by Blair Grey
It had been three years since I’d done my makeup and hair the way I wanted to. Jerome had taken me to a stylist who made me over the way he told her to. He had another woman purchase the clothes he wanted me to wear too. I hadn’t made many decisions in the last few years about anything. Not even what I’d like to eat and drink.
His mother ran the house staff and told the cook what to prepare for our meals. When we went out to dine, Jerome always ordered for me. In a sense, I was no more than his pet – with all the trappings that come along with that.
Going out to the living room, I found Lyle sitting on the sofa, looking at his cell phone. “I’m ready to go.”
Getting up, he headed toward the back. “I parked my bike in the back. Come on.” He stopped in the kitchen then opened a door that had all sorts of mismatched things in it. Some canned foods and boxes of cereals and one pink motorcycle helmet. “I keep my extra helmet in here.”
He handed it to me, and I looked it over as we walked outside. “You leave it here at home? So, what do the girls you pick up in bars wear when you take them home?”
“I don’t do things like that.” He grinned at me as he got onto his bike then held out his hand. “Take my hand and get on behind me.”
After strapping the thing on underneath my chin, I took his hand then got onto the bike behind him. “I’ve never ridden before. But I’ve seen it done.” I put my feet on the pedals then leaned my chest against his back and wrapped my arms around him. “And what do you mean, you never do things like taking women home? I don’t believe that for a second.”
“It’s true.” He put his helmet on. “I fuck them in the bar if I want them. I don’t bring women home with me. My home is my sanctuary. When you bring chicks home, some of them tend to think they can come over whenever they want to. I hate that.” He started the bike up and the sound of the engine was so loud it made it impossible for us to talk anymore. And I think he liked it that way.
As we rode away, I held on tightly, thinking about what he’d said about not wanting women to go to his home. I’d gone to his home uninvited. Yet, he’d been nice to me. Maybe it was only because I’d killed a man and he might’ve even bit a little afraid I’d kill him too. But maybe it was more than just that.
Night had fallen and the lights of Baltimore looked spectacular through the dark lens of the helmet’s face shield. My skin pricked with warmth as adrenaline pumped through my veins. Freedom filled me as we went through the city streets then into a suburban neighborhood with brick homes lining each side of the street.
He stopped in front of a two-story home with a four-car garage that had an apartment built over it. The place was nice. The yard neat as a pin too.
Turning off the engine, he said, “You get off first.”
Climbing off the back of his bike, I still felt the vibration of the engine throughout my entire body. “That was awesome, Lyle. I loved it. You have to promise to take me on rides a lot.” I thought about my circumstances. “If I get to stick around.”
“You’ll get to stick around. I’ll make sure of it.” He got off the bike and took off his helmet as I did the same thing. Looking up at the apartment over the garage, he said, “My boss said you can stay up there if you want to. There or with me, whatever you want will be fine.” His eyes barely caught mine before he began walking up the sidewalk.
I hurried to catch up to him, still holding the pink helmet. “Should I just hang on to this?”
“Yeah. Hang on to it. You’ll need it again.” He nudged my shoulder with his. “I liked having you ride with me.”
“And I liked riding with you.” I really did too. I wasn’t just saying that because I thought that was what he wanted to hear. I’d gotten into the habit of doing that with Jerome. It had saved me a few hits when I said what he wanted to hear, whether I meant it or not.
“Cool. We’ll do more of it, I promise you that.” He rang the doorbell and a dark-haired woman opened the door. “Hey, Brittany. This is Avia Forester.”
“Come inside.” She grabbed my hand, pulling me in. “It’s great to meet you, Avia. Like Lyle said, my name is Brittany. I’ll be your host while you’re here. My husband has informed me of your terrible circumstances. Sorry to hear all the bad stuff you’ve had to endure.”
“Thank you.” I looked around the nice home. “You two have a nice place here.” Toys littered the living room floor. “And you’ve got kids too, I see.”
“Twins,” she said as she kept holding my hand. “They’re already in bed. I’ve just got to put their things away. You’ll meet them tomorrow. You’re staying in our guesthouse – better known as a garage apartment.” She must’ve found my expression perplexing as I hadn’t known it had already been decided that I would stay there. “Right?”
