid that I’m going to have to initiate a meeting with her myself….in person.”

After Effects

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:35:00 +0000

6:00 AM Bolthouse Beach House - Azura Beach

The morning sun had refused to let him sleep; the one drawback of having picture windows—no sleeping in. And he had wanted to so badly; if for no other reason than to continue the dream he had been having about Isabella. He had replayed his encounter with her in his head a million times and couldn’t shake the urge to kick himself in the ass for being so stupid. The very fact that he had forgotten he was with someone else at the time made him uneasy as it signaled just how preoccupied he was where she was concerned. After he had picked his face up off the floor and managed to convince Rachel to come back to his place, he had spent the better part of the evening making it up to her and now she lay half dressed on his brand new Italian leather sofa; an annoyance he figured he could excuse considering his faux pas at the restaurant.

He fixed himself a drink and wandered over to his desk to check for the email he had been waiting on from Thad. Still nothing. Deciding not to wait for what he needed any longer he pulled open his desk drawer and began shuffling through the mess of disorganized papers searching for the number to his office.

As he moved through the clutter the palm of his hand grazed over something smooth and shiny. When he realized what it was, he grasped it and held it in his hand for a few moments before placing it on top of the desk. Staring back at him were two crystal blue eyes, ivory skin, and a smile that even now he couldn’t help but return. He had forgotten about this picture of her—the only picture he had of himself and Skye together.

She was named for the color of those eyes, bright and clear and blue but always harboring a void that Blake had tried desperately to fill. He remembered the night the picture had been taken; the dinner at the Italian restaurant she loved; the long walk on the beach. He was going to ask her to marry him that night but fate preempted him from doing so and the series of events that followed permanently cancelled any dreams he had of being with her again.

His memories were the only parts of her that he had to hold onto and the pain associated with them had created the man he was now. Numb and heartless; meaningless sex his only portal to any remote kind of emotion. Anything that compared in the slightest to what he felt when he was with her had eluded his grasp and several years and countless women later the inevitable disappointment he felt left him with no other choice but to get lost in his own physical gratification to temporarily ease his pain.

As his thoughts came crashing down on him, the smile he wore slowly faded and he shoved the picture back in the drawer and slammed it closed. Finishing the rest of his drink he stalked back to the kitchen to pour himself another. He relished the sensation of it burning the back of his throat; a chaser for the unbearable restlessness that had been creeping up his spine; the constant reminder that the wounds on his heart would probably never heal.

This was the first time in a long time that he had thought of Skye. He had used his ritual of partying until all hours and blurry one night stands as a remedy for his loneliness but recently, more often than not, those vices had been replaced with quiet nights alone thinking about the one woman in Las Vistas that barely gave him the time of day.

No other woman had affected him this way since Skye, and in many of the same ways he felt connected to her as if some part of her needed some part of him. He was getting in way too deep, far past his comfort level; so focused on the hunt that he hadn’t stopped to think about what would happen after he finally caught his prey. He was loosing control in the situation and he didn’t want to think about what might happen if he pursued it any further. Falling in love again, if it was even possible, wasn’t something he was ready for and continuing to let his infatuation with Isabella drive his actions spelled nothing but trouble in his mind.

Looking back at the sleeping woman on his couch he let himself fall back into the pattern he was used to; throw a bandage over the bullet hole and keep moving. He gripped her thigh to wake her and barely gave her a moment to realize what was going on before he began unhooking her bra. The decision had been made. Whatever it was that was going on between he and Isabella wasn’t going any further.

***************************
8:20 AM 5th Street Lofts - Downtown Las Vistas

Gunther looked down from the loft, his expression intent and tender. Every breath, every movement, every flutter of her eyelids; he took it all in and held it close to him praying that somehow he would never have to let it go. She had come to him in the middle of the night crying and desperate and as much as his brain had told him it was a bad idea, his heart wouldn’t let him say no. And so he stood there watching her sleep wishing that he could be the one lying next her instead of the pillows on the sofa.

He had offered her the bed, but she had fallen asleep there and he couldn’t bear to wake her. It was probably just as well since he didn’t know if he would’ve been able to keep himself for joining her if she had been in his bed. The couch only had room for one.

He crept down the stairs quietly and started the business of making her something to eat. Bacon, scrambled eggs with cheese, and bean sprouts stuffed between two pancakes; strawberry syrup. It was a strange combination that he had taken to eating once he found out it was her favorite and it was actually quite good to him now.

He set the plate of hot food down on the coffee table in front of her and caught himself staring at her again. Even at her lowest she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He shook her a little and she slowly came out of her slumber. “Wake up sleepy head; I’ve got food for you.” Her eyes opened slowly and she smiled when she saw what he had for her. “Thanks G-man.”

“You feel like talking about what happened. I know you tried last night but I couldn’t understand you through all the blubbering you were doing.” His smile caught hers as she gobbled down a large bite of the concoction on her plate. “I told you Thad kicked me out. He took my keys and cleared out all of my accounts. I only have $350 left on the only credit card in my name.” She paused before taking another bite and looked up at Gunther; the most pathetic puppy dog look in her eyes. “He’s such an asshole,” she said as she shoveled another forkful in her mouth.

“Yeah he is. But what did you do this time SiSi? “I just had a few people over and he got pissed.” “How many people?” he asked, knowing the answer wouldn’t be good. “Not many,” she said looking down at her plate. “How many people Sienna?” She looked up at him and rolled her eyes knowing what was coming. “About 30 or so.”

“Are you crazy? No wonder he threw you out I would’ve too. “So you’re on his side now?” she said. “I’m on your side, you know that, but you can’t keep screwing up and expecting everyone to just look the other way. What did you want him to do; bring a keg and join the party? You’re in his house on his dime, but you don’t care. You just do whatever you want and everyone else be damned. You’re not in high school anymore and it’s way past time for you take responsibility for yourself.” Frustrated, he stood up and walked away from her into the kitchen.

Sienna sat on the couch pouting and pushed her food around with her fork, disturbed that Gunther seemed to be turning on her. Sure he might have had a point but that didn’t make it any easier to swallow. She was the baby of the family and the only girl, a privilege that she had used to her advantage all her life. Work and responsibility had always been left to her brothers. Why anyone expected such things from her now after all this time was beyond her comprehension.

Picking up on her long silence Gunther sensed that he might have hurt her feelings. “Look, I didn’t mean yell at you. You just have to face reality. You’re an adult; you need to start taking care of yourself. Clearly Thad isn’t going to do it and the rich husband thing isn’t the best plan either. You might have to settle for a normal guy,” he said as he sat down beside her and put his arm around her. It was more than a subtle hint that went completely over her head.

She looked at him with sad eyes and gave a weak smile, conceding defeat. “I know, Gunther, but I’ve never had to do anything for myself. I’m not smart like my brothers, I’ve never worked before, I’m not good at anything. Why can’t anyone understand that?!” Her embarrassment showing, she turned away from him when he pulled her closer.

“First of all none of that is true. You’re one of the smartest people I know, maybe not a genius, but you’re not as clueless as you pretend to be. And second, you’re good at a lot of things you don’t give yourself credit for. All anyone wants is for you to try and do something with your life instead of club hopping. You keep this up and you’ll be 60 years old in VIP. Not a good look,” said with a devious smile.

Sienna let herself laugh and pulled him into a hug. “How do you always know how to make me feel better,” said imparting a kiss on his cheek. The sensation of her lips on his skin was enough to drive him crazy and he had to fight the urge to turn his head and have his lips meet hers.

Completely oblivious to the battle going on inside of him she slipped from his grasp and hopped off the couch, heading for the bathroom. “Where are you going?” “Well if I’m going to take care of myself I guess I have to get a job so that means I need some new shoes. I can’t possibly go job hunting with any of the old ones. I’ll be ready to go in ten minutes.” With that she slipped into the bathroom and left Gunther shaking his head in disbelief.

