by Alexis Angel
But, yeah, there’s also trouble in paradise. And trouble has a name: Lester Vicks.
Twenty-four.
That’s how many hours have passed since I found my phone ringing, Lester’s name plastered on the screen. Austin wasn’t home, and it was around midnight.
“This is it, Destiny,” he said, and I could notice that he was slurring his speech. He was drunk, but I could still tell that he was serious. “You seem you still haven’t learned your lesson. You either sit your ass in front of me so we can have a little chat, or I’m making sure Python goes up in flames just like your club.” This time I didn’t even get the chance to hang up on him. No, he did it first, and that was when I realized Lester was preparing to take things to a whole new level.
I still haven’t told Austin about Lester’s threats, but I’m going to have to do it soon. And what then? No idea, honestly. But I don’t think that Austin will be able to keep his secrets from me any longer… It’s not that I don’t trust him, but our lives are so entangled now that I just need to know if there’s a way out of this mess that we’re in.
Five.
That’s how much time has passed since I discovered something that’s going to change things forever. And when I say five, I mean five minutes. Yeah, in fact, I’m still in the bathroom, looking at the small plastic stick in my hand. I’m still reeling from the shock, to be honest.
You see, I’m late. And you know what I mean when I say late, don’t you? Yeah, I figure that you do: I’m fucking pregnant.
That’s right, Austin has gotten me pregnant…
And this right when we’re going through a crisis. I’m happy, I really am. I never thought about having a baby, but now that I’ve met Austin…
Things have changed. I just wished this could've happened some other time.
But there’s nothing I can do. I’m pregnant, and that’s it. Now we really have to find a way out of this mess. And if we can’t, if there’s no way out, we’ll just run someplace far away. Build a new life for both of us… Sure, to start from scratch would be hard, but we’d think of something.
But, no, I can’t think like this.
We can’t allow Lester to dictate our future and the future of our child. I won’t allow it, and I’m pretty sure that Austin will have none of it as well.
But what can we do?
How is Happily Ever After even possible now?
80
Austin
“There’s something that I need to tell you,” Destiny says, looking at me with a faint smile, and I can already tell that, whatever’s coming, it isn’t good. There’s always fucking something, isn’t there?
We’ve spent two perfect months together and, even though that just happened because Lester Vicks closed down Dirty Destiny, we’re closer now than ever.
I mean, look at us right now: standing in the balcony overlooking the stage at Python, watching as the female crowd below us goes nuts with the show Maverick is putting on. We look like a King and a Queen, overlooking our empire and watching over our people.
But I’m not fucking dumb. I know that Lester’s shadow is still over us. Just because he’s been oddly quiet these past two months doesn’t mean shit. That’s just the calm before the storm. I know that, one way or another, there’s going to be a showdown. And I’ll do whatever it takes so that I’m on the winning side.
You heard me.
This war that’s coming?
Read my fucking lips: whatever it takes.
“What is it?” I ask Destiny, taking a sip of my whisky. It burns down my throat like fire, but that’s exactly what I need right now.
“Lester…”
“Yeah, I figured it was something that had to do with him. What does that bastard want this time?”
“He called with threats…” she trails off.
Threats? I ball my hands into fists at the sound of that word. Who does he think he is to go around threatening my woman? I’ll rip his fucking head off before he even has the chance to lift a finger.
“That motherf--”
“His threats were aimed at you, Austin,” she calms me down, placing her hand on top of mine. Looking into my eyes, she takes a deep breath. “He told me he wanted to talk with me or else he would… Well, he threatened he would do with Python what he did with Dirty Destiny.”
I breathe out, more relaxed now. He wasn’t threatening her, that’s a start, but I don’t like the fact that he wants to talk with her. What does that slimy bastard want with Destiny?
I thought he had realized she wasn’t going to help him any longer. I don’t really care that he wants to come after me and Python… These are probably empty threats. He’s been trying to get a warrant to get inside of here for ages, but he’s never managed to do it.
