Wildflower (Chapter 35)

Chapter 35

 

            Something was stressing Nicolas out and he wouldn’t say what and Wildflower didn’t like secrets. They both kept secrets and she knew it but whatever it was he was hiding was bothering him. And it was making him act weird. At first she thought it had something to do with his father’s forced retirement. He admitted that him and his brothers forced the old man out. At first he didn’t want to tell her the truth about that but she actually didn’t care, she was tired of his parents. But that was a little over a week ago and he was still acting oddly. And tomorrow they were going to New York, her and the girls were going to Carmen’s fashion show during fashion week. The boys were staying home to go to school because they did not care at all about going to fashion shows, which was understandable but of course Brooke was going. Nicolas and Jose had some business to do in town so they would be gone all week.

            While she was finishing packing Nicolas was out on the balcony on the phone. He was tense and stressed and very distracted. Since he was never really distracted from her she wasn’t sure if she should worry or not. When she asked about it he just said he was working on some business deal but for some reason she was thinking that he wasn’t being honest. When he came back in he looked stressed and tired, or at least more so than he had before. It was then she decided that she wasn’t going to let him dance around the subject anymore. Usually when she wanted something from him she got it. So when he laid across the bed she got on top of him and started massaging against his chest a little.

            “You want something?” He asked with his eyes closed.

            “Answers,” she replied.

            “About what?”

            “Why you are so stressed out,” she said and that got one eye open.

            “Just work.”

            “You are lying, I’m not that stupid.” That got both eyes open.

            “Alright,” he took a deep breath. “It looks like someone set D up for murder.”

            “How do you know he didn’t do it?”

            “I don’t, but he was drugged and lost two days of his life and woke up covered in blood and with blood all over the house. The woman he was seeing appeared dead and the last thing he remembered was that she made him dinner,” he told her.

            “Why do you say she appeared dead?” She asked surprised he actually shared this with her and unsure if that was a good thing or not.

            “Because I think she was dead, there are drugs out there that can help you mimic death without being dead.”

            “Like in Romeo and Juliet?”

            “I hadn’t thought of that but yes and the reason she would do this is because he did something a long time ago to her sister. And the sister vowed to get revenge on him and the rest of this family. Somehow he didn’t recognize her as one of the sisters, which I guess was their plan and they set him up really well. Anyway, when he woke up he cleaned everything including her and tucked her in bed,” he paused. “You see why I don’t tell you everything?”

            “Yes,” she nodded. “So what are you going to do?”

            “Make sure they don’t come after you,” he said surprising her. “I shouldn’t tell you this but he killed their sister and I helped him bury her.”

            “What?” She asked completely shocked.

            “I was 15 and my father told me I had to help my brother so I did as I was told,” he said. There was this haunted look in his eyes like he regretted what happened and maybe it traumatized him.

            “Nick,” she whispered.

            “Before that I wasn’t that bad of a person, but after that it seemed like more and more there was something to cover up or lie about and I was good at lying,” he said. “And it didn’t matter before that I did all these things because I had nothing to lose. Now I have you and I’m not going to lose you.”

            “Why would you lose me? I love you, I’m not going anywhere,” she told him.

            “If D gets caught for one crime all the others will come out, that’s why I keep helping him. We will go down with him just like they want,” he said.

            For a moment she thought about what he was saying and how wrong all of this was. His brother was a criminal and he helped him cover up crimes for the last almost 14 years, and that was a long time. Obviously this was wearing on him and it was clear he didn’t like to do these things. So what should she do? Morally staying with him seemed a little wrong but she wasn’t always the most moral person. She was going to marry a man that was involved in unspeakable evil acts. What on earth was she thinking? No wonder everybody in this family was afraid of him, it made so much sense now.

            “Now you’re having second thoughts,” he said looking up at her.

            “Just thoughts,” she replied. She got down from on top of him and laid beside him with her head on his chest while he held her.

            “It’s not too late to change your mind, you can keep the house,” he whispered.

            “If we aren’t married I have no claim,” she said.

            “But you have the kids,” he said. “And I couldn’t stay here without you.”

            “I’m not leaving you,” she told him. “Just do whatever it is you do and make it go away and we will move on. As long as you promise me you aren’t going to get involved in his messes again.”

            “I swear I won’t,” he said without hesitation.

            “Then we are good,” she said. But that was only half true, she had something to do before their flight now.

 

            She lied and told Nicolas she had to see Christina before they left, she really hated lying. But if she wanted a life she had to do this. At the beginning of the summer Nicolas told her that she would have to fight to keep them together so she doing just that. He wanted to start a family that was his idea and she couldn’t exactly think of having a child if that child’s father could possibly end up in jail. That was unacceptable so she stole a key from in the office and drove over to Delanoz’s house. Why a man that was never home owned a house she did not know, but that wasn’t the point.

