Alex
Maryann sits across from me crying while I glance around the room. Everything in this room seems very simple. There isn’t heavy furniture, everything could have come from Ikea. She doesn’t have girly crap all over the place. No pictures or flowers. There isn’t even anything on the damn coffee table. This woman is ready to move on a moment’s notice. She walks out of the room and returns with a Kleenex and sits down crossing her legs.
“I’m sorry. You don’t want to sit here watching me cry,” Mary Ann apologizes and she’s right. I have questions to ask her because I need to find Adele. We found the house she lived in with Garth, but it was empty. The house was so fucking clean it didn’t look like anyone had ever lived in it. He was even smart enough to not leave a forwarding address. We can’t find them anywhere. I have a feeling that Mary Ann can help. If she is running from him, she would have to keep track of him, wouldn’t she? You can’t hide from someone if you don’t know where they are.
“How long were you married to Garth?” I ask her and she inclines her head giving me a questioning look.
“Too long,” she answers.
“How long is too long?” I ask.
“Years,” she states tersely and I roll my eyes. I move to the edge of this Ikea chair hoping I don’t break the damn thing
“Mary Ann, I really need your help. This conversation will take years if you only give me generic answers.” I run my hand through my beard, waiting and I notice her watching my hand.
“How about you answer my questions first and then I’ll answer yours.” She suggests. I close my eyes and sit back waiting for her questions to start. I look at her and nod my head so she knows to start with her damn questions.
“Who are you to Adele?” she asks and I think of Adele. I think back to holding her and making promises to her.
“I am the man that loves her and will kill this fucker if he hurt her,” I tell Maryann. She sits up stunned and I’m feeling a little stunned myself. I just said that I love Adele. Do I love Adele? Is this what this feeling is? I have never committed to any woman before but I feel like I can commit to Adele in a heartbeat. When I find her, I will never let her go. I can honestly understand why Frank married and knocked up Lola so quickly. If I have my way, the minute I get Adele back in my bed, she will have my kid inside her. She won’t even have to marry me if she doesn’t want to, my kid will tie her to me forever.
“How did you meet her? I am sure Garth wouldn’t have allowed the friendship,” Mary Ann asks which brings me back to the present.
“Alexis went on the run. She met my sister and my family owns a nightclub. She started working for me at the bar. She was safe, but somehow, he tracked her down and kidnapped Adele and my sister. According to my sister, Adele agreed to go back home with him if he let her go. We found their house, but he had it cleaned out and they have moved.” I tell her.
“Are you not telling me something?” she asks further and I look at her and shake my head.
“There is something missing in all this. Why don’t you just go to the police?” she asks and I chuckle because she is intelligent. I can tell she won’t buy any of my bullshit and I might have to be halfway honest with her
“Adele had a bodyguard. Garth killed him,” I tell Mary Ann and she gasps, covering her mouth.
“Why aren’t the police looking for him then? If you know he killed her bodyguard, why don’t the cops know? And what kind of club owners can afford putting a bodyguard on someone who works for them?” She asks and I take a deep breath and squeeze my temples. This girl is not going to be easy to get information from.
“What is your name?” she asks me.
“I told you… after pleading with you for twenty minutes at the door. My name is Alex,” I remind her.
“What’s your last name?” she asks and I close my eyes before reopening them to stare at her.
“DeLuca,” I tell her and her mouth forms an “O” as she looks at me.
“I am sitting with the Mafia?!” she practically screams as she looks towards the door. I know she thinks she is about to bolt, but she isn’t going anywhere. I just hope that Thomas is still outside or at least nearby. I may have to stick this girl inside his trunk to take her home with me.
Maryann and I both stand and I walk towards her and lifting my hands. I don’t want her to think I will hurt her, but she needs to sit her ass down and talk to me. I come within inches of her and her eyes widen and she raises her arms like I have pulled a gun on her. I roll my eyes and lower our arms.
“Maryann… I am not going to hurt you. Please sit down so we can talk.”
“I am right, aren’t I? You’re the Mafia?” she asks me and I sit her down and fall to my knees in front of her.
“Mary Ann. All I want is to find Adele. I won’t hurt you, but I need you to answer my questions please.” I throw in the please so she knows I need her help and to appear to be nice. Adele told me I came off as a jerk and I can’t be a jerk if I want this girl to help me. Mary Ann shakes her head and I start to ask my questions.
“How long were you married to him? I ask her.
“Five years.”
“Did he hurt you?” I ask and I already know the answer. If he beat up on Adele I am sure he did the same thing to Mary Ann and I am correct, she nods her head.
“Yes. I think it was his hobby. He loved to cause pain. The worst part is he would hurt me then force himself on me. The man doesn’t have a gentle bone in his body.” Mary Ann tells me and I can see her eyes go empty. It’s almost like she goes back in time. I close my eyes thinking about him doing the same thing to Adele. I promise that he will feel ten times the pain that he caused Adele.
