Before we knew it, the doorbell rang and our guests were arriving. Lucas had called earlier to let me know he wasn’t going to be able to make it. I was disappointed, but I was glad I wasn’t going to have to endure the tension between Emilio and him all night long. Things were already awkward enough between those two and it was hard enough knowing it was because of me.
***
The party was a complete hit. Emilio and I were even having a great time. We danced and chatted with everyone all night. We played games and had a contest for best dressed. Emilio and I took first place and Dante and Violet took second, although I thought they deserved first.
“Hey Lily,” Dante said as he danced up to me. “We need more drinks. Where are they?”
“They’re downstairs,” I said smiling. He made a puppy dog face at me. “Don’t worry, I will go get them.”
He had been glued to Violet all night, even though they “were not” dating.
Whatever.
Emilio, who had been talking to his friend, asked me if I needed any help, but I declined, telling him it was only drinks and I would be right back.
I picked up the plastic crate and then opened up the door that led to the basement. I didn’t want to have to make several trips, so having the crate would make it easier to carry more.
I was humming to the song that was playing as I turned to shut the door. I was regretting it a few steps down. I needed to stop that habit quickly. I couldn’t see a thing. The light for the basement was at the bottom of the steps. Why they had wired the house like that was beyond me.
“Seriously,” I mumbled to myself as I fumbled around for the switch. “Where is that stupid light?” I felt around for a few more seconds before I found it. “Ah, there you are.”
I didn’t even have time to scream as I felt one hand slide over my mouth and the other behind my neck. The only thing that wasn’t covered in black or hidden from view were his ice cold blue eyes that were staring straight back at me.
“If you scream, I will kill you,” he growled at me. My body became instantly paralyzed with fear. I knew even if I did try to scream the loud music would cover it up. My eyes started searching the room. Emilio’s desk and filing cabinets had been ransacked and I noticed this man was the only one who was here. He was looking for something.
Move! I yelled at myself. MOVE!
What was the saying the guys used to say growing up? When in doubt hit the snout, if you can’t succeed a knee you will need.
I jerked my knee up swiftly and nailed him as hard as I could. He dropped his hands instantly. I threw the crate at him and turned to run up the stairs. He was fast though, catching me before I even made it halfway up.
He grabbed my feet and pulled, making me face-plant. My chin slammed into the step and blood instantly went everywhere. The force of the fall instantly disoriented me.
Everything was going blurry when he grabbed me and slammed me up against the wall. His cold hands were clamped around my throat making it difficult to breath. The way he had his body pressed up against mine, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t fight back. I kept telling myself not to panic, to stay focused, and not to lose consciousness. I was terrified. I thought I was going to die, in my own house, with a party going on just above me. His blue eyes were staring at me, watching me struggle to breath.
“You’re a beautiful woman,” he said as he leaned in so close I could feel his breath on my neck.
His voice was raspy and quiet.
It made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. His simple comment sent me into hysteria and I started thrashing around as hard as I could. I wasn’t going to let this man touch me. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. I thought he might have had a change of heart when he released his hands from around my throat. I was wrong.
In one swift move, he flung me down the stairs. I toppled down the steps faster than I even thought was physically possible. When I hit the bottom, I skidded across the floor and rolled onto my stomach. I could hear his footsteps approaching me.
Don’t look up.
Then I felt his boot nudge me gently. I heard his heavy footsteps make his way back to Emilio’s desk. Then I heard the crumpling of paper as he grabbed them. The basement door, which led to the outside, shut letting me know he was finally gone. I laid there for a few minutes. The pain was excruciating.
I tried several times to push myself up to crawl towards the steps. I almost made it there, but I was hurting so bad and fighting unconsciousness, that my body just couldn’t handle it anymore. Everything went dark.
***
“Liliana! Oh my God!”
Was I dreaming? Was that Emilio’s voice?
“Roman! Roman! Shit, Roman! Call Dr. Silas right now!” I felt Emilio’s hand brush against my face, and then he slid it down my throat. He was checking for a pulse. The music had been so loud earlier, now nothing.
“Lily can you hear me?” Emilio asked.
I could hear him and I tried to respond, but couldn’t. I was screaming in my head at him, but nothing came out but a moan. I heard several pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs at a remarkable speed.
“Hold on Lily, I love…,” was the last thing I heard before the darkness came over me again.
***
I didn’t know how long I had been drifting in and out of consciousness. I had periods where I could hear voices, the conversations ranging from “she will be fine,” to “what happened?” and “why weren’t you there?”
I kept dreaming too. I didn’t know what was worse, the searing pain, or the fact I was being haunted once again by my reoccurring nightmare. This time instead of a faceless person, I now saw the masked man, with those ice blue eyes, chasing after me, his voice ringing in my ears.
The sound of my own screams eventually startled me out of my nightmare. My eyes sprung open and I scanned the room. It took me a moment to realize I was in my own room. It was dimly lit, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the lamp come into view. I tried to sit up, but the pain was agonizing. The door flew open seconds later and I jumped. The pain from the jar almost made me pass out.
Emilio, Dante, Violet, and Roman rushed into my room, almost falling over each other in a race to my bedside.
