by AJ Adams
Coming from generations of Zeta meant she did. Tina would toe the line.
“Good. I’m sorry the marriage is over. I will try to make this as painless as possible.”
When I hung up, I felt my old self again. I was back in control. At the realisation, all the tension drained away. I suddenly felt tiredness overwhelm me.
I went back to bed, tucked my face in Natalia’s neck, breathed in her scent, sweet like roses, and fell into a deep sleep. I was out for hours, revelling in velvet darkness. I woke up briefly, aware that Natalia was moving away. There was a brief murmur ending in a, “Thanks for holding the fort, love. I’ll see you tomorrow,” and then she was back, curling into me, saying, “I’m taking the day off.”
“Good.” The feel of her body, rich against mine, had me panting for her again. I was harder than hell, with my cock busy trying to bury itself in her warm flesh. I was half inside her before I woke up properly and reached for the condoms. Yes, I was definitely back.
Natalia was giggling. “That’s a wild wake-up call!”
That second time was different and yet just as perfect. She was relaxed, happy and eager to play.
“This time, love, let it be for you.”
She teased me, leaning over me, her breasts brushing my chest, her kisses trailing from my lips, over my neck and further down still till I felt that glorious mouth engulf me.
It was heaven, watching her laughing eyes as she teased gasps and moans out of me. After making me beg, she finished by riding me mercilessly, driving me out of my mind by keeping me hanging on the precipice of pleasure before finally letting me explode.
She collapsed on top of me, hot, sweaty and panting. She was gorgeous.
“Natalia, brujita preciosa!”
“Is that precious little witch?”
“Yeah.”
“Good grief.” She was laughing. “It’s a compliment?”
“Definitely!”
“That’s okay then.” She was settling into me, sighing happily. “This is good.”
I was stroking her hip, and I wasn’t happy. In the sunlight filtering through the curtains I could see tiny burn marks left by the taser. There was a round, black bruise over her kidneys, too. The sight of that made me fume.
“Smith, that hijo de puta! Tomorrow he’s gone!”
“Don’t be a fool,” Natalia wasn’t even remotely bothered. “As it is, he’s stymied. If you kill him, it means a new inquiry.” She stroked my chest, adding teasingly, “If they replace that nitwit with a woman, she’ll figure out what went down in a heartbeat, and then we’re both sunk.”
Bloody bruja, talking sense when I lusted for revenge! She didn’t even look to see if I agreed. She knew I’d see she was right and let it be. Annoying as hell but also kind of comforting. This was a woman who didn’t give in to her emotions.
We lay comfortably, enjoying the lazy feeling that comes after a beautiful fuck. Feel-good chemicals, the magazines call them. I’m all for it. And getting those is much more fun than just taking a toot.
Natalia was looking thoughtful. “You know, I’m totally starving. How about I whip up some eye of newt and spawn of toad?”
Another great meal, this time lasagne out of her freezer. We put the sofa back together as it nuked and ate while watching one of the Terminator movies, the one with the liquid robot. I love that one, and it was nice to discover Natalia was an action flick addict, too.
“You sorted out your problem?” Natalia was eyeing me knowledgeably. Definitely a woman with supernatural talents.
“Yes.”
“Want to stay till tomorrow morning?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” She snuggled into me. “I haven’t played hooky in years. This is fun.”
Hooky and fun. Yes, she was telling me this was a fling.
“I’m enjoying it, too.”
I settled down and watched Arnie blast the liquid terminator away. It was all good.
Chapter Sixteen: Natalia
When I woke up, I was aware of a feeling of wellbeing. The sun was shining for once, and the sheets were warm and soft against my skin. Better still, I’d slept without dreaming. I was totally rested.
Lying in bed, snippets of the night and day before drifted into mind. Quique laughing as I was squealing my head off, begging for him to fuck me harder, never to stop. Me looking down on him as he was moaning and arching, trying to get off as I teased him. It had been sybaritic fun, and now, having gotten my groove back, I felt whole again.