“I found a picture of you and Adele in her bag. How did you know Adele?” I ask her as she looks back at me.
“Adele and I worked together before Garth and I got married and he forced me to quit my job. He didn’t let me let me have friends or have any family visits. The only person that he liked and would let me spend time with was Adele. I guess it’s for obvious reasons now, the bastard. She never knew that he was abusive. Garth is smart, he would only hit where bruises could be hidden. He was so charming when she was around. Adele will never know it, but she was the reason I was able to escape. She invited me on a river boat trip and Garth could never say no to her, so he let me go. I went with her knowing I had no plans to ever go back home.”
“What did you do?” I ask her and I know what she did. She jumped her ass off the boat.
“I made sure it looked like I was drinking a lot. When no one was watching, I jumped off the boat and swam back to land. I knew everyone would assume I got drunk and fell overboard. I watched with a group of people as lifeguards searched the lake for me. I felt awful watching Adele cry for me. I felt even worse when Garth showed up and he held her. I knew he would try something with her, but I didn’t think she would marry him. I got away from him and my best friend took my place.” Mary Ann tells me and she wipes a tear away.
“Mary Ann… I need your help. Will you help me find Adele? I can keep you safe,” I plead with her and she looks into my eyes.
“How can you keep me safe? He is a monster,” Mary Ann says. I place my hands over hers comfortingly.
“My family is Mafia,” I tell her and she nods her head in acknowledgment.
Mary Ann is not looking me in the eye and I don’t like it. She is not going to help me and I need her. I think I lost any hope of her helping me when I told her my family is Mafia. I suppose that would make me less than credible when it comes to trust. I look back at Mary Ann and she is staring into space and I need to bring her back to the present with me.
“Will you help Adele?” I ask her again needing her to confirm with me that I can expect her to help.
“How do I know that she isn’t running from you too? I know Garth isn’t an angel, but if you’re in the Mafia you can’t be a boy scout either.” She looks me over and I close my eyes to figure out how I can get this girl to trust me.
“What the hell do you want? Character witnesses?” I snap my mouth shut when Mary Ann narrows her eyes at me. The last thing I need is to piss her off.
“Could you get one that isn’t related or working for you? Or maybe even better, someone that won’t think you’ll break their legs if they don’t say what you tell them?” Mary Ann tells me with major attitude in her voice and I am at my breaking point. I start to pace the room as Mary Ann watches me with suspicion.
“How can I prove anything to you, if you won’t believe anything I present to you?” I ask her and Maryann shrugs her shoulders and I become the bastard that so many have told me that I am. I kneel in front of her placing my hands on her knees and look her in the eyes.
“What do you think will happen if you refuse to help me, Maryann? What will Garth do if he finds out you're alive? I have someone watching this house right now, Maryann, and if I leave they will keep watching it until I call them off. You can either help me or become my enemy. You don’t want to be enemies with the Mafia,” I tell her as I squeeze her trembling knees. I can see the fear in her eyes and I feel bad, but I need her to find Adele. I would never hurt her, but I won’t let her know that. I will threaten her and make her fear me until it gets me Adele. I will apologize to her once Adele is back in my bed.
“I will help you,” Maryann quietly tells me and I shake my head.
“Ok. Do you want us to stay here or do you come back to my place?” I ask her.
“What? Why would I need to choose either?” A nervous tremor colors her voice.
“I don’t trust you, Maryann. I need to keep an eye on you at all times,” I tell her as run my hand through my hair.
“I said I would help.”
“You agreed to help, but not of your own free will,” I remind her and she stands up and turns her back to me.
“Where was Adele staying?” she asks and I wonder where this conversation is going.
“She was staying at my sister-in-law’s old house. When Garth found her, I moved her in with me.” At that, Maryann and she turns around to look at me.
“Let’s go to your place. I ran once and Adele ended up paying the price. I won’t screw her over twice.” I nod. I don’t care if she stays with me or I plant my ass in this house. It takes Maryann twenty minutes to pack a bag so she can stay at my place. While I was waiting, I called Thomas to let him know what was going on. I am on my bike, so I’ll need him to give her a ride to my place. Thomas doesn’t like the idea at all, but I couldn’t care less. I will do whatever it takes to find Adele. When Maryann comes out of the bedroom with her bag, Thomas and I are waiting for her. Maryann jumps when she walks in the room at the sight of Thomas. Once I called him and explained what was going on he came right over and didn’t need to ring the doorbell since I was waiting for him.
Thomas stands up and grabs Maryann’s bag from her hand without even saying a word to her. I can’t help but notice that he looks her over after taking the bag and I see the flash of something in his eyes. Thomas takes the bag and walks out the door telling us that he’ll wait outside. I look back at Maryann and she looks like she is going to make a run for it.