**************************
2:45 PM DeSantos Residence - Azura Beach

How can she not know who I am? The question had been running through Bianca’s mind since her encounter with the Monacco woman and it was still no closer to being answered. She had foolishly conjured up an image in her mind of how things would be when they came face to face; speechless recognition followed by tears and hugs; an emotional reunion of mother and child. But it had been nothing like that. The woman hadn’t spoken to her, or even so much as glanced her way at the restaurant. She had only turned around when it was obvious that Bianca was staring at her and even then it was painfully clear that she had no idea who Bianca was. How could that possibly be? Could she have been wrong about her?

No. She had to be right. That woman had to be her mother and she had to be the “love child” that she had left behind. The picture in her father’s room proved they had been together back then, she was the exact age that any child they had would’ve been, and the whispers that stopped every time she entered her classroom meant that everyone else knew it too. But still, she couldn’t be completely sure. Not without confirmation; which she thought she would get from the woman herself. But since that hadn’t happened would have to find another way.

The wet smack of a water balloon snapped her out of her thoughts. “Bullseye !” Bianca stood up sopping wet and angry. “Damn it Devin!” she shouted at her friend who was smiling in satisfaction. “Relax its just water. God! It really shouldn’t take that much to get your attention you know.” Devin turned her ammunition back to Georgette who was already soaked to the bone. Bianca grabbed a towel and began wiping herself off. Having her friends around was a distraction she didn’t need, regardless of the fact that she had asked them to come over in the first place. Devin wasn’t the type you poured your heart out to about anything and Georgette wasn’t any better. She spent most of her time doing whatever Devin told her to do.

As she turned to sit down she caught movement in the corner of her eye and turned around to see Rider sitting in the cabana behind her. “What are you doing here?” she said, clearly less than thrilled to see him. “Just enjoying the view” he said, his gaze focused past her and squarely on Devin.

“You’re not her type,” Bianca said scrunching her face in disgust. “Devin doesn’t like losers or drop outs.” His gaze still trained on the scantily clad blonde, he fired back at her. “Bleach blonde airheads aren’t my type either, but for her I’d make an exception. And I’m not a drop out anymore; I’m graduating in June.”

“After how many years? Most people are out of high school before they hit 20.” Rider finally turned his attention towards her, his temper slightly flaring. “I’m not 20 yet.” “You will be in June,” she replied satisfied that she had won one of the many rounds of verbal combat they engaged in regularly. He rolled his eyes and went back to staring at Devin.

Irritated by his presence and the amount of attention he was heaping on her friend Bianca stared him down until he was forced to look her way again. “What?!” “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be following Rook around or something?” “ I would be if Nico hadn’t made me come here to baby-sit you. I’ve got better things to do than this. The only reason I’m still here is because there’s nice scenery to look at. Why don’t you stop being a brat about it and hook me up with her. Does she have a boyfriend?”

Ignoring his question she paused for a moment to think. It wasn’t like her father to leave without telling her. Mrs. Brooks was milling around somewhere so having Rider assigned as her watch dog meant that wherever he was he definitely didn’t want her to find out about it. “Where did he go?” she asked. “I don’t know,” Rider said still fascinated with the eye candy.

“Did he take his gun with him?” “I don’t know Bianca; I didn’t pat him down before he left okay. So what’s up with Devin? Is she single or what?” Still tuning him out she rose from the lounger and headed for the house. “Where are you going?” Rider called after her, but she kept walking right past the pool, right past her friends and straight upstairs to her father’s room.

Exactly as she suspected his gun was in the same place it had been a few days earlier, sitting alone, unloaded on his dresser. Wherever he had gone it hadn’t been for business as his piece was like an extra negotiating tool he never left home without. Confused and concerned, she walked out onto the balcony that overlooked the pool and stared down at Rider who had given up lurking from afar and finally made his way over to talk to Devin.

He seemed totally oblivious to the change in her father’s behavior and likewise was probably as clueless as she was about the truth behind her suspicions. He definitely wouldn’t be any help at putting the pieces of this puzzle together. She had considered asking Rook, but she knew better than to believe that he would ever betray his brother’s trust. He was a big stone wall that she didn’t want to push. Left with no other options she decided it was time that the other party in this triangle be consulted. Like it or not, she was going to have to ask her father to tell her the truth, a prospect that gave her little comfort.

***********************************
7:10 PM - Phoenix Heights, Downtown Las Vistas

“What do we have here?” Reese said as he dipped under the caution tape and walked towards the group of officers huddled together in the middle of the alley. They stepped aside to let him through revealing a body lying in a puddle of blood on the street.

It only took him a moment to scan the lifeless woman before him; young, very attractive, brown hair, and stripped naked with two slits carved into the sides of her face that were weeping blood. “Damn it, not again!” he said as he shook his head and turned away. “It’s him isn’t? Where did he leave the letter this time,” he asked one of the officers.

“Folded up nice and neat right between her legs. This guy’s a real sicko,” the officer replied holding up a plastic bag with a small piece of paper in it. “Send that to the lab right away. I want it read and analyzed immediately.” Reese knelt down close to the woman, a look of regret in his eyes, but he refrained from touching her. “Do we know who she is yet?”

“No ID yet; still a Jane Doe for now,” another officer replied. Just as before, any personal property of the victim was nowhere to be found and if they were in fact dealing with a serial killer, this woman would eventually be identified as a prostitute, a runaway, or some other nameless person that society had thrown away. “I’m sorry Jane. I’m going to find out who did this to you,” he whispered to what was left of the victim. He stood up and began walking towards a man who was approaching the scene.

“Hey Luke, tell me you got something from dumpster across the street.” He had been hopeful that the killer would slip up and leave the weapon or some other piece of the puzzle behind but he knew the sullen look on his partner’s face meant that he had come up empty. “Everything’s clean,” Luke replied reluctantly. “In ten years I’ve never seen anything like it, no prints, no weapons, not even a damn eyelash. Whoever he is, this guy is flawless.”

Reese turned back to the body, that familiar tight feeling in his chest persisting. This murder was strike three; same type of victim, same killing method, same smart ass calling card left behind saying nothing and everything; taunting them. They were working with a predator and he knew he wouldn’t be able to rest until they found something. “Whoever he is he’s human. He’s going to fuck up eventually and when he does I’ll be breathing down his neck.”

The phone on his hip vibrated suddenly, startling him. He put it up to his ear and answered; his voice tense. “Detective Prescott…hey sis what’s up?” Reese said when he recognized his sister’s voice on the other end of the phone. “You don’t sound right. Is everything okay?” Eden replied. “Not from where I’m standing, but I can’t talk about it right now.”

“So I guess that means you’re not going to make it for dinner then?” Reese glanced down at his watch. “Is it 7 o’clock already? Damn, I’m sorry Eden I completely lost track of time. Why don’t you wrap it up for me and I’ll pick it up tomorrow.”

“Okay, but come over early because I’m going shopping with Issy in the morning.” Reese’s somber expression lifted into a slight smile; a knee jerk reaction to the sound of her name. “So she’s still here. How’s she doing?”

“Over the moon now that she and Nico are…ummm…damn I wasn’t supposed to say anything about that was I? Never mind.” Dissolving as quickly as it had come, his smile abruptly turned into a tense frown as he pressed Eden for more information. “She and Nico are what Eden?” he said failing to hide the irritation in his voice. “Well, I guess its okay to tell you. They’re together again, sort of. I don’t know what to call it exactly, but they admitted that they still love each other and they’ve become friendly again if you know what I mean.”

An all too familiar wave of anxiety washed over him and he felt like he was experiencing déjà vu. This wasn’t the first time his sister had been the one to tell him that Nico and Isabella were an item and just like the time before he wasn’t happy about it. “Well good for them,” he said begrudgingly. “That doesn’t bother you does it? Even after all this time?” Eden’s asked, intently picking up on her brother’s angst. Her questions gnawed at him a bit. He didn’t want it to bother him and it shouldn’t have, but somehow it did.

“No,” he lied. “They’re both adults, they can do what they want. It’s none of my business anyway.” Eden knew better, but decided not to push him. “Okay, well I’ll see you tomorrow then. I love you.” “ Yeah me too,” he said and abruptly hung up.

