by Lacey Heart
I need to get out, and I kind of did, only now I have to make sure I keep Tiffanie close. She’s my bargaining chip―and I’ll keep her until the time is right and I can find a way to cash her in.
“I want you, Colby.” She purrs like a kitten as she presses her body close to mine and I have zero energy to push her away. Maybe she’s just what I need right now. A release could work wonders for clearing my head―at least for a short while. “Why don’t you let me take away some of that stress you seem to be carrying around with you these days.” Her lips kiss my jaw before slowly working their way down toward my neck and I throw my head back and once again I close my eyes and imagine her lips were someone else’s.
Willow’s face flashes in my mind, but it’s not the same face that I’m used to. No, this is the face of Willow, beaten and destroyed, her heart ripped out and torn in two; totally broken beyond repair and as my heart rate quickens, I struggle to control the mixture of emotions reaping havoc inside my body.
“Stop!” I call out and Tiffanie pulls her head back to look at me and I see a mixture of hurt and confusion swimming in her eyes. But this does nothing for me, except maybe pity her and her desperate need for affection some more.
No matter how many materialistic things Tiffanie buys throughout her shallow and boring life, it will never be enough for her. She’ll never be able to fill the irreparable hole in her chest. She’s constantly desperate for approval. She’s desperate to be wanted, and she’s desperate to be loved. Something I’ve always told her I’ll never be able to give her.
“This is about her, isn’t it?”
“Who?” I narrow my eyes pretending I don’t know what she means but I know exactly who she’s talking about.
“Fucking Willow.” Willow’s name sounds like acid on her tongue and her face scrunches up in disgust.
I roll my shoulders and let out a heavy sigh. “No, Tiff. It really isn’t.”
“Bullshit.” She snaps back. “That bitch has done nothing but get in between us since we got here, and now you won’t even let me anywhere near you.” Damn, she’s pissed. Her voice rises with her anger and I really hope Hadley doesn’t choose this moment to come back home. “Do I really make you cringe that much?” She steps back so I can a get a full head to toe view of her naked body before running her hands slowly and seductively from her breasts right down to her pussy. “Is this body of mine really that disgusting that you’ll refuse to touch me? To fuck me?” she purrs some more, and she knows what she’s doing.
This really isn’t the time to be throwing this kind of bullshit on to me. “Tiff…” I warn her and I can feel my patience growing thinner by the second.
“I remember when you couldn’t keep your greedy little hands away from all this goodness. You’d fuck me for hours, escaping into everything I had to offer you, and now… now you don’t even look at me.”
It’s not often I’ll ever admit to agreeing with Tiffanie, but she’s right. I don’t want to look at her. I don’t want to fuck her, because the bottom line is, she’s no longer what I need. I’ve always been open and honest with her, and I warned her that I have a tendency to get bored easily, and sooner or later she’d get tossed to the side like a damaged or forgotten toy. One that is no longer fit for purpose.
“I don’t have time…” I tell her truthfully. I’m about to meet her psycho of a father and I’d rather get that over and done with. But true to form, Tiffanie means business and there’s no way she’s about to back down. I know and she knows that she won’t stop until I’ve fucked her into silence.
It’s not something I want to do, but I guess there’s less pleasurable ways to shut someone up and get them off your back for a while.
I close my eyes and throw my head back, and Tiffanie is quick to growl out her appreciation as I sense her step closer to me.
“Now, that’s a good boy. I think it’s high time I made you forget all about Redlake and its distractions and remind you just how good the two of us used to be.”
CHAPTER THREE
WILLOW
Darkness consumes me.
A complete wash of black surrounds me and I can’t see a goddamn thing. I don’t know where I am, or how I got here, but judging the tight knots in my stomach I know it’s somewhere I shouldn’t be.
Am I dead?
Is this depressing darkness really all that’s waiting for you when your heart beats it’s last and your brain finally shuts down? All that life, wasted―and for this?