The space behind me was empty. Quique had slid out sometime at dawn. He’d kissed my neck and vanished without a word. I’d gotten up and checked the door afterwards and found new locks in place. The keys were on the sideboard, as he’d used his picks to lock up. That made me laugh. It was typical Quique.
I liked him, but I was under no illusions. What we had was a fling. There was no future in it. For one thing, Quique was macho to the bone. What with me being a bitch on wheels, he would eventually wring my neck. There wasn’t even a point in trying, because his life was in Mexico, and mine was here.
I’d let him know it was okay with me. I was grateful for his getting me back on my feet. He’d been a joy, and thanks to his sweet thoughtfulness, the dark cloud that had hung over me for three long years had vanished.
I sang in the shower and picked out a bright blue sweater to wear. I dug out eyeliner for the first since forever, too. I felt like a bubble of joy surrounded me. It was totally Disney.
The moment was almost ruined by another anonymous note. It was a picture of a girl with shaved hair, like a revenge image from the Second World War when they picked on collaborators. You're next, bitch, it threatened. There was a Nazi swastika next to it. Once again I ripped it into pieces and threw it out. This wasn't Peckham Knaves at work; this was some silly sod trying to scare me. I was determined to ignore it.
When I opened my door, Rovero was lounging outside. He looked me up and down and grinned. “The boss says you don’t need to worry about using this.” He handed my phone to me. “The handbag will be returned in a couple of hours.”
“Awesome!” I had to hand it the Zetas; I had kissed my things goodbye. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I could get it all back.
There were a million missed calls, almost all of them from Millie. Guilt flooded through me as I dialled her number.
“Nats, love,” Millie sounded quite her usual self. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, sorry to be out of touch. And you? How’s Delicia?”
“We’re fine. Delicia is back to school today. But Nats, I heard about bloody Smith! He should be prosecuted for this!”
“Oh well, it’s over now. I’d rather let it be.”
“Dwayne called,” Millie explained. “He said your friend was taking care of you. Kiko.”
“Quique, short for Henry in Spanish.”
“He sounds lovely,” Millie was totally unconvincing. “Is he the one who helped you get Delicia back?”
I was suddenly mindful, thinking back to Quique checking for bugs in my flat. “Millie, there’s tonnes of traffic, and I can’t hear you properly. Why don’t you come for lunch?”
“Okay.” Millie hesitated. “Erm, Nats, Frank and Roger were round yesterday. They were a bit upset. There are rumours that the Peckham Knaves are after you. They say they’ll target the Black Horse, too.”
The bubble of joy vanished. “Tell me over lunch, okay?”
Rovero marched into the pub, checked around quickly, including the kitchen, and settled by the front door, watchdog style. He patted the bulge under his jacket. “I stay on you all day. Boss’ orders.”
I wasn’t sure if I liked it. I was safe from Smith, but on the other hand, if the Peckham Knaves were to come round... I remembered the photos of the beaten girls. Yes, having a safety net was a good thing. “Thanks, love. Appreciate it.”
Dwayne was already in, sweeping the floor. “Nats!” I got a hug. “Thank God! You look all better!”
&n
bsp; The pub looked like my place: trash everywhere and furniture higgledy-piggledy. “Big night?”
“When news went round you’d been hauled in again, we had London in here. Last night we were filled to the rafters, too.”
“Ohmigod! You coped alone? Why didn’t you send someone to get me?”
“Nah,” Dwayne was grinning. “Rovero called this bloke who used to work at Annabelle’s. He wasn’t cheap, but we made a fucking fortune, so I thought you’d be okay with it.”
I looked at the till, bulging with money. Even the fifty pound note tray was crammed. “Jesus! Did we have enough stock?”
“We owe the Feathers four barrels and a case of gin.”
After we had the place tidied up, I checked the books. We’d made more money in the last fortnight than we had in the previous three months. Every debt was now paid off, and we had a nice bit of margin in hand if times got tough.
Another burden had been lifted off my shoulders. I suddenly breathed easier. I hadn’t truly known how much I’d worried about all of us.
So I was feeling great until we opened, and the family came roaring in. Millie gave me a hug, but Frank, Roger, Pat, John and Donald were bristling with anger.
