Wounded Redemption by Brook Wilder
Chapter 13
Rory
A few days later, I knocked on Angelica’s partially open bedroom door, drawing in a breath as I did so. Lorenzo had found his place in our penthouse, and while he still was prone to outbursts more times than he was actually calm, Nico had managed to find a nanny who specialized in abused children, which was what we both thought had happened to him. We didn’t know who the abuse came from, but something bad had happened to the little boy, and he needed a lot of help to get through it all.
I wasn’t going anywhere. After I rocked Anthony to sleep at night, I did the same to Lorenzo, sometimes sitting in his little bed and reading a book or other times just holding him until he cried himself to sleep. He was very wary of Nico and the rest of the men in the penthouse, and Angelica hadn’t bothered to even reach out to her son, which I couldn’t blame her for.
I could handle the slack in Lorenzo’s life. I had enough love to go around.
But after both boys were tucked in, I curled up next to Nico and cried as well, hating that I couldn’t do more. He had told me that I was doing enough, but it didn’t feel like it.
It felt like there was more, and I was hoping that Angelica could help me. “Angelica?” I asked softly. “Can I come in?”
No answer, but since she hadn’t uttered a word since Nico had found her, it wasn’t surprising either. I pushed open the door wider and found the young woman standing before the windows, staring at the city below. She was dressed in some of my clothing, her hair brushed carefully and in desperate need of a cut as it hung down her back. She ate her meals in her room. I always found her tray empty and the dishes carefully stacked for washing. I tried to add special things, like a rich dessert or a bar of chocolate, to each one, and felt rewarded that she was eating them.
She was far too skinny to begin with.
“Angelica,” I tried again. “It’s Rory.”
She turned, and her eyes stared back at me with no expression in them. It was like staring into the eyes of someone who was already dead inside, and I felt helpless at what to do for her. “How are you feeling?”
Nothing. I didn’t allow it to bother me, knowing that she wouldn’t warm as fast to her new surroundings as her son would. “I wanted to let you know that Lorenzo ate all his meal today,” I started out, figuring she would want to hear about his progress. “He even played with some blocks without throwing them, and considering I have the bruises to prove it, I’m super excited about that one.”
Not a flinch of emotion on her face. What went through her mind when she heard these things? Was it that Lorenzo reminded her of her innocence lost, of what Elias had done to her? I desperately wanted to get in her head so I could help her, but I didn’t know how. “Is there anything you need?” I tried again, clasping my hands in front of me. Her eyes traveled down to my ring and I touched it, a soft smile on my face. “It’s lovely, isn’t it? Nico picked it out himself. He wasn’t, I mean, we weren’t planning on getting married, but he, err, he surprised me with a wedding, and before I knew it, I was his wife.” I let out a little laugh. “If I had known what I was getting into, I might have questioned him just a little more.”
Meeting her gaze, I drew in a breath. “I know you have suffered, and I want to help you. I’m a writer, you see, and I have this notion of bringing Carmine down for everything he has done to his victims, you included. I’ve been told I am a great sounding board to talk to, and I won’t print anything unless you look at it first.” Drawing out the recorder I had stuck in my pocket on a whim, I set it on the bed. “This will record your voice, just so I can make it into a worthy article. I know you have a story to tell, Angelica. Let me help you tell it.”
Her eyes looked down at the recorder, and for a moment I felt like she was going to say something.
But she looked way, and I sighed inwardly. There was plenty of time. “It’s fine if you don’t want to do it right now,” I told her. “I will be here whenever you are ready.”
Moving to the door, I reached out to close it when her voice filled the air. “He hurt me.”
Oh God. I turned and walked to the recorder, pressing it on. “Who hurt you, Angelica?”
“Elias. Carmine. They hurt me. Nico, he tried not to, but they wouldn’t let him just walk away. I don’t blame him.”
Her voice was rough from disuse, but it brought tears to my eyes that she didn’t hold Nico responsible. Angelica drew in a steady breath, her eyes on the recorder. “I remember the night they took us away. My dad was in the living room and I was upstairs, listening to music. I had my earphones on, so I didn’t hear them at first, but when the man stood in my doorway, I knew that I was going to die.”
A tear escaped down her cheek, but she didn’t bother to wipe it away and I sat on the bed, folding my hands in my lap and listening to her words. “The SUV was in the back,” she continued, her voice monotone. “I remember thinking that my dad was going to be upset that they had driven over the grass he had worked so hard on. My mom was crying, and I tried to comfort her. They didn’t bind us, so she hugged me close and told me that everything was going to be okay. I don’t think she believed herself, but it was all that we had to keep us sane, so I tried to believe her.”
Angelica swallowed and finally wiped away the tears, as if she were feeling them for the first time. “They took us to that place,” she said, shivering. “My dad was begging for Mr. D’Agostino to let us go, saying that his beef was with him alone, but Mr. D’Agostino just laughed, stating that we would all suffer for his insolence.” Angelica let out a rusty laugh. “I don’t know what that word means, but to this day, it’s the only thing that I remember from that entire conversation.”
“Nico was there,” she finally said, looking at me. “He was demanding to know what was going on, and from the look on his face, he didn’t want to be there either. I think.” She swallowed. “I think that he was just as surprised as I was at what they were doing to my family.”
“He was surprised,” I added softly. “He had no idea what his father was going to do.”
“I believe you,” Angelica answered. “You love him.”
I nodded. “I love him more than anything.”
