A Debt Paid (19 page)
Authors: Joslyn Black
“My client has already told you all
he knows. Asking him the same questions
over and over and re-wording them, is not
going to change his answers. I’ve talked to
the DA and submitted documentation.
Pending his test results, she is not going to
press any charges. So, you have nothing to
hold him on until then. You’re wasting our
time. Mr. Anastas would like to return to
his fiancé. So, if there’s anything else,”
Marco paused for a moment.” No? I didn’t
think so. Calix.”
As they left the station, they passed
Santos and gave a quick nod. You could see
Santos wanted to say more, but here was
not the place.
“Calix, you need to go home. The
apartment has been cleaned and cleared.
You’ve been sleeping on that cot too long.
Carol will be coming to visit soon, and your
mother a while after that. When Carol gets
here, I want you to leave no arguments.”
“Zio, I want to be here when she
wakes up. I won’t leave her.” Calix tried to
change the subject not wanting to argue
with his uncle. “What did Santos say?”
“Don’t worry about it. Your results
came in, and Marco sent them to the DA.
You’re officially cleared. All you need to
worry about is yourself, Anya, and el
bambino.”
“I keep thinking over and over who
would want to do this? They framed me,
and attacked Anya. They wanted me to
suffer. The only person that comes to mind
is Richards.”
this done to his own child?”
“He’s a smart man, that’s how he has
gotten away with so much for so long. He
had to have known I’d been the one to
expose him. None of his connections would
do it; they get protection from him and the
cops he’s bought off. His political
opponents would never have been able to
dig so deep so fast without it being known
they were digging. He doesn’t care about
Anya. You should have seen them
whenever they were in a room together.”
“Richards has some power, yes, but
his connections are low level and mostly
from the same syndicate. None of them are
as good as who did this.”
out?”
“Listen, think no more of this. I said
I would handle it, and I will. Anya is doing
better, no? She has some more color to
her.”
“Yes, her doctor says most of her
wounds should heal in three to four weeks,
and there has been no spotting.”
***
“Calix, Calix.” Carol had walked into
Anya’s room a little after one in the
afternoon. Knowing that Calix would be
there as he has since she was admitted, she
stopped by her favorite Greek Café and
picked him up something to eat. Over these
last few days, he refused to leave her side.
He’d been sleeping on a cot in her room
and eating nothing but hospital cafeteria
food and junk food from vending machines.
Carol tried once more to wake him up
gently, since she did not want to startle
him. He had fallen asleep with his head
next to Anya’s thigh and his hand covering
her belly.
“Calix, honey.” When he finally
woke, Carol smiled at him and handed him
the bag of take out. “I don’t know if you like
Greek food or not, but this is one of my
favorites.”
“Thank you, smells good,” he replied
as he opened the bag to see what was
inside.
especially with the tzatziki sauce.”
Calix looked at her confused. He had
no idea what that was.
“It’s a cucumber sauce. I know
sounds weird, but it’s so good, trust me.”
They continued to talk and visit as
they had for the last couple of days since
Carol and Maria’s return from Italy. As
usual she stayed until visiting hours were
over, kissed Anya on her forehead, said
goodbye to Calix, and left.
Anya had been moved from the ICU
to a regular inpatient room. She was stable,
no brain swelling, no spotting, and her
vitals were normal. She just hadn’t woken
up yet. At one in the morning, all was quiet
on their hospital floor. Unable to sleep,
Calix once again pushed the chair close to
Anya’s bed and rested his head next to her
leg and palmed her belly with a warm,
masculine hand, something he found
himself doing most of the time. He just
needed to assure himself that Anya was
near and safe and that their child was still
safe in her belly. Only like that, next to her,
did he get any peaceful sleep.
groaned.
Calix begrudgingly woke up as he
heard some sort of sound. His head still
down, he glanced around the room. No one
was there, and he knew one of the boys
was sitting outside the room, so what had
woken him? Then he felt Anya’s fingers
twitch and move beneath his hand. He sat
erect instantaneously.
