56 Days (Black) (21 page)

“You’re gonna wake up the dog, honey,” Jack teased.

“Don’t care…” I choked out.

He continued his movements, resting his left hand on my hip.  “I missed you so much,” he mumbled.

“Please, Jack…”

“What do you want, El?”

“Please… fuck me.”

He removed his hand gently and positioned his hips behind me.  Within seconds, he was inside.  Like
all
the way in.  “Oh, God,” I screamed.

Jack let out a long sigh, moving lazily, his hands gripping my hips on either side.  “Fuck...”

This was always my favorite position with him.  I felt this connection between our bodies that was shockingly intimate.  He never held back.  His entire body pushed into mine while I clutched the nearest sheet, pillow… anything I could grab onto.  “Yes…” I groaned, pushing back into him.

He picked up on my subtle request.  “Want it harder, Elsa?”

I pushed back again.  “Yes… God, yes.”

He moved faster, the bed frame gently scratching along the floor.  Buster let out a short bark.  Jack shifted his right hand to my stomach and slowly lowered it between my legs, cupping the most sensitive part of my body. 

“Jack,” I whispered.

He continued to push in, accelerating his pace with each thrust.

Jack moved his right hand slowly, his left rested on my hip for balance.  He worked swiftly now, pulling my body into his with vigor.  I groaned aloud. 

“You
alright?” he whispered.

“Yes…” I murmured, feeling the onslaught of a most-definite climax fast approaching.  “Jack… I’m really close.”

He elevated my sides a bit and pushed in until I let out a noise that surely woke the neighbors.  Seconds later, Jack, too, let out a low growl, stiffening inside.  He sluggishly pumped his hips and breathed heavily.  “God, Elsa.  What’s up with us?” he asked with a laugh on his lips.

“You need to go out of town more often, I guess.”  My breathing was erratic.  I could hardly form a cohesive thought.
  “I’m kidding, of course.  Never leave me again,” I teased.   

He pulled
away slowly and practically fell into the pillow, his head turned towards mine.  We stared at each other, smiling.

“Thank you for waking me up
.  I need some sleep though.  Wake me at 4?”

“Ye
p.  Goodnight.”  He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips.  He lingered on my mouth for a moment.  “I love you more than anything in the whole world.  You know that?”

“I do.”

*****

In the morning, I called Gemma and took a few hours off.  Jack and I waited (patiently) until
the police station opened and went down together.

“Jack Conti to see Detective Hanna, please,” he told the
officer behind the counter. 

We were ushered to two chairs
in front of a small metal desk.  A few minutes later, Detective Hanna joined us.  He gave me a short two-fingered wave.

“Mr. Conti,” he said, outstretching his hand for Jack to take.  “Bob Hanna.”

Jack nodded.  “Elsa told me that you wanted to talk to me about Dave Viera.”

“Funny thing about that,” Hanna replied, scratching his head.  “Looks like you may have wasted a trip.  This morning, we arrested
another suspect.  There was a confession.”

I sat up in my seat.  “Can you say who?”

“The victim’s wife.  Stabbed him while he was sleeping and then tried to cover it up.  We questioned her initially, but she had a solid alibi.  Less than two days later, she’s calling us back.  Told us everything… even where to find the weapon.  Said he was cheating.”

“Cheating?” I asked.

“We scrubbed his home computer.  He had sex videos of over a hundred different women.  Let’s just say, not all of them looked like willing participants.  Some really nasty stuff… and he definitely had a type,” he said, turning to Jack.  “Most of them looked an awful lot like your wife.”

Oh my God. 
Was I on there?

My face paled.  Jack rubbed my fingers
in his.  “Need anything else from us then, Detective?”

“We’ll let you know, but it’s pretty much wrapped up
at this point.”

Jack rose to his feet.  I
followed; still shocked by the information we’d just been given.  My stomach twisted knowing that Dave had videos of all of his conquests.  Some of the things I had done… at the time, I was just trying to please him, but I couldn’t imagine how it would look.  The only reason I ever considered doing
any
of it is because it was our private business.  How was I supposed to know that he was secretly filming me?

Dave liked me to wear
specific clothing.  I should have known better.  What if he had already released those videos?  Was I on the internet wearing a school girl uniform while he jerked off on my back?  I ran to the nearest bathroom and leaned over the bowl, retching into it.

I heard the door crack.  “Elsa?” Jack whispered.  He sounded worried.

“Yeah, I’m fine.  Be out in a minute.”

