Pieces (Riverdale #1) (4 page)

     
 
Joe
took a sip of his wine, thoughtfully, before responding to the situation. “The
last six years, Lanza Automotive, grew, a name, a reputation. This expansion is
good. It’s the next step for the business.”

     
Luke nodded. “If we would’ve jumped into
all this six years ago, we might not be where we are now. We pull in good
business, just with repairs. This expansion is going to be the gravy as far as
I am concerned.”

     
“Cara can talk to Rudy, next time she
works the bar. I’m sure when he hosts the car show this summer he’ll give you
prime space to showcase the new cars too.” Jake added. Hell, he would be on
board, seemed good for everyone involved. Maybe down the road, he could
persuade his brother and Nick to restore old bikes too. He knew a couple of
riding buddies that would be interested in some custom bikes. He knew there was
a big market for all kinds of bikes these days.

     
“Definitely. I’m working tomorrow night.
I’ll throw it out there.” Cara said and she took a sip of her drink before she
continued, “I’ve been meaning to ask you Nick, if you found a place to rent or
if you’re still at the hotel?”

     
Deb’s eyes widened and she averted her
gaze, directly to Nick. “What do you mean you have been staying at a hotel?”

     
“Well of all the ridiculous things! Why
didn’t you tell us, Deb would’ve set the whole basement up for you until you
found an apartment,” Joe was just as outraged as Deb. It had always been in
their nature to open their home to any of their kid’s friends.

     
 
They had done the same for Cara, when they
found out that her father was beating her. Jake was spiraling out of control,
trying to keep her safe, and away from her father. When he had gone to his
parents, and explained what was going on, they drove her to her house. Her
father hadn’t been home, so she packed her things, and they brought her to live
with them for six months. He shook the thoughts from his head, trying to get a
hold on his emotions. Just thinking about those days, and seeing her beautiful
face, swollen and bruised, made him want to go find that piece of shit father
of hers, and torture him.

     
“It’s not a big deal, guys. For the last
six years I lived in a hotel. It’s got its perks, twenty four hour room service
and all.” Nick joked, trying to ease Deb and Joe a bit.

     
“Yeah, well that was before you were
home,” Deb said, disgusted with the fact.

     
“The reason I brought it up,” Cara said,
turning to look at Nick mouthed “I’m sorry,’ “The apartment upstairs from
Rudy’s is for rent. If you’re going to be a permanent fixture around here,
might as well give yourself a permanent address.”

     
Sam leaned into Jake, “Think you can tell
her to stop with all her great ideas? I don’t want him living at Rudy’s then
I’ll bump into him on Friday nights.”

     
“Tragic.” Jake said, rolling his eyes at
his sister. “Will you guys excuse me a minute?” He pushed his chair out, and
left the dining room. Suddenly he wasn’t in the mood for the casual discussion.
Thinking about how bad things had been for Cara with her dad, left a sour taste
in his mouth and his mind racing.

     
He made his way up to his childhood
bedroom, the image of Cara so badly beaten that one of her eyes was swollen
shut, kept flashing in his head. He shook his head viciously, as if he could
really shake the thought from his mind. He sat down at the edge of his bed and
threw his head in his hands, closing his eyes. He was lost in his thoughts, in
the demons that would haunt him from time to time. He could still hear her
voice, begging him not do anything to her father. He could remember how she
felt, trembling in his arms.

     
He had been asleep in this very room, when
he heard something hit the window. She hadn’t wanted to wake his family, but
she had needed him. When he went to the window, he could barely make out that
it was her, who was throwing rocks at it. She had a baseball cap on, and she
never looked up at him. Then her voice, full of tears, had told him it was her.
He could still remember, clear as day, when he opened the back door to let her
in. She was soaking wet, from the rain and shaking. She wouldn’t look at him.
And when he begged her to lift her head and she only turned away, he had a
weakening feeling in the pit of his stomach, kind of like he did now, just
thinking about it.

