The Improbable (8 page)

           
That surely brought a smile to her face that she tried to conceal, revealing
faint dimples on her cheeks. She giggled and looked away. Oh Lord, she was
flawless! “Why thank you David I really appreciate that. You aren’t so bad
yourself, I must say.” She turned and gave me a half-smile.

           
“You’re very welcome Miss Eva-Marie. I just wanted to apologize for being the
‘world’s biggest pain in the ass’.” I gave her a crooked smile.

           
Eva threw her head back and laughed but caught herself. “No!
Shhh
!
Shhh
!” She put her slender
index finger to my lips and shook her head.

Was
it bad that I wanted her to keep her finger there?

“No
more talk of apologies or how badly we spoke to each other. It’s behind us, do
I make myself clear Mr. Finley?”

 
          
“You have,” I said against her soft
finger.

           
She grinned and removed her finger. “Good.” Eva held her bottle up for a toast
and I clinked my bottle against hers. “Now I must ask, what’re you
doin
’ over here all by yourself? My friends told me they
thought you were a bit of an odd ball.” Eva snorted.

           
“Uh, I don’t smoke. I just wanted some fresh air and some space.” I shrugged.

           
“Neither do I, so I guess it’s a good thing I joined you huh?” She looked at me
out of the corner of her eye.

           
“It is actually, you saved me from my own thoughts.” I told her.

           
“Then it’s definitely a good thing I came over here…you might’ve driven
yourself crazy and killed us all.” Eva laughed at her own joke.

           
I didn’t mind that she was making fun of me. I enjoyed hearing her laugh, it
seemed to lift my spirits and made me laugh as well. “Not everyone…just the
women.”

           
“Oh my goodness, am I going to have to call the police Mr. Finley?” She
dramatically put her hand over her mouth.

           
I was going to have to get used to hearing everyone use my fake last name and
refraining from letting others know that I was really an undercover police
officer. “No need for all that,” I rolled my eyes and snorted.

           
“You see this, David? We could’ve been friends all along.” Eva nudged me with her
shoulder and giggled.

           
I nodded. “I agree.”

           
“Give me your pinky,” Eva instructed as she held out her own.

           
I looked at her funny, thrown off. “For what?”

           
She huffed with fake exasperation. “Oh just give it to me, David.”

           
I held my pinky finger out to hers and she locked hers around mine.

           
“This is us calling a truce and agreeing to move forward as friends.” She
announced. “So truce?”

           
I laughed and smiled, shaking my head. She was much different from any girl I’d
ever spoken too but I liked it. “Truce.”

           
Eva smiled with satisfaction. “And then there was peace.”

           
I had agreed to the truce as friends but something felt off. Eva had awakened
something inside of me and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Testosterone
that hadn’t been shaken up in way too long? I couldn’t tell, but whatever it
was, it made me very unsure of how long I could stay just ‘friends’ with her.

I
wearily walked up to the second floor of Ace Cigars.

It
had been an extremely busy day for the company so I was glad to have it be
after hours with no one else in the building, besides my father who was waiting
for me in the warehouse-level garage. He had pulled me aside earlier in the day
and asked if I wanted to ride with him after work because he wanted to speak to
me. Physically I said ‘yes’ but in my mind I didn’t want to hear what he had to
talk about. I tried to finish my work early and get home before him but my
mother had taken my car to drive herself home. I was trapped! I closed the door
to my father’s office and began changing my clothes, knowing I wasn’t allowed
to attend a drop-off in my everyday clothes due to the fact that someone could
recognize me. Mentally, I had to prepare myself for the last task of the day:
ride with my father to make a delivery.

           
Along with owning Ace Cigars, my parents were also the producers of an
extremely popular drug called Trioxytin. They began producing it when I was
only six years old but back then I didn’t have a clue as to what was going on.
As their business grew they began to hire people to produce the drug, leaving
the delivering up to my parents. When I turned seventeen, I would hate being
left at home while my parents were out and demanded to get into the action. My
parents of course, were
not
on board with my idea which is why they gave
me a job as the secretary at Ace Cigars. When I worked late I would always go with
my father to make deliveries and collect money. Yes, I knew what my family was
doing was wrong because the drug
killed
people…and because my father had
men that
killed
people. However, I also knew that it was and had been
part of the family for the past thirteen years. Nothing was going to change.

           
“Sweetheart are you in here?” Ray’s voice bust through the door of my father’s
office as I was changing my shirt.

           
“Oh my goodness!” I jumped, and tried to cover my chest because I was only
wearing a bra. “Ray what are
you
doing here? It’s after hours and we’re
closed!” I hissed.

           
Ray chuckled and entered the office anyways, sitting on my father’s desk. “Your
mother told me I could find you here.”

           
I rushed putting my shirt on, feeling uncomfortable with his eyes glued to my
bare skin. “The building is locked, Ray.”

           
“She gave me a key,” He told me in a matter-of-fact tone. “You know you
shouldn’t be ashamed to show me your body…” Ray’s hands reached out and touched
the skin of my stomach where I hadn’t yet buttoned my shirt. “It’ll all be mine
soon anyways.”

           
I swatted his hand away and continued to dress myself.

           
“Suit yourself,” He snorted and kept his hands to himself. “I came to remind
you that I’ll be taking you to the New Members’ Ball at the city club.”

