Sinners' Playground

by Caroline Peckham

  I thanked Candy as I grabbed my skateboard from the back of the car and the mutt hopped out too, following me as I headed down the once familiar streets of Sunset Cove.

  A shudder raced down my spine as I wondered whether anyone had noticed me yet. The Harlequins ran this town and their boss had placed a death threat over my head if I ever set foot back here after all.

  But I’d been gone a long time, I looked a hell of a lot different and Luther had no reason to expect my return so I was fairly certain I was safe for now. I’d just have to keep a low profile while I was here, make sure I didn’t draw his attention while I did what I needed to then ran the fuck away before he caught onto me slipping into his town right beneath his nose.

  I guessed my next problem was finding somewhere to sleep tonight. I needed to spend a bit of time here, checking out my old haunts and figuring out where my boys were now.

  No, not my boys. The boys. Or I guessed they were men now. Either way, I was certain they'd still be here, running the same streets and playing the same dangerous games. Hell, they were likely playing much worse games now. But it didn't matter. I gripped the key at my chest and pulled my Power Ranger cap down low to hide the worst of the bruising on my face as I walked. I just needed to find out where they were, get hold of their keys, take what they owed me, release their most dangerous secret into the world and leave forever. Simple.

  If only.

  O lder women could be classy and sexy as fuck. But the one I was currently sat across from was trying too hard to be both and failing to be either. Not that my smile gave that away any more than the way I combed my fingers through my raven hair and flexed my bicep every time her gaze drifted down my body. She was picturing me in her bed tonight, her hands itching to unwrap the dirty little gift she’d bought herself. She thought she was the powerful one here. An ex-businesswoman with a whole lot of time, too much money and a thirst for younger men. I fit the bill for her sordid fantasy. Korean-American men got her hot apparently. And luckily for her, I was for sale. But what she didn’t know, was that I was going to be the lucky one tonight.

  The other fancy ass people in the ocean view restaurant probably thought one of two things. The lie: that I was her grandson. Or the truth: that I was an expensive as shit escort squeezing her money teets for a night with beautiful lil me. But as sweet as five thousand dollars would feel rolled up in my fist after I’d zoned out, rubbered up and made the old gal squeal, I was just one greedy motherfucker who hungered for a teeny bit more than that tonight.

  “You didn’t comment on my dress, Egbert, I bought it just for you,” she purred, trailing her hand down her neck, her fingers grazing the juicy diamond necklace at her throat before floating lower to her sun-baked cleavage. Side note: Egbert was not my name. Obviously. I liked coming up with the most ridiculous escort names I could get away with. Like Egbert Dickington. Or Roger McWickly. And my personal favourite Sandy Balls.

  I smirked, my gaze lingering on the diamonds around her throat a little too long before I focused on her blue dress. Nope, it was green. My bad. “You look edible, Casandra.” Like an over-cooked lasagne made by a blind hobo.

  First rule of living in the baking pacific town of Sunset Cove; sunscreen. It really wasn’t that hard to grasp. But a lot of the pensioners in the upper quarter of town looked like deep-fried chicken after a lifetime here. And not the mouth-watering kind. The kind you suspected might really be deep fried rat. Harsh? Maybe. Rich people deserved a bit of ribbing in my humbly honest opinion though. They lived ten miles from one of the poorest places in the U S of A and those diamonds could’ve solved a helluva lot of problems for a helluva lot of people. Specifically, my problems.

  “Get your motherfucking heads down and your wallets out!” a booming voice cut through the air and people started screaming as a guy in a ski mask strode into the restaurant waving a gun. Adrenaline daggered along my veins.

  Casandra wailed as the guy strode toward us and I leapt up from my seat, grabbing the back of my chair and hefting it toward him with a heroic yell. He knocked it aside and it smashed to the ground, his gun whipping onto me as his dark green eyes flared behind his ski mask. He came at me like an oncoming storm, grabbing the back of my head and placing the barrel of the gun right between my eyes. My heart hammered madly as I dropped to my knees beneath him, raising my hands in surrender.