Reese shoved the phone back in his pocket and looked back at the slain woman again. She had probably gotten up this morning thinking it would be another regular day the thought of her own death nowhere in her consciousness. He had seen it a million times; trusting, unsuspecting, innocent people dead at the hands of someone else; caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. As much as he didn’t want it to, Eden’s news about Isabella had started him wondering, if she stayed involved with Nico, could she possibly face the same fate.

Say Anything

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:32:00 +0000

"Okay, we've talked about the weather, you've asked me a million questions about work and Cyrus and Zoe, so let's cut the small talk and get to the dirt.” While Eden loved that she and Isabella were back in contact, she knew her friend well enough to know that she hadn't been invited to lunch just to shoot the breeze. Isabella had a certain look in her eye that alluded to more than the pleasantries that they had been exchanging. This cat had definitely swallowed a canary and Eden wouldn't be satisfied until she coughed it up.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Isabella said coyly, trying to hold back a smile. “Whatever Issy. After everything that's been in the papers and on TV, you have no reason to smile like that unless… Oh my God!!!! No!!! You and Nico. You and Nico? You and Nico??!!!! Eden slapped her hand across her mouth to hold in her scream.

"Okay, okay, everyone doesn't need to know,” Isabella said partly shielding her face with an embarrassed smile. "I can't believe you were just going to sit there and not say anything. You have to tell me everything. How the hell did this even happen? I thought you two weren't speaking."

"Well after I went to see him, I thought the same thing, but he showed up at the house last night and things got….intense.” Isabella inhaled sharply as the events of the night before rushed back into her mind. Unable to hold Eden at bay any longer she recounted her night with Nico, sparing overtly intimate detail. As she did a sense of warmth washed over her; an almost desperate need to be back in his arms again.

"I knew it. I told you he still had feelings for you. So where do things stand now?" Eden asked. The question turned the warmth Isabella was feeling into cold uncertainty. That was the one question she didn't have an answer to. She knew that he still loved her and she felt the same, but anything beyond that was a blur neither one of them had tried to put into focus.

"Honestly, I don't know. He had to leave before we could talk about it. His daughter was waiting for him," Isabella said shifting in her seat. That too was an issue that left her less than sure of the situation. "His daughter….have you two talked about that?” Eden's question was quickly answered by the far off uncomfortable look in Issy's eyes.

"Well whatever happens, I'm glad you two got over yourselves and admitted that you're still in love. God, it was like pulling teeth to get you to even entertain the idea and now you two are having midnight rendezvous. Just like high school, except I don't have to cover for you now."

The two of them burst into laughter as they recounted the various deceitful situations that the memory brought to mind. "What's so funny, you two are giggling like school girls," Cyrus' deep voice interrupted their fun as he approached the table. "Just a little girl talk," Eden said as she stood to greet him. "What are you doing here; did your meeting get cancelled?"

"Yeah. I was on my way to pick up Zoe, but I thought I would stop by and see if you needed anything before I went home. And of course it's always good to see you Isabella.” "You too Cyrus," Isabella replied with a slight smile. They were interrupted by his cell phone. "Sorry, I have to take this," he said after quickly glancing at the caller id. As he moved away to take the call Isabella's eyes followed him slowly; that same unidentifiable feeling creeping up on her. She shook it off and rose to leave.

"Okay, I have to go, but I'll call you tomorrow. "As they hugged goodbye, Eden whispered in her ear, "Don't give up before you try. You and Nico can make this work; I know you can.” The words tugged at Isabella's heart, but she refused to let her hopes rise any higher than they already were. "We'll see what happens. Tell Cyrus I said goodbye," she said as she turned to walk away.

It was a comfort to have someone to confide in again, but her conversation with Eden had only exacerbated the apprehension she felt about opening her heart up to Nico again. Being with him had made her realize how much of herself she had shut off since she left him and if things didn't work out she wasn’t sure she would be able to survive that way again. They had made their way this far back to each other and if he was willing to try, she was determined not to lose him again.

**************************************************

Sitting at the bar, pretending to take in the scenery, Bianca fixed her gaze trying to get a good look. She stared hard trying to examine facial features, mannerisms, hands, eyes. She omitted hair color, as she assumed it was a very well done bottle job. She listened to the voice, the laugh, trying to quietly replicate it. Did her laugh sound the same? Could what she heard really be true?

She was trying to fit the pieces together; the picture she had found in her father’s room, the way he had been acting recently, the rumors and teasing from the kids at school, the tabloid reports. He had to know her…but how and why? She lived in a completely different world then they did.

She took another sip of her soda and catching the reflection of herself in the mirror behind the bar she studied it closely. She looked at the woman again and then back at her reflection: same facial structure, different color eyes, same nose, same delicate figure.

She looked at the woman again, marveling at her beauty and poise; two things she had never found in herself. She watched as the woman rose from her seat and hugged her lunch companion before she left. Now was the perfect time; she was alone. Just go up and ask her, Bianca thought to herself. She hopped off the stool and began walking towards the woman’s table.

The woman gathered her things from the table and began to walk in Bianca’s direction—a strong and confident walk. Still staring at her Bianca continued walking, closing the gap between them. They were close now, close enough to speak, close enough for Bianca to touch her.

She stopped as the woman walked by her without so much as a glance. Bianca turned around and watched her walk further and further away from her. She had let her walk away, let her fear get the better of her. Now she stood alone with the same question burning in her mind. Could that woman really be her mother?

***************************************************

As she walked away from the table Isabella turned slightly to look behind her at the girl she had just past. She could feel her eyes boring into the back of her head and sure enough her gaze was still fixed. She had never seen her before, but there was a certain resemblance that she couldn’t immediately place. She must have seen me in the tabloids, she thought to herself. She turned to face forward just in time to run head on into someone else.

“I know you’re happy to see me, but you don’t have to tackle me,” Blake smiled at Isabella as he held onto her shoulder to keep her from stumbling. He had seen her coming his way and decided not to miss this opportunity to talk to her…alone. Being able to touch her made it all the more worthwhile.

“I’m so sorry,” she said as she composed herself and looked up at the person she had accosted. A slight smile began to cross her face as she met his eyes, kind and warm just as they had been that night at the club and the night they had first met on the beach. “Don’t apologize; I could think of worse things than running into a beautiful woman.”

Isabella’s smile widened at his blatant flirtation. Now that she had a chance to get a good look at him he was certainly easy on the eyes himself. Just as he had a few nights before he stood gazing at her with a look of interest that she felt went beyond pure physical attraction. It had strangely comforted her then as it did now. Realizing that she was staring at him longer than she intended she broke the short silence.

“I’m glad that I ran into you. I’ve been meaning to come by the club and thank you for helping me the other night. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t gotten me out of there.” “I wish I could’ve kept those creeps away from you. But I guess if you really want to thank me you can take me out to dinner.” He smiled at the shocked expression that crossed her face. “Excuse me?”

“I save you from those vultures and you repay me by trying to knock me down. We haven’t even gone on our first date yet and you’re already trying to get me on my back. The least you can do is buy me a meal,” he said moving closer to her. She smiled despite herself and casually took a step back to increase the space between them.

“I don’t even know you,” she said her face turning serious and tight. “Blake Bolthouse. I’m Blair’s brother,” he said extending his hand which she reluctantly shook. “Now you know me.” “Not really, but from what I’ve heard about you it doesn’t take much for any woman to get you on your back. I hope you don’t take this little accident as me being desperate.” This time he was the one who couldn’t help smiling. She wasn’t going to make this easy for him; but then he had always enjoyed the chase.

“Not desperate, just anxious. I thought I’d let you off the hook and make it clear that it’s okay for you to take me out. I’m free tonight.” “Well I’m not. I guess I’ve missed my chance. I’ll have to find a way to live with myself after this.” She turned to leave but he caught her arm before she could, sending a jolt of energy though her body; a physical reaction she didn’t expect.

