No More Tomorrows

Chapter 29: Angel and her Devil

I saw Aidan stiffen at Mattia's words and I didn't blame him. Nobody knew Bess was married and this guy was more than a little scary.

"Don't make me say it again. Get your fucking hands off my wife!"

Mattia took a threatening step forward and Aidan pushed both Bess and I behind him. Widening his stance and looking like he was getting ready to physically stop Mattia from getting near either of us if needed.

"I don't fucking know you man and until I do you better keep your ass over there. Bess has never mentioned a husband to me and the way you're speaking I can guess why. Look at her daughter in that hospital bed and think about the afternoon she's had. She does not need your aggression right now so settle the fuck down."

At that statement Mattia tilted his head so he could see past Aidan to make eye contact with his  estranged wife. 

"You're calling yourself Bess. Is that meant to be some sort of joke Angel?"

I could see Bess, I mean Angelique, bristle at his tone and was pleased to see that she wasn't looking as scared as she did earlier when she spoke of her husband.

"That's right Mattia, I've been Bess for years. And oh the fun I've had. Spreading my beautiful legs for so many men I've lost count. Making sure that they all walked away knowing Bess was the best they'd ever have. Isn't that right my darling. The very best."

There was definite snark there, but I could also hear underlying hurt. What had this man done to my friend.

"Shut your filthy fucking mouth!"

At that my temper flared and I leaned around Aidan to tell Mattia what I thought. 

"Hey asshole. Don't come in here yelling at my friends. If you don't cut it out I'll call security and they'll kick your ass out of here."

At that he gave me a nasty smile.

"Little girl I'd suggest you stay out of matters that don't concern you. This situation is so far beyond your comprehension I won't even waste time explaining it to you. In fact I think you and my wife's fuck buddy should leave. Otherwise I'll be the one calling security and having you escorted out." He then seemed to notice my scrubs and continued "and with one more phone call you won't have a job tomorrow."

At that Bess stepped around Aidan and walked straight towards her husband and stared up into his face. His eyes never left her. Taking in every feature with eyes that were both angry and hungry for her. 

"Stop threatening my friends. I regret calling you, more than you'll ever know, but now that you're here do you want to spend your time insulting people or do you want to know how la mia bambina is doing?"

At the mention of whatever she'd said his face softened and he stepped towards the other side of the bed from where Aidan and I were standing. They continued to speak in what I think was Italian

"What happened to her?"

"She was hit by a car. He was drunk."

His face got stormy with that information.

"Where is the driver of the car? "

"The police took him."

He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped some keys before looking back to his wife when she called his name. 

"Mattia. I want him dead for what he did to my daughter."

"Our daughter. Not your daughter Angelique. Our daughter and consider it done."

With that statement, whatever it was, he pulled her into his arms and crushed her into his chest. I could hear them speaking quietly but couldn't make out anything being said. 

After some time he allowed her to step away from him and she turned to Aidan and I.

"You guys can leave. Mattia has arranged for her to be moved into a private room with extra bedding for us to spend the night. I'll call you in the morning with an update."

She gave me a small, sad smile and the brave woman who had just confronted her husband was gone. It was like I was looking at another person and I didn't like it.

"Aidan and I can stay with you..."

"No! I will be staying with my wife and daughter. You do not need to trouble yourself."

He was glaring at Aidan but when he looked to me his face softened a little. 

"Thank you for taking care of my wife and daughter today. I appreciate it. But as she said, you can both leave and she will speak with you tomorrow."

Aidan was stiff as a board at my back and I knew I needed to get him out of here before things became physical. From what Bess had said her husband was a powerful man and I didn't want Aidan getting into something with someone who could possibly ruin his life.

"We will leave for now. But you." I pointed my finger at her husband as I spoke "need to understand that I love your wife and daughter and I will be back in the morning.  You can threaten my job. I don't care. She's more important to me than any job so don't think you'll keep them from me."

He gave me a surprised look before I stepped past him and pulled Bess into my arms. 

"Bess are you sure you want us to leave?" I spoke quietly but I knew he'd heard me and he flinched when I called her by the name she'd used for as long as I'd known her. 

"It's fine. I've got his promise that we will still be here in the morning and he will keep his word. He's a lot of things, but a liar isn't usually one of them, unless it involves his marriage vows." She gave a shrug and a sad chuckle, as if she didn't care what she was saying, but I knew her well enough to know she did care. She cared a lot.

He was watching her with an inscrutable look on his face. I didn't like this man for whatever he'd done to my friend but as an outsider I could see that he wasn't immune to her words. 

I walked back to Aidan and took his hand. Physically leading him from the room we both gave her a hug on our way past.

Looking through the door before it closed I saw her turn her back on her husband as he attempted to reach for her. She went to sit beside her daughter and he was left staring at her with a sad smile on his face.

** NOTE: A reader advised I'd offended her with the Italian translations I'd used with the help from a student/friend so I've removed them. They are now marked in bold/italics to show this is when Bess and Mattia are speaking in Italian so that Emily and Aidan cannot understand.