     
He had grabbed her shoulders and she
flinched, completely taking him off guard. That’s when he had figured someone
had hurt her. Ever so gently, he turned her around to face him. He slowly
removed the baseball cap, and to the best of her ability she looked up at him,
only one eye able to look into his. Tears streaked her beautiful face that was
full of black and blues and dried blood, his fists clenched then and now.

     
He couldn’t explain what he felt at that
moment, seeing her like that; he wanted to hurt the person responsible and hurt
them bad. He wanted them to feel the way Cara felt, if not worse. He pushed the
anger aside, and took her to his room. He cleaned her cuts, and put ice on her
bruises. He held her as she cried for hours, and didn’t say a word. When she
was ready, she would tell him, he figured, for at that moment she needed him to
assure her she was okay.

     
It wasn’t until the following morning,
when she told him that her father had been the culprit of her attack, and that
it hadn’t been the first time. He wished that she would’ve come to him sooner,
but she had explained that she was too embarrassed. He vowed that night that he
would never let anything bad happen to her again, and he was a man of his word.
He also vowed to make sure that Cara’s father paid for what he did to her.

He made good on that promise years later. He knew that the son of a bitch
would be driving a trailer out of Riverdale, filled with automotive parts.
Being a tractor trailer driver, these runs often sent him out of town for a
couple of days. He didn’t know where the trailer was headed, and he didn’t
care, he just knew he’d make sure it would never make it to its destination.

     
He had followed her father down the
interstate, when he pulled over at a truck stop, he made sure the motherfucker,
got his. Until this day, Jake couldn’t tell you what he did, or how he did it.
He had no recollection. He didn’t even remember, calling Nick and he only
assumed he called him because he didn’t want his brother involved when he had
Ava to worry about. He did remember sitting in the back of the trailer,
throwing car parts around. He thought he struck the lotto with the load her
father had been carrying, and knew that Luke and Nick would benefit from it. In
fact, he was in the trailer, when Nick found him that night.

     
 
“I don’t know where we are going to put all
this shit. We’re going to have to make a couple of trips.” Jake said as held a
bloody tire iron, clutching it as if his life depended on it.

     
Nick
just watched him for a moment, as he started kicking the contents of the
trailer around. “Jake, what the fuck happened here?” Nick asked, a little
breathless.

     
“What
does it look like happened? I got you what you needed.” He said, the adrenaline
pumping through him.

     
“At
what fucking expense,” Nick pointed to the front of the trailer. “That’s Cara’s
father! Are you out of your fucking mind?”

     
“I
know who he is, he’s a piece of shit. That bastard used to beat the shit out of
her. She didn’t get jumped like, you all thought,” Jake responded.

     
Nick
swiped his hands over his face.

     
“Jake,
I don’t even know if he is alive.” Nick said, frustrated while, Jake began to
throw parts of the truck onto the road below, aiming for Nick to catch them.
“JAKE STOP!” He jumped onto the trailer and grabbed Jake, who was shaking.

     
“She
didn’t deserve it.” Jake cried. “I should’ve been there for her. She’s always
there for me, always!”

     
“It’s
okay. She’s okay,” Nick said reassuringly.

     
Jake
pulled back and looked at Nick, tears falling from his eyes. “Oh my God, Nick.
What did I do?” He said coming back to reality.
 
And then the both of them turned, noticing the flashing lights.

     
“Jake,
look at me,” Nick said, slapping Jake who was frozen. Jake turned slowly and
looked at Nick. “You need to get out of here, you hear me?” He reached into his
pocket and grabbed his keys. He placed them in Jake’s hand and closed his palm.
“Take my car and go home. If anyone asks you anything, you don’t know anything
about what happened here. Are you listening to me?” Nick yelled.

     
“Nick.”
Jake started, but was cut off.

     
“Get
out of here now!” Nick shouted, and pushed him off the trailer. He watched Jake
disappear into the woods along the side of the highway.

“Freeze; Put your hands where we can see
them!” A police officer shouted. Slowly Nick lifted his hands above his head.
Within seconds, the cops had jumped onto the trailer and had him thrown on the
floor handcuffed.

