Wicked Little Sins (11 page)

              Everly sat on the front porch, sipping coffee. All she could think about was getting home. As she barked out orders to Vinnie, a black car slowly passed by the front of the house. Little did Everly know that she was being watched as the man inside the car cracked his window a bit to get a better look at her.

“CIA…Feds...the mob?” Ethan asked himself, confused with all his mother’s chicken scratch. None of it made any sense to him. There were tons of papers just like it. None of what his mother had written made any sense. He dropped one paper after another, dreadfully confused. What were these notes about?

              “Insane,” he read, angrily tossing the papers to the floor. He pounded the steering wheel, disappointed at his find. His mom was dead, she’d committed adultery, and the man that sat in prison was probably not the one who killed her. He didn’t have a clue about what to do next.

Everly gently kissed her father, feeling guilty for having to leave him alone. She had a life of her own to get back to. She’d tried to convince him to move closer to Maryland, but knowing full well by the polite smile he’d given her that he’d never leave his hometown.

              “Good luck with the album. I expect to be the first one with a copy,” Ned told her, and he meant it. His daughter had a beautiful singing voice. Not sure where it came from since neither he nor Sandy could sing.

              “Of course, if you give us a few weeks we can fly you out,” Everly offered, letting her dad open the car door for her. Vinnie got in the car, impatiently waiting to leave. She swore she’d slap him silly for not saying goodbye to her father.

              “Honey, don’t worry about me, I’ve got a lot to do around here,” he lied. He was going to be horribly bored, but burdening his children wasn’t an option.

              “And hey, lighten up on this guy,” Ned said, reaching past his daughter to shake Vinnie’s hand. He knew Vinnie was going through hell. Everly could be an unsympathetic spirit when she had a hard time.

              “Dad…” Everly warned.

              Vinnie gave half a smile, trying his best to be gracious. The man was only trying to help him out. He just didn’t think anything would help at this point.

              “If I don’t see you again, take care, Ned,” he said, taking hold of the steering wheel.

              “Well, if that’s not morbid,” Everly replied, giving him a glare.

              “I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” he simply stated.

              “Drive safely,” Ned said, shutting Everly’s door. He headed back to the house, leaving Vinnie and Everly to deal with themselves.

              “Here we go,” he muttered, pulling out onto the street. Everly shrieked, slapping his arm, as he nearly struck the black car in front of them.

              “What the hell!” Vinnie said, straightening up in his seat. He tried to see what the deal was with the car blocking his exit. The car windows were tinted and he wasn’t able to see inside the car.

              “What’s going on? You have the CIA living on your street?” he chuckled. The black car, however,
did
look threatening and it intimidated him.

              “Oh yeah, right. Just back up and let them through, Vinnie!” Everly barked.

              Vinnie stared in his rear-view mirror, trying to figure out how that was going to be possible. He did his best to move back into his parking spot, the car at last inching gradually onward.

              Everly threw on her sunglasses, looking up toward the house, noticing that same black car had once again passed by.

              Adrian surveyed the blueprints of the new shopping center he was working on with his crew. Saws buzzed in the background along with the steady pounding of hammers.  A light white dust loomed over the area where his crew busily worked.

              “Hey Nathans, you have a visitor!” Larry, his right-hand man, bellowed from below.

              Interested in who would visit him at a construction site, he folded up his blueprint, making it down the steps. And there she stood, studying the wooden structure that was soon to be a wall, her back to him. He gave her ponytail a light tug, thrilled to see her.

              “Hey there. I brought you some breakfast,” she said, hugging him tightly. She rattled a white bag in his face, smiling at him.

              “Yum, donuts,” he said, peering inside. Charley raised a Styrofoam cup.

              “And coffee. I figured we could eat and talk,” she said, following him to his truck. He studied her as he opened the door for her, wondering what she wanted to talk about. Usually when a girl wanted to talk, it wasn’t a good sign.

              Charley climbed in on the passenger side of his truck, pushing a giant tool belt out of her way. She was having difficulty maneuvering in her heels, noting she would wear flats the next time she visited him on the work site.

              “You look cute in a hard hat,” she said, touching his hat. Adrian quickly pulled it off, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

              “You look cute in everything,” he said, chuckling. “Even those high heels at a construction site.”

              “I will have to remember this for the next time,” she said breaking her donut in half. She took a mouthful, watching him sip at his coffee.

              “Next time is a good thing, means you have plans for the future,” he noted.

              “Of course,” she said. “I came to say goodbye for now, though. I have to get back to New York.” Adrian nodded, disappointed.

              “Man that sucks. I thought I would get a couple more days with you,” he said.

              Charley dug through her purse until she found what she was looking for. She finally pulled out an envelope and handed it over to him.

