Chapter 11: Peppermint
I had been in seclusion since the accident with Antonio, the IVC, and the dead guards. Family members were always family after the bomb exploded almost killing everyone on site we were able to put them to rest.
"You know what's funny with our family code?" Antonio asked as he finished his last cigarette with me.
I looked at him with disdain as I remembered the way he treated those who chose to work under him and how he must have left Isabelle in that state.
When I rescued her it was as if she lost half of her existence just trying to survive, the marks where she was bounded, and her dried tears marked her pale face. Emily came with Code and Marcus the moment we reached the hospital but as soon as Isabelle went to the operating room I never had the chance to see her.
Right now, I could only watch her from a far. I grabbed the whiskey hidden on my desk drawer and poured myself a glass of it. Antonio came close to killing here but I could not do anything. He was unforgivable but I could not kill another heartache my grandfather kept for a long time.
"Ms. Harper will be discharged from the hospital as of today, sir."
Hearing Richard's update I immediately gulped down the glass of whiskey and grabbed my coat, it was my reflexes activated on wanting to see her this time, I knew I was not allowed to see her again, and I knew she would never remember me know.
If you think I had obliviated her (Harry Potter Spell) you would be wrong. It had been a week since she woke up from the operation and and three days since was diagnose with selective amnesia as her way of defending herself from the horrible things that happened.
"How is she? How's her condition?"
"I have copied a file of her diagnosis and placed it beside you sir. If you want her to do a full check up we can require her attending doctor."
"No need, let them do their job. I just want to see her."
"Ms. Emily warned she'll make drastic move if you continue—"
"I just want to see her. I won't approach her. Not anymore."
***
Exactly a week ago, when I secretly visited Isabelle on her room. Emily was sleeping on the couch so she would not notice me. But when I was about to leave Emily was awakened and immediately dragged me outside the hospital and started shouting,
"Because of what you did Isabelle is in a coma, didn't you know? Can you stop dragging people into your petty war? Did the family cause enough trauma to this city?! Leave her alone, I beg you. Please."
"I just wanted—"
"She will be fine, Dom. She is going to be fine and happy, especially without you in her life."
Emily knew how to make me back down and she could guess the right words to stab the knife deeper in my flesh wound.
"Grandma died because of the family, Aunt Eloisa was killed because of this shitty family, and now you wanted to implicate an innocent girl because of your unsure feelings?! Before this gets worse, stop it and leave her alone."
"Who are you to stop me?"
"Look, cousin, if you think I can't do it think again. After all, I am still a Rossi. So stop or else you will never see her again."
Emily's threats were not just words or out of anger. There was a reason why she was named the second heir by her grandfather and even if she did not want the position the secret organization her grandfather put up would follow her in a heartbeat.
Emily had gotten mad only once in our entire lives and she decided not to get mad again because of the aftermath. No one had the record of it but it was clear as day how she managed to scare every living being in the mansion and cause her cheating father's death.
—
"Sir, Ms. Emily saw the car, you might want to back off. She just sent a warning text."
"Let her know I have business in the hospital. I am not going to see Isabelle or her she can rest assured I will not break any of my promises with her."
"Understood."
Seeing Isabelle smile brightly under the sun 50 meters away from my car gave me a little peace, I knew she survived a great deal of fear this time but I could not stop feeling a little bit jealous of the man who held her bags and had her arms wrapped around.
"So, our friendly lieutenant finally confessed, didn't he?"
"I have written it in the report I placed on your table this morning."
"Just tell me, Richard, you don't need to write everything I dislike to hear." I gave out a heavy sigh and sometimes Richard could exhausting particularly on rules.
"But you said last week sir to write all the details of Ms. Harper's life in my daily report—"
"Just answer the questions I ask and leave all other details on the report."
"Understood, sir."
"How's the little real estate project I asked you to acquire?"
Last week when everything was crazy, I was too drunk and called my assistant (which by the way he wrote on his daily report) and asked him to purchase Isabelle's apartment building right away.
That right away was 1 in the morning, and Richard was half awake. He even pointed it out in his report with emphasis that he awakened the whole town just to get hold of the building manager, the local real estate broker, and the building owner. To whom he might have offended on his dawn prayer on the local church.
"Signed and done, Sir. You can rest assured she's safe. I also let her security escort live underneath her secretly. There were tenants that were not up for the lease but we had done a comprehensive background check and everyone was clean."
"Mmm…"
As you could expect from the assistant and my second in command, Richard did things far beyond what I asked of him. He was reliable on most things except on his own love life. I was not even sure of his preferences.
***
Months went by and winter season was about to come, you could feel it in the air, and the people of Porta Sole designed the town with festive lights and some Christmas decorations. Also, it was November hearing it for the first time on the radio, I finally had a grasp of my reality.
It had been months since I had this excruciating routine, I woke up drunk, chose something nice to wear for work, Richard would be outside the mansion with my itinerary for the day, and we drove to the familiar alley across the building I owned.
I would wait there for an hour and 30 before a blue sedan parked in front of the building with two cups of coffee in a man's hand the familiar woman would walk out of the apartment with her usual smile and kiss the man's cheeks before receiving her coffee.
"Let's go, I've seen enough."
"Yes sir. And may I interest you with observation?"
