Ride to Restoration (Ride Series Book 2) (21 page)

Chapter
38

Mistatim, SK

Tampa Bay,
FL

I
t
was 7:55 Eastern time and I found myself sitting alone in the not so fragrant
Green Mule hoping to dredge up the right words to begin the conversation with
Candi at eight o’clock sharp.

Do
I act mad? I
’
m not. Do I act hurt? I was.
Now, however, I
’
m just
…
totally numb to it all.
We had great times together, many of them firsts, and told
many lies that are going to be hard to overcome unless we both somehow manage
to forgive, forget and move the hell on.
What choice did I have? What choice
did we have?
I pressed send.

On
the fourth ring, Gio answered.
“
Ciao, D. I wake Candice. You talk; I leave. Ciao.
”

“
Ciao, Giovanni. Thank you.
”
I hesitated, hoping that Candi would speak first. That didn
’
t happen. The silence was
deafening. It surely was not golden. Clearing the emerging lump from my throat,
I began,
“
Candi, you wanted me to call, so here I am.
”

I
’
ve waited days for this
moment and now that it
’
s here I
’
m speechless. Say something,
anything.
“
D, are you still on your
bike? How are you? Are you in Canada or back in the U.S.? How is the weather
where you are?
”
Question
after stupid question rolled off my tongue like olive oil off a hot Teflon
skillet, to the point that I
’
d somehow managed to forget the first few questions I
’
d asked to begin this long
anticipated conversation. Girl, you are hopeless!

“
Candi, surely you didn
’
t go to all this trouble to
find me just to ask me about the weather? What
’
s going on in that mind of
yours and how can I help?
”

He
’
s right ... speak from your
head, your heart
...
“
I
miss you. I
’
ve missed you since the moment I stepped onto the plane.
Just listen. Let me finish, I know you think I screwed you and by all accounts
I did. D, I didn
’
t have a choice. Joseph and the boys were not coming back
without you, one way or the other. That is, until I convinced them otherwise. I
was in it for the money, nothing more. Our pseudo relationship was a means to
an end. I thought he believed me then. Now, I
’
m not so sure. God knows, I
’
ve tried to protect you and
Victoria. Believe me ... or not. I also know I
’
ve hurt you. I
’
m ... I am so sorry. Say
something, D. ... Please.
”

“
Candi, I gave you the ledgers to Fed Ex to your Mom. You
didn
’
t
send them. This could have all been averted had you done that one simple task.
You played me. After all the confessions and tears, you played me. The question
of the day, the week, the year is why?
”

“
I didn
’
t play you, damn it! Joseph was determined to take you out.
He was jealous of the way I looked at you, dressed for you, cared for you. He
knew something unexpected had happened between us on our ride. There could
never be an us. I mean, unless you were out of the picture. I couldn
’
t tell you. You wouldn
’
t have let me go. Had I not
done what he wanted, both you and Vic would be history.
”

“
I
’
ve managed to take care of myself so far and you too, for
that matter. So this was all for me, for Vic? I
’
m humbled.
”
Bite your tongue. Don
’
t go there, D. Not yet. Hear
her out
.

“
Please don
’
t be catty. If I could see you, hold you, kiss you, you
’
d know ... I
’
m speaking the truth from my
heart.
”

“
Is that what it takes Candi, holding me, kissing me,
blowing me, screwing me, for me to know beyond a shadow of a doubt you
’
re telling the truth?
”
You just had to go there. Didn
’
t you, dumb ass?

Where
did that come from
?
“
D,
I never said anything about sex. Where did that come from? Why are you being
hateful and mean when I
’
m trying my best to apologize?
”

“
Never mind, Candi. You
’
re right; you didn
’
t mention anything about
sex. I took unnecessary liberties, especially after seeing you banging Joseph
’
s brains out on the
internet. I can only surmise you were telling him the truth also, in little
increments, one bump and grind at a time.
”

What did he see? There is
absolutely no tape of me having sex with Joseph ... or is there? OMG!
“
D, I need to know. What did
you see and when?
”

“
A few days ago, Jim at WITSEC received an anonymous email
with a video attachment that was forwarded to me, showing you banging someone,
I
’
m
only assuming now mind you, Joseph
’
s brains out.
”

“
Listen to me please. This is important. What was on the
video? What did the room look like? What was I wearing? What exactly was I
doing?
”

You
’
ve done it now. Foot in
mouth has moved to head up ass.
“
I
can
’
t
answer any of those questions, Candi. Vic watched it and shared the highlights,
if you will. The man
’
s face was obscured, but his generous package wasn
’
t. She said you looked like
you were really getting into it, on it ... whatever the hell you were doing.
”