“Anya?” he asked as he turned to
look at her face. There were no lights on in
the room, only the soft glow that came
from under the door and the light from the
moon and stars through her window. His
eye’s raked over her face, looking for some
sign that he didn’t imagine everything, and
as he watched her, he saw that she started
to blink her eyes, slowly opening them.
Calix reached to hit the call button and
spoke to Anya softly.
“Anya, love, can you hear me?” He
could see that she was trying to swallow
but wasn’t too successful. Her throat must
be dry. “Hold on, I’ll get you a sip of water.”
He rose to go to the bathroom and fill the
small, flimsy, pink pitcher they had given
him. While in the restroom filling the
pitcher, the hospital door opened with
Nicco walking in with a small, older nurse
following behind. Nicco spoke as softly as
he could.
Calix excitedly walked back in from
the bathroom. “Yes, Anya’s awake. Call the
doctor.”
Their heads turned toward Anya so
fast they almost got whiplash. With the
bright light spilling in from the hall, her
face was perfectly shown, and you could
see that she was turning her head away as
much as she could from the sudden
brightness of the light. The short, portly
nurse waddled over to Anya with a big
smile on her face. Her cheerful voice
sounded just as your grandmother’s would
when you’d go to visit.
“Well, hello, Miss Richards, welcome
back. I’m Vera, your nurse. I’ll page your
doctor. Is there anything I can get you?”
Anya tried weakly to raise her hand
and block the light, but she barely got it up
passed the rail on her bed.
“She’s thirsty,” Calix answered.
“Nicco shut the door and turn on the low
back light.” Calix cut in front of Nurse Vera.
“Here, love, just a sip, I’m not sure if you’re
allowed to drink anything yet.” He gently
placed the straw to her lips, so she
wouldn’t have raise her head too far. Anya
was weak and only able to take two small
pulls from the straw. Anya closed her eyes
and licked her lips before she spoke. Her
voice was barely audible and rough from
her throat being so dry, even with the
couple of sips of water.
“The hospital, there was an
accident.”
At hearing his reply, Anya’s eye
widened with panic and immediately
moved her hand to her belly as fast as she
could in her weakened state.
is fine.”
Relief instantly shown on across her
face as his hand joined hers atop her
womb.
happened, Calix?”
“Never mind that right now, let’s
just concentrate on you. We’ll discuss the
details of what happened later.”
In the background, Nicco discreetly
pulled his cell phone from his pocket and
sent a short text to Vito, informing him that
Anya had awoken. Vito’s quick response
text simply said: Watch her closely.
Anya was trying to ask more
questions. She desperately wanted to know
what had happened, but she kept getting
non-answers from Calix. She was starting
to get annoyed and a little pissed, but in her
weakened state and with the pounding in
her head, her pain was winning her
attention over her irritancy.
“Calix, I want an answer. What
happened?” She tried to sound hard and
stern, but her voice was still as weak as a
feather.
“Anya” he used a little firmer voice,
“you’ve only just woken up, and it’s a little
past one in the morning. We’ll talk after the
doctor checks you over.”
Anya was about to open her mouth
to ask another question when a very, very
tall, lanky man walked through the door.
His head just barely made it under the door
jam. He had messy dishwater blond hair, a
long skinny pointed noise, and a bright
smile.
“Well, Miss Richards, good morning
and welcome back. I’m Dr. Shaw, I’m the
resident doctor tonight. How are you
feeling?”
when I try to move.”
“That’s to be expected with your
injuries,” Dr. Shaw replied as he began to
check over Anya’s wounds, asking her
several questions as he did so. He had a
very gentle touch and took care not to push
too hard on her injuries, but his hands
were ice cold, and Anya would jump
slightly when he ran his finger across her
injuries. “Okay, Miss Richards, your healing
process is right on track, you still have
some weeks before you will be completely
healed. So, you will need to take it easy and
will need to get as much rest as you can. No
quick twisting or heavy lifting, it might
cause you to pop a stitch. Since you just
woke up and still have a concussion, we are
going to keep you for another forty-eight
hours for observation before we let you go
home. And, I know that once you leave, you
will probably not want to see the inside of
doctor’s office again for a while, but you
will need weekly checkups. Not that your
wounds are extreme, but we want to keep
track of your healing process and the
health of your baby. I know you must be
hungry, but you just woke, and I’d like you
to wait a little before you eat anything,
okay? And, when you do eat, I want you to
start on the BRAT diet. That’s easy on the
stomach. BRAT stands for bananas, rice,
apples, and toast. Now, if you or your fiancé
don’t have any questions for me, I’m going
to go update your chart. I’ll be back to
check on you again in a couple of hours. I’m
also going to have Nurse Vera bring you
some pain medication for you. It will be
safe to take with the baby.”