  “Everyone fill the bag with your cash and jewellery or I blow pretty boy’s brains out!” he barked, tossing the linen sack at Casandra and she screamed, flinching full bodily so her sun-baked tits nearly bounced out of her dress. “Do it!” the gunman roared and she shakily took off her rings, dropping them into the bag before throwing her purse in too. The necklace - my necklace - followed next and the guy snatched the bag, tossing it to the next table along. Everyone hurried to fill it as the waiters and waitresses urged people to comply. When the bag was fit to bursting, he picked it up, hauling me up by the scruff of my neck and shoving me toward the door.

  “No one moves until I walk out of here or I start shooting,” he warned and my heart thundered in my chest as he jabbed the gun into my spine and started marching me toward the exit with my hands clasped behind the back of my head.

  The second we stepped through the glass doors, a warm breeze whipped around me which tasted of the sea, washed up Hollywood stars and green, green money. The gunman marched me across the street into an alley out of sight of any security cameras and I dropped my hands from the back of my head, glancing over my shoulder at him with a lopsided grin.

  “Hey brother.”

  “Let’s go, JJ,” Fox said firmly, lowering the gun and we started running side by side.

  A wild laugh escaped me as we turned left down the next alley and headlights flashed to draw our attention to the beat-up blue Ford waiting for us. We tore toward it as I whooped and we dove into the back, crashing into one another as Fox slammed the door behind him and Chase put the pedal to the metal. We were pressed back into our seats as we made our getaway and my stomach hurt from my laughter.

  Fox tore his ski mask off and his floppy, dark blonde hair fell forward into his eyes. I shoved it out of his beautiful damn face and kissed him on the forehead, thumping my chest in excitement.

  Fox scruffed my hair and shoved me back with a smirk, tossing the heavy linen sack onto my lap and crushing my junk.

  “Fucker,” I grunted, but I couldn’t be that mad when the weight of that bag meant we’d just scored ourselves a serious prize.

  “Did you get it?” Chase called from the driver’s seat, the scent of smoke filling the car as he lit up a victory cigarette.

  “Yeah, man. And a whole lot more to fucking boot,” I said, fishing the diamond necklace out of the bag and moaning as I wrapped it around my neck and clipped it into place.

  “Back in the bag, JJ,” Fox commanded, ever the fucking boss, but I just pretended to toss fake hair over my shoulder.

  “Get it off of me with your teeth, bad boy,” I put on my best woman’s voice and he snorted as Chase barked a laugh in the front.

  “You like it rough, huh?” Fox lunged at me, flipping me up in my seat as he wrestled me and threw a few punches into my sides that I returned.

  “It’s mine. She was my mark,” I teased.

  “You know the rules,” Fox growled, his forest green eyes narrowing on me as he pulled rank like a dickwad.

  “Yeah, I know.” I shoved him back with a grin. “Just playing, bro.”

  Fox was the money guy as well as the boss. He’d work out everything we’d earned tonight down to the exact decimal point and make sure half was evenly divided between us three and the other half went toward the Harlequin empire. Those were the rules. And our rules were bound by blood and brotherhood. Nothing could break the three of us because our code was iron. It made us some of the most powerful men in the most powerful fucking gang in Sunset Cove.

  We wouldn’t see the pay-out from this job for a while though. That shit had to be sold on the black market,
but not until the news stories faded from memory and people stopped hunting for their stolen shit. Then once it was sold and cashed in, all the pretty money would be laundered through our businesses. I’d push some through my strip club, Chase would push some through his gym and Fox would divide the rest up through all of the little businesses we had a finger in throughout Sunset Cove. And there were a shit tonne of those.

  A cop car raced past us on the street, blue and red lighting up the whole interior of the car for a heartbeat and I whooped as another one followed.

  There was nothing like the high of a job and I leaned through the front seats, plugging in my phone and turning on Hot Stuff by Donna Summer, cranking the tune so it pounded in my ears. I rolled my hips, dancing almost as good as I did in my club to this song, grinding my crotch up against the driver’s seat.