I looked at Richard who was currently seated in the passenger's seat and gave him a deadly stare,
"It has been a month since their relationship progressed from a cup of coffee to a simple kiss on the cheeks. Will you continue to torture yourself?"
"If this is the only way —"
"Sir, it's not. The only way for her to be safe is to leave her alone and move on."
"Shut up, Richard. I don't pay you to advise me on how I do my life."
I dialed Code X's number as he was working in a remote area studying the mines we dug up from the IVC compound, he was interested in the program and wanted to investigate more. I promised to let him go after the Antonio fiasco ended and now it had ended.
He was supposed to leave but found an interesting business venture with me - 21st-century firearms. Creating weapons the GI Joe could think of, and also the future of security.
[I have something interesting for you, you might want to come by the lab.]
"Can we do it remotely? Your HQ is in Solar City."
[C'mon boss, these things are interesting it worth the 5-hour drive.]
"Fuck you."
[It's a five-hour drive without your security personnel and a day or two to keep Isabelle Harper away from your thoughts. You don't need to beat yourself up for a woman—]
"Enough! I'll drive there you don't need to sound like Richard too. See you in a jiffy."
I put down my phone and I could feel the stares of Richard from the rearview mirror as if he was about to protest but chose to keep it for himself.
"Make sure she's safe 24/7, and report to me if there are any important decisions to make. I'll work remotely from Solar City. Arrange my meetings with the family via telecom. And lastly, Richard, don't tell my father about Isabelle."
"He knew about it already sir."
"Ohh, he is the great Anthony Rossi after all. Did he peruse any information?"
"He had Ms. Harper's background check. But he did not say or do anything."
"Let him know I am not involved with ms. Harper in any way. I'll leave for Solar City in the morning. Just call me if you have something urgent, take care of the family."
It had been months since I took my bike out for a ride, I never visited any circuits recently and had not involved myself in any competition thus taking him out for a long ride was an unusual move.
The ride to Solar City was dark, eerie, and cold. Despite having the name Solar City, the weather there was practically cold and wet, they had 70% of rain all year long, and if the sun rose it would be 20% and the rest was the tormenting snow.
[How's your ride to the Arctic Circle, partner?]
"Your city sucks, do you need anything from the grocery? I'll stop by to buy some whiskey."
[Wow, your dedication to alcohol surpasses my calculation of how far can a Dominic Rossi succumb to his grief'.]
"Funny, how about I pull off my investment and file a case against you."
[I will do better boss. You can stop by the nearest store and grab me some dark chocolates]
I pulled off at the nearest grocery from where Code X's HQ, I had been here once after the opening of the HQ a month ago. I invested a huge amount of money on his project and we were expecting to increase revenue by the start of the year next year.
My father was unaware of this business as he still thinks acquiring a hospital that I do not know how to run was a waste of money and time. So before this company takes off it will be placed under a different name.
I opened the front door and the bells chimed as I went inside, there were not any customers but the place was huge, I could hear people talking loudly and in hushed tones. As I went to the booze section, I could hear two women discussing intently,
"I swear to God, I smelled peppermint in my hospital room every night! I can't explain why or how but it reeks of peppermint."
"Peppermint? That's a unique smell for any hospital staff to wear. Plus, you might be hallucinating, Isabelle. You were asleep for almost a week!"
"I could be but I swear I could smell the peppermint as he whispered something into my ear. I was trying to remember everything that happened but I just couldn't."
"Why do you want to remember the horrible things you experienced?"
"I don't know. I feel like I am forgetting someone."
"You're lying, you just want to disprove to yourself that bastard Dominic who placed you in that situation did not even offer help in rescuing you or tried to visit you in the hospital."
"No," Isabelle's tone fluctuated as she tried to prove her point but conceded, "True, I was hurt when he did not visit me in the hospital. Anyway, it wasn't a big deal, I don't remember anything at all."
"So will you let go of the peppermint?"
"Probably,"
I tried to avoid them as much as I could so I grabbed my whiskey on the shelf and hastened my pace when Isabelle interjected,
"That smell!"
She hurriedly chased my footsteps when she hit my back and I had no other choice but to turn around and look at her,
"Dominic Rossi?"
I looked down at her as I placed my bottle on the cashier and grabbed the chocolates Code was asking me to buy,
"Long time no see." her hazel eyes did not flicker and her voice sounded guarded and indifferent.
"Long time no see, Ms. Harper."
"You never called me Ms. Haper."
"And you never called me Dominic Rossi. Tit for tat, have a great eve—"
"Wait, why do you smell peppermint?"
This time her curiosity just cost me half of my lifetime. Before I could answer her Emily grabbed her hand and dragged her away from me.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Rossi, she just woke up if she told you any crazy shit don't mind her, she just experienced a painful circumstance."
"No worries, Ms. Carter. I won't be a bother to you. Have fun in Solar City."
Emily continued to drag Isabelle away from me as she continued to protest and pointed out that she only wanted to know where I bought the peppermint and not to strike up a conversation with a mafioso.
I paid in cash and started up the engine of my bike when Emily sent another text;
[Nice try jerk face, peppermint, huh? Leave her alone, I beg you.]
I wanted to defend myself but I knew it was pointless so I wrote to her, "I already did. I left."