Desolation (New Rochelle Mafia #1)

6. CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

ELODIE

W hat the hell is happening? I open my eyes and see Reba staring at me with sorrow all over her features. What is she doing with Drake? Am I dreaming?

Everything hurts and as I barely open my eyes, a wave of dizziness washes over me and my stomach churns violently.

“Hey Sweet Pea,” she says softly. “You gotta stay awake for me. We are pretty sure you have a concussion.”

“Where are we? Where are we going?” I ask, my voice sounding raspy. “Is there any water?”

Drake leans over and opens a compartment, pulling out a bottle of spring water in a glass bottle. Fancy. He twists the lid off and lifts the bottle to my lips. Narrowing my eyes at him, I flinch. Okay, I can’t do that.

“I can do it,” I say, taking the bottle and taking a sip. It’s good. It feels so good on my throat.

He sits back in his seat, wiping his hands on his pants like he’s nervous. Maybe he is. This is weird as hell. I’m definitely nervous. This whole night has been one bad thing after another.

“We’re on our way to my place. I was driving by and saw your parents beating you. I just caught the tail end of it, but I had to wait to go in until my dad’s men got here. No one saw us, and your parents never woke up while we were there. Do they always pass out that hard?” he asks.

Nodding my head the tiniest bit, I say, “They’ve been drinking. It’s always worse when they’re drinking. It means they’re in withdrawal. But they could sleep through a tornado once they pass out. Their dealer must’ve gone there after he left the diner because they knew I turned him down. That’s what this was about,” I say, gesturing at my body.

Drake growls and says, “Excuse me? What the fuck did you just say? Someone asked you out, you said no and your parents beat you over it? And a dealer at that?”

Flinching away from him I look to Reba for help. Is he mad at me?

Reba says, “After you left the diner, her parents’ dealer showed up and offered to take Elodie out after her graduation. She said no. Then he implied she wouldn’t get a better offer and should just be with him and not go to school. She turned him down again and he left but on his way out, he implied that it wouldn’t work out that way.”

“My parents made some kind of deal with him. I don’t know what. When I got home they were furious and said they were going to force me to go out with him. When I refused again, they did this,” I say, gesturing to my body and face. “Why are we going to your place though? My parents will freak if I’m not at home,” I say.

“You are not going back there El, ever again,” Drake growls out.

Flinching, I sit back in my seat.

Drake reaches out to me instantly, “I’m sorry, not trying to scare you, but I will never take you back there. Please don’t ask me to.”

The absolute fear on his face makes me pause. What the hell is really going on? We go from hardly ever having spoken to each other to suddenly he is playing knight in shining armor and rescuing me from my parents? Wait a minute. Something he said just registered. “What do you mean you were driving by? What were you doing driving by my house this late?”

He grimaces. The driver chuckles in the front seat, eyes in the rearview mirror looking back here. Drake whips his head around giving him a glare. He coughs and returns his eyes back to the road. Drake also turns around looking embarrassed.

Rubbing the back of his neck with his hand he says, “Can we table that for now? It’s a long story and we need to get you seen by a doctor first and get you settled. I promise, I will answer all your questions. ”

Looking over at Reba, I realize she also looks a little embarrassed. Wait, they must know each other, right? Why else is she here? “Reba, how do you know Drake, really?” I demand.

“His father is an old friend of mine. He’s who helped me escape my old home life when I was your age,” she says quietly, a look of sorrow crossing her features.

I always knew Reba saw too much. She saw through my wall I tried to keep up. I had a feeling that she also knew what kind of life I had at home because she recognized the signs. Remembering the conversation in her office that time, I realize she’s here because I need her. Even if I wasn’t the one to call her.

“Thank you,” I whisper, swallowing back tears. My face hurts too much to cry anymore. It just burns. The longer we drive, the worse I feel. Groaning, I sit back in my seat and bring my knees up. This time was bad. Normally they wear down quicker, but my flat refusal to do what they wanted enraged them more than usual.