Before Dr. Shaw could turn and
leave and knowing Calix wouldn’t tell her,
she quickly asked, “Dr. Shaw what exactly
are my injuries?”
Calix sent Anya an incensed look
and broke in before the doctor could
answer. “Anya, I told you we will talk about
that later, love. We need to concentrate on
just getting you better.”
“Calix, how can I get better if I don’t
what’s wrong? I need to know what
happened,” she countered firmly.
Calix huffed out a deep irritated
breath, relented and told her everything
that he knew about what happened that.
Dr. Shaw followed after Calix, telling her
about all her injuries. Anya was horrified
and tears fell freely from her eyes. She
couldn’t believe what she was hearing; it
sounded like something that would happen
on a CSI episode not in real life and most
definitely not in her life. Then a frightening
thought came to her, and she could barely
voice the question that now haunted her.
Calix hurried back to her side to
squelch her fear. “No, love, you weren’t
touched that way,” he answered as he bent
down to kiss her forehead to reassure her.
Anya let out a sigh of relief, her body
relaxed, and once again you could see the
relief on her face.
“Anya, get the fuck in bed now God
damn it!” Calix shouted at Anya as he saw
her in the kitchen, trying to make herself a
snack. “All you had to do was text me, and I
would have gotten what you needed,” he
growled.
“Calix, I’ve been in bed for two
weeks if I stay in there anymore, I’m going
to go insane and pop a stitch, just so I can
get a ride to the hospital and leave the
room and this house. Besides, you were in
your office working,” she stated matter of
fact tone as she continued to slice an apple
and some cheese.
“That’s not funny, Anya,” he stated
flatly as he made his way over to her to
take over her task. “And, I wasn’t doing
anything that couldn’t wait.”
“Calix, you haven’t been to work in
weeks. You can’t stay here with me forever.
I’m close to being fully healed, and our
mothers are here every day. You had the
additional cameras installed. The new
fingerprint locks are in, and so is the
additional security. I’m safe, nothing will
happen.”
Calix set down the knife and turned
to seize Anya by her shoulders. He was still
leery of touching her; he didn’t want to
take the chance of hurting her. He hadn’t
made love to her since that night, and he
wanted her so badly that he didn’t trust
himself around her, so he kept his few
touches to her arms, shoulders, and face.
His voice was grave when he spoke to her,
and, as she looked up at him, as he spoke
she saw that haunted look is his eyes once
again.
“Anya, you were out for everything.
I know you suffered the worst of all the
injuries, but you didn’t see what I saw. I
still have to blink to clear my vision when I
go into the bathroom, because I still see
you unconscious, your body lying distorted
on the tile floor with a pool of your blood
surrounding you. I just can’t leave you,
don’t ask me to. Not just because you are
still healing but because until we find that
bastard who attacked us, I won’t be at
ease.”
Anya reached up and gently stroked
his cheek with the tips of her fingers. He
was right, she remembered nothing, and
she couldn’t even imagine what a gruesome
site he must have seen to put that look in
his eyes. When the police came to get any
kind of statement that she could give, they
had the case file with them. He had
forbidden her to look at the crime scene
photos. She stood up on her toes to place a
soft, soothing kiss on his lips. He hadn’t
touched her in weeks, and she missed his
touch, craved it. She knew that they both
needed the healing touch and comfort that
only making love and connecting physically
could give them.
She draped her arms around his
neck and tried to pull him down to her to
deepen the kiss. Calix knew instantly what
she was trying to do, and, as gently as he
could, he pulled her arms from around his
neck.
