by Bella Jewel
“Baby, come on, we’re both angry, can’t we sit down and talk properly? I will sort Yolanda out. I don’t want to be with her, regardless of what she’s telling you. I fucked up. You fucked up. We can fix it. We can pay the debt off and start again, just you and me.”
Those words.
The words I have wanted to hear for so long.
They hit me right in the heart.
But I know he doesn’t mean them.
I’m not stupid.
“You made your bed, Enzo. Now you must lie in it. I’m done.”
I turn and walk out.
“It isn’t over, it’s far from over! Watch your back, Saskia,” he calls after me, causing the guards to storm over.
Good.
I hope they make him suffer.
I just hope he doesn’t make me suffer.
The drive home is long and drawn out. I can’t get my mind to work properly, I just keep thinking, over and over again, of all the things that could happen from now onward. Enzo is angry. Will he take it out on me? Will he make me suffer? Will he seek out revenge? Suddenly, I’m not sure what’s going to happen, and I don’t feel at all safe.
But, I still wouldn’t change what I did.
Even if it hurts.
And it does. It does hurt.
I arrive back at Mason’s house and see bikes out front. Great. They’re all here. I park my car and stare in the rearview mirror, making sure I don’t look as upset as I feel. I take a deep breath and get out of the car, walking inside the house. Five heads pop up and glance at me when I walk in, and I stop, staring at all of them. Sassy. Be sassy. They won’t know then.
“Well,” I say, crossing my arms, “it isn’t everyday a girl walks in and finds five hot men in her living room.”
“My living room,” Mason murmurs, staring at me.
I haven’t seen him since we had sex. After it, I kind of rushed off and then made sure to be out this morning when he woke up. I don’t know how I feel about it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was the most incredible sex I’ve ever had in my life, but at the same time, I feel confused about the whole thing. I don’t want to become anyone’s fuck buddy just for the sake of it.
I’ve never been that girl.
And I’m fairly certain that’s all it is to him. Sex.
Just sex.
“Well, if you want to get technical,” I say back, not holding his eyes for longer than a second, “you boys look busy, I’ll go and get back to work.”
“You okay, darlin’?” Malakai asks.
Oh.
He’s good.
“Perfecto!” I call, walking off before I have to make conversation any further.
I go into the living room and start picking up where I left off, dusting and cleaning. I need to do some grocery shopping.
I’m starting to think now might be the time to do it.
Yes.
Plan. In. Place.
~*~*~*~
MASON
“Fuck, man, you sure that was a good idea?” Malakai mutters, running his hands through his hair. “She’s your maid, and she’s a good chick. You don’t want to lose someone like that; you won’t find another one very easily.”
“Fully fuckin’ aware of that,” I growl at him. “Pretty sure it was a mutual thing.”
“Sounds to me like you just wanted her to stop seein’ that fuck head in prison,” Maverick adds. “You sure you’re not into her, bro?”
“We fucked because we wanted to fuck. I didn’t want her seein’ that jock monkey because he’s only goin’ to cause problems, and if he causes problems for her, it’ll cause problems for me.”
“Fuck knows we need some entertainment ‘round here,” Koda grunts. “I’m fuckin’ bored as shit. Can we go start somethin’, bash someone, fuck some shit up? Might make bein’ here that much easier.”
“Calm the fuck down, Dakoda,” Malakai growls. “We got enough shit to do around here. You’re just pissed because it doesn’t involve killin’ anyone.”
“Speakin’ of killin’,” Boston adds, “heard any more about what happened to Shanks’ people after he was taken out? Any word on what they’re up to?”
“Far as I know—” I light a cigarette “—there are a handful of them left, determined to find out what happened and who double crossed them.”
“Won’t take them long to figure out it was Slater,” Malakai adds. “Speakin’ of, anyone heard from him?”
“Layin’ low,” Maverick tells Malakai. “Told him to for a couple months. If he pops straight up here, they’re goin’ to put two and two together.”