Reba rubs my back softly, like a mother would. It was then I realized, I may not have the parents I want or need, but I do have someone that cares about me. Looking up at her, tears in her eyes, I see the love there. The concern and the fear. I just lean into her and she holds me as we both cry.

It’s not much longer and we pull into the city. I don’t get to come here much. I have only been a few times on school trips and once with Ms. Bates to check out schools. Those times were only during the day though. It looks different at night. The buildings all have lights lit up as people move around in their apartments.

Getting closer to downtown, I realize we are heading to a building that is huge. The biggest one around us. Pulling into the underground parking, I realize there are a lot of men in suits. All of them have earpieces and we go through several check points before finally pulling up in front of an elevator. Two men stand outside the elevator, and while I don’t visibly see any weapons, it’s clear they are packing. Neither of them move away from the door as we pull up, either.

Louis gets out and comes round to open our doors. Drake gets out first and then reaches in for me. “I can walk,” I say.

“That may be, but you’re not going to just yet. We don’t know how badly you are hurt and I’m taking no chances. Once the doctor has checked you over, you can follow his instructions. Until then, consider me your carriage, m’lady,” he says with a bow.

Okay, yeah. I’m dreaming. Did he just talk to me like we are in a regency romance novel? I snort. Ouch. No more of that, it hurts too bad. He lifts me again and we head through the elevator doors. The driver pulls out a phone and whoever he calls picks up very quickly. “We’re on our way up,” he says and hangs up. “He’s waiting for you in the lobby,” he says to Drake.

Drake nods. “My father,” he says, looking down at me.

Oh fuck. In all of this, even with the masked men, I somehow forgot that his father is a mafia boss. “Wait,” I say, pushing at his arm. “I can’t go in there,” I whisper loudly.

“It’s just my dad, Elodie. I don’t know what you’ve heard but he’s just my dad before anything else. Besides, I don’t have anything to do with that side of things anyway,” he says firmly.

I swallow the knot in my throat and nod. What am I doing? Well, technically, I’m not doing this, Drake is making me. But after I see this doctor I will be leaving. I can’t stay here.

The elevator finally reaches the top floor. It dings and the doors slide open to reveal a man that looks just like an older version of Drake. Tall, with tanned skin, blond curly hair, though it’s cut shorter, and those crystalline blue eyes.

When he sees me, I see rage run across his features before he squashes it and tries to smile at me. “Elodie, welcome to our home. The doctor is already here and waiting for you. Drake, take her to the guest room off the hallway, please.”

Well, I’m guessing based on the way everyone keeps reacting, they aren’t used to seeing people beat up. Which is really weird considering it’s the mafia. Oh wait, maybe it’s because I’m an eighteen-year-old girl and not mafia muscle. Yeah, that’s probably it. I’m so used to this being a part of my life that I didn’t realize there might be other people out there that actually don’t do this stuff normally.

Drake walks down the hall and stops at a room with the door open. We go through the door and my breath catches in my throat as I look around. This room is beautiful. It has to be the size of the bottom floor of our house. Pale gray carpeting runs throughout the room, looking plush. The bed is a king size canopy with black and red gauzy curtains tied back at the posts.

A couch and a couple of fluffy chairs are off to the side, along with a cabinet that I’m sure holds one of those fancy T.V. ‘s that rise up from inside the cabinet. I also see a sliding door leading to a balcony. Wow, this is a guest room? It’s like its own freaking apartment!

It looks exactly like something I have always dreamed of having.

Drake lays me down on the bed and the doctor rushes over to me. “Hello, Elodie. I’m Dr. Rice. Let’s take a look at you shall we? Then we will leave you alone so you can rest, unless we find any serious issues.”

He’s a smaller man, partially balding, with soft green eyes and wire rimmed glasses. He takes a stethoscope out of his bag and starts checking my vitals. Next is the blood pressure and temp. Then he takes out a small flashlight and checks my eyes, paying special attention to the right side.

