Desolation (New Rochelle Mafia #1)

5. CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5

DRAKE

M y father was in his office with my brother and a couple of their enforcers when I came home from the diner, so I didn’t bother going in. I need plausible deniability as their future attorney. I don’t mind though; it’s not my thing anyway.

I pace back and forth on the balcony, wishing I knew what was bugging me so badly. Sighing, I swipe my hands down my face and sit down at the table. Grabbing my beer, I tip it back and take a long pull. I don’t often drink, but something is really bothering me tonight so I grabbed a couple beers on my way out to the balcony.

Fisting my hands, I take a deep breath and stare out across the city. I always come here to the balcony when I need to think. The first conversation not going well with El made me come back to talk to her again. Touching her and getting her agreement has been all I have been able to think about since I left.

Taking out my phone, I call the driver, Louis. I don’t need to get pulled over for drinking and driving. Heading inside, I take the elevator down to the ground floor and step into the car. I give him directions to Elodie’s neighborhood and he looks at me sharply, “You know that things could get hairy if we get caught there, right?” he asks.

“Yep, I just want to drive by and check something real quick and then we can go. We don’t even have to stop,” I say. I know Elodie isn’t off work yet now, but by the time we get there from the city she will have been for a while.

Nodding, he puts the car in gear and we are off, though I notice him taking his gun out to keep it handy. My dad trains his men well. None of them would dare to let anything happen to Anthony or me. Though Anthony has his own group of friends that act as his guards.

When he takes over for my father, most likely they will all move up with him. That’s just how it works. You never know who you can trust in this lifestyle so when you find those ride or die people, you keep them around. When it’s life or death, you want to know you’re going to make it out alive and you can’t do that with people you don’t trust having your back .

Driving the forty-five minutes to Elodie’s neighborhood just ties my stomach up in knots even more. Something is wrong. I feel it. Tapping out a message to my dad, I let him know where I am so he doesn’t worry. He probably won’t see it till he gets out of his meeting anyway.

The text from Reba came not long after I knew the diner was closed. She’s giving Elodie a ride home tonight. She says Dominic showed up after I left and some things went down. Not good.

Reba and my father went to school together. A long time ago, Dad was best friends with Reba’s boyfriend, Eddie, but he was killed by a rival Family during an attempted takeover while my grandfather was still in charge.

She won’t take much help from my family, but she and my father have remained friends, and I’ve asked her to help me look after Elodie. Once again, just like with Bates, she was already looking out for her and was grateful to have my help as well. I know she doesn’t approve of Elodie and me having any kind of relationship. I think that’s mostly just because of what happened to Eddie, not because she thinks I’m a bad person. Though that’s debatable.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying. I will have her one day.

I don’t know what possessed me to approach El with the vow of friendship, but I just couldn’t help myself. Her almost catching me watching her this morning on the way to school was just too close for me. I want to have a reason to be around her so I don’t have to worry about that anymore.

Being up front seemed to be the best way to do it. If she lets me.

Elodie is as skittish as a baby colt, though. Who can blame her? Dealing with her parents will do that to a person. Not to mention I’m sure she sees things at home she probably wished she hadn’t. I can only imagine how traumatic it must be living with two addicts that don’t give a shit about their daughter.

Pulling into Elodie’s neighborhood, I slide forward in my seat a little to get a better view. As we drive by El’s I see her parents screaming and hitting something, or someone, on the floor through their front window. Telling Louis to stop the car, I watch, horrified, as I see Elodie crawl across the floor and then up the stairs. What. The. Fuck. Nope this is not happening.

Louis looks for a place to park that’s safe and I whip out my phone and call my dad.

He answers immediately, “What’s happening?” he asks.

“I’m about to climb the side of Elodie’s house and take her out of there. They just beat her, Dad, so badly she had to crawl up the stairs. I’m not leaving her there and she may need help,” I growl into the phone, fisting my hands tightly. “I can’t do it. I know it might make things hard with the Petrucci Familia, but I don’t care. We will just have to figure it out”

“Okay, Drake, I agree. You can’t leave her there. But if we’re going to do it, we are going to do it right. You stay in the car, I’m sending some of the guys to you. You’ll all go in masked up, grab her and get her out. No crawling up the side of the house. You could get hurt or caught and I won’t allow that,” Dad says.