            Instead of knocking she let herself in and saw a light coming from down the hall so she went to it. She didn’t expect to find him alone in the kitchen sitting a table. The man she met months ago was no longer present, he looked more worn out than Nicolas did. When he looked up and saw her standing there he gestured for her to sit. Wordlessly she did and noticed he had a half empty bottle of whiskey in front of him.

            “Drink?” He asked holding out the bottle.

            “No thanks,” Wildflower replied.

            “You know I never thought I would fall in love, I sort of always saw women as objects and I liked sex. It mostly was that they would fall for me and do whatever I wanted to make me stay and I never did. I’ve been married way too many times and I was always the problem I thought it was them. Nope it was always me, I get bored easily and it’s sad but I’m especially bored once they get pregnant,” he paused and drank from his bottle. “Once I was so mad to find out one them was pregnant that I pushed her down a flight of stairs. She died, broke her neck when she fell, but of course it looked like an accident so no investigation.”

            “Why are you telling me this?”

            “It’s why you are here, to tell me to leave Nicky out of my business. There was a look in his eye when he told me he’d rather see me dead then for him and Jose to go down with me. The boy makes threats all the time but he would never actually kill his own siblings, cousins maybe but we’re safe. Or they are safe; I’m not safe anymore this time he meant it. Why else would he be serious this time? You, everything has changed since you came into his life. At first your relationship amused me and then it shocked me and now here we are,” he said looking into her eyes.

            “What was different about her?” She asked and obviously he didn’t expect that.

            “I keep trying to figure that out and I would rather go to jail then for her to be dead. What chance did I have anyway? Did he tell you what I did to her sister?”

            “No, he spared me the details,” she said.

            “Uh I think that was the day I lost my soul, I um was driving and I was drunk and she was with me and I went off the road. Hannah was her name, she died in the crash and when my father found out I had been drinking and doing drugs he said I couldn’t tell the truth about it. Back then I was 22, I got kicked out of college I barely worked and mostly just traveled spending money and partying. Somehow I didn’t get too hurt and before I knew it he had my brothers there, Nicky was 15 and Jose was 17. He made them bury her and I didn’t do anything to stop it. Her family has never got to bury her or have closure she’s just gone. Nicky was a wreck after that but he’s always been obedient and did as he was told. Years in therapy has him forgetting anything beyond the fact that he helped bury her, if he did then he would have told. Only Emilio knows where she is, Jose drank his memory of that away when he got home. Almost drowned when he fell in the pool,” he told her.

            “Why would he cover it up? If it was an accident then why hide her?”

            “Because I would have gone to jail, at that time he didn’t have to power to falsify lab tests. My grandfather did but he refused, told him that I deserved it. When he found out that he dragged my brothers into it he was pissed. Nicky wouldn’t leave his room for weeks and Jose ended up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. It set in motion this whole thing, he said he would never turn the company over to Emilio after that and had his will rewritten to reflect his mood. Then he died a year and a half later and they never reconciled, the only person he hated a little less was me. I guess I did Nicky a favor,” he laughed humorlessly.

            “Don’t you care about any of it?”

            “I don’t know anymore, when I was 14 I think, I pursued a nanny who didn’t want to get in trouble she was here on a work visa. She was the first to tell me no and I didn’t listen to her. Poor thing was sent back to where ever the hell she came from. After that Grandmother decided that she would look after my siblings because she didn’t trust me enough to bring another nanny in. But it was too late really I sometimes don’t mind the struggle or that they say no,” he said with an evil smile on his face. “They sent me to therapists and psychiatrists and put me on medication but nothing worked, I liked it.”

            This was not what she expected when she decided to come over here. Delanoz was a mess and he was drunk and he looked like he regretted some of this. At least the last thing he really seemed to regret. Listening to these horror stories made it more real and she wasn’t sure this was a good idea. Before she thought coming here and talking to him was a good idea but right now he wasn’t some big killer or rapist, he was just a pathetic lonely man. Part of her, a very small part, felt bad for him. But the fact was that he wasn’t going to stay like this and he was more than likely going to hurt or kill somebody again. As much as she wanted to find a way to prevent that all she could do was keep Nicolas out of it.

            “You are a very sick man,” she told him and he laughed.

            “I know that,” he agreed. “Know why Angel hates me so much? This one time she made me so mad that I choked her. I wanted to kill her, but she was pregnant at the time. And I couldn’t let anything happen to my kids, they are all I have, my legacy. They don’t have to love me or understand me but they will always belong to me.”

