by T. L Smith
I haven’t.
Standing and tearing off my shirt, I pull at my jeans as they fall in the water before I step out coming face to face with her.
“You don’t plan on killing me, do you?”
“I’m working up to it,” I tell her the truth.
“It’s not something you should have to work up to, Jasper.” She tries to cover her breasts but it doesn’t work. “Is my uncle still alive?”
I cringe. “I wouldn’t worry yourself about him.”
Her back straightens. “Is he alive or not, Jasper? Just answer the damn question, it’s simple enough.”
“He’s alive… for now.”
“You aren’t tying me back up again,” she tells me as if she has a choice in this matter.
“You seem to forget what you’ve done, Isadora. Has it slipped your mind that you killed three of my men? One being Carter’s brother. Do you know what we do to traitors?”
“Kill them,” she says, but I shake my head.
“No, that’s too easy. First… I find the one thing they love the most. Then, I make them watch as I destroy that one thing. Tell me, Isadora, who do you love the most?” I can see she wants to say her uncle, it’s on the tip of her tongue, but she pauses as the door clicks in the bedroom and I reach for a towel wrapping it around my waist then handing one to her.
“What do you want from me?” she asks as I open the door of the bathroom.
Isadora follows me out, and when she sees who’s standing there she stops in her tracks. “Heather,” she says, the words are barely a whisper from her lips. “You need to go. Just go. Now.”
Heather shakes her head and steps up to me, her soft little hand comes to lay on my arm. “Jasper promised me. He promised me, Issy.”
Isadora turns an accusing look my way. “What did you promise her? She’s innocent in this.” She tries to defend her friend.
“She doesn’t care for you, Isadora, all Heather wants is power. She thinks I can give it to her. So, in exchange, she’s been getting close to you, making you trust her, all the while she spies on you for me.”
Isadora’s beautiful green eyes go wide, her hand clutches the towel she’s holding to her chest as though she’s in pain. “You wouldn’t.”
Heather’s sweet face turns sour. “I didn’t lie to you when I told you about me. I just happened to leave out that I’m fine, and that I’m not as hopeless as you think me to be.”
“I didn’t think you were hopeless,” Isadora says, and I can see the pain in her eyes.
It’s a pity Heather feels none of that. She would come to me every night and tell me about Isadora. It was easy to get her to do what I wanted. After that first night I saw her standing outside while I was smoking, I wanted to know more about her, and Heather was an easy way in. Heather would come and tell me what she wears, who she served, where she lived, what she had in her home, every damn thing I needed to know. And I knew everything, all thanks to Heather. She’s an easy catch, in exchange for, what? Me saying I’d keep her.
I didn’t say how, and quite frankly, I don’t think she cared. She only cares for what she can run her mouth about, and how much money she can make from running her mouth.
She’s simply a climber, and I have no time for people like her. The only reason she’s near me right now is to ruffle Isadora’s feathers, and it’s working extremely well.
“It doesn’t matter. You had what I wanted. Didn’t you think it was weird that I suddenly started to get to know you, Isadora? I do that to most of the girls, to see who’s working at the club for the right reasons or who’s a spy. I didn’t think you were until that night you didn’t want me to come here. You really should work on your poker face, Issy.” Heather finishes speaking, her hand slides up and down my bare arm.
That’s a no.
A big fucking no.
I remove her hand and step away.
Isadora notices and smiles.
“You should leave, Heather, before I get angry,” Isadora says, and I see fire in her eyes.
“You don’t scare me, Issy. You’re locked in a room with the most ruthless man in this town. It’s not you I’m scared of, you idiot.”
“It should be,” I mutter to Heather making her head swing my way.
“What? You still want this whore?” Isadora straightens her stance at the use of that name from Heather.
“Leave, Heather, and take your lying mouth with you.” Isadora steps forward, but Heather shakes her head. “No. Maybe I’ll fuck Jasper in front of you. See if you like that?”
