by T. L Smith
He leans back and shakes his head. “Lucky for me, we weren’t raised together, and I’m nothing like him.” I believe him. I’ve known Michael for a few years, and for the amount of time I knew Antonio I knew he was trouble.
“So you’re moving to take over the business?” I ask him.
Michael smiles. “Yes. You have two girls for me to take?”
Quinn stands, walks out and then walks back in with two girls blindfolded and pushes them to their knees with their hands tied behind their backs. One of his members gets up and takes the girls.
Quinn taps me on my shoulder. “I’m claiming my favor now.”
We all turn to look at him. It’s a weird time for him to do so. But I can’t deny him. He saved Saskia from my father’s clutches when he would have loved to take her. And we always stay true to what we owe.
“You owe your man a favor. That’s a risky one,” Michael says laughing.
I ignore him and wait for what Quinn wants.
He scratches behind his ear and looks at me dead serious. “I want one of the girls back, and I want to keep her.”
Michael laughs. I look at him with wide eyes and confusion. I don’t understand. Why would he want one of the girls?
“Was she sold?”
He shakes his head. “She’s still in that place. I want her.”
I look at Michael. He shrugs his shoulders. “You’re the boss, if you want her, you take her and replace her.”
“Fine,” I say, tapping my hand on the table.
“Her name?” Michael asks.
“Sabrina.”
Michael laughs loud. “You sure you want her? That bitch is crazy.”
Quinn smirks, and I can tell there’s more there. A story as to why he wants her. But now isn’t the time for me to dig into it. He’s entitled to love, and if he wants that with a collected girl he can have it.
Michael turns back to his men, telling them to organize it then looks back to me. “You made a mess, did you know that? People are afraid to do business with you now.”
“They won’t stop. The merchandise to them is the best through us. And fear is good. You want them to fear us. Then they won’t fuck with us,” I say smirking.
“Then why come here and accuse me of something? Who’s threatening you?”
My hand brushes through my hair. I need to cut it. “Someone’s sending her photos. Threatening her.”
Michael looks around then back to me. “If they’re sending her photos, you should be looking to your inner circle. Or hers. Not outside of it. They obviously know her.”
I didn’t think of it that way. This business comes with people wanting to invariably ruin you. It’s just the way it is. Someone always wants what you have, and power’s a tricky position to be in. Most want it, but don’t know how to handle it. I found that out the hard way. People want to know you, to see what they can get out of you. Some just want to know you to say they know you. And some want to kill you. Livia wanted me for all the wrong reasons. She doesn’t know me. She saw what I could give her. The type of lifestyle and my name attached to that was something she wanted. I wasn’t it for her, and she wasn’t it for me.
We finish up our meeting, and as I pull up to her shop, Saskia’s sitting out front and next to her is Robert holding a can of beer as they drink. She’s laughing. And I want in on that laughter, I want to be the one to make her smile. But I know I’m about to take it away the minute I step out and tell her why I’m here.
Maybe I can hold it off a little longer. It wouldn’t be right to do so, though. I’ve hurt her enough to last us a lifetime. I don’t intend to do that any longer.
They both look up, her smile still on her face as she stares at me with those eyes that make me do crazy things. Like wanting to pick her up right now and claim her on this street in front of anyone who’d dare look.
Robert nods his head to me as I walk over and sit down next to her.
“Interesting place to drink,” I say, looking at her. She shrugs her shoulders and smiles.
“It was needed... at least one.” She nudges my shoulder with hers and passes me her beer. I take it, drinking it until it’s empty then placing it between my legs. “You’re here early. Usually, it’s late-night calls.” She laughs, but I don’t.
“Livia is home. She asked for you.” If she had the bottle in her hand right now, I know she’d most likely drop it. Lucky for me she doesn’t, she just sits in the same spot, but she’s shocked.
“She asked for me?” she finally says.