The door closed slowly, sounding a click.  I exited the stall and washed my face quickly with cold water and generic
wall soap.  I rinsed my mouth thoroughly and dug around in my purse for a mint.  After drying off with stiff paper towels and pinching my cheeks a few times, I turned the knob and faced my husband.

“You okay?” he asked, placing his hand on my
cheek.

“Can we talk about this in the truck?”  I smiled at him and pressed a kiss to his
neck.

He held my hand and walked me slowly out to the parking lot, helping me into the cab.  When he slid in beside me, he didn’t start the truck.  Instead, he turned towards me.  “What’s the matter, honey?  Don’t say ‘nothing.’  I know it’s something.”

“He has videos,” I responded, my voice weak.

“And the cops have them now.  Nothing to worry about.”

“What if I’m on the internet?”

He took my hand.  “You’re not.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know, but what are
we going to do?  Start searching nightly for videos of you on the web?  Thousands of those things are released every day.  You think that anyone is interested in six-month old footage of two people having sex?”

“It’s not
normal stuff.”

He studied me.  “What do you mean?”

“I mean that he liked to do different things.  He liked role playing… and asked me to dress up.”

Jack’s face
lost a bit of color.  “Like what?”

“
He bought clothes for me.  Like a stupid high school uniform… I don’t know.”  I paused, not knowing how to say the next sentence.  “He… ejaculated on me.” 

I started to cry.  Jack pulled me closer and rubbed my shoulder.  “This is not your fault, El.”

“It felt totally gross, but I let him do those things.  I thought it was just some harmless fantasy.  It was stupid at the time… but I’m your wife now.  What if one of your clients saw those videos?  Or your family?”

“Baby.  Take a deep breath.  Most likely, he kept those for personal use. 
He was a partner at a law firm, for Christ’s sake.  If he released those, he would have a lot more to lose than you would.  If it would make you feel better, I can have Detective Hanna look into it.  He says they wiped that computer.  Maybe they can see if he uploaded anything to any porn sites.  If so, it would be easy enough to figure it out and take it down… okay?”

I looked up at him, tears streaming down my face.  “Why am I so stupid?”

“Hey.  Don’t say that.  You thought he loved you and he took advantage of that.  He’s dead now.  I’m not making light of that, but… you don’t have to worry about him anymore, Elsa.”

“I don’t want to go to work,” I responded, sniffling.

“Let’s go home.  I’ll talk to Gemma. We’ll finish painting today, okay?  Pink kitchen?” he asked, smiling brightly.

“Okay… but first, can you go back in there for a second and talk to Hanna about the videos?”

He cracked the door and stepped back into the parking lot.  “Already on top of it.  Hey, Elsa?”

I turned my head to face him.  “Hmm?”

“I’m sorry about this.  All of it.  Even if I wasn’t his number one fan, he didn’t deserve to die like that.  But, I promise you, nothing but blue skies and sunny days from here on out, yeah?”

“Blue skies.”

During our painting party (where we did more kissing than actual painting),
Rachel called with news.

“So, I asked him to marry me!” she squealed.

I hadn’t told her about me and Jack yet.  It had been less than a week since our express nuptials and we had yet to tell any of our family.  Well… Belle and Anthony knew, but that’s only because Jack was shit at keeping secrets.

I told him that I wanted to visit Rachel and Vince so that we could tell them together.
  We had been planning a surprise trip for the upcoming weekend.

“Holy shit, Ray.  That’s awesome.
” 

She laughed.  “So, what do you think about coming down here this weekend and helping me pick out a dress?”

Perfect timing.

“Yeah,
that sounds good.  We were actually planning to come down anyway.”  I dropped the receiver down and lightly covered the speaker with my hand.  “Jackie, we’re going to Indianapolis on Friday night,” I confirmed.

He nodded his head
, mouthed
I know
, and continued to roll paint onto the long wall.

“Yep.  Jack says okay.”

“I can’t wait to see you guys.  I feel like everything has been so crazy since the accident.  We’ve hardly had time to breathe.  All of the therapy… and our work schedules.  We’re just starting to get caught up.  Ooh, maybe we can have a double wedding!” she squeaked into the phone.

Just two more days.  What was two more days?

“Yeah,” I responded.  “Maybe.”

“So, Friday night then?”

“Friday night.  Love you,” I said, hitting the end button.  “They’re getting married!”

“
I know,” he deadpanned.  “Vince texted me this morning.”

“And you decided I didn’t need to know?”

“No,” he said.  “I decided to let your sister tell you.  If I would have told you, you wouldn’t have acted genuinely surprised.”

I sighed. 
“Why didn’t I just tell
her about us on the phone?”