           
“You couldn’t wait until tomorrow to tell me that? I don’t want to go with you
anyways, Ray. I’m going with my friends. I don’t know if I haven’t made this
clear yet but Ray I really
don’t
want to be with you. I’ll never
‘belong’ to you. I thought you’d get it by now, I’m just doing this to keep my
parents off my back.” I shook my head with my back to him as I adjusted my
suspenders.

           
Ray was silent for a few moments. “I know your family’s secret.”

           
“I know that you know,” I said as I shuffled into my jacket and turned to face
him. What was he getting at?

           
“I’m the only person that knows.” Ray continued.

           
“Okay Ray.”

           
“And I had a very interesting discussion about you with your mother the other
day. Ah yes, it was just her and I and our cups of tea.” He informed me.

           
My interest grew. What could they be discussing about me?

           
Ray read the curiosity on my face. “I take it you don’t know, as a matter of
fact
no one
, not even your father knows about me and Mary’s little
discussion. More so a
deal
, I might say.”

           
“What are you talking about?” I folded my arms across my chest and squinted at
him.

           
“I can only tell you if you can keep a secret. Your father or anyone else isn’t
supposed to know about this, Eva-Marie. It would break Percy’s dear old heart
if he knew. Though, I shouldn’t worry…I know you of all people know how to keep
a secret.” He smiled deviously at me.

           
“Continue,” I urged him to go on, the curiosity burning.

           
“Now Eva, you keep insisting that you’ll never belong to me. However, that’s
where you’re wrong. When your mother took me out for tea the other day, she
appeared very distraught. Quite a mess, actually. She asked me what it would
take to ensure that I never opened my mouth about you all’s little secret. Of
course it didn’t take long for me to make up my mind.” Ray reached out and
grabbed my folded arms, pulling me closer to him. “And I chose you, my dear, I
told your mother that I want to marry you. Surprisingly the woman said we had a
deal, though I knew it wouldn’t take much given how stressed out she was. Poor
thing.”

           
“What?” I breathed. My mouth had gone dry. A lump formed in my throat. Dozens
of emotions flitted through me at once. Hurt. Shock. I felt betrayed by my own
mother! Who could I tell? I couldn’t tell anyone, not even my own father! As
much as I hated to admit it, Ray was right, my father would be devastated to
know that my mother had done such a thing. I felt like such a prisoner in my
own life…

           
“Don’t worry, dear. I’ll give it some time before I fully propose.” Ray looked
at my expression. “Everything will be okay, Eva, you’re with me now.”

           
His words echoed inside of my head multiple times to the point where I began to
feel anxious. I needed to get away from him, it was hard taking in the fact
that
he
was what I was doomed to for the rest of my life. I felt as if I
was going to be sick. I felt as if the walls were closing in on me. But I had
to keep it together, I had my father waiting for me.

           
“I have to go,” I mumbled, trying not to let my tears and sobs escape.

           
“I’m glad we could have this talk, Eva.” He grabbed my chin and forced me to
make eye contact.

           
“Daddy’s waiting downstairs, make sure you lock the front door.” I grabbed my
things and exited the office with Ray behind me.

           
“Goodnight Eva, I may be at the house for lunch tomorrow to discuss our attire
for the ball!” Ray called to me before exiting.

           
I didn’t bother to respond to him. I had nothing to say. As I entered the freight
elevator, I wanted to break down. I wanted to cry and scream. I wanted to kick
and punch at the walls. However, I knew I couldn’t do that with my father on
the floor below. He would wonder what had upset me. Or
who
had upset me.
And I couldn’t tell him. I took a deep breath to compose myself before I went
off the edge.

           
“Goodness Eva-Marie, took
ya
a damn hour just to
change.” My father snorted once I was in the car.

           
“Oh don’t be over exaggerating, Daddy.” I said quietly.

           
He laughed lightly. “You know how I am, baby.” After I didn’t respond he
quietly informed the driver of our destination. “I have a meeting with some
fellas and I won’t be able to make this one. Do you think you could make the
delivery to Nicholas Brandy?”

           
“Yes sir,” I nodded.

“Thanks
baby, it means a lot. He’s our best dealer.” Daddy sighed as he realized I
wasn’t up for any conversation.

I
sat quietly and stared out the window as we drove.

           
“Your mother came and talked to me today,” Daddy broke the silence.

           
I raised my eyebrow, trying to fake interest. I did not care for that woman at
the moment. “Is that so? What’d she have to say?”

           
A smile came to his face. “She was so happy. Told me you came and told her you
were finally accepting Ray and that he made you really happy.” He reached over
and rubbed my back. “That made me so thankful, Eva-Marie. You know the first
few times I could see you didn’t like him much and I was
gonna
cut the boy loose. But now I’m glad you’re warming up to him, it gives me peace
of mind.” Daddy smiled warmly at me.

           
It was extremely difficult to stifle my reaction when I found out that my
mother had blatantly lied to my father and put those words in my mouth! I felt
like a shaken bottle of soda just ready to explode! I tried to smile but it
ended up as an awkward turn of my lips. How in the
hell
was I supposed
to respond to that? “Yeah, that Ray…he’s alright.”

           
“All I want for you is to be happy, baby.” Daddy leaned over and kissed my
forehead.

           
Little did he know, my happiness had taken off long
ago.