She turned back to him trying to hide the surprise on her face. His expression was now serious and intense. “Well why don’t I take you out; then neither of us will have to suffer.” Just then he felt a sharp and deliberate tap on his shoulder and turned to see the tall red head he had come with standing behind him, arms crossed and angry.

“What the hell are you doing Blake?” He had completely forgotten that she had gone to powder her nose. He quickly tried to think of something, anything to say or do, but there was no getting out of this.

“Trust me, he’s not doing anything here. Not with me,” Isabella said as she turned her back on the two of them and headed for her car. Blake stood mortified and dejected as watched her walk away from him again. Shit, strike two, he thought to himself completely ignoring the yelling fit his date was throwing.

“What an idiot,” Isabella said to herself as she walked away. He had been so cocky and the situation was so embarrassing that she wanted to laugh about it and she should have, but instead she felt a completely contrary sensation creeping up on her-- the slight twinge of jealousy.

Breaking Point

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:31:00 +0000

Moving slowly from the couch Ivy shielded her face from the blaring sunlight coming through the window and took slow, tentative steps as her wobbly legs threatened to abandon balance. She reached the comforting dark of the small powder room and stood at the sink, leaning on it for support, before turning on the light and letting her eyes slowly adjust. She blinked a few times to get her focus doing her best to ignore the throbbing ache attacking her skull.

Her vision finally returning to normal she looked into the mirror and cringed. Facing her ragged appearance was just as uncomfortable as the bright light. She turned on the cold water full blast and splashed a few handfuls on her face freeing it of the dried smudges of mascara and eye shadow. She looked into the mirror again barely satisfied with the slight improvement, patted her face dry and trudged back into the living room.

She made her way over to the phone. No red flickering light; no missed messages. She picked up the phone and dialed but quickly slammed it down as the familiar computerized voice that had greeted her countless times before confirmed what she already knew. For whatever reason, as had been the case the night before, Nico wasn't available to take her call, and those silent hours had allowed her mind to become polluted with a number of terrifying reasons why.

It wasn't the first night that she had anxiously waited up for him nursing her fears with a myriad of mind numbing liqueurs; nor was it the first time that he had blown up at her for asking a simple question regarding his whereabouts. But something in his voice had been different. She wasn't nagging or simply interrupting him in the middle of a business deal. Something was very wrong and in his world being wrong about anything could easily mean being dead.

Her last thought sent a jolt of fear through her body and she returned to her collection of bottles and poured herself another drink. Suddenly catching a flash of movement from outside, she went to the window to see Nico pulling up to the house. “It’s about damn time,” she said to herself; a feeling of relief mixed with annoyance only adding to her muddled state of mind.

***************************************************

For the second time in 24 hours Nico pulled up to a woman’s house not knowing what he was walking into, but this time he knew exactly how things were going to end. He hopped out of the car and pulled his keys out of his pocket, absently jingling them as he approached the house he was renting for Ivy. Before he could get to the door to use them, it opened revealing a very tight and angry face behind it.

“Glad to see you’re alive Nico. What the hell happened to you last night?” Ivy shouted as he brushed past her causing her to lose her balance momentarily. Inside the sharp smell of cheap liquor revealed itself before he even saw the empty bottles of beer in a small puddle of the poison.

“I told you not to wait up Ivy I had business to take care of. But I see you had Mr. Smirnoff to keep you company again.” Nico stepped carefully over the glass and a few other items that had been strewn across the floor; no doubt a result of one of her temper tantrums.

“What the hell else was I supposed to do? You never called me back; your phone kept going straight to voicemail; Rook didn’t even know where you were. I thought you were dead Nico!” He stood staring at her, tears on the cusp of her eyelids, and, aside from pity, felt nothing; a sharp contrast to the past few hours he had spent with Isabella. He could almost see the anger rising off of her like smoke from a fire.

She had never been more to him than a warm body and a guaranteed alibi. And while he had always kept her at arms length, he knew very well that she was in love with him. Sadly, if the situation had been reversed and she had been out all night without a word, he wouldn’t have given her well being a second thought.

“I’m not dead, okay, and neither are you, so obviously not hearing back from me didn’t kill you. You knew exactly what my life was when you met me and this is a part of it. If you don’t like it you can walk the hell away; trust me, I won’t stop you.” While true, he hadn’t meant for his last comment to be quite so harsh.

“Oh you’re always using your business as a reason why you’re such an asshole to me. You’re not the only one who suffers for your life Nico. I cover for you when the police ask questions, I hold your stash when things get hot, I worry about you when no one else does, and I don’t get a damn thing for it. Not one damn thing.”

As justified as she was and as guilty as he felt about it, Nico ignored it all and decided to take the out that Ivy had unwittingly given him. He would end things right now and since she was the one who picked this fight he would make it all her fault. It was callous but it seemed a far better choice than telling her the truth. His heart belonged to someone else; he didn’t love her and he never would.

He squinted his eyes, bared his teeth and bit hard. “Well you don’t have to worry about getting anything from me anymore. Not this house, not the money, not the booze. Nothing! I’m so sick of going through this shit with you Ivy. I’m getting my stuff out of the safe and then I’m gone.” He turned his back on her and headed up the stairs to her bedroom.

Livid and panic stricken, Ivy ran behind him. Nico had threatened to leave her many times over the years, but never once had he acted on it. “Fine, you want to walk out and leave me with nothing go ahead. It’s just like to run when things get hard or when someone dares to call you out on your bullshit. You’re such a fucking coward.”

Her words, barbed and cutting, crawled under his skin and burned like acid. Coward? No one got away with calling him that. Still he ignored her as he entered the combination to the safe, opened it and began stuffing its contents into his pockets. When he had collected his stash he slammed the safe closed and charged towards her grabbing arm as if he intended to rip it from her body. She writhed in pain at the severity of his grip. “Don’t you ever say that to me again. Do you understand me? Not ever again!

She understood and nodded her head vigorously trying to convince him to release her; but her understanding was about to go far deeper than his frightening rage. He had gotten angry before, they had had their fights, but this was drastically different. He released her arm and as he slid through the doorway, brushing up against her small frame again, a whiff of what that difference was slapped her in the face. Sweet and musky women’s perfume.

Her heart caught in her throat as the realization penetrated. He had been doing something last night but it certainly wasn’t business. He had been with another woman and not just for a quick roll in the sheets. Whoever she was, he had been with her all night long; a privilege that she had never been granted. There was a new player in this game and she had just been unceremoniously benched.

Swallowing hard, fighting back the urge to throw up, she pushed herself off of the wall she had been leaning on and ran down the hall to see him bounding down the stairs headed for the door. A million mean and nasty words swam through her mind. Words to get him to stay, words that might incite a more violent reaction, words to make him hurt the way she was. But when she opened her mouth to say them nothing came out. Instead she stood shell shocked as he spoke again.

“I’m breaking the lease at the end of the month so I suggest you find someplace else to live before then. With that he walked out slamming the door behind him. Alone and defeated she fell into a crumpled in a heap at the top of the stairs and sobbed as she listened to the roar of his engine as he sped away. “Fuck you Nico! Fuck both of you,” she shouted to the emptiness around her.

***************************************************

Thad leaned back in his seat trying to subdue the wide smile that had been spread across his face for the past few hours. He had enjoyed reading the expose on Isabella on the plane ride home and ever since then the wheels in his head had been turning about how he would restructure the Monacco company when she finally caved in and begged him to oversee things again. After this scandal she would have no choice but to come crawling back and he was going to make sure he enjoyed every minute of her groveling.

He had hit the ground running and already placed a few calls to perspective investors as well as associates who might be interested in buying the useless subdivisions that Carlos Monacco had forced him to hold onto. I’m going to be in the drivers seat this time and daddy’s little princess is just going to have to deal with it, he thought to himself.

As the driver pulled up to the house, two police officers waited to greet him. His anxiety rising, Thad hopped out of the limo to approach them. The rhythmic thud of muffled music filled the air as he shouted to find out what the problem was. “I think you can hear the problem Mr. Carlyle,” one of the officers shouted right back at him. “We’ve gotten several complaints about the noise coming from your home.”