Lyle answered that for me, “I told her that she has the choice to stay there or at my place.”
The shocked expression on Brittany’s face told me that Lyle didn’t often have company at his place. “You’re going to let her stay with you? Wow.”
“Only if she wants to. I want her to know she’s got choices is all.” He ran his hand over my shoulder, then his fingertip touched my cheek. “I mean that, Avia. You’ve got choices. No one is going to tell you what you have to do.”
With Lyle going to New York to meet with McGinty, I knew I would be right where I was at for the night. “Well, tonight I’ll stay in your guest house and see how that goes. Would that be okay, Brittany?”
“Sure.” She smiled as she looked back and forth at me then Lyle. “You two look cute together.” Her nose wrinkled. “He never looks this relaxed with anyone.”
Rolling his eyes, he ran his hand down my ponytail. “Sit tight and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
The way his hand kept going, down the middle of my back until it rested on top of my ass made my knees weak. “I’ll wait right here for you to come back.” Leaning in, I kissed his cheek. “Thank you for doing this for me.”
His smile had my heart pounding in my chest. “You are welcome, Avia.” Pressing his lips against my forehead, he probably had no idea how hot he’d made me.
As he walked away from me, I stopped breathing as I watched him go.
There goes my hero.
Chapter Nine
Lyle
“Yeah, I’ve met Avia Forester,” Lucius McGinty said as he peeled a banana. “You guys sure you won’t have some fruit? We got a whole shipment of apples, oranges, and bananas this morning.”
One of their money laundering businesses was a fruit stand in Midtown East. While Carl shook his head, Leo nodded and said, “Sure, I’d love an apple.” One of the men who stood on either side of Lucius took an apple out of the basket full of fruit and brought it to Leo who took it from him. “Thanks. This looks juicy.”
“They are,” Lucius let him know. “So, Avia has done something unspeakable to Conti, huh?” A smirk pulled up only half his mouth. “What a damn shame that is. Am I right, Tatum? A real shame. That man was one in a million.” His eyes met Carl’s. “I can’t say enough nice things about the man, Davis. So, why would you come to me to ask if I’d like to make a deal?”
“Bragging rights,” Carl said as he looked at Leo as he bit noisily into the apple. “You finding that apple to your liking, brother?”
“I am. I really am. This is delicious, Lucius. I’d love a box of them to take home with me,” Leo said before taking another bite.
With a nod from Lucius, the man who’d taken Leo the first apple went to get him a whole box of them, depositing the box on the floor next to the chair Leo sat in. “Here you are, Mr. Clapton. Enjoy.”
“Thank you very much,” Leo said. “You know, we’ve got our own line of cocaine.” He reached into the inner pocket of his leather jacket to pull out a small packet of our product. Sliding it to the middle of the table, he nodded. “Go ahead, give it a try.”
Lucius looked at the men on his left then nodded. The man took the packet, stuck one long pinky fingernail
in it then sniffed the powder up into his nose. Nodding, he said, “I like the slightly floral scent and soft texture. What kind of kick does it have?”
Leo put the apple core down on the table. “The kick is subtle. You’ll notice a gradual increase in alertness that will last for about three hours, depending on your metabolism. Even if you have a fast metabolism, you’ll get a good hour out of just one hit.”
“Impressive,” Lucius said as he took the packet from the other man and put it into his jacket pocket. “How are you guys with storage property in the Baltimore area?”
Carl sniffed. “We’ve got some. You looking for somewhere to stash things for a bit?”
“Always,” Lucius said. “And out of town is always better. You know what I mean?”
“I do,” Carl said with a grin. “I’d love to give you – say three kilos a month of our best product and unlimited storage at one of our warehouses for – how about the next five years?”
“Five years?” Lucius scratched his bearded chin with tatted up fingers. One name was on each finger. I had bets they were the names of his children and all ten were covered. “Can I assume that you have had things dealt with in a way that left no evidence of any wrongdoing?”
Carl nodded. “Nothing to worry about there. Clearing her name is all we need from you, Lucius.”
