Beautiful Life: The Carpino Series (14 page)

“He’s watching you and he knows where you live, even though you just moved in and there’s a restraining order,” he continues, stating the scary facts that are obvious to me with his face set in stone and rage billowing.

“Tony?” my mother asks, as she lowers her feet from my cool coffee table Gabby refinished for me.  She leans forward as if she’s taking a good look at Tony for the first time, puts her elbows to her knees and asks again spewing her venom, “
Carpino
?”

“Mom,” I start.

“You’re with a fucking
Carpino
?” she says in a malicious voice.

That’s it.   I immediately start to pull around Tony, letting go of him and spew right back at her, “Don’t you dare!”

But Tony grabs me at my waist before I can make it around him and pulls my back to his front.   He takes a step back as my mother starts in with her normal hate, “Always the Carpinos.  So fucking perfect.  I never stood a chance up against
The Gabrielle Carpino
with her perfect parents and family.  ‘Gabby this, Gabby that’ for fucking ever!  And you left your husband for him?”

I throw everything in my arms to the floor, doing my best to get out of Tony’s hold so I can rip my mother’s hair out.  I forget about her breaking into my apartment and the scary fact Preston must be keeping tabs on me.  I can’t think of one thing besides her spewing her hate and venom about Tony, my friend and their family who have shown me nothing but compassion and love, not to mention I hate the fact Tony has to share the air she breathes. 

But I feel a second arm lock around me as Tony pulls me in tighter to him.  Before I can think of what to scream and yell at her, Tony asks again, seething, “Why are you here?”

She looks at Tony and then back to me.  I see her swallow and purse her lips together when she says, “Tina’s in trouble.”

My body slumps in Tony’s arms.

Tina.  Of course.

My stupid, stupid sister.

“What trouble now?” I ask.

“She scared.  Says she has people after her.  Says she needs money to pay them off,” my mom says, looking uncomfortable for the first time since we walked in on her sitting in my apartment waiting for me.

“You mean she owes her dealer money?” I surmise.  “Unbelievable.  You came all the way here and think you’re going get money out of me to pay off my sister’s dealer?  What’s it for this time?  Is she still a ‘recreational’ user or has she moved on to the big stuff?  Huh mom?  Blow, acid?  Prescription drugs?  What’s she into now?”

“She needs help, Leigh-Leigh,” my mom says, almost softly.

“Don’t you dare call me that,” I say.  “I can’t believe you came to me for money, and for drugs of all things!”

“She said this is it, Leigh.  She said she’ll get help, she’ll quit,” my mother’s voice starts to panic.

“Right, I’ve heard that before,” I say.

“Get out,” Tony demands.  “She’s not giving you a dime.  Get out.  Now.”

“But I don’t have anywhere to go,” my mom says.  She starts talking directly to me, “I’m staying with you, Leigh.”

“There’s no way you’re staying with Leigh,” Tony stresses.

“Leigh, you have to help her,” my mom starts to plead to me.  “I asked Preston, but he said you got plenty of money in the divorce and sent me on my way.  She’s scared.  You have to do something.”

“I’m not giving her money,” I say.

“What else is there to do?” she says.

“You can stay here,” Tony butts in.  I turn to look up at him not believing what he is saying, but he lets go of me, moves me back and steps in between my mother and I.  He looks down at me and goes on, “You’re coming home with me.  She can stay here.”  He looks back to my mother as he digs his wallet out of his pocket.  “Is Tina still in Florida?”

“Yeah, near Destin,” my mother answers, looking relieved she isn’t being kicked out.

Tony sighs and pulls his business card out of his wallet and shoves it toward my mother saying, “My cell is on this card.  You get Tina’s information to me.  You communicate with me, not Leigh.  You get that?  I don’t know what we’ll do, but Leigh is not paying off a dealer.  We’ll come up with something, but do you get me when I say to you, she will not give you a penny?  You can stay in this apartment and eat this food, but that’s it.  If Leigh doesn’t want to see or talk to you, she won’t.”

“What are you going to do?” my mother panics.

“Get me her information, anything you know about the situation.  Text it to me.  I’ll be in contact with you tomorrow,” Tony says.  He leans down to pick up our dinner and turns to me to say softly, “Get your bag, sweetheart but leave the groceries here with her and give her your key.”

