Freefall (Santa Cruz Skydivers Book 1) (21 page)

“Keep your hands away from my sister.” Tony’s face screwed up with rage as he walked toward us and shoved Levi hard in the chest.

Unfortunately his shove pushed Levi into me and, while Levi managed to stay on his feet, I didn’t. I went down with my arms spinning wildly, falling hard on my ass, taking a few pictures from the wall with me in the process. My butt hit the wooden floorboards with a loud thud. Unbearable pain shot up my spine while, simultaneously, picture frames landed beside me, their front glass cracking and breaking as they smashed and bounced on their wooden frames.

As I hit the ground, automatically, I shot my hands behind me and tried to lift my ass off the floor to ease the sharp pain in my tailbone. Slivers of glass from the photo frames cut into the palms of my hands. I cried out in pain as the small glass splinters embedded themselves in my skin.

“I think I’ve broken my coccyx,” I cried out as Levi came to my rescue and shoved Tony back. Like my own superhero, he then scooped me up in his arms.

The commotion was enough to bring my parents running into the hall. Papa’s hand was on his heart and Mom was fanning herself with her favorite red dishtowel embroidered with the Golden Gate. Tony held them back while Bobby, who had finally gotten over his shock of seeing his baby sister hooking up in the hallway of the family home, took control of the situation.

He slipped off my Converse to touch my feet. “Andi, can you wiggle you toes?” I obliged and he ran his fingernail up the inner sole of both my feet, triggering my tickle reflex. Hating being tickled, I kicked out at him.

“I don’t think your back is broken. Now show me your hands.”

Holding out my hands palm-side up to my brother, Levi shifted his weight slightly and tightened his grip on me. I expected my hands to be shredded given the amount of pain I had been in. They weren’t. There was only the tiniest amount of blood. As it was, there was only a few glass splinters in each hand.

Bobby rolled his eyes at me. “Geez, talk about an overreaction. I’ll get these out no problem. Andi, I can’t give you an official diagnosis on your spine, but I’m pretty sure you’ve just bruised your coccyx. Go wait in the sitting room for me while I get the tweezers and some iodine from the medicine cabinet upstairs.”

Bobby took off up the stairs two at a time. Tony glared at Levi and Papa looked pale.

“Point me in the right direction,” Levi said to me.

Small electric currents continued to shoot up my back, causing me to spasm slightly. “I can walk.”

“I’ll carry you,” he said, smiling tenderly at me. “You’ve got no shoes on and there is heaps of glass on the ground.”

My heart surged at his tenderness. I wanted nothing more than to kiss him right then, but Tony cleared his throat rudely getting our attention.

“Papa, you look like you need to sit down. Mom, why don’t you take Papa into the kitchen and get him a glass of red?” he suggested.

My mother protested to Tony, holding out her hand to indicate at me. “But...Andi. She needs me, and I need to clean up this broken glass. I don’t want little Stella cutting herself when she gets here.”

Tony spoke Italian to my parents. It wasn’t often they spoke Italian around me, knowing I didn’t understand. Things were usually serious when they did, and it was times like this I wish I understood. My mother nodded her head in agreement with Tony and linked her arm through my father’s and led him away, both my parents looking at me like I was a huge disappointment. Anger riled inside of me.

“What did you say to them, Tony?” I demanded.

“Just that I’m not happy about this whole situation between you and Captain Kangaroo here. You’re too young and naive to be involved in a relationship.”

Now I was really pissed. Tony had no right. “Who asked you for your opinion? You don’t speak for me. Just because you can’t keep a girlfriend doesn’t mean I should pay for your mistakes.”

It was at that point I knew I had pushed Tony too far. I despised his over protectiveness, and, at times, him. His deep blue eyes narrowed and his face went from his usual olive competition to bright red. Veins on his neck stood out while he wrestled with his anger. Right at this exact moment, he epitomized the typical Italian with a short fuse.

Tony avoided looking at me, instead glaring at Levi, and pointed his hand in the direction of the family sitting room.

“Take her to the sitting room,” he commanded through gritted teeth. “Then get the fuck out of our house.”

“You don’t have to go anywhere, Levi,” I told him, grabbing a hold of his face with my fingertips, making him look at me. “This is my house, too, and I say you can stay.”

Levi looked at me with a bemused expression on his face, clearly unfazed by my sibling bickering. By this time, Bobby came bounding back down the steps.  “I thought I told you to wait in the sitting room?”

“I would’ve, but Tony is being an absolute ass right now,” I said.

Bobby took one look at Tony and took a step back in case Tony blew a fuse, which was highly likely. “Well that escalated quickly.”

“Bobby, how can you make a joke when this douchebag had his hand up our sister’s shirt? Look at his black eye. Fuck knows where he’s been and what he’s been doing, especially with our sister. Look at her elbows.” Tony missed nothing. Pure hatred contorted his face.