“That’s coming from my house? You must be mistaken,” Thad yelled. “I count about thirty half naked people in your backyard that might say different. I don’t want to have to issue a citation but this is the second time in two days we’ve had to come over here.”

“That’s impossible. I’ve been out of town on a business trip, no one’s been here but…that little bitch!!” Without another word Thad brushed past the officers and into the house. Stepping over plastic cups, puddles of spilled beer, lost articles of clothing and the random drunk partygoer, he made his way to the terrace to see a throng of bikini clad women and ogling men talking and dancing to the loud music emanating from enormous speakers at either end of the main deck. Standing right in the middle of it all laughing and guzzling champagne was Sienna.

Thad ran to one of the speakers and disconnected the wad of cords hidden behind it, immediately cutting off the music and bringing everyone to a halt. “This party is officially over. You all have exactly two minutes to get the fuck off my property or I’m pressing charges. “Alright you heard the man everybody file out in an orderly fashion,” one of the officers said as the other began motioning everyone to the door.

Before Sienna could move Thad began closing the space between them with fast angry steps until he was close enough to grab her by the arm. “I really hope this little house party of yours was worth it because you don’t have a house throw another one in now. I advise you to grab as much of your crap as you can because I’ll be throwing what’s left of it out tomorrow. Now give me your keys and get the fuck out.”

"How dare you embarrass me like this in front of all these people," she fired back. "You don’t like me having guests when you’re here so I waited until you were out of town and you still throw a damn fit. I just can’t win with you."

Incredulous at her gull, he exploded. "You know I thought you were just being obstinate, but you really are vapid enough to think that this is not big deal. Are you going to pay the fines that the home owners association is bound to hit me with? What about the noise ordinance violation from the city? And what about this mess? Are you going to clean that up or where you just going to hire someone to do it and charge it to me?" Sienna folded her arms and rolled her eyes in defiance. The answer to all of those questions, of course was, no. "That's just what I thought. You’re not going to do shit about any of it. Just get your stuff and go.” Infuriated she brushed past him and headed toward the house.

"Fuck you Thad; I don't need to stay here. I don't need you from anything!” she screamed over her shoulder. Feeling the tears well in her eyes she grabbed her purse and headed out the front door before they could fall. He could see her mad, but she would be damned if he was going to see her cry.

Speeding off from the house she gunned her engine down the road; her tears finally escaping down her cheeks. She had no clue where she was going or what she was going to do next, but the first person she called was Gunther.

Afterglow

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:50:00 +0000

The light from the windows slowly drew Nico out of his sleep. The fire that had roared in the fireplace the night before had quieted into low burning embers; but it wasn’t out. That same fire had burned inside of him and culminated into an unforgettable night with the woman he who had ignited.

He looked down at her sleeping, her head on his chest and at once felt joy coupled with an overwhelming sense of relief that she was still there; it hadn’t been a dream. He closed his eyes remembering the sweet taste of her lips; the warmth of her legs wrapped around his waist; the soft moans of pleasure that she had whispered in his ear. He opened his eyes and looked down at her again and allowed himself to smile; a luxury he rarely indulged in anymore.

Lightly sweeping his fingers across her hair, he gently nudged her awake and kissed her forehead when her eyes opened to meet his. “Good morning,” he said in a raspy voice. She smiled and rubbed her hand over the tight muscles on his stomach.

She studied him for a moment listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat pounding against the side of her face. It was a heart that he had welcomed her into it a lifetime ago; a heart that she had feared she was permanently locked out of. But that fear was mostly gone now as she lay there in his arms feeling his hand stroking her back.

Neither of them spoke for several minutes, they just lay together enjoying their blissful reunion. But the weight of what had happened was unavoidable and something they would have to deal with.

“Look, I’m sorry about yesterday. I know I was a jerk,” he began in a quite voice. “It’s just…seeing you…you showing up like that caught me off guard.” Isabella propped herself up on his chest and listened quietly before speaking. “But it wasn’t the first time you saw me since I got back was it? That was you in the car that night and downtown. You were watching me. Why?”

“I don’t know. At first I guess I just wanted to see if it was really you. I thought I would never see you again and I wanted to know why you were here; if it was business or something else. After a while I couldn’t help it; you were just so damn beautiful I didn’t want to stop watching you. I never expected you to come looking for me though.”

“I was afraid to. I didn’t know what I would find, how you would feel about me, if you hated me. But I had to tell you what happened. I had to at least try to make you understand.”

Nico shifted under her weight, uncomfortable with where the conversation was going. In the face of the love and happiness he was feeling, pain and anger still floated below the surface. He took a breath in an effort to control it. “I don’t understand Issy, not really. I know your father forced you to leave without saying a word, but what about after that? No calls, no letters, not even a damn post card. It’s hard to believe that he had that much control over you.”

She sat up abruptly, taken aback by the blatant doubt in his voice. “Of course he did! He wouldn’t let me out of his sight for months. He kept the only phone in the house locked in his office and he read every letter I tried to send. I couldn’t even write to Eden. He wanted to kill what we had Nico and he succeeded.”

“Okay, so what about after he stopped watching you? What about then?” Nico said, his temper flaring slightly. “By then, I knew that it would be too late. I know you Nico; you would’ve spit in my face if I had contacted you then. I was all alone, my mother was dead and I didn’t need to hear you tell me how much you hated me for leaving.” Isabella looked away from him as tears began to run down her cheeks.

She was right, he knew it. But the anger inside of him still bubbled fiercely. “So you didn’t even try? I was dying for you Issy! I may have spit in your face, but you should have known I would have gotten the hell over myself in the end. You meant too damn much to me to just let it go....you still do.” He stroked her face and closed his eyes, fighting back tears of his own. He hadn’t been this emotionally open in as long as he could remember. He felt exposed and vulnerable, but it was impossible not to be when he was with her.

Clearly upset Isabella moved from the bed, threw on her underwear and went to the door of the terrace. She looked out at the open desert, the cool morning breeze sweeping across her skin, but she already had goose bumps. Fast piercing pain hit her hard like a dart in a bull’s-eye.

She hadn’t been able to fight that pain when she was younger and over time its crushing weight had led her to convince herself that he didn’t love her anymore; that he probably never loved her at all. How many nights had she cried herself to sleep believing that she and Nico were over? How many times had she blamed herself for not fighting harder, not running away when she had the chance? In that moment she realized that no matter how much of a jerk she thought he would have been, she had done something far worse. She had lost faith in him and given up on their love. “This was a mistake,” she whispered. “I never should have come back here.”

Moving up behind her he wrapped his arms around her and softly kissed her bare shoulder. In spite of his anger, hurting her was the last thing he wanted to do. “Baby please don’t cry. I’m sorry. I just needed you to know how I felt. All this time, I’ve wondered if you really loved me then; if you still loved me. I’ve needed to know and now I do. This was anything but a mistake.”

She turned around to face him and gave him a sad smile. “I loved you more than anything. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved Nico.” He looked into her eyes, pools of sapphire emotion, and found what he had been searching for, what he had been missing, what he had convinced himself was an illusion that had been lost forever. The love he had seen there all those years ago was real, undeniable and stronger than ever.

Falling into his emotions again; this time even further than before, he pulled her tightly to him and kissed her. He pulled off the little bit of clothing she had on and suddenly they were back into the hot blurry haze that had taken them over the night before.

When they were finished, Isabella reluctantly watched as Nico began to put his clothes on. “I have to get back home my daughter will be wondering where I am.” Isabella nodded absently, half turning away from him. His daughter. That was a topic that they had yet to discuss.

Thinking back to the news report from the night before, panic suddenly struck her. “Nico…does she think…” “No,” he interrupted her. “If she does, she hasn’t said anything to me about it. I’d like to keep it that way; our life is complicated enough as it is.”

He threw on his shirt and moved to where she was standing. He held her face in his hands, staring into her eyes, once again searching for what he had found only a little while earlier. It was still there; he would have to learn to trust that it would never go away. As if reading his mind Isabella confirmed it with a kiss as he wrapped her in his arms again.

