by Donna Hill
If Jake was really good and didn’t cry, maybe he’d only get punched in the stomach instead of tossed against the wall. “Make you tough,” his father would say when he beat him. And when his mother would tiptoe into their room late at night after headboard-banging sex with his father, she’d sit on the side of his bed, stroke his hair, and tell him how much he looked like his daddy. “Must be some strong genes that man has,” she’d say, almost wistful.
It’s in the genes. And he had no intention of passing those genes along.
His jaw locked. If he said anything now … He put his glass down on the table and walked out of the cabin.
Eva covered her face with her hands, letting tears slip between her fingers. When she’d finished crying, she got up, went to the bathroom, and washed her face. She reapplied her makeup, put the stocking cap and wig back on, adjusted her headset, and walked out.
She wouldn’t be the first single mom, and she damn sure wouldn’t be the last. She walked with purpose down the hall, passing one of the cleaning staff in the corridor. She gently bumped the worker, mumbled her apologies, and kept going. She slid the master key card in her pocket. Fuck you, Jake Kelly. I’ll take my cut, and cut your ass loose.
She pressed the elevator, got on, then disembarked on the eleventh floor.
Eva checked the hallway. Cruise guests came and went, paying her no attention. After all, she was only a crew member—invisible.
She knocked once on Suarez’s door. No answer. She knocked again. Adrenaline and anger rushed through her veins, pounding in her head.
She drew in a breath, stuck the key in the slot. The green light flashed. She turned the lock and stepped inside Xavier Suarez’s suite.
21
“Were you visiting Brazil for business or pleasure” Xavier asked Rita as he sipped his glass of wine.
“I try to include pleasure in everything that I do.” She cut into her grilled salmon. “And you”
He chuckled. “I was born in Venezuela. Brazil is my home now. I wish I could have shown you my beautiful country.”
“Perhaps another time.” Her statement held the note of a question.
“I’d like that very much. Is Miami home”
“No. I live in New York.”
“I can’t imagine that a beautiful woman such as you is traveling alone.”
“New York women are very independent.” She put a piece of salmon in her mouth, chewed slowly as she looked at him.
“I admire independence in a woman. It gives them fire.”
“Is that right”
“Perhaps you would honor me by proving my point.”
It was Rita’s turn to laugh. “That can be taken several ways, Xavier.” She loved saying his name.
He raised his glass in a toast. “To proving my point.”
She touched her glass to his.
* * *
Jinx stood along the perimeter of the restaurant. He had Rita and Suarez in sight—and didn’t like the view one bit. Rita looked too happy, too engaged, too sensual. He cringed each time she leaned forward, giving Suarez a whiff of her deep cleavage, or when she tossed her head back and laughed, revealing the long sleek slope of her neck.
This was supposed to be a job, and he knew she was good at what she did, but he’d never seen her in action. And from his standpoint, she didn’t appear as if she was working at all. It looked like she was on a date in the company of a man whose presence she enjoyed.
Suarez reached across the table and lifted a curl away from Rita’s face. Jinx’s temples pounded. He snatched up a circular tray from the rack and made his way to their table.
“Can I take anything away” he said upon reaching the table.
Suarez looked up at him. Anger darkened his eyes. “When we are ready, I will let you know.” His sidekick appeared out of nowhere, coming between Suarez and Jinx like a drawn curtain. Suarez threw up his hand to stop his forward motion.
Rita held her breath. It was like watching a movie when the good and bad guys square off and draw their guns.
“Of course.” He gave a short incline of his head before stealing a look at Rita, who returned his gaze as if he were a perfect stranger. He turned and walked away, his insides on fire.
“At least the service is good,” Rita said, hoping that Xavier didn’t notice her hand shaking when she put down her fork. What the hell was Jinx thinking
“I do not like being disturbed when I’m entertaining,” he said, his clipped tone sending a thrill through her.
Her mouth went dry. She forced herself to smile. “I admire a man who knows what he wants,” she said, hoping to soften the suddenly tense atmosphere. She wiped the corners of her mouth with the stiff white linen napkin.
The hard lines around his eyes and mouth slowly diminished. “I apologize for that,” he said, slipping effortlessly back into the role of polished gentleman.
“I’m sure he was only doing his job.”
His mouth flickered with the beginnings of a smile. “I’m sure.” He lifted his wineglass to his mouth and sipped slowly, never taking his eyes from Rita. “I hope that you will join me for the rest of the evening. I understand there is a wonderful show in the nightclub.”
“I’d like that very much.”
“But I would like to know the name of the lovely woman that I am spending my time and my money on.”
“Rita. Rita Davis.”
* * *
Eva closed the cabin door behind her and walked into the well-appointed suite. Now this was living, she thought as she took in the view of the ocean, the lush carpeting, recessed lighting, and chic contemporary furnishings. It was a full apartment, from what she could see.
She stood in the center of the room with her hands on her hips. She’d start with the bedroom.
Eva moved slowly around the room. Her first stop was the built-in closet. The hanger rod was thick with clothes. On the floor were two suitcases. She pulled them out, sat down, and opened the first one, since it didn’t have a lock like the second one.
