The Enforcer or The Mafia Prince

Chapter 8

The commute home would have been uncomfortable if not for the fact that the incident with Greg required Declan and Jessica to make several phone calls. The first had been to Tristan. As expected, Tristan blew up. He was incensed that someone dared to touch what was his. Well, something intended as his. He and Jessica had a lovely date. However, they had a long way to go in the romance department if he wanted to win her. Of course, Tristan didn't say any of that out loud. He did think to confirm with Jess that she was fine and unharmed. She and Declan neglected to mention the kiss. Jessica didn't know what Tristan would say if he found out, but Declan figured he'd presumably get fired. If he was lucky, that was.

The second call was to Ciaran O'Sullivan, Tristan's father. They hadn't met yet, but he, too, felt compelled to confirm that Jess was fine. Jessica said she was and thanked him for his concern. Those were the only words they exchanged. The rest of the call was a jumble of instructions and names that Jess couldn't follow. She supposed that Ciaran had told Declan to contact the family's attorney, as that was the third and final call they made before returning to the condo. The O'Sullivans were prepared to protect Jessica if Greg successfully disputed her claims.

After they walked into the apartment and Jessica had removed her shoes, placing them in the closet compartment, she asked Declan if she could call her mom.

"You haven't called your folks yet?" Declan asked while hanging his coat up.

"No, I didn't know I could." Jessica was a mystery to Declan. How many times does he have to tell her?

"Go ahead and call your mom. You don't need to ask. Don't tell her anything we specifically tell you not to, and don't bother your dad too much. Otherwise, we don't care," he said as he walked to his room.

Jessica called her mom. The line connected after a single ring.

"Jess! How are you," her mother's worried voice cried into the phone.

"I'm fine, Mom. Please don't sound so worried." Jessica entered her room and sat on her bed with a heavy bounce.

"How can I not be worried? We haven't heard from you in days!" Jessica wanted to cry again, listening to her mom.

"I'm sorry. Mom, I promise I'll call more often. They said I can call you whenever I want."

"How are things? Are they treating you okay?" Heather didn't know what her daughter had gone through and worried about her immensely.

"Really, Mom, I promise I'm fine. They treat me very well. We're staying in an apartment-style condo. I have my own room and a private bathroom. They went all out decorating it too. Everything is so comfortable and pretty." Jessica went on and on. She told her mom about being able to go to class or the library whenever she wanted and how the O'Sullivans had ensured she had vegan options to eat. She kept the odd dates and s****l tension to herself. Jessica wasn't sure Heather could handle hearing how her only daughter spent all her time with two incredibly gorgeous men and how it seemed they both were interested in her.

Heather was relieved to hear her daughter was being treated well and taken care of. Lord only knows all the awful scenarios that had crossed her mind over the last week or so. The conversation took a downturn when Jessica told her mom about Greg and how awful he was.

"I can't believe Dad thought I should go out with him. He's a misogynist, a bigot, and an all-around douche," Jessica railed against her one-time suitor, "He even tried to attack me in the library today! I had to call campus security."

"He did what now!? Weren't you with someone? Why were you all alone," Heather asked her daughter. Jess explained that she wasn't alone but had requested Declan stay behind while she pulled the texts she needed. Her paper!

"Oh! Shoot. I didn't get what I needed for my paper. It's due on Monday. I'll have to go back tomorrow," Jessica's focus turned to her schoolwork.

"At least she sounds like her usual self," Heather mused. Her daughter had always been studious.

"Jessica, have you started making plans for after your graduation? You are in the final year of your dual degree plan. Are you going to law school or perhaps interning with some governmental agency," she asked.

"I've been so busy that I forgot to think about it. I'll research later, but I've been considering applying for the State Department."

"Oh? You're allowed to use your computer, too?"

"I know. It's weird. I can do almost anything I please. At first, I didn't think I could talk to you or Dad since they took my phone and laptop. But it seems that was to make sure I was up to date on some security something-or-other. They gave it back to me and said I can use it how I need."

"That's odd. Then what was the point of coming to the house and tying us up if all they wanted was for you to stay there?"

"I know! Mom, something is definitely off about the situation, but they take good care of me and are exceedingly polite."

Jessica checked the time and saw she could study a while longer before bed. After confirming that her mom was doing well and her cancer treatments were going fine, Jessica could easily hang up the call. Her mother was okay. Her father was okay. She was okay. Everything just seemed okay. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. It was like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Sunday was the first uneventful day in a long while for Jessica. Declan took her to the library again, and she was able to write her paper with the exact concept she wanted to convey. She spent the rest of the day lazily relaxing in her room. Jessica even took the time to take a luxurious bubble bath with some of the high-end products the O'Sullivans had prepared. As she crawled into bed, she was content. Things weren't going exactly as she wanted them to, but her basic needs were being met at a much higher standard than she was used to. In fact, Tristan and Declan had been very thoughtful of her so far. If she could complain, it was only about Greg. He was the only one to show her any disrespect or ill will lately.

On Monday, Jessica went to class early to hand in her paper. When Andrea still hadn't shown up at the end, Jess knew something was wrong. Drea had worked just as hard, if not harder, on her own paper. So why wasn't she here to turn it in? Jessica joined the crowd at the front of the class. Just as everyone was leaving, she stopped Professor Sorninson to confirm whether Andrea had already turned in her paper.

"She has not. I did warn the class that I wouldn't accept any late papers, so tell your friend this results in a zero for her grade." Professor Sorninson wasn't a bad person. He was just a persnickety teacher with little tolerance for people who couldn't manage themselves. He left Andrea alone in the lecture room, not noticing the look of horror on her face. Jessica tried to call Andrea but it when right to voicemail.

