Hidden Love

Nicolette's tale

Sebastian jerked his head toward the door. I frowned. This can’t be good.

We both ran upstairs, taking them two and three at a time. Nicolette is sitting up in bed screaming and looking around at where she is. She can’t seem to recognize where she’s at. Michael is holding her face trying to get her to calm down. I turned on the light. She has ripped some of her stitches. I walked in slowly with my hands held up, showing I meant her no harm.

“Adonis, I’ve gotten her settled a few times. I can’t get her to calm down now. What do we do? I don’t want to drug her as she was adamant about it, but I’m about to.” Michael and Sebastian are looking at me. I got closer to Nicolette and slowly took her face in my hands. I gently brought my lips closer to hers and kissed her. That seems to startle her out of whatever nightmare she’s in.

“Donny? What’s going on? What happened?” She clung to me crying. I ever so carefully wrapped her in my arms and lay back down with her.

She lays her head on my chest like she has done so many times before. Sebastian crawls behind her and acts as a shield. Michael came to the other side of me and held her other hand. I hum dormi piccino. She started to settle down once I started humming it. “So it’s going to take all three of us to keep her calm. I should have expected this,” I said with a sigh.

“So what info did you get?” Michael asked from my left.

“Well, dipshit was hired through email. They promised to pay off his entire student debt. He was part of the kidnapping. He helped her escape only after he did an image search and found out who she was. He then decided it was a good idea to get her out.” Sebastian replied.

“Well, did you get any retribution on him?” Michael asked, rubbing Nicolette’s arm.

“I punched him in the head one time. Then this came up. She’s more important than anything, so we came up as soon as we were told. What happened to her?” Sebastian asked.

“She moved around a few times and I got her to calm down. Then she just sat up and started to scream holy murder. I tried to calm her using everything that I knew. I put on her favorite music. I kept rubbing her back and telling her she was OK. I didn’t think to kiss her. Next time I will do that.” Michael stated glumly.

“I didn’t want her to rip any more stitches. It was the only thing I could think of to get her to stop.” I shrugged. “Let’s try to get some sleep.”

After a while, I heard Sebastian and Michael snoring. I smiled in Nic’s hair. She stirred a little. “Hush little one. Let me take on your demons.”

“Not right now, Big Brother. Not right now. I could use some help with the bathroom if that’s OK.” Nic asked in a small voice.

I carefully maneuvered her from under my brothers and put her in my bathroom. I kept the door open a little, so I could hear her. When she was done, I went and picked her up. “Do you want to go downstairs and eat your soup? Or do you want to tell me everything that happened? I can relay it to them.” I said, stroking her hair slowly.

“What day is it and what time is it? I feel like so much has been taken from me.” She began to cry and it broke my heart. I would never show her that though.

“Midnight little one and that means it’s Saturday.” I showed her my watch just to emphasize everything for her.

“Can we go downstairs and eat soup and I will tell you what happened?” Nicolette asked, “If you don’t want to, we can just stay up here.”

I shook my head, “Your wish is our command, my lady.” I said in a silly voice.

NICOLETTE POV

Seb and Mikey were sleeping. I figured Mikey had called them when I woke up screaming. I was half in a dream and half awake. I knew I was safe, but my brain refused to acknowledge it. Three days those bastards held me. I didn’t even know where. I know my brothers will scour the earth to find who took me and why. I haven’t done anything. I’m going to school to become a graphic artist. In the grand scheme of things, I’m a nobody.

Adonis asked if I wanted to go downstairs to eat my now cold soup and talk. He knew that was going to work. I agreed as it was just easier for him. I know he has emotions about this whole thing, but I don’t think I could face all three of them. So he carried me down the stairs with ease. I weigh 180. I know that he can bench that if he chooses to. I know this because he has bench pressed me just to prove a point to the other two. I lay my head on his shoulder as we go down the stairs. “I know you have the full medical report. Are you going to tell me? Or am I going to have to guess what all is going on?”

Adonis looks at me with a wry smile as he sits me down at the island. He makes sure I’m not going to fall so he can warm up my soup and grabs two water bottles. “It’s not pretty, and I’m not sure if you want to know little sis.”

