by T. L Smith
“Elicea.”
My eyes fly up at his voice. Searching until they find him, he’s still in the same spot he has been most of the night working. My heart beats so loudly I can hear it echo through my ears, waiting to see what he’ll say. “No work tomorrow, you’re not needed.”
It drops, all the way down to my feet. I’m afraid to look down, thinking I may actually see my heart there. I nod, letting the door finally shut behind me as I get into Johnny’s car. He doesn’t say much as he drives me home. Kissing his cheek, I go inside and strip, turning up the music loudly before getting in the shower—hoping it will drown the thoughts running rampant in my mind.
Am I good enough?
Is this something you really want, to love someone like him?
Do you even want to love, when the possibility of getting hurt is so high?
Men like him don’t love women like me, I question if they love at all.
Scrubbing my skin, I look down to my red feet that the hot water cascades over. Working twelve hours in a bar where drinks spill on you, you end up sticky. Places I never thought I would be sticky end up covered in alcohol.
Wrapping a towel around myself, I hear someone knock loudly on my door. It’s probably Tracey—she finishes work around this time. I don’t bother changing as I pull the door open but instead of Tracey, standing there are two men. One has his eyes glued to me, staring like he’s about to push me in and shut the door behind us.
“Good evening, gentlemen.”
Falcon nods, not discreetly, as his eyes roam my body.
Creed, on the other hand, well, his gaze meets mine. His hand is glued to the door frame and his knuckles are turning white.
“We messaged you,” Falcon says pushing past me into my home. Creed stays at the door, his hand not moving from the spot on the door frame.
“I was showering,” I reply to Falcon but still watching Creed, whose gaze has travelled down to my bare legs.
“You smell like strawberries,” Falcon says as he pulls out a chair. I hear it scrape on the floor as I turn to look at him.
“What are you doing here?”
Falcon looks to his cell, types something out fast then pockets it before he looks back to me. “Get dressed, we have somewhere to be.” I eye him before looking back to Creed, who let go of my doorframe and stepped inside. His front is to my back, neither of us says a word as he shuts the door—both of us not moving. His breath tickles my neck, and I try to restrain from jumping.
“Or you can go like that, I’m a pleaser.” Falcon winks.
I move away from Creed and go to my room, making sure I shut the door. I throw on a simple black dress and heels, leaving my hair down and wet—no time to dry or straighten it. The curls will have to do tonight.
I pause at the door. Creed is leaning over Falcon while he holds his collar, his face inches from Falcon as he whispers. From his tone I can tell he’s angry, very fucking angry with him. I cough and they both stand at the exact same time.
“Beautiful. Shall we?” Falcon asks with a wave to the door.
I should be shy that two very large and attractive men are currently in my extremely small apartment that’s not tidy at all. If I had time to think about it, I’d probably be mortified. But my hands are sweaty, and my pulse is racing while I stand next to Creed as we reach the car. It’s not his car, his is sleek and powerful. This one is a Hummer, large and big. Falcon gets in the driver’s seat as Creed holds open the back door for me to slide in. He offers me his hand as I step on the step and use it to push myself inside. His hand squeezes mine as he lets go and shuts the door. He slides into the front passenger seat.
“Are most of the work people going to attend? Where did you say we’re going again?” I ask, clutching my cell to me. That’s when I realize I didn’t grab my purse.
“It’s—a private affair. And no, other employees will not be attending,” Falcon replies. Creed stays quiet.
“I forgot my purse,” I say.
Falcon responds straight away, not slowing down or stopping. “You won’t need ID or a purse, will she, Creed?” Falcon looks to Creed who still does not speak.
I have no idea why they picked me up or even why I’m going. Creed has only said a few words to me in the last few days. I’m not sure why, so this outing is a very big surprise to me considering I just left work. The silence is almost deafening, not once does Creed offer to make conversation or even Falcon. They seem to be lost in their own worlds. The car slows down as we arrive at a house, a house right on the beach.
