WOMANIZING PAST EXPOSED
"Ennui," Farron spat. "What the hell are you doing here?"
* * *
How long had it been since he saw her last? He had been an unofficial member of the Huete family. Mateo had broken away from the cluster to return home for a few days to be Farron again. It was the only time he felt sane. Of course, he hadn't expected to find Frank at home, with his new fiancé no less. He had been taken by Ennui's beauty right off, and he hadn't forgotten the little game he used to play with Frank once his brother had begun dating. Immediately, he noticed how Frank had tensed when he reached out to take Ennui's hand. He tried to resist the temptation to seduce Enni, but it was clear to him that she wanted him. Farron realized that he should have grown out of his juvenile game of stealing away Frank's women, but he hadn't. All it had taken was a few moments here and there when he was alone with Enni. It was hard, of course, because Frank understood Farron's proclivity toward betrayal, and he didn't leave Enni alone very often. When he did, Farron found himself playing to her weaknesses. Deep down inside, he hated himself for that, but he couldn't help it. He enjoyed a challenge and equally enjoyed drawing women away from his brother.
The day before Farron took Enni to the clubhouse, they were alone together in the living room. She had sat on one side of the room and he on the other. He had forgotten exactly where Frank was that day, but somehow, the two had wound up sans Frank. Farron played it cool and didn't say much, but he noticed that Enni would glance at him when she thought he wasn't looking. She was definitely intrigued by him; he could see that in her eyes. The 'good' part of his brain told him to back away, to leave it alone and to allow Frank to marry her. Yet, the 'bad' part of him [which seemed to always win] pushed him onward and upward. Farron left his spot and casually strolled near her. His mother kept a bookshelf very close to where Enni had seated herself, so he decided to look for a book. If her eyes followed him, he would move in. If they did not, he would move back. Of course, her eyes followed him, exactly as he expected. It was enough for him to proceed.
Casually, he stood in front of the bookshelf and pretended to search for a volume. He wasn't a bit more interested in reading than he was priesthood, but it gave him an excuse to stand near her. She couldn't see the smile that framed his lips as she moved down the length of the couch and sat at the end farthest from him. Oh yes. It was more than clear that his presence disturbed her. He could use that to his advantage, oh yes he could. He grabbed a book and stepped back from the shelf. Accidentally on purpose, he sat on the couch at the opposite end. She was quite tempted to get up and leave the room, but she didn't. It was her biggest mistake. If she had left as she wanted, the scene in the clubhouse would have never happened. Farron turned his body toward hers as if he was simply stretching out to 'read' his book. His foot bumped her leg [on purpose, of course] and she jumped as if she had been shocked. She did get up at that point, but she really didn't get that far. He grabbed her hand as she passed him, drew her body down, and lifted his up. He kissed her tenderly, but with immense passion. She tried to break away, but the moment his tongue touched hers, she gave up entirely. There was no use fighting. The only thing that kept her from fucking him then and there was the fact that they could be caught. Farron noticed that when she pulled away, it was done with great reluctance. He completely devoured her with his eyes and made it no secret that he wanted her. She managed to get up enough nerve to leave him, but he knew she wouldn't leave for long, and he was right.
Very early the next morning, Ennui left her fiancé in bed. She was invited on a shopping trip with Donovan's sisters and mother. She begged off, stating that she had a tremendous headache and didn't feel well. Her excuse was only a little lie. She felt rotten, of course, but it had nothing to do with physical sickness. The moment Farron kissed her, she could have easily forgotten Donovan existed at all, and that thought horrified her. She loved him, had agreed to marry him. Yet, she had kissed his brother and would do it again without provocation. She wasn't stupid, she knew Farron's only interest in her was her body, but she didn't care. She wanted him. Why lie? She found herself drifting out to the back porch. It was where Donovan had proposed, and she thought that by visiting that location, she would feel better, feel more secure in her love for him. Again, she had made a huge mistake. Farron was outside, seemingly awaiting her. She moved past him yet again, and again, he grabbed her hand. Without an ounce of shame, he dragged her down onto his lap and kissed her. She pulled away, begging him to stop, begging him to let her go, but he would not. He kissed her again, and her fight died. Once having begged him to stop, she now begged him to fuck her, and of course, he would oblige that request without question. They could not go inside the house because Donovan was still asleep. His eyes fell on the clubhouse. Perfect.
