by Marie Wathen
“Nelson,” I call, stepping into his office after noticing the door is partially open. He is sitting behind his desk, talking on the phone and looking annoyed.
When he hears me, he cuts off his conversation by covering the receiver, and says, “Give me two minutes.” He stares at me challengingly, and I step back out into the hallway.
He didn’t ask me to shut the door, or tell me that he would come find me, so I wait and eavesdrop on his call. Lowering his voice, he growls, “When there is more to discuss, I will call you. Until then, keep this information to yourself.” I peek through the crack in the door and notice his eyes shift toward his computer screen, which I can’t see. “I’m looking at the files now that Jon forwarded, and I will deal with this mess immediately,” he growls warningly, then pauses to listen for a moment. “Yes, I understand. Since it was your shipment, I’ll concede, and you can handle him. Do it before anyone discovers that we’ve figured out his identity. In the meantime, I’m setting up Decks on some small storage houses in the Bahamas where you can begin delivering your cargo. It’s the best option that we have at the moment. I am not risking anymore cops getting their hands on our supplies.” He pauses again. “Excellent. I’m glad that you agree. Then I’ll see you in a few weeks, Juan.” He hangs up and then calls, “Ethan.” Hearing this information causes me to go rigid with shock. Who else has he uncovered? Nothing good can come from Juan showing up in Atlanta.
“Something I can help with, Nelson?” I offer after taking a seat.
He pushes his chair away from the desk, and then leans back, studying me. “I appreciate your offer, Ethan,” he runs fingers through his hair, combing over the wild hairs on the left side, “Just a little issue that I will deal with personally.” Clearly, he isn’t going to trust me.
“Everything has been a whole shit load of personal lately,” I bitch, pushing in hopes that I’m wrong and that he’ll give me the damn truth. Observing me, he nods. “I broke it off with Lourdes, and I can tell that you’re pissed about it. A relationship with her isn’t something that I can commit to, Nelson. I get that in your eyes it makes for good business to keep everything in the family, but…”
“You just need a little more time to sort out the heaviness of a relationship,” he excuses smugly.
“Time,” I repeat, bobbing my head and glancing down at the floor. Running my palm across my jaw line and then swiping it across the back of my neck, I stare at him again and reply with my jaw clenching, “One of us needs to face the facts. You expect me to marry Lourdes soon, and I don’t want her…ever. Conceding to a damn thing doesn’t run through our veins.” Unblinking, he nods once agreeably. “As you know, for the first time in a while, the organization is running smoothly. I don’t understand this desire that you have to see us united. You don’t need that bond to keep me.” He arches an eyebrow questioningly. “You know that, right?”
“What I know is that trust is an easy thing to lose. Once gone, I don’t ever give it again.”
“We’re hardwired not to trust anyone in this business. Have I lost yours?”
After a long pause, he blows out a heavy breath and then says, “Not you, no. I’m very happy with your commitment to the company, son.”
“I’m glad that I have met your expectations, Nelson, and I hope that my commitment has shown through for the past couple of years. I will never leave like my father and William,” I assure him with a steady voice. An emotion that I’ve never seen before in him filters through his dark eyes. He turns them away quickly, shielding the sorrow.
Looking off toward the wall of family pictures, he smiles reflectively. “Oscar would have been so proud to see you following in his footsteps.” I hold back the growl bubbling up in my chest. He truly believes that is a compliment, but I’m sickened by the comparison. “It saddens me each day that passes that he missed out on his oldest child continuing the family tradition…”
He continues talking, but after that last sentence I am sickened of the vile monster that I have become and grow deaf of his bullshit. Finally, I am convinced that there is no way in hell that I’ll ever get a confession out of him. In that moment of exposed feelings, he revealed to me that he is guilty, but the words will never come. After two years of this bullshit, I accept that I can’t do it anymore and that joining up with Max truly is my only option. My family and friends will be safe and alive while Nelson goes to prison. Taking Jude’s advice, I am bringing Decks onboard, closing down this disgusting cartel and putting the final nail in Nelson’s coffin.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I’m restless. Because I’ve decided on leaving the cartel and because I don’t give a damn what Nelson thinks about it, I don’t even bother going into the office during the day. At night, I’m left alone in this empty house waiting for the next part in Max’s plan to happen. I relayed Nelson’s phone call to Max, and he assures me that everything is going according to plan. Being idle isn’t easy on someone who is always caught up in the center of the action. Even my daily workouts aren’t enough to soothe this monotony. At this time, the only good thing that I have going for me is catching glimpses of Angel next door at Decks’ house. However, the end of January cold temperatures are keeping her inside too, so those are few and far between.