“Anyone checked in on him?” Malakai questions.
“Went in yesterday and had a beer with him; he’s still searchin’ for Ellie in his free time,” I tell Malakai.
“Any leads on that?”
“Not as of yet, we’ll start lookin’ as soon as he’s passed probabtion here at the club,” Koda informs.
“Can’t see Slater bein’ a prospect real well.” I snort.
“Well, he’s willin’ to, and I think he’ll be a good asset to the club, so we’ll see,” Malakai says, standing. “I’m goin’ to find my woman, take her home, and fuck her until morning. You boys enjoy your evening.”
He turns and walks out, and I stand. “I’m out.”
“Be nice to that lady, bro,” Boston points out. “She’s a fuckin’ sweet one.”
“Sweet,” I grunt. “Yeah.”
I walk out of the club and to my bike, then I get on and ride home. It’s just hitting sunset, but there is still enough light around for me to notice the car parked just outside my front gate. I left this morning after Saskia was in a weird mood, figured she wanted to be alone. I study the car. She didn’t mention visitors. It doesn’t necessarily look like it’s up to no good, but there isn’t another house for at least two blocks, so why a car would be parked there is beyond me.
But it doesn’t seem right.
I get off my bike and walk to the house and see the front door is wide open. Saskia never leaves the door open. I clench my fists and step inside quietly, walking through the living room. Nothing. I move further into the house and go up the stairs, that’s when I hear her voice. Terrified. Scared. She never sounds like that. Not ever.
“There is nothing here, I have nothing.”
“Liar,” a male voice hisses. “This house is loaded full of goods, gotta be something worth selling in here. Jewelry. Something.”
“I have no access to any of that.”
“Listen to me, you little bitch, Enzo owes me a fuck load of money and it just so happens your name popped up as a place to start looking. He’s locked up, so he’s useless to me, but you, you’re here and you’re not useless to me. I’m sure he wouldn’t like to find out his precious little lady was found with a bullet in her skull because she didn’t deliver for her boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Saskia says, her voice shaky.
“Not what I heard. Heard you got the cash. Heard you’re the person. I have many many ways I could get it out of you, little lady. I’d bet you have a sweet pussy underneath those pants. I wonder if I tied you down and fucked you a few times if you’d come up with the goods.”
Fuck no.
Not here.
Not in my house.
I step into the room without thought and see a large, white man holding Saskia, knife to her throat. I don’t hesitate. He hears me and turns slightly, and my fist finds his face before he even has a chance to open his mouth. He stumbles backward, releasing her, but not the knife. I step forward again, without hesitation, and drive another fist into his mouth. He splutters, and then gets himself together, swinging the knife in my direction. I raise a hand up, and it slashes across my palm.
The burn is instant.
And it only pisses me off more.
“Nobody comes into my fuckin’ house and threatens anyone who lives here.”
I raise my leg, using my booted foot to drive him in the stomach,
sending him flying backward. Then I storm over, only once the knife has fallen from his hand, and lift him up by the shirt, driving my fist into his face over and over until he falls unconscious onto the floor, blood pouring from numerous places on his face. I pull out my phone and dial Malakai.
“What’s up, bro? Better be good.”
“Man in my house, threatenin’ Saskia. Get someone to come collect him. He ain’t goin’ anywhere.”
“Fuck. She okay?”
“Yeah.”
“On our way.”
I hang up the phone and shove it into my pocket and then turn and look at the girl who has backed right up. Her eyes are wide, and she’s staring at me, a mixture of horror and awe on her face.
“You okay?” I ask her.
“He had a knife,” she whispers.
“Yeah. You okay?”
“And you just … took him down.”
“Yeah, lady. You okay?”
“You’re so strong. I’ve never …”
“Saskia,” I walk over, grabbing her shoulders. “You okay?”
She looks down at her shoulder, and gasps, “You’re bleeding.”