“Why did he take my bag? I said I would stay with you!” Maryann practically yells at me, but she looks back towards the door knowing that Thomas is right outside.
“You will be staying with me. I am on a motorcycle and It would be safer for you to be in a car,” I tell her as Maryann appears to take a deep breath and lets out a sigh.
“Thomas will bring you to my place. You will be safe with him, he just looks mean,” I say as I give her a smile to calm her the hell down.
“Alex, just so you know, I will not tell you anything if I start to feel that Adele was your prisoner,” she tells me as we head to the door and I nod. I already knew that I would have to gain her trust before she tells me anything. Garth abused both Maryann and Adele to the point they learned to survive with walls. They aren’t quick to trust anyone or anything. I guess after what they have both been through, that’s a good thing. I’ll do what I can to tear down some of Maryann’s walls so she tells me what I need to find Adele. I have no other option, but I don’t have much time since Adele is with a monster.
I pull into my driveway, as Maryann and Thomas are getting out of the car. I grab Maryann’s bag from Thomas and nod my head letting him know that he can leave. Maryann and I walk into the house and she looks around in amazement. I stand and watch her as she touches everything and practically falls onto my leather sofa and throws her feet up onto my coffee table. My eyebrows lift as I watch her heels scrape across my wood table, but I bite my tongue as I pull out my phone and I see it’s a text from Thomas.
Thomas: Be careful, Alex. You don’t know that girl.
Me: I got this covered, Thomas. I must do this for Adele.
Thomas doesn’t respond and I know that’s only for one reason. He is pissed off and doesn’t want the argument. I glance over at Maryann and she is now stretched out on my sofa. I take a deep calming breath and sit in the chair next to the sofa.
“I was thinking you could stay in Adele’s room,” I tell her and her eyes narrow.
“You and Adele were involved, but she had her own room?” she asks sarcastically.
“We weren’t always involved. I was her boss when she first moved in. She had her own room,” I explain as I rub my hand through my beard and I notice that she watches my hands as I do it.
“Okay. Take me to my room.” Maryann agrees and I lead her to Adele’s old room and I don’t hear from her for the rest of the night.
I don’t get any sleep since I must listen for Maryann. I want her to believe that I trust her, but I leave my bedroom door open all night. If she tries to sneak out, I want to be able to stop her. Every two hours, I was peeking into that bedroom making sure that Maryann was still in bed. I have never been so relieved to hear snoring as I pull the door closed and go back to bed. When I finally fall asleep, I wake to the sound of my doorbell ringing. As a matter of fact, it’s not only ringing, but someone has their damn finger on the button so that it’s a constant ringing. I jump out of bed and throw on my shirt swearing to break the hand of whoever is at the door. When I walk past Adele’s room, Maryann is pulling open the door and stretching as she walks behind me.
I yank open the door and it’s Angie. My eyes widen in anger as I look at Angie who is holding a box of donuts as she walks past me and comes into the house.
“Angie, what the fuck are you doing here,” I ask as I slam the door shut. Angie tilts her head and walks up to Maryann looking her over. Maryann is wearing a t-shirt and sleep shorts so it’s obvious that she stayed the night and I can practically see the smoke coming from Angie’s ears as she turns back to look at me.
“Really Alex? You don’t waste time, do you? You fucked me until Adele came along. Then you were all about Adele and threating to fire me if I messed with her and now before your bed gets cold, you have this bitch here?” Angie practically is yelling and I look up at my ceiling thinking it’s too early for this shit.
“You need to go,” I tell Angie as I grab her arm pushing her towards the door.
“I demand an explanation!” Angie yells and I tilt my head wondering if she forgot who the hell she is talking to.
“You demand? You're fired!” I smile at her as she gasps.
“What? You can’t fire me! I haven’ t done anything wrong!”
“Angie. You came to my house and I think I am being stalked at this point. If you try to sue the club for anything, I’ll press charges and I’ll sue you. I have a witness,” I tell her as I turn back to look at Maryann, reminding Angie that I do have a witness. I know I am being a jerk, but Angie was getting out of line. Frank wanted to fire her a long time ago and she just gave me the perfect excuse to let her go. Any employer would do the same if they had some crazy ass employee showing up at their house.
Angie shakes her head and smirks as she looks at me and Maryann. She obviously thinks that we are screwing around and I won’t clear it up for her.
“I hope you know that he’ll never commit to you. I thought he was serious about Adele, but obviously, if he fucked you he isn’t.” Angie spits as she drops the box of donuts on the floor and walks out slamming the door.
I walk over to pick up the donuts and Maryann bends down to help me. Once we have them all picked up, I throw the box into the garbage. Maryann walks over to me and puts her hand on my arm.
“There is something I should tell you about Garth,” Maryann says and we walk over to the couch.