Jessica had never skipped a class before, so it was a surprise when her next class had two empty seats. Instead of going about her usual routine, Jessica called Declan after getting Andrea's voicemail. Declan was worried when the call from Jessica came through. He didn't think she'd call him until her lectures were over for the day. To him, Jess sounded hysterical. He and Tristan had Jimmy rush them over to her.

After finding out what was wrong, Tristan mobilized his crew to locate Andrea for Jess. Declan was on a call instructing someone to run a trace on Andrea's phone number; Jessica didn't think it was wise to ask for details about that. Meanwhile, even Jimmy was on the phone with local hospitals, trying to see if an emergency caused Drea's absence. Jessica looked at the three men doing everything to help her find her friend. For once, she was kind of grateful she was stuck living with the mob.

It was Declan who got the first lead on Andrea's location. The last time her phone had pinged was near the hospital. Tristan immediately called one of his connections who worked there. When they finally located her, all four were surprised to find that Andrea had been admitted to the ER on Sunday. She was discovered with a severe head injury and was unconscious when she first arrived. Jimmy drove them directly to the hospital without needing to be told. Thankfully, Tristan had thought to get Andrea's room number. No one stopped them when they entered the ward.

The three men chose to stay in the waiting area instead of joining Jessica. It didn't seem appropriate to interrupt her time with her friend. The only sound in the room came from the machines hooked up to Andrea. Jessica thought Drea looked so much smaller lying in bed in her hospital gown. Seeing her like this made Jessica tear up. She was a sniveling mess when she took Andrea's hand. Jessica nearly jumped out of her skin when Andrea suddenly shook awake and screamed, not having expected someone to touch her.

"Whose there!"

"Drea! Drea, it's me. It's Jess." Seeing a friendly face, Andrea calmed down.

"Don't do that! You scared the crap out of me!" Andrea put her hand to her chest as though attempting to slow her racing heart.

"I scared you," Jess asked through her tears, laughing at her friend, "You scared me. I panicked when you didn't show up to class, and I couldn't get ahold of you."

"Who told you I was here? My phone is dead, and my parents don't have your number. How'd you find me?" Jessica didn't want to lie to her friend, so she told her as much as she could without inviting questions.

"I had some friends help me call around to local hospitals. I know it sounds like overkill, but our paper was due today. It had to be an emergency if you weren't there to turn it in."

Andrea slumped back against her pillows, "Right. Our paper. I guess the professor told you that I got a zero for not turning it in." She looked depressed. Jessica didn't answer; she just nodded that Andrea was correct.

"This is such s**t. It's not even my fault I'm here, and I failed my paper," Andrea groaned in frustration. "Oh well, my parents stepped out to speak to the college. They're going to see if I can withdraw from the semester without any penalties and finish next semester." Jessica let her friend talk about all the worrisome tasks that she needed to complete as a result of getting injured and put in the hospital.

When Andrea settled down, Jessica held her hand and gently asked, "Drea? What happened? Why are you here?" Andrea looked at Jess with a complicated emotion on her face. Jess almost asked a second time before Andrea finally answered her.

"Greg," she said in a tiny voice.

"Greg," Jessica repeated. "Greg is the reason you ended up in the ER. What the hell happened, Drea?"

"Look, I'll tell you under two conditions." Jessica quickly agreed to do as asked. "Good. First, you need to calm down. If you're riled up, I'm riled up, and the doctors said I need to keep calm. Second, you absolutely cannot blame yourself. This is not your fault."

Jess sat, "Okay, I promise. Go on."

Andrea sighed, "I ran into Greg on Sunday. He was ranting and raving at me about some problem you had with him on Saturday night. He was too chaotic to explain, but he mentioned something about you calling security on him."

"I did; I'll explain when you're done," Jessica urged the other girl to continue.

"The next thing I know, there's this pain in the back of my head. I remember him shouting about how I shouldn't have helped you lie to him. Then I woke up here around four in the morning."

"So Greg attacked you because of me?" Jessica felt awful that her friend was dragged into her problems but didn't say so.

"I think so? I don't really remember what happened. The doctors said it's normal not to remember the events right up to a head injury." Andrea adjusted herself in bed, replacing the misplaced heart monitor on her finger.

"Did you tell the police?"

"My parents filed a report after I told them what I remember, but they were told that there's nothing they can do without proof or solid evidence that Greg harmed me. What happened on Saturday, anyway?" Jessica explained about Greg accosting her in the library, leaving out the part about Declan. Andrea was furious on Jess's behalf.

"Goodness, he is such a terrible person. First, he tried to assault you, and then he attacked me. He's not going to stop, Jessica. You know that, right? If he thinks he can get away with anything, he'll keep on until he has what he wants. You have to take care of yourself. "

"I promise, I'm not so easy to get to. I'll be careful, Drea." The girls continued to talk until Andrea's parents returned. They didn't hold Jess responsible at all for what happened to their daughter. As far as they were concerned, the fault lies with that psychotic Greg alone. Andrea's parents told the girls what happened at the university. Drea was to take the rest of the semester off and then pick up the next semester. Her grades for this semester would be a 'W' or a withdrawal and wouldn't count against her GPA.

They thanked Jess for stopping by as she left. Andrea was tired and needed some rest. When she met up with the guys in the waiting room, she signaled for them not to ask her any questions until they were in the car. Jess was seething. She would make Greg regret his actions.