“Woman, fuck, are you okay?”
I shake her a little and her eyes meet mine.
“You saved me.”
I exhale. “I’m going to knock you the fuck out in a minute if you don’t fuckin’ answer me.”
She smiles, but it’s shaky. “I’m okay.”
“Okay,” I say, letting her go.
“Your hand …”
“We’ll deal with it later. Right now, I’m dealin’ with him. Then you and me, we’re goin’ to talk.”
She swallows but nods.
“Mason?” she calls out when I walk over to the unconscious man on the ground.
“Yeah,” I say, not looking at her.
“For a minute there, for just a single minute, I was so afraid.”
I look over at her. “Don’t ever gotta be afraid when I’m around.”
Her cheeks go pink.
Fuck me.
In the middle of all this, and all I can think about is going over there and ripping her clothes off.
I want her.
More than I’m willing to admit.
Fuck.
~11~
SASKIA
“Are you okay?” Scarlett asks, reaching out and squeezing my shoulder.
I stare at her. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just … a bit shaken up.”
“As you would be,” she says, shaking her head. “I can’t believe someone just came into the house like that.”
“Speakin’ of,” Malakai says. “You know who this piece of shit is?”
I stare at the man who they’ve basically bound and gagged. I don’t know what they’re going to do with him. Hell, I don’t want to know what they’re going to do with him. I don’t really care, so long as he doesn’t come anywhere near me again.
“No,” I tell him, and it’s the truth. I have no idea who he is. I can only assume he’s at least one of the people chasing Enzo for money. “I think he’s one of the people looking for money from my ex-boyfriend. I’m certain my ex sent him here, telling him I have the money. He’s getting revenge on me.”
Mason makes a growling sound, and I glance at him.
“Your ex-boyfriend’s name?” Maverick asks.
“Enzo.”
His eyes go wide. “Enzo Marx?”
I blink. “Yeah. How do you know his name?”
Maverick grunts, and Malakai shakes his head. “We’ve been delvin’ a bit into the drug world lately, you could say, and that name did happen to pop up a few times on our search for someone else. You do realize your boyfriend is a big-time dealer, yeah?”
I blink. “I knew he was into drugs, I even knew he was selling them, but I figured it was just to friends, people like that. I knew enough to get him locked up for six months, but I didn’t realize he was into big-time dealing.”
This is news to me.
Big news.
Huge news.
If Enzo is dealing to that degree, how come he never got longer? Or did the police simply not find out that much? I guess if no one talked, they wouldn’t. I only got him for possession; I knew he had it on him, and I knew where. But dealing. That’s a whole different kettle of fish.
“Yeah,” Koda mutters, looking agitated. “He’s dealin’ all right. Heard his name all over the fuckin’ streets. Dodgy motherfucker, stealin’ and lyin’. He’s got dangerous people after him.”
God.
I rub my arms. “H-h-h-how dangerous?”
“Dangerous enough,” Malakai informs. “This man here—” he shoves a finger in the direction of the beaten man “—is probably the least of his, and your, problems.”
“B-b-but he told me he only owed a little bit of money and was content with me paying it off once he got out.”
“He isn’t goin’ to say no to gettin’ one person of his back, Saskia,” Mason mutters. “That’s common sense. Doesn’t mean he don’t have other fish to fry also. Probably would have used you for that, too. My guess, though, is he’ll probably do a runner. He’s locked up, people think he gave information away, forget the debts, he’ll get a bullet to the brain just for that alone.”
A bullet to the brain?
I feel unwell.
Scarlett stands next to me—she’s the only girl here with the men tonight, but I’m thankful. This is a lot to take in, and I don’t honestly know where I’m supposed to go from here. Am I in danger? Or did Enzo just send this man over to scare me into paying him money again? Either way, it doesn’t feel good. Scarlett takes my hand and squeezes it.