I don’t pick up my bag because I can’t move.  I stand here and stare up at him.  I cannot believe my mother is here and she wants money to pay off my sister’s drug dealer.  How did this happen?  I just had the best weekend of my life and it ends like this?  My freaking family, so screwed up.  They found a way to mar what should have been the most precious memories I’ve ever had.

“Gem,” Tony calls.  I focus on his face as he leans close and says, “Let me take you home.”

I woodenly bend to pick up my bag, toss my key to the coffee table and barely look at my mother who is now carefully surveying Tony and I.  I move to the door with Tony behind me.  Without another word to my mother we leave, Tony pulling the door shut behind us and we walk away from my new apartment.  I walk directly to the passenger side of Tony’s Explorer, he beeps the locks and I climb in.  He’s right behind me standing in my open door, hands me the Mexican take-out and lifts his hand to my cheek, his eyes sweeping my face.  Not saying a word, he steps back and swings my door shut. 

How does he do that?  He always knows when to get in my face at the same time when to give me the space and silence I need.  If I wasn’t already freaked out, that would freak me out more.

But I take advantage of the silence he knows I need and close my eyes, dropping my head back to the seat rest not believing the nightmare we just walked into.  Thinking I was happy was crazy.  Asinine.  This is my life and as much as I want to get away from it, it always finds me, catching up with me, messing up everything beautiful I think I’ve found. 

But the worst part is now I’m dragging Tony away from the beauty and down the ugly road that is my life. 

Ugly.

Always ugly.

“I’ll call DEA in Tallahassee first thing in the morning.  They can reach out to locals in Destin, see if they can locate her.  I’ll give them the background, see if they can do me any favors and we’ll find out if she’s really in trouble.  If she’s a junkie like you’re sayin, she could be making this shit up just to weasel money out of her sister or she could really be in deep with her dealers.  My guess, it could be a bit of both.  Let me find out what I can and I’ll get back with you sometime tomorrow.”

“I appreciate it.  Looks like I owe you big with all this on top of you taking the lead on my embezzlement case with Jude gone.  Now you’re calling in favors to other agencies in Florida, name your poison,” I say to Mac over my cell as I stand in my kitchen looking out toward my backyard into the black of night.  Mac is Jude’s cohort at the FBI who’s helping with my case while he and Gabby are on their honeymoon.  Who knew I’d need yet another favor from him.

“Not to worry,” Mac chuckles.  “Just make it a large bottle of Makers instead of a small one.”

“Done,” I say.  “I’ll wait to hear from you tomorrow.  And thanks again.”

“No worries.  Later,” he says and we disconnect.  I set my phone down on the island and immediately turn to move toward my bedroom. 

Once we got home from Leigh’s apartment we ate dinner.  Or should I say, I ate dinner and Leigh picked at hers while staring into space not saying a thing.  Her face was void of expression, she was deep in thought and as much as it killed me, I left her to it.  We were just finishing cleaning up from dinner when, like lightening through our strangled silence, my phone dinged with a text. 

Leigh jumped and her emerald eyes shot to mine.  She was wound so fucking tight, it wouldn’t surprise me if she exploded.  I pulled in a calming breath so I wouldn’t throw my fucking phone across the fucking room like I wanted to.  Then I walked straight to her, grabbed her hand without interrupting our strangled silence, pulled her straight through the family room, bedroom and into my bathroom.  I flipped on the taps to the tub, let go of her and went to my closet to grab my robe. 

When I walked out of the closet, she starts, “Tony--”

“Shh,” I say, cupping her jaw with my hand and shushing her with my thumb over her lips.  “Take a bath.  Relax.  I don’t have any bubbles or bath shit, but just lay there and unwind.  Gem, you look like you could combust and I don’t like it.  I’ll bring you a glass of wine and leave you be.  But you have to promise me to try not to think about your sister or your fucking mother and let me look into it.  Can you promise me that?”

“Tony, you can’t--” she tries to keep on.

I press my thumb over her lips again and pull her closer saying, “I can.  And I’m going to.  Let me find out what we’re dealing with then you can decide what to do.  If there’s anything to do at all.  Gem,” I say, pulling her lips up close to mine.  “We’ll figure it out and I’ll support whatever you want to do.  But let me find out what we’re dealing with first, all right?”

She closes her eyes and sighs.  Nodding her head in my hand, she whispers, “All right.”

“Okay,” I say, pulling her in for a quick kiss.  “I’ll be right back with your wine.”