They stood there for several moments, locked in the embrace; both of them desperately afraid to let it go. “I have to go,” he said softly as they finally released each other. “I love you angel.” With that he kissed her on the forehead and headed down the stairs and out the front door.

As he made his way to his car he turned back and saw her watching him from the terrace. He stood for a moment taking in the sight of her; golden hair shining in the soft sunlight, that smile that had warmed his heart every time he saw it. He took a mental picture of her in that moment, happy and content. He would hold that picture; savor it; use it as a shield from the part of him that feared it would be the last time he would see her like this.

He gave her a smile and turned back toward the car. As he pulled off the feeling of bliss and joy that had enveloped him began to slowly peel itself off. Once again he felt the battle rise up inside of him. A battle he knew he would have to fight to quell.

As happy as he was with what had happened he knew it only complicated things that much more. Time and circumstance wasn’t on their side. He didn’t know what would happen next but whatever it was it wouldn’t be easy. He decided not to worry about it for now and take care of the one thing he could control…..Ivy.

************************************************

After pacing around her room for the last hour trying to come up with a scenario that made sense, Bianca decided to stop wasting time wondering and go find out exactly why her father had the gull not to return home the night before.

She crept down the hall and entered his bedroom to find his bed freshly made and everything as he had left it. No, he definitely hadn’t slept there.

She turned to examine the dresser. Just the usual items: keys, loose change, and a loaded nine millimeter handgun with the safety on. A lot of good that would do, she thought to herself as she moved closer and reached her hand out to touch the weapon.

A flash of her father’s face, marked with rage and disappointment, jarred her from her curiosity. He had always been explicit about keeping her away from all aspects of his business life; deadly weapons included. If he had walked in just then and seen what she was doing, an accidental shooting wouldn’t have been half as bad as what he might do to her.

Turning to leave she caught a glimpse of something, under the dresser. She reached down and pulled the thing from its hiding place and put it on the bed.

It was a picture of her father when he was much younger, probably a little older than she was now. Also in the picture was a girl who looked like she was exactly her age. She had long blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and there was something so familiar about her; something Bianca couldn’t immediately place.

She had never seen the picture before and consequently she had also never seen her father smile that way either. He looked happy and totally in love, a state of being that she couldn’t imagine him ever achieving. Something suddenly clicked in Bianca’s mind. She had seen that girl before, but not as a girl, as a woman. “That’s the lady from television…how does dad know her?”

Fanning The Flames

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:34:00 +0000

Isabella stood in front of the fireplace in her room absently gazing at the logs dying a slow death as the flames turned them into ash. She wondered if they understood what was happening to them, if they felt any pain, if they wanted to escape their doom. She felt like one of those logs.

Nothing about that day had gone remotely how she thought it would and no matter how many precautions she had taken to prevent it, nothing had been able to stop the burning sensation in her chest that had been there since the day she arrived.

“Can I get anything for you boss?” Lexie’s voice startled her momentarily. “No,” she replied without looking up at her. “Are you sure? There must be something I can do for you.” Isabella turned to her assistant and gave her a weak smile. “There’s nothing anyone can do anymore. It’s late; you should get some sleep. Goodnight.” Lexie gave her one last concerned look before heading to her room.

Returning her gaze to the fire she watched the flames flicker and pop; a frenzy of movement that began to blur her vision. She closed her eyes in an effort to refocus but they abruptly snapped back open when images of the day’s events began to flash in her mind.

She turned her back on the flames and shook her head as if trying to shake the images out somehow. She didn’t want to see, didn’t want to think, and didn’t want to feel the overwhelming pain that was beginning to consume her.

She laid down on her bed, her tears hitting the pillow before her head. More images flooded her mind; images of her childhood when she had been happy in this city; of her times with Nico when they were young and in love; of the life that she had envisioned they would have when they grew up; of his eyes, cold as steel and full of contempt.

Giving into the pain she shut her eyes tightly and let more tears roll down her cheeks. Somewhere between the memories and fantasies she finally fell asleep.

*************************************************************************************

It was very late by the time Nico pulled up to Isabella’s house. He sat stiff as a board, in his seat and looked up at the flickering light coming from her bedroom. She was definitely home.

He approached the house and walked up the stone steps. Lifting his hand, hesitated briefly, and rang the door bell.

************************************************************************************

Isabella stood outside flanked by her father on one side and a line of cold cement tombstones on the other. Ahead of her was a long stone casket surrounded by bunches of flowers. It was her mother’s casket; this was her funeral. Desperate sadness overcame her as she realized where she was and what was happening.

She looked up at her father, his face stoic staring back at her. Unnerved she looked back at the casket, but it was gone; only a tombstone in its place.

Her mother was gone, she hadn’t gotten to say goodbye and now she would never get the chance. In the distance the low drone of a bell began to toll.

She looked up at the bell tower in the church next to the graveyard. The bell tolled again.

She closed her eyes and when she opened them again the bell had become the bright light of the moon; she realized she was staring at it from the terrace of her house.

The bell rang again. Finally waking from her dream, she sat up in the bed realizing that someone was at the door. She listened and waited—no voices—Lexie must have been asleep. Who could that be at this hour, she thought as she left the warmth of her bed and headed downstairs.

*************************************************************************************

Nico stood at the door tempted to run. No one had answered yet; if he left now no one would ever know he had been there. He tuned to leave but the same force inside of him that had dragged him there made him turn back around to face the door.

The anticipation of seeing her again, up close, was overwhelming. He wanted to touch her, kiss her, and so much more, but the possibility that she would reject him left him in a panic. She had tried to open up to him and he had been a complete asshole to her. He wouldn’t blame her if she never spoke to him again.

Suddenly she was there, dressed in barely anything at all; the door half open staring at him with a look of anger mixed with anticipation of something—what that something was he didn’t know. “Nico. What are you doing here?”

He paused struggling internally for an answer to her question. He was there because he wanted to apologize; because he wanted to finish their conversation; because he wanted to look into her eyes and see if he could find some piece of the love that they used to share. But as he stood there, his heart pounding out of his chest, his body stiff with longing, he realized that he was there for another reason; an urgent want that he needed fulfilled.

Isabella held his gaze in silence feeling his eyes taking in every inch of her. His motive for being there was obvious now. And as she quickly searched her mind tryinig to find something, anything, to use as a reason to walk away and fight off her own desires, she realized that there were no more words to say…only actions.

No longer in control of his body, and ignoring the vehement protests of his mind, he took her up in his arms and kissed her passionately.

He began to feel the soothing release of his built up sexual tension. Her body felt soft and warm against him; her lips trembling against his. She wanted this as much as he did, he could feel it.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes, searching for any hint of hesitation. Finding none he engaged her lips again and let his hands rediscover the softness of her curves. “I need you. He whispered, his body throbbing with passion. “God, I need you so bad. Can I come in?”

But the question proved rhetorical as he swept her up in his arms and carried her into the house…into her bedroom.

Incapable of holding anything back, they both gave into the pent up emotion that had plagued them for years and the burning passion that had resurfaced over the last few days.

Whatever the future held was of no consequence in that moment. They had been captured by their love for each other and neither one wanted to break free.

Keeping Up Appearences

noreply@blogger.com (Muzegoddess) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:41:00 +0000

Nico stood in his bedroom rubbing the back of his neck. The day had been long and trying and all he wanted to do was unwind. He was wound up about several things: the late shipment of his “products” for the month, the run in with one of his past associates, but mostly his conversation with the woman who once held his heart ….when there was a heart to hold.

Trudging into the bathroom he stripped off his clothes, stepped into the shower, and turned on the hot water valve at full force letting the steaming water rush over his head.

He closed his eyes and gave himself over to the thoughts running through his mind; every one a remnant of his encounter with Isabella. Her eyes, her voice, her perfume, the curve of her hips, the shape of her thighs and how he imagined it would feel to have them wrapped around his waist again. He slid his hands down the length of his torso and just before they could find a physical solution to his frustration, he was jarred back into reality by a loud thud. Something was wrong.