  Chase laughed around the cigarette in the corner of his mouth as I started singing along at the top of my lungs. I placed a kiss on his curly hazel hair which was getting long again before dropping back into my seat beside Fox. He didn’t join in singing like Chase did, but a grin played around his mouth that was the only hint he was riding the same high I was. Fox tended to be more highly strung than the two of us, but I guessed when you were the most feared man this side of The Divide and had the blood trail to justify it, that wasn’t surprising. We were pretty much the only people in town he smiled at and if anyone else saw him turning anything but disinterest their way, they tended to be a fucking dead man.

  “Let’s get fucked up tonight,” Chase suggested, flicking his cigarette butt out the window in a cascade of sparks.

  “Pool party?” I suggested hopefully, bouncing in my chair as I continued dancing, bracing my hand on the roof and thrusting my hips.

  “No,” Fox growled.

  “Oh, come on.” I rounded on him, my ass hitting the seat as he killed my dreams dead. “Give me one good reason why not.”

  “I’ll give you two. One, because the whole of fucking Sunset Cove P.D. will be looking for a reason to come sniffing around our end of town tonight, and two, because I fucking said so.” He levelled me with a stare that dared me to challenge him on this, but I knew better than to do that. Chase rarely got the message though.

  “Ten people max,” Chase bargained, swivelling in his seat to look at him and taking his eyes wholly off the fucking road so I got a look at his strong features and bright blue eyes.

  “I said no,” Fox’s voice dropped to that deadly growl which usually preceded first degree murder.

  “For fuck’s sake.” Chase punched the wheel as he turned back around and I pouted.

  “Well if I’m not getting my dick wet tonight, you guys are gonna have to listen to copious amounts of porn when we get home. I’m feeling me some dub-con anime followed by a spectacular cream pie, you guys in?” I offered.

  “Why do you always invite us to your porn parties?” Chase tsked.

  “Why do you guys always say no?” I shot back and Fox released a low chuckle, a thing even rarer than his smile.

  “You could always head back to that old bird and save us listening to your dolphin sounds when you come. Then you can bring us back five more Gs,” Chase joked and I laughed.

  “I only made the dolphin noises that one time,” I defended myself. “The girl was into it. All kinds of sea creatures actually, but you probably didn’t catch the sea turtle impression. They sound like this when they’re fucking by the way-” I tipped my head back and started grunting, jerking my hips at the same time as I flapped my hands like flippers.

  Fox snorted and Chase roared a laugh as he watched me in the rear view mirror. The car swerved and Fox kicked him between the arm rests.

  “Eyes on the fucking road.”

  Chase flipped him a salute then his eyes whipped back to me in the mirror. “The worst thing is, I know you ain’t making that shit up,” he said through his deep laughter.

  “If there’s a fetish for it, I’ve done it. Just saying,” I said, cupping my hands behind my head and spreading my legs wide.

  “You’re such a shithead, man. I dunno why I love it, but I just fucking do.” Chase shook his head at me. “You ever wonder what Rogue would think of us all now?”

  A weighted silence slammed into place in the car and I dropped my hands from behind my head, sharing a look with Fox. His hands were fisted tightly and I guessed that meant he’d forgotten about the girl as much as I had. As in, not at all. I swear I could still smell her sometimes, that coconut shampoo of hers I’d woken up to a hundred times on Sunset Beach. After all these years, nothing about her had faded in my mind. I hadn’t wanted to forget. Even despite all the fucking shit between us. It was an unspoken rule that we didn’t talk about her. And I mean we never fucking talked about her. So why was Chase bringing her the fuck up?

  “You say her name again, I’ll rip your tongue out,” Fox said in a quiet but deadly tone.

  “Easy, brother,” Chase said placatingly. “It just slipped out. I dunno why she even came into my head.”

  Fox was stiff as all hell, like a man-sized boner straining inside a too-tight rubber. I nudged his boot with my shiny loafer, making him meet my eye.

  “She’s a thing of the past. Who cares what she’d think of us now?” I asked with a shrug and Fox grunted in reply, his jaw pulsing.