Jack smiled.  “I fucking told
you, El.  Never keep secrets.  This is totally going to bite us in the ass.  I’m telling Vince the second we get there.”

“No!” I screamed.  “Together.  We tell them together, okay?”

“Okay.  Friday night.”

“Saturday,” I compromised.  “She can’t be mad at me if she’s shopping for her dream dress.”

He turned to me and leaned in like he was going to kiss me.  Instead, he rolled paint right up the center of my shirt, ending at my neck.

“
Really?” I squealed.

He laughed and tossed the roller into the tray, grabbing me around my waist.  He leaned in, this time capturing my mouth with his
, slowly pushing his tongue inside.  I took my right hand and pressed it into the paint tray.  As soon as it was covered, I grabbed Jack between the legs, pressing a permanent hand mark across his jeans.

“That’s for this,” I whispered, pointing at my neck. 

He pulled my t-shirt at the hem and yanked it off.  He balled the cotton up and wiped at my neck, streaking paint down the front of my skin.  “I may have made it worse,” he said, smiling.

“Mmm, shower?” I suggested.

He reached down and unbuttoned my shorts.  “How about a bath?”

*
****

Friday after work, I packed us for our trip.

“I’m not taking off my wedding ring,” Jack said.  “So whatever shenanigans you have planned for not telling our family that we’re married, I’m totally not going along with it.  If Vince asks me about it, I’m telling him.”

“
Shenanigans?” I replied.  “Fine… whatever.  He’s a boy.  He’d never notice something like that.  We’re telling them tomorrow anyway.  No big deal.”

He smacked me on the behind.  “We should do it tonight.”

“You can tell him tonight… alone,” I compromised.  “Just let me tell her tomorrow, okay?  At the bridal shop maybe?”

He grunted.  “God, you’re infuriating.”

“But you love me.”

“It’s debatable,” he teased.

*****

“Ray!” I squealed, attacking my sister at the door.

“Ugh, I’m so glad you’re here,” she replied.  “I’ve been excited all day.”

I let her go and walked over to Vince.  “Hi,” I whispered, pulling him in for a long hug.  “It’s nice to see you again when you’re not in a hospital bed.”

He squeezed me tight.  “Thanks for taking care of my brother.”

I could feel tears well in my eyes.
  I smacked him on the arm.  “It’s easy.”

Jack walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, leaning his chin on my shoulder.  “What’s up, brotha?”

Vince faked a left hook, stopping just short of Jack’s jaw.  “Give it,” he responded, putting his arms out.  Jack let me go and pressed a long hug into his brother’s arms.

*
****

Rachel had made dinner reservations for the four of us downtown at a swanked out steak place.  The food
was fucking awesome and the conversation was even better.  It was fascinating to see the two of them interact; it was the first time I had really seen them together.

He touched her back, leaned in for countless kisses and gen
uinely showed true respect and affection for her.  He reminded me of Jack.

Jack was dying to tell Vince that we had
gotten married.  He subtly tapped his ring on the table, capturing my attention.  I mouthed
No!
to him.

He smiled and went back to cutting his food, slowly chewing a piece of meat.  He turned to me, opening his mouth to show me his half-masticated bite.

“You’re disgusting.”

He leaned into my ear.  “You married me.”

“So,” I started, directing my words towards Rachel, “what time are we hitting the stores?”

“We have an appointment at 9 tomorrow.”

“Nine?  Are you fucking kidding me?  It’s Saturday.”

“And,” she continued, “
we’re having breakfast before
that
.”

I speared a small piece of asparagus and dropped it in
to my mouth.  “You suck,” I responded.

“Yeah, well, I went to one bridal store
on Tuesday and, apparently, you can’t go without an appointment.  When I got there, I was on my lunch break and there were literally dresses chucked everywhere on the floor.  It’s a madhouse in there, so I thought it would be better to get it over with early.  Plus, we’ll have our own sales girl.”

“Her name’s probably Muffy.”

“Probably,” she snorted.  “Promise me you won’t make any lewd comments.”

Jack grinned.  “
My
girl?  Oh, no.  She’s class all
the way.”

I punched him in the thigh.  “I
am
class, fool.  You wouldn’t know what to do without me.”

He leaned in and pressed his lips against mine, lingering there.  “Mmm, you’re right.  I’d die of a broken heart.”

“Aw,” Rachel said, smiling.  “He loves you.”

“That I do,” Jack responded.  “I can’t help it.  She’s ruined me for all other women.”

Rachel laughed.  “Well, I should hope so.  You’re marrying her.”

Jack smiled slyly, making eye contact with me.

I started to sweat. 
Oh God, oh God, oh God.