I go to touch her thigh, but she pushes my hand away. “She did,” I reply, thinking back to the conversation we just had in the car on my way to my Barbie. It was awkward, but Barbie didn’t have a cell phone for Livia to call. Well, she does now, but Livia doesn’t know the number. It’s why I’ve given her one so I can send her dirty text messages all fucking day. She’s fun to play with.
Robert stands looking down at her. “She’s only going to make you feel like shit. Don’t go and see her, Sass.”
Barbie looks up to him, and I can see the emotions running all over her face. “I miss her, though. Plus, she’s hurt.”
Robert leans down and kisses her forehead. If he were any other man, I would punch him for touching her, but he’s her best friend. “That heart of yours fucks you over every time, Sass. Try to protect it this time, okay?” She offers a sad smile, and Robert looks to me. “I’ll take her away from you if it means protecting her. Do you understand me?”
I nod my head and look at Barbie. She’s still looking at nothing, just staring ahead into nothingness. He walks off to his car, while she looks to me. Unsure.
“Should I see her?” she asks me.
I don’t know what to tell her. My immediate answer is, no. But that’s only me being selfish. Reaching up, I push her long blonde hair behind her ear. “You should, but only if you want to.” She looks sad and her being sad is not something I want to be responsible for, ever again. “She’ll be angry, though. So please leave if that happens, and the minute you do, I want you to call me.” She nods her head, and I pass her the keys to my car. She takes them looking down. “I’m going to stay here and wait for you. Take it. Take as long as you want.” I stand kissing her head and walking into her shop. She stays where she is not moving for a while, and then manages to stand up and walk to my car, getting in.
It was the first unselfish thing I’ve done for her. She’s now going to see someone she loves, maybe even more than me. And she could be coming back to tell me to leave. It’s a risk I didn’t think about until now. But I’m hoping and praying like hell that she comes back to me. Because I need her more than I need my next breath.
As I watch her go, another car pulls up from where she just left. Stiles gets out and walks to the shop door. He can’t see me standing there, but he puts his face to the door and looks inside. When he sees me, he swears and steps back. He looks like he’s about to change his mind and leave. He turns, but then spins back to the shop, and bangs on the door hard with his hand. I contemplate not opening it. I don’t like the guy for the simple fact he had her when I should have had her. She was mine well before she was his. As I pull the door open, he pushes his way inside making me take a step back then slams some things into my chest. Looking down, I grab them from him and see photos of him and Barbie.
“What the fuck.” My hand reaches for his throat, and I push him up against the glass door, his back banging into it as my hand tightens around his neck. The photos drop to the floor, and he tries to push me away, but it doesn’t work. I’ve got hold of him, and I’m not letting him go anytime soon until his last breath leaves his body.
“Ryken, it’s old.” His words are muffled, but I hear them and remove my hand from his throat. His hand replaces where mine was, and he swears at me. “What the actual fuck. Are you fucking crazy?” I look at him with raised eyebrows. Did he seriously ask me that? Given he just showed me photos of him and Barbie together.
“You show me those
and expect me not to kill you?” I go to step toward him again and he holds his hand out to me.
“You fucking idiot, these photos are old. But that’s the reason I’m here. Why the fuck are they being sent to me in the first place? Who the fuck was taking them?” He passes me a piece of paper as well and on it reads...
I hope you’ll miss her because he’s about to get her killed.
It makes no sense.
“Who is he?” I ask him.
“My guess would be you. You’re the one that seems to be capable of fucking up her life.” He stands taller once he says that, like it’s something he’s wanted to say for a long time. Dick.
“Fuck off! I’ll handle it.” He laughs at me, and I raise one eyebrow at him. I couldn’t give two shits if I shoot the asshole.
“You’ll handle it? How do you plan to do that? Going around shooting everyone? Or maybe just put a leash on her?” It takes everything in me to not hurt him right now.
