“There’s an actor on that movie they’re watching that looks like one of the guys and the guy… hurt me.”
Dario’s face went ice cold, “Turn that fuckin’ shit off!” he hollered at the guys, making me jump.
He touched my shoulder, “Sorry, it’s okay.” He backed away to his seat and then stared out the window with his mouth in a tight line.
“I’m acting like a baby.” I said and wiped the tears away.
He looked a bit like Tommy but was not as tall and had fair hair and bluish gray eyes. His facial features were quite similar, at least the angry ones as I was now noticing. His jaw tightened and he stared out the window.
I closed my eyes, deciding to try to nap until we landed.
I woke up to him tapping my arm gently, “We’re here,
” he said.
Then he grabbed my suitcase and ushered me off the plane and into a waiting SUV. He signaled to the driver to get out. The driver got out and got into a black SUV parked behind it. It was just me and Dario in this vehicle.
After we left the airport he said, “I wanted a minute to talk to you.”
I looked at him expectantly but a little frightened because I had a feeling he was about to berate me for taking off on Tommy, for starting the chain of events that led to Mexico. I decided to cut him off at the pass, “Thank you for being so nice to me under the circumstances.”
“The circumstances?” he looked at me strangely.
“You know, since all this happened because I took off. You might not believe this but I hope and pray nothing happens to your brother because of it, because of me. I also wanted to tell you both, I didn’t get a chance to mention it to Tommy but they told me that if I didn’t cooperate they could easily take your pregnant sister. Maybe she needs someone to watch, needs some security.”
His jaw clenched. Then he furrowed his brows and shook his head, “Don’t do that. This isn’t your fault. Our family is under threat of some sort almost all the time. We go on living as normal because we need to in order to stay sane but believe this: this would’ve happened anyway, even if you hadn’t taken off from my sister. Earl was part of the plan and Tommy trusted him. He was Tommy’s number 1 for security for you so was the perfect person for the enemy to get to flip. Either he was planning this for a long time or that plan went into motion because he was allowed to be so close to you and it would’ve been pulled off sooner or later. The minute word got around that Tommy was getting married, that trigger got pulled. We’ve got extra security, don’t you worry. And I didn’t plan to talk to you about this part but don’t worry about my brother getting hurt; my brother is indestructible, trust me; he’ll be back tonight or tomorrow at the latest. He’ll hurry back for you. I wanted to talk to you about his feelings for you.”
I looked down at my hands.
“I know you were forced into the engagement. I also know that for some reason my brother fell head over heels almost instantly. I’m not saying ‘for some reason’ because I don’t think you’re a catch, you’re a beautiful girl, but this isn’t Tommy. He has access to an unlimited supply of beautiful girls who want him, who’d give their eye teeth to be engaged to him, knowing full well who he is and wanting the lifestyle that comes with it. I’m telling you he’s different with you. I know my brother might not seem like the relationship type and looking at the damage you did to his face I don’t think you took too well to your situation,” he laughed, “He will never live that down by the way, thank you.”
I grimaced.
“Sorry, very inappropriate. My point is that I know my brother can be a hard ass but I hope you’ll give things a chance with him because I think you could be good for him. Real good.”
We were pulling into the driveway of Tommy’s house already. The gate opened to let us in and when we stopped I saw the SUV behind us. There were four guards stationed at the gates.
“Thank you,” I said, “I’m, uh, hopeful. Things feel different.”
“Good. He is different. I’ve never seen him that affected by something. All he wanted was to get you out of there. We wouldn’t normally negotiate in a situation like that,” he added and looked at me with seriousness in his eyes. I nodded, the gravity sinking in even deeper as he confirmed what I already suspected, that Tommy normally wouldn’t have negotiated with kidnappers. If Tommy had just seen me as ‘property’ maybe I wouldn’t have been deemed worthy enough to have made it out of there. He could’ve replaced me easily. I’d been thinking a lot about that.
“He did not stop until he got you out of there. He barely ate or slept and was hell on wheels until he got you back. Tommy has a short fuse. He needs to work on that. I hope…I hope he does. For you. Try to be patient. You should know he’ll kill for you. I wouldn’t normally say this to anybody but given the situation I think I can tell you this and maybe it’ll give you some insight into who my brother is. He’s killing for you right now, Tia, I’m sure of it. If this were my father instead of Tommy, Pop would’ve sent someone to do it for him. But my brother? Tommy will do it himself.”
I shook my head, “I know it was probably a direct hit to his pride to have his so-called fiancée ---“
Dario cut me off, “Uh uh, Nope. This was more about you than about pride. I’m telling you, you’re not so-called. He’s all in.”
One of the guys who’d been in Mexico with us was at the car door, trying to get Dario’s attention. “One sec,” he said, and got out and spoke to the guy. Then he rolled his eyes, then motioned for me to get out, an amused look on his face, “The calvary has come,” he said. I didn’t know what he meant.
“My sisters and Pop’s wife. They’re here. Before we go in, Tommy doesn’t want you discussing things with them. They know a little, that you and Tommy had a fight, that you messed up his face, that you took off, and that you were kidnapped, but they don’t know other details. Okay? He also doesn’t want you to attempt to contact anyone by phone or to leave the safety of the house until he’s home and he’s had a chance to prep you. Alright?”
My eyes widened. Sisters, rules, craziness. I wished I could just go up and hide out in the bedroom and watch some brainless TV and decompress.
“Come, you’ll be fine. They just want to dote on you.”
The four women were in the family room but spilled out into to the hallway to greet me. There was Sarah, Tessa, and two others. One looked a lot like Tessa but about 6-7 months pregnant and the other looked around their age, too and she had long dark hair and was model tall and very beautiful. They were all very attractive. The pregnant one pulled me into an embrace, “I’m Luciana. They call me Luc, I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Nice to meet you.”