            “Look I don’t care what you do, I think you should be punished for the things you have done. But what I want is for you to keep Nick out of your crimes, clean up your own messes. Or hey how bout you stop raping and killing and hurting people,” she said. For a moment he just stared at her.

            “For awhile I considered trying to steal you away from Nicky, I thought it would be a fun challenge. Of course he would have killed me, guess I have a death wish. Though you are the only woman in the world who I haven’t done anything to directly that hates me. Would you like to go upstairs and find a reason?”

            “How bout hell no,” she replied.

            “I could make you want me,” he said looking at her with his dead eyes.

            “And I could stab you and put you out of your misery,” she said and he laughed.

            “It would be worth it if you could just kill me or lie to Nicky and tell him I hurt you so that he will kill me.”

            “Kill yourself if you want to die sooo badly.”

            “What the hell are you doing here?” Jose asked when he appeared in the doorway.

            “We are just having a friendly conversation,” Delanoz answered. But Jose looked pissed and he came over and grabbed her arm.

            “You need to leave right now,” he said pulling her back down the hall. “Why you thought it was ok to ever be alone with him I couldn’t guess, but it was stupid.”

            “I doubt he could do anything in the state he’s in,” she replied.

            “You don’t know that and I’m sorry to be this way but it’s not safe for you to be near him. Nick loves you and he deserves to be happy for once so just stay away from Delanoz, ok?” Jose looked scared for some reason and that surprised her.

            “Alright,” she nodded. “I’m going home.” She walked out the front door with a wave and went back to her car.

            On the drive home she debated telling Nicolas she went to see his brother. Neither Jose nor Delanoz would most likely say anything, but it wasn’t their fault. The fact that she still wanted to be with Nicolas after all this said a lot about their relationship. But she didn’t blame him for things he was forced to do, hadn’t she do whatever was necessary for her family? As long as it wasn’t him that was doing these things and as long as he quit helping Delanoz there was no problem. So she decided to tell him, secrets were like poison and they didn’t need that in their relationship. Wildflower just hoped that they wouldn’t have to pay for Delanoz’s sins. She felt like they probably would somewhere down the line.

 

            Nicolas was surprised when he got a text from the people he had watching Delanoz’s house. A woman driving a gold escalade showed up there and it was no coincidence. This was his fault he shouldn’t have opened his big mouth. Now if something happened to Wildflower it would be his fault, he should have known better. Of course she saw a problem and she wanted to fix it that was who she was. She thought she was protecting him, which was cute. It was his job to take care of her and protect her. And though he was surprised by her reaction to his confession, he knew he should have kept his big mouth shut.

            When she got back home he was waiting for her, at least she was still in one piece. If she was hurt in any way he was going to go kill his brother, at least then he would get rest. She entered their bedroom and locked the door behind her. He was sitting on the bed with his laptop and she didn’t say anything just went into the closet. This worried him, why wasn’t she speaking to him? She came back out wearing shorts and a t-shirt and just silently got in bed beside him. Still silent she sat pulling her hair up into a ponytail, like he wasn’t there.

            “Why aren’t you talking to me?” He asked after awhile.

            “I was waiting to see if you asked me why I went to see your brother and don’t deny that you know where I was,” she said.

            “How do you know that I know that?”

            “Because your people outside his house are beyond obvious, besides I’m surprised you haven’t fixed the GPS in my car to tell you where I am every time I leave.”

            “That is actually a great idea,” he said thoughtfully and she hit him with a pillow.

            “Are you going to ask why I went to talk to Delanoz?”

            “No, I know why you went there. You’re pretty easy to read.”

            “And you aren’t mad at me?”

            “Oh I didn’t say that, I told you never to be alone with him. Do you know how stupid that was?” He asked, part of him was furious but the other part admired her.

            “Well he was pretty harmless and kind of pathetic just drinking. He told me some things and yeah your brother is beyond creepy but he must have really loved that girl,” she told him.

            “So he didn’t touch you or hurt you in anyway?”

            “No, just told me stories so maybe he damaged me mentally but otherwise I’m fine,” she paused. “He pushed a pregnant woman down the stairs?”

            “Yeah,” he nodded. “Why did he tell you that?”

            “Um he told me a lot of things, like how you and Jose were traumatized and stuff. Delanoz is a sick man and I can’t believe your father thinks the things he does is ok,” she shook her head.

            “Oh he doesn’t but he can’t have the world knowing his oldest son is a rapist and murderer. If D told you things then why the hell did you come back to me?” He asked, knowing the things he did if he was in her position he would have ran. It was too much to expect anybody to deal with.

            “I love you and its not like you did any of that, I don’t like that you were involved at all. But that was all before we met, right?”

            “Yeah,” he said. It actually took him a minute to think since Delanoz was always up to something.