All too soon I feel the icy chill of panic setting in. The tightness of my chest intensifies, almost crushing me from the pain, threating to finish the job someone else started. My mouth is drier than the desert and it constricts as the fear of the unknown seeps deep into my veins, setting off a mighty blaze of fire through my body―letting me know that I’m not dead just yet, but whatever this is, then it’s far from over.
It’s an instinct. A warning for me to recognize that whatever this situation is, it’s all kinds of wrong.
“Okay, Willow. We need to find a way out of this…” I tell myself, trying my best to remain as positive as possible while I’m stuck in the unknown. My head is spinning as I try to gather up enough energy to move, but I come up short when I move my arms and realize they’re not going anywhere fast.
My hands are tied securely behind my back, around something hard and cold, preventing me from making any kind of escape.
“What the fuck happened?” I call out to the darkness, but the words don’t form. Only a muffled sound escapes me. And that’s when I realize I have tape over my mouth. Hearing the loud thud of my frantic heart sound in my ears causes more panic to flood through my body and I feel light-headed.
I try desperately to push through the blur in my head, trying to cast my mind back but it’s way too foggy. Like a dark cloud shielding my mind from the trauma, and damn, it hurts so bad. A dull thud begins to pound inside my skull, intensifying by the second, and it feels like a million fireworks have been set off at the same time, ricocheting and echoing with each dull thud.
Fuck.
I have no idea where I am.
I have zero clue what happened to me, or why I’m here.
I can’t even tell if there is anyone else here with me.
There’s no sound, and I can’t see shit. Instead, I do the only thing I can. I use everything I have left, which isn’t all that much, and I try to focus on clearing my mind. I’m desperate. For anything, no matter how small so I can try to figure out how and why I have ended up like this.
All alone and being held against my will.
A couple of seconds pass, but it sure feels longer, when finally, the blurry cloud in my mind shifts and starts to clear.
I remember rushing out of Hadley’s as I desperately tried to hide my tears from Colby and escape his vicious toxic mouth. I remember his evil words piercing through my shattered heart with a jagged edge, cutting deeper with each taunting word as he sliced open the old scars from my past.
I managed to get out of there as fast as my legs would carry me, because Colby didn’t deserve to know just how much his vindictive words has affected me. I already know I’d been a fool to even be stupid enough to believe he could ever change. And he sure as hell doesn’t deserve to know just how much he really means to me when all I’ve ever been to him is nothing more than a handy play-toy―always at his beck and call, ready and waiting for when he suddenly feels like using me for his own gain.
The cloud in my mind clears some more, and I remember walking down the darkened street. I remember footsteps growing closer and getting faster behind me.
Was it Colby coming after me? Would he even have it in him to realize he was wrong for how he acted, and he wanted to apologize? Sure, it’s no secret that Colby is an ass, and he knows it too, but this is Colby we’re talking about and that son of a bitch wouldn’t apologize for anything. I don’t even think the word sorry is registered in his vocabulary.
The last thing I actually remember is f
eeling a sense of unease wash over me as a hand came from behind and clamped tightly around my mouth, and then everything went blank as I lost control of my senses and succumbed to the darkness.
Would Colby really do something like that to me?
Would he really drug me so easily, just to get shot of me? My heart thuds faster in my chest, refusing to believe that someone could ever be so cruel, and that crazy scenario could ever be a possibility.
I won’t lie―the Colby I knew before he skipped town was more than capable of some fucked up shit, but not something as sick as this.
But then, the Colby who came back to Redlake acts like a totally different person to the one I grew up around. If I’m being truthful, I need to admit I don’t know who he is, and deep down I know I have absolutely no idea what he is truly capable of.
CHAPTER FOUR
COLBY
“Tick tock, motherfucker.”
