Page 18 of Rise
Twisting my body to the right, I lift up and press a knee into my seat to reach for the box. I’ve been so busy covering my own ass by watching out for the guys who took me that I’m only now noticing the seating in the cab ofher vehicle has been removed. It’s replaced with custom metal shelving to hold several rows of boxes side by side. I’m not even sure why it matters, or why I didn’t notice it before. My mind isn’t the same. It's been honing in on the oddest details, while ignoring others. I just hope I can pay attention to what matters. Basically, for everything going on around me that has some significance, I needto notice it andhopefully have enough time to react.
As I check and re-stack each glass jar of jelly in the box behind Mrs. Wilmington’s seat, I try to remember the kinds of things that used to occupy my thoughts before.
Before I was taken.
Before.
It seems like a lifetime ago.
I was a whole different person.
The world was a very different place.
Vinny would drive me around, and if it wasn’t Vinny, Antonio would do it, or have one of the other more experienced men take me places. I don’t remember noticing a single thing around me while sitting in the back seat, being chauffeured around in those luxury SUVs. Not even the last couple of trips.
I was completely oblivious to the outside world during the drive to the airport justbefore I was taken. All I know is that Vinny and one of the other men were in the front seat. Tammy-Lou was beside me. It was daytime, but that’s about all I can remember. Someone else kept their eyes on the road. Vinny and his guy were watching my back. And Tammy Lou, in her own way. She warned me about Lorenzo. And I tried to pass that message on to Antonio, but he didn’t reply.
It wasno different for the drive home from the airport with Nonna, Antonio, and Vinny. My eyes were probably glued to my phone screen. Or maybe I was staring at Antonio, hoping he’d realize how much I wanted to be with him.
A frustrated breath leaves my lips and I return to my seat, my gaze pinned on the landscape whizzing by outside as I re-buckle my seatbelt.
Antonio.
Where areyou?
Why haven’t you found me yet?
The thought of him sends a wave of need down my body.
His intense gaze.
His firm touch.
His insistent kiss.
His hard, sharp lines against my soft, round curves.
His body against mine, inside a part of me I never knew could feel so much.
The wild and dirty things we did in secret.
Wicked heat movesup my neck and cheeks, and I force my thighs together at the image of us the last time we were together in the pantry.
I want him. I want to see Nonna and Father too. And my friends.
I miss my old life, but I can’t go back. Those men at the airport shot Vinny and two of Antonio’s most experienced guys. I’m the reason Vinny’s dead. Going back won’t just be unsafe for me. It’ll puteveryone else in danger.
I’m going to stay away. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. If Antonio or his men find me, fine. But I won’t put them in harm’s way by going back to New Jersey.
I look over at Mrs. Wilmington after she puts the vehicle in park but doesn’t open her driver side door. “Would you like some help taking anything inside?” I ask.
“That’s verykind of you, but it’s quite all right.” She begins to bring her hand up to my shoulder but stops, probably reminded of the way I recoiled the last time she touched me. “Are you cold?”
“I’m fine. It’s not too cold,” I tell her.
“You’re shaking like a leaf, dear. Are you sure you’re okay?”
She’s right. I’m shivering for no reason at all. Well, I have a reason. I just can’t shareit. It’s unwise to tell this woman the truth. There’s no soft, sweet, kind, or humane way to tell a stranger, a good Samaritan by all accounts, that I was kidnapped and have been held against my will for weeks. That I’ve been a captive of big mean inked men, and for the entire time, had no bed to sleep in, no decent food to eat, no idea of the time or date, and no contact with anyone I knew before.I can’t tell her I’m the daughter of a mob boss who must be looking everywhere for me. I can’t say that at any second now, big, bad men might show up and turn her world upside down to take me back to their prison somewhere up on the mountain.