            “Then I’m ok if you mind your business from now on,” she said.

            “Any other woman would have left me and I offered you the house and you know I would still take care of you even if you decided it was over.”

            “Nicolas, you’re stuck with me unless you are hinting that you don’t want to be together? Are you trying to scare me away?”

            “Hell no, but I just always assumed if you found out these things then you would leave me,” he admitted.

            “I love you,” she said simply and kissed him. “We have a deal and I will leave you if you go back on that.”

            “You amaze me sometimes,” he said and she smiled. “I swear I’m done helping D with his crap, but this thing with the sisters effects all of us. All I’m going to do is find them and figure out how to make them peacefully go away.”

            “Alright,” she said.

            “I love you so much,” he told her. “You are definitely the perfect woman.”

            “I am so not perfect,” she replied.

            “To me you are,” he said.

            “Is it irresponsible to let the girls have a week off from school just for fashion week?” She asked thoughtfully.

            “They do it every year, it’s not a big deal and they will make up the work,” he shrugged. He didn’t mind because he had to go to New York anyway and this gave him an excuse to take Wildflower with him. Leaving her here without him was no longer an option.

            “So next week is somebody’s birthday,” she said causally.

            “Yeah, just forget that it’s happening,” he said.

            “Why? You kidnapped me for my birthday so we have to do something for yours. We could do dinner or I could make you dinner and kick everybody out of the house for awhile, or we could have a party.”

            “No, I do not celebrate my birthday.”

            “I’m waiting for an explanation.”

            “My birthday just isn’t a day to celebrate anything and I usually spend it alone avoiding people,” he told her. He hated his birthday and if he could he would forget all about it.

            “I’m throwing you a party if you don’t give me a real explanation.”

            “I just don’t usually celebrate my birthday, it’s just another year a being alive nothing too exciting.”

            “That’s still not an explanation,” she said.

            “If it would make you happy the two of us can do something, I just haven’t celebrated my birthday in a long time. I’ve just never had a reason to celebrate,” he admitted. Maybe this year he did have something to be happy about, he did have her.

            “I want to make you happy so tell me what would make you happy.”

            “Not a party,” he said. “Whatever you want to do that ends with you naked is fine with me.”

            “I shouldn’t bother asking what you want for your birthday, huh?”

            “You naked, that’s all I need,” he told her. “And I would like you that way right now.” He closed down his laptop and set it on the nightstand and pulled her over to him. Talking about his birthday any further was not an option so he was going to use sex as a distraction, for both of them.

 

 

            “I’m going to miss you,” Tony whispered.

            “I know,” Allie replied. They were lying in bed together breaking the rules but at the moment neither of them cared. “I wish you would come.”

            “No, I can’t afford to take a week off,” he said.

            “But your hot girlfriend is going to be walking the runway, I love fashion week,” she said excitedly.

            “Yeah cause I don’t get enough of guys looking at you,” he said a little bitter. Part of him was happy that she was going away; Aaron had made it clear that he wanted her.

            “Antonio, I’m with you and only you,” she assured him.

            Normally he wasn’t so paranoid but he had reason to be. Just because his problem disappeared didn’t mean hers did too. His brother was still a problem even if she claimed he wasn’t, Ivan loved her. There was no way you could just forget that the object of almost a three month obsession, decided he wanted you the way you wanted him to. Then there was Aaron her first love who wasn’t making it a secret he wanted her back. What was it about this girl that had guys crazy? He wasn’t immune to her obviously but the problem was that no male was. More than once he heard her male cousins say they wish they weren’t related to her so they could have her. So what could you do when your girlfriend attracted every straight male that laid eyes on her?

            Now she was heading off to New York to model in Lexy’s fashion show, it was something she was excited for. But to him it was just another way for people to look at her. Everybody was always looking at her, it was becoming bothersome. Tony needed to focus and try to get a scholarship for college. Though even if he didn’t he knew Nicolas would paid for him to go like Dom and Christina. That was just a backup, he wanted to earn his way in and he was pretty sure he could, he just needed to focus. If he could focus he could plan for the future but he was stuck in the present with Allie. And it appeared no matter what name she went by she was always the center of attention.

            Lying in bed with her thinking of all this stuff was driving him a little crazy. What he wanted to do was have sex with her again before she left; he was sort of addicted to having sex with her. She was the one to come down the hall to his room in a little nightgown; he was trying to restrain himself. Then there was the fact that the doors had no locks because they were having sex. Though he figured his sister was otherwise occupied and wasn’t going to be checking up on them, these days she was always occupied. They all knew what the happy couple was up to most hours of the day, but she deserved to be happy. Allie liked to say soon they would have a baby in the house but he wasn’t sure he knew the proper way to feel about that.