     
That was all Jake remembered seeing,
between the trees, before he ran as Nick had told him too. He was just thankful
that Nick had been released, and the charges dismissed. To this day, he didn’t
know how Nick had managed that one, but he didn’t ask either. He tried really
hard not think about it. It only made him feel guilty. Cara had no idea that
Jake was the one that left her father beaten and bloody, or that Nick had been
arrested that night. Come to think of it, the only people who knew were Jake
and Nick. Jake laid his head against the pillows on the bed and closed his
eyes. He didn’t regret what he did; he only regretted that he wasn’t able to
stop Cara from getting hurt. If he had to do it again, he would, the only
difference being, he’d make sure the bastard was dead.

     
Cara insisted on being the one who made
the coffee, after dinner. First she busied herself making the regular pot of
coffee, and then she began the task of making espresso. Joe Lanza loved
espresso, and had even turned Cara into an espresso drinker, so one Christmas
she bought him a state of the art espresso machine. It was one of Joe Lanza’s
favorite possessions, only he had no idea how to use it. She was counting the
tablespoons of coffee when the kitchen door swung open. She looked over her
shoulder, not breaking her concentration, but just acknowledging who had joined
her.

     
Luke carried in an empty Cinderella cup
and headed towards the fridge, “We need a refill, for dessert.” He said,
grabbing the gallon of milk and motioning towards the Cinderella cup. “You need
a hand while I’m in here?”

     
She flicked the switch on the espresso
machine, and turned towards him. “Nope, all done.” She smiled at him, watching
him pour some chocolate syrup into the cup of milk. She leaned over and handed
him a spoon.

     
“Thanks.” He said and smiled at her,
taking the spoon from her hand, and dipping it into the milk, stirring in the
chocolate syrup.

     
“No problem.” Cara said. “Did Jake come
down yet?”

     
She watched as Luke shook his head and
then eyed the mudroom, which had a staircase that also lead to the second
floor, much like the one in the front of the house. “Why don’t you run up and
tell him desserts ready. I’ll finish up in here.”

     
She bit her lip, contemplating, “Alright,
if you don’t mind. I’ll be down before it’s done anyway.”

     
Luke laughed, but merely nodded his head.
“Okay, Cara. No worries, I got this.”

     
Her eyes widened and she went to tell him
that he had it all wrong, but figured it was pointless. Everyone assumed she
and Jake were just kidding themselves, so they both gave up trying to explain
their friendship. She hurried up the stairs and found his door closed. Never
being one to just barge in on anyone, she knocked softly. “Jake?”

     
When he didn’t answer her, she turned to
go back downstairs, but then turned back to face the door. He had excused
himself so abruptly at dinner, she thought. She knew he was exhausted, he’d
been complaining to her about it for a few weeks now, but to just leave the
dinner table like that; wasn’t Jake. She turned the doorknob slowly and peeked
inside his room. He was lying on the bed, peacefully. She stepped inside, and
quietly shut the door behind her. She leaned against the door and looked around
the room, and couldn’t remember the last time she had been in his room. She had
spent years in this room. When she was a teenager, she would hide out from her
father here, and when she turned twenty one she’d crash here after they had
been out partying all night. She bet if she opened the bottom drawer of his
dresser there would still be some of her clothes there, for the nights she
didn’t make it home.

     
She found herself smiling at the memories,
and strangely yearning to lay next to him, just like she did on those nights.
She bent down and quickly untied her combat boots, not giving herself a chance
to change her mind. She pulled the boots off and placed them neatly next to
his. Just a minute, she told herself, just lay next to him for a minute. She
climbed into the bed with such gentleness, careful not to wake him. She lay
completely still beside him before resting her elbow on the pillow next to him,
propping her head up with one of her hands. He still looked like that young man
always rescuing her, just some changes, like the barbell that pierced through
his left eyebrow and the tattoo that peeked out from the neckline of his shirt.
She smiled down at him, for every tattoo that he had, she was there when he had
gotten them done. She knew what each one stood and the order in which he got
them.