  I couldn’t say I hadn’t thought about that exact thing before though. Ten million and one times to be precise. And more specifically, what would she think of me now I was all grown up, my muscles filled out, my cock experienced and graduated with a shiny dickplomer. I wasn’t some little virgin anymore who didn’t know how to kiss right, let alone fuck right. Since a girl had offered me a blowie for fifty dollars when I was eighteen, I’d realised that instead of scraping by to make ends meet, I could make bank off of the one thing my momma had given me. All it took was a little deadening of the soul and voila, earning that kinda cash became easy. But not as easy as stripping which I loved the shit out of. A whole load of girls screaming my name while I thrust my dick in their faces? Yeah, the job was made for me. The escorting just happened to make bigger bucks. And where there was money, there was Johnny James. At least I’d sold my soul for a good ROI.

  Then there was the fucking. If eating pussy was an Olympic sport, I’d be a gold medallist. And if there was a dick of the year competition, I’d have a whole shelf dedicated to my winning streak. It was just a shame Rogue had never gotten to see me like this and I was doomed to live in her memory as a scrawny kid who’d once tried to kiss her and failed so spectacularly that it was still one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. Don’t go there, bro.

  Rogue was never a safe subject for any of us. Even Chase had tensed up, despite the fact that he’d been the one to mention her. She was like the Harlequin ghost who haunted us from time to time, summoned by name alone like Bloody Mary. Instead of stabbing you in the back though, she kicked you in the nuts and punched you in the heart simultaneously.

  The song ended and Chase unplugged my phone before he lit up another smoke.

  Thump.

  I stilled at the noise which had definitely just come from the trunk of the car.

  Thump, thump.

  I swivelled in my seat while Fox sat forward, his eyes pinned on Chase who was acting like he hadn’t heard that shit.

  “Chase…” Fox said, his tone filled with warning. “Who’s in the trunk?”

  Chase took a long drag on his cigarette, avoiding the question for a few more seconds while whoever was in there started thrashing and shouting against a gag. “Well…remember that guy Fritz? I happened to pass him by on my way over here and figured, what the fuck? Let’s kill two birds with one stone tonight.”

  “This isn’t one stone,” Fox snarled. “I had a plan to deal with Fritz, you know we don’t double up jobs, especially when they’re not fucking planned. That’s how shit turns bad. That’s how idiots get caught.”

  I groaned, kicking the back of Chase’s chair. Why tonight? When I w
as riding a high and ready to go to bed with a tube of lube and a smile on my face?

  Fritz had raped a girl who worked at my club a few days ago. He was some creep who’d wandered into town last month, but we hadn’t taken any real notice of him until he’d shown his true colours and touched one of my girls. His death was written, but even in Sunset Cove you didn’t get away with murder without a little planning. The fact that Chase had picked him up without okaying it with Fox was as good as pissing on our code. It wasn’t fucking right.

  “Jesus, Chase,” I muttered. “Are you outta your mind?”

  “I saw an opportunity and I fucking took it,” Chase argued, blowing out a lungful of smoke as he took a turning at high speed. “I don’t see the problem.”

  Fox was eerily quiet and that wasn’t good. Not good at all.

  “Next left,” Fox bit out after a few more turns. We were taking the cliff roads back to the lower quarter, the winding tracks rarely used since the highway had been finished a few years back. This place was a dead zone and though I just wanted to head home and celebrate our win, it looked like I was gonna have to get my hands dirty tonight.

  “Come on, man, we’ll just cut his dick off and drive the message home, what’s the problem?” Chase asked Fox and I scrubbed a hand over my face. Dumbass was gonna pay for this. He never learned.

  “The point is, we do shit by the book for a reason,” Fox hissed, his cut-from-stone features twisting into something demonic instead of angelic. “We don’t wing shit. That’s what keeps us out of prison, what keeps your life fucking sweet.”

  “It’s no big deal,” Chase growled furiously. “No one’s gonna see us out here.”

  “Well you’d better hope not,” Fox said in a low voice. “Pull over.”

  Chase slammed on the brake and dust flew up behind the car as it skidded along the track a few feet before jerking to a halt. Fox practically flew out of the car and I dove out just as fast, jumping in between him and Chase as Fox bared his teeth, looking ready to teach him a lesson before we even dealt with the guy in the trunk.