Pier Lights (18 page)

“Thank you.” He started away.

“Guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He looked back. “Not if I don’t find Lina by
then, you won’t.”

“Lina. The stripper Lina? Wait. She’s who
you’re looking for?”

“Yeah.”

“Your girlfriend? Whoa. No wonder my friend
said she’s always turned down when she hits on you. Lina’s hot.
Haven’t seen her recently.”

“She injured her foot. You haven’t seen a
girl out here on crutches anywhere?”

“No, but I’ll help look. We all will.” She
motioned to her friends and told them of the quest, told them who
he was, never mind he’d asked her not to spread it around. But it
turned out to be helpful. Soon a whole group had volunteered to
help look for her. They even talked to him like he was human.

A couple of the girls stayed by his side, to
help talk to idiots who would be scared of him otherwise, they
said. One, the one who recognized him, was too handsy for his
liking, but in return for her help, he’d ignored the way she so
often touched him. Usually his arm. Sometimes his shoulder as
though testing to see if it was real. Once his ass, although she
apologized like it was an accident. It wasn’t, but he’d let her
touch damned near anything if she and her group helped him find
Lina.

Harry had seen no sign of her, either. He
was surprised that Dio met him at their agreed spot with a small
group in tow. And he looked as tired as Dio felt.

“Go on home.” He set a hand on his friend’s
shoulder. “I’ll call you if I need. Thank you for...”

“You headed home, too?”

“No. I’m staying right here.”

“Man you gotta sleep.”

“I have to find her.”

“She might not be here.”

“If she’s not yet, she will be.” Dio told
him again to go home. The group of kids told him they’d stay and
help, that they were always up till all hours of the night. Harry
agreed muttering something about young people and lack of work
ethic. Dio couldn’t care less at the moment. At least they were
willing to help.

“You do look wiped out.” The touchy-feely
girl rubbed his arm. “Sit and rest a while. We’ll keep
looking.”

Giving in, he lowered onto a wooden bench,
slumped down, and let his eyes close. Only a few minutes. He heard
the girl tell her friends she would stay and look after him and
they should go ahead. But she left, too. Dio was glad she did. The
girl was entirely too friendly.

He felt his body give in to the fatigue and
frustration. He could sleep sitting up. It would hardly be the
first time.

“Here.”

He opened his eyes to her voice. Lina. No.
Not Lina. The girl. She shoved a bag at him. Food. He could smell
it.

“Heard your stomach growl. I love these.
Hope you like sausages. They’re my favorite. I love sausage, any
kind. The bigger the better.” She winked.

He nearly devoured the things. She rested a
hand on his leg as she sat close and ate her sausage suggestively,
eyeing him. As he finished, she slid the hand up toward his
crotch.

Dio grasped her hand. “Not going to
happen.”

“I just wanted to ... you know, see if your
size is all-over. I’ve heard big men aren’t all-over big but I
figure you are. You look like you are at the club, unless you add
size with a sock or something.”

“I don’t add anything. And no, I’m not
proving it. Like I said, Lina’s my ... she’s mine. I’m hers.” He
crumpled up the bag and got up, using the flashlight to check his
watch. After one a.m.

She stood next to him. “So I’m not trying to
steal you from her. I just ... you know it can be nice to just ...
play around with someone else now and then, right? I have a
boyfriend, too, but we’re kinda open and...”

“My face doesn’t turn you off?”

She hesitated. “No. It’s not your face I
want.”

Dio grabbed her hand and raised it to his
face. She yanked it away before she touched his scar. “Right. Look,
despite my job, I’m not a toy at your disposal. If that’s the only
reason you’re helping, gather your friends and go on.”

“No, I’m sorry. It just...”

“Forget it. Don’t follow me. Just ... I
can’t deal with this tonight.” He pulled his wallet out and handed
her a five. “For the food. Thanks.” Then he turned and stormed away
from her, away from the direction her friends had gone.

At three a.m., he had to give in to his body
and rest a while. Dio made his way back to the sidewalk where Harry
could find him if he tried and reclined on the grassy edge of the
sand. He was chilled, but not like she would be if she was on the
beach. He didn’t chill easily. His mom said it was all the bulk,
the muscle, that stirred his blood fast enough ... and who knows
but she made that up. Harry was right. She was crazy.

