Chocolate and Italian Wine (Music and Mayhem Book 1) (17 page)

“Karisma, you’re so beautiful. I have to show you how much I love you,” he said.

She couldn’t breathe as she glanced quickly toward the door.

The intruder calmly said, “If you scream, I’ll make you stop, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

She could see him clearly now. The moonlight made his pale skin glow. His hair was blond and receding. His large round orbs were very light, pale, and grey. She whispered, “Please leave. My security guards will shoot you if they come in and find you here. You have to leave.” She began looking at the door, willing someone, anyone, to come through it.

“Look at me, Karisma,” the intruder said.

She didn’t want to look at him, but she did. Her body was shaking and she cringed as his hand slowly went out toward her.

“I won’t hurt you, my beauty. But we must make love tonight. We have to. I’ve been waiting for so long,” he said.

Her skin began to crawl with the fear that coursed through her. She was willing to chance a scream, but glimpsed the gleaming knife the intruder now held at his side.

“Take off your clothes, now, my love. We must complete the covenant,” he said. 

She remained still. Breathing now, her mind had gone into survival mode. “How did you get in here?” she asked quietly, gaze shifting from the intruder to his knife. 

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said with a self-satisfied grin. “I’m going to impregnate you with my child tonight. Everything is aligned. Tonight is the night.” His voice was excited, but low. “Now take off your clothes,” he said again, as he began to undress himself. Throwing his black sweatshirt over his head, he let it drop to the floor. He stood before her shirtless. He licked his lips. 

“Now your turn,” he said, fondling his erection.

Kari lunged forward to her nightstand and yanked the drawer open. She grabbed the gun, which was still in the spot Paolo had placed it, and swiftly turned it to face the intruder, whose pants were loosely hanging on his hips by now, the knife at his side.

“You won’t do it,” he hissed as he lunged at Karisma.

She scooted back and jumped off the bed, landing backwards on her butt. She slid backward across the carpeted floor and when her back hit the wall, she prayed she would not have to shoot him. He was coming at her. “GET OUT!” 

The intruder moved toward her slowly with crazed eyes, not caring about the gun and holding the knife straight out. She pulled back on the hammer and pressed her finger on the trigger, whispering, “No, no, no.” He kept coming. Then she squeezed the trigger ever so slightly and a whistling whizzing sound came out, which ended with a large splat on the man’s chest. He slumped down and forward, his hand brushing her leg.

Karisma stared in horror at what she’d done. Then, she expelled a high, petrified scream.

                                          ***

Amani heard the shot as he sat at his desk on the first floor of Karisma’s home. Inside the office with the door closed, he wasn’t sure whether the loud noise he heard actually was a gunshot. Who would be shooting in the house? Then he heard the scream. His heart in his throat, he moved tentatively at first and heard all sorts of movement upstairs.

People were running around everywhere and Stella was heading into Karisma’s room, the first one there, with Wolfe hot on her heels.

Wolfe was walking back out as Amani got there. “What the fuck happened!” Amani yelled, too afraid of the answer. 

With a terse and angered look, Wolfe walked up to him. “Karisma shot an intruder.”

Amani walked quickly past him on shaky legs to Karisma’s room. Stella was rocking Karisma, who had her eyes closed, in her arms. 

15

Paolo was on his way to Karisma’s, thinking about what he wanted to do with her as his bodyguard drove him toward her estate. He couldn’t stand the thought of her being in Europe, so far away from him, even if it wouldn’t be for long. There was no way he would not meet her there and find every opportunity he could to sneak in time with her. He was as addicted to her as he was protective of her. Being in love wasn’t something he was used to; and he’d do anything for her.

Despite Kari’s well-qualified security team, Paolo knew that his associates had different ways of doing things and knew how to create problems if they wanted to. He wished he could be honest with her, but it wasn’t the time. And now, with Maria Elena growing more unstable by the day, it was getting harder to delay sharing with Kari who he was. The time to come clean was fast approaching and that scared the hell out of him.

Paolo’s phone rang, which was surprising considering it was 1:45 AM. He glanced down at it.
Amani Mo.
came up on his caller ID. “Hello,” he said cautiously.

“Paolo. This is Amani Mohammed, Karisma’s bodyguard.” 

“Yeah, what’s wrong, Amani? Karisma alright?” he asked, instantly on alert.

“She’s physically okay. I wanted to make sure you were still on your way over. Karisma said you were.”

“I’m almost there. Why? What’s wrong?” Paolo asked.
Get to the damn point
!

“We’ll talk then,” Amani said.

“Talk now. What the fuck is going on?” Paolo asked.

Amani hung up. Paolo was irate and he barked to his driver. “Get to Karisma’s as fast as you can.”

The car pulled up and Paolo immediately noticed the cars filled with the curious bodies of the paparazzi, half asleep and half awake, staking out Karisma’s place in hopes of finding out something juicy.
This shit has got to stop
, he thought.