The two of them went into the dark little building and literally ripped each other out of their clothing. He backed her body against the sturdiest wall, and within moments, he was inside her. The game of betrayal he played so well, the game he had played so excellently all his life, had taken on a new height. It drove him forward, causing him to literally beat his body into hers from the sheer thrill of it. He had actually pulled off something he had never pulled off before. He had stolen dozens of Frank's girlfriends, but never had he managed to draw away a fiancée, a woman he had intended to marry. It was that thought which drove him relentlessly. As was his standard, he didn't stop and give in to his release after she met hers. Instead, he held back and went on and on, pounding into her mercilessly. The only thing that stopped him was the slice of sunlight entering the room as the door came open. Enni gasped audibly, not from pleasure, but pain.
Farron didn't immediately turn around. Inherently, he knew Frank had found them. Enni whispered 'vigoureux' just before the door slammed closed again. Even that didn't stop him. He pressed forward harder and faster than before and didn't let up until he experienced a climax so intense that he thought he might die right then and there. Then and only then did he feel the first tinges of remorse. Although Enni hadn't exactly tried to shove him off her, she began to cry and whispered 'what have I done' over and over. All the while, her arms were wrapped around Farron's body tightly. Farron hung his head just a bit, and wondered what kept forcing him to hurt his brother so badly.
Realizing what she had done, what she had lost, Enni broke away from Farron, shoving him back with force. Clumsily, she began searching out her tattered clothing, trying to get dressed in the dark. Farron tried to stop her, but she was a woman on a mission. She tore out of the clubhouse, dressed just enough to cover herself, and ran toward the house. Donovan had completely left. He hadn't bothered packing or anything. He simply hopped into his car and sped away. Oh God, oh God, oh God. She turned around as she heard Farron entering the house. She went to him and slapped him, trying her best to claw out his eyes. However, he took hold of her arms and kissed her. Instead of backing away from the damage he had caused, he pressed forward again, lowering her to the floor. Before she knew what was happening, she was stripped from the waist down, and Farron's tongue was inside her, pleasuring her as immensely as the male part of him had just done moments before.
Ennui didn't want to hang around the Donovan family home after that. She didn't want to face Donovan's family and explain the sudden absence of her fiancé. Although a bit of a bastard, Farron understood her dilemma. Years earlier, he had learned to copy his brother's handwriting, and he sat down and wrote his mother a note stating that Frank had had to get back home due to an emergency. Voila, awkward problem solved. Not exactly sure how long he wanted to have Enni around, Farron asked her to come with him back to South America. The time away would help her, he reasoned, and perhaps she could then return to Frank. Then again, he knew his brother well, and realized that he would probably never see Enni again. Still, he managed to persuade her to come along with him.
Ennui was stunned to learn of Farron's double life, but at first, she enjoyed the excitement and the glitz. Even though Farron was a top cocaine trafficker, he never touched the stuff. The only drug that held him captive was sex, and he could never wean himself away from that. However, it didn't stop Ennui from partaking of the white powder on occasion. It seemed to lift her spirits, to help her forget what she had done to the man she loved, to the man she still loved. It didn't take long for her to become a full-blown addict. At that point, Farron's infatuation began to fade. He loved women, he loved all kinds of women, but he couldn't tolerate those addled by a substance. Not only that, but he had also started to separate a bit from the Huete gang. They were swiftly turning away from drugs and moving toward a different type of trade. The leader, Alca Huete, had begun to collect women to use for prostitution. Once dealing solely in cocaine, he now dealt in flesh. Farron wanted no part of that. He had asked Ennui to break away from the life, to leave before she was destroyed or seduced into the ring. However, she was so far gone in her addiction that she completely refused. On the day he was slated to return to Miami, he had caught her in bed with el jefe. He had paid for her services with cocaine.
* * *
Farron stood at his door, remembering his past, remembering the betrayal [yet again and again]. He had fixed his eyes on Ennui's, not believing what he saw before him. The last time he had had contact with her, she was in bed with Alca Huete, her body so riddled by cocaine, that she looked almost…skeletal. Now, she stood before him looking only a few years older, but much healthier. How in the world had she found him? Why had she sought him out after all this time? He was so stunned that he honestly didn't know what to do.