I balk at the thought—it will never happen.
Not in this lifetime.
The only hands I want touching me are currently scrunched into fists, her jaw’s clenched, nostrils flared, and there’s a definite angry look haunting her beautiful face.
“Try it,” Isadora says, dropping her head to the side in defiance.
Heather starts to walk over to me and within two seconds Isadora crosses the room and has her hands around Heather’s throat, and slams her against the wall. “I fucking liked you, Heather. Pity you had to ruin it.” Isadora serves a hard hit to Heather’s abdominal area and then drops her hand from her throat and she crashes to the floor then looks up at me.
“Are you going to let her touch me like that?” Heather screams. “Kill her.” She screeches. “Kill her, now!”
I grab hold of Isadora’s waist and let the towel drop to the floor right in front of her. My hand reaches around and touches Isadora’s belly, then my fingers dance down to her cunt.
Heather makes some sort of screeching sound and shakes her head while attempting to stand.
Isadora’s hand reaches for my hair, threading her fingers through it, as I slide a finger in.
“Leave Heather, before I kill you.”
“You…” she spits. “You will pay for this.” She points a look at Isadora, but I turn her in my arms as the door is yanked open and Heather leaves with a slam of the door.
“Get your hands off me.” Isadora pulls at my hair and steps away, my fingers immediately slipping out of her. I put them to my lips and suck them one by one like lollypops.
“That’s not going to happen, Isadora. I can’t help myself when it comes to you. Each passing day I’m becoming more and more addicted.”
“I’m leaving this place, Jasper. And you can’t stop me,” she says reaching for the towel and wrapping it around her. When she does, I see the glint of something shiny and I know instantly what it is.
“Pass me the knife, Isadora.”
Her head shakes but it’s slow, and there’s a smile of desperation touching her lips.
“I have nothing more to give. Nothing. You and your people took everything from me.”
I reach for the knife, she steps back, and with a move I never saw coming, she drop kicks my legs out from under me so I fall to the floor, then her hand comes up to punch me straight in my face.
“Well played, my love. Well played,” I whisper as the knife touches my throat.
20
Isadora
My hand grips the knife tightly while Jasper smiles up at me with a sinister smirk, one I’ve come to love. But it has to be done, I have to do it. I have to end him.
“Do it,” he says through blood-coated teeth as he bucks under me and screams in my face. “Do it, Isadora.”
A tear leaves my eyes as I know what he’s asking from me.
“If you don’t, I’ll hunt you down and kill you. Is that what you want?”
Fuck! I shake my head while tasting my tears.
We both turn when the door handle moves, but I don’t shift the pressure I have on his neck.
“You’ve played me well, Isadora. You took what no other woman could. So, I guess the joke’s on me?”
What does he mean? I took him, took his men. Arghhh, he’s stressing me out.
“Shut up!” Shaking my head at his words while looking back to the door, I’m waiting for someone to walk in.
“Ho
w is it possible for you to make me feel this way?”
I grind my teeth at his words. “Shut. Up.”
“Do it, Isadora. Fucking do it.”
“I hate you,” I say with tears flowing down my cheeks now.
“I know… I know you do.”
The door opens, and as it does, I apply more pressure until blood starts to bloom. Jasper doesn’t move or look like it fazes him one little bit.
“Isadora, you need to do something before Ace shoots you.”
I look over to the door and see Ace holding a gun in his hand that’s raised directly at my head.
“He’s my boss, my law, my life, Isadora. I will put a bullet through your head for him,” Ace says.
Even if Ace likes me, he loves and respects Jasper more. He is his king, after all. They live by old fashioned laws of respect—the mafia boss is not to be betrayed nor disrespected.
“He deserves it. Damn it, you all do,” I say through gritted teeth.
Jasper chuckles.
I stand, bringing him with me, the knife still in my hand. “I’m walking out of here, and you will not follow or stop me.”
