RECKLESS — Bad Boy Criminal Romance (38 page)

              “Great.  So now you’re totally dependent on him.  What do your parents think about that?”

              “We aren’t really talking right now.”

              “What a surprise.”  I smile.  “If he cares about you, why isn’t anyone here protecting you?”

              “He gave me the gun.”

              “And look how well that worked.  Curtis isn’t a very vulnerable person.  And that’s by design, not chance.  All the stuff he deals in – weapons, drugs, whatever – he never physically touches.  Every time I’ve seen him out in public, he’s never alone.  He always has people around to protect him, just in case.  Curtis doesn’t leave much to chance.  One of the few ways he could be vulnerable is you.  If you were that important to him, that is.  Don’t you think he could’ve spared one man to keep lookout here so I didn’t show up at your doorstep, which I just did, and kill you, which lucky for you I’m not going to do?”

              “I know Curtis cares about me.”

              “So did your safety just slip his mind then?  I have a feeling if I called him right now and threatened to hurt you, he’d hang up the phone laughing.”

              “You’re so full of shit.  You’re just jealous of him.”

              “Jealous of what?”

              “Because he’s more successful than you.  What do you have compared to him?  He owns mansions here and in Mexico.  A bunch of people work for him.  Tons of people respect him and everyone fears him.  He’s a multi-millionaire with more money than he knows what to do with.  You’re small-time.”

              “I survive.  I even have some fun doing it.”

              “Yeah, that’s all you do.  You’re not half the man he is.”

              “Is that right?”

              “Yeah,” she says defiantly.

              “I remember you moaning my name with your family in the next room, but I never remember you complaining.”

              “Shut up.”

              I grin at her.  “How about those school day afternoons?  Begging me to take off your cute little uniform so we could have sex in your parents’ bed?”

              “Stop smiling,” she snaps at me.  “I fucking hate you.  You make me sick.  Just shut up.”

              “I’m sorry I left town without telling you.  Really, I am.  It was mean – leaving you to lay there in bed every night, lonely, waiting for me to show back up.  Leaving you to eventually settle on some guy who may have a lot of money, but who you know doesn’t fuck you as good as I did.”

              “Shut up!” Cassie screams at me as she stands up off the couch.  “Shut the fuck up!” 

I stand and she shoves me in the chest, then tries to slap me.  I duck but she still grazes the side of my head.  I grab her wrists.

She pulls and pushes frantically, trying to free herself.  “Let go, you fatherless bastard!”  Her right hand, sporting a ruby ring, slips from me and she strikes me in the mouth hard – much harder than I thought she’d be capable.

I touch my lips.  On my fingertips is a trace of blood.

She stares at me in anticipation, scared of my reaction.

Still holding her left wrist, I twist her arm and force her face-first onto the seat of the couch.  I hold her arm behind her back, pushing it upward toward the breaking point, pressing into her, keeping her on her belly.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she whines loudly.  “Please don’t.”

A slideshow of violent acts runs through my mind.  I consider my options and tighten my clutch.

“Please don’t,” Cassie continues to plead, whimpering, almost hyperventilating.  “Please.”

I ease my grip and let her go.

Kneeling, with her face buried in the couch cushion, she catches her breath and weeps lightly.

I kneel on the floor beside her.

She lifts her head up, tears streaming down her face.

I hold her as she calms down.  I lift her chin and kiss her quickly, softly on the lips.  “You don’t hate me,” I tell her.  “Even if you want to, I know you can’t.  You’re the same girl I met at the mall years ago when we had a crush on each other.”

She looks at me more docilely now.

“Even if we’re not meant to be together, there’s still something special between us.”  I hold her hips and pull her close so our bellies touch.  I kiss her again more slowly and deeply.

She kisses back – hesitantly at first but then more eagerly.  “After you left, you don’t know how many times I thought about us being together this,” she whispers.

I look at her, our foreheads touching.

“I’m sorry,” she says.

“For what?” I ask.

“For hitting you just now … And all the mean things I said.”

“I might’ve deserved it.”

The expression in Cassie’s eyes changes, the bad feelings seemingly evaporated.  She looks at me again like she had in the past.  Her hand rubs the side of my face and then touches my hair.  She rubs along my neck and down my shoulder and pulls me closer to kiss her.  Soon we move up onto the couch.  I sit and she straddles my lap and we stay contently like that – only kissing, still clothed – for quite a while.  Cassie takes her time and gives long, lingering kisses, with her eyes open gazing into mine.

She stands off me and I undress.  She strips off her T-shirt and skirt.  Again she straddles me and we kiss more as she grinds into me.  “The only person I’ve ever really wanted to be with was you,” Cassie tells me.

Later she lies on the couch, still naked, and smiles at me.

I pick my clothes off the floor.  “I need your help.”

“With Curtis?” she asks.  “I could talk to him.”

I put on my blue jeans.  “Talking won’t help me at this point.”

“Then what?  Are you going to hurt him?”

I put on my shirt.

“I want to help you,” she says.  “But I don’t want to betray him.  Especially if you’re going to hurt him.  I mean, I just can’t do that.  He’s done a lot for me.”

“You don’t owe him anything,” I tell her.  “At best you’re his trophy.”

“You’re not going to try to kill him, are you?”

“Curtis doesn’t play nice.  There are people searching for me right now, as we speak, to slice me up because of the money he’ll pay them.  If you want to worry about someone getting hurt, worry about me.”

Cassie bites her thumb nervously.

“Just help me,” I tell her.  “You owe me that.”

