28 Seconds: A House of Valentine Novella (19 page)

“Find out who he is first and then we’ll go from there,” I explained. “And be careful. He’s not as harmless as he looks.”

They both snickered. “Always, Ms. Valentine. Anything else?”

“No one can know except-”

“These guys, got it. We’ll be discreet.”

“Thanks.”

Apparently they took it as a dismissal because, after a quick head nod to Cole, they were already leaving. As soon as they were gone, Cole, Al and Tony were circling around me.

“28 seconds.” It was a question, a statement, and an indictment all wrapped in five tiny syllables.

He thought I wanted revenge for the video...they all did. I could see it written across their faces.

“Yes but, for the record, this isn’t about personal revenge.”

“For the record,” Tony grumbled, “we’d be okay if it was.”

I smiled before turning back to the phone. “The only person I told about him was you, Cole, and I know I never mentioned his name.”

I could see Cole searching his memory but he finally nodded. “True. You didn’t.”

“I never told
anyone
his name.”

It took a second but I could see understanding wash over Cole and he straightened. “Your father, on the Boardwalk, he called him by name?”

I nodded, then slid the phone to the end of the desk. “He wasn’t just a 16 year old dumbass.” I tapped the screen and the men drew closer to look.

Donovan, sitting by the bonfire in nothing but swim trunks

Flames dancing across his body in hues of red and orange

A tattoo of a black eagle, its wings spread in flight...emblazoned on his heart

“Marciano,” Tony hissed.

“When Al showed me the symbols at dinner I had a vague memory but it was replaced with the Serrano and Bianchi bombshells. After my father said his name it all clicked.”

“Do you understand-”

“No, I don’t, and neither do you,” I said, cutting him off. “Facts not assumptions, right? So Joseph and Garrett are about to help us find out.”

“Find three more men with the same skill requirements she already set. I don’t want this kid slipping through. When they find him, I want to have a talk with him myself.”

“Cole-”

“You aren’t the only one tired of being a pawn,” he growled. “Let’s go to bed.”

He threw my phone at Tony and Al with some nonverbal order and then led me upstairs. He was exhausted, it was written all over his body, and he was in the bed before I had even managed to get undressed. I was still fussing around the room, when his grumpy plea caught my attention.

“Ariana, for chrissakes, please just come to bed.”

“Sorry! I was trying to be quiet.”

“You are
too
quiet. It’s like someone on a stealth attack. It’s fucking unnerving.”

“I’ll go down to the kitchen.”

“No.” He struggled out of bed and moved to rub my arms. “You’ve had insane day and your adrenaline is out of control. Baby girl, today was nothing compared to the emotions you’ll be riding tomorrow. You have to get some sleep.
We
have to get sleep.”

“Is this how you feel? Pulled in a million different directions all the time?”

“I’ve learned to shut things off and compartmentalize. You will, too. Come on.” He tried to tug me toward the bed but I resisted. “Ariana-”

“Cole,” I murmured, “this is me throwing something at you.”

He stopped and eyed me for a moment. Then he slipped his arms around my waist, linking his hands behind my back. “Tell me what you need.”

“I need sleep. I’m desperate for it. I’m tired of the things spinning in my head - the lies, the betrayal, the idea that my father and Donovan are somehow responsible, how my father got the rosary…” I trailed off, shaking my head. “It’s all too much. But, I’m terrified to
not
think about them, Cole, because I am saying goodbye to my mother in hours and the idea of quiet, of letting everything have a chance to flood back when every thought of her already brings me so close to hysterics-”

“Breathe, Ariana.” He pulled me into his chest, rubbing my head. “Do you trust me?”

“You know I do.”

“Do you trust Tony?” I faltered and it made his entire body freeze. “What happened? Have you remembered something else? You said-”

“No, no!” I shook my head more than necessary to reassure him. “It’s my mom. I told you her words echo in my head always. She told me not to trust anyone but you.”

He hesitated, his voice dropping to a low rumble. “I wasn’t aware of that. When did she tell you that?”

“Just before she was shot,” I mumbled. “It was the last words she ever spoke to me.”

“Ariana, did you come into my bed simply because your mother said to trust me?”

“No, of course not. Cole-” I lifted my eyes but he was smiling...which made me grimace. “Okay, I get it. I can trust myself on some decisions. Yes, I trust Tony.”

He chuckled then rapped on the door and waved Tony inside.

“Everyone decent?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Cole joked and shut the door. “We need some of your chemical expertise here.”

Tony’s eyes looked over Cole from head to toe and then turned to me and did the same. After a few seconds, they settled harder on me. “What do you need, kiddo?”

“Why does it have to be me?”

“Because cough medicine knocks him on his ass but you’re a hell of lot more complicated.”

“She needs sleep but her mind just won’t slow down without making the memories go haywire. I don’t want to chance a generic sleeping pill that might interact with...well, with everything else already going on in that brain of hers.”

“And you want something?” he clarified. “He’s not bullying you into this?”

His honest caring made my eyes rim with exhausted tears. “No, he’s not. I really, really just want to sleep.”

“Then no problem. Any allergies?”

“No, but I find it funny you ask
after
trying to get me to ingest 216 illegal substances.”

He snickered. “Anything already in your system?”

“Two sips of whiskey downstairs and a half glass of wine at dinner.”

“With the way you burn things off that is a no,” he laughed. “Food or anything else
at all
on your stomach?” He gave a dark glare to Cole which caused a blush to flare on my cheeks.

“She took like ten bites at dinner and no, asshole, nothing else. Not tonight anyway.”