            “So why did you come in here?” Tony asked and Allie looked up at him. There was a look in her eye, he knew that look and he wanted her to have it.

            “What happened to our plan to have sex for a week and then not have sex for awhile?” She asked.

            “Well we got caught on camera in the garage, your brother walked in on us and we skipped school so we have no locks. I’d prefer not to get caught by my sister.”

            “Oh right that stuff, well where are we on our list of things we haven’t done because we did a lot at that party and in shower at school,” she said thoughtfully.

            “I’m surprised we didn’t get caught,” he shook his head.

            “We can have sex tonight and then once when I get back and then we are done, agreed?” She asked while sliding down his body.

            “Yeah,” he replied and she smiled. Down she went and he wondered if he could keep that promise.

 

 

            “No,” Wildflower said simply and Carmen glared at her.

            “I need you,” Carmen pouted.

            “But I am not a model, I will probably fall on my face,” she replied.

            “No, I’ll have a few of the models take you on a quick trial run.”

            “Carmen, you could hire another model.”

            “Hello, all the models are kind of taken at the moment and you are so perfect for this, isn’t she, Portia?”

            “You would look beautiful in these dresses,” Portia the assistant nodded.

            “Just do it,” Brooke said.

            “Fine,” she gave in.

            “I love you,” Carmen threw her are around her. “You are saving my a*s.”

            “Yeah yeah,” she sighed.

            When Carmen informed her that she was bringing the girls out for fashion week that was fine. Allie was going to model in Lexy’s runway show. But now that they were here and had been to a few shows and were helping Carmen prepare for her show, things changed. One of Carmen’s models got sick or something and she decided to ask Wildflower, who did not want to do it. Brooke would have done it but she was helping in some other way. Wildflower did not like the idea of walking down a runway in front of a lot of people and even more camera. Fashion was never her thing until of course she bought new clothes after the fire.

            The models were nice enough to show her how to walk so she didn’t look too ridiculous and they actually said she was good at it. Then there was hair and make-up and getting dressed and undressed in front of a bunch of strangers. After the show she decided she was going to steal this dress she was wearing from Carmen, along with whatever else she wanted. The first dress she was wearing was a tea length turquoise dress with a crystal flower pattern on it, she liked it. Being sprayed with glitter, she did not like. Somehow she made it down the runway without falling and it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be and at the end of the runway there were all the flashing cameras. She had her moment and turned to go back and thankfully didn’t fall that time either. But she still had to make it through a dress change and going back out.

 

            Allie had been waiting for this all year, she loved fashion week. And she really loved that her aunt and cousin were designers. But this year what she especially loved was that Lexy was being featured in an issue of Teen Vogue and she wanted her to model for her. Doing the runway was one thing but actually being in a magazine was a whole other thing. Allie, Sammie, Jordan and Uncle Nick sat front row for the LAO show and she was surprised to see Wildflower in it. Now the reason Aunt Carmen wouldn’t let them backstage made sense. She was a natural and she fit right in with the other models.

It was turning out to be a very interesting week, only three days into it.

Lexy’s show was a few hours after her mother’s. Just like her mother Lexy ordered everybody around and they of course listened. Only 14 and most of the people around her were way older than her. Allie was in love with the white lace dress she was wearing and begged Lexy to let her have it after the show. Tomorrow they were going to be doing the shoot for the magazine. Walking the runway was like a dream and all the camera flashes were what Allie loved, she was definitely an attention w***e.

After the show she sat at the end of the runway with Lexy. Pretty much everybody was gone of to the next show. It was the second year that Lexy got to have her own show for her line of clothes. Allie wished she knew what she wanted to do with her life; she was 17 and had no clue. Whereas Lexy who was three years younger basically had a career already. Part of her wished she could be a model, but she wasn’t exactly all that tall and she couldn’t exactly do model work back home.

“So Miss Lexy, what’s next for you?” Allie asked.

“Teen Vogue, then homework, you’d think the school would care more that I’m working, but no. I still have a ton of homework to do,” Lexy sighed. “Mom asked me if I wanted to do home school or Cyber School and I declined. I’d rather have to work twice as hard and have a social life.”

“Bet the girls at your fancy prep school are jealous of you.”

“Haters, but you are going to model with me tomorrow so I bet you’ll have lots of haters. Mom has her Vogue wedding spread the day after tomorrow I think; we’re having a productive year.”

“Yeah you are,” Allie nodded. “I can’t wait to rub this in the faces of all the many girls that hate me at school.”

“So how is your Tony thing?”

“Good,” she sighed. It was but things at school had gotten very weird.

“Hey,” someone called and they turned to see Sammie.

“You could have modeled for me,” Lexy said.