That was forty-five minutes ago.  Since then, I’ve called the police and made reports that Preston has been keeping tabs on Leigh, which directly or indirectly, is a violation of his restraining order.  Then I called Paige to give her the day off at the firm tomorrow in exchange for hanging out with Leigh since Leigh doesn’t work tomorrow and I don’t want her anywhere around her mother by herself.  Then I called Mac, Jude’s friend and partner at the FBI about Leigh’s sister, Tina, in Florida.  Then I put a stop at the liquor store on my mental list of things to do for the largest bottle of Makers Mark I can find.  I just might have to buy one for myself as well.

This brings me to now.

I walk into my bedroom and hear the water draining out of the tub.  I turn the corner to my bathroom where Leigh is standing. She has her back to me with her hair up in a messy knot and wet tendrils of hair falling down her back.  She’s pulling my robe around her, slipping it up her arms.  I barely catch a glance of her bare ass and milky skin before she pulls it up over her shoulders. 

And now I have to fight against getting hard.

I clear my throat and she turns quickly to me while wrapping my robe around the front of her body.  She immediately tips her head and glares at me giving me her vexed look.  I feel the side of my mouth tip up in spite of myself because I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than Leigh, naked under my robe after climbing out of my tub with a vexed look on her face. 

“You could have knocked, Tony,” she spits out.

I lean deep against the door jamb to my bathroom and cross my arms.  I can’t help it, my grin turns into a large smile and I say, “You slept in my arms naked last night.  I’ve had my mouth between your legs, not to mention
having
you three times.  And we showered together this morning.  Now, why would I knock?”

Her back goes ramrod straight as she pulls my robe tight around her and ties the belt with ferocity saying, “Because it’s polite.  And I thought you were an attorney, not an accountant.  You sure are keeping track.”

Still smiling I say, “Yeah, I’m keeping track.  And while I’m keeping track, I’ll just say, you’re the first person to use the tub.  Did you like it?”

Her vexed look turns surprised, tipping her head to the side again, asking, “Really?”

“Yeah,” I answer.

“How long have you lived here?” she asks again.

“Just shy of a year and a half,” I say.

“And you’ve never used the bathtub?” she keeps on, looking even more confused.

“Don’t have a lot of time to take baths, sweetheart.”

“Huh,” she mutters.  I can almost see her snapping back to reality when she asks, “What did you find out about Tina?”

I sigh and say, “Leigh, come here.”

“Why?” she asks.

I lower my voice, “Because I’d rather have you close when I tell you what I found out.”

“I’m…” she starts as her emerald eyes shift back and forth, looking uncomfortable.  Her feet shift and she crosses her arms across her front as she mutters, “Good here.  Now what did you find out?”

Not wanting to give it to her, I let her have her space anyway and say, “Your mom sent me the address where Tina’s supposedly staying with friends.  From what she said, she doesn’t have a job right now and Tina told your mom she needs twenty-two thousand dollars.”

“What?  Twenty-two thousand?” Leigh whispers, wrapping her arms around herself tighter.

“There’s no way we can know what to believe at this point.  I made a call to Mac, an agent who works with Jude.  He’s gonna make some calls to Florida for us tomorrow.  See if he can locate her, see how bad she is, living conditions, things like that.  I sent him the information your mom sent me, which isn’t much.  Hopefully we’ll know more soon.”

Leigh starts to shake her head slowly back and forth and says quietly, “You shouldn’t be dealing with my family, Tony.  I can’t ask you to do this.”

“You didn’t ask me to do anything,” I say.

“It’s just that, my family, they’re…taxing.  They’re nothing like your family.  I don’t even want you to have anything to do with them.”

“Again, you didn’t ask.  But if you think I’m going to leave you to deal with your mom on your own, you’re outta your mind,” I say.

“Tony--” she keeps on.

“Leigh, enough.  There’s nothing we can do tonight anyway.  We’ll talk about it when we have some real information.  You can decide what you want to do and I’ll help you make it happen.  But you decide and I’ll support you.  Period.”

Leigh stands there staring at me, the space of the bathroom still separating us.  Finally she starts nodding her head slowly and she mutters while repeating me, “I’ll decide and you’ll support me.”

“Gem,” I call for her.

“You’ll support me,” she mutters again.

“Leigh, come here,” I say.

She goes from nodding to shaking her head no and starts to look around my bathroom.  She pauses, bites her lip in the corner hesitating, then asks, “Hasn’t anyone else ever used it?”