“It kind of looked mutual to me, to be honest, Tony. Last time I checked, Andi was twenty-one and a consenting adult,” Bobby said. “Who are we to judge her taste in men?”

I could have cheered for Bobby.

“But…still doesn’t make it acceptable,” he continued. “There’s always a time and a place, and in the hall of your parents’ house isn’t that time. Now, kids. Can I trust you to keep your hands to yourselves while I clean up Andi’s wounds?”

“Ha fucking ha, Bobby. There’s no need to be condescending,” I retorted to his smart ass remark. “Levi, as much as I love you holding me, I’m actually starting to feel really silly. You’d better take me through to the sitting room so Bobby can clean me up.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Levi said with a fake southern accent, and tipped his head at me.

He carried me through to the sitting room, and once we were clear of any glass, he let me stand, but kept his arm around my waist, keeping me tight against his body.

“Andi, I’m gunna take off,” he said softly, leaning into me so only I could hear. “Your family isn’t going to accept me. Not now anyway. Not after that whole circus act.”

“Please stay,” I pleaded. “They’ll come around, I promise.”

“Maybe. But it won’t happen tonight.”

He was right, but I didn’t want to admit it. All his good work had been undone in less than a minute by my asshole brother, and now I had to stay here and have family dinner with all of them.

Careful not to catch at the glass in my hands, I folded my arms across my chest and looked away from him, scowling. “Fine.”

Levi placed his finger under my chin, tilting my head, and gently pressed his lips to mine. My lips parted and I exhaled a contented sigh. Damn him and his stupid curse over me.

“Stay the night? At mine?”

I nodded.

“I’ll be waiting.” He brushed his lips lightly against mine.

My brothers finally joined us in the room. Levi raised his voice, still addressing me, but wanted my brothers to hear what he had to say. “Don’t worry about seeing me out. I’ll see you another time.”

He turned away from me and shoulder bumped Tony on the way past. I held my breath, waiting for Tony to explode. No one did that to him and got away with it. Tony turned toward Levi, raising his fist. But before he could do anything, Bobby latched onto his wrist and shook his head at him.

“No, bro. Leave it,” he said.

Tony looked at me, a fire burning behind his eyes. Something was going on, and I would find out one way or another. Heaven help my brother if he was planning on breaking Levi and me up.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Levi

Well wasn’t that a right royal cock up? I was pretty sure things couldn’t have gone any worse. Guilt seeped into my core from the rift I had created within Andi’s family. Grabbing my jacket from the hook, I let myself out to the sound of Andi hurling abuse at her brother and closed the door softly behind me. As I walked the walk of shame, I shoved my hands into my jeans front pockets and made my way back toward my Harley parked on the street, passing a young family walking hand-in-hand along the sidewalk. I recognized the young family from a photograph on the family wall of fame.

Andi’s eldest brother stopped to pick up his daughter, letting me pass. In doing so, he not so subtly sized me up. His young daughter, the exact replica image of Andi in mini-me version, looked at me with those big blue eyes.

“Who dat, Pa-pa?” she asked in her squeaky two-and-a-half-year-old voice as I walked past.

“I’m not sure, Bella
,
”
her papa replied. “Maybe he’s Uncle Bobby’s friend.”

“No! He
my
fwend,” she said, just like she would a toy she wanted.

I smiled. She was like her aunty in looks and nature.

“No, Stella, you don’t know him,” the petite blonde walking with them said. “He’s a stranger. It’s dangerous to talk to strangers.”

My heart dropped. Even though it was a standard warning to a young child, if only she knew how close to the truth she really was. In one sentence, this woman who had never met me, or even knew that I existed, had summed me up. She couldn’t know that I felt the same way. Every day when I woke up and looked in the mirror, I was met by a stranger. I wasn’t the same person I used to be. Being with Andi, though, I had felt a glimmer of my old self returning. But who was I kidding? My choices shaped me. I was deluded thinking I could have a happy life and a loving relationship.

I deserved every bit of my pain and heartache. I had gone against my own rules and had fallen in love...got in too deep. It was Andi I thought of now. Poor, sweet, innocent, loving Andi, who acted tough, but was soft and insecure on the inside. She was the one who was going to suffer. The world was against us. Her family. My father. As for me, I was used to shit being thrown my way. It appeared the ball was in my court and I was at a crossroads. Should I go left, and take Andi with me down the path that was only sure to hurt her and her family? Or should I go right, and leave her behind? A decision that would hurt us both, but in the long run, would be better for her?

There was no right answer. This was her family, they loved her. But I needed her. I looked at her house one final time before I jumped on my Harley and rode away. I had no destination or plan other than to let the rumble of the engine engulf me, push away my guilt and concerns about Andi. Even if it was if only for now.