I walk through the office door at Sinners to find both Ryder and Deano seated at my desk, and they’re eyes zone in on mine and watch me expectantly.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” I bite out as my blood begins to boil under my skin when I look at Deano. What the fuck is he even doing here? “What the fuck are you doing behind my desk, in my chair?” I demand. My jaw ticks as I struggle to hide my frustration.
A sinister smirk, sly like a snake dominates his face and his beady, narrow eyes burn into me. “Get the fuck out of here.” He laughs, but it doesn’t warm his eyes like it usually would. He’s either pissed or plotting something. And knowing Deano like I do, it’s probably the latter. “What took you so long?” He questions when I move further into the office and Ryder doesn’t say shit as the showdown between me and Deano unravels before him. He’s a smart kid, and thankfully he knows when to keep his goddamn mouth shut.
“Your daughter wanted servicing with my cock, and who am I to deny Queen Tiffanie of what she wants?” I step closer, running the pad of my thumb along my lips and wicked smile of my own breaks free when Deano flinches at my comment. But the son of a bitch is quick to compose himself and I catch Ryder looking at me wide-eyed, as if I’m a crazy motherfucker in my peripheral.
Things have changed. Circumstances are no longer what they were, and Deano; this fat excuse of a man doesn’t scare me anymore.
There was a time, back when I was nothing more than an arrogant kid who foolishly looked up to this man, when I thought he would be the one to teach me the ways of the world and I’d carry them with pride on my shoulders. But I’m older now, and much wiser than he’d like to believe.
“So, what’s the urgency?” I ask, finally breaking the awkward silence as I reluctantly drop down into the chair next to Ryder, and once again I clench my jaw in frustration.
If Deano thinks he can try to intimidate or undermine me, the crazy son of a bitch can think again. Sinner’s is my joint. At least while Bryson is away and I’m sure as hell not afraid to stake my claim.
After all, Willow is no longer here, so there is nothing left for me to lose.
Deano smirks some more before splaying his hands wide on my desk. “Isn’t a guy allowed to stop by to check on my product?”
“And what about your daughter?” I quiz, because we both know Tiffanie doesn’t mean shit to him. She never has, and I’m surprised when Deano flushes with rage when I bring Tiffanie up in front of Ryder. But damn, it’s sure feels good to see him in a fluster.
“Tiffanie is with you, is she not?” He questions, like that should matter and his tone is icy as it cuts through the air between us, but I don’t flinch, and I don’t take my eyes away from his small, beady ones. “Am I to start questioning your safe-keeping when it concerns things that are precious to me?” Deano taps his fingers on the desk and Ryder, the motherfucker has morphed into a pussy, staying silent and as still as a statue beside me. And there was me thinking that maybe this fool could end up being my wingman.
“Well, I guess that all depends on what you mean by precious.” I concur. This jerk wouldn’t know what precious was even if it came and slapped him on the damn face. If he did, he wouldn’t have made me leave everything that was precious to me just so I could try to keep them safe. And a fat load of good that did me because not only did I lose my mom and dad along the way, I’ve also ended up losing Willow too. And that’s all thanks to this prick seated before me. A dull ache begins to build in my chest, no doubt serving as a reminder for all that I’ve lost along the way. Reminding me that my foolish, heroic ways were nothing but empty, reckless actions of a silly, naïve little boy.
At least I still have Hadley. She’s my silver lining, and I silently promise myself that no one will ever be able to take her away from me. She’s all I have left, and I need to make sure I guard her with everything I have.
Deano pours himself a whiskey on the rocks and offers one to me. I decline with a shake of my head and my stomach growls out in protest after the abuse I put it through last night. Ryder, thankfully, declines as well.
“What’s up with you?” Deano barks over to Ryder and he looks him up and down, his eyes swimming with suspicion. “You suddenly turned mute, kid?”
Ryder clears his throat and says, “no, sir.”
No fucking sir? I cast m eyes onto Ryder as if to say what the fuck. Why is he suddenly up Deano’s ass? But then Deano laughs, obviously happy with his answer and I’m growing tired of this bullshit already.