He looks like a normal doctor. I don’t know what I really expected. It’s not like he was going to walk in with a cigar in his mouth talking like he’s from old Italy or something. I really must have a concussion, because these thoughts I’m having are wild.

“You definitely have a pretty severe concussion, Elodie. You’ll have to stay awake for the next few hours so we can monitor everything. I do want to check how you walk and move here in a minute. First though, I am going to touch your face. Unfortunately this is going to be very painful. I need to set your nose, but I am also pretty sure that you have an orbital fracture on the right side, so it’s going to be extra painful,” he says gently.

Drake rushes over and takes one of my hands. Reba grabs the other. They both nod at me. “Take a deep breath now,” Dr. Rice says.

I breathe deep and he resets my nose, when he does though, I feel pain all across the right side of my face. Tears instantly start running down my cheeks as I suck in breaths. I am trying to keep my shit together but I am in so much pain right now I can’t.

“Okay, Elodie, I know that was very painful, but when they broke your nose, they hit you so hard that it also broke your eye socket. As of right now, I don’t think it needs surgery. Trust me, I have dealt with these kinds of injuries a lot around here,” he says, looking around the room at the masked men who came to my house, now without the masks. I hear laughter all around the room. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head at them, returning his attention to me.

“You will need to ice it every couple of hours. I am also going to get you a script for some pain meds as well as a decongestant. You absolutely cannot blow your nose while this is healing. It could make it worse,” he says firmly.

Great, with as much as I’ve already been crying, this is not what I wanted to hear. Nodding at him, I continue listening as he tells me everything he wants me to do. He asks everyone but Reba to step out of the room while he looks at my back and checks my ribs. Everything is bruised, but he doesn’t think any of them are broken. I don’t either. I know what broken ribs feel like.

I’m also not allowed to leave this bed for the next three days minimum. That really puts a damper on my plans to leave here as soon as I can. Reba listens intently too, as if she will be here to nurse me back to health.

Dr. Rice finishes up and lets the men back in, though there are fewer of them this time. Drake rushes back to the chair next to the bed and sits down again. He looks like he was trying to pull his hair out while they waited. His curls are standing on end like he’s been raking his hands through them repeatedly.

Drake’s father also comes in this time as well. He stands near the wall, hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall like a GQ model. Why are these men all so hot? Is it a mafia prerequisite? Also why am I thinking about Drake’s dad being hot? Though at least I know what Drake will look like when he’s older. Wait, El, you’re getting a little ahead of yourself here. Maybe it’s the concussion.

Watching us, he stays silent for long enough that I start to get nervous. Finally he speaks.

“Elodie, I’m Giovanni, you may call me Gio, all my friends do. I hope that we’ll be friends. I know there are many things that Drake needs to talk to you about, but let me just say this first. One, you are welcome to stay here as long as you need to. Two, I will help you with anything you need, please do not worry about anything. If you need it you will have it. Period. Three, we can make it so you need not worry about your parents, all you have to do is ask.”

Uh, did he just offer to kill my parents?

I must’ve been showing my thoughts on my face because he suddenly started laughing. Holding a hand out in front of him, he says, “No Elodie, I don’t mean that. Though it would be done if you asked. I mean, we can help you get away from there until you start college. Maybe get an order of protection.”

Shaking my head I think to myself, no, I’m not even staying. In fact, I don’t even know why I’m here in the first place. I could have just gone to Reba’s or I could just still be at home slowly dying on the floor in my bedroom.

“Can I reserve any judgements or decisions for after Drake and I talk? Because honestly, I literally just started talking to him today, so I have a lot of questions,” I say. Gio whips his head around to Drake and groans as he wipes his hand down his face. Reba giggles and then snorts after I cut my eyes toward her.

Reaching over, he slaps Drake on the back of the head. “You really need to get your head out of your ass. Good luck getting yourself out of this.” Laughing, he says, “Absolutely, my dear, just let me know when you’re ready to talk.” Turning, he heads out of the room and the rest of the men follow him until only two men, Drake, Reba, and I are left in the room.