“Nats, are you okay?” Millie was patting me anxiously. “We’ve been hearing such things! Scott called in a panic, saying you'd been jailed!”
“I’m fine. I—”
Frank talked right over me. “What the hell happened between you and Smith?”
“We were told you were arrested for murder!” John was so outraged, he talked right over Frank. “There’s police all over Aylesbury Estate! There’s like thirty people dead! How could you, Nats?”
Terrific, right? I gave him my coldest stare. “Well, John. I thought what the hell, and I blew them all away with my magic Chakram.”
“This is not a joking matter!” Pat was fuming, too.
“Well, I won’t mourn for Sooty or the Twittertons.” Millie, bless her, was trying to stand up for me.
“They’ll take revenge,” Pat said worriedly. “They’ll kill you, Nats.”
“I’ll talk to them,” Frank was clearly pixilated. “There must be something we can give them.”
“No bloody way are we giving the Peckham Knaves anything!” I was furious. “I’ve got some protection,” thanks Quique, “and if they come in here, I’ll deal with the buggers myself.”
“Yes, but the police arrested you. When will it come to court?” John worried. “Who will run the Black Horse?”
Ah, now we were getting to the point. “I wasn’t charged, there’s no case, and I’ll keep running the pub.”
There was a dead silence as they digested it.
“Look, even if we don’t have to worry about the arrest or the Peckham Knaves, we’ve still got a problem,” Donald pointed out. “With Sooty gone, how can you operate?”
Deep breath. “Quique’s company offers the service. Cheaper than Sooty, too.”
There was a dead silence. Millie looked uncertain, and Frank was rolling his eyes. They’d known, but for once they’d not told the others. From the look of them, they’d been too afraid of being fussed at.
“You got the Mexican mafia involved in our business?” Roger was white-faced and furious. “Are you fucking nuts?”
My good mood in tatters, I was snarling, too. “I’ll tell you the same as I told Frank: can you think of anyone else?”
“Well, I’m glad,” Millie said defiantly. “If Quique helped you get Delicia, I think he’s a hero!”
“Dad will never allow it!” Roger yelled.
“We need them, or the Peckham Knaves will destroy us,” Pat countered.
“And whose fault is that?” Roger screamed.
It ended in a huge fight, with Millie crying her eyes out and everyone yelling. By the time they left, I had a massive headache, so I wasn’t best pleased when a skinny type with a briefcase wandered in. Sykes, a local solicitor.
“I thought smooth-talking James was the brief.”
“He is a lawyer, but he hasn’t passed the local bar.” Sykes was handing me an envelope. “I brought the property papers.”
“I’ll read them and get back to you.”
“It’s a page,” Sykes was twitchy as hell. “Mr Ramas wrote it.”
The paperwork was in plain English, saying I sold the property with all rights to Zeta International. It also mentioned the assessments, a total figure, and that was it. A sticky-note attached said, “The extra 10% in cash delivered tonight.”
“Direct kind, isn’t he?”
Sykes twitched. “You’ve no idea. Here, use my pen.”
Pushy bugger. But he was right. The paperwork was a doddle. I signed, Sykes stamped it, and then he gave me a cheque. Suddenly I was rich again. It felt wonderful. On impulse I grabbed my coat and went to the bank, Rovero stomping along beside me.
I managed to deposit the cheque while avoiding Scott and slipped into the safety deposit box hall. Five minutes later we were hopping into a cab and dropping in on the Zeta head office. Quique was out, but an assistant took the small velvet pouch that used to hold my mum’s Victorian cameo brooch and promised to hand it over to Quique.
The pub had sold out on food, so I spent the rest of the day making French onion soup and chicken pies, as well as starting on a pot au feu for the next day.
Frank turned up, half cut and complaining his latest boss had given him the boot. “I could work here, Nats.”
“Don’t be daft. You’d hate taking orders from me. Anyway, there’s not enough custom to support another worker.”
“At least let me drink at cost till I get another job!”
“Frank, scrounging off Millie and Delicia is not what you want to do.”
