Fantasy Attraction (Hidden Secrets) (20 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY

~COLLEEN~

It took three stops at the ATM machines and then a stop at the bank to get all the money out.  I wanted to get it all out at the ATM’s last night, but the damn limits that were put on my account prevented me from doing that.  However, it took four hours at the damn bank before I was able to walk out with my own money.  I was close to strangling someone. 

Looking down at my watch, I saw it was eleven o’clock.  Carson would have woke
n up and saw I was gone by now.  My heart ached in my chest for what I have done, but I couldn’t do it any other way.  I’d get the Garcia’s their money and I’d leave and be back to him in a couple of days, tops.  In all honesty, I was just ready to get them off my back so I didn’t have to look over my shoulder anymore.

Once I walked out of the bank, I made my way to catch a cab.  I grabbed out the phone I had bought last night.  Leaving my phone behind was the only way I knew he wouldn’t follow me.  Pulling out the notepad, I wrote his number down on,
I dialed and waited for him to answer.

“Now this is a switch.  You are calling me.  Why Colleen to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I have it.  Meet me at the town square in Corolla at noon tomorrow and Lenny?”

“Yes, my pet.”

“Ick, don’t call me that.  This is it.  You leave me alone after this.” I hung up the phone.

My heart was in my throat.  I couldn’t believe I just spoke like that to him.  Shaking my head, I told the cab driver where to go.  I sat back and thought of my Carson.  Just the thoughts of him both filled me with courage and broke me.

The day was long and the night even longer.  There was no getting sleep. I was so used to Carson holding me as I slept that I just couldn’t sleep.  Instead, I paced up and down the hotel room, staring at my phone and wishing I could call him, just to hear his voice for a second, but it was too risky.  By now Lenny would already know where I am staying and will have his goons monitoring all calls I make from either my cell phone or from my hotel room phone.

There was a bad feeling sitting in the pit of my stomach.  It stayed there all night and got stronger the next day.  I ran to the bathroom to throw up.  This was a mistake, this was a huge mistake.  My stomach heaved again and I ran back to the toilet throwing up nothing because there was nothing left in me to throw up.

I took a quick shower and changed into the clothes that I bought last night.  When it was time to head out, I had spent a lot of it in the bathroom.  Hurriedly I brushed my teeth and ran out the door.  Hailing a cab, I told them where to go and willed my stomach to work with me.

If I was here on luxury instead of business,
I would have thought the town was very beautiful.  Rustic and modern kind of mesh together to make this town; the original town hall still stood tall and proud.  That was where I was headed.  The town square was a very public place and I hoped it would keep things fast and uneventful.

Climbing out of the taxi, I sat on a bench next to the huge water fountain in the center of the town square. I waited.  Watching around me carefully and closely, I didn’t want to be surprised.  I knew how they worked this wasn’t my first rodeo with them.

“Did you think you could run from me, Colleen?”

Smack!

“Did you think I was going to let you get away?”

Smack!

“Answer me, you little bitch!”

Smack!

I fought the tears off that wanted to fall from my eyes.  The blood, however I couldn’t stop. It trickled down from my nose and lip.  I’m pretty sure there were cuts on my face from the gun he was smacking me with.

“It isn’t my debt.”

“Oh, but it is.  See you belong to me.  Now you can either buy your freedom or I can take it from you.  Either way I will be paid. I would love for you to pick the second option,” he said as he trailed his hand up my leg.

I spit in his face and hissed, “Never!”

A hand on my shoulder caused me to jump and brought me back to what it was I was doing here.  I looked up into the dark eyes of Geno, Lenny’s bodyguard.  Jerking out of his hold, I held my head high.

“Where’s Lenny?”

“He sent me to bring you to…”

“No, you call him and tell him,
I said meet here.  If he wants his money he will come to me.  I’m not leaving this spot. He has one hour to get here or he forfeits his money and I will be let free from this debt and move on.  I’m not playing around anymore, Geno.” I snapped.

“Colleen…”
he said, looking at me with sad eyes.

“I’m not kidding.”

Grabbing out my phone, I called Lenny again.

“I told
you
to meet me here, not Geno.  You have an hour to meet me here or I will be free from this debt and you.  Take your pick.”

The phone clicks in my ear. 
Then Geno’s phone rings.  I can’t tell by his one sided conversation what is going on, but I know I’m in trouble.  The bad feeling in the pit of my stomach burned and I threw up in an instant, barely making it to a bush nearby.

I felt Geno’s hand on my shoulder again.  Looking up at him and I knew what
the phone call was about.

“You’re taking me
, aren’t you?” I said shakily.

“Yes, ma’am.  He said to come with me now quietly or you
r boy will be hurt.”

“My boy?”

“Yes, ma’am.  Carson I believe he said the name was.”

“Oh God,” I breathed. “He’s not letting me walk away is he?” I asked, my voice trembling.

Geno’s face softened and he dropped his hand from my shoulder.  “No, ma’am.  He feels the debt has been outstanding for too long.”

“If I don’t go?”

“He’ll kill Carson.  This chick is keeping tabs on him.”

“Chick?” I gasped, “Is her name Wendi by chance?”

“Ugh…”

“Come on, Geno.  I know you’re not like them.  You helped save me last time.  Please.”

He sighed.  “Yes, her name is Wendi.  She wants you out of the way for good.  Something about having plans for Carson herself.  The boss says that you are bonus material.  She paid him to get you out of the picture.”

“God, what am I going to do?”