"Tibio," she whispered, using his pet name. "Would you please let me come in? I need to speak to you."
Not sure what he should do, he simply stood back and allowed her access to his apartment. He closed the door behind her and when he turned around, he noticed that she had seated herself on his modest couch. He didn't understand how so many ghosts from his past could find him, could come back to haunt him. Was it some kind of moral test? He was trying to straighten out his life, for God's sake, and he was faced once again with another temptation. Yet, Ennui wasn't quite a temptation anymore, was she? Frank hadn't given her another thought [or so he assumed] in a few years. He was married now and had a beautiful baby girl. Farron wondered for a moment why she had come to him and not to Frank. Did she know Frank had married? Did she care?
A few years ago, he had literally seduced her to betray her fiancé, herself, and her sanity. At that moment, Farron was completely terrified of approaching her. He didn't know what to make of her. "How did you find me? No one knows I'm here, including my former hermanos in Florida and Colombia. The Ortiz gang is nonexistent, and I haven't spoken to Huete in years. How did you do it, Enni? How?"
She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. How long had it been since she had heard someone calling her 'Enni?' She had been Alca Huete's la puta primera [top whore] for so long, he and his men had dubbed her 'Primera.' She was certain that they didn't know her real name, and if they did, they probably didn't care. Ennui Principio had died, only to be resurrected just a few short months ago. "One of Alca's men was with the Ortiz outfit before it was broken up by the federales, and he returned to him. He knew Mateo, knew that he had escaped. I came to Chicago because it's where I met Frank, and I thought that if you had left, you would be here near your brother."
Farron gawped at her. "Frank? You've contacted Frank," he spat.
He didn't believe that, didn't believe she had been bold enough to approach Frank, not after what had happened before she fell off the face of the earth. She was still so very breathtakingly beautiful. He wondered how she could be so strung out for so long and still look so wonderful. However, he did see hardness in her eyes, bitterness. She looked the same, but probably wasn't the same inside at all.
She shook her head. "No, not exactly. I wrote him a very long letter and apologized for what I, for we, did to him. I would like his help as well, and I want to apologize face-to-face."
The look in her hardened, embittered eyes told a different story. She didn't want to do anything 'face-to-face' with Frank that didn't involve elbowing her way back into his life. Apparently, she had done her homework on him, but had failed miserably with Frank. "Enni, you do realize he's married now? You do know he and his wife have a daughter? You knew this, didn't you? You must have done your homework on Frank as well, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten his address."
Something in her eyes changed, but she was trying to keep it from showing. "I sent the letter to him at the regional FBI office, and I'm sure he received it. But I didn't know Frank had married or that he has a child now."
He smiled a little. "I didn't think so. What do you want from me, Enni? If you came for Frank, I can't give him to you. He's very much in love with his wife, and I don't think he would bend, even for you."
"Would you please sit down, Tibio? I want to tell you, but I can't talk to you like this."
He didn't want to approach her, didn't want to sit anywhere near her, but his body seemed to move on its own volition. He sat down but didn't dare sit any closer than was necessary. "What is it?"
"When you left the fold," she began, "Alca had started a prostitution ring. He eased out of the drug trade little by little. The competition from other families was amazing, especially the gang that you came to run with. I was the oldest one there. They kidnapped children, Farron, children no older than fourteen. They broke them in before putting them out on the streets. Alca got them hooked on cocaine, and the girls would sell their souls for a hit…me included. I wanted to leave; I couldn't live like that anymore. Look at me, Tibio; I was a registered nurse about to embark on med school. You were there. How long did it take for me to become strung out? You led me there, helped me become the addict that I am. A few months ago, I ran. I couldn't sell myself for cocaine, I couldn't become some sex slave to those men, and that's what I was. I came back to the states and endured weeks of withdrawal. I stayed with battered women to dry out, and I did it. When I heard you left the life, I thought I could, but I need your help to do it. Alca's men are looking for me, and if they find me, I'll die. I've heard a rumor on the streets of Chicago that Huete has come here to start a ring in the US. He is close to me, and I'm terrified."