That
bastard, Joseph had the camera rolling the whole time.
“
I can explain ... On second
thought, there
’
s nothing to explain, it is what it is. Yes, I had sex with
him. Yes, it was good. Let
’
s just say I did it for old time
’
s sake. Are you happy now?
Wait! Wait! Is Vic still with you?
”

“
Yep
…
Candi, I wasn
’
t happy then, I
’
m not happy now. And it has
little to do with you and Joseph. That
’
s your business. After all,
you have a much longer history with him than with me. More than anything, I
want to believe you. I
’
m trying, but as of late, you
’
ve made it extremely
difficult. I want things back the way they were. Is that even possible? You
screw me and tell me what I want to hear. You screw Joseph and tell him what he
wants to hear. I have one question for you, do you even know what the truth is
anymore?
”

I
deserved that. What am I supposed to say?
“
D, I did what I had to do. I didn
’
t knowingly have sex in
front of a camera to purposely hurt you. I
’
m better than that. You know
I
’
m
better than that. No matter what happens between us, promise me you won
’
t watch the tape without me.
Please have Vic, along with your friend Jim at WITSEC erase it, destroy it, get
rid of it. It could ruin me, my career ... us. I
’
m sorry ... so sorry.
”
I pressed end, threw the phone on the bed and buried myself
in a pillow and cried.

She
hung up on me, crying.
You are an even
bigger putz! You had to bring it up? She started it; I finished it. No, you
started it and you finished it. She was caught unaware. D, you are one
hypocritical SOB. Now what? Call her back ... and say what,
‘
I
’
ve been
sleeping with Vic, so we
’
re
even?
’
Doubt if that would go over well ... Say something
comforting, meaningful, worthwhile. But what? She was crying because of my
cruel, venom spewing mouth. I needed to make her stop crying.
I pressed send.

Candi,
between sniffles, answered,
“
Yes.
”

“
Don
’
t hang up again. I
’
m no saint either. I
’
m far from perfect and way
out of your league. Your family wants nothing to do with me. I
’
m too old for you. I
’
m out of shape. I can go on
and on. You could tell me to stop, you know?
”

I
snorted,
“
Stop!
”

“
Thank you,
”
I
stammered, breathing an instant sigh of relief.
“
I was beginning to get a
complex, talking myself right out of us. There are a thousand and one reasons
why we shouldn
’
t be together, but there
’
s one very important reason
why we should
—
we compliment each other to the ten-thousandth degree. Oh,
there
’
s
actually two
—
I make you laugh.
”

I
stopped crying long enough to laugh at his silliness.
That
’
s
what I like so much in him, he does make me laugh even when I absolutely want
to cry.

“
It
’
s never been about the money, I know that. I
’
ve always known that. You
wanted to prove your value to the Family. Congratulations girl, mission
accomplished. Me, I wanted to bring out the best in you. You are smart,
attractive, self-assured and selfless. Don
’
t you go swelling with pride
on me just yet. That last trait has only manifested itself since we
’
ve been together. I consider
you a masterpiece in the making, a work of art in progress. Now, I
’
m only supposing here, what
you saw in me was someone who
’
s been kicked to the curb and back and still manages to
come up swinging with a smile on his face. Someone who makes lemonade out of
lemons and convinces you beyond your good judgment it
’
s good even when you know
the lemons I used were rotten. Yep, I
’
ve been trying to tell you
there
’
s
a fair amount of good in everything and everyone. More times than not, however,
you find yourself digging a little deeper in the cow poop to find it.
”

Surprisingly, just in
hearing his voice, I feel shades better.
“
D, where are you?
”

“
I
’
m still in Canada. Leaving this morning, heading south.
Why?
”

“
I don
’
t know for sure, but there may be someone looking for you.
I
’
ll
do what I can to find out more. If it
’
s all on my end, I
’
ll deal with it from here.
If it
’
s
beyond my reach, just watch your back. Call me every day until you get home.
Promise? Again, I
’
m sorry. No, it was not for the money. No, it was not to
hurt you. I could go on and on. But I won
’
t. It
’
s enough for now. I
’
ll leave it at that. Give
Major a hug for me when you get home. Bye, baby.
”

I feel like I
’
ve aged ten
years this morning. I
’
m
emotionally raw. I
’
m
mad. Joseph, that son of a bitch
‘
Prove to me you
’
re sincere in
getting back together. Make love to me, show me.
’
I
’
m gonna be
sick
... And
I was ... repeatedly. Then, I got over throwing up and came up with a plan
while my head rested on the porcelain throne.
Paybacks are a bitch!