     
The one she stared at on his neck was the
same one she had on her hip. It read “Est. 1985”, marking the year the both of them
were born. It had been her first tattoo, and she was nervous, so he offered to
get one with her, and then he came up with the idea of them sharing the same
tattoo. It was the little things Jake said and did throughout the course of
their friendship that made him the center of her world. She loved him for
everything he was to her and everything he ever tried to be, and always would.

     
His arms were stretched behind his head as
he slept, so she nestled her body against his and laid her gently on his chest.
She held her breath when he shifted slightly, and peeked up at his face to see
if she had woken him. His eyes were still closed and his breath still labored,
she let out a sigh and relaxed her body against his. Lost in his scent, she let
her eyes drift close, and closed her mind to all her worries.

     
Jake wrapped one of his hands around her
waist, and her eyes averted down to where his hand rested on the hemline of her
sweater, and then back up at his face. His eyes were still closed, so she
figured he had done it subconsciously. Maybe he had been thinking of Joanna,
she thought, and that brought a frown to her face. She had no reason to be
jealous. She and Jake were just friends. She barely knew the girl, so she
couldn’t even dislike her, but for some reason she did. She stopped thinking of
reasons why she was turned off to Jake’s latest girl, when his hand slid under
her shirt.

     
She would’ve sworn on a stack of bibles
that she held her breath, but she couldn’t be sure. She knew she didn’t dare
move a muscle as his fingertips caressed her soft skin. Her tongue ran along
her bottom lip before her teeth sank into it, and when his hand moved further
up her stomach, she bit down so hard, she drew blood. She covered her mouth
with her hand, to muffle the gasp that followed the pain. She had to wake him
or something, because she couldn’t go on pretending this wasn’t happening. If
she did, she would only wind up inflicting more pain on herself. And then his
palm closed over her breast. She couldn’t make out the sound that escaped her
bloody lip, could it have been a moan? Or was it a shriek? Oh, what the hell
did it matter, she needed for her breasts to get a grip, and she begged her
nipples not to react to his touch. Defiant nipples, she scolded as they
hardened through her lace bra. She rolled her eyes before closing them, fucked,
she was definitely fucked. Why hadn’t she woken him yet? Oh, that’s right Cara,
because subconsciously you don’t want him to stop. Bad girl! Bad Nipples, God
damn it!

     
As if he knew all about the conversation
she was having with herself; he began to laugh. Her eyes sprang open just as he
pinched her nipple through her bra. She looked up at him, he had a full fledge
grin on his mouth and he was staring down at her under his hooded gaze.

     
 
“What?”
 
He said thick and in a mock innocent tone, before sliding his hand back
down her body and letting it rest on her hip. She cocked her head and raised
one questioning eyebrow at him, but he ignored her and buried his face in her
hair.

     
Cara swallowed hard. First off, she could
stay like this forever, wrapped in his arms. Second, she recognized the heat
that was inside her, and the need that was aching. She needed to get the hell
out of this bed, and stop driving herself crazy. But when she went to move, he
wrapped his other arm around her and brought her to rest fully on top of him.
Great, things were going great for her. “What’re you doing?” She whispered, and
closed her eyes when she heard her voice. She sounded like a god damn phone sex
operator. Bad Cara!

     
Jake ran his fingers down her back, and
sprayed his hands on her lower back, right above her ass. “Shouldn’t I be
asking you that?” He was still grinning.

     
“I… me? I just came up here to check on
you, well Luke told me to check on you and tell you that dessert is ready. And
you were sleeping so I, well, I, I’m rambling aren’t I?”

     
He nodded, and she wished she could wipe
that grin off his face. “Mmhmm. So dessert is ready, huh?” He said and his hand
slid into the back pockets of her jeans.

     
“Jake.” She groaned. “What’re you doing?”
She whispered, and leaned her forehead against his.

     
“I don’t know.” He said honestly as he
moved one of his hands to move the hair that draped their faces. He tucked it
behind her shoulder and stared at her face. Her eyes became lost in his baby
blues. Her tongue ran along her swollen lip, as his hands cupped her face.
“What happened?” He asked, noticing her lip, tracing his thumb softly over it.

     
“I bit it.” She whispered and when he
smiled she laughed slightly. A moment later his face changed, and she stopped
laughing.