There was an eerie sensation in the air and Paolo’s instincts were telling him something was wrong. He trusted them and his heart began to race, his angst rising as the car came closer to her home.

The black Rolls Royce pulled up and Paolo got out, not waiting for anyone, and walked up the steps in a few swift strides. The door opened and Amani Mohammed ushered them in. Paolo’s heart was racing.

“Sorry for being vague on the phone. I didn’t want to say too much, just in case.”

“What?” Paolo shouted, not able to maintain any composure.

“Karisma shot and killed an intruder. He had ID. We’re checking him out to see who he is and why he was in her room. She said he tried to rape her,” Amani rambled.

“Where is she?” he said, already heading for the stairs.

“In her room,” Amani said. 

The door was shut and he didn’t want to barge in, lest he scare her more, so he knocked gently and then walked in. His eyes scanned the room, looking for her beautiful face. She was sitting on a couch that was against the wall. Stella was hugging her tightly and she was clinging to her, looking like she might fall apart if she let go.

“Kari, baby,” he said soothingly.

She looked up and squirmed out of Stella’s arms and ran into his, flinging her arms around his neck. He hugged her tightly, rubbing her back and caressing her hair. “Oh, baby. I’m so sorry.”

Then he pulled back from her and began to inspect her for injury. Wolfe walked over to them and said, “We found out he works for the security company. He manipulated the system.” 

“Shit!” Paolo exclaimed. “Where’s the gun?”

He reached behind his back and handed it over to Paolo.

“Was it still in the nightstand?” he asked her. 

She nodded. He walked her back to the couch, sitting and pulling her into his lap. She buried her face in his neck. He signaled to one of his men, who retrieved the weapon from his possession.

She couldn’t speak, but she clung to Paolo like he was her lifeline. Her body trembled and her eyes stung, but no tears would fall.

Paolo could feel her pain. “Hold on to me, baby, I’ll get you through this. I’ll take care of you. I promise.” He didn’t let go.

Wolfe coughed, having to interrupt the tender scene. “Paolo, we need to make a decision on what to do. We need to call the cops.”

“Not yet,” Paolo snapped. “How the fuck did he get in here without anyone seeing?”

Wolfe, though not intimidated, understood that someone on his security team dropped the ball. Jamil walked into the room and stepped forward to speak. “I’ve been able to find out from his ID that he worked at the security company we employ. He still had his badge with him. I got into their files and saw that he was assigned as a field service technician. Evidently he maneuvered his way around our system and got in without us knowing.” 

Paolo studied Jamil. He respected his straight forth demeanor and no nonsense way. They were qualities he greatly admired—despite the situation, which made him want to rip someone’s head off.

Karisma wiped her eyes and tried to stand up, but Paolo held her firm to him. 

“Where are you going?” he asked her. 

“The police need to be called, Paolo. I need to clean up,” she said.

He shook his head. “We can’t call them yet, babe. And even if we wanted to, you taking the time to clean up before calling them would not look good, okay?”

Karisma didn’t feel comfortable with what he said. “We have to. It was self-defense. He had a knife and was going to rape me. He wanted me to have his
baby.
He was insane,” she said softly but firmly.

“Fuck!” Paolo exclaimed. “The media is going to have a field day with this.”

“His name is, was…Carlton Davies,” Jamil said.

Paolo had been so consumed with Karisma’s emotional state that he hadn’t even realized that the dead man was laying on the floor beside her bed. That pissed him off further. How was she supposed to calm down with that reminder right there?

“How many times did you fire the gun, baby?” Paolo asked her, making sure her back was to the body.

“Just once. I hit him in the chest, I think,” she said. 

Wolfe confirmed. “One shot through the heart.”

Paolo had to take charge. “Stella, get Kari out of this room, okay?” he asked calmly.

“Please, come with me, don’t leave me alone,” Kari pleaded.

“I’ll be there in a bit, I promise, sweetheart, but I have to talk to your security for a minute, okay?”

She nodded and looked at Amani. “Go ahead, Amani. Work with him, okay?”

Amani nodded and Stella escorted Kari out of the room.

Paolo called out, “Kari. Don’t use the phone. Don’t call anyone yet, understand?”

“I understand,” she said, walking out of the room.

Paolo watched the two walk away and heard Kari mumble, “I didn’t even want to take the gun. Oh my god, what if it hadn’t been there?” Then she started to cry again.

              Sighing, Paolo ran his hand down his face. He had to work quickly. He pulled out his cell phone and touched the screen.

“I know it’s late. I need you to meet me at 152 Calmate Drive in the Hollywood Hills. How quickly can you get here?” Paolo asked.

Hanging up, he turned to the men in the room and said, “I have someone on the way in twenty minutes. Now let’s figure out how this prick got into this house,” Paolo said. He was clearly taking over and not about to leave any detail to chance or any other person that he didn’t trust completely.

