“If it’s in the past, then it shouldn’t matter, right?”
Ignoring her sentiment I tried to hurry her along, “Go on, get yourself prettied up,” I pushed her toward the stairs, “We’ll be back in about an hour.”
She laughed and jogged up the stairs.
Chapter Nineteen
Eli Blue
I was just putting the finishing touches on my outfit when I heard the doorbell ring. I grabbed my purse and flew down the stairs. Deacon had only been gone for forty-five minutes, but it felt like days.
Looking through the peephole all I saw was a huge bouquet of white roses with bright blue tips. My heart leapt at the sight of them, and I flung the door open.
“They’re gorgeous!” I shrieked.
“Not as gorgeous as you.” Shaw said from behind the flowers.
All the air in my lungs left in one huge rush. “What are you doing here, Shaw?”
He tried to push his way past me, and into the house, but I pulled the door closed before he could weasel his way in.
Things had been good with Shaw recently, until last night. We’d been hanging out some since that day at his dad’s beach house. But last night I was pretty sure he purposely got me drunk during our innocent dinner and tried to up the ante on our past sexual relationship. Luckily, the girls had been here practicing, and it had been Deacon that followed me into the house, and not Shaw, or things could be completely different right now.
“I need an excuse to bring my friend a gift?” He asked sadly.
I rolled my eyes. “You haven’t given me flowers since the first time you tried to get in my pants. I’m not stupid, Shaw, and I know you better than that.”
“I’m just trying to do something nice for my friend. We are friends aren’t we?” He raised his eyebrows at me.
“Yes, we are friends. We’ll always be friends.”
“Good, that’s exactly what I want. So can an old friend come in and have some of your world famous coffee? I won’t even steal your favorite mug this time.”
He reached for the doorknob.
“Actually, I was on my way out.” I looked toward the purse hanging over my shoulder.
“Oh, where you goin’? We can just get coffee on the way.”
“That wasn’t an invitation, Shaw, I’m going with some friends; other friends.”
“Who?” He snapped.
“Why does it matter who I’m going with?” I snapped back.
“You’re going with that piece of trash, Deacon, aren’t you? How can you even waste a second of your time on someone like him, Elizabeth? He’s beneath you.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s…”
“A fucking drug dealer, that’s what he is. Or has he not told you that? I’m sure he was too busy trying to get in your pants to fill you in on those details.”
I shook my head. “I know about his past, but that doesn’t influence who he is today. You, of all people, should understand that, Shaw.”
“After everything with your dad, after all the times we both said we’d never be around someone that touched drugs, why would you even consider him? You can’t forgive me of my past, but you can completely ignore his?”
“He’s never done anything to me that would make me have to forgive him. You have, and I already forgave you, but that doesn’t mean I’ll forget it. Hell, Deacon took care of me when you got me drunk last night. So shut up about him.”
“He fucked you didn’t he?” He yelled.
I threw my arms up and huffed out a loud breath, this wasn’t going well.
“He did! You let that scum fuck you!” He dropped the roses to the ground, and I watched, as petals broke loose and fluttered in the breeze landing on Shaw’s perfectly polished leather shoes.
I didn’t reply.
He took one step toward me, drawing my attention up from his shoes. “Who are you? That’s not my Elizabeth, she’d never do that shit because she has more respect for herself.”
I took a step back and bumped into the door. His eyes were dark with anger, and for the first time in my life, I felt a chill of fear creep up my spine because of him.
“You aren’t even going to deny it, are you?”
“I…” My voice cracked and I had to cough to clear the panic. “I won’t deny it, and nothing you say will convince me Deacon is bad.”
“Are you not listening to me? He’s mixed up so deep in the drug world he’ll never get out, Elizabeth. How could you, of all people, allow yourself to be a part of that after what happened with both your parents?” He reached out and wrapped his large hand around mine. “No matter what I’ve ever done to you, I can promise I stayed so far away from drugs because of all the lives they’d already ruined, all those you love. Well, I love you too much to let you lose someone else because of them.”
“I think you’re wrong, I think that’s all in his past.”
“I think he reminds you of your father; therefore, you have your head so far up his ass you can’t see he is exactly like your father. Same music, same guitar, same drug habit.”
I shook my head.
“Go! Have your fun. When he breaks your heart, or you realize what a piece of trash he is, I’ll be here. Because I love you.”
He ran his thumb across my cheek and stared deep into my eyes. I could almost feel his black eyes begging me to say something else, to declare my love in return. But I couldn’t. Bright blue eyes had burned into my soul, and no matter what Shaw said, I had to figure Deacon out for myself, trust him myself.
A motorcycle engine revved up the driveway drawing my attention. I felt Shaw’s hand move from my face then saw his back as he retreated to his vehicle and drove away.
Deacon was immediately on me, “What was he doing here?” He snapped.
“He just randomly shows up sometimes. It was nothing, he hadn’t been here long.” I answered, but the scowl never left his face as his eyes stayed on Shaw’s disappearing figure.
“He just randomly shows up with flowers?” He pointed toward the porch where the flowers were still laying.
