Chapter 2
I'm sitting at my desk, going over numbers when my office door opens up. I look up to see Rio walk in and he asks "I thought I told you to take the day and relax?" I look back down at the laptop and say "Too much to do." He moves around and sits on the edge of my desk and says "Talk to me Princess." I don't look at him but say "Nothing to talk about. Just got a lot to do." I tell him, still typing. He closes the laptop and asks "How long we known each other?" as he tilts my chin up to look at him. "Close to twenty years." I tell him. "Yeah. So you know I can tell when you're hiding something." he says. "You need to tell him Princess." Eddie says from the door. "Nothing to tell." I say. "You tell him or I do." Eddie says and I glare at him. Rio looks between us and I lower my head. "What are you hiding Celeste?" Rio asks and he never uses my real name. "Bruno took me home last night and I walked in and found Denny in bed with another woman. I confronted him and he kicked me out. I slept on the couch last night." I say. "Show him." Eddie says. I raise my shirt and Rio sees the bruises. "He do this?" he asks and I nod slightly. Tilting my chin up again, he says "I'll have Bruno take you to my house. You'll stay with me." I shake my head no. "I have my car here. I'll figure it out." I tell him as I stand up. He cups my face and says "You'll stay with me Princess so I know you're safe." he tells me and I just nod. "Where are your things?" he asks. "Closet." I say. Eddie moves to get my bag and Rio pulls out his phone and calls Bruno. "Go home and get some sleep. You look exhausted." he tells me and I nod again. Bruno comes to my office and Rio tells him "Take her to my house and stay until I get there." Bruno nods and takes my bag from Eddie. I kiss Rio's cheek and say "Thank you." He nods and I walk over to my brother and kiss his cheek. "I'll check on you later." he says. "Okay." I say before following Bruno out. Once I'm gone, he looks at Eddie and says "Get Carlos. We need to have a little talk with Denny." Eddie nods and does as he's told.
Pulling up to Rio's house, we walk inside and he takes my bag to the guest room while I move to the kitchen. I've been in Rio's house before so I know where things are. I walk to the cabinet and take out a bottle of Jack and pour myself a drink. Downing it, I pour another just to down it. "You okay?" Bruno asks. I shake my head no. "What happened?" he asks. "After you dropped me off, Denny kicked me out." I tell him. "Shit. What are you going to do?" he asks. "Rio wants me to stay here." I tell him. "What do you want to do?" he asks. "I don't even care anymore. I just want to drown myself in work and booze and be done." I tell him.
Rio, Eddie and Carlos pull up to Denny's house and Rio knocks on the door. Denny opens the door and sees the three of them standing there and he knows who they are. Rio pushes his way in and Denny backs up as they walk in, keeping some distance between him and Rio. "We need to talk." Rio says. "About what?" Denny asks. "About you not only cheating on Celeste but kicking her out." Eddie says. "That's between me and her." Denny argues. "Well, that may be so but you kicking her in the ribs? That's between you and me." Rio says. Rio takes a step towards Denny and he stiffens up. "You don't hurt my Princess and get away with it." he tells Denny. Rio spends the next hour, beating the hell out of Denny, before saying "Don't come near her again." and walking out with Eddie and Carlos following behind him.
I am laying in the bed in the guest room, sleeping when Rio walks in the door. "How's she doing?" Rio asks Bruno. "Came in and grabbed the Jack. Drank about half the bottle before heading to bed. She's in the guest room." Bruno says. "Head out." Rio says. Bruno nods before heading out the door. Rio walks into the guest room to check on me. He sits on the side of the bed and gently brushes the hair out of my face and just looks at me. I wake up just a little and see him sitting there. "Rio?" I ask softly. "Get some sleep baby girl. I got you." he says. "Thank you Rio." I whisper. Leaning down, kissing my temple, he says "I got you Celeste." before slipping of the door and into his own room.