“Don’t stand here and act like you know what our life is like. And yes, if it comes to protecting her, I’ll fucking kill anyone. That even means you.”
He shakes his head at me. “She’s too good for you. You know, that, right?”
I do, but I’m not going to admit that to him anytime soon.
“Fuck the hell off,” I say to him, holding it open for him to leave.
“Tell her, or I will,” he says, walking out.
“You tell her anything, I will kill you myself. You aren’t in her life anymore, Stiles. She’s fucking mine, you just had her while she waited for me.” I shut the door on his shocked face and walk up her stairs to her room. More photos.
Shooting a message to Quinn, who’s currently waiting for the girl he wanted to arrive, I make sure he knows. Because if anyone can track this person down, it’s him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Saskia
Driving into Livia’s driveway is something I haven’t done for a long time. I don’t even know what to expect as I pull up. How they will receive me, or have I come for them to just tell me how much of an awful person I am? They could all hate me. Let’s face it, I hate me as it is. Stepping from the car, Christopher opens the front door before I even close my car door. He smiles at me, and walks down the stairs, his hands wrapping around my back and pulling me to him. I missed this, being around them. I went from seeing them all the time to, well, never. It was a weird change, and I missed it.
“Where have you been, darling? Have you seen your mother? I hope so because she’s coming, too. Is that going to be okay?” He rattles off, walking up the stairs with me without letting me speak.
“She’s coming?” I ask, shocked.
He nods and opens the door. I look up the stairs to where I know Livia’s room is. “She wants you to go and see her. She’s doing so much better.” He squeezes my shoulder then walks off. My hand touches the railing of the stairs, and I use it to pull myself up each step which is as agonizing as the next. Her door is open, and I can see her lying on her bed with her cell in hand. She looks up to me not saying a word, but she just stares at me. I’m unsure if I should go in, or wait where I am, not moving.
“Come in, it’s not like I can come to you.”
I step in, and she looks to the chair next to her bed which I sit in. My legs cross, then uncross, unsure of what I should be doing or saying to her. “You wanted to see me?”
“You look shocked by that. Have I been that terrible to you?” I don’t know how to answer that question. I just look at the floor. “I guess you did see him first, didn’t you? Not technically, but he had eyes for you first at least. I saw it, you know, that day in the hall when he looked at you, and you looked at him. I saw it, and chose to ignore it, because why would he want you when he could have had me?” She laughs, and it kills a small part of me.
“You’re beautiful,” I say to her, not looking up.
“And you’ve always told me so. You were never the bad one, Sass. It was my jealousy that was bad.” I’m a bit shocked. “Even if you were a whore, and didn’t respect what was mine.” This time I look up to her, my eyes now wide at her words. “You were fucking him while I was with him, weren’t you?”
My hands drag along my skirt.
How did this change so fast into something mean?
“Sass, don’t lie to me either.”
“Yes,” I reply, not lying. She deserves the truth.
“He should have loved me the way he loves you. He should have. He never fought for me. It was all manipulation. I had to use it to get him. You didn’t have to do anything, just bat your eyelashes at him, and he was putty in your hands.”
“He wasn’t,” I whisper so quietly, she doesn’t hear me.
“What did you say?”
I look up to her. “He wasn’t. He chose you every time and left me in doing so. He broke me over time. He did that,” I say to her.
“How funny is it that we both fell for the same man? And he picks you?”
“I’m sorry, if I could... I would want him to pick you.”
She looks down at her cell and smiles. “Believe it or not, despite all the craziness that surrounded us, I think I’m over him. Is that even possible? I mean, I’m angry at you both still, but maybe he was right, and I was wrong. Maybe he wasn’t meant for me after all? You know?” I shrug my shoulders. She looks back to her cell again. “I mean, one of the guys I work with is giving me butterflies. I’ve never had butterflies, Sass. Does he give you butterflies?”
I nod my head. “Every time he touches me.”
“Not with Stiles?”