That got him sulking, and after draining three rapid pints he got whiney. “One day I’ll be a big man around here, and then you’ll be sorry.”
“That’s right. You’ll show me.”
Scott pitched up at seven, looking long-faced. “I came to give you a chance to explain.”
I didn’t bash him. “There’s nothing to say, Scott.”
Scott looked his most exasperated. “What are you thinking, Natalia? I keep telling you: you need someone to help you, to guide you!”
“If I need guidance, I’ll adopt a Labrador.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with you.” Scott sighed heavily. “You’re not making any sense, Natalia! You’re ruining your reputation!”
“You’ve no right to talk to my wife like that!” Frank was well gone.
“Ex, Frank. And neither of you has the right to criticize me.”
That got them both grumbling at me and at each other. The crowd was small, mostly regulars, but they enjoyed getting another floorshow.
“Hey bruja!” Quique came in, carrying roses. Frank and Scott rose as one and made for the exit. He looked after them and grinned. “Was it something I said?”
“It's not you, it’s me.”
“Yeah, you’re a difficult woman.”
“I see you got your watch back.”
“Yeah, guess I did something right at last.”
“That’s for sure.”
He handed over the roses and an envelope. “As promised, ten percent.”
“Have you eaten?”
“No, but I can’t stay.” He dropped his voice. “Listen, Natalia. The next few days are going to be busy. Be careful. Don’t go anywhere except for here and home. Rovero will be with you every step, okay?”
I felt a frisson of fear thrill through me. “The Knaves are seriously pissed off, are they?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry. We’ll fix them soon enough. Just be careful, okay?”
“Sure.”
Quique then dropped out of sight. I heard of his doings, though. Two shootings on the first night, five the night after, and then a dozen people vanished. The Kit-Kat, a club belonging to the Knaves, was burned down to the ground, and so was the Happy Barrel, a bottle shop they owned.
“I
think it’s a good thing,” Mo was holding forth with the hard-core lunchtime crew. “The pushers outside the school have disappeared.”
“Well, I miss my grass,” Mike grumbled. “All the dealers are out of stock now that Stone Cold is gone.”
I noticed Rovero having a word with Mike on the way out, and from the grins, I guessed that problem was solved. I wasn’t worried, because the Knaves were so busy with their turf war that it seemed they’d forgotten about me. However, the family were antsy.
I was visiting Millie and Delicia when Roger rolled up with Suzie and Johnathan in tow. The two kids disappeared, off to play the Sorcerers and Unicorns game I’d brought for Delicia. I got a big hug from Suzie, who then elbowed Roger meaningfully.
“Erm, Nats, I want to say I’m sorry.”
That was a first. I just gazed at him.
“About Johnathan,” he continued miserably. “You were right. He doesn’t trust me anymore.”
My heart went out to him. The poor man had been beaten by Bobby when he was a kid, so it was no wonder he’d not known better.
“Johnathan told me about the bet and how you helped him,” Suzie was speaking in a tight, clipped tone. “It shamed me, Nats. Our own son was too scared to tell us he was in trouble!”
I was on my feet and hugging them both. “It will be all right! He’s a lovely boy. You’ll straighten it out. I know you will!”
We had tea together and finally talked properly.
“Nats, you’re so clever,” Suzie was picking her words with care, an unusual thing for the Trueloves. “You saved the Black Horse, right? Nobody else could have done that. I don’t understand business, and I never understood how that deal with Sooty worked, but I was wondering, can’t we run the pub without the Zetas? I hear such things about them. They scare me.”
It was an appeal that went straight to the point. “Suzie, it's not my first choice, either. I mean, I wasn’t best pleased when Bobby sent Sooty, but we went through this before, right? We need a proxy to hold the licence.”
“If only Aunt Sadie had stepped up!” Roger was angry again. “Or cousin Daisy!”
“But they didn’t want to take the risk,” I reminded him.
“We all know Nats got slapped with a sentence because of Frank’s shenanigans,” Millie said unexpectedly. “Bobby’s wheeling and dealing scared them off.”
