Smiley(87)
She hated the tears that filled her eyes. She was the baby of the family and had always tried really hard to fly under the radar. Count had every right to be angry. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t change the fact that you embarrassed this entire family and we’re all paying for it. I don’t even know what to think. What kind of idiot goes to a bar and picks up a stranger? Then you had to do it with cameras rolling so it was fodder for everyone to see. We raised you better!” He cursed. “Knock that off, Mia. I’m talking to her.”
“You’re being a prick,” her sister insisted from somewhere close to the phone. “Let me talk to her.”
“I’m not done,” Count insisted. “Couldn’t she have made cooking videos or something if she wanted to be an internet sensation? Fuck no. Our sister has to become an interspecies porn star.”
“Goddamn it!” Mia yelled. “Give me the phone, barf breath. Did you brush your teeth? Your poor wife. Go find a toothbrush. Do I need to remind you of the shit you pulled in high school? Do your cop buddies know you used to smoke weed? Don’t jump her ass.”
“She’s not in high school. She’s an adult.”
Vanni winced. Her siblings were fighting because of her. They were close in age and it could get ugly once they started. The usually mature pair turned into a set of five-year-olds occasionally when they argued. Mia must have won the wrestling match over the phone since Count howled in pain and Mia’s voice came over the receiver.
“Are you okay, Vanni? Ignore our idiot brother. He didn’t mean any of that. We’ve just been really worried. We’ve heard a lot of conflicting things.”
Vanni blinked back the tears. “Count meant it. He’s angry.”
“Okay, so he did.” Mia paused and a smacking sound could be heard. Count cursed. “Stop that. Try to take it again and I’ll scratch the shit out of you,” Mia threatened. “I wasn’t kidding about your breath. You smell like ass. Go brush your teeth.”
“I’m getting your husband,” Count taunted.
“Go do that. He’s afraid of my fingernails too when I’m pissed. Try to grab the phone one more time and you’re going to bleed,” Mia warned. “And don’t breathe on my husband. What the hell did you eat?”
“Please don’t fight,” Vanni urged.
“Hang on.” Mia slammed a door. “Ha! It’s locked, jerk!” Her voice lowered. “I’m in the bathroom. He wouldn’t dare kick it down. You should see this place they have us staying in. It’s ritzy as hell. The door probably costs more than his beloved rusted piece-of-junk car he calls a classic.”
“I’m so sorry,” Vanni whispered.
“It’s done. I just hate that we couldn’t talk to you before. Why were you avoiding our calls over the weekend? What is really going on, Vanni?”
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“It’s okay. Are you okay? That’s the most important thing.”
“I am.”
“How are you holding up? I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”
“I’m fine.” She wasn’t about to share her sex injuries, which were making her ass and thighs ache. “It’s just been kind of a nightmare with the press and with the Woods Church.”
“The security team said the Woods Church was a threat to us and that’s why we’re here. I knew that family was shit once I found out who the father was. They are a bunch of lunatics. What did Carl do to you? Did he hit you? I didn’t like that asshole. He was too smooth and controlling.”
That astonished Vanni. “I thought you liked him as much as the rest of the family did.”
“I was being nice. I’ve racked my brain thinking why you’d end up getting tanked in a bar and picking up some guy you didn’t know from Adam. I know you too well. Carl either cheated on you or hit you. Which one was it?”
She couldn’t tell her sister the entire story so she hedged over the main parts but shared how he’d tricked her into going to the convention and the way he’d treated her. “I was done. I didn’t mean for that to happen in the bar but I don’t regret it.” That was the truth. “Smiley is here with me. He’s wonderful.”
The silence at the other end of the phone connection became uncomfortable. Her sister finally spoke. “Can he hear what I’m saying?”
“No. I’m alone right now.”
“Are you being held there against your will?”
“No.” Vanni sat up and winced, forgetting her soreness. “Smiley is amazing. The NSO is protecting me from Carl’s dad and his crazy worshipers. They are saying I was drugged and forced to, um, you know.”