How long were we driving? Must have been an hour at least to get to the beach.
I slip my heels back on as we come to a stop. The guys get out as Creed opens my door, offering me his hand. Placing mine in his, I pull it away the minute both of my feet touch the ground—careful not to break his boundaries. Obviously, we are no longer two people who like to kiss. Now we’re two strangers who travel in silence.
His eyes find mine, but I’m trying not to give attention to what I just did when I pulled my grasp away from him, so I don’t look at him. It’s easier that way.
“Whose place is this?” I ask as we walk up to a large white door. I can feel him lingering behind me as I walk away.
Falcon pulls it open, letting me step in first, and I feel him come up behind me as we make our way inside. The music is loud and there are very few people here.
“Darby’s,” Falcon says, and I stop in my tracks. Creed once again is behind me. His hand rests on my waist as he leans down and whispers in my ear, “What’s wrong, Elicea, don’t you want to party with us?” He says it in the most teasing way, and shivers break over my body.
I whip around to look him in the eyes, we’re so close that our noses almost touch. Instead of asking him what he means and why he asked me, I say the first thing that pops into my head. “He doesn’t like me.”
Creed drops his hand from my waist and steps forward so he’s standing next to me. He cracks his neck as he looks around. Falcon’s already left so it’s now just us two standing there in the entryway.
“You’re observant, aren’t you?” he asks like it’s a surprise. I shrug as he looks around then back to me. “He doesn’t dislike you, he just doesn’t like what you do to me.” He walks off, leaving me alone. Shivers run through my body at his words.
What do I do to him?
I don’t even know.
We didn’t get far enough to work it out. He gave me a job and we kissed twice. That has been our extent. I don’t even know him.
“And who are you?”
I turn to see yet another god lookalike—he reminds me of Thor with his blond hair and tanned muscles. I point to where the guys left, then drop my hand to my side. “Elicea,” I answer him.
He nods, walks up to me and asks for my hand. Placing my hand in his, he leans down and kisses the top of my hand. His tongue darts out and it’s slow before he pulls away, standing tall again. “It’s a pleasure, I’m sure.”
Too stunned for words, I do nothing but stare, and he does the same thing as he puts his drink to his lips. That’s when Darby walks up behind him, slapping him harder than he probably should have on the shoulder. Darby’s eyes find mine, assessing me before he looks behind me, trying to determine who brought me here.
“Which one, Falcon or Creed?” he asks, his hand not leaving the man’s shoulder. I still don’t know his name, but Thor sounds good to me.
I smile, looking down to my shoes. Darby isn’t a man to be won over by a pretty smile, and right now I don’t feel like smiling. My eyes lift from the floor to see Darby watching me intently, and I’ve only spoken to him a few times. His eyes are not like the others, he’s all business and the most serious man I’ve ever met.
“Both.”
He shakes his head swearing under his breath. “I’m sure you’re a nice woman—”
“Elicea,” I say, and he nods.
“But those two—they don’t need to be distracted.”
T
he blonde says nothing as he watches our interaction, highly amused by the situation.
“If anyone’s being distracted, it’s me. I didn’t ask to be taken out after work tonight. I was getting ready for bed when they showed up. So, if you would be so kind, and possibly tell me the number for a cab service, I’ll go back to exactly what I was doing before you guys decided it was best to take me out for one of your fun nights. Which, I might add, was distracting me.” My voice gets louder as I speak, realizing the ridiculousness of the entire chain of events. Thor whistles loudly, shaking his head, and throws an arm around me, pulling me from Darby—who is looking at me like I have grown a second head.
“Echo, hands off,” Falcon says, standing in a kitchen area with drinks around him. Creed sits opposite of him, head down as he listens to Falcon.