And she’d chased Lina off. Dio supposed he
should call the hospital to check in but he was still far too
angry.

He gazed up at the star-spattered black sky
and the half moon ... and gave in to slumber.

~18~

“Dio. Wake up.”

He opened his eyes to ... the girl again.
What in the fuck did she want now? It was daylight. Barely. A brief
bit of light crept over the horizon.

Not only the girl. Three girls. And three
guys.

He sat up as the guys stared open-jawed.

“Hey, I’m sorry about last night.” The girl
crouched next to him and spoke into his ear. “I was ... not myself.
Don’t say anything to him. The tall one is my boyfriend. I found
him on the pier after I left you. I thought he’d taken off with
someone else and I was... It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry.”

“Forget it.” He pushed to his feet and
stretched as high as he could.

The boys stepped backward. Dio would have
laughed at any other time.

“They saw her last night. Lina. They saw her
here.”

“Saw her where? When?”

“Close to here, actually. We were headed to
the pier coming from that way.” The boyfriend pointed down the
beach into the grassy area. “Stopped to talk to her.”

“Sexy thing, she is.” Another one snickered.
“No wonder she’s a stripper. But she’s uppity as hell.”

“Vicious, I’d say. A little flirting and
she...”

Dio grabbed the collars of the two shorter
ones. “If you touched her, I swear I’ll drag your asses up to the
end of that pier and dump you over the side.”

“Hey. No. We didn’t dare. The bitch
threatened to take off our family jewels with her crutches. Looked
like she meant it, too. Didn’t get close enough to find out.”

Dio shoved them away. “Don’t call her that
again.” Definitely had to be Lina. “What direction was she
headed?”

“That way.” The boyfriend nodded toward the
tall grass not far from him. “And I wouldn’t have let them bother
her. They were just out of it. They didn’t mean any harm.”

The girl stepped beside the boyfriend and
took his arm. “He pulled them away. He’s a really good guy. Those
two are royal jerks.”

The other two girls objected. Dio ignored
them and headed off the direction they pointed him.

The girl told her group to scatter and head
the same way.

“Hey
look
.” One of the guys, several
minutes after they started, called over to him.

Dio ran over. A footprint with what looked
like sticks being dragged on either side. Lina. Her crutches. The
sand was damp enough from evening and morning dew to hold her
tracks. Dio jogged along and followed them into higher grass, under
a palm tree.

She was there. He spit out a huge sigh of
relief, knelt behind her, touched her arm. She was cold.

With a start, she grabbed a crutch and swung
it up at him.

He caught it just before it bashed him in
the face. “Lina. It’s me.”

With wide eyes, she took him in, then
dropped the crutch and reached up to him.

He picked her up to cuddle her against his
body. Her arms slid around his neck. He kissed her head, and her
face, her mouth. Her arms slid back down again as though she had
trouble keeping them up. She shivered. Her stomach growled.

“Come on. Let’s get you home.”

“Dio...”

“We’ll talk later.”

“No. Your mom...”

“My mother is a crazy woman. I should have
warned you better. I shouldn’t have left you alone with her. I’m
sorry. Don’t listen to her...”

“But she’s right.” A tear trickled from one
eye.

“Lina...”

“Dio, she’s right. I ... I have done
things...”

“I don’t care.” He adjusted her so he could
use one hand to wipe the moisture away, to caress her face.
“Caroline, I don’t care any more than you cared about my scar. I
don’t care. I love you. And you’re coming home with me. If I have
to keep you by my side twenty-four hours a day to be sure you don’t
run again, I’ll do that. But I’m keeping you. I told you I was. I
told you I could outrun you. So don’t try again.”

More tears fell. He wiped them away and
glanced out over the water. “Look.”

She turned her gaze to the sunrise. A bright
yellow beautiful sunrise over the Atlantic with the pier standing
at attention over the sand and ocean.

“I think I should marry you on the pier at
sunrise. And I think I won’t let you argue.”

“Oh Dio. There’s so much...”