“Deacon, I don’t know what to tell you. The doorbell rang, I rushed outside thinking it was you, but it was him. I told him I had plans today, and he left.”
His eyebrows drew together as he squinted at me. Finally he shook his head and turned to walk to my car. Angela looked at me, shrugged her shoulders and followed after him then so did I.
The drive to the prison was short, and I didn’t speak a single word the entire time; none of us did, really. My eyes stayed trained on the road with my hands gripping the steering wheel so tight, my fingernails dug into the palms of my hand. I wanted to demand answers from Deacon about what Shaw told me, but I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t know if I even had to the right to ask him about any of it. I mean he’d seen me naked, but what did I really know about him? Shaw was right about one thing, getting intimately involved with someone like Deacon without knowing anything about him, beyond what he made me feel, wasn’t like me. But I wasn’t sure I didn’t like this person better than the old me.
Angela was a nervous wreck, which was easy to see. She kept twitching around in her seat, rubbing her hands up and down the top of her legs. As much as I wanted to hone in on my doubts about Deacon, there were obviously bigger things to worry about right this minute. Even Deacon didn’t look happy about being here. He kept cutting his eyes at me, and I felt it every single time. His infamous scowl was securely planted on his face, and didn’t look like it was leaving anytime soon.
“Only two of us can go in at one time.” Deacon announced as we approached the prison. “Eli will not go in there without me, so if you need some support, you’re stuck with me.” He told Angela.
She looked at me and her eyebrows shot up. I smiled at her, trying to make her understand it was okay. “It’s fine, I can wait out here.”
She nodded, but Deacon didn’t even look at me. They walked down the long hallway leading to the visitor area and I took
a seat on a bench out front.
***
Deacon
Angela and I entered the main doors, filled out the required forms, showed our identification, and were searched before they allowed us inside. The visiting area was filled with people waiting for their thirty minutes with their loved ones. We took a seat next to a woman carrying a small baby, probably here to meet his father for the first time.
I should have been focusing on what we were going to say to Tony; instead, I was too busy thinking about why Shaw had been at Eli’s house. We’d barely been gone and that asshole was already there, perfect fucking timing for him.
A guard called our names when it was our turn, and we walked through the long, narrow room and took our seats on our side of the glass wall with Tony on his.
“What’s going on?” Tony asked. “Not very often I get two visitors in one day?”
He was right; Angela and I never came here together. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if Angela ever came to visit her brother.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Angela said with a fake smile.
“Bullshit, I already know something’s wrong.” He paused and glared at Angela. “I’ve had other visitors this week.”
All the blood drained from Angela’s face, and she swayed toward me, the complete weight of her body colliding with my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her to help steady her.
“What’s going on?” I asked through gritted teeth. “Obviously, there’s more going on here than I know about.”
“I can’t fucking believe you brought him here with you, what were you expecting to gain? Did you think I wouldn’t say shit in front of him?” He tapped the glass with his finger trying to get her attention. “Huh? Did you fucking think that?”
“Hands off the glass!” A guard yelled from behind Tony.
“He was there.” Angela whispered.
“Fuck.” Tony whispered and rubbed his hands up and down his face.
“Are you two kidding me? What’s wrong with you?” I stood from my chair. “I’m done with you both, I don’t want to know what you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in. I told you a long time ago I was done with that shit, and I meant it.”
I turned quickly and took two steps toward the door.
“You’re already involved.” Angela said. “They’re already following you, have been since the day you picked me up. That guy you fought, Vito…well you shouldn’t have.”
I leapt back to her. “I shouldn’t have? No, you shouldn’t have. You involved me in this shit when you called me asking for help.”
“They were gonna kill me!” She shrieked, drawing far too much attention.
“Both of you calm the fuck down, right now.” Tony ordered.
“Fuck you both!” I said softly.
“Deac, you’re already involved, whether you wanted to be, or not. Vito came in here making threats left and right, they want their greens back or the merch. But from the looks of my sister I’m guessing that’s gone.”
“Tony, I’m…”
“Save it Angela, I shoulda never trusted you. I knew better, that’s my fault. But now’s not the time to fight, we gotta stick together and get shit straight. Agreed?” Angela nodded and he looked to me.
“No, not agreed. I don’t give two fucks if they’ve been following me, Angela has been with me every second of the day since I picked her up. Maybe they’re just following her. I don’t want in this shit again, you know this.”
“I hear you have a nice little plaything that lives in a great big house in the Hills.” Tony said. “Do you want her caught in the middle?”
“Are you fucking threatening me?” I leaned closer to the glass that was the only thing saving my friend from the biggest ass kicking I could give.
“Nah man, but they are. They’ve been following you, and they know all about her. I’m just stating facts. Vito doesn’t bullshit, he gets what he wants.”
“Eli’s got money, she can pay them.” Angela said.
I looked from her, to Tony, then back again.
“You planned this shit. You cried your eyes out to her, and told the exact sob story you knew would remind her of her dad so she’d get involved so deep, she’d give you anything you needed. Who the fuck are you people? My friends would not do shit like this.”
