Desolation (New Rochelle Mafia #1)

9. CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 9

DRAKE

T he anger I feel when I look at Elodie’s face is almost more than I can handle. I don’t understand why her parents don’t see how precious and special she is. Drugs really mess people up. Something I’ve always been glad about is that our Familia doesn’t have anything to do with drugs. Pretty sure it’s only weapons. Well, we have casinos and a few other ventures too. Though no one has specifically said.

One thing my dad has always said though, is that we will never have anything to do with drugs. He doesn’t want to be responsible for things like what happened with Elodie because of some dealer. We don’t have anything to do with the skin trade either.

Unfortunately, other Families don’t feel the same and there’s good money in the drug and sex trafficking businesses. Now that I know Elodie’s parents are getting their drugs directly from Dominic himself, I’m going to have to have a meeting with my dad.

A knock on the door has me walking over to open it. One of the maids hands me several boxes of stuff that I ordered for Elodie. I probably went a little overboard. I didn’t have anything else to do when I was watching Elodie sleep last night and I felt like a creeper.

Clothes, hygiene products, a couple pairs of shoes, some house slippers shaped like teddy bears, and a couple of soft blankets for comfort. I also got a tablet for her and an Amazon gift card so she could order some books or whatever else she may want, along with a stand and page turner so she didn’t have to hold it up with her injuries.

She’s been in the bath a while, and I haven’t really heard any splashing. Should I go check on her? Should I wait until Reba comes back?

Walking over to the door, I knock. No answer. Fuck, did something happen to her? Reaching for the door handle, I realize that it isn’t locked. I thought she would have locked it behind me when I left but I guess not. Cracking it open I peer in and see that she has fallen asleep in the tub.

Shit. I’m going to have to wake her so she doesn’t drown but she isn’t going to be happy about it. Reba still hasn’t made it back yet either. Walking all the way in, I can’t help but see her body since the bubbles are all gone. It’s a mass of black and blue bruises.

I can’t help the growl that slips out when I see her injuries as I’m reaching to touch her on the shoulder. She instantly wakes up thrashing as if she was having a bad dream. Grabbing a shampoo bottle she chucks it at me as she starts screaming.

Holding my hands out and turning around quickly I say, “El, it’s just me. You fell asleep and I was going to wake you. I swear I wasn’t creeping on you.”

She stops screaming.

“Listen, I’m sorry I scared you. When I walked in and saw your bruises it pissed me off all over again,” I say. Trying to be calm. Walking over I grab the robe and hold it out behind me. “Were you able to wash up before you fell asleep?”

“I haven’t washed my hair yet, but it will be fine. I’m not supposed to get my face wet anyway so it can wait another day. I’m sorry I freaked out, but waking up in a bathtub with someone reaching out a hand while you are naked isn’t conducive to happy waking,” she says angrily.

She yanks the robe out of my hands, and I hear rustling as she puts it on. Once I hear her moving around gathering her things I turn around. “Here let me get that for you, El. There are some comfy clothes out in the room for you now. I ordered some stuff for you. I’m pretty sure I got the right sizes. Everything is on the bed. I’m going to go talk to my dad and see if Reba has returned and bring you something to eat,” I say, gathering her old clothes and putting them in the laundry hamper. I’m not sure if she is going to still want them, but I’m not going to take the choice away from her by throwing them away .

“Wait, how do you even know my sizes? You know what, never mind, I temporarily forgot about the eight years of stalking for a minute,” she says rolling her eyes.

Okay, well I had that coming I guess. But she’s not wrong. It is how I know her sizes. It’s also why this room looks the way it does. I designed it for her. Thankfully my dad just acted like it was a guest bedroom last night. What she doesn’t know is that inside her closet is a connecting door to my suite right next door. But I don’t think right now is a good time to tell her that.

Leaving her behind in the bathroom, I head out and down to my dad who is in his office downstairs.

Knocking on the door, I wait till he calls me in there before stepping inside and closing the door quietly behind me. Dad is on the phone and it sounds like he is talking to Evan, our current lawyer and my boss.

“Yes, I understand. Just bring the documents over as soon as you get them done. Okay, thank you, Evan. Goodbye.” Hanging up the phone, he looks over at me and sighs. “Evan is working on an order of protection for Elodie to sign if she wants to. He is also bringing his assistant, Gwen, with him so she can get pictures of Elodie’s injuries. That will at least take care of the immediate problem. I want her to do everything above board first and then we can go from there later. But I want her to have a paper trail for her own protection.”

“Thanks Dad. I’m not sure what she’s decided to do yet but hopefully that will be the avenue she wants to take. I scared her. She fell asleep in the tub and I had to go wake her. You’re going to want to tell Evan to have Gwen get pictures of her whole body,” I say. I’m glad Evan is bringing Gwen. She’s very soft spoken and sweet and I think her and Elodie could actually be friends.

She could definitely use one of those in her life. I’ve never seen someone with so few people in her life she could trust.

Hands fisted at my sides I start pacing angrily.

“Drake, you’ll have to get yourself under control. We have to be very careful. The fact that Dominic himself is the one selling the drugs to her parents makes me think something is very wrong here,” my dad says between gritted teeth.

Dropping down into the chair, I let out a breath.

“I’ve got Marco looking into it but we need to keep her hidden for now because it can’t be anything good. In fact, I think I may already know the answer, I just need Marco to confirm,” he says grimly.

Getting a sick feeling in my stomach, I look at my dad in alarm. “You don’t think….?”

He nods. “I think it’s very possible. Why else would he be the one dealing directly with them? Nothing else makes sense.”

Now it’s inevitable. I will kill her parents myself. They sold their own daughter to the mafia for drugs.