“Just now. I came as soon as Dad called me.”
“Are you okay to leave your business?” Orlando ran an expensive resort on Vancouver Island. He seldom left it in the hands of his manager. He was the life-blood of the business. There was an exceptionally large amount of women that visited the resort every year but Olly remained single. He was handsome and charming, with his dark Italian looks. Women fell all over him wherever he went, and Orlando wasn’t one to argue with fate.
“The business is fine. My little sister is much more important,” Orlando stated. “Enrico and Carmine are coming home, too.”
“Really? Why?”
Orlando shook his head as if to say his little sister wasn’t too bright. “Because you need us, that’s why.”
Aja took a step back and put her hands on her hips. “Olly, I’m 25 years old.” Aja paused to clear her raspy throat. “I think I’m big enough to take care of my problems now.”
He raised one eyebrow.
“Okay, old enough. But, seriously, why do you still think you have to come running to my defense? I can take care of myself, you know.”
“Yah, I heard what you did to ol’ Stevie-boy.” Orlando crossed his hands over his crotch and made a tortured face. “I better start watching what I say around you, Aja.”
Tears came to her eyes. “Enough. Why does everyone think it’s so funny? It was a horrible experience and I feel guilty for what I did to him and no one will let me forget it!”
Orlando immediately turned contrite. “Sorry, sis. I didn’t think of it that way.” He put his arm around Aja and led her to the chairs where Mia was sitting. “Hey Mia-me. Aren’t you getting married?”
“Yes, the wedding is in six months.”
Orlando leaned back on the couch beside her, “Well, want to have one last fling with me?”
Mia pretended annoyance and smacked him, but Aja knew she’d probably love to.
Chapter 4
Aja entered the dining room. The entire family was already seated. Everyone looked at Aja, embarrassed looks on their faces. She felt as if she'd interrupted them, as if their conversation had halted as soon as she appeared. She took a seat and smiled at her two older brothers, who had arrived earlier that day.
"Hey Princess." Her father leaned over and kissed her cheek. He leaned back and with a proud smile looked over his family gathered around the table. "It's wonderful to have all of you home together again, despite the circumstances.”
Her mother gave him a tender glance and then said, "Betty, you can serve now, everyone's here."
Aja smiled at Carmine, "How’s Anna and Katie? She must be growing up so much."
"Anna's doing well and yes, Katie is growing like a weed.” Carmine's face beamed when he spoke of his wife and daughter.
"When are you going to bring them for a visit?" Aja asked.
"I will soon, I promise. I just didn't want them upset by what happened to you." Carmine said it softly, but there was a note of anger in his voice. He was a gentle soul - but in the way of most like him - if anyone dared to lay a finger on a family member, he could be fierce.
At the reminder, Aja dropped her eyes to her plate and tried to concentrate on the delicious meal. As always, Betty had done an outstanding job. With her precious 'boys' at home, she'd tried to make everyone their favorite. As a result, the meal was an eclectic one. Aja could only imagine the array of deserts to come.
“Enrico, when did you get in?” Aja asked. “I didn't notice you arriving."
"I got in this morning."
Aja widened her eyes. “Well, where have you been all this time? I've been home all day."
She noticed his guilty glance at Orlando and got suspicious. She turned to Orlando beside her. "What have you guys been doing?"
He grinned at her, irrepressible as always. "We've been up to no good."
Realizing she wouldn't get satisfaction from either Orlando or Enrico, she turned to Carmine. "Out with it. What did you guys do?"
"We did what any self-respecting family man would do, Aja. We beat up the bastard that dared lay a disrespecting hand on our sister."
Aja gasped and jumped up from her chair, glaring at each one of her brothers and then her father in turn. He had to be in on it, too. "Why can't you guys leave well enough alone?"
Enrico tossed his roll onto his plate and pushed back his chair. "Leave well enough alone?" he snapped. "He hurt you, Aja, he could have killed you. What did you expect us to do? We protect our family. We don't let people get away with things like that. If it had been Gloria or one of my children, I would have done the same thing. Don't try and make us feel bad for protecting you. You should be thanking us."
"Thanking you? I protected myself, I didn't need you to do anything more. You're all going to get thrown in jail for assault and then what am I going to do? I'll be responsible for you deserting your families." Aja's teeth were clenched so hard her jaw ached.
"I don't have a family,” Orlando threw out with glee.
"Shut up, Olly."
He grinned.
"Please, Aja, calm yourself,” her father said. "Your brothers are trying to take care of you."
"No, they're trying to get revenge."
"And why not?" Her mother put in. "It's the way of our family."
Aja glared at her mother. "Am I the only one that sees the absurdity of this? We have laws against vendettas. We're not living in Italy." Before she could continue, the doorbell rang. The family stopped talking, waiting for Betty to tell them who it was.
Aja sat back down and huffed out her breath. She was tired of her family doing what they wanted despite how she felt about it. Being the youngest was both torturous and wonderful. They loved her and doted on her, but it was often stifling. She wanted to get away from them, but felt guilty about it because it was their love that was smothering her.
Betty entered the dining room with an envelope in her hands. She was visibly shaking. "Aja, it's for you."
Before Aja could reach for it, her father stood and snatched it from Betty. He tore it open. "That bastard is suing you." He tossed the envelope on the table. "That's it. He's dead meat."
"No!" Aja shouted. "That's not going to solve anything." She stood up and walked to the head of the table beside her father. She looked each of her brothers in the eye and said, "I want you to make me a promise." They couldn't resist the force of her gaze and each nodded, although with obvious reluctance.
