“Fia?!” I tried to sound upbeat and happy, and not out of breath from pushing past bodies to answer her call. I was hoping that the concern and worry surging through me at the thoughts I’d just had didn’t come through the phone.
Sobbing greeted me on the other end.
“How. Bad?” I gritted out, feeling my blood pressure rise without knowing the full situation.
No one.
Not a single soul on this fucking planet was allowed to fuck with Devin Fia or Emilia. Those two women were my chosen family, my sisters, and I would protect them fromanything.
“L-lawyer. K-kick him-m ou-out. Now.” She managed to choke out in between sobs.
“I’m on my way, babe. I’ll call Em. We got you. I’ll call Mom too. Give her a heads up.”
“K-k-k-kay,” her voice kept catching as she tried to speak through her sobs. Hanging up, I pulled up the driving app and ordered a car, then called Em. Four times, back to back. The fourth time she answered, sounding like she’d been in the midst of having some fun. I hated having to ruin said fun, but I had an SOS that needed cashing in.
“Sorry for coitus interruptus,” was all I said when she answered the phone. Emilia laughed at my comment, likely shaking it off as she normally did. Because I did not want to think of another reason why she’d be laughing like that. I heard the deep rumblings of a man’s voice in the background, possibly a second man’s.
Good for her. Time to drop the hammer.
“It’s Fia.” I heard her gasp, some rustling, a thud and then a door close with a groan somewhere on the other side. Then all sound ceased on her side of the phone.
“No!” She said, sounding hurt while still being scandalized. I heard more rustling and an exasperated groan in the background. “What’d he do to her?!”
“Yeah,” I said walking off the bar’s patio onto the sidewalk to meet my Uber in two minutes. I needed to hurry up and get home. I put her on speaker once outside and started two deliveries. One for ice cream and a few other needed things from the store, and the other from takeout.
“How bad? Like on a scale of, ready-to-leave-him to burn-his-world-to-the-ground?” She asked, sounding like she was pinning the phone between her shoulder and cheek.
“Not entirely sure, but the choked sobs demanding a lawyer and getting him out now, tell me close to five-alarm fire,” I said while giving a smile and nod to the driver when he asked my name as I got into his car. I finished placing the orders, taking her off speaker phone asap. Emilia was dangerous on speaker.
You never put her on speaker phone unless it was an emergency, andeven then. She was not appropriate for others about ninety percent of the time. She was the one you just gave a knowing look to others about and made sure you had enough bail money for any shenanigans she pulled you into.
But she had the biggest heart, and was ready to fight for her family, which thankfully included Devin and myself.
“Shit,” I heard her say into the phone. A door opened and then her voice shifted to the other person who she had been in bed with, “I have to go,” more rustling and a few kissing sounds.
“My sister needs me. Call you guys.” I heard her rushing, someone shouting in the background as she sounded out of breath.
Guys?
“Yes. On my way. Her place right?” Her breathing was coming out in rough bursts as she shouted for a taxi.
“I need you to get a few food items that I can’t get delivered. Wine, booze, mixers, and all the greasy shit for the hangover cure. Anything else you think is a need. I’ll send you whatever it costs,” she whistled as I promised, basically an unlimited tab. I watched the buildings passing slower than I wanted as I rushed to my sister. I hated that she was going through this, alone in a cab, on the way back to her apartment.
“Got it. I’ll stop and grab everything. Are we talking around the world? One specific region?” She asked, after giving the cabbie the store’s address.
“Full tour and then some.” I added ruefully. I didn’t know what I was walking into, but this was by far going to be her worst breakup. I knew Devin had to be questioning her choice to try to reconcile, because ‘Once a cheater, always a cheater’, right? She used to tell that to whoever whenever someone asked her if she could or would ever forgive cheating. That was her motto, over and over.
But it was different with him. Because of him. He was her first real love. The one that festered and burrowed deep inside of her, showing her happiness and a warmth she’d never known from someone else. She worked so hard in school, but that was basically it. She had a few friends-with-benefit situations with a couple different men over the years, but nothing serious where emotion was attached.
I knew she’d most likely be on guard, having gone back on her own words. She was probably going to be a bit embarrassed and think we were going to call her out. I shook my head, knowing that Devin’s emotions and thoughts were probably going to be all over the place. She was probably goingover everything to see what she missed. Hopefully she was remembering that Emelia and I would always support her, no matter what her choices. I hoped she remembered that so it wouldn’t be another thing to weigh on her mind.
I hung up with Em, and started making other phone calls to move things along.
My job was to get the practical things done. I needed to make sure that she was covered and Caleb couldn’t just turn up whenever the fuck he pleased. It was her apartment, legally, the deed was only in her name. I called one of the five-star locksmiths that offered afterhours calls. He sounded grumpy as hell, probably because of the late hour and how late he’d be working if he took the job, but I didn’t care.
“Look. I don’t care about the price or the time. I know it’s almost eleven on a Saturday night, but it’s my sister we’re talking about here. I need it done. The sooner the better.” I waited in silence before hearing a sigh and the man told me someone would be dispatched and completed the job within the next four hours. I ended that call and moved on to a security company.
Her flat had a doorman, but I wanted her place to have cameras. I wanted it to have an updated alarm system. I wanted her to be safe because there’s no telling what could happen with either Caleb or his cheap knock off.