“How bout hell no? I don’t model and I would have died walking a runway,” Sammie said. “Anyway, they are ready to go.”

They got up to go to dinner with the rest of the family. No doubt the adults would be out partying tonight; there was always something to do in this city. Maybe one day she would move up here, it was an exciting place. Home was boring and the same as it always had been. Thinking about running away to New York City was preferable to thinking about the mess that her life had become.

 Being a good girl and having a simply life was apparently impossible. Everyday at school for the week after the first football game Aaron had been talking to her. The first time was when he sat next to her in the one class they had together, AP French, and he whispered to her in French. Some of the things he said made her blush, things from the past. Everyday he sat next to her now and said things to her that did not need to be said. Part of her liked the attention and missed him; the other parts of her had to remember that he hurt her and that she was with Tony. When she was physically near Tony everything was fine, but when she wasn’t it was hard. Hard to forget the way Aaron looked at her and how much her heart had wanted him before. And she knew that he knew it too and that made it worse, she was hurting him.

Why couldn’t she just have a normal year? Or at least a normal month, she never got a break. Maybe she needed to be off boys for awhile, that was easier said than done. Breaking up with Tony just wasn’t an option, she loved being with him. And if she broke up with him Aaron would think it was for him and so would Tony. This was why she shouldn’t have been dating someone she lived with. For the next few days at least she was away from everything and everyone. Halfway through dinner, she got a text from Aaron in French of course; it said how he was thinking of her. Right now she wouldn’t mind losing her phone somewhere.

 

 

Nicolas liked his new penthouse in the city, he liked it here but it wasn’t home. Technically this place was for work and that was why the company paid for it, his company. It was nice to finally take over, like he was meant to. Having more power was interesting, before he was the dutiful son, now he was the boss. Most of the week he was forced to pretend that he cared about these stupid fashion shows but he always supported his sister. And he was surprised to look up and see Wildflower in Carmen’s show. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, he was a very possessive man. She was happy at least and running around with Carmen.

Right now he was focused getting rid of his current problem, the Mandrake sisters. Tina, Heather, Vivian, Sadie and Caroline, were the remaining sisters. Of course Caroline who was the youngest was the one that was supposedly killed by Delanoz. As far as Nicolas could find nobody was looking into her alleged murder, which meant they were forming another plan. And the other person he was looking for was Owen but wisely he was staying hidden, once he was found he was dead. That wasn’t breaking his promise to Wildflower because she said he couldn’t help Delanoz with his crimes. This was him protecting her and she knew he wanted kill him. Maybe she didn’t know how literal he was about it, but it would get done.

As far as the Mandrakes went he was sure Delanoz had slept with most of them and he suspected that Vivian had his baby. He wasn’t going to be the child support police, that was an irrelevant fact, but it was a fact. Delanoz was an idiot and he had no idea about that, there were some telltale signs of it and the dates made sense. Vivian got pregnant around the time Hannah went missing. She was the first of the sisters he set his sights on, Delanoz planned to sleep with all of them. At the time Sadie and Caroline were still very young. From what Nicolas could piece together from the past, Vivian was the first, then Hannah and later Tina. And he was pretty sure the thing with Tina was most likely forced. Because it was after he did whatever with Tina that the sisters became suspicious about what happened to Hannah. Nobody could prove that Hannah went out that night with Delanoz, so her family thought she was kidnapped by a stranger.

Because Delanoz was a fool he probably said something to Tina to make her suspicious. That was when the police came knocking and investigating, but they found nothing. Vivian had been 17 at the time and she went to school with Nicolas and Jose and one of Jose’s girlfriends said she dropped out because she was pregnant. She apparently was sent to live with a relative, or so Jose’s gossipy girlfriend had said. The family kept pushing for a deeper investigation into what happened to Hannah. Tina wouldn’t let it go and Delanoz and his temper ended up arrested for assaulting her. But that was hushed up and he didn’t get in real trouble for it. There might have been anger management classes and community service but that was it.

Nicolas understood their continued search for their daughter and he spent a lot of time feeling guilty about it, especially when Sadie kept begging him to help her. Once they had sort of been friends, but he couldn’t face her after what he did. So he ignored her and pretended to be mad that they accused his brother of hurting her sister. If he actually knew where her body was he would have told, but he had no idea not even all these years later. They hired their own investigators and there had been someone that knew Hannah was with Delanoz that night. Mysteriously that person disappeared and that was Emilio’s handy work. Three years after Hannah’s disappearance the Mandrake family moved and it was assumed that they just got over it.