Panic stricken he jumped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist, and ran down the hall to see what had happened.

He burst through the door and his eyes quickly ruled out his worst fears as he found his daughter Bianca alone and unharmed, scrambling to pick up the pile of books that had tumbled to the ground.

Shaken and still on edge he let his unfounded fear manifest into anger. “How many times do I have to tell you to ask for help before you try to get something out of your reach? Damn it Bianca!” She stood up, challenging him.

“Well, Dad, maybe if you hadn’t put the bookcase up so high I wouldn’t have this problem,” she retorted. Realizing her tone, she clammed up quickly knowing that her words were about to get her into trouble.

“Just pick up the books,” Nico replied in a low growl as he glared at the moody teenager masquerading as his daughter. “Ms. Brooks should have dinner ready in a few minutes; make sure you give her a hand with the dishes, okay.” Bianca nodded reluctantly and continued cleaning up her mess.

He went back to his room and sat on the edge of his bed; pensive. It was hard for him to believe that his little girl was already 16 years old, smart, sassy, and—to his dismay—getting prettier everyday. Her rebellious and independent nature was also a problem. He found himself in a precarious position of wanting to protect her from the world, from pain and disappointment and especially from boys who were just like him at that age. Something was going to have to be done, and soon.

He finished his shower, threw on some clothes and joined his daughter at the table. Bianca picked at her food and stared off into space with a look of boredom and irritation. “Is something wrong baby doll?” Nico asked; his tone and demeanor a complete departure from his public façade.

“I’m not a baby anymore. Nothing is wrong; can I go back to my room please?” Bianca moved to leave the table but was stopped by her father’s low rumbling tone.

“Sit down!” he commanded. “We are going to eat dinner together as a family and you are not going anywhere until we are both done. Now eat!”

“What family Dad? It’s just you and me, only because you cared to join me this time.”

Struggling to contain his anger Nico swallowed the bite of food in his mouth and slammed down his fork on the table. “Look little girl. I don’t know what the hell your problem is, but if you don’t get it together I’ll damn sure fix it for you…my way!

“Whatever,” was all that she could manage as she continued to eat her food.

This was all he needed right now on top of everything else—fighting with a hormonal teenager. It wasn’t his territory. She was at the age where a girl needed her mother but with the situation the way it was that would not be possible.

The door bell rang breaking into his disturbing thoughts. Moments later Rook and Rider walked through the entranceway and into the dining room. “What’s going on,” Nico asked a bit concerned. It was very unusual for his brother to make a house call after dark.

“We have a situation Nico, with the….shipment,” Rook said, careful not to get too specific around his niece. The rule of thumb was the less she knew the better and anyone who didn’t follow that rule would have hell to pay.

“Well then handle it Rook. What the hell are you coming here for while I’m eating dinner…with my daughter?” Nico hissed.

“Sorry but this is a situation that you’ll want…no, you’ll need to handle personally. Trust me,” Rook said, his voice tense. Nico looked at Bianca. He could tell that she was waiting for him to comply, break his word, and leave her alone again. Seeing no other choice in the matter given his business situation, he reluctantly satisfied her assumption. “Fine, let’s go,” he said rising from the table and putting on his jacket. The three men started for the door.

“Not you,” he said turning to Rider. “You stay here with Bianca. Keep an eye on her.” Nico shot him a stern look, cutting off the objection he sensed was brewing inside his young protégé. “Whatever you say boss,” Rider replied.

Angered by her father’s hypocrisy Bianca lashed out. “I guess the ‘family dinner’ is just me now…..again.” She ran upstairs to her room before her father could respond.

I should have stayed in my room, just me and my hands, in my room, Nico thought to himself as he and Rook walked out the door to deal with yet another difficult problem in his life.

**********************************

Blake looked out over the balcony down to the sidewalk below staggered by the number of people standing in line waiting to get into the club. The red carpet was a glow with flickering pops of the paparazzo’s flashbulbs. When he had peaked at the lower level a few moments before he had seen a sea of celebrities, VIP’s and on-lookers coagulated into a blur of colorful light from the dance floor, clinking champagne glasses, and diamond jewelry.

He closed his eyes and breathed in the dry desert air; happy with his success. But the same unsettling feeling that followed him everywhere still lingered. As many people as there were around him that night, he still managed to feel empty and alone. It was a feeling he was coming to accept as a permanent state of being.

“Congratulations partner, we did it,” A.J. said with a smile as he approached the balcony where Blake was standing. Blake shook off his thoughts, turned around and smiled. “You’re damn right we did,” he replied giving his best friend a high five. “Can you believe how many people are down there? And they all think they’re getting in, which is even better.”

“This definitely calls for some champagne,” A.J. said as he turned to grab the bottle from the table beside him. “It certainly does,” a sultry voice chimed in. He and Blake turned to see a leggy blond emerge from the shadows behind them. Blake cracked a sly smile as she stepped into the light revealing her identity. “Kelsey, I thought you couldn’t make it.” Blake’s eyes swept up and down her shapely form, taking her in.

“Are you kidding? It’s important to keep an eye on the competition, “Kelsey said with a wink. She moved closer to the pair stepping between them to pick up a champagne glass. She raised it in the air for a toast.

“Congratulations on another successful venture. Hopefully it won’t be the only hotspot opening tonight, right Blake?” she said stroking the lapel of his blazer. A.J. grinned as he gulped down his champagne trying not to choke on his laughter.

“I’m going to go check on…..something. I’ll see you two later.” A.J. headed back downstairs flashing his wingman a quick thumbs up while Kelsey’s back was turned.

“Now that we’re alone, I wanted to discuss something with you,” Kelsey said inching closer to Blake. “Oh yeah, what’s that?” “A business proposition for you…and A.J., if he wants in.” Blake looked at her egregiously. “Why would you want to go into business with me?”

“Because you’re smart, creative, and resourceful,” Kelsey said as she walked behind him sliding her hand down his chest and into his blazer. “I could put someone like you to good use. Besides, working together side by side will give us a chance to get to know each other better. Don’t you think?”

Blake closed his eyes with pleasure as she slipped her other hand down the front of his pants and nibbled on his ear. “Why wait until then. Let’s go to my office.”

************************************

Lexie sat next to her boss wondering if her idea had been a good one, but talking her out it had proven unsuccessful. Isabella had been determined to go to the opening of Oasis, the club that Blair’s brother owned. The news report had shaken her enough to keep her holed up in her room for a few hours after which she had abruptly emerged dressed to kill pressing Lexie to find the VIP invitation that had come in the mail.

“Yes, Lexie, I’m sure about this,” Isabella said sensing the question that was on her assistant’s mind.

“Are you really? You know the press is going to be here and tons of paparazzi. After what we saw you know they’re going to try and eat you alive.”

“I knew this would happen, that’s why I didn’t want to come back here, but I can’t just crawl into a hole and hide from it. I won’t let them break me and coming out tonight is going to show them that they can’t no matter what lies they tell.”

The limo pulled up to the curb in front of the club and the driver hopped out and opened her door. “Last chance to turn back," Lexie said in a last ditch effort to get Isabella to change her mind. Isabella took a long look at the crowd in front of the club, the cameras flashing, and the madness that she was stepping into and sighed. “Let’s go.”

***********************************

Sloane sat on the sleek white leather sofa in the VIP section surrounded by Nicolette’s entourage of stick skinny models and their buff athlete boyfriends. Though it was a necessary evil for her career, she fiercely hated the party scene and under normal circumstances, the smile she wore would have been fake and plastered on for appearances. Tonight, however, as she sipped champagne and laughed at the lame stories her airhead associates where sharing, her smile was big, brimming with satisfaction, and very real.

She thought back to the news story that had aired earlier in the evening. It had touched on every point she had fed to Pierce. All the gory details had been twisted and manipulated into a larger than life scandal bigger than any of her PR strategies could have squashed. She swallowed another sip of the sparkling liquid in her glass and let her smile expand even further.