My hands are shaking. I want to go in there right now and kill them. How am I supposed to wait till my dad’s men get here? She needs medical treatment, I know it. A lot can happen in forty-five minutes.

“Drake, I can hear the gears turning through the phone, I am willing to help with this but you will follow my rules. Period,“ he barks. “I know that you want to get to her, but you will do it my way.”

Sighing, I hang my head, he’s right, I just have to pray to all the gods that nothing happens to her in the meantime. “I’ll wait. I’ll have Louis take me to Reba’s to wait so that we aren’t just sitting here. I’ll have to fill her in anyway. In fact, I’ll just bring her too so Elodie will have a familiar face.”

“Okay son, they’re on their way, don’t worry we’ll help her. Just keep yourself safe till then,” my dad says and then I hear the click of the line as he hangs up. He is going to have to do a lot of damage control. I get what he says about trying to be smart about this since her parents buy from the Petrucci’s, but they aren’t part of the Familia just because they get drugs from them and they have no claim on Elodie.

There is no way I can leave her there after seeing this. I won’t. Fortunately, my dad agreed because if he hadn’t I was going to get her anyway and damn the consequences. Louis pulls out and drives to Reba’s.

We park in front of Reba’s already dark house. Louis comes around and opens my door. “Go wake her up. I’ll wait right here and make sure we haven’t been seen,” he says. Nodding, I head to Reba’s door and do our secret knock. She answers after only a few minutes.

“What’s wrong? Why are you here so late?” she asks.

“It’s El. I don’t know why, but I just saw her parents beating her. She couldn’t even walk up the stairs. She was crawling,” I say between gritted teeth. Grabbing me by the arm she pulls me inside and shuts the door behind us .

“Okay Drake, you have to keep it together. What’s the plan? Cause I know you have one or you wouldn’t be here,” she says. She leads me to the sofa to sit, rubbing my arm to try to calm me down. “What do you need from me?”

“Dad is sending a car of men and we are going in after her. But I don’t want her to wake up at the penthouse not knowing anyone, on top of not knowing where she is. She needs medical treatment. What I saw was bad. Very bad. Will you come?” I begged her.

I’m trying to keep myself calm. The last thing Elodie needs right now is me losing my shit completely. Taking a few deep breaths, I close my eyes and wait for Reba’s answer.

Sighing, she nods. I know this will be hard for her. She hangs her head and closes her eyes and I know she is probably picturing her last time there with Eddie and my dad. She hasn’t been there since Eddie’s funeral twenty years ago.

Hugging her, I apologize. “I don’t know what else to do, Reba. She can’t stay there anymore. It was one thing when I just knew it was happening, but couldn’t prove it. It’s another story now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

Nodding she says, “I knew it was getting bad. I gave her the phone I got from you but she won’t even take it home with her. She’s too afraid they will find it. She never actually talks to me about what’s going on there though, Drake. She’s going to freak out.”

I know. But I can’t leave her. I won’t. Balling my hands into fists, I stand and start pacing. Reba silently gets up and heads to go get ready. It isn’t long before she comes out. She has a small duffle bag with her. “I’ve grabbed a few things for me, but also for Elodie. We aren’t going to have time to grab her things and I’m sure she will need some stuff to sleep in,” she says.

“I’ll buy her anything she needs, but thank you. This will do for tonight. I appreciate you thinking of it,” I say. Texting one of my guys, I send him out for a few things that she may need for the next couple days. I will let her order whatever she wants after that.

My dad sends a message a few minutes later saying there is a car out front waiting for me. Nodding to Reba, I walk towards the door and we head out. Getting her settled in with Louis, I tell him to follow us, and I climb in the car with the others. “Thank you, Dad,” I say when he answers my call.