I make sure to get the right palms greased so that it doesn’t happen. It’s costing me a lot of money to keep Lester and his cronies outside of my club, but there’s no other choice. Besides, it’s worth it just to piss him off.
“Fuck him,” I say to Destiny, squeezing her hand in mine. “You don’t need to talk with him. And if he wants to come after Python… Well, I’ll fucking handle him, one way or the other.”
“Austin… I’m worried,” Destiny says to me. “I really am,” she starts, circling her glass with one fingertip and gazing down at the stage. Her eyes are empty, though, and I can notice that she’s thinking of everything that might go wrong. There’s something else there too, but I have no idea what.
“Lester is a corrupt asshole, but he’s not in the habit of making empty promises,” she says to me. “I still can’t forget how he shut down my club. Everything I ever worked for. I can’t see that happening to you. I just can’t… Not now.”
“Destiny, don’t worry… I’m handling this,” I tell her, trying to be calm in the face of this new bullshit.
It’s my turn now to calm her down.
I’m doing everything I can to reopen her club, but it isn’t easy. I put together a legal team so we could fight her club’s closure in the courts, but Lester pulled every trick in the book to keep that from happening.
Still, I’m not giving up. Of course, her words make me fucking worried, I won’t lie.
What if, somehow, Lester has managed to convince a judge that something’s going on in here? He never came after us like that before because it was a risky move for him. If he brought us down, Strokes and I would try and bring him down with us. He knows that, but he’s also growing desperate. He wants to stop us at all costs.
Fuck.
This isn’t looking good.
“Austin… I’ve tried to understand, and I do trust you,” she turns to me then, looking me straight in the eyes. I know that she has bottled these words inside of her for far too long, and now it’s time she comes asking questions once again. I’m just afraid I can’t give her any answers.
Finally, the questions come.
I bet you’re getting pretty curious now too, aren’t you?
“What is actually going in here?” Destiny asks me, looking at me directly. “Why is Lester so obsessed with that woman, Mistress Strokes?”
Fuck.
Well, there it is.
I’m wondering how to answer when Destiny continues. “Sometimes I worry,” she says to me. “You know I trust you, but...” she trails off.
Yeah, I knew that was coming.
“Let’s get inside.” I grab her hand and take her inside my office, closing the door behind us. I take her to the large couch at the end and I grab the bottle of whisky sitting on the coffee table. I fill both our glasses trying to gain some time as I ponder how much I should tell her.
It fucking hurts that I just can’t come clean with her, but it's Strokes’ story and I can’t dishonor my promise to her. Not even for the woman I think I’m fucking falling in love with.
I’m sorry, but that’s just not my story to tell, and I wouldn’t do it without Strokes’ permission.
And as paranoid as she is about our operation, I doubt she’d
ever let anyone not involved in the nitty gritty of what we do to ever find out. There are just too many risks.
“I know you don’t want to tell me, and I just want to understand the why of it, Austin…”
“Look, Destiny, all I can promise you is that there’s no sex trafficking going on in here,” I look her straight in the eye, trying to make a believable face.
It’s so fucking hard to keep a straight face when you’re trying to have someone else believe you. “I swear to you, I’m not that kind of man. In fact, if you have ever thought Python is part of a sex trafficking operation, we’re just the opposite of it.”
Right.
You thought I was moving girls around because I was trafficking them, didn’t you?
Don’t fucking lie if you’re shaking your head.
Well, I’m not.
“I know what kind of man you are, Austin,” Destiny is saying to me. “And I don’t believe you’ve ever be involved in something like that, but this woman you call Mistress Strokes? Who is she?” Destiny asks me.
“I know nothing about what’s going on, Austin, and it’s making me fucking crazy!” She throws her hands up in the air in an exasperated motion, and then sinks in her seat, putting down her glass of whiskey after looking at it and almost giving a shocked look.