All four started talking and I could barely keep up with what they were saying. The room and their faces were starting to spin, so I quickly closed my eyes tight.
“Shut up!” Violet's voice rang out. The room immediately fell silent. Her soft hand felt my forehead and then my cheek before she spoke.
“Lily?” she said softly. My eyes slowly opened to find four beautiful faces staring back at me. “Are you okay?” she asked taking my hand carefully into hers as she knelt beside me.
I nodded and tried to sit up on my own. The pain was unbearable and I was struggling.
“Here let us help you,” Dante said as he motioned to Roman to help from the other side.
It took them several attempts. Every time they would move me, I would groan in pain and once I even yelled out. All four of them wanted to stop after that, but I motioned to them to just keep going.
When I was finally all the way up into a sitting position, I just sat there for a few minutes in silence as tears flowed down my face from the pain. Emilio, who had been standoffish, walked over and took my free hand and held it in his.
“What happened?” Dante asked kneeling beside Violet.
I slowly explained what had happened. The four of them sat there, listening intently. Violet had tears streaming down her face while the guys looked absolutely murderous.
After I finished, Emilio kissed my hand and motioned for the guys to follow him. I was thirsty, so Violet followed quickly after them. I looked at my phone realizing I had been out for quite a while. I needed to get up and move around no matter how bad I felt, so I pushed the covers off my legs and immediately froze at the sight of them.
There were bruises everywhere. I was curious about the rest
of my body after that. It took me a moment, but I finally pushed myself off the bed, gritting my teeth to fight off the pain. I was a little unsteady at first as I made my way over to the mirror.
I was horrified by the person standing there in front of me. I was in a tank top and shorts now. I guess Violet had changed me.
My whole body looked just as bad as my legs did. I have had my fair share of black eyes and the double one I was sporting now was just as bad as the others. I looked at the gash above my eyebrow and the one under my chin. They both had stitches in them. I didn’t remember being at a hospital, so how did I get the stitches? I did remember hearing Dr. Silas’ name. Maybe it was him. That would be a necessary question to ask later on.
What was taking Violet so long? My throat felt like a brillo pad. Every time I swallowed it felt like a thousand needles stabbing me. I decided I would just head downstairs. I could do it! I didn’t make it too far down the steps before I could hear why Violet hadn’t made it back up.
“Where were you?” she screamed.
“Where was I?” Emilio yelled back. “I was entertaining guests at your damn party! Don’t you think I feel bad enough? I should have went with her!”
“Both of you stop it!” Dante’s voice rose above theirs. “It was my fault and I will have to live with that! I should have just went and got those damn drinks myself. It was my fault! Now can we please just focus on her?”
“All of you stop it,” I said breathlessly as I rounded the corner into the kitchen. “It wasn’t your fault Dante, or yours Emilio.”
“What are you doing out of bed?” Emilio demanded as he rushed to my side and helped me to the breakfast nook chair.
Violet had lost it by this time. She was crying hysterically into Dante’s chest. He had his arms wrapped tightly around her. Roman just stood there with a solemn look on his face.
“I was hungry and thirsty.” I tried to smile at him. “You all cannot fight over this. It was a terrible accident. It could have been any of us, so please do not fight anymore.” They all reluctantly nodded in agreement.
“Okay good, now can someone please get me a drink and something to eat?” I grinned, but it felt more like a grimace. “Oh and the story of what happened afterwards would be nice too. I’d like to know exactly how I got stitches and please tell me it wasn’t one of you.”
While Roman made everyone lunch, Emilio told the story of what happened.
“I hadn’t seen you in a while, at least twenty minutes, and I noticed the drinks weren’t restocked. I started to worry about you, so I made my way toward the basement asking if anyone had seen you.
“When I reached the basement door, I could see the light on beneath it, so I flung the door open, and there you were lying at the bottom of the stairs. There was blood everywhere! I ran down the steps and turned you over as fast and gently as I could. There were no words to express how I felt at that moment.” Emilio stopped for a moment and a tear rolled down his face. He wiped it away quickly, and then he continued.
“I started yelling and Roman came and helped me carry you up the stairs and out to the car. Roman had already called Dr. Silas and he was waiting for us when we reached his office. He checked you out and made sure you didn’t have any broken bones and stitched you up. He gave us your medications and said to keep you comfortable and that he would be checking in. We brought you home afterwards, and you have been sleeping ever since.”
“Lily, you really scared us,” Dante spoke up.
“I’m fine,” I reassured them. “If I was that bad, why didn’t you call an ambulance? Why Dr. Silas?”
“Dr. Silas is a great doctor and his office is closer. We got you there within minutes and he started immediately. By the time the ambulance would have arrived at the house, Dr. Silas was already hard at work. And how were we going to explain your accident to the doctors and police when no one out of a house full of people saw what happened. We don’t need unwanted attention drawn to us.”
“Why can’t we draw attention to ourselves?” I asked. His whole explanation made sense except that.
“We just moved into this neighborhood a couple of months ago. This isolated incident could look bad on us, or cause the neighbors to panic. We will be increasing security around the house and you will be protected. I promise,” Emilio said as he squeezed my hand.