“Never,” I reply truthfully.
“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy for me to get over. I probably won’t want to see you together for a very long time. But I’m okay with it. All right?”
Her words shock me. I thought she wanted me to come, to tell me how much she hated me. I’m glad it’s not that at all.
“Okay, thanks, Livia.”
She doesn’t offer me a smile. “He’s waiting for you, isn’t he?”
My hands run down my skirt again, unsure if I should say anything.
“He never waited for me. Maybe I should have looked at the signs to begin with.”
“Are you going to be okay?” I ask, looking at her lying in bed not moving.
“Yes, thank fuck. If I weren’t, I sure as shit would have killed him myself rather than weather this storm of ‘did he love me or not’,” She jokes. She isn’t joking though, I know her only too well.
“I’ve missed you, Liv.”
She smiles. “I’ve missed you, too, believe it or not.”
My name is called, and I know it’s my uncle.
“Go... tell them we’re good. They’ve been worried because they haven’t seen you lately.”
I stand and walk out of her room feeling different, lighter if that’s possible. Stepping down the stairs, I see her, standing at the bottom smiling up at me. My mother’s in the house. I don’t ever remember seeing her in there.
My uncle steps back to me and hugs me from the side. “You should be proud of this one, I know I am.”
I thank him as he walks away. Standing in an awkward stance, I wait for her to talk.
“I’m proud of you.”
“Are you?” I ask her, my head dropping to my side. “I’m broken, after all.”
“I shouldn’t have said that, it was drunk talk.” She was always afraid I’d be broken like her mother was. I’m broken, but in a different way from my grandmother, who eventually killed herself. “And you aren’t broken. Actually, you’re far from it.”
“You don’t know me, you can’t say that.” My head shakes. “Maybe you should try to know the real me. Not the one you want to see.”
Tears start in her eyes, and she looks to the ground. “Your father died when you were little, it killed me. That’s the reason I was like that. I don’t want that for you. This boy you love... is he really it for you?”
“You don’t need to know
about Ryken. That’s our business, and we need to sort out ourselves.”
She nods her head. “I guess you’re right, but I still worry.”
“It’s a bit late for that, Mother. I’m an adult now and have been looking after myself for a long time.”
“That’s okay, but I want to try more. Maybe I can come in when you’re working, and maybe help, even clean if you need me. For free... just to try and get to know each other again?”
“Maybe.” I turn, looking back for my uncle. “I have to go. Please tell them I’ll be back this week. I have somewhere I need to be.” Her eyes open in shock, as I walk past her. She expected me to stay, but right now I want to be with Ryken. Because he’s my safe haven right now and it’s where I choose to be.
“I love you, Saskia,” Mother says.
I don’t acknowledge her words as I walk out and straight to his car. I get in and drive to my shop, hoping he’s still there when I return.
HE’S ON MY BED, THE television is up loud, and he’s eating lollies. I laugh when I walk in because whatever he’s watching has him hooked. He looks up when I slam the door to gain his attention, and he smirks at me then looks back to the television. “You don’t plan to be a doctor anytime soon, do you? Because they sure as shit like to fuck a lot in that supply closet.” I laugh when I see him watching Grey’s Anatomy. Then walk over and sit down next to him. He passes me the lollies, and I take them, eating one as I continue watch the show with him. His hand lays on my thigh as he caresses it back and forth.
“How was it?” He looks to me looking away from the television.
“She was... Livia.”
He groans and pulls me to him and kisses my lips. He tastes like strawberry lollies. He tastes good. “She wasn’t a total bitch to you, was she?”
I was surprised when I spoke to her. “No. She’s actually okay with it. Well, the best she can be, I guess.”
He smirks at me. “So, she’s not planning on burning us alive while we sleep?”
I nudge him with my side. “She isn’t that bad...” We both look at each other and laugh. “Okay, maybe she is but she won’t. She’s actually moved on already.”