“I wish I could take back what I said to Curtis about you.  I’m really, really sorry.  But I can’t do anything now.  I shouldn’t have even slept with you now, but … I don’t know.  It just happened.  I know I’m going to feel guilty about it.”

“Guilty for what?” I ask.  “Cheating?  It’s not like he’s faithful to you.”

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“I’m telling you.”

“You’re just saying that.  You just want me to believe it so I’ll be mad and do whatever you say.  You can’t trick me.  I know how you are.”

“What if I could prove it to you?”

“How?”

“I’m asking you: If I could prove it to you, would you feel differently or would you still have this undying loyalty for him?”

“Of course I’d feel different.  But I know you’re lying.”

“Okay then.”  I nod.  “Alright.”

“What are you going to do?” she asks worriedly.

“Forget feeling guilty,” I tell her.  “Whatever bad emotions you’d feel if you found out Curtis wasn’t faithful, just be ready to feel them.”

Cassie looks at me uneasily, not knowing what to do or say.

I lean toward her and kiss her once on the forehead and once on the lips and then leave her apartment.

At Terrell’s house, Angela sits on the edge of the heated swimming pool surrounded by tall bamboo trees in the backyard, her pants rolled up, dipping her legs into the water.  “How did it go?” she asks.

“She warmed up once she got over wanting me dead.”

Steam rises up off the pool.  Angela pulls her coat tightly around her upper body.  “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, you’re making this effort trying to patch things up.”

“That’s just because our lives are in danger, mine specifically, remember?”

“How does getting on her good side matter?”

“Just trust me.  I’m working on something but I’m going to need your help.”

“You don’t feel anything for her?”  Angela asks about Cassie.

“Time has passed.  We’re not close like we once were.  Even when we were together, we were totally different people.  We were never very compatible personality-wise.”

“Because I thought you and me were together now.”

“Yeah, we are.  That’s what I’m saying.  You and I are more alike.  We understand each other better than Cassie and I ever did or ever could.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Angela nurses a cocktail at the bar.  She sits by herself, but the strip club is crowded.  Across the room, she casually eyes Curtis who mingles around the room before settling near her at the bar.  Angela wears a tight, strapless cocktail dress with a sweetheart neckline and a silver chain belt.  On her feet are silver-studded black pumps.  Curtis sits to her right but pays her no attention, instead talking to an off-duty stripper with bottle blond hair, a deep sunbed tan, and large fake breasts.  Angela sips her drink, thinking how to get his attention.  Meanwhile the stripper constantly touches Curtis, her hand on his hand, his shoulder, and the side of his face.  The stripper leans toward him, smiling seductively.

Frustrated, Angela stands and bumps into Curtis, pretending it to be an accident.  Her drink spills on the suit coat and white long-sleeved shirt of Curtis’s forearm and wrist.

“Fuck,” Curtis says in a low, angered tone.

“Oh my god.”  Angela holds her hand over her mouth, feigning embarrassment.  “I’m so, so sorry.”

The bartender hurriedly grabs a bar rag so that Curtis can dry his sleeve.

“It was a total accident.  I can be so clumsy sometimes,” Angela tells him.  “This is such a nice suit too.  You need some water to rinse it off before it stains.”

Curtis glances at her, quickly taking her in.  “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

The bartender fills a glass of water immediately.

“Let me help,” Angela says.

“I think I got it.”

“I insist.  It was my fault.”  Angela wets a napkin in the glass of water and dabs his suit coat and shirt sleeve.  “You’ll still need to wash it when you get home.”

“I’ve never seen you here,” Curtis says, watching her as she tends to his arm.  “Who are you here with?”

“Oh … it’s just me,” Angela says.  “I was supposed to be meeting a girlfriend of mine and her boyfriend.  They must’ve gotten sidetracked because they were supposed to be here already.  I was just about to leave.  Honestly, I don’t ever come to places like this … No offense since obviously you do.”

Curtis chuckles.  “It’s not so much that I go out to strip clubs all the time.  I own this place.”

“Really?  This is so embarrassing.  I had no idea,” Angela says, talking fast, nervously.  “I have nothing against strip clubs.  I just don’t have any reason to go to them.  I’m into guys, so staring at naked girls just isn’t my thing.  I’ve never even been before actually.  It’s a lot classier than I imagined it’d be.”

“It sounded like there might’ve been a compliment in there somewhere, so thanks.”  Curtis examines her face.  “How old are you?”

“Twenty-two.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” Angela smiles.  “I should know my own age, shouldn’t I?”

“Yeah, you just look a little young.  I wanted to make sure.”  He looks at her outfit.  “You always dress this cute when you go out?”

Angela blushes, smiling.  “Well, you never know when you might meet someone.”

“The way you look, it’s hard to believe you haven’t met someone already.”

“You’re a player, aren’t you?”

“Why do you say that?” Curtis asks.

“Because you were just with that other girl and now you’re flirting with me.”

“What girl?”

“I don’t know.  The blonde.”

“No, no, I’m not with her.  She works here.  It’s strictly an employer-employee relationship.”

“It didn’t look that way.”

“Looks can be deceiving.”

“I know.”

“How do you know?”

“I know not to judge a book by its cover,” Angela says.  “I always look under the jacket.”

Curtis smirks.  “What about you is deceiving?”

“I don’t know.  I guess I can have a wild side to me sometimes.”

“What’s the wildest thing you’ve done?”

“Besides coming here?”

“Coming here?  If that’s the best you got, you’re just a beginner.”

“Oh, yeah?  Well, what’s the craziest thing you’ve done?”

“Where to begin?  Most things I can’t talk about.”