It was filled with folders and an array of passports, all with Xavier’s face with different names.
Interesting. She put the passports back and then started sifting through the folders. All the documents and letters were in Spanish and Portuguese, but they looked important. Many of them carried government or notarized seals—that much she could figure out. She wished she’d paid more attention in Spanish class. She returned the documents to the folders and put them back in the suitcase. She pulled the second one to her just as she heard a noise at the front door.
“Shit.” She zipped the suitcase closed and shoved them both back into the closet. She eased the closet door shut. The front door opened. Frantic, she looked around.
There was no way out.
* * *
Jake had been on every level since he’d left the cabin—and Eva. He didn’t see her anywhere, and she wasn’t picking up her headset.
He’d probably have to sleep on the floor. He deserved it. The least he could have done was respond to her. But he’d been so stunned by the information, he knew that whatever he said at that moment would be the wrong thing.
How could he, in good conscience, bring a child into the world He couldn’t. Wouldn’t risk it. Not even for Eva.
His stomach rocked back and forth. He felt ill, weak, and defenseless. All the things he never wanted to be for his wife.
Jake wandered aimlessly through the ship, taking in the happy faces, the families, the couples old and young. He slung his hands in his pockets.
The guilt of Earl’s death, fear and trauma of it that he carried around inside all these years was enough of a confession, enough of a breach of his maleness. What little he had learned about being a man came from the street, from watching the OGs, the original gangsters, do their thing. He watched how they lived—on the edge, full out. There was no weakness, no room for compromise. And you never loved anyone more than yourself or the game. If you did, that’s when it got dangerous
. When you let your guard down, you opened the door for the enemy. And the enemy seeing your weakness could hurt you—through them.
He’d broken the cardinal rule by loving Eva so hard. She was his Achilles’ heel, his weakness. One was enough. A child was out of the question. And then there was always the dark fact that any child of his would carry his father’s genes—and that he especially couldn’t abide—not even for Eva. She’d have to go see someone as soon as they got back. Make it go away. Then they could pick up where they’d left off and put this whole baby thing behind them.
Jake and Jinx made a pact years ago that they’d never bring any children in the world—that the cursed Kelly line would end with them. Until now, neither of them had broken that promise.
“They left the restaurant,” Jinx whispered in Jake’s ear, snapping him out of his troubling thoughts.
“Yeah, Jinx,” he muttered, coming to. “Where are they going”
“Don’t know.”
Don’t know. “Aren’t you following them”
Silence.
“Jinx.” Jake hissed the word into his headset. He looked around, found a quiet corner next to a fake palm tree that was at least three stories tall. “What’s going on”
“Maybe you need to ask Rita.”
Jake’s thick brows drew together. “Look, what are you talking about What happened”
“I’m going to get a drink.”
“Jinx. Where are you”
“On the pool deck,” he said, his tone devoid of any emotion.
“I’m on my way. Stay put.”
Jake dodged guests, went up escalators and around waiters and waitresses. He spotted Jinx at the entrance to the pool deck.
“What’s going on, man” he asked his brother, coming up alongside him.
Jinx lowered his eyes. “You shoulda seen her, man.”
“Rita”
His face twisted into a nasty grimace. “Who the hell you think I’m talking about”
“Yo, Jinx, man, you need to chill. This is me.”
Jinx jerked his shoulder as if snatching it out of some invisible grasp. “Yeah, I know it’s you. It’s always been about you. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, and Rita wouldn’t be all in Suarez’s pants if it wasn’t for you!” He spat out the last word as it if were a curse.
Jake flinched. “You want to tell me what’s really going on Rita is doing her job. This is a job, remember”
Jinx turned somber eyes on his brother. He appeared to deflate. His shoulders slumped; the fire in his eyes dimmed. “I didn’t ever think it would be like this.” He tried to smile and failed. “We aren’t supposed to be the soft guys that fall for the girl. We’re the tough guys that the girls fall for.” His laugh fell flat.
Jake held his tongue and let Jinx talk.
“I’m not even sure when it hit me that I was in love with her. It was all of a sudden, ya know. Like a freak flash flood or something.” He shook his head, short and quick. “And I feel like I’m drowning.”
Jake leaned his back against the wall, stared out toward the guests swimming in the pool. “Eva’s pregnant.”
Jinx turned to his brother, the promise they’d made hovering in his eyes. “Well, my brotha, looks like we’re both in a bit of a fix.”
“You know that drink you were talking about sounds really good right about now.”
“Don’t feel like dealing with the crowd and the noise,” Jinx said.
“Let’s go back to my cabin. We need to get out of these outfits anyway before someone notices that we aren’t actually working.”
When they returned to the cabin, Jake fixed them both a drink. Just as they turned up their glasses, the cell phone rang. Jake cut his eyes at Jinx and then flipped open the phone.
“Yeah,” Jake said. He listened for a few minutes then hung up. He glanced at Jinx.
“What now”
“She’s changed the drop spot again. Back to the original location—Miami.”
Jinx tossed the contents of his glass down his throat. “Bitch,” he blurted.