Thinking about the frigid air, I decide to make a large pot of Grandmother Sloane’s famous Garden Vegetable Soup. Pulling out various fresh veggies from the crisper, I drop them onto the countertop next to the sink and then search under the counter for the colander. I turn on the tap and begin rinsing them off under the cold water. My phone rings, so I wipe my hands on the dishtowel dangling from the hook beside the sink and then answer it.
“What?”
“Hey,” Decks says in a rushed voice, “Do me a favor, will ya?”
Confused, I glance back at the name displaying, Murph, and then repeat, “What?”
“Angel has been calling and texting me. The last message she sent me was a plea for me to pick her up at Nat’s immediately, but my cell died before I could call her back. Murph doesn’t have her number, so I can’t call her to let her know that I’m going to be a couple more hours. Can you go over there and then take her back home?”
“Yeah, I’ll pick her up,” I reply, climbing the stairs leading from the kitchen up to my bedroom. “We need to talk later, too. I’ll bring her home with me, and you can come get her from here.”
“Cool.”
We disconnect and I select a grey tee-shirt out of the top dresser drawer, tug it on, letting it hang loosely over my jeans, and then grab up my tennis shoes, carrying them back downstairs. A flash of headlights from a vehicle pulling into Decks’ driveway catches my attention. I glance out the sidelight of the front door and watch as a taxi drops off Angel. She hops out, but when the cab leaves, she continues standing outside for several minutes staring at the entryway.
“Is she locked out too?” I guess when I see her throw her head back and cuss the sky. I chuckle thinking about how I do the same thing when I get frustrated.
It is freezing out tonight, and a huge part of me wants to rush over and invite her to join me for dinner, but for now I’m not allowed around her. I slip my phone out of my back pocket, considering on calling Decks back. She’ll freeze if she waits much longer. But, like a selfish bastard, I can’t stop staring at her to make the call.
She paces up and down the walkway and then leans her back against the door. Glancing toward my house numerous times, her lips move while she shakes her head. Some major internal debate is going on, and I’m curious to see what she decides.
I smile when I see her walking toward my door with purpose and power in her elegant stride. Before she can knock, I open it and say, “I was wondering if you were going to be stubborn and stand out in the freezing weather all night or come over here.”
“You saw me?”
“Saw when the taxi dropped you off and watched as you debated something before you finally decided to walk over.” I hold open the door. “Co
me on. Let’s get you warmed up.” Hesitantly, she walks inside, glancing around the foyer before turning around to face me. I step toward her and reach for her uninjured arm, bringing her body close enough that I can smell the chill of the night mixing with her seductive scent. “God I’ve missed you, doll.”
Seeing her in my home again, for the first time in a long time and all alone too, my mind slips into hysterics and my body automatically takes over. Before I realize what I am doing, my lips collide against hers while my arms envelop her tiny body. Heaven. Angel kisses me back, her long arms securing around my waist, smashing her body roughly against me and whimpering softly at the fierce contact. I am captured in her blissful attack, a paradise that I could live in for eternity and then die happily. I love you, rings loudly through my head and I pause, nearly saying the words out loud. Realization sets in. More than anything, I absolutely love her.