“Vince,” I said, changing the subject, “
do you like it here so far?  In Indianapolis?”

He gave me a huge grin.  “I
do.  It feels small, but there’s still a lot to do.  I’ve made some friends and I love my new job.  Plus, Rachel is here.  I’d live in Alaska if she were there.”

I smiled at him.  “You excited about the wedding then?”

“I’d go tomorrow and do it courthouse-style if she would.  But, she wants a thing, so I’m happy to give her that too.  I just wish it weren’t a million years from now.”

Rachel dropped her fork and stared at him.  “
Babe, it’s five weeks away.  I gave you
six
weeks.  Do you know how hard it is to pull something together in six weeks?”

He smiled, chewing and staring at his plate.  “Mmm,” he returned.

She groaned and thumbed in his direction.  “I hate him.”

I smiled at her, leaning back into my chair.  “Ugh, my dress is gonna split.  I have the meat sweats.”

Vince looked over at Jack.  “You found her, man.”

“I did,” Jack said, grinning.

*****

God, she was in that dressing room for what seemed like an hour and had only tried on three dresses.  They were all short and simple enough.  How long could it take to get in
to those things?

She came out in a short,
light pink lace one with little capped sleeves and a satin bow.  It reminded me a bit of my dress (I couldn’t tell her that, of course).

“Do a spin.”

She put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes.  “Seriously?”

“That dress is fucking cute.  You look like Audrey Hepburn.  Oooh, you need a thick headband!”

She turned and faced the mirror.  “Huh.  Maybe.  It’s not a bad idea.”  Then she faced me.  “What’s Jack gonna wear?”

“Don’t fucking start.”

I wanted to tell her at breakfast (I really did)… I just really wanted to wait until she was completely softened up by her dream dress before I dropped my marital bomb.

“I’m not,” she said, throwing her hands up.  “I’m just saying… I can’t believe you guys are getting fucking married.  What the hell has been happening over there?”

Now or never.

Now or never.

“Um… I’m not sure how to tell you this, so I guess I’m just gonna.  We kind of already
got
married.”  At the end of my sentence, I let out a little yelp. 

She literally fell into me on that sofa, placing her hands in my lap, her eyes huge like saucers.  “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” I whispered.  “It’s insane.  I’ve been dying to tell you.  I don’t know why I waited.  I guess it’s because Jack got divorced not that long ago… anyway, I love him like crazy.  And the sex?  It’s stupid hot.”

I needed to shut my mouth.  Things were just flying
out.

She smacked me. 

“Will you shut up?  Your voice has one level.  Loud.  And are you fucking serious?” she whispered.  “Married?”

“We just decided to do it.  It was just
this past Friday.  We wanted to tell you in person.  We’re gonna have a reception at the house, but not until after your wedding.”

“Oh my God,” she
said, taking deep breaths.  “I just can’t believe it.  Why didn’t you call
us?  We would have come up.”

Her face was excited. 
Thank God she wasn’t mad.

“You ha
ve so much going on... I just didn’t want to mess anything up.”

She rubbed my hand.  “What did Mom say?”

Oh God.

“She doesn’t know.”  For some reason, that brought a smile to my lips.

“What?” she squealed. 

The sales girl shot us a dirty look.

“Yeah, and you better not fucking tell her either,” I warned.

“So, you’re just going to be secretly married now?  You’re not even gonna tell her?”

Ugh.

“Yeah
, I will.  Just not today.”  I picked at my nail polish.  It was a habit that both Rachel and I shared when we were nervous.

“Holy shit, El.  You just went to the JP or something?”

“Yeah.  I just bought a dress and met him on the steps.”

She leaned back into the couch and let out a long sigh.  “Oh my God.”  She moved towards me and wrapped me up in her arms tightly.  “I just can’t believe… this is nuts, you know.”

Yep.

“Are you surprised?”

“Um, yeah,” she breathed, smiling.  “Isn’t that the point of an elopement?  To surprise the crap out of everyone?”

“I guess,” I said.  “Mom’s gonna be pissed.  I can’t wait.”

Rachel laughed and stood in front of me, doing a short spin.  “So… this is the one, you think?”  She looked down at her dress, beaming.

“Oh yeah,” I responded.  “You should probably shorten it though.  Show him what you’re workin
g with.”

*
****

We were through the door
and into Rachel’s living room for five seconds before she smacked Jack straight in the chest, pulling his left hand into hers.  Her eyes focused on his matching ring.  “You fucking asshole.”

He smiled.  “Hi
, girls.”

“I can’t believe you married my sister and kept it a secret.”  She turned to Vince.  “
Did you know about this?”