Get Ahold of Yourself, L. Castillo
Lorelai
After Christopher visited late in the night, I found myself standing against the door of the cabin sobbing. Tears fell freely down my cheeks. I sunk to the floor, laying my head against my legs. The wail of my sobs grew louder. What was I thinking pushing him away? Perhaps I wasn’t, and the thought that I hurt him made me feel like a horrible person if I had the capability of hurting a man that only loved and cared about me. I inhaled a deep breath as the thought went from a possibility of making this work versus standing my ground with this break up.
Get a hold of yourself, Lorelai. You never deserved a man like Christopher.
My heart fought reminding me that he became the only person I had to rely on for the escape from my family and their crooked ways of living. Perhaps I should’ve waited to make up my mind about the family business. I had my doubts that I, Lorelai Sienna Castillo, could stoop to a level of performing at organized crime. Then again, I did manage to make Chris fall in love and hurt him in the worst way possible.
Standing up after I collected myself, I walked through the main living space of the cabin, the framed pictures of Christopher and I hung on the walls, and sat on the shelves. Reminders of our memories, making this yacht not only a house, but a home for us. The realization that I threw it all away because I couldn’t trust myself to rely on him to get us through these trying times made me angry.
Walking to the shelving unit, I picked the picture frames off one at a time and threw them at the island stationed in the kitchen, glass shattering on the floor. Rampaging through the cabin, I destroyed every last memory I had with Christopher, tears fell freely down my cheeks as I sobbed and packed a bag. I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew that I couldn’t be here when Christopher returned to make another attempt to change my mind. Leaving the bag on the bed, I marched out of the cabin with my purse on my shoulder, leaping to the dock and went down to the main boardwalk to the pay phone. Pulling out a number from my phone book, I inserted the quarter and waited as the other line rang.
“Hello?”
“Santino? It’s Lorelai. Are you busy?”
He chuckled. “No, I’m not busy. What’s up beautiful? Are you okay?”
“Not really. I need someone to talk to. Are you available?”
“Um. Yeah. Where are you at now?”
“The Golden Gate.”
“Shit, really? I’m staying north of there a bit at Waldo Point. You should come up. I’ll go talk with security and let them know you’re on the way.”
I inhaled a deep breath. “Yeah? Alright.” I agreed. “I’ll get ready and head up.”
“Lorelai. Be careful, okay?” He sounded sincere.
“I will. See you soon, Santino.” I hung up, and walked back to the yacht.
Pulling the anchors up, and untying the ropes, I started the engine, put on my proper lights, and headed out without a second thought.
***
Upon arrival to the security gate, the guard gave me a dock number and I made my way over. Making sure the cabin was locked and secure, I grabbed my purse and threw the anchors out once more, and found Santino standing on the dock. Inhaling a deep breath, I stepped off and walked to him throwing my arms around his neck. He pulled me into his arms tightly and kissed my cheek.
Pulling back he looked at me. “Come on. We can go hang out at my place.”
I nodded and took the hand he offered me, following him out.
We boarded the luxurious yacht, and he brought me to the main living space. Going to the kitchen to grab us each a bottle of water, he brought it over as he led me to the couch. Sitting down, he wrapped an arm around me. “You look upset, Lorelai. What’s going on?”
I pushed some hair behind my ear. “It’s everything. You know, opting out of the syndicate, not knowing what I’m going to do after high school, Armani’s death and not having any answers as to what happened. I have Marie, and that’s really it. Not knowing what I’m going to do after I graduate scares the living hell out of me.” I was lying. Of course I was, I couldn’t tell him what was going on. He wouldn’t understand and I needed this distraction.
“You opted out of the syndicate? That’s too bad, but maybe I can ease your mind with answers about Armani.” He rubbed a finger down my arm; and even though I once feared this man and his grimy touch, somehow, I felt comforted by him.
“Do you know what happened?” I asked as I looked up in his ocean blue eyes. One fact stood out about Santino, his eyes captivated a weakness in me. His defined jawline could cut through metal. Despite his good looks, he was always dedicated to my father’s business from the time he was recruited when I was still a preteen. He was around for a large part of my upbringing. I should be able to trust him without a problem, right?
He inhaled a deep breath. “I do. Armani and I were over at the Golden Gate Yacht Club, taking care of a case your dad sent us on, when we discovered that another family along enemy lines moved in. Your brother was adamant about coming back to chase them out. A warning act from one syndicate to another could be anything from stealing a job, to taking out the second or third strings of the syndicate. Well, Armani decided he wanted to paint a real clear message, so he hacked their systems and wiped them clean. Every last piece of information in the Moretti database was lost, and one only completes this when they want an all-out war.”
My lips fell open as I stared off. “Let me guess, he did it without my father’s permission?”
He nodded. “You knew your brother well. I tried to tell him not to do it and leave it in the hands of your father, but he already had his mind made up.”
I sighed, tears welling in my eyes. I tried to keep my breath even, thinking about my life around that time. I was so wrapped up into Christopher, and stubborn about keeping my nose where it did not belong when it came to the syndicate. I couldn’t have been bothered to check in with my parents, let alone my siblings. I always thought Armani and Luciana had a solid head on their shoulders. So where had I gone wrong? Perhaps it was the entire forbidden dynamic with Christopher. He had a way of allowing me to escape with him. He took me into his arms and danced the dance with me. He made me forget I ever belonged to a family involved in organized crime. He made me feel like I mattered while my family made sure I was kept busy with a job that freed up their time to continue torturing people. The level of anger I had with them, and anyone that helped them, rose. I knew it would be useless to manifest this anger, so I let it go with the tears that fell down my cheeks.
Quickly wiping the tears away, I looked back to him. “I did, but I also know that my family wouldn’t let something like this go without a consequence for the Morettis.” I paused, and bit my lip. “So what do you have up your sleeve, Santino?”
His hands cupped my cheeks, wiping the tears away. “Don’t worry your pretty mind, Lorelai. The plan I have will make the Morettis pay significantly,” he whispered. Inching his way in, he planted his lips against mine in a firm, lust-filled kiss.