I break away from her mouth, brushing my lips down her neck and settling my nose against the delicate curve of her neck before stroking it slowly up into the edge of her hair. Breathing her in calms my nerves while igniting an all consuming fire of inescapable love in my soul. My heart is at war with the idea of ever letting her go again. I can’t stomach the thought of sending her back to Decks. I hate imagining her dealing with the hell sprinting toward us at the speed of light, and I damn sure never want her kissing any other man the way she just kissed me ever again.
Stopping completely, I gain control and realize that I’m breaking rules. As I reluctantly pull out of our embrace, I look at her, seeing my future swirling in her alluring grey eyes. She doesn’t know it yet, but the fates have carved out a time for us, and one day soon, she will be mine. For tonight, I have two options on how things will go. Either I take her to my bedroom so we can fuck, like all the other times when we’ve been together, or I can use this opportunity to really get to know her. I’ll leave it in her hands to choose.
My lips brush against her forehead softly, and I warn, “Angel, I’m having a difficult time letting go of you. Pull away and I’ll behave, but stay in my arms like this for another minute and I swear that kissing won’t be enough for either of us soon.”
Her breath comes in heavy pants, brushing under my jaw, and long fingers grip the back of my shirt, unwilling to break away from this tantalizing moment either. Somehow, she finds the strength to pull back. “I just came over because I’m locked out of Decks’. My keys are upstairs and I don’t know if he has an extra hidden outside. He isn’t answering his phone.” She smiles shyly.
“Door number two it is,” I mumble, interlacing our fingers and drawing her along with me.
“What?” she asks with a teasing giggle.
“Come join me in the kitchen while we wait for him.” Guiding her toward a barstool, I tell her, “I was cooking soup for dinner. Are you hungry?”
She hums, debating my offer. “Can you cook?”
Smirking, I shrug. “Guess you’ll have to find out for yourself.” I begin chopping the vegetables and learning everything that she is willing to share.
“Tell me something, Angel.” She tilts her head to the side. “I can tell that you are so much more than you want people to see. It’s obvious you are intelligent, naturally goodhearted, and sexy as hell. What are you doing in this shithole world, and why are you with Decks?”
“I was raised in this world Blues. I guess you could say I’m a product of my surroundings.” I hate the sound of that. “Don’t worry. I was a good girl growing up, but the rebel in me needed a release, something that could keep my mind off all the bullshit that life was throwing at me.” She shrugs. “You know?”
“I get that, but…there’s something else, something deeper than just being a rebellious teen that drinks from her peer’s cup of Kool-Aid and becomes a throw away.” Her eyes grow wide. “I can’t put my finger on it, but you don’t have the fixated lust for this life burning in your eyes like almost every other junkie.”
“I’m clean. I mean I’m on probation and you know how random the color code can be. I won’t go back to jail,” she insists, running hr hand over the cast on her left arm.
“That’s good.” I pop a piece of carrot in my mouth. Talking with my mouth full, I guess, “You weren’t high the night I met you either.”
Smiling, she says, “No.” Her eyes drop to my mouth and then lower to my throat. “Oh,” she whispers. She blinks, pulls her gaze away from me altogether, glancing across the room, and then asks, “What about you, Blues?” She wants to know about me, and that’s great, but there is only so much that I can tell her without breaking my promise to Max.
“I was raised too privileged.” Her eyes flick over at me again, and I shrug. “It went straight to my head. I tried to straighten up for a short time by becoming an acceptable member of society, but that life isn’t possible for someone like me. Being born into the life of luxury, I was raised to be expectant and always desire more than what I actually deserve.”
She smirks and then turning my words around on me, she insists, “I don’t see it.”
“Behave, doll, I’m trying to make you something nice to eat, that will warm you up, but I will gladly let it burn and take you to my bed where I damn sure will have you heated up in seconds.” A sexy shade of pink blushes along her cheeks, and I lose my will to stay on the other side of the kitchen island. “Fuck, you liked my threat.” With the back of my hand, I brush tenderly over the warmth and confess, “You are so beautiful, and I am totally falling for you, Doll.”
“What?” she asks breathlessly, sounding confused. Peeling her gaze away from my hand, she moves it up to stare into my eyes. She swallows when I take her hand into mine tenderly and kiss each finger. With a moan, she cautions, “Blues…”
I don’t let her finish. “Angel, stay with me.”