Five years ago the sisters attempted to burn down Delanoz’s house. After that it there were a lot of things they did to make his life hell. Like telling his girlfriends he was a rapist and murderer and they put up fliers all over his neighborhood. It was mostly harmless until the arson and they cut wires on his car and did all types of things. And then they decided to go after Nicolas and Jose because they were “obviously hiding something and helping their criminal brother”. Jose already had issues with his girlfriends damaging his property and acting out violently towards him. Though he would never admit that it happened again they actually drugged and kidnapped Jose. It took two weeks from him to get away and he didn’t really want to talk about what happened.

Sadie had a personal vendetta against Nicolas because of their so-called friendship. For awhile they basically stalked him so that they could get information through him. But he was of course smarter than his brothers and didn’t fall for their games. There was one thing that happened but he didn’t talk about it. Some things were better forgotten. It had been almost a year since they had any trouble with the Mandrakes. Now here they were again, when he really didn’t need them around.

All they wanted was their sister and that was the one thing he couldn’t give them. Money he could give but not their sister. He just didn’t know where she was buried and his father made it clear a long time ago that he was never going to tell. Pretty much Nicolas has blocked most of that night out. All he remembered was throwing up after and his grandmother sitting in the bathroom with him. And he remembered crying and nightmares and those were all things he wished he could forget. He remembered when he heard a splash in the pool the following night and Jose being rushed to the hospital. Those were the things he remembered and everybody fighting. Somewhere along the way he was weak and scared anymore and everything changed. The one thing he didn’t remember was Delanoz, it always bothered him that he had no idea what went on with him after the accident. Their father had him checked out by a doctor that was a friend and sent him eventually he sent him to rehab, not that it had any effect. Delanoz never seemed to care that he killed that poor girl and he really didn’t care that he escaped a murder charge. Then again he was expecting his brother who liked to rape women to care about something.

Caroline Mandrake or as her alias was Caroline Sanders, she just graduated college. She found Delanoz by applying for a job in their New York office when he was there doing work. Of course she was hired and he put on the charm and won her over somehow. They spent six weeks together; most of it wasn’t spent working. From what Delanoz mumbled in his permanent drunken state, he fell in love with her. And it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that she fell for him to. In fact he suspected she did and that was when the sisters moved in. One thing that he could say about his brothers was that they could charm women and make them fall in love with them. That was the problem and that was where this all began. Poor little Caroline was probably got caught up, her selfish sisters should not have put her in that position. But it was that very reason that Nicolas was able to find her. She had no idea what she was really into; she probably thought her sisters were crazy. And she was going to end up paying for all the things they did. Nicolas was not going to be the one to make her pay; she stumbled into trouble all on her own.

Earlier that day he got a text and she had just gotten off a plane. It was easy to track where she was going and Jose confirmed it. Little Caroline Mandrake the 20 year old starry eyed girl went to Delanoz. Now the trouble wouldn’t really be finding the Mandrakes, it would preparing for them to strike. But worse than that was leaving this poor stupid girl alone with Delanoz. Who had kicked Jose out of his house and would not let him back in once she arrived. It was bad enough already but Delanoz had been drunk for two weeks straight, that girl would be lucky to live to the end of the week. And if she did she was one lucky girl. Nicolas had at least foresaw something happing and he had his brother’s house wired with cameras and microphones. There people monitoring it and updating him periodically so that if his brother went crazy at least he could spare the life of this innocent girl, maybe then he could stop feeling guilty about Hannah.

 

 

“I’m going to kill you,” Carmen said.

“Not my fault,” Wildflower replied.

“I was anticipating a baby bump not for you to lose weight,” Carmen sighed.

“Honestly I don’t know how this happened,” she said.

“Sex twenty times a day,” Brooke said.

“Stop having sex,” Carmen grumbled.

Since she was here in the same city as her wedding dress Wildflower tried it on and to her surprise and Carmen’s it didn’t fit anymore. Before it fit perfectly and that was only a little over a month ago. Somehow in the time she lost a good bit of weight without knowing. Most likely it was stress, between the stalker thing, worrying about Nicolas and his brother issues, the kids and it being a month before her wedding, she lost weight. So Carmen was assaulting her with measuring tape and straight pins and complaining.

“I can’t take it in, if I do then you would have to stay this same size. Since I don’t trust that you will if you could not even know you lost weight in the last month, I’ll alter it before the wedding,” Carmen said. “You are going to make a beautiful bride.”

“I’m ready to get this over with,” she sighed. There was no real excitement left in her about this wedding she just needed it to happen.

“Aren’t you happy?” Carmen asked staring at her concerned.

“Yes I am, but I have a feeling that everything is not going to go the way it’s supposed to.”

“What’s been going on with you? I’ve been crazy busy and haven’t checked on you like I should,” Carmen said.

“Nothing just dealing with the kids and stuff,” she replied.