"That, Enni," he said, "is a matter for the authorities. I'm not one of them. In fact, I'm an anti-authority. I cannot help you."
"You cold bastard," she spat in anger. "This is your fault. If you had left me alone, if you hadn't touched me, I would be Frank's wife, I would be the mother of his child."
"I had a role in it, I admit it without question, but you made your own choices. I had nothing to do with that. How committed to Frank were you? It couldn't have been that much, because you fucked me, Enni. You know, I tried the same shit on Frank's wife, and you know what happened? She denied me and Frank nearly killed me. What does that tell you?"
"Goody for her," she spat sarcastically. "You led me into the life, Tibio, and I need your help escaping it. You owe me."
* * *
Loralei had just put Rachel down in her crib, and it was a good thing. The moment Rachel's little head hit the pillow, Loralei's stomach lurched sickly, and she had just enough time to rush into the bathroom and once again bow before the porcelain temple to pray to the Tidy Bowl Man. Damn it. Since when did she get morning sickness at night? Shit. It didn't take long for its hold to loosen. Still, she felt like crap and was upset on top of that. Donovan had called earlier to give her details [scant as they were] on why he had had to leave in such a rush. She had tried to get a word in, but his fucking cell phone crackled and then the connection died. At the rate she was going, he might find out about her pregnancy by the time she started to show. She washed her face at the bathroom sink and barely had time to dry her face. The doorbell rang suddenly, and Loralei was forced to bolt downstairs [dizzy and pukey] to answer the damn door before it awakened Rachel. Who the hell would be ringing her doorbell this late? She peeked into the peephole and swung open the door.
"Kara," Loralei said, stunned. "I thought you weren't in town?"
She nodded sedately. "I'm sorry, that was a lie. I wasn't ready to face Farron. May I come in?"
Loralei stepped back from the door and allowed Kara to enter the house. The two women walked over to the couch and sat down. Loralei was literally dying to know what had possessed her to leave Farron high and dry. However, she would not pry.
"I know I don't deserve it, and I'll understand if you refuse, but I was hoping you would tell me where I can find Farron? I'd like to speak to him, to explain what happened."
What happened? What happened? Tell me tell me tell me. "I'm sure Farron would love to see you. He's been quite upset."
She nodded. "I can't blame him. I've…never done anything like that before, and I wasn't sure what to do. I called my brother to help me sort it out, and when Farron showed up on my doorstep, I couldn't see him." She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. Forgive me for rambling."
Ramble away, honey. In fact, tell me tell me tell me. "No, that's all right. Farron lives in the city, and I'll get you his address. As I said, he will be thrilled to see you, I'm sure."
When Loralei walked Kara to the door twenty minutes later, the downstairs extension began to ring. What was it about late nights that made people want to reach out and touch someone? She felt as if she needed to puke again, but there was no time. She grabbed the phone and plopped down on the couch. "Hello. Grand Central. Would you like to purchase a ticket?"
"Loralei? Baby, are you okay?"
Donovan. "Yes, I'm fine. It's just been busy here in the last hour. I sent Farron's love interest to the city, and I feel all mushy inside. What are you doing up so late?"
"Just wanted to tell you I love you before I go to sleep," he said softly.
She smiled a little. "I love you, too. Frank, when you get home, can you try to spend at least five minutes with me?"
"Only five," he asked with a chuckle. "Come on, my love, you can have me all night." In the background, she heard an indignant groan and a whispered 'ew ew ew ew.' "What is it," he asked, "Is it something we can't discuss right now?"
"We could, I suppose, but I'd rather not do it on the phone. As soon as you get back to Chicago, come home. I don't care what time it is or what you have to do when you back to the Nest. Okay?"
"Sure, I can do that. Are you okay?"
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. "Yeah," she said after a long moment, "I'm just yucky and tired, that's all." Take the hint, she thought. Take it and run with it. You knew the first time, and you should know now.
"No more margaritas for you," he said with another chuckle. "I love you, LD. Good night."
He didn't take it. Ahhhhhhhhhh! "Me too, FD. Come home soon." When she disconnected the call, she stared down at the mute phone. "Oh, Frank? I'm pregnant."