                                         ***

Karisma sat on the plush, white sofa in the red guestroom, named so because all the accents in the contemporary decorated room were shades of red.

“What have I done?” she asked, closing her eyes. Stella came to sit next to her. She rubbed her shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry, Miss Kari,” she said. What else could she say?

“How in the hell did he get in here?” she asked. “I don’t understand how no one could hear or see anything.”

Stella didn’t know what to say. She just sat there shaking her head. Finally, she said, “I’m a light sleeper. I should have heard something.” 

Karisma nodded. “No, you’re not security. This is on them. It shouldn’t have happened. I’m scared, Stella. I didn’t want to shoot him.”

Stella turned Karisma to look at her. “You did what you had to do. He broke in. He tried to rape you. He had a knife, for goodness sakes! I am very glad that gun was there and you used it.” 

“I thought he was gonna kill me,” Karisma said, wiping her eyes and runny nose. “I wish I could call my parents. I need them.” Her knees were bouncing nervously and she looked down at her hands.

“You had no other choice,” Stella reiterated.

“Is he dead for sure? No doubt?” Karisma asked with a sadly pitiful look on her face.

Stella nodded. “Yes. He’s dead, Miss Kari. Most definitely.”

Karisma sighed heavily. “I need a shower,” she said, standing. “Please put these pajamas in the laundry room hamper. Make sure they are washed in the morning, actually, wash them right now.” She walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

After standing under the water for fifteen minutes, Karisma walked past Stella, who was reclining on the sofa.

  “Anybody say anything?” she asked.

“They called a man over to help. He got here about 5 minutes ago. Go see Paolo. They are in the room,” she said in that patois of hers. 

“How fucked up is this? And we’re supposed to go to France. How? Tessa’s in the hospital, and now, this,” she said on the verge of renewed tears. Holding them in, she walked into the hallway. She looked down the elongated corridor and saw Paolo’s men and her own security team moving around, seemingly, with the situation under control. They looked up at her, but only Amani and Wolfe said anything. 

“Kari, you haven’t used the phone, have you?” Amani asked. 

“No,” she said defensively. 

“Good. We can’t make it look like you were awake until after the shooting,” he said, looking at her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay, Amani. But this should not have happened. That man had a knife and threatened me with it. I don’t mean to sound crass, but I pay you good money to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen. Now look. That man is on the floor of my bedroom. I’ll never sleep in that room again. I need to know what happened and why, Amani.” 

“I understand. We know that he worked at the security company. He manipulated our system. There was no way to know that in advance. I’m sorry. Jamil and Omar are on with the company now.”

Karisma looked away. “Where’s Paolo?”

“He’s in the room with some of his men.” Amani looked at her like he wanted to say something more, but stopped himself. He nodded toward the active bedroom door. Instead, he added, “He’s got a lot of company.” 

Karisma frowned. She started toward her room. She stood in the doorway watching Paolo and his bodyguards, Aaron Andretti was also there and so was another man. She wrapped her arms around her waist.

Wolfe met her at the door. When their eyes connected, he pulled her into a hug. “How you doin’, Boss Lady?”

“Scared as hell,” she said. “Who’s the guy with Paolo?” 

“He’s a fixer. Like the chick on that show you watch on Thursday nights,” he referenced. She looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with her man. Even in this dire situation, he was sexy: and so in control. He extended his hand to her and called her over. She went to him and right into his open arms.

“You remember Aaron, don’t you, love?” he asked, turning her toward the men, rubbing her back soothingly.

               She extended her hand to Aaron. “Hi,” Karisma said, feeling so strange. All these men knew she’d shot someone. Gawd, this was all so fucked up.

“Miss Montgomery, I am sorry we are reacquainted under these circumstances,” Aaron said. 

“Sweetheart, I’d also like you to meet Vincent Duvernay. He’ll take care of everything,” Paolo said matter-of-factly.

Vincent took Karisma’s hand and shook it firmly. “Miss Montgomery.”

“Mr. Duvernay, thank you for coming,” she said. Then she looked around, noticing someone was missing. “Paolo, where is Clyde? Has anyone seen him?”

“He and some of your other staff are downstairs,” Paolo said, kissing the side of her forehead. 

“Oh,” she nodded quietly. “Everyone’s okay, then.”

Vincent Duvernay, with salt and pepper colored hair, and grey eyes to match, stood over 6’ tall and took command of the room. It was decided that Wolfe would say he shot the intruder. Paolo nodded, saying, “That will work.” 

Wolfe spoke up. “You want me to cop to it,” he stated, rather than asked. “How can it work? She was on the floor when we found her. What reason would I give for being on the floor?” Wolfe asked.

Karisma interrupted. “This was self defense. I have no problem with saying so.” 

“I do,” Paolo said. “It’s important that you not be tied to this scene. The public, while sympathetic at first, will turn on you later and your career will be in shambles,” he said, looking her in the eye.