“Mistress Strokes,” I say and then trail off. “Fuck, Destiny, it’s complicated. I wish I could tell you all about Strokes, but her secrets and her story aren’t mine to tell.”
Destiny looks at me and raises her eyes. “But I fucking trust her, and that’s all I can tell you,” I finish.
“That’s alright, Austin,” I hear someone say from just outside my office, and both Destiny and I turn to look at the newcomer at the same time. Standing in the doorway, her hand still around the doorknob, is Mistress fucking Strokes.
She straightened her hair and cut it just below the shoulders, but she kept it dyed blue. Destiny is looking at her, and I can tell she’s appraising her.
She’s never seen the Mistress up this close. Judging by the look in her eyes, I realize that Destiny never thought Strokes was this beautiful.
“Destiny, right?” Mistress Strokes asks her with a smile, sitting down in the twin sofa facing us.
“That’s me…” Destiny says quietly, subdued. “And you’re Mistress Strokes,” Destiny says, more a statement of fact than anything else and I notice her voice fraught with caution.
She knows that she’s about to get her answers, and she wants to tread lightly now.
“That’s right, darlin,” Mistress Strokes says. “In the flesh,” Strokes adds as she turns to face me. “Do you trust her, Austin?”
“I do,” I reply without hesitation. “I trust her with my life. I love her.” I don’t need to say anything else; Strokes trusts me completely, and I know that she only needs to hear what I just said to trust Destiny. Its been a long process for her to accept that someone so entangled in Lester’s web can be trusted, but I guess that she’s finally ready for it.
“Very well then,” she whispers, lowering her voice, “I have a story for you, Destiny.”
And here we go; it’s time for our secrets to be let out in the open.
81
Destiny
I lean toward Mistress Strokes in my seat, ready to finally find out what’s really happening.
Since Lester asked me to come into Python, my life has never been the same, and it all started because of this woman. I respected the fact that Austin didn’t want to share a secret that wasn’t his, but now she’s here, right in front of me with that bright blue hair of hers.
And I’m ready, I’m ready for the truth.
Mistress Strokes’ lips are pursed, and she is looking down at her hands, trying to gather her thoughts. She looks slightly pale, and I can tell that talking about whatever’s going on isn’t easy for her. So I just reach for her, placing one hand on top of hers. Right now, she looks so frail and vulnerable, and I just want to comfort her.
“Take your time, sweetie,” I tell her, and she managed to look at me and show a faint smile.
“Thank you,” she whispers, and then clears her throat. She balls her hands into fists, takes a deep breath and then starts. “Austin told me that you were worried about Python being involved in human trafficking… Only Lester could dream up something like that,” she mutters then, shaking her head, but then continues. “There’s nothing of that sort going on around here, Destiny, I can promise you that.”
“I know,” I tell her, squeezing her hand. “I trust him.” I look at Austin and he smiles at me, gently nodding.
“You’re lucky to have her,” Strokes tells Austin, and then squeezes back my hand. She then turns her gaze to me and continues her story. “You see, Lester is after me because I’m fighting against all the sex trafficking going on in this city,” she says in a quiet voice. “I live for it, Destiny. I do my best to find the women who have found themselves trapped by traffickers, and I do whatever it takes to set them free and give them a chance at a new life. Money, new identities… Whatever it takes.”
“Mistress Strokes is a modern-day saint, Destiny,” Austin tells me, looking at her with pride. “She’s done more for women than most politicians will ever do, even if they could live multiple times over.”
“None of this would be possible without Austin, though,” the woman continues as I feel my heart start to thump. “He’s been financing me, and Python has served as the headquarters of this operation. We hide women here, if it’s needed, and a lot of Python’s profits are used to do a lot of good.”
Her thin smile has widened and she’s even looking better now, some color in her cheeks. She’s proud of Austin, proud of Python, and proud of the work they have been doing.