“We’ll get more info out of this fucker,” Koda says, jabbing the man in the ribs so hard he winces. “Until then, keep the doors locked when you’re here, and be careful when you’re out and about. Enzo is pissed at you, he might name drop just from that alone.”
“We’ll have someone watch the place, too,” Malakai says. “When Mason isn’t here.”
“So, I’m like a prisoner now?” I murmur.
“Better than bein’ dead, ain’t it?” Mason grunts.
“Fuck off, Mason,” I snap.
His eyes get wide, and even I’m surprised by my words. His comment pissed me off, only I’m not sure why. Maybe because I’m scared, or maybe because he made me feel stupid. Either way, I didn’t mean for those words to come out quite so … harshly.
“Watch it,” he growls.
“Enough,” Malakai says. “Long night. Everyone needs to wind down. We’ll take this fucker back to the club. Mason, you stay here with Saskia in case anyone comes back.”
“You want me to stay?” Scarlett asks.
“No, I’m okay, thanks, though.” I smile at her.
She nods and lets me go, joining Maverick.
“Mason,” Malakai says, and Mason looks to him.
“What?”
“Be nice to her, yeah?”
Mason grunts. I roll my eyes.
And then they lift the bloodied man and leave, and I’m suddenly very alone with Mason and not sure what to do. I glance at his hand, he’s got a towel wrapped loosely around it.
“You got a first-aid kit?” I ask him.
“It’s fine.”
“For the love of God, Mason. Do not fuck with me right now. Where in the ever-loving hell is your first-aid kit?”
He stares at me, then growls, “Under the sink.”
I move into the kitchen and go under the sink, digging around until I find it, then I join Mason who is now sitting at the massive dining table. I sit right in front of him, open the kit, and reach out for his hand. He lets me take it, grudgingly, and I remove the towel. It’s a deep cut, not quite enough for stitches thank goodness, but deep enough that it was close.
“You’re lucky, this is pretty deep,” I say.
“Had worse.”
“I’m sure you have,” I mumble.
I start cleaning his hand with an alcohol swab, removing
the dried blood. He says nothing for a few moments, and not once does he flinch. Eventually, though, he says in a low, gravelly tone, “You told him you weren’t paying the money.”
I nod, keeping his hand in mine and keeping focus on it.
“How’d that go down?”
“Well, from tonight, you can see it didn’t go down well. He did tell me that I’d pay for doing it, I just didn’t think he’d actually send someone around here.”
“You should have told me he threatened you.”
I glance up at him. “Why?”
He stares at me, face hard. “Because I could have made sure you were safe.”
Oh.
Right.
I say nothing, I just keep cleaning his hand, and then I cover it with a bandage and stand, putting the first-aid kit away.
“I’m going to have a shower and go to bed. Tonight, it’s safe to say, sucked a big fat dick.”
Mason snorts, and I glance at him.
“Thanks,” I say, my voice genuine. “For what you did tonight.”
He nods.
And then I leave the room and go to mine.
Feeling drained.
A little scared.
And a lot confused.
~*~*~*~
SASKIA
I can’t sleep.
I can’t even get comfortable.
I had a long hot shower then laid down. Within ten minutes, I couldn’t handle lying for a single second more, my mind overtook everything and sent me over the edge. So now, for some strange reason, I find myself walking toward Mason’s room. I’m not sure why. I guess, part of me wants to know more. More about what they’re going to do. More about how deep Enzo was in with drugs. More about everything.
I have no idea if he’ll be asleep yet, or if he’s awake and I’m going to annoy the ever-loving shit out of him coming in here.
Either way, I’m still doing it.
I reach his door and knock a few times, but I don’t hear anything inside. I turn the door handle and crack it open carefully, peering in. He isn’t in his bed, but the television is on and the sheets are back, which means he’s obviously getting ready to be in his bed. I step in, leaving the door open, and call out softly but hear nothing. I walk in farther and glance at the bathroom just as the door opens and Mason steps out.
I halt. Unable to move. Unable to breathe.