“I can’t. It’s just too complicated right now. Decks is…” she hesitates, pulling out of my hold completely, leaning back against her chair. “Well, he hasn’t been acting like himself lately, and I don’t think it would be wise to poke that bear.”
She’s bringing him up, so I’ll use this as the opportunity to find out what she knows about his Ryske hookup. “Do you know what’s going on with him?”
“I really don’t know.” There is a moment of hesitation, proving that she wants to tell me, but clearly trusting me isn’t something that she’s comfortable with, yet. I’ll take it, but this conversation is far from over. After she gets to know me, we’ll test this subject again.
Once dinner is finished cooking, we sit at the dining room table and eat in a weird silence. Occasionally, I catch her watching me, and more than once she busts me out on staring at her lips as she sips the steaming hot soup off her spoon. Lucky damn spoon. That full pout is making this the most difficult meal of my life.
“That was amazing. I certainly am impressed,” she compliments, offering me her bowl at the sink after she devoured every last drop, even turning the bowl up and drinking down the last few drops. “I feel like such a fatty now.”
I laugh. “You want more?”
“Yes,” she admits, “But then I would need to run for a solid day and with it so damn cold, I can’t get outside to do that right now.”
“I have a home gym,” I offer, smiling down at her. What I wouldn’t give to see her working out in my house. “You could come over anytime.”
She smiles and then says, “Yeah, Decks has a massive gym at his place too, but running on a treadmill just doesn’t give me the same satisfaction as getting sweaty during a workout on rough terrain.” She holds my shocked gaze with a touch of humor coursing through her silvery eyes.
Ah, hell that was totally sexual, and the little she-devil knows exactly what saying shit like that will do to me. She wants to play games? Well, welcome to the arena, doll. It’s on!
“I guess that’s true, kind of like using a dildo in place of a real man. You’ll get off, but the fulfillment will never compare.”
“Only if you don’t know how to wo
rk the B.O.B,” she scoffs defensively, turning and walking out of the room. Damn, she uses one. I shouldn’t be surprised. From what I can tell, she isn’t fucking anyone but me, so her battery operated boyfriend must be getting a great workout. Lucky dick!
She strolls down the hallway, peeking into each open room, and I follow behind close enough to smell her sweet scent while watching the curve of her silhouette in the shadows. It’s all intoxicating. Once she finds my den, she steps inside and I move over to the surround-sound, finding some music and turning it down low. “Hair bands, really?” she tests.
Arching a challenging eyebrow, I retort, “Some of the best music comes from “Hair bands,” doll.” She snorts unbelievingly, so I continue. “For example, take Guns N Roses,–”
Before I can educate her, she cuts me off, “Wait. I’ll admit that I do like some eighties songs, and there are a few really great bands that came from that era, but Guns N Roses?” she shakes her head, “Not a chance. The way that the lead singer dances is just enough to turn me off to their music for a lifetime.”
My mouth drops open, and I stare at her like she’s lost her ever-loving mind. Pressing my lips into a fine line, I begin a process of deep breathing to get me through the disappointment and then pointing a finger at her, I counter, “I’ll give you that his hip sway bothers me too, but Slash is a hell of a guitar player, and his riffs are more than genius.” I raise my hands in the air and in a deep baritone, I bellow, “He is a god.” Then, I move my fingers and air-guitar a few notes, making her giggle.
“Uh, okay…” she clears her throat, “Do you have some kind of crush on this guy Slash?” she jokes, and I roll my eyes at her exaggeratingly while mimicking the cords of the current Bon Jovi tune filling the room, which causes her to laugh harder. “Stop, I’m too full to laugh this much. I’ll puke.” She pleads with her eyes too while gripping her stomach with her uninjured hand. Loving her silly laugh, I jump around and gyrate my hips, making my ass wiggle for her pleasure. Still rolling with hearty laughter, she adds, “Please, please, please?”