Jasper pulls himself away from me, shakes his head. My eyes roam him, his blood is trickling over his body but he doesn’t care. At all. I’m sure he’s had much worse.
“That can’t happen, pink,” Ace replies.
I back up and keep my eyes on Jasper. Ace is in the room, but away from the door which is where I’m heading.
“It will. Or I’ll take my own life before you can.”
Jasper’s eyes go wide at my words. With the knife in my hand, I lift it to my own neck and begin applying pressure, I feel the sting straight away as I break the skin.
“Isadora…”
“You want me dead. You need me dead. What if I make it easier on you and do it myself?” I ask, wanting to know his value for me. A shiver comes over me as I inhale a shallow breath and take another.
“Remove it from your neck. Now,” he seethes.
“I would have killed you, given the chance,” I tell him.
He smirks. “You’ve had plenty of chances, Isadora. Just admit you’re feeling what I am and drop the damn knife.” He doesn’t understand what I’m feeling, I hardly understand my mixed emotions when it comes to him.
A loud noise sounds behind me, and in that moment I take my chance, as everyone is focused on the disturbance. Clutching the towel with one hand and the knife in the other, I run down the stairs two at a time. I notice Carter before he sees me, and as he does, he stands at the same time my hand touches the door handle which leads outside.
“Don’t you hurt her,” I hear someone yell, but it doesn’t slow me as my bare feet hit the asphalt and I take off running. I see a car, the door’s open and I run to it, sliding in and thanking God when I see the keys are in the ignition.
“What the fuck?”
Starting the engine, I drive, and that’s when I notice Heather who’s screeching next to me. I missed the fact she’s there and fucking sitting right next to me.
“Shut the fuck up,” I yell as I take the exit onto the main road. I check in my rearview mirror to make sure I’m not being followed, and after a few checks my heart rate starts to slow and I can finally breathe again.
“They’re going to kill you so bad for this,” she fumes next to me.
How the fuck did I not see Heather for what she was? I pride myself on my impressions of people, and I totally got this one wrong. What a cunt.
“Possibly,” I say pulling over. “Now you can get the fuck out.”
Heather’s eyes go wide. “Fucking hell. It’s raining, and cold,” she says as if I care.
I look her up and down I order, “Give me your clothes.”
Heather shakes her head. “That’s not going to happen.”
The knife which I placed between my legs is lifted and I push it to her neck. “Honestly? You don’t want to fuck with me, bitch. Least of all today, Heather. If that’s even your real name. Now give me your fucking clothes before I slit your pretty little throat.”
“I just bought this skirt,” she whines as she lifts her ass and slides it off. “Benny’s car had a tracker, did you know that?”
I didn’t.
I had no idea, but I don’t tell her that. Though, my uncle had his suspicions.
At least now I know how they found me.
“The shirt, too.” She hands me the skirt then pulls the shirt off to reveal a shiny silver bra underneath. “Now… Get. The. Fuck. Out.”
Her eyes go wide. “What? No. No way. I’ll freeze.”
I grab the towel which is covering my body and pull hard then hand it to her. “Get out before I cut your damn throat, Heather.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. I lift the knife touching it to her skin, she jumps, her hand quickly clutching at the towel as she gets out.
The minute she is out, I drive off and only quickly pull over briefly to dress so I’m not naked.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
I bang on the steering wheel.
I don’t know where to go or what to do.
I have to get my uncle out of that place, but to do that I need to have something in return. Getting out, I leave the keys in the ignition and start walking. I can’t stay here any longer because if this car has a tracking device on it I’m fucked, and I’ll have no chance of getting my uncle back alive. Seeing Heather’s phone I make my first call.
“Benny,” he answers on the first ring.
“Girl, they have been looking for you,” is all he says. I like Benny, and the last thing I want to do is bring him into this bullshit, but I don’t know where else to go. I grew up in this area, but I isolated myself so I had no friends, and it was just my uncle and me. He said it was best to keep it that way.