“Just be safe, son. I love you. See you soon,” he says before hanging up.

One of the guys hands me a mask and asks me the layout of the house.

“Two story house, Elodie’s room is at the end of the hall on the left side of the upper floor. When I saw them earlier, her parents were still up, not sure about now. They most likely aren’t armed. They would sell anything they had like that,” I say with disgust. Her parents really are the lowest of the low.

They all nod. Slipping down their masks as we drive. No need to get our faces on street cams. We pull up a few houses down and the driver stays in the car. Marco, the leader of this group, uses hand signals once we step out of the vehicle. No one closes their doors fully. We may need to get in quick and sometimes, every second counts.

The lights are still on in the living room but a peek through the windows tells me that her parents are passed out where they sit. I give Marco a nod that we are clear. He tries the front door and surprisingly, it’s unlocked. Well, that’s pretty damn stupid in this neighborhood. Anyone could break in and hurt Elodie. Although, she apparently doesn’t need anyone to break in for that to happen.

The guys follow us in and they surround El’s parents as I head up the stairs. Trying her knob, it’s locked. Motioning to Marco standing at the top of the stairs, he heads my way pulling a lock pick kit out. I don’t want to boot the door not knowing where she is in there, or wake her parents either.

He works fast and before I know it, I hear the snick of the lock giving way. Turning the knob again, I feel resistance when I try to push open the door. Sticking my fingers in, I feel a warm body. She must be sitting in front of the door.

Squatting down, I whisper to her, “I need you to move so I can open the door, Bug. We’re getting you out of here.”

She groans and I hear a confused voice say, “Drake?”

“Just come with me El. I can explain in the car but I’m getting you out of here right now. So scoot. Reba is waiting out there for you too,” I whisper in soothing tones, or I hope it sounds soothing. I’m pretty angry and feeling desperate to get her away from here and I hope that isn’t coming through when I’m speaking to her. Her parents haven’t woken up yet, but they could at any moment.

I hear rustling, and then a very battered Elodie peers out at me from the now open door. Rage floods my body. I barely register Marco growling behind me when he sees her. All I hear is a rushing in my ears as the adrenaline spreads through my veins.

The urge to kill them now is so strong. Almost like a siren song drifting up the stairs, feeding my rage. It takes every bit of self-control I have not to rush down right now and give in to that feeling. But first I need to get my little Shutterbug out of here. Shaking, I reach out to El, “Can you walk?”

She shakes her head, and I hear a whimper escape her swollen lips. Her whole face is one big mess of bruises and blood, her eyes are almost swollen shut, and her nose is very clearly broken, along with one of her sockets, I think.

“I’m going to carry you okay? It’s going to hurt when I pick you up but just bear with me. I’m going to make it better, I swear it to you, Bug,” I say quietly.

She looks up at me and tries to say something. I shush her, telling her to wait using one finger. Pointing outside I motion zipping my lips. Hopefully she stays quiet until we get her out of there. I don’t know how her parents haven’t woken up yet, but if they have been drinking they are probably passed out.

Leaning down, I gently lift her. She whimpers in pain as I stand. Stopping, I give her time to adjust to being in my arms. She motions for her bag, I nod at Marco and he reaches down to grab it. Silently we move down the hallway. Marco goes ahead to recheck the situation downstairs. Everyone is still in the same position and her parents are still sleeping.

We move out, I slip down the stairs silently. Elodie is light as a feather. I’m sure her eating habits aren’t great. The guys follow behind us and Marco takes up the rear, quietly closing the door. I’d really like to light a match right now and watch it all go up in flames. This isn’t the time though, I have to get my girl out of here.

When we reach the cars, Louis jumps and opens the door so I can slide Elodie in. Reba gasps when she sees her and I see tears instantly form in her eyes. “We can’t let her fall asleep. I’m willing to bet she has a concussion,” Louis says from the front seat, after I climb in and shut the door behind me.

“Let’s just get out of here. I don’t want to say a word until we are out of this neighborhood and safe,” I say quietly. Nodding, he drives us out of there and heads towards the city.