My hand flew to my mouth and ran to the bush to puke again. Once I was finished, I sat on the ground and pulled my knees to my chest and cried.  I knew I shouldn’t have come alone. Lenny wasn’t one to mess around.  They got what they wanted no questions asked.

“He’s going to kill me isn’t he?”

“No, ma’am.  He wants to put you in the circuit.”

“Oh God.  Let him kill me please.”

I sat there in silence for a minute before throwing up again.  This was just too much.  Here I had the stupid idea that I’d hand him his money and be free at last.  How did I know that wasn’t going to be the case?

“Your dad ran away because one of the guys she was sleeping with was Lenny.  She wanted Benny so she slept with Lenny to get close to him.”

My head snapped in his direction and was surprised to find him sitting next to me. “How do you know about this? You have no idea what my family was like…what I’ve been through!”

“I went to the bar and talked to your dad the night before you left.  They were planning his murder.  Lenny and Benny do not know that she was sleeping with them both or that she had a child.”  He looked at me.

“I…”

He cut me off by shaking his head. “No, the child didn’t survive.  He didn’t have a father like you did.  Neither of them knew about it.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because if you are going to survive
, you need to know this.  I promised your dad that I would make sure they didn’t hurt you.  Until that chick called I thought you made sure of that yourself, but here we are.” He said sadly.

“Why…why would you promise my dad that?”

“Because he’s my brother,” he said after a bit of hesitation.

There were no words.  Nothing that I could say that would be even close to a response. I just stared at him with wide eyes.

“I know this is shocking to you, but can’t you see why we kept this a secret?”

“You were family.  You could have come for me and saved me from her…but you didn’t!” I yelled standing up.

“I couldn’t!” He yelled back standing with me. “If I would have taken you Lenny and Benny would have gotten their hands on you.  I wasn’t having that for my family.  We were protecting you.”

“By lying to me?  Do you think my life turned out so much better because you stayed away?”

“You may not believe this, but I have always been there for you.  You just don’t always see me.  I will save you, flower.”

“Don’t you dare call me that! My dad called me that!”

He hung his head and sadness filled his eyes.  “Come on.”

Grabbing my elbow
, he led me to the car waiting not far away.  There was no fight in me.  I knew what fate had in store for me and I walked alongside a man that claims to be what my uncle?  Yet he is willingly turning me over to the man that wants me in his sex circuit. 

Some family.

I looked over at him and watched as he drove through the streets.  He glanced at me and offered me a sad smile. I turned to him fully.

“I hate you!” I hissed with my voice full of venom.

He pulled over to the side of the road and put the car in park.  Looking at me through sad eyes, “You don’t mean that.”

“
Oh, I mean it.  If I get out of this alive, I want you to stay the fuck away from me.  I don’t care that you are my uncle.  You left me with Harriet when you could have saved me.  You left me there and I had to kill a man to keep him from raping me.  I killed someone because no one cared enough about me.  I
hate
you! I think my dad would feel the same.  You failed to protect me!”

He sighed heavily. “No matter how you feel…I’m always going to be there for you flo- Colleen.  Hate me if you must, but just don’t give up. If I could I would not be taking you there right now, but if I
don’t, then not only my life is at risk.  Everyone you have grown to care about will be as well.  So what you may see as an act of not caring, it’s because I care and don’t want you to lose anyone else.  We already lost Tanner.  I can’t handle losing you too.”

“You can’t handle it? He was all I had you asshole!  He was my fucking father!  He was the only safety net in my storm of Harriet and her men.  I will never forgive you.
  So if your telling me you are my uncle was for some kind of happy family reunion…then you are wrong.”

I turned and looked out the window just as a tear slipped down my cheek. My
life may have been so different if he had cared enough to get me away from the woman who wanted me dead, but couldn’t kill me.  How could he even rationalize that in his head?  I thought I could never hate anyone like I hated Harriet, but Geno was pretty damn close there.  He may not have hurt me personally, but he had left me there to be hurt.

I miss Carson…

For the long drive over to Lenny, I stared out the window and fought hard to keep the tears at bay.  There was one thing I knew from growing up with the mother I had, you never showed your fear or pain.  So here I walk into meet Lenny again.  My thoughts were of Carson.  Of all our time together.  My thoughts turned to my father.

“Flower, there are many things in this world that are not what they seem.  But know that just because they don’t pan out how you would expect them
to, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have them or that they aren’t true.  Do you understand what I’m saying, flower?”

“Not really.  You would never lie to
me, would you daddy?”

“Sometimes a lie is not a bad thing when it is to protect someone you love very much.”

Holy shit! He was talking about Geno there.  I just know it!  Soon a loud cackle broke into my train of thoughts.  I looked up to see Lenny approaching.

“Look what we have here, Ms. Colleen Austin.  Did you really think it was going to be that simple?”

“I have your money.  I even have you a full two Hundred thousand so you would just leave me alone.”

“Oh no, leaving you alone was never an option.” He licked his lips and looked me up and down. “Definitely not now that I have seen the woman you have grown into.”

He stepped forward and ran his hand down my neck towards my breasts.  I knocked his hand away from me.  He looked back at me in shock.  My heart was racing and I braced myself for what came next.

SMACK!

Even though I expected it, it still caught me by surprise the force he put behind it.  Immediately I felt the blood pool in my mouth.  He started laughing and I lifted my head slowly to look at his.  I hated him with all my being.  Before I could think twice about it, I spit my blood in his face.  He reached out and grabbed me by the throat, lifting me up on my toes.

“Looks like someone needs broke in and I look forward to being the one to do it.” He sneered as he threw me to the floor.