“Hey gorgeous,” Pierce said as he slid in next to her on the sofa, rubbing blatantly on her leg. She hated Pierce and sleeping with him had only been a means to an end, but her happiness allowed her to forget that fact briefly as she turned his way and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ve never been better. “

“So I guess that means I did my job. Maybe we can work on a reward for my efforts?” Pierce whispered, nibbling on her ear. Taken aback by his insinuation –- she wasn’t a damn prostitute—Sloane eased away from him. “You got your reward up front,” she said quietly, trying to keep their conversation confidential.

“Come on baby…we had fun last night. Why do you keep playing hard to get.” Pierce inched closer to her and ran his hand up her leg and up under the hem of her dress. “Trust me Pierce, I’m not playing with you. The only person who had fun last night was you. It was strictly business for me.” Sloane smacked his flagrant hand and walked to the bar, angry and disgusted with herself. She needed something hard and stiff, but not what he was offering.

“She pushed through the mob and waved down one of the harried bartenders. “Give me a whiskey sour, light on the rocks.” She turned to the door looking at all the desperate unfortunate souls who were dying to be where she was. Suddenly a flurry of flashbulbs went off outside amid a crowd of paparazzi. Eventually two women emerged from the hoard, escorted by one of the bouncers. Sloane nearly swallowed her tongue when she saw Isabella walking in her direction, a glow with defiant confidence.

What the fuck is she doing here? Momentarily paralyzed, Sloane got herself together enough to turn her back and hide her face from view. She peaked out of the corner of her eye as Isabella walked past her and into the VIP section next to where she had been sitting. She seemed fine, unshaken, and completely unaffected by the heinous rumors that had flooded the news outlets; rumors that Sloane had taken great pains to spread; rumors that should have sent her packing for good.

Cursing under her breath, Sloane squeezed her eyes shut trying to push back the tears that were forming. This was horrible. The risks she had taken to make this work… and now everything was falling apart.

The bartender finally came back with her drink, which she unceremoniously snatched and hammered down in one gulp. She took a breath, slammed her money on the bar, and stalked out of the club. There had to be another way to get Isabella out of her life and she wouldn’t rest until she found it.

************************************

“I came up here to congratulate you, but I see you’re already celebrating,” Blair said averting her eyes while Blake wriggled free from Kelsey. “Sorry Blair, just taking a little break.”

“We can talk about this later Blake,” Kelsey said as she pulled down her dress and walked out the door. Blake looked away with a sheepish grin as Blair stared him down with her trademark look of disapproval.

Just as Blair began to speak again she was interrupted by one of the bouncers. “Your special VIP has arrived Mr. Bolthouse.” Blake’s face lit up. “Make sure Ms. Monacco is well taken care of,” Blake replied.

“You invited Isabella? Blake she’s one of my clients and I really don’t need you messing with her; especially now. She’s going through a lot.”

“I thought that was classified information,” Blake said with a smirk. “She’s an intriguing woman and clearly quite popular given what’s all over the news, so I figured I’d invite her to the opening. Obviously whatever she’s going through didn’t stop her from wanting to have a good time tonight; and I plan to show her one.”

Blair studied him carefully before responding. “I can only imagine what that means. I mean it Blake, you screw this up for me and I’ll kill you.” “ Relax Blair. I just want to get to know her. There’s something about her, that‘s just…different from all the other women I’ve met.”

“I’ll bet there is.” Blair’s expression left little doubt that she wasn’t buying her brother’s explanation. “Come on, let me get you a drink….on me,” Blake said moving past her and out of his office.

************************************

Isabella sat in the secluded VIP area and sipped on the complimentary champagne that she desperately wanted to guzzle down. Outside she was confident and steady; inside she was shaky, terrified, and falling apart by the second.

Having Lexie beside her helped, but not enough. Every time she looked up she was confronted with a wall of eyes all staring back at her; eyes that were curious, cold, judgmental, and intently studying her every move. She resisted the urge to look away and started back at them with defiance.

“You’ve made your point now can we go please.” Ignoring the urgency in Lexie’s voice Isabella stood her ground. “I’m not going to let these people think they’ve gotten the best of me. Let them stare if they want to; I refuse to let them see me sweat.”

Across the club another set of eyes observed Isabella. Blake stood by the bar half listening to his sister warn him again about staying away from the woman who had captivated his attention from the moment he saw her. He let his eyes linger on her, taking in her the curves of her body pressed against the tight fabric of her dress; her soft pink lips; the intense blue of her eyes. He was definitely physically attracted to her, but he was beginning to wonder if his feelings didn’t run deeper somehow.

Movement caught in his peripheral vision interrupted his thoughts. He turned to the side to see a small group of men walking quickly into the club from the back door heading in Isabella’s direction. A glint of light coming from one of them caught his attention and it didn’t take long for him to recognize it as a flashbulb of a camera. “Those damn vultures!” he growled under his breath as he quickly moved toward them, signaling a bouncer for assistance.

Isabella watched in horrified agony as the men surrounded her, blocking any way she had to escape. They pulled out their cameras, aimed, and fired shot after shot of her as she tried to cover her face in vein. Lexie jumped up and stood in front of her boss in a futile attempt to shield her from the firing squad.

After what seemed like an eternity several bouncers surrounded the mob dragging the photogs away as they screamed her name hoping she might look their way for a moment. Blake pushed through the crowd, grabbed her arm and led her out of the club through a hidden exit.

“Are you okay?” Blake said searching her face for anything beyond the look of shock she wore. Realizing that he was still holding her hand he reluctantly released it and let it fall to her side. It paused mid-air before dropping completely; as if she had not wanted him to let go.

Staring off into space, she regarded his question absently. “I’m fine,” she replied, almost as if posing a question to herself rather than answering his. “Yes, I’m fine. Thank you. For the first time she met his eyes, which had not left her for a moment. They were warm and familiar, but in the confusion she couldn’t place where she had seen them before.

“The driver is pulling around to get us. Are you sure you’re okay?,” Lexie said as she hung up her cell phone. “I’m fine, really Lex.” Isabella gave a weak smile in an attempt to hide her shell-shocked state. Her assistant, of course knew the truth.

“I’m so sorry about this, I don’t know how they hell those bastards got in here,” Blake began. The limo pulled up abruptly interrupting his apology.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault,” Isabella replied. “Thank you again.” She turned and let her assistant usher her into the car.

As the limo pulled away, Blake stood alone in the ally watching it get smaller and smaller in the distance until it was completely out of his sight. Though his encounters with her had been few, every time he was in her presence he was hit with a conflicting combination of intense desire, fear, and comfort. There was something there between them, something that he was determined to identify.

************************************

With his business temporarily settled Nico drove to the outskirts of town to the only place he knew that he would be completely alone. He got out of the car and stared out into the open expanse of the desert night, slightly shivering as a cool breeze brushed over his skin. He had come out here to think, clear his mind, but it had done no good. All he could think about was her.

His cell phone rang, breaking his concentration. Looking down at the caller ID he frowned when he saw the name and number….Ivy. Somehow he had foolishly thought it might be Isabella calling him. “Hello?” he said and listened half-heartedly to the familiar female voice on the other end.

His disappointment quickly turned into anger as the conversation went on. “I’m taking care of some business right now. This is probably going to take a while, maybe even all night. Don’t wait up, okay?” he replied gruffly and hung up before she could respond.

His conflicting emotions had been plaguing him, Rook’s unsolicited advice made things even worse and dealing with Ivy was the last thing he needed. He took the phone and gripped it tightly in his hand before pitching it into the darkness beyond him. No one else was going to interrupt him now.

He had to find some way to stop what was happening to him. He couldn’t afford to have these feelings; didn’t want to care, but as much as he tried to rationalize his way out of it, the undeniable truth kept coming back to him. He was still in love with her; had never stopped loving her; would never stop loving her. “Damn it!” he shouted into the air.

He hopped in his car and gunned the engine, heading toward Vista Glen. A force stronger than his iron will was dragging him, with his pride kicking and screaming, over the edge. He had to see her, needed to see her. There was no turning back now.