“Anya, no, you’re still hurt, we
can’t.” Calix was still holding her by the
wrist as he rebuffed her as gently as he
could. Anya knew he was only trying to
keep from harming her, but she couldn’t
help the hurt that flashed in her eyes and
the irrational thought that maybe he was
disgusted by the site of her mangled body.
They both knew she would have scars,
what if he no longer found her attractive?
She asked as much.
“Don’t you want me anymore? Do
my scars lessen your desire for me? ” Her
voice was small and insecure.
Calix dropped her wrists and
wrapped his arms around her, burying his
face in the crook of her neck. He tried not
to squeeze her, and his voice was subdued
against her skin as he spoke. “God, Anya, of
course, I want you, love. I want you so
badly my body aches to be deep inside your
warmth. You are beautiful, and I crave your
touch every day. Never doubt that. I just
don’t want to hurt you or the baby; you’re
both so delicate.”
Anya caressed Calix’s hair and
spoke to the back of his head when she
answered his concern, since he refused to
remove his face from her neck. “Calix, I
need you. You need me. Don’t deny us both
of what we so desperately need.” Her voice
was earnest.
She then gently nudged his face with
her shoulder to remove him from his
hiding spot and brought his lips to hers.
Calix acquiesced, and, this time, when she
tried to deepen the kiss, he didn’t stop her.
No, he took hold of her face on each side
and kissed her strong and hard. Attacking
her with the ferociousness of his desire,
and Anya reciprocated with the same
ardor. His hands slowly slid down to the
luscious swells of her breasts, gently
rubbing his fingers over her excited and
puckered nipples careful not to rub over
the one healing stab wound on her breast
before he slid them around to the curve of
her ass, grasping them in his warm strong
hands to lift her up.
“Wrap your legs around me, love,”
his raspy lust induced voice commanded
her. As she did, he made his way over to the
couch with her in his arms, slowly sitting
down with her straddling him. She was in
nothing but her robe and one of her
nighties. As he untied her robe and slipped
it off her shoulders, a slow crooked grin
spread across his face. When he saw that
she was wearing the pink nightie he had
used to stroke himself the night before she
came home, he clutched it by the hem and
peeled it from her body.
“Lift your bottom,” he ordered as he
did the same to remove the sweats he was
wearing. Her eyes immediately widened
and filled with a carnal hunger as she
watched his impressive length spring free.
He was hard and already dripping with
precum. He wanted her, and her heart
swelled with the thought that he wasn’t
just saying the words to make her feel
better about her now scared body. No, he
still craved her and responded to her
exactly as he had in the beginning if not
more.
With one hand holding her hip, Calix
grabbed his engorged member and guided
it to her warm, wet opening, slowly easing
her down onto him, watching for the
moment he would see Anya’s eyes roll.
“Fuck,” his garbled voice ground
out as he became fully immerged balls deep
in the depths of her warm, tight, feminine
embrace. Closing his eyes, with his head
thrown back, as he relished the feel and
pleasure of being inside her body.
“Mmmmm,” Anya moaned in her
pleasure. She’d missed this feeling of being
completely filled by him. She tried to slide
up his ridged shaft to get the friction she
was so desperately needing from their
bodies, but was stopped by Calix.
“No,” Calix growled as he held her
firmly in place. “Let me just revel in this
feeling, in you,” he added softly. After a
minute, Calix opened his eyes and locked
his gaze with Anya before he once again
kissed her, making love to her mouth, and
then allowed her to move up and down his
length. He held on to her ass cheeks,
controlling their rhythm. He made certain
that she rode him nice and slow, making
sure that each time she came down, she
would take all of him inside her. After
releasing her mouth, he saw that her lips
were wet and swollen from his kisses.
Satisfied, he then lowered his head and
began to kiss every stitch and healing
wound she had while murmuring,
“Beautiful,” after every one. Their climaxes
built up slow as they rejoiced in the feel
and pleasure they got from the others body
as they made such passionate love, but just
because the buildup had been slow, it in no
way made their climaxes less potent. When
they came, they came together; it was the
cathartic release they both had needed.