"I want you to promise me that you will leave Stephen alone. Daddy and I will handle the lawsuit. We're going to do it the right way, by the law. Stephen can't win. We all know that. But, beating him up again will only make him more determined to get back at me. I've already hurt him more than anyone else can. Let that be enough. Okay?"
Aja waited until each of her brothers gave an assenting nod. "Okay. Let's get back to our dinner."
Chapter 5
Aja and her father sat in the den, both trying not to look at the envelope sitting on the coffee table. Aja felt sick to the pit of her stomach as she realized this was proof that Stephen would never give up.
“I’ve called my lawyer. He’ll start working on the case. You have nothing to worry about, Aja. If the police thought you were at fault they would have charged you,” her father said with a reassuring smile.
Aja didn’t feel reassured. She knew Stephen better than her family did. She’d never met a more vindictive person. It wasn’t just that; Stephen was a man who always got his way. If he wanted something, he got it. End of story. His family had a lot of money, even more than her family, so he could fight for years without coming close to draining his resources. Aja felt afraid that her father wasn’t seeing the whole picture, but it was useless to try to convince him that they might not win.
“Thanks Daddy,” she said.
The phone rang and Aja jumped, then grabbed for it. Her father snatched it up before she could reach it and Aja pulled her hand back in shock. She’d forgotten about the media.
“Yes?” he said, with the impatient tone of a busy man.
“No, we’re not going to comment. We’ve made our statement. Aja is innocent and there will not be a lawsuit as Mr. Aldridge has no case. The police cleared her, so what does he think a civil suit is going to accomplish?”
“Daddy?” Aja put her hand on her father’s arm, trying to warn him that he was in fact making a statement. He was usually so careful with the media, but his emotions were getting away on him.
He smiled at Aja and said, “No comment,” several more times, then hung up the phone.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have let her get to me.”
“It’s okay, this is hard for everyone. Maybe I should just go away for a while and let the circus die down. The court date isn’t for months…”
“I’m not having you chased away from the protection of your family, Aja,” he said with a stubborn look that Aja had seen many times before.
“No, Daddy, I mean like a vacation. I could use a vacation, don’t you think?”
Her father thought for a few seconds, then shook his head again. “If you go away, we can’t be there to protect you.”
Aja’s face got hot. Why did her family persist in believing that she wasn’t capable of protecting herself? She’d fought off Stephen, hadn’t she?
Sighing, she got to her feet. “Okay. I’m going to say goodnight to The Brothers and then I’m going to sleep.” Aja stretched a little and winced from the pain. She knew it was going to be a while before she could move even a little without some sharp reminder of Stephen’s brutality.
Aja wandered to the guest wing of their massive house. The Brothers’ rooms had been turned into guest rooms and Aja expected to find them hanging out there. Their father had outfitted the nearby entertainment room with a huge television and surround sound. The Brothers had been discussing which movie they would watch that night when they left the dinner table. She looked forward to spending some time with them. She only saw her brothers on holidays and she missed their antics.
Entering the TV room she saw the television was off and The Brothers were not there. Aja went to their rooms and only found Betty making up Orlando’s bed.
“Do you know where Olly is?”
Betty shrugged. “All I know is they went out together and told me not to tell you. I think they’re up to no good, bonita,” Betty said. Aja had always been her favorite. Betty never let The Brothers make her cover for them.
Aja stamped her foot. “Those damn fools!”
Betty’s mouth turned down. “Did you really think your little speech at dinner would make them give up their vendetta?”
Aja dropped onto the freshly made bed. “Yes, actually I did, Betty. How could I be such a fool?”
“You’re not a fool, you just love your family, bonita.” Betty shook her head, looking like a wise old sage.
She knew the family better than anyone. Betty - full name Bettina Flores - had been with them since she’d emigrated from Columbia when she was nineteen. She’d helped Aja through her teenage issues with her mother and comforted her when her first boyfriend dumped her. Betty was a comforting person. Aja loved her wit and insightful comments.
“They’re going to make things worse! What am I going to do?” Aja moaned.
Betty clucked her tongue and continued getting the room ready for Orlando. Of the boys, he was her favorite. Aja could understand why. Olly had always been her favorite, too. He was fun and sweet and could never be serious. He was a real charmer. Judging by the amount of girls he had always had around him, Aja wasn’t the only one to think so.
She jumped to her feet and raced out of the room, without stopping to say anything to Betty. She ran into her parents at the end of the hall. “Did you know that The Brothers are continuing on with their vendetta?” she demanded.
Her mother rolled her eyes. “What did you think they would do, Aja? Let Stephen come after you again?”
Her father had a guilty look on his face. She realized when he asked her to speak to him in the den it was a ruse to keep her out of the way so they could leave the house without being seen.
“You helped them!” she shouted. “What is wrong with this family?”
Aja ran to her room, grabbed her keys and left the house in a fury. The swarming reporters didn’t even slow her down. She pushed her Jetta through the crowd, her lips set in a grim line. Her family was going to drive her insane if she stayed another minute. She decided that Mia would help her to get things in perspective.
Chapter 6
Stephen let out a roar, making it clear to the entire hospital that he was in agony. The nurse’s hands shook as she prepared the syringe that would deal with his pain.
Once the medication kicked in and the pain eased a little, Stephen lay back on the bed and fumed. His member was intact, but the doctor wasn’t sure if he would be able to restore full functionality. The thought of losing his ability made Stephen want to weep like a little girl.
That bitch!
He couldn’t believe she’d had the gumption to go after him with a knife.