“He’s feisty that one, but just a word of advice, the one you should be looking out for is Creed.” He doesn’t say anything else as he walks off. Falcon waves me over and I take the spare seat next to Creed. A few girls linger on the seats behind us. They aren’t the regular girls from work, that surprises me, but the three guys are up here watching while Falcon makes drinks.
“Do you need a hand?” I ask Falcon. He smiles at me and taps my head.
“No work for you tonight, pretty one. Tonight, you get fucked up.”
I laugh at his words. He’s always tapping my head like I’m a child and saying stupid shit. Falcon’s attractive, more so than most men. But my heart only beats out of my chest and my hands only sweat while my butterflies swoon for the man sitting next to me, pretending I don’t exist.
My eyes find him, he’s lost in thought. His face is stoic and unreadable. Turning back around, I wipe my sweaty hands on my clothes and hope he doesn’t realize what he does to me.
I need to try harder to hide these feelings, they could be dangerous.
13
Creed
It was Falcon’s idea to bring her here. Our one place where we go to wind down. Trying to avoid her is what I’ve been attempting, telling myself that the taste of her lips isn’t as intoxicating as I thought. Maybe it’s just in my fucking head. Her fingers tap on the kitchen counter where she sits next to me, her strawberry smell almost suffocating me.
Falcon looks to me then raises one eyebrow before he quickly looks away—to him it’s a game of who can get her first. I’m not fucking playing that game this time. I push my chair back and walk away. D’s standing in the hallway, his cell glued to him as he looks up to me. His eyes look over my shoulder before he slides his cell into his pocket then nods toward the door. I know what that look means. It means it’s time to go.
“Breach,” is all he has to say. It’s as simple as that. We take our business dealings seriously. It’s how we’ve stayed in business for so long, gained the clientele we have. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be this fucking rich. A governor won’t come to our establishment and lay down thousands of dollars a night if we weren’t discreet. And to keep that in order, there are things we have to do.
Walking out the front door, we don’t say goodbye. D starts driving straight away as I shoot Echo a text telling him where we’re going. He replies with a thumbs up. Echo used to be the main man on these missions. Now we don’t even know what to do with him. We’ve all been doing his job for so long we aren’t even sure what his job is anymore.
“Falcon’s doing it to get under your skin,” D says as we drive away from his house and back to the city. My hand holds the door handle hard, squeezing it until my knuckles go red. “And obviously it’s working.” He sounds amused with himself.
“It’s nothing.”
He slows the car down as the address comes up on his cell phone. “Is that what you’re going to keep telling yourself?” he asks, glancing at me. “I like her, believe it or not. She has spunk, and she isn’t shy. Maybe she’ll bring you out of your shell.”
“She’s an employee.”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Don’t bring it into work, you can do that.”
The car comes to a stop and he opens the glove compartment, pocketing his gun. Getting out, we walk straight to the front door, checking for cameras. Echo would have usually disarmed all cameras on the property. He’s in charge of security but as I said, he’s been lacking lately.
D knocks on the door then steps back. Standing in front of him, the councilman opens the door with a drink in hand. His eyes go wide at the sight of us and his drink drops to the ground, smashing into pieces as he turns, trying to escape. It won’t work. My boots crunch over the glass as I reach him, grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him backward then slamming him into the ground. He grunts then cries out loudly as D steps in, shutting the door behind him. With the blunt end of the gun, D knocks him unconscious as I drag his ass to the nearest chair. I pull him onto it, and then tie his hands and feet to it.
Once he’s tied down, I step away from him to see family photos on his wall but no sign of a family. His wife left him years ago because he liked to fuck other women and he hasn’t seen his kids in over a year. He’s the picture-perfect man covered in lies.
“Falcon wants her,” I state plainly. D turns to me, pulling out a chair and sitting on it as we wait for the councilman to wake up.
“He doesn’t want her the way you want her, that much is obvious. Plus, Falcon. Well, we all know exactly how he is. He wouldn’t know what love is if it smacked him in the face. He’s purely doing it to get a rise out of you. You aren’t easy to rise, so he’s taking great pride in it.”
