Finding Beauty in the Darkness

Normally the shipments come in and our hired men unload them and reload them for delivery. When one of my guys put a call in to let me know Sebastian pushed my guys out, I knew I had to jump on a plane and handle that bullshit myself. He declared war and he was about to lose. The joke was on me, though. Because while I was handling the shipment, my girlfriend was being attacked by the fucking senator.

If you asked me a couple months ago if it’s possible the senator could be working with several mob families, I would have laughed in your face. Nobody, not even Senator Weston Hightower, would be that stupid. But I was wrong. After I finished overseeing the shipment, which went off without a hitch, I went into the city to find Sebastian. Words were spoken, threats were made, and I quickly learned once I had Sebastian against the wall that the senator made promises to the Lorenzo organization he can’t keep, in order to get them to work against me.

Unfortunately, it was too late and while I was sitting on a flight, sipping on my scotch, Aria was fighting off that asshole. The minute the plane landed and my phone was turned back on, a slew of messages blew up my phone. They ranged from Aria asking why I would request for her to entertain a member, her clearly upset and confused, to Rome letting me know Aria had been attacked.

The ride home was the longest forty minutes of my life. I tried to call Rome and Caesar but neither answered. I called Cecilia several times but she didn’t pick up. I had left Johnny in New Jersey to investigate further into the Lorenzo organization’s relationship with the senator. So as I sat in the backseat of the car while the hired driver took me to my house, I prayed to whatever God is up there that Aria is okay. I promised him that if she’s alive and safe I would do everything in my power to ensure she stays that way.

The driver dropped me off and when I walked inside, the place was ghostly quiet. Edgardo wasn’t standing guard by the door. Emilio wasn’t manning the bar. The women and members were nowhere to be seen. I dropped my bag by the door and ran up the stairs to the third floor. I swung open my door to find Rome sitting on my bed, and in his arms, was Aria. She was awake and crying. Her eyes were open, but she wasn’t lucid. Tears raced down her cheeks as she silently lost it—my girl finally reaching her breaking point.

Rome gave me a nod and moved off the bed. I picked her up and cradled her to my chest, rocking her until she finally fell asleep in my arms. When her breathing evened out and I knew she would be asleep for a while, I texted Rome and Caesar and told them to meet me up here.

“Boss,” Rome says as he and Caesar enter my room. I keep Aria in my arms, afraid if I put her down, she’ll wake up. Afraid if I leave her alone, whatever she went through will haunt her in her sleep… more than it already does.

“What happened?” I ask, keeping my voice low so she won’t wake up, when what I want to do is scream and shout and throw shit.

Rome answers. “Cecilia was working with the senator. She has text messages between them, but to hide it, she had him in her contacts as you. She told Aria you needed her to entertain a member and when Aria went to go meet him, it was the senator waiting for her. Edgardo happened to be passing by, checking to make sure another room was clean, when he heard Aria screaming. He thought maybe it was coming from another room, but when he checked the video camera to make sure none of the girls were being pushed past their limits, he saw Aria on the ground with Weston over her.”

“Did he…” I start, unable to finish the question.

“No,” Caesar answers. “Edgardo got to him before he could. He roughed her up, but he didn’t get a chance to rape her. According to Cecilia, he wasn’t supposed to attack her. He was just supposed to take her and bring her back home.”

“What?” I bark out. Aria stirs and I soothe her so she stays asleep.

“The senator approached her and made it seem like Aria was using you for your money. A young girl lashing out at her dead mom’s husband and seeking attention. She agreed to help him take her home. She swears she didn’t know he was going to hurt her.”

“She’s gone. She’s fired effective immediately and I want her and all of her shit out of this place tonight.”