     
“I want to make it better.” He whispered,
and he looked at her. He was demanding with his words, but his eyes asked her
permission. She hadn’t realized she nodded until his lips touched hers. It
wasn’t the first time they had kissed, throughout the years they’ve kissed a
lot, but they had always been drunk whenever they did. That was the difference,
this time they were both stone cold sober, and in his bed.

     
The kiss had started off soft and slow,
barely touching one another’s lips, just mostly exploring. She grasped his
shirt in her hands and pulled him closer towards her. They broke apart for a
moment searching each other’s face and then they reached for one another at the
same time. Their lips fused together, desperately. Jake’s tongue snuck out and
ran along her lower lip, soothingly. She didn’t feel any pain so she thought he
was seeking permission to enter her mouth, and she parted her lips. His tongue
accepted the invitation and slipped into her hot mouth. Their tongues caressed
and explored. Her teeth crazed his lower lip and her head began to spin. A sea
of emotions engulfed her, and suddenly she was fighting for more of him. Hungry
and eager, she found herself taking control of their kiss. She ground herself
against him and he moaned. He pulled back and let out a shaky breath.

     
“Cara,” he said breathlessly, as he held
her face in his hands. Shock and embarrassment covered her face. She touched
her lips; they were plump and moist from his mouth.

     
“I’m sorry.” She said, and scrambled to
get off of him. He reached for her, and caught her hips just before she could
slide off him. “Jake, just let me go, please.” She begged her cheeks reddening.
She had to get out of there now, before the tears that were threatening to
spill, actually did.

     
“Stop it.” He said softly. “There’s
nothing to be sorry about. Cara, look at me.”

     
She lifted her head and glanced up at the
ceiling, trying to will the tears in, but failed, and when they fell, she
quickly started to wipe at them. “Can we just forget this happened?” She said,
sniffling.

     
He sighed, taking her hand in his. “If
that’s what you want.”

     
His simple words made her look at him, and
not care if she cried or not. Did that mean he didn’t want to forget it happened?
She shook her head, it didn’t matter. She needed this to go away; she needed
things to be normal. They had been so careful not to cross any lines between
them, and then she went and did this. “I just- I can’t do this with you, Jake.”
She moved his hands from her hips and got off the bed, she needed space between
them.

     
“Cara, it’s not like I never kissed you
before.”

     
“We were always drunk!” She said quickly.
“This was different.”

     
“You’re scared.”

     
“No! Yes! I don’t know.” She pulled her
hair back and tied it up in a messy bun with the hair tie that was resting on
her wrist. “The only thing I know is that you are everything to me, and I don’t
want to mess that up. I won’t mess that up.”

     
Jake sat up, throwing his legs over the
side of the bed. He stared up at her. He was completely calm and that
infuriated her. She was a bundle of nerves and emotions and he was completely
unaffected, aside from the bulge between his legs. “You think I want to mess things
up between us? That this thing between you and me,” he motioned back and forth
between them with his hands. “Doesn’t mean just as much to me as it does to
you?”

     
She swallowed the lump in her throat and
bent down to pick up her boots. She knew very well that their relationship
meant a lot to him. She looked back at him when he stood up from the bed. He
didn’t advance towards her, he just stared at her.

     
“I’m not suggesting we jump into bed
together or even explore whatever the hell just happened here. What I’m saying
is we don’t have to pretend it didn’t happen. We can just accept it and move
on. The most important thing is that we don’t let it come between us.”

     
She stared at him. He was right, and she
knew it. So they kissed; big deal. So what if she couldn’t remember the last
time she was that turned on? They slipped up, a one shot deal. They could sweep
it under the rug and go back to the way things were. “You’re right.”

     
“So we’re good?” He asked hopefully, still
standing in the exact same spot.

     
She nodded, “We’re good.” She let out a
deep breath and the cocked her head to one side and looked at him. “I really
did come up here to check on you and tell you dessert was on the table. Are you
okay? You kind of left dinner quickly,” She tried to make her voice sound
casual, normal, or even concerned.