“Leigh, what are you talking about?” I ask, beginning to worry about her. 

“Your bathtub,” she juts her jaw toward the tub.

My eyes narrow and this time I tip my head to answer, “No.”

“Oh,” she says, quieter. 

“Gem?” I probe.

“Hmm?”

“What are you thinking?”

“Nothing,” she lies.

I sigh, shake my head at her and start, “Leigh, I know what the last four years of your life were like.  I can guess from what Gabby’s told me, your ex shit head husband wasn’t the first man in your life nor did he support you on anything you wanted.  Sweetheart, unless I’m worried about your safety, I’ll support you in your decisions.  That’s what you do in a relationship.  Now, about the tub, I’m twenty nine years old and I’ve known you since you were in the third grade and I was in the fourth.  I know you know there were women in my life.”

She’s looking uncomfortable and spits out, “I know.  You don’t owe me an explanation.”

“I know I don’t owe you an explanation, but I’ll give you this.  I’ve lived in this house for almost a year and a half and right now I’m thanking my lucky stars I was old enough and smart enough to do it right, because I can promise you, gem, I’ve never brought another woman here.  I’ve never had another woman in my bedroom.  And I’ve definitely never had another woman in my tub.  You’ve made your mark, Leigh.  Claimed it.  It’s yours.  I built this house not knowing it was for you, but it is.”

She’s still standing across the bathroom staring at me, taking in all I said with her arms still wrapped around herself protectively. 

“Although next time, I think I want to try out my tub with you,” I add. 

She doesn’t move, but bites the side of her lip again. 

“Are you going to come to me now?” I ask again.

She drops her arms immediately and walks to me.  I watch her move, gracefully, her long thin bare legs peeking out from in front of my robe.  I stand up straight and she face plants in my neck, fisting my shirt at my waist.  I thread my fingers through her hair and pull out her messy knot.  Her soft damp hair falls over my fingers and I put my lips to her forehead. 

“You okay now?” I ask.

“I don’t deserve to want all that to be mine, but I do.  I didn’t even know I wanted it to be mine, but I do.  Thank you, Tone,” she whispers in my neck. 

I chuckle into her hair and say, “It’s not like I saved myself for you, Leigh.  But I’m glad I can give you that and I’m glad it makes you happy.”

I feel her smile against my skin and one single giggle bursts from her lips at my comment about saving myself for her.  She leans her head back, smiles small and says, “I had a crush on you in high school.”

“I know,” I say grinning back down at her. 

She rears back in my arms, her smile wiped from her face and with big eyes yells, “What?  How did you know?”

Holding on to her tight, I simply say, “Gabby.”

“What?” she yells even louder.  “Gabby told you way back then I had a crush on you?”

“Yeah, but not way back then,” I give her a yank and pull her close again.  “She told me a couple months ago.  She thought I was trying to play you when you were still stuck in your head, came to rip me a new one and I had to set her straight.  I can’t decide if it makes me happy you crushed on me in high school or pissed off I didn’t know so I could do something about it then.”

“Oh,” was all she had to say about her best friend giving her up.

“Although,” I say, turning our bodies to walk toward the bedroom, Leigh shuffling backwards in my arms.  “I could be a dick in high school and like any horny high school boy, I probably would have ruined my chances at having you right now because you’d still be pissed at me twelve years later.  I guess I should be grateful I didn’t know you were into me back then because I’m likin’ where you are now.”

“Tone,” she breathes, as we come to a stop because the back of her legs hit the side of my bed.  I lean back a bit, yank the tie on my robe letting it fall open on her body. 

“This is way better than high school, gem.  I would’ve royally screwed my chances with you back in the day,” I lift my index finger up to her neck and I look into her emerald eyes as it makes its way down the center of her body.  I feel her shiver, she closes her eyes and when I reach her belly I round her waist with my hand pulling her to me.  She opens her eyes as I say, “It’s better having you now knowing I knew you then and you’ve been a part of my life for a long time.  We’ll always have that Leigh, and I like it.”

“I like that too, honey.”

“We’ll be able to give those memories to our kids and their kids,” I add, Leigh pulling in a gulp of air and her eyes going big in surprise. “And I’ll like that even better.”

Leigh closes her surprised eyes while turning her head.  I know that reminds her of her child she’ll never know, but I need her to look to the future and show her what will be.