              “Here, I thought you might like this idea. If it’s not a good idea, just say so.” Adrian balanced his coffee cup on his thigh, tearing into the envelope. He pulled out a plane ticket, his face instantly lighting up.

              “Tickets to spring break in Cancun, what I always wanted,” he teased, kissing her cheek. Charley eyed the ticket, fearing for an instant there may have been a screw-up.

              “So I did well, and you will come out?” she asked. She’d gotten the idea as soon as she knew she had to leave. Knowing she’d be seeing him again soon would make it easier to say goodbye for now.

              “I look forward to coming out. Thanks for this, really,” he said, kissing her.

              “I never thought I would meet anyone when I came back here,” she told him. She’d anticipated a horrible couple of weeks. But meeting Adrian had given her hope that things might be looking up for her.

              “I didn’t either, but I’m so glad I did. The demands of running a company are overwhelming at times, and it’s great knowing I now have a beautiful distraction that I’m not too excited to say goodbye to.”

              “The ticket is good for whenever. So as soon as you’re able to, let me know. I will look forward to seeing you again. But my flight is tonight and I need to get back and say goodbye to my dad,” she said. He pulled her in for another magnificent kiss.

              “You know what? I could take you to the airport. Just let me tell Larry,” he said, jumping out of the truck. Charley smiled, watching him hurry off.

Walking up the stairs, Adrian was on cloud nine. Having her surprise him this morning had made his day. She was perfect—the kind of girl he’d been looking for.

              “Hey, Larry. I’m going to head out early. Keep an eye out for me?” he asked Larry, who was busy nailing.

              “No problem, bro. More legal crap with your dad’s lawyers or something?” Larry asked, knowing the strain his boss and friend had been under.

              “No, nothing like that. Remember that girl I was telling you about that I met?” he asked, trying to hurry their conversation along, so he could get back to Charley.

              “Oh yeah, the one I warned you about. It has to do with her, huh?” Larry grinned, slinging his gloves over his shoulder. He knew Adrian all too well. When he fell, he fell hard, and it wasn’t often he did. But he could tell he had his eye on her.

              “I’m taking her to the airport. She’s got to head back home,” Adrian said.

              “Well, I guess that’s good. That keeps her from knowing you’re the son of the man who sits in jail for killing her mother. Can you see how that would be a little awkward, Adrian?” Larry said, shaking his head. He went back to his work. There wasn’t much he could do to guide Adrian in the right direction. Larry saw it as nothing but a bomb waiting to explode.

Coming in the door Ethan searched for anyone he could talk to. He needed to get it off his chest, to tell someone…something. Making his way through the downstairs, he found no one at home.

              “Dad? Charley? Anyone?” he called out. He knew Everly and Vinnie left already. He’d told Everly, he couldn’t stand another ride with Vinnie, and Dad would drive him back to school.

              He hurried up the stairs taking them two at a time. He wasn’t going to be the only one freaking out about his mom’s death and what he’d found in the box from her office. He needed someone else to help him figure it out--anyone--it didn’t matter
who
it was. But everyone appeared to be gone. Where the hell did they all go? In the hallway, the lights flickered overhead, and the floor creaked as it settled under his feet. He was already getting spooked enough, then the doorbell chimed over his head and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

              “God!” he yelled, running his hand through his hair, his heart pounding like crazy in his chest.

              Ethan stared at the door, confused. There was no one there. Was he going mad? He saw a black car pass by at a snail’s pace and wondered if someone in the car could have been who rang the doorbell.

              “That’s not even possible, I came right down,” he said to himself, turning around, then jumped yet again.

              Ned stared at his son’s pale face. He must have caught him off guard for he looked like he’d seen a ghost. Ethan wasn’t easily spooked; he was usually the one watching the slasher movies or pulling pranks on his sisters.

              “Are you all right?” Ned asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

              “Dad, we need to talk,” Ethan pushed out, still shaken. He couldn’t believe how jumpy he was.

              Quinn was uncomfortable. The man sitting in 4A was giving her the creeps. He wouldn’t let up in his stare down. She rested her head on Jordan’s shoulder. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to shake the awful fright that was coursing through her body. People didn’t just stay fixated on a person for that long a time. She wished Jordan had opted out of flying first-class. She imagined the people in coach weren’t so weird.

              “You all right?” Jordan asked, whispering in her ear.

              “Yeah, fine…it’s going to be a long flight,” she said, feeling his lips meet the side of her face.