“I need somewhere to go.”
“Sharon’s,” he answers straight off the bat.
“No way. We don’t get along.”
“Exactly,” he states then hangs up. Not long after a text comes through with an address.
Rubbing my arms, I come to a stop out front of a perfectly manicured house. It’s small, almost cottage-like, and perfect in every way. I shouldn’t be here. But it’s the last place they will think to look for me, so my knuckles tap on the door while I try to think of a good excuse.
“Oh, hell no,” Sharon says the minute she sees me. “I knew you were trouble. You’re in trouble, right?” I nod, not even bothering to lie. What’s the point? She looks behind her then back to me before she opens the door letting me in. “Look, you can’t stay for long. I know who they are and I can’t risk it.”
“Mommy.” A little girl with blonde curly hair walks up to Sharon and wraps her little arms around Sharon’s legs. Sharon leans down and picks her up then places her on her hip.
“You need to go back to sleep. No staying up tonight,” Sharon says then looks back to me. ”Stay here. Don’t touch anything.”
I nod and she walks away.
Rubbing my hands up and down my arms, I’m absolutely freezing even though the room is warm. I look around. What is this place? I see photographs of Sharon and the little girl everywhere. How did I not know this fact? A three-seater black sofa sits in front of a television with a toy chest in the middle, in the corner where someone would put a bookcase is another toy chest. It’s a home you would want to be raised in as a child. It’s sweet and above all feels safe, it’s something I miss.
“What are you doing here?” Sharon crosses her arms over her chest.
“You have a daughter?” I ask, surprised.
“Yes. Now answer me, please.”
“Heather isn’t who she says she is.”
Sharon rolls her eyes. “Of course, not. She was sucking up your ass so hard I knew she was fake.” She walks to her quaint kitchen, opens a top cupboard and pulls out a small Keurig. “Just as I knew you were lying to me about that guy.”
“Don’t ask me to tell you. You have a little one, Sharon.”<
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She spins and leans on the counter as she watches me. “You’re in trouble?”
I nod and she sighs. “You can stay here for the night, on the couch, it’s all I can give you. Bella has to go to school in the morning and I have my day job.”
“Thank you, Sharon. And sorry...”
She shrugs. “I don’t get it, even if I want to say I do. But if you were my daughter looking for help, I’d hope someone would do exactly that.” She turns around and starts to pour the coffee.
“Where is… where’s her dad?”
“He died when she was two months old. It wasn’t that long after that I started at the club. I had to. I had absolutely no choice. I need to be able to support us.”
“No judgment here, Sharon,” I say holding up my hands.
“It’s just us, and it’s hard. But I do what I can, you know?”
I nod and instantly feel bad for coming here. But I don’t know anyone else, and Heather won’t think to look here as they all think I hate Sharon.
“Do you need money, Issy?” I shake my head. “Are you sure? You don’t have anything on you?”
“I could never take money from you.” Her hand slides into her pocket and she pulls out a few bills sliding them over to me.
“It’s a loan. You can pay me back when you can.”
I nod, putting the cash into my skirt pocket, well, technically, Heather’s skirt, then take the coffee she also slides my way.
“If you see anyone… anyone at all, don’t tell them you saw me,” I tell her.
“Of course.”
“Thanks, Sharon.”
“Mommy,” is called again and Sharon points to the couch. “You can sleep there, blanket and pillow is already on it.” She starts to walk off, leaving me sitting at her counter. “And, Issy…” I turn to look at her, “… don’t mention what we do.”
“Of course.”
Sharon walks off to tend to Bella, and then I hear the soft hum of a voice and I know she’s singing to her. Maybe I’ve had her pegged for the wrong type of person after all. Maybe my judgment of character is way off.
Walking over to the couch, I curl myself up into a ball, and when I close my eyes, a man with a scarred lip and fucked-up back is staring at me.
