Baby Come Back(45)
I pushed in front of him to get out from behind the dumpster into the alley where at least there was some dim light from the street filtering in. He hauled me back against the dumpster with his free arm.
“You never told your family about what happened, did you Gina? I always wondered why you hadn’t. I mean, I expected your father, or maybe my buddy Pete to come and haul my ass outside and beat the shit out of me; hell, I figured that they might even go as far as calling the cops, but nothing. Why was that, Gina?”
He was taking another long drag off of his cigarette.
“It wasn’t to protect you. That’s for sure, mother f*cker.”
Just like that, the palm of his hand slammed against my cheek. I didn’t flinch. I stared at his dark, dead eyes. In that moment, I knew that Nick Camerucci was who he was, regardless of what drugs he was taking or what alcohol he was drinking. He was a monster.
“Smart mouth, Gina. Always the smart mouth.” I wasn’t sure exactly what Nick wanted with me, but I knew that I needed to kill some time before I allowed him the honor of showing me. Jo Jo knew I was out here; hopefully Tristan was looking for me by now.
“Give me one of your cigarettes, Nick. These Camels taste like shit.”
“Tell me what brand I smoke, Gina. Then maybe I’ll believe you want a cigarette.”
“May I please have a Parliament, Nick?”
“I’m impressed,” he said, giving me a smile. He handed me a cigarette, then flicked his lighter to light it for me. I prayed like hell my hand wouldn’t shake. Showing fear was the worst thing possible when facing a predator.
I took a puff on the cigarette, pretending that I enjoyed it. I assessed the situation at hand. Nick was dangerous; that was a given. Nick was most likely a sociopath; that too was a given. What was his purpose with me? That was what I needed to find out prior to his unleashing it on me.
“So Nick, why is it that you followed me out here?”
“I wanted to talk to you, Gina. I want to know why you never told anyone what happened.”
“Can I ask why that is so important to you?”
“I have a theory.”
“Why don’t you tell me what your theory is?”
“Oh no. That would really take all of the fun out of finding out whether my theory is correct or not.”
(What the f*ck? Think, Gina. What possible ‘theory’ would give him cause to think I would ever want to set eyes on him again - especially after all of this time? His mother’s funeral? My not being there?
It is all I have . . .)
“I guess it was pretty evident when I didn’t show up for your mom’s wake; and then hightailed it back to Atlanta before the funeral, huh?”
(Oh please, God. Let this be it.)
I could see his smile as he lit another cigarette.
(Bingo!)
“Go on,” he prodded, blowing smoke out through his nose.
“Well Nick, I thought I could handle it, you know, because I had loved your mom and all. I thought after all those years of not seeing you or thinking about you would have finally chased those feelings away. I was wrong.”
“Define ‘those feelings’ for me.”
(Oh f*ck! Not love - that doesn’t mean shit to him. What? What? What else is there?)
“You know I feel funny saying it, Nick. You obviously already know.”
“I want to hear it from your lips, Gina. Come on, I know it’s painful for you as f*cking proud and stubborn as you are, but you need to say it to me. In the end, you’ll enjoy it.”
(Say what?? Painful? Pain? That’s it!)
“The feelings that I got when you punished me, Nick. That wonderful feeling of fulfillment when you showed me who was boss.”
(My stomach was churning. I hoped to God that I was right. Where in the hell is Tristan?)
“Excellent,” he breathed, “That’s my girl.”
His voice had now taken a husky, sexy tone. Oh God!
“Does your man, Tristan punish you Gina?”
“He doesn’t know about that, Nick.”
“Really? He doesn’t know that you prefer pain to pleasure?”
I nodded my head.
“Do you remember that Valentine’s Day when you had an orgasm, Gina?”
(What the f*ck?)
“Yes Nick, I remember.”
“What else happened that night?”
“I got pregnant?”
“Exactly,” he said, his lip curling downward. “There was no way I was ever going to let that little bastard be born. You knew that, right?”
I nodded my head up and down.
“I never allowed you to have an orgasm after that either, right?”
I nodded my head up and down again.
(This mother f*cker is sicker than I had ever imagined.)
“I mean, it would have spoiled everything between us, don’t you see? No, I suppose you don’t. I know all about you having that baby now,” he spat. “Teresa understands . . . now. She didn’t at first; I had to abort our first baby by myself. She doesn’t enjoy pain like you did. She is more fragile than you, Gina. After that, I made her get her tubes tied. No sense in putting her through pain that she doesn’t enjoy, right?”
“It makes sense to me, Nick.”
“Then why are we wasting our time just standing here, Gina? We both know what we want and how to make it happen.”