I shrug my shoulders at him. “Maybe I should let him have her.”
D laughs. “My case in point. This is exactly what pisses him off. He can make everyone jealous or raving mad. The most he makes you do is a slam into the shoulders. So, he tries to do that as often as possible. If you give a bite, he will want the whole sandwich. He’s trying for that sandwich, Creed, are you going to give it to him? Because he will take her, and how would you feel seeing her with his hands all over her?”
My teeth instantly start grinding at his words.
“Exactly, I can see it makes you mad. You’re usually so cavalier, you don’t care what others think. Or even take into consideration how they feel. But I can see she’s breaking through, and you don’t know what to do.”
“I don’t know her.”
The councilman starts to stir in his chair. D stands, removing his gun from his belt and placing it on the table directly in front of the councilman, so when he wakes it will be the first thing he sees.
“Something obviously attracted you to her. How often can you say a woman has made you feel that way?”
“Since when did you become helpful? You hated the idea.”
He cracks his neck then looks down at me. “I’ve had a change of heart.” His smile is evil as the councilman fully awakens. His eyes drop to me then quickly to D who’s standing. D’s hand meets his face hard, and I hear the crack under his fists as I sit there thinking about how I should play this. If Falcon believes I want her, it will just make his pursuit of her stronger, and what if she likes him? That’s not something I want to deal with ever again.
Cries snap me out of my thoughts as I stand up, walking to the kitchen while D wipes his hand on a cloth. Grabbing the closest sharpest knife, I walk back over to him.
The councilman is now begging for his life.
“It was an accident, it slipped. I didn’t mean to. I swear.” He knows exactly why we’re here, there’s no use denying it. We don’t visit our clients unless they break the contract, then we visit them and they all know precisely why. His eyes keep on dropping from me to D, but D’s now back on his cell as I walk toward him. Dropping the knife down his front, I slice his buttons open from top to bottom, and as I go, the knife drags beautifully over his peachy skin, making the red crimson come to life. His perfect white shirt now stained with a beautiful red flow. His cries go unheard until I’ve reached the very last button.
“Please, please—I won’t say a word aga
in.” His eyes plead with me, but it doesn’t work. Dragging the knife back up through the same incision, making it even deeper so the blood rushes out faster, his screams pick up.
“It won’t happen again?” D asks, looking up as I pause the knife on his chest.
He nods, fast tears streaking down his face. “I swear, please believe me.”
D looks to me then nods. The councilman starts screaming again.
“You’ll be punished, and you will pay us for your dishonesty. If you so happen to mention our club again, next time you’ll meet the end of Creed’s bullet. Do you understand?”
He nods fast, trying to look between us. D nods his head one more time as I smile at the man. He doesn’t smile back, his eyes are deathly afraid. He should be. With one hand, I pinch his hairy nipple, with the other I slice it straight off.
D stands to untie him as I wipe the handle of the knife, carefully making sure my fingerprints aren’t on it, and place it in his sink. The guy falls to the floor crying. D drops a card to the floor with the bank details to pay us. He doesn’t have the energy to reply as we leave.
The music is loud and the shouts from Falcon are drunk and the cheers are even louder. Stepping around the corner, I see Falcon with a line of shots at the counter. Elicea is egging him on, counting as he shoots each one. Echo’s sitting there, amused as he watches Falcon be a dick. This is how we unwind, our downtime, it’s where we aren’t at work and we don’t bring anything here. D’s house is far enough away we don’t have to worry. He has two, this one for us and the other none of us are allowed to go to.
Falcon slams his last shot down on the counter then looks up at us holding a bottle in his hand. D slaps me on the back as he makes his way over to them. The other girls D invited are gone. He does that for the guys, not so much for himself. I’ve never seen him with a woman even though I know he never lacks pussy. He just prefers to keep that part of his life private.