“You can tell me when you’re home, warm, and
fed, and I’ll tell you the rest. But it won’t matter, Caroline. I’m
keeping you.”

She melted into his arms, his body, his
warmth. She heard him ask if one of them had a phone he could
borrow and heard him talk to Harry, tell him he found her and
they’d be there soon for her things. She felt him move as he handed
it back, thanked whoever it was, and cuddled her in closer.

“Let’s go, baby.”

She shook her head. “I can’t. My hands...”
She turned them palm up. Blisters were scattered here and there.
Some had popped and were red and oozing.

Dio wrapped her arm over his shoulder and
lifted her. “Looks like you go nowhere without me for a while, my
little captive.” He asked someone to carry her crutches for him, to
his car.

Lina didn’t even look to see who they were.
She didn’t care. She shivered and scrunched closer to him. He
kissed her head as he walked. He didn’t have his mask on. It
suddenly dawned on her he was with others, talking to them, without
his mask. “Dio.” She raised a hand to his face. “You’re...”

“Not in hiding. No, and it’s okay.”

“Is it? Is it safe out there?”

He grinned. “No, but what’s the fun of
playing it safe?” He lowered his mouth close to her ear. “Come on
out of the shadows, Lina. Me and my sword will be here to protect
you.”

She ran her fingers along his scar and over
his eyebrows, and his lips. “Then me and my attitude will do the
same for you. Yes?”

“Absolutely.”

When they got to his car, Lina finally saw
who it was that carried her crutches. The idiot boys from last
night.

“I know who they are. And they’re very
sorry. Aren’t you?” Dio nearly growled at them and set her down
through their apologies long enough to get his keys out and open
her door. With a light caress of her hair, he helped her in and
closed her door.

Beside her, he started the car and turned
the heat on, then leaned over to pull her to him. He gave her a
long, deep, intense kiss and ran a hand over her head, pausing
alongside her face. “You scared the holy hell out of me. Don’t do
that again.”

“Dio, my foot ... it was revenge.
Purposeful. And I deserved it. Almost. Not to this extent, but I...
Your mom’s right, Dio. She is.”

“Hey.” He rubbed her lips with his thumb.
“You’re not warm and fed yet. This can wait.”

“But I should tell you now so you can make
this easier and just tell me to get out here and be done with
it.”

“Baby, that’s not going to happen.” He gave
her another kiss, a hard urgent wanting kiss. “Buckle your
seatbelt, Lina. This is bound to be a wild ride, but it’s going to
be a nice long exciting one.”

She drew back at the possessiveness, at the
intensity in his eyes, and debated whether to get out, whether she
could get to her crutches in the back seat and...

“I won’t hurt you.” Dio studied her, his
voice suddenly as soft as his eyes. “Caroline.” He offered his
hand, waiting. “If you ever want to leave because of me, because
you don’t want me, I’ll let you go. I won’t make it hard on you and
I won’t ever hurt you. I only mean that I won’t let you go because
of your past ghosts or because of my past ghosts. I know we’ll have
stormy times as we get to know each other, as we adapt to each
other. But I don’t back away from adversity. I confront it head on,
like you do, like I’ve seen you do.”

She sighed heavy. “I’m so tired. Deep down
soul tired.”

“I know, baby. So let me carry you a while
until you’re not. I get tired often, Caroline. I get to where you
are often. Give me your hand and we’ll pull each other up. I won’t
ever hurt you.”

She slipped her fingers carefully into his
large hand. He carefully avoided her blisters as he raised it to
kiss her fingers one by one.

“Ready?” His beautiful big eyes asked her to
know he meant more than just the ride to Harry’s.

She nodded. And she let her head relax
against his shoulder as he drove. With her body warming, her palms
ached more and her foot throbbed. Her arms and underarms and legs
hurt. But it was okay.

He had to stir her back to fully awake when
they got there and Harry and Nelda dashed out to the car as Dio
picked her up and kissed her head. Lina couldn’t answer the
questions, so he did.

Nelda fretted over her hands and threw a
warm blanket over her and brought her a heaped up plate of pancakes
and eggs and asked if she would be able to eat with her hands like
that. Lina assured her she could. And she did. Until she was
stuffed.