Fratelli: The Awakening (The Vampire Cartel #1)

23. What I Need Is Understanding

Chapter 23

What I Need Is Understanding

4 2,000 feet in the sky - 4 hrs flight

April 14, 2018

(8 Days Before Death)

Dolly took a deep breath inside the bathroom, which included a shower and vanity. A shiver of fear crept from the base of her skull down her spine. All the negative thoughts she had evaded since her romance with Lucio bloomed in her mind. Everything had been so perfect thus far, so her reaction to him now puzzled her. What was wrong? Was it Charmaine and Russ and their concern? Had it rubbed off on her?

She closed her eyes and practiced her breathing. A counselor who had met with her after she was dropped off at a foster home had given her breathing exercises to help manage her anxiety. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and relaxed. Dolly stared into the eyes of her reflection, all dolled up and staring back at her from the mirror. Initially, she saw a version of herself, one sculpted with Lucio’s careful appreciation. But then, the image breathed through flared nostrils when she had not. The woman in the mirror smiled—a smile Dolly herself hadn’t given.

Fear and dread gripped Dolly by the throat. Frozen, she found herself unable to blink. The smiling doppelg?nger raised a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, a silent command for obedience and to play along. Recoiling in horror, Dolly stumbled backward into the shower door. Unperturbed, the mirror image laughed at her.

Terrified by her mind’s tricks, Dolly shut her eyes tightly and clenched her fists, doing as she had practiced as a child, pushing away the mind-fuck.

“You’re not real. You’re not real. You’re not real,” she repeated.

The battle for control raged within her mind, echoing the waking nightmares of her childhood. Back then, Dolly had conjured an imaginary twin sister—sometimes, this twin would take charge for the day, and other times, she’d recede, leaving Dolly in control. When one personality dominated, the other sat back, like an audience member watched a movie of her own life. Dolly tried to explain this to her parents, who consulted doctors; they dismissed her terrors as a harmless, imaginary friend.

However, the presence grew unsettling. Initially, Dolly enjoyed catching glimpses of her twin in mirrors and shadows, but her alter ego’s demeanor turned controlling and mockingly cruel. The situation escalated when a schoolmate pushed Dolly off a slide, and her twin retaliated, injuring the child. This incident landed six-year-old Dolly in serious trouble, unable to articulate the complex dynamics of her dual personas. Her fully formed alter ego claimed to be her guardian, promising that Dolly would someday come into magical powers to kill vampires. This other half insisted it was Chosen from a realm far away. She predicted a dark prince who would come for her as a friend, but they would be ready.

This confrontation led to a series of catastrophic tantrums from Dolly. The prediction of her death crushed her childlike mind, prompting her parents to manage the situation with medication, which sometimes left Dolly in a nearly catatonic state. Years of therapy were required to suppress these memories and control the turmoil within her mind. Like her breathing exercises to manage anxiety, Dolly had developed a technique to silence the internal chaos from her childhood. After what felt like an eternity, she opened her eyes again and faced the twin in the mirror.

The only reflection staring back at her was her own.

Relieved, Dolly escaped the bathroom fast. She preferred an uncomfortable conversation with Lucio to facing childhood delusions. As she made her way back to the center of the plane, a news broadcast stopped her. On CNN was the face of the rapper who had caused her to trip and fall two days earlier in a convenience store. He was dead. Finding it unbelievable, she glanced over at Lucio, who seemed stunned by the news. The worry on his face softened her heart and cleared away the disappointment she had carried from their first fight.

“Lucio?” she asked.

He glanced at her, only briefly, then looked back at the screen. Dolly returned to her seat and put her hand on his knee.

This made the inner child in him smile. Dolly was back, and she cared.

“What happened?” Dolly asked.

“I just got the call. They said car accident. The media. Listen to them. He was driving drunk. Madness. I don’t believe any of it. He wouldn’t drive drunk; he didn’t need to. We have drivers. He has drivers for him.”

“What about the other guy? Was he hurt?” Dolly asked.

“Lamont? Tristan says he’s alive. I hate to say this, but it looks like I might have to handle this mess from Vegas. The press is swarming Lamont, so he’s coming to Vegas too. I need to find out what really happened.”

“But… wouldn’t you need to be back in New Orleans to deal with this?” Dolly asked.

“No, I have people on the ground that will help the police and the families,” Lucio said.

“Okay. I’m sure you’ll learn soon enough what really happened,” she replied.

“I’m so sorry about earlier,” Lucio added.