“As for right now, you need rest and lots of it. We have your pain medications when you want them,” Dante chimed in.
“I’m fine for now. I just need some food.” I rubbed my stomach and winced at the pain.
***
I slept a lot over the next couple of days. When I wasn’t sleeping, I was sitting in the family room watching movies with Violet and taking my unwanted daily walks around the house and yard. I refused all prescription drugs after the first day, instead opting for Advil only, and lots of it.
Emilio and Dante were out of the house a lot with business. They said they had talked to a friend and he was in the process of figuring out who my attacker was. Roman never left the property and a few men I hadn’t seen before had been hanging around the house too. The day after the attack, a new security system was installed. Every time a window or door opened, an annoying beep sounded.
Emilio rarely looked in my direction. The sight of me was too much for him. To ease his mood, one evening I saw him on the couch, so I tossed a pillow onto his lap and laid my head down to watch whatever he had been watching. We didn’t say a word. He just traced the bruises on my neck and shoulders. He needed to know I was okay and I wanted him to stop treating me like I was a porcelain doll.
Chapter 10
I rested for an entire week and then it was time to get back to work. I hadn’t seen Lucas since our date, but he had been texting me making sure I was okay. I was hoping I could talk Roman into another date night, so I could get out of the house and spend more time with Lucas.
Violet was here to stay, so I spent some of the week getting her up to date with our new projects. I had finished the first four, so now I was working on a couple of restaurants my father had just become partner at. They needed major makeovers, so Violet and I would need to go and check them out. They were active restaurants that were going to take a lot of planning and preparation, since we would only be able to shut them down for about ten days at the most.
I had already been to two of them and now I needed to finish up the last two so Violet and I could get started. I always hated the initial visits with the measurements and the pictures. It was time consuming, but necessary.
We were sitting down eating breakfast when there was a knock at the front door. Roman gave us a look before he headed toward it.
“Lucas Trivelli reporting for duty,” he announced proudly as he entered the kitchen. I was thrilled to see him. I jumped off the chair and ran to him. I hugged him tight, but he didn’t return the hug. I was confused.
I pulled away from him and noticed the shocked look on his face. It took me a minute to realize this was the first time he had seen me since my attack. Of course I would be a shock to him, especially since I only had on a tank top and shorts.
The look on his face made me thankful that today was a nice cool November day, and that I could get away with wearing a turtleneck and jeans when I left the house.
“It’s okay, I’m fine,” I said looking at him. “They don’t hurt, anymore.”
“I...,” Lucas stumbled over his words. “I’m so sorry Lily.” He looked mortified.
“It’s really okay Lucas,” I said a little annoyed. I had finally convinced the entire house I was fine and now Lucas comes in here acting like I'm about to crumble at any moment.
“Lucas, I’m fine. I don’t hurt anymore and I don’t want to hear another word about it. You treat me like you have always treat me or you can just leave.”
That seemed to have caught his attention. He backed off and didn’t mention it again, although for the rest of breakfast, when I looked at him, he just looked sad.
r /> ***
The days flew by, as did the next week, and the week after that. Violet and I had stayed busy as we tried to finish all the restaurants. Roman and Lucas accompanied us every day and we put them to work. Anything and everything that needed to be hung on the walls was their job.
I owed a lot to Roman and Violet for the past two weeks. They had been so sweet. When we had gone to lunch, they had let Lucas and me sit by ourselves, and when Lucas stole a kiss, Violet would just giggle.
Thanksgiving was coming up on Thursday and my parents were flying in to join us. My father had already called several times letting me know he looked forward to seeing our progress. I wanted to make sure we had at least two done. We could finish the other two before we left for Christmas.
It was all hands on deck for the weekend. Lucas, Emilio, Dante, and Roman were all called in to help us. We wanted to have Monday through Wednesday to be able to get ready for my parents’ arrival.
Monday was quiet. Roman and Lucas were needed elsewhere, so it was just Violet and me around the house. I was glad to have a break from all the guys and just spend some time with Violet. We spent most of the day at home, but we did venture out once to get our nails done. It was the only place the guys absolutely refused to go.
Tuesday was busy. Emilio and Dante decided to punish themselves by accompanying Violet and me as we grocery shopped for Thanksgiving. It was quite an experience! I don’t think I have ever seen two men fight over whose turkey was the biggest. It was embarrassing when they took them over to the fruit and vegetable section and actually weighed them. I ended up buying both of them. All of us would be eating turkey until Christmas, but it was worth it. I was tired of listening to them.
Thanksgiving was one of my favorite holidays. It was always traditional, no Italian food allowed. I actually loved turkey and dressing with mashed potatoes and all the other sides. Violet and I were super excited that we were going to be the ones making dinner this year. Violet was a great cook, so I knew it was going to be delicious.
We spent Tuesday night getting the house ready for my parents. Roman, Dante, and Emilio all helped. Our house was usually clean, but I wanted to make sure it was extra clean since my parents would be staying here for a couple of days. When I crawled into bed Tuesday night, I was excited for the next day. I was looking forward to seeing my mother and even my father. I couldn’t wait to show him the work we had done.