“Good,” she replied with a sigh. “Then I can trust him too.”
“Of course.” I wanted her to know that she had nothing to fear from Nico for both herself and her son. Nico would protect them with his very life, as if they were family, and in some ways, they were.
Angelica was silent for a moment, and I thought she was done. “They put me on that table,” she whispered. “I remember screaming for my dad to help, and he kept telling me not to worry. I was so scared at what was going to happen,” she squeezed her eyes shut. “There were so many that after a while, I just blocked it out.”
I already knew the story from Nico’s perspective, but hearing it from her lips made me want to sob for her.
“Nico was last,” Angelica said. “He looked so heartbroken that he was being forced to do that to me, and I told him it was going to be okay. He was gentle, and they laughed at him. It was him who tried to take me off that table, but Carmine shot my parents and hit Nico, so he couldn’t help me any longer.”
Her hands splayed over her abdomen, as if she were picturing the baby that had been there once upon a time. “It wasn’t long before I realized I was pregnant. Carmine came to visit me in the house he was keeping me in and told me it had to be Nico’s. I believed him for a time, but once Lorenzo came along, I knew it wasn’t his son.” She shuddered. “It was Elias’.”
“What did Elias do to you after Lorenzo was born?” I asked, curious to know. “I mean, you had his child.”
Angelica pursed her lips. “He visited me in the brothel many times, and he did things to me that I tried not to like.” She gasped. “I hated myself for loving him.”
I was floored. She loved Elias? I guessed with him being her only source of companionship, it would be easy to grow to love him, but it was still shocking to hear it from her.
“I can’t say anything else,” Angelica replied, turning away from me. “Please leave.”
I cut off the recorder and did as she asked, softly closing the door behind me. I had her story, albeit missing pieces, but the gist was what Nico had said to me all those months ago. It was enough to turn everyone against the Mafia don and give us a leg up on Carmine that he wouldn’t expect to see coming.
I just had to convince Nico of the same.
**
After dinner, he and I walked out onto the balcony with our drinks, looking out over the city. “What do you want to discuss?” he said nearly immediately, dangling the glass between his fingers.
“What do you mean?” I asked lightly.
Nico grinned, and I felt the stirrings in the lower half of my body. “You’ve been itching to tell me something all night, Rory. I can see it in your eyes.”
“Okay, you are right,” I told him before launching into my visit with Angelica. “I have the entire story, Nico. She doesn’t blame you.”
Relief flooded his handsome features, and he dragged his free hand over his face. “Truly?”
I nodded, coming up to him so that I could place my hand on his cheek. Nico was trembling. “Yes. She doesn’t blame you. She says you were the kindest of them all and that she knew how hard it was going to be on you to do that.”
“Thank fuck,” he breathed. “I never meant to hurt her, and if I could have gotten out with her that night, I would have.”
“I know,” I soothed him. “You have to forgive yourself, Nico. Angelica has.”
He blew out a ragged breath, his jaw working. “What now?”
“I want to publish her account in the Midtown Post,” I told him. “I want to put it all out there so Carmine will struggle to maintain his relationships. He killed innocent people and raped a young girl before storing her in a brothel for years! If that’s not enough to sway people away from him, then I don’t know what is.”
“Rory,” Nico said, his eyes searching mine. “Remember what happened the last time you did something like this?”
I knew the consequences. Last time I had delved into Carmine’s twisted past, I had lost my friend and mentor, as well as gotten a district attorney killed. If I put this out there, Carmine would be coming for me. I knew it. “I have to do something,” I told him. “I know you don’t want me in the middle of this war.”
“Fuck, no, I don’t,” my husband breathed, pressing his forehead to mine. “You mean every fucking thing to me, Rory. If he comes after you, he will destroy me.”
I softened at Nico’s concern. “I know,” I said, wrapping my arms around him and holding him close. “But this war is killing you slowly, Nico. I want your father to be put away for a long time, and we will have to take chances if we want to have a happy future.”
Nico knew I was right. In order for us to have a future, a true future, Carmine had to be dead or in the custody of the police, spending the rest of his days in prison. Otherwise, he wasn’t going to stop until we were both dead.
Or worse, until I was pregnant with his child. Carmine had already threatened me with such, making me want to vomit at the thought of him putting his hands on me in that manner. I wasn’t ever going to let him near me. I would rather be dead first.
“All right,” Nico finally said. “I will let you do this, but you have to let me read the piece first. I don’t want any accolades for what I did either. I am as guilty as the rest of them, okay?”
“And we go to the police once I do,” I added. Nico sucked in a breath and started to pull away, but I held tight. “This is the only way we are going to get through this, Nico.” I had given it long thought, trying to figure out how to get the police to see that Nico wasn’t all bad, and the only way was for him to partner with them, to turn his back on the life he knew and give us a chance at a future.
He drew me close, where I could place my head on his shoulder. “Fine. I will consider it once we publish the article.”
That was all he was going to give me for now, and I was okay with that. “I will start compiling it then,” I finished, breathing in his scent. “I love you.”
He let out a long breath. “I love you too, Rory. I’m just fucking scared that I’m going to lose you and Anthony in the end.”
I hugged him tighter. I wasn’t about to let that happen, not until we had exhausted all our options and truly had nothing left. Carmine had never come up against an enemy like me before, and he had underestimated me from the beginning. I wasn’t afraid of him.
I was afraid of what he could do if he chose to. He could take this all away from me in a snap of his fingers.
I was going to beat him to the punch.