“We’ve always been these people, Deac, you just were always on the other side of it.” Tony dead-panned.
“What happened to you? Don’t you give a shit about anyone now?”
“Shit’s different in here man, you gotta learn to worry about yourself, and no one else.”
Chapter Twenty
Eli Blue
I knew Deacon and Angela only had thirty minutes with Tony, but I had no idea how long they’d have to wait before they even got to see him. I’d been sitting in the same spot on a cold, metal bench for over an hour when a man dressed in a long, tan trench coat walked by. He stopped in front of me and smiled, which was a gesture I would normally return. But in this case I didn’t, the little hairs on the back of my neck stood up and a chill ran down my spine so fast, it made me shiver.
“Hey darlin’.” He said in a sickly sweet tone. “You cold? They got coffee inside.”
I diverted my eyes to the sidewalk and quickly shook my head.
“C’mon, you been sittin’ out here all by your lonesome for quite a while. Why don’t you let me get ya a cup of joe?”
“No, thank you.” I said softly. “I’m waiting for someone, he’ll be here any second.”
He lightly chuckled and sat next to me, placing his hand on my leg. I flinched when he touched me, but he tightened his grip, locking me in place.
“Yeah, see, I’ve been meaning to have a little talk with your new pal, Deacon, and as luck would have it, yous just happen to show up here visiting Tony the same day I did.”
His beady eyes were glued to mine, and he leaned so close I could smell the stench of stale cigarette smoke and whiskey. He was a short, pudgy man, with dark hair on the sides and a gleaming bald spot on top. His cheeks were covered with small bumps, and the corners of his mouth were white and crusty.
“How well ya know Tony and his little enterprise?”
“I don’t, I’ve never met him.” I said with a shaky voice.
“So you’re new to the inner circle of this operation then?” He said, nodding his head.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I work with Deacon, on his music, and I just met Angela today.”
He laughed so loud it made me flinch my head back before he pulled swiftly on my leg, snapping my head back toward him.
“You, deary, have horrible timing making new friends, let me tell ya. But you’ve landed yourself in my path, and that’s where you’ll stay, especially seeing as you’re the one with all the money in this group.”
“Wha…what are you talking about?” I asked, as two men wearing identical trench coats flanked either side of us.
He lifted his free hand to my face and traced one finger from the tip of my ear across my cheek and tapped twice in the middle of my lips.
“Your new friends owe me a lot of money, one of yous is gonna pay up, or I’ll find other ways of taking what I’m owed.” He leaned even closer, making me to hold my breath to avoid his stench. “You’re much prettier than the other one, I think we could have some fun.”
I felt wetness as he ran his tongue up the side of my face stopping just below my eye.
***
Deacon
“Get your fucking hands off of her!” I shouted as I ran toward the bench where Vito was practically lying on top of Eli.
Vito turned to smile at me, but before I could reach him I felt a fist collide with my face, knocking me to the ground. I landed flat on my back and felt a heavy foot press into my chest.
“I think our encounter last time might’ve given you a false sense of power over me, Mr. Chastain.” He said as he walked to stand over me. “As you can see, any man can be knocked down when taken by surprise.”
“Fuck you, Vito, keep your sorry ass away from her, or I’ll fucking kill you.”
“Such language, I’ll never understand why you youngsters can’t have a simple conversation without cursing.” He stared down at me and shook his head disapprovingly. “Now I’m assuming you like your girl untouched, and your guitar playing hands intact.” he stepped even closer to me, placing his foot on my hand and pulling a knife from his pocket, holding it at my wrist, and I heard Eli gasp. “So I suggest one of yous comes up with a way to get me what’s mine before you regret it.”
“Fuck you, Vito.”
“Learn some manners, son.” He pushed the knife a little deeper into my flesh and pain shot up my arm.
“You’ll get what yours, if you leave us all alone.” I choked out.
“Hey! What’s going on over there?” I heard a man’s voice coming from near the prison. I turned to see a guard walking toward us.
“You got one week, Chastain…one week.”
Vito and his thugs quickly disappeared. Pulling myself off the ground, I looked toward Eli who was staring after them, her faced covered with shock.
“Are you two okay?” The guard asked as he neared us.
“Yeah.” I told him. “We’re fine, just a little misunderstanding.” I hide my bleeding arm behind my back hoping he’d be on his way.
“Are you sure?” He asked, his eyes moving to Eli.
I moved toward her drawing her attention to me, and watched horrified as she pulled away from me and curled her arms around her middle. I sat on the other end of the bench, trying to keep my distance because I could only imagine how badly she wanted to run away from me after what she’d just seen.
“Oh, I see. Well you two take your troubles somewhere else.” The guard said thinking he’d come across a lover’s quarrel.
I nodded at him and watched as he turned to make his way back to the prison.
“Eli, are you okay?” I asked softly. “Did he hurt you?”
She turned her head slowly and her eyes were glazed over with unshed tears.
“Me?” She shook her head, making the tears roll down her cheeks. “No, I’m fine. But you…” she grasped my wrist and blood trickled down my arm from where Vito had pressed the knife. “You’re the one that’s hurt. They could have…”
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