I nodded slowly. Words. I had to remember to use my words. My whole body hurts to move. “OK, give me the rough tutorial.” I say as I begin to eat my soup.

“ 25 staples, head glue, over 100 stitches, and 4 cracked ribs and two doctors who want you in the hospital for treatment and observation.” He said softly.

“Adonis, please don't make me go there. I don’t want to stay there.” I said in a low voice, looking down at my lap. My eyes hurt from crying. I’m not sure if I have any more tears.

“Bella ragazza (beautiful girl). You will never go to a hospital for a long term or any term unless death is near. You are here. We have a lot of money…so with that being said, we can hire anyone for anything. An in-home nurse is being hired after she has been vetted. Now how did all this come about?” Adonis asked softly as he put my soup and a water bottle in front of me. He sits down next to me on the island.

“I let my guard down. I went to Amanda’s and rang the bell at her building. I was tired. It was getting cold. The front desk guy, Jerry, I think his name was. I’m not sure. He let me into the mini lobby. The little area between both sets of doors. It was starting to rain. I called and texted Amanda. No answer. I pushed her buzzer again. Still no answer. I left her a voicemail. I messaged her on sss. I went on insta. After ten minutes, I asked the door guy if I could go to 302 and knock on her door. He told me I wasn’t on the list of visitors. I asked if he would go knock on her door. He told me he couldn’t leave his post. Some lady with a fru fru dog in her arms came in, and he helped her with her groceries. He effectively left his damn post.” I said in frustration.

I grabbed the water bottle and drank. My throat was raw, but I wanted to get the story out. I needed to. Adonis looked at me patiently and was rubbing his thumb in circles on my upper thigh. “Take your time, Bella. There is no rush.”

“Im safe. I’m ok. I’m safe. I’m ok. I’m with my brother Adonis. I’m safe. I’m OK.” I say as I started to rock and quickly realized that isn’t a good idea.

Adonis takes my hand and carefully flips it so that he can rub my wrist with his thumb. “sorellina minore (little sister) you are always safe here. You know that we will die before anything happens to you. It was my fault that this happened. I should have sent Tony or Joseph with you to make sure that you got there OK. I was worried about those upcoming meetings. I figured you would be safe. You have been to Amanda’s lots of times, and it was during the day so I figured you would be OK. I didn’t want to seem like a stick in the mud. I figured you got caught up in having fun and just forgot to text me. So this…this is on me.” He said with a finality that didn’t allow for argument.

“Adonis, I'm too tired to argue with you. So when I was going back to my car I tried to call Amanda again. That was when a bag was thrown over my head, and I was stabbed with a needle in my thigh.” I showed him the distinctive mark of where the needle went. He rubbed the spot.

“When I woke up, I was in a room that had a small bed in it, the size of a twin. I was tied to all four corners of the bed. My outer clothes had been cut away. That’s where most of the scratches came from. I fought them as best I could, and they cut me as they cut my clothes off. I got stabbed in the other thigh and when I woke I was in what felt like a barn with my arms tied to the ceiling. The beam was fragile, so I climbed the rope a little and then pulled with all my weight. It eventually broke. I ran. They found me again. That was when they cut my feet. Jerk number one said I couldn’t run if my feet couldn’t be used. I clawed his face with my left hand. He choked me out, and then I woke up in the back of a dirty van. It smelled like onions and garbage.” I paused to eat some soup and drink some water.

“We were back in that same room. I was still in my underwear and bra. This time they tied me to the bed so that I was on my stomach. A guy in shiny red shoes with silver tips came in. He never said a word. He punched me in the face and shook his finger in my face. He had a whip and used it twice on my back. He came and smashed my head into the headboard. He cut the ropes and pulled me to the floor. He kicked me, I don’t know how many times. I blacked out after that.” I paused, looking at Adonis. He had a poker face on and the only way I could tell he was upset was by the tick in his jaw.

“I’m sorry, Grande Fratello (big brother). I’m so sorry I let you down. I bit my lower lip trying not to cry again.