“Touché, Ms. Ingram.”
* * *
The front door to Suarez’s room shut. Eva heard movement coming from the living room area. The window was too small and would take too much work and noise to get out of it. Not to mention the looks she’d get jumping out of a window and onto the deck.
She opted for the closet, tucked herself far into the back, and squatted down on the floor—and none too soon. The bedroom door opened, and Xavier and Rita came in.
22
Jake sat in the side chair, and Jinx took a seat on the edge of the bed. Both had a drink in their hands.
“You’re really twisted about Rita, huh” Jake asked after a long silence between the two brothers.
Jinx looked up. “Yeah.”
“Does she know how you feel”
“Not really. I mean I know she understands that I care about her.…”
“How does she feel about you”
“Hmph, with Rita, who knows She doesn’t ever say how she feels. For all I know, I’m just another job.”
“They’re both cut from the same cloth, like me and you. They had it rough coming up.”
Jinx took a long swallow from his drink. “Yeah, but we weren’t supposed to get caught up in the love thing, ya know”
Jake nodded slowly.
“That’s why you totally blew me away when you actually married Eva.” He looked into his brother’s eyes. “I figured it was just for the sex. But sometimes I look at you when you’re watching her, and it’s in your eyes, man. You love her.”
Jake looked away. It was true: he did love his wife, and it made him crazy. It was his weak spot, and he wasn’t supposed to have any. And now this baby thing …
“So what are you going to do, man” Jinx asked, as if reading his mind.
“Eva’s been hinting for a while that she wanted to get out of the game. I figured it would pass, ya know. I mean, this is what we do. It’s what brought us together.” He glanced off into the distance, shook his head in confusion. “I just don’t know. I don’t think I can handle it.” He looked into his brother’s eyes. “It scares me, John. What if I turn out like our father”
Jinx grimaced, the horrors of their youth flashing before his eyes. He remembered that Jake was always there to protect him, promised that he’d take care of him no matter what. And he’d never broken that promise in all these years.
“Look, we may have his genes, but we’re nothing like him. You’re nothing like him. You’ve proved that over the years. Do you think that if you were the man our father was, you would have cared about me all this time, gotten me out of scrapes, made sure that I finished school You didn’t turn your back on me when I went to jail. You stood by me.” He paused. “And if you were anything like him, you wouldn’t give a damn about Eva being pregnant. It wouldn’t touch you. It wouldn’t worry you. The only emotions our father had were bitterness and anger. And that’s not you, man. He didn’t know how to love anything. You do. Don’t blow it.”
A half smile widened Jake’s mouth. “Never thought I’d get a life lesson from my baby brother.”
Jinx chuckled. “I’m all grown up now. Maybe it’s time we let go of the past. Forget some of those ‘survival’ promises we made, ya know. You got a great woman, and I have one that I want to make mine. We can either step up to the plate and go for it or let them go and keep living the way we’ve been living. For me, I’m ready to start living a new life.”
Jake listened to his brother’s words. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was time to let go of the past and move on. This was just supposed to be another job, but every step of the way had offered a new revelation. He’d been forced to confront things about himself and his relationship with his wife that he’d otherwise been able to avoid. He sighed heavily, stood, and went to refill his glass.
“I told Eva about that day at the beach,” he said, his tone quiet and pensive.
Jinx w
as silent for a moment. “What did she say”
“Said it wasn’t my fault and that I had to let it go, couldn’t hold on to the guilt.” He turned to Jinx. “She didn’t blame me.”
“Something you’d been doing to yourself for years.”
“Yeah. It messed with me. It really did. Made me overprotective, overly cautious, guarded. And at the same time, I lived on the edge with everything that I did, almost as if I wanted to live dangerously—with the secret thought that I’d get caught and pay for what I’d done.”
“You know what You don’t need a brother and a drink—you need a psychiatrist,” Jinx joked. He got up, crossed the room, and slapped Jake on the back. “You got issues.”
Jake laughed. “You’re probably right.”
“But—” He held up a finger. “—you got a good woman who’s willing to put up with all your bullshit and your phobias.”
Jake grinned. “Yeah, I do, don’t I”
Jinx’s expression grew serious. “Don’t blow it. Besides, I kinda like the thought of being Uncle Jinx. Has a nice ring to it, don’t ya think”
Suddenly the whole notion of becoming a father filled him with a sense of awe. The weight and responsibility of bringing into the world and shaping the life of another human being was the biggest challenge he would ever face. He knew all about cracking computer codes, breaking and entering the most secure locations. But being a father, a daddy, was not for him. That was a job he couldn’t afford to fuck up.
“Me and Eva are gonna have to deal with it when we get this job out of the way and we’re in the clear. No point in planning for a future that I’m uncertain about.”
Jinx slowly put down his drink on the nightstand. “What do you mean … uncertain”
Jake lowered his head. “We have a little problem.” He looked up and told Jinx about the codes for the safe. “But now that Rita’s substantial winnings are locked up in the ship’s safe, we have a good opportunity to get in there. We’re going to have to plan to make the switch when she goes in there.”
