Page 84 of Her Hidden Smile

“You’re the clumsiest bitch I’ve ever met. Don’t think because you’re clumsy, that I’m not going to tie you up.”

I looked over at the couch and saw the twine set out. It was the same twine I used in my garden; it was heavy-duty and it hurt.

He shoved me face first into the sofa, and the phone fell out of my pocket and clattered to the floor. I looked over my shoulder and I saw his face turn red with rage. I lunged for the phone. He took his gun and crashed it across my face. I was on the floor staring up at him, my face on fire when I saw his fist coming toward me. I turned my head and he hit my ear.

“You fucking bitch. You no-good fucking bitch. I trusted you!” He grabbed my hair and yanked me off the floor. I tried to look for the gun, but I couldn’t see anything but his face swimming in front of mine.

“Are you listening to me?”

Again, he hit me, this time in my gut. Meatball coated my tongue. He hit me again and I felt bile dripping down my chin.

“Don’t you ever try to fuck with me again. You got it?”

He swung me around by my hair and tossed me on the couch. He made quick work of tying my hands and feet. I wanted to ask him if that was the best he had. I wanted to ask him if he felt like a big man for beating up a woman who was half his size, but I held my tongue. I needed to save Lisa…and Bella.

“I’m sleeping on the couch, bitch. Not you.”

He yanked me with my tied wrists and swung me to the floor. Once again, I hit my left side and agony blazed up my side. It was nothing compared to the night of the fire. He was nothing. He was no one. He thought he could deliver pain?

Bring it on!

He kicked me in my hip.

Everything went dark.

“He’s going to forget the rings. You know he will. You should have picked me,” Malik teased.

“Nah, the real problem is he’ll get drunk and spill all your secrets during the best man toast. Bonnie will be asking for a divorce an hour after the wedding,” Bruno grinned.

“I think the real reason Jase chose Renzo is he needed someone shorter than him so he’d look good in the pictures,” Kato laughed.

I looked around the table at my brothers and shook my head. Damn, it was good to be with all of them again. I don’t think all ten of us had been together since we’d become adults. Ronnie had been at the police academy for Mom and Dad’s thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and Bruno had been doing something for Homeland Security for Sandy’s wedding.

“I’m still amazed that Jase sweet-talked someone into marrying him,” Gustavo said. “She should have talked to our sisters first.”

“Nah, I have enough to hold over their heads, they won’t say a bad word about me.” Jase puffed out his chest.

“What about you, Renzo? You’ve been awfully quiet. Angelica told me that you’ve been stateside for the last ten months. What’s up with that?” Malik asked.

“It’s a woman,” Jase answered.

“I figured that,” Malik rolled his eyes. “Only a woman was going to stop this rolling stone. Tell us about her.”

“She’s strong. She’s one of the bravest women I know. Life has knocked her down, but she’s come out fighting. She doesn’t see it, but I do. And man, you should see her kick some corporate ass. If you need someone to raise money for your friends at Doctors Without Borders, Gustavo, she’s your woman.”

“Really?” I watched as my little brother, the doctor, sat up and took notice.

“She works for the National Burn Alliance, and she shamed this one company into giving her millions. It was a beautiful sight to behold.”

“Are we meeting her at Jase and Bonnie’s wedding?” Ronnie asked me.

I grimaced. “I don’t think so. She owns a farm. She doesn’t leave it. She’s working on it. I figure given another year or two she’ll be traveling all over the place, but right now she only feels comfortable in her space.”

Gustavo frowned. “Agoraphobia?”

I nodded. “Like I said, life’s knocked her down. She was badly burned in a fire when she was fourteen. Her parents were killed in that fire. Before that she didn’t have any anxiety issues, but now she does.”

I looked around the long table where we were all sitting. On every single face I saw similar expressions of compassion. Mom and Dad had done one hell of a job raising their kids.