“It’s okay,” she mumbled.

“No. It’s not. You were asking questions. I did what I always do—push people away from me. You’re right to be curious,” he said.

“Am I?” Dolly asked.

“Yes,” he conceded.

“Okay then. Tell me. What do you do? And why is a simple case of drinking and driving suspicious to you?”

Lucio gave her a sly smile. His voice had a far-off quality as if talking about his profession was a confession of the past rather than the present. “My business is complicated. Some people work for me, and some people I work with have no regard for the law.”

“You’re too young to have that kind of burden on your shoulders,” Dolly said.

Lucio laughed.

“I’m serious. How long have you been… what you are? The boss?” she asked.

“My company is old, older than me, older than most…” he said.

“Old?” she asked.

“If an enemy of mine has done something to Deshawn, I will find out,” she said.

“I think I understand what you are saying. I mean, I get the meaning behind what you are saying. This could be some kind of retaliation for the work you do. I don’t think I want to know any more than that,” she said.

“Can we start over?” he asked.

“Sure, I’m not upset,” she said.

“With all things considered now, I have to ask. Can we extend this trip? I got a lot to work through and I’d want you to stay with me. A week or two?” Lucio said.

The question jumped out at her. She was caught by surprise immediately. Guilt assailed her over the two-day impromptu trip. But a week? How could she even consider a week with a man who just confessed to being connected to some kind of criminal organization? “I can’t?—”

“What if I send for your brother? What if I bring him to Vegas?” he asked.

“No. Leave Russell out of this. Lucio, I can’t just go away with you for weeks. I have a life. I’m sorry about what happened to your clients. But your world isn’t mine.”

“You said you needed a job. Working for me would have you traveling the world.”

“About that—I, umm, I’m not so sure I could do that anymore,” she said and cast her gaze away from his. She felt stronger in her convictions if she didn’t speak while looking into his eyes.

He touched her chin and turned her face to look at her. “Let’s not decide anything now. Just go with the flow. Okay?” Lucio dropped his forehead to hers. She stroked his jaw and smiled.

“You’re so spoiled,” she said.

“Don’t say anything,” he replied. “At least don’t say no.”

He turned the television back on. The news had switched to an interview with the last surviving member of Neutral Ground. Positioned outside the police station, surrounded by officers and family members, the man appeared deeply conflicted by his friend’s death. His face, marked by grief, was weary, and his eyes were red from crying. Addressing the gathered reporters, he shared the depth of his close relationship with Deshawn, describing him as this giving person in the community inspiration. He openly shared his and Deshawn’s difficulty with drinking and encouraged his fans to never get behind the wheel drunk. In the end, he pleaded with the media to respect the privacy of Deshawn’s grieving family during such difficult times.

It was then, amidst the chaos of reporters clamoring for a closer shot of the grief-stricken Lamont as he made his way to the car, that she thought she spotted someone who resembled Tristan in the crowd near a waiting vehicle. The moment was fleeting, obscured by the jostling chaos of journalists, making it hard to be certain.

It was Dolly’s turn to take the remote and turn off the television. “Enough of that. We can’t change anything up in the air,” she said, pushing all uncertainty about Lucio from her mind. Dolly touched his neck and drew his face to hers for a kiss. Lucio’s response was instant. They shared a slow, lingering kiss. She tasted him fully for the hundredth time that day. Kissing him was one of the most endearing parts of their intimacy. His mouth softened like her heart. She didn’t notice the points of his frontal teeth, only the minty fragrance of his breath and how sexy it was to take in his heavy breathing.

Rare in his life was a woman who comforted him from her heart after hiding even the slightest peek into the darkness.

Lucio had hated his charade. The lies fell from his mouth naturally. He’d had a century to perfect his grift, especially when hunting the daughters of Julia Brown. However, Dolly was different, as was her alter ego, Darlene. He lied because he could. Soon, he figured, they both would have to face the truth.

She turned toward him in her seat. Her hand glided up his shirt to undo a few top buttons, while her tongue playfully flicked in and out of his mouth. She pressed closer, then paused the seduction for them both to catch a needed breath. He noticed her glance at the flight attendant sitting nearby, undeniably within view, as she gauged their privacy.

“The back of the plane… is there a, umm… bed?”

“Yes,” he said, kissing her neck and squeezing her breast.

“Let’s go,” she said.

With her lipstick smeared over his mouth and wiped from hers, he made it out of his seat and pulled her to go with him.