“All right,” I snap. “How about we cut the bullshit. Deano, what the fuck do you want with us?”
A smile snakes around his lips, thoroughly enjoying the fact that he’s getting to me and he continues to take his sweet ass time as he slowly draws his glass up to his lips and for a split second I see a beautiful vision of the motherfucker choking on the amber liquid. Only, unfortunately for the whole world, that doesn’t happen and instead he draws a cigar from his jacket pocket and lights it up.
“What’s the rush, kid?”
I look around trying to indicate the obvious. “Well, in case you didn’t know, I’ve got a bar to run.”
With that, Deano chuckles heartedly. “About that. Make sure you remind me to try out the broads upstairs.” Jeez, does he think about anything other than getting his small, shriveled dick wet?
“Knock yourself out. But be mindful that these broads are totally different to yours.” I warn him.
“Oh, yeah? How so?” His narrow, beady eyes grow wide with interest. “They got diamond pussy’s or some shit?”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. And I’m surprised when Ryder snorts beside me. “Maybe. Maybe not. I haven’t sampled them yet, but I know Bryson makes sure they’re all treated with nothing but respect.” I bite down on my lip and narrow my eyes in warning, but Deano being the sick fuck that he is takes this as a challenge and licks his lips with glee.
“We’ll see about that.”
“No. No we won’t.”
“You know, you never used to be such a killjoy.” He tells me and I automatically think he never used to be such a prick. But then I remember that he probably always has been a prick, but I was just too naïve to see it.
“Yeah, well. Things change.” I mutter and I can feel the air shift around us.
“You got that right, kid.” Deano leans in closer across the desk before blowing a large cloud of smoke in my direction. “Just when you think you know a guy…” he muses out loud.
The cloud dissolves and he’s looking directly at me, his narrow eyes piercing into mine as though I’m the issue of his conflict and I find myself realizing that I couldn’t give a damn if I am. I seriously don’t care what he thinks anymore.
“You treat Bryson’s broad’s with same respect that he does, or you stay the fuck away from them. It’s that simple.” I warn him. There is no way I’m gonna stand back and allow this son of a bitch to abuse them the same way he does his own girls.
He laughs lightly, but again it doesn’t reach his eyes. “All right, all right.” He holds his fat, stubby hands up in defeat and say
s, “I promise to play nice. Is that good enough?”
I nod and push myself up to stand. Clearing my throat, I look from Ryder to Deano and they both watch me, desperate to know my next move. “Well, if that’s all…” I run my hand through my damp hair, eager to get Deano out of my office, but from where I’m standing it sure looks like he’s sitting way too comfortable behind that desk for my liking. I guess he better enjoy it while it lasts because he’ll be out of Redlake soon enough.
Preferably in a fucking body bag.
“Hey, kid.” Deano tilts his head towards Ryder and takes another pull on his cigar. “How about you step out.”
Ryder looks at me, his brow furrowed and a menacing scowl creeps onto his face. “Colby?”
“You go ahead.” I nod back at him, signaling all’s good and whatever bullshit Deano’s about to hurl at me won’t take long. “Set the bar and I’ll be out front soon.”
I can tell Ryder doesn’t like it, but he nods back at me and stands while Deano smirks up at me. One day soon I’ll wipe that smirk from his goddamn face, but today is not that day. No, right now I need to focus on playing my part and I need to play it well.
CHAPTER FIVE
COLBY
I wait until Ryder is out of earshot and the office door is firmly closed behind him before I turn back around to face Deano.
He’s made no effort to move. Instead, he’s still sitting comfortably while he pours himself another drink before signaling for me to sit with a swift flick of his wrist.
Trepidation sweeps in and fills the air around us and I know I’m not going to like what he’s about to say. But against my better judgement I drop straight back down into the seat I just vacated and wait for him to speak.
