I tensed, sensing that we were about to get to the really big stuff. Not that what had already happened to her wasn’t bad, but I knew it wasn’t why she’d said she wasn’t safe.
“That night, I had gotten a text from Thomas saying he needed to talk to me and it was urgent. He’d known I'd gone snooping and told me I couldn’t even begin to comprehend the shit I’d brought to my door. I didn’t answer him.”
Capri swallowed hard and ducked her head, not looking at me anymore. “The next morning I got a call from the police. Thomas was found dead in the parking garage of the building he worked at. They tried to say it was someone who held him up and stole his car. A robbery gone bad.”
She glanced back up at me and her eyes were full of fear.
“I know that’s not true, Paxton. Because whoever killed him, also killed my parents. It was their door that evil came knocking on. ” The fearful look was gone and replaced by despair, while tears streamed down her cheeks.
I’d been trying to let her get through the story and just listen but that wasn’t possible then. Lightly grabbing her hands, I pulled her toward me and right into my lap. She laid her head down on my shoulder, wrapped her arms around my neck, and soaked my shirt with her sorrow-filled tears.
“Get it out, I got you,” I whispered as I rubbed her back softly.
It took a bit for her to calm down, and that was okay, I was happy to hold her as long as she needed. After her sobs slowed, she picked her head up off my shoulder but she made no move to leave my lap. Another thing that was perfectly okay for me.
“My parents wouldn’t leave their home, their bakery, but they were scared for me. The cops had come by the shop to speak with all of us about Thomas, but my dad had asked me not to say anything about what I had found yet. I didn’t really understand why, but I trusted my father more than anyone.”
I heard some sniffles and knew she was struggling to keep it together. My hold on her tightened a smidge, letting her seek comfort as she needed it.
“The next day, he was gone for hours and when he returned, I was shocked at what he had. See, my father was ex-military like you and the others. He obviously still had connections. He’d come home with new identification for me and a bank account in my new name that had plenty of money in it. That day I went from Ginevra Sofia Capri Sullivan to Capri Anne Barrett.”
Capri let out a long sigh.
“Ginevra was my grandmother's name, Sofia, my mother’s, so I lost those and my dad’s last name in one swoop, but since I had two middle names, he’d left me with one at least. Capri was special to my parents because it is where they honeymooned in Italy, but it wasn’t tied to my family so he didn’t feel people would track me with that.”
Her voice trembled with emotion.
“They wanted me to leave for a while until he figured out what was going on. My parents saved my life.”
She turned her head then to look at me and new tears were filling her green eyes that shimmered with so much pain.
“But they lost theirs,” she said as her lips began to tremble.
And the sobs began again and racked her whole body as she buried her head into the side of my neck.
“S-someone shot t-them and I couldn’t d-do a-anything to h-help.”
“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry.” I lightly stroked the top of her head trying to calm her again because she was so worked up. Her body was shaking uncontrollably and it wrenched my heart at how broken she sounded. “We can finish tomorrow, let me take you and lay you down.”
Saying sorry was an inadequate response, but I was reeling from all the information that she’d given, and at that moment, I was more worried about how she was reacting to reliving those horrid events.
She shook her head back and forth against me. I heard her take a couple deep breaths, the air swooshing out against the side of my neck.
“I need to finish. I’ve never told anyone and I just have to get it out now that I started.”
“Okay, darlin’ I’m here for as long as you need me.”
Scooting down a bit so her head lay heavily against one side of my chest, she rested her palm on the other side, right over my heart. It started to beat in a steady rhythm at her touch. It wasn’t sexual desire that slammed into me right then, it was so much more than that. Her body curled into mine and her hand intimately rubbed back and forth over my body.
A heavy sigh escaped because I was highly affected by her caress.
It was the first time a woman made me truly feel like I wanted more than I’d ever thought possible.
I was jarred from my runaway thoughts when Capri’s soft voice pulled me back into her nightmare.
“I can’t tell you much because I didn’t see it. I heard yelling and gunshots so I went to look in the front of the shop. My parents, t-they were a-already dead. Lifeless, lying next to each other. When I m-made a sound two men turned toward where I was and I ran. But they were looking for me, I heard them say to call someone and let them know the bitch was there.”
Her nails dug into my skin.