“What she isn’t saying is that she couldn’t leave the house for a week after Owen broke in and she couldn’t get out of bed until Nick forced her. Then when she finally was trying to be normal Owen drugged me and left me to die in the shower. And those kids are all driving her crazy with their having sex with each other and that’s why Nick took all the locks off their doors,” Brooke said. Leave it to Brooke to say all the things she didn’t care to mention.

“Really? I’m so sorry,” Carmen said and hugged her. “You know I could take the girls off your hands, they stay here for awhile and that would be one less thing to deal with. I’m sure Allie is most of your stress, I don’t know how you could deal with her in a house with your brothers.”

“No its ok, the kids I can deal with and I’m getting over the Owen thing,” she said. But she didn’t want to talk about the other things; instead she looked in the mirror at her wedding dress. Why did that make her feel a little lightheaded?

“Brooke, what else is going on?” Carmen asked still looking concerned.

“Does you family really keep secrets from each other?” Brooke asked and Carmen stared at her. “Your older brother is the problem.”

“What did he do?” Carmen asked looking between them.

“She is worried that he is going to drag Nicky pie into something criminal,” Brooke said.

Wildflower just stared at the mirror and did not look at either of them. They were in Carmen’s bedroom. Brooke was lounging on the white couch. There were a bunch of garment bags on the bed. Carmen was standing just behind her with measuring tape hanging around her neck and with a pin cushion in her hand. Talking about this with Carmen would be weird. How did you ask somebody about their murdering brother? It was different talking to Nicolas about it, which was bad enough. But she only ever talked about fun and stuff with Carmen, not about Delanoz.

“Oh God, what did he do now?” Carmen asked.

“As he puts it he fell in love,” Brooke said. “What were those sisters called?”

“No, you don’t mean the Mandrake sisters?” Carmen asked looking horrified.

“Yeah that was it, he fell in love with one of them,” Brooke informed.

“Damn,” Carmen started pacing. “I’m so out of the loop, the boys don’t tell us anything and just do things themselves. Stupid Delanoz, I always knew his behavior would catch up with him. He deserves it, you know I couldn’t have friends stay over growing up because he wanted to have sex with them and once he forced himself on one of my friends. Most of the girls at school were terrified to even be my friend; I had to change schools twice.”

“Ask Wildflower what happened the other day when she went over to his house to visit all by herself,” Brooke said. When she found out about that she yelled at her about it and kept reminding her that she could have been raped or killed. At least her big mouthed friend had the good sense not to tell Jay or any of the other brothers about Delanoz.

“Why would you do something so crazy? I’m never alone with him and he’s my brother, and the one time he told Lexy she looked pretty I damn near stabbed him. Did he do something to you?” Carmen asked.

Wildflower thought of an answer to why she went over there. The reasons were clear at the time, now not so much. Nothing was clear in her head anymore. She was sort of feeling dizzy. Carmen and Brooke were staring at her and they said something she couldn’t quite hear. Something was definitely wrong but when she opened her mouth to speak nothing came out. Then she felt like she was falling and everything went black.

 

The next time Wildflower opened her eyes she was laying down, she had a massive headache. What happened to her? She was still in her wedding dress, she looked around and found out she was in Carmen’s bed. A man she did not know came into the room and looked down at her. If she could actually sit up she would but she was a little tired, it came out of nowhere.

“Don’t freak out or anything I’m Carmen’s… well I guess I’m a friend,” the man said. “I’m Camden, I’m sure she’s never mentioned me but I am a doctor.” He said sounding a little bitter. So this was the guy Carmen told her wanted to marry her.

“She mentioned you,” Wildflower said. That got her a surprised look.

“Well that is shocking, anyway you fainted,” he said. He sat down on the bed beside her; he actually had a medical bag. “I hear you are stressed out and aren’t eating much and have recently lost weight?”

“Yes,” she sighed. He took her arm and pressed his fingers inside her wrist and looked at his watch.

“I’m thinking you are probably a little dehydrated and you need to eat and rest. But I could do a full check up if you want, I figured you might not want me to with your wedding dress on,” he said.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “I just need to get out of this dress and go back to my temporary home and sleep.”

“Good, you need to eat and drink too,” he told her.

“Yes Doctor,” she said and he smiled.

“So uh what did Carmen say about me?” He asked, it was pretty obvious that he was just as much in love with Carmen as Carmen told her he was. And even though Carmen broke up with him because she didn’t want to get married again, she still loved him. Maybe before she left Wildflower would do a little matchmaking.

Reviews

[Shaun OBrien]

Love it. That was really enjoyable to read. Give us more.

[deeps]

This is so amazing, I really like this, everything held together well and read well. Like the details you wove into this. Very well written.