Tony laughed as I flushed even darker. “Give me five minutes...and make sure that answer doesn’t change.”

Cole turned to me as soon as he was gone. “Is that really true about your mother?” he asked, soft as wind.

“Cole, Ariana. Trust only Cole. Promise me.”
I repeated her words, my voice breaking. Seeing the emotions running through him, it finally dawned on me that he, too, had lost his mother. In his case, it was now the third time: first his birth mother, then when Teresa ran, and now when she actually died. I reached out, flattening my palm against his chest. “After fifteen years, her last thoughts were still of you.”

“Of us,” he corrected, kissing me and pulling me into a comforting embrace. We were still in the same position, our own thoughts about my mom racing out of control, when Tony finally returned.

He wiggled a vial in front of me. “Made special just for you. A combination of benzodiazepine and rufinamide.”

“Untested? Your brought her something untested?”

Tony’s eyes narrowed. “I’m going to chalk that up to your cute but somewhat irrational concern over Ariana’s safety and not an indictment of my talents.”

I patted Cole’s arm to calm him. “It’s a creative solution that should be pretty damn effective. Temporarily block conscious thought, muscle relaxant, short term sedation mixed with a drowsing agent. With a 80/20 mix it’s completely safe.”

“I knew I’d have to fight him so I erred on the side of caution and did 90/10. It’ll take you a bit longer to get to sleep but you’re still talking only minutes.”

“Market this to day surgery clinics and you’re gonna make a fucking fortune.”

“Fortunes later. Down it and get some sleep.”

I swallowed the entire vial in one swig, determined to show my trust in Tony’s abilities. I walked to the bed and snuggled under the covers.

“And you,” Tony ordered, handing him a single pill. “Since you’re such a pussy and have the tolerance level of a two year old, you get an OTC.”

“I’m not allowing her to sleep unmonitored with a fucking anesthesia drug swimming through her system.”

“And I’m not going to listen to your bitching for another 48 hours because you haven’t slept. Besides, you look more of wreck than she does, brother.”

“Stalemate,” I chuckled, my voice already much higher than normal. “Fortune, Tony. You’ll make a fortune.”

“Al and I will sit turns monitoring the two of you until the security council convenes. You’re both barely gonna move. I promise.”

“No.”

“Ariana?”

“Hm?”

“Tell him to take the fucking pill.”

“Cole, take the frolicking pill,” I murmured. I heard no movement and I sighed. “Please, Cole, take it and come to bed. I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

I couldn’t see what transpired but I could hear a harsh swallow and felt him dropping onto the bed beside me. His voice was a low growl at my ear. “You, Tony, are a fucking asshole.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Ariana, baby girl, wake up. We need you, Ariana.”

The insistent shaking grew harder and my eyes flickered open. Cole was beside me and the haggard look on his face made me jerk to sitting. Al was a pace behind looking, if possible, even worse.

“Al, get coffee for her. To go,” he ordered and I could hear Al shuffle away. “I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry, but we had no one else-”

“Stop apologizing,” I grumbled. I took the clothes he handed me and started tugging them on.

As soon as I was dressed, Al had a coffee in my hand and we were moving.

“The security council was meeting…”

“Quick facts, Father,” I reminded.

“Three men at the security council had something slipped into their drinks. They all have different reactions, we can’t make separate-.”

“Tony-”

Cole cut me off. “Tony’s one of them.”

“Where are they? Take me there! Now.”

The car was already waiting and running in the street. We piled inside and were moving before I remembered I had coffee. I downed half of it, the heat scalding the entire way and shaking off the last fog in my head. “How far?”

“Just a few miles.”

“How long?”

“Fifteen minutes or so since the reactions were noticed,” Al provided. “Ariana, one of them is really bad.”

“Define bad.”

“He’s hemorrhaging and is really fucking violent,” Cole murmured. “We have a doctor on site but, without knowing what it is-”

“The doctor can’t tell?”

“He’s struggling without equipment and we can’t take them-”

“Yeah, I get it. What about the other one?”

“Lethargic, disoriented, shallow breathing.”

“Heart rate?”

“Slow on all except the one hemorrhaging...his is crazy high, near coding.”

“You sure it was in the drinks?”

“They had nothing else and they were clear of injection sites.”

“Does this happen often?” The silence made me straighten. “Cole?”

“Not in over a decade,” he mumbled.

“Is it because of me? Because I’m back?”

“There’s no way to be certain.” But he wouldn’t look at me when he said the words.

“Lie,” I hissed. “Don’t ever do that again.”

He nodded and took my hand in his, but still wouldn’t look at me.

We were slowing to a stop and I knew I had to prepare myself before walking in the room. “What about Tony?”

Cole flinched beside me and I turned to Al. “Al?”

“He’s unresponsive now.”

“How was he before?”

“He was pretty happy, content,” Cole managed. “Kept trying to play with himself and then he told someone to get you just before passing out.”

“He tried to play with himself? In public? Tony?” I stumbled over the words as we got out of the car. “I will never let him live that down.”

“Just let him live, Ariana. Please.”

I patted Al’s arm and straightened, exhaling all the stress the car ride had invoked. “I’ll do whatever I can.”

He nodded, accepting, and led me inside. It actually wasn’t as bad as I imagined. I guess my visions had been been slowly desensitizing me to violence without my even realizing it. All three were laid out on tables, chairs cast aside so the doctor could examine them. He was rushing from one to the other, barking orders. He was overwhelmed and desperate...he was apparently a friend and thought he was about to lose them all.