As I rode, the sound of the bike and the smells of the fresh air washed over me, and I forgot everything. It was just the bike, the elements, and me. I was soaring like an eagle, weaving my way around cars and accelerating hard out of corners. It was an escape from the twisted mess of a life I had created for myself. Too many secrets and lies. The moment I had called in Derek was the greatest mistake of my life, and I had no idea how I could end his control over me. Now Andi was involved.

For the next couple of hours, I rode hard and fast along all of my favorite roads until the final rays of the sun disappeared. Everything needed to be perfect for her tonight—that was if she still came. After parking my Harley in the underground parking lot and using my secure electronic key, I rode the elevator direct to the penthouse apartment. The doors opened directly into the foyer, and I walked inside. Only I wasn’t alone.

“Taylor. How the fuck did you get in here?”

“Derek thought it best if we meet in a more private setting,” she purred. “Thought it best we be alone and discuss our future.”

She was sitting on my favorite couch, in a micro mini dress, tits all but hanging out. If she thought she was turning me on, she had another thing coming. She looked me dead in the eyes and adjusted her crossed legs, ala Sharon Stone, wearing the same amount of underwear.

Her move angered me. “There is no future to discuss. We are through... We were through the moment you cheated on me with your director.”

She stood, pulled down her skirt so it barely covered her ass, and walked over to me. “LJ, what happened to your face?” she asked, and reached up to brush her fingers across my cut.

“Your
ex-boyfriend
decided to come looking for me last night and let me know what he thought.” I grabbed her wrist, pushing it away before she could touch me.

“And you let him beat you up?” she asked, mocking me. “What’s happened to you?”

“I don’t fight anymore, Taylor. Ben’s my friend. He was upset and drunk.” I gritted my teeth, determined to not let her get under my skin.

“The Levi James I knew would never back down from a fight, drunk friend or not. You’ve changed. Don’t you remember the parties in LA, the good times? Oh man, you were wild.”

“I remember LA all too well. The drugs and the sex...”

She cut me off. Her eyes undressed me, starting at my face and ending up on my cock. “The sex was the best. Us, high on cocaine, fucking for days on end. LJ, you can’t deny our connection. You have always been the one for me.”

“Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you broke us up?”

“You left me, remember? I didn’t ask you go.”

“You gave me no other choice!” I was near yelling now.

“Oh please, Levi, calm down.” She rolled her eyes. “The affair meant nothing. It was publicity for the movie. I told you that.”

“You can’t justify cheating, Taylor. I was hurt and humiliated. Photos of you sticking your tongue down that douchebag’s throat, with your hands down his pants, were plastered all over the Internet and tabloids. Bottom line is, you cheated, and you probably have a sex tape of it, too.”

Her face was pure ice queen. “I’ll never do that. Sex tapes are for reality stars.”

“Oh, forgive me. Didn’t realize you had a standard.”

“This is getting us nowhere, LJ. That is all in our past. Derek wants us to consider his proposal. Just try it on for size. You never know, it might grow on you. We are made for each other.”

“There is nothing you can say or do that will make me want to take you back in my life,” I told her. “I’m with someone else now. She makes me feel like you never did.”

“Who?”

“Not that it’s any of your business. But it’s Andi.”  A wave of warmth washed over me at the mention of her name.

“The check-out chick? You fucked the check-out chick?” Taylor’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Derek will never allow you to shack up with some cheap ass whore that works at Costco.”

“That’s the last time you say that about Andi.” I pointed my finger at her, inches from her face. “And I couldn’t give a flying fuck what Derek says. He has no say in my life. He can’t dictate to me what I can and can’t do.”

She pushed my hand away, raising her voice, completely pissed off at me. “I know what happened to you, LJ, after you left me. I know about the underground fights and how you almost killed that guy. And I know that Derek bailed your ass out...”

I grabbed her roughly by the upper arm, my fingers digging into her flesh. My anger boiled over. “Shut the fuck up. Leave. Now. Before I do something I’m going to regret.”

“You’re hurting me,” she whimpered.

I relaxed my grip, but still didn’t let go. “Those records have been sealed. No one knows about it. Did Derek tell you?”

She nodded her head, finally knowing she had pushed me too far. “Yes.”

My mouth clenched hard in anger at the game my father was playing. I pushed her away. “Get out.”

I saw straight through his thinly veiled plan. This was outright blackmail. Taylor was only a pawn in his little chess game to control me, but I also didn’t doubt her own motivations. Taylor only loved one person—Taylor. She would have a reason behind this.

She gathered her belongings from the couch. I followed her to the elevator, punched the ground button, and held the doors open to deliver my warning.

“You and my father can both go to hell. Go back to LA, Taylor, and don’t come back. Next time, I may not be so hospitable.”