              “For sure, get some rest,” he said. She was acting weird, she usually wasn’t so clingy. He turned on his TV, snagging the headphones. Movies would be a great time filler on the long flight home. He took a second glance at the man in a suit, who quickly looked away. Jordan shrugged it off, hoping the flight hurried along, he had a lot going on when he got back home. Even though a part of him regretted coming, the trip had been worth it for the most part. He was happy he’d been there for Quinn. Once they were home, he hoped things would get back to normal.

              Vinnie turned the radio off. She’d been blasting the same cd for three hours. His head was pounding and he wanted to just open up the door and shove her out.

              Vinnie hit the eject button to remove the cd. “Hey! I was listening to that,” Everly shouted. He viciously jabbed the buttons on his door until the window opened, and he let the cd sail out the window and into the breeze.

              “You’re an asshole!” she hissed.

              “Well, you know what, so are you,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road.

              “I can’t believe you would throw my cd out the window,” she said, shaking her head in exaggerated aggravation.

              “When you get home, listen to whatever you want—all day long for all I care,” he said, gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles had turned white.

              “What does that even mean, Vinnie?” Everly asked, confused. He was making no sense to her.

              “I’m going back to my condo, I need my space,” he said, briefly glancing her way. He had decided this an hour ago when the same song played again for the third time. Everly had no respect for him and more than likely never would.

              “What about the wedding?” she asked, stunned that he’d even consider canceling it.

              “Honey, don’t lie to yourself. You don’t want to marry me. You’re not even happy being in the same room as me,” Vinnie said, thankful he’d finally said it. .

              “I said that I would marry you,” she insisted.

              Vinnie shook his head, disagreeing. Everly was off in her own world. When he met her, she had a spirit that made him weak in the knees. She was the most interesting woman he’d ever met--her voice, her life, everything was full of optimism, amusement, and significance. She was stubborn and scorned and she wanted him, every part of her had craved Vinnie. There was a time when he couldn’t keep her off of him, and then it vanished. She became a wretched version of who she once was.

              He knew it wasn’t anything that he’d done. He never slept with anyone but her. The thought of cheating made him want to throw up. But as she grew colder, the thought was less sickening and more pleasing. He could honestly say it was Everly who’d grown cold—not him. He’d always been a bit full of himself, always praised and doted on. He’d never received much criticism, so he felt he was a cut above everyone else. And he’d felt the same about Everly. He’d viewed her as faultless and felt they’d come from the same mold. The biggest difference in them was that Everly felt she had to bust her ass to obtain perfection. 

              “I’m tired of this, Everly. I don’t need to force someone to want to be a part of my life. If you don’t want to, just say so, it’s that easy,” he insisted.

              “Stop talking like that!” she yelled. She smacked Vinnie in the arm. The thought of him detaching himself from their situation made her ill.

              “No, I should have said this a long time ago. I’ll be at my condo!” he yelled back. Her tone had upset him, but he had to break away.

              Everly wiped at her tears, keeping her head turned away from him so he didn’t see her crying.

***

Vinnie finished packing his clothes. It was time for him to leave. He hadn’t seen Everly since they’d gotten home. She went directly to the spare bedroom, slamming the door behind her with all her might. He looked around the condo. He’d helped her purchase this place. He had one of his own, but when they were getting along he opted for one closer to where she worked. They’d eventually moved in together and that was probably a mistake—too much too soon.

              Everything in the condo reminded him of her, the sleek leather sofa, the glass coffee table, and the bearskin rug. What looked cheesy to him was luxury to her. He’d gotten it for her because it made her happy. Everywhere he looked, he saw her—even in the vertical blinds she opened every morning at the kitchen table. They’d enjoyed meals with friends at this table as well as some crazy and intimate times when they were alone.

              He ran his hand over the dark wood, staring at their dining room table—the one her mother had sent them when they’d first moved in together. Everly loved it, but never wanted to eat on it. There were mornings in his recent memory where he’d caught her wearing one of his t-shirts and sipping a cup of coffee while she would be staring at the table, lost in thought.

              He sighed, ignoring the collage of pictures of them on the dining room wall. They had to have meant something to Everly for her to frame and hang pictures of special moments between them. She just wasn’t the same anymore. It became even more evident after her mom had died.

              Everly buried her face in her overstuffed pillow. She didn’t want him to know he’d hurt her, so she sobbed quietly into her pillow so he couldn’t hear her. She and Vinnie had made a lot of memories together and it would be hard to get over not having him around.

              She recalled a favorite time with Vinnie when he’d taken her to Russia to meet his family. He’d made her feel so wanted and needed and seemed so proud to share her with his family. It was there that he’d gotten down on one knee in front of her family and proposed to her. Yes, it was a special memory to her.

              She wiped at her tears and sat up, trying to get herself under control. Was she a fool to let him just pack up his things and leave? Could she do better? If she could, what the hell did she want?