God, and to think that I had my suspicions about Austin. It must've been hard for him, to know that I didn’t trust him when, in fact, he was actually the hero in this story.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand, though,” I ask, “what does Lester have to with all of this? He’s the Police Commissioner, for God’s sake. He should give the two of you a medal, not hunt you down,” I say.
They go quiet. I continue. “Sure, he’s corrupt, but I don’t--” That’s when I see anger flaring up in Mistress Strokes’ eyes. She hates his guts, and that’s putting it lightly.
“Corrupt? He’s not just corrupt! He’s a fucking scumbag, that’s what it is! I wish he--”
“Calm down, Strokes, we’re between friends,” Austin cuts her short, speaking in an appeasing tone.
“Sorry… Sorry, I… I hate him. It’s hard for me to talk about him,” she sighs, and Austin hands her a small bottle of water. She opens it and takes it to her lips, drinking almost half of it in one single gulp. “Lester is not just corrupt, Destiny. His corruption knows no limits,” she spews at me, her hatred showing through.
“I don’t know if he’s hungry for money, or for power, or whatever it is… But he has no limits, he really doesn’t,” she continues. “He’s been profiting millions by allowing sex trafficking rings to operate right here, in New York while he takes kickbacks on a weekly basis. I’m betting that he even has a stake on a few of them… He’s that low of a human being.”
I suddenly feel nauseous, remembering how I used to allow him to have sex with me and then paid him protection money. I feel repulsed, disgusted… I don’t even know how I feel right now, to be honest. I just wish I could get him in here now and break his cock in half. Sex trafficking? Jesus fucking Christ.
“No wonder you hate his guts…”
“That’s just part of it,” she says to me and takes a deep sigh.
I can tell there’s another bombshell coming.
“You see, Lester is my stepfather,” she whispers in a resigned tone, and hunches her shoulders as the word stepfather falls out of her lips. I don’t even want to imagine how it’d be to have the devil for a stepfather. “He has been trying to shut me down through unofficial channels, but I’m not making his
life easy. That’s why he pressed you into all of this. He can’t get the police inside Python without a valid reason, and Austin already spends a lot of money on security so that none of Lester’s criminal dirt bags can ever step a foot inside here. But he’s growing reckless and Austin and I, we’re making a real dent on whatever operations he has a finger on, and we’re hurting is wallet. And I figure he’s pretty pissed about that.”
“You figure right, yeah,” I say, thinking back to how he stormed my club, raining hell on me. “I’m so sorry, hun… I can’t even begin to imagine how it’d be like to have someone like him for a stepfather.”
“My mother was a fool,” she whispers, and tears start welling up in her eyes. She takes a deep breath and recomposes herself, looking at me as if nothing had happened. She’s tough, I have to give her that. “But she loved him. She never knew anything about this and, by the time I discovered what he was up to… I couldn’t bring myself to tell her,” the woman that I know as Mistress Strokes says to me.
“She had cancer, you see? She was thin and sickly, and she almost never left the hospital… I just couldn’t do it to her, tell her the truth… So I sucked it up. I played along,” she says, reliving the memory. “Lester never found out how I always snooped around his office whenever he was out, gathering whatever piece of information I could put my hands on. Back then, I didn’t know why I was doing, I just knew I had to. I couldn’t stand still while that dirt bag was… was doing all that.”
“You were very brave,” I tell her, speaking in a soothing tone.
“Thank you. But you’d do the same.”
“I’m not sure. I’d probably just freak out and pummel him into submission with a fireplace poker.”
“I should’ve have thought of that,” she says with a chuckle, and I notice that she has relaxed her hands, her palms now resting easily in her lap. “Anyways, I haven’t seen him since my mother passed. The day I came home from the funeral, I just emptied one of his bank accounts and took off. I wandered around New York for a whole day, not knowing what I was going to do… So I just grabbed one of the addresses I had found in his office, and headed there,” she recounts.