Anya was given a clean bill of health
at her last doctor’s appointment. All her
stitches had been removed and having
followed a home remedy tip from Maria
she had been putting one hundred percent
pure vitamin E oil on her wounds as they
healed to lessen the appearance of the
scars she would have, and it had worked.
They were not puffed or ridged, they were
soft pink in color. Maria assured her that if
she continued, they would become pale,
almost flesh-toned and would not be as
noticeable.
They’d had another ultrasound
done, and were finally able to see their
little bean growing safely in Anya’s womb.
The measurements from the picture of the
baby on the screen were calculated, and the
doctor estimated the date of conception
was within a few days of their first day
together.
Calix had relaxed with his
cautiousness towards her, and they made
love to each night. He was still very gentle
with her and refused to take her rough and
hard, no matter how many times she would
bite him. But as long as they connected, she
didn’t complain as much. She knew it
would only be a matter of time before her
tiger was once again seen on the plains in
the sierra, so to speak. He still refused to go
to work and leave her alone. Even though
everyone was telling him that he was being
ridiculous, including his uncle Vito, but this
was one thing Calix would not back down
on. He made sure his business did not
suffer as he worked from his home office
and kept in constant contact with his VP,
making sure things were being properly
delegated and completed. And, when a
meeting was absolutely necessary, he
would do so over a video conference chat.
Calix had finally let go of the matter
of the assailant as his uncle began to get
pissed each time Calix would ask about the
search progress. His uncle would simply
thin his lips, tighten his brow, and reply,
“Let me handle this, Calix. Have you no
faith or trust in me?” Which made Calix feel
like an utter ungrateful dick, so he stopped
asking and left that matter to his uncle.
“Calix, one of my favorite movies is
on tonight,” Anya casually informed him.
Calix knowing better, gave Anya a dubious
look. “Oh, come on now, it’s not all that bad.
It’s a comedy.”
“The last time you said a favorite
movie of yours was on, you told me that I
would love it and that it wouldn’t be that
bad. I sat through nearly four hours of
listening to horrible British accents,” he
replied as he took another bite of the
delicious fettuccini alfredo Anya had made
them for dinner.
“I promise it’s nothing like
North
and South
. It’s a comedy, and not a classic.
It’s called ‘
My Life in Ruins’
.” Calix’s
response to that statement was only a
single lifted eyebrow as to say uh huh.
Anya smiled at that look and simply waited
for the answer she wanted, the answer she
knew he would give, because he was
unable to deny her just about anything.
Letting out an exasperated huff,
Calix gave in. “Fine, but I have to answer
some emails before it starts, and, if I hear
one British accent, I’m out of there.”
Anya giggled. “Promise you will find
it funny and laugh. It comes on right after
the news.”
Calix and Anya settled into
comfortable positions on the couch,
prepared to watch the movie. Anya had
drinks on the coffee table, as well as
popcorn and cookies. She was giving Calix
no way to leave the living room unless he
needed to use the bathroom. The news was
nearly over, and they were both looking at
the information packet their realtor had
sent them. Calix wanted to move. He
insisted that their baby needed a yard to
play in and even possibly have a pet.
Suddenly a news story caught both of their
attentions.
The news anchor reported the facts.
“And we have some breaking news. Police
are asking for help from anyone who may
have any information on the discovery of a
gruesome murder tonight. Any witnesses are
urged to come forward. An unidentified,
white male approximately thirty to forty
years in age, carrying no wallet or
identification was found beaten and stabbed
to death in an abandoned warehouse
downtown. Police say that this was no
mugging gone wrong. The state of the
victim’s body and evidence at the crime
scene tells police that he had been violently
tortured before he was killed. One police
officer was quoted saying, ‘I haven’t seen
such a horrible sight outside a horror movie.’
So, please, if you have any information,
contact your local police department. Police
have also set up a hotline to call if you wish
have also set up a hotline to call if you wish
555-0192, once again 1-800-555-0192. And
that’s all for this evenings local news. Thank
you and good night.”
people?” Anya gasped out.
“I don’t know, love.”
They both pushed the gruesome
news story aside as the beginning scene’s
music and opening credits of Anya’s movie
began.