“You know, if a female in our faction finds herself in the same position this one has, we tend to deal rather harshly with her.” His green eyes danced as he used a small knife to cut a chunk of banana off then put it into his mouth.
“I’m sure that’s expected. This was not intentional, or we’d stay out of it. It wasn’t planned, schemed, or even thought about by her,” Carl said in defense of Avia.
Nodding, Lucius seemed to be contemplating things. “Why didn’t she call the cops if this was an accident?”
Leo answered, “She was scared shitless. She knew she couldn’t trust the police with this. She knew her fiancé’s cohorts would end her without listening to her side of the story. So, she came to one of our guys. They knew each other from way back or she wouldn’t have come to him. We’re going to see to her, Lucius. Not to worry. If we find anything about her story to be false, we will deal with her accordingly.”
My jaw tightened as I thought about anyone laying a hand on Avia. But I knew she was telling the truth, so nothing would happen to her.
“And you have her in your possession?” Lucius asked as he cocked his head to one side.
“We do,” Carl said. “She ain’t going nowhere until we’re sure she’s on the up and up.”
“I tell you what. Let me do a little snooping around to see what the word on the street is about Conti before I give you an answer.” Lucius sat back, twirling the end of his red beard with one finger. “If both he and his woman are missing, then there shouldn’t be any words said about her being involved in the reason behind that. If she is mentioned as being the one behind his absence, then I’m out. I won’t defend a woman who bites the hand that feeds her.”
Carl nodded. “That’s fair, Lucius. I appreciate your hospitality and the time you took to speak with us.”
I didn’t like that there was no time set for when this little test would be over. But I wasn’t allowed to speak. I had to take what the man gave and that was it. He hadn’t given us anything but a vague answer that he might take the blame. But that wasn’t enough for me.
After Leo and Carl walked out, Clyde and I followed, pulling up the rear. I had no idea what Avia would think about how things had turned out.
This meant that she still couldn’t touch any of her money. She had to be just gone as Conti was. It needed to look as if they both were taken, or both had run off together. And that meant she had to stay out of sight.
I didn’t want her staying in the garage apartment all alone. I wanted her with me. She needed someone who could be there for her. But what I thought or wanted didn’t matter. Avia had to do what she wanted to do – stay where she wanted to stay.
I had to get used to the fact that she might want to try to take all the money she could out of her account and leave the country. There was just no telling what she’d want to do.
It had never been my thing to try to get a woman to stay with me. This wasn’t going to be easy to figure out. We all rode back to Baltimore in the early morning hours, in the dark. I had lots of time to think as we rode. But all that time only led me to one thing.
I’ve got to let her make her own choices.
When we pulled up to Carl’s home, I parked in front of the garage then went up the stairs that ran up one side as I saw a light on in the apartment overhead. Knocking on the door, I said, “Hey, it’s Lyle. You up?”
I heard the sounds of the opening of the locks, then she pulled the door open. “I’m up. I couldn’t sleep. I’ve been worried about things.” She turned around and went to sit on the sofa. “How’d it go?”
“Well, he wants to be sure you aren’t immediately implicated in Conti’s disappearance. He won’t do this for us if he thinks you killed Conti on purpose.” I took a seat next to her. “So, it’s a waiting game for now.”
“That means I’m stuck, doesn’t it?” She shook her head. “I have to hide too. It has to look like he and I are gone together.” Her eyes turned to mine. “Did he say how long it would be before he made a decision?”
“No.” I hated it as much as she did. Taking her hand, I held it tightly. “On a good note, everything’s cleaned up. There will be nothing to prove he’s not alive somewhere. You know what I’m saying?”
“Sure.” She nodded. “As long as I don’t show up.” She huffed. “I might as well be dead too. I can’t do anything.”
“I know it’s frustrating. But once he sees that you’re not a woman who’s killed the man who was taking care of her, he’ll take the credit for the disappearance. That’s when he acts as if he’s returning you and keeping Conti.”
“I don’t think that’s going to work, Lyle. I just don’t.” She put her head on my shoulder and I felt the hopelessness radiating off her. “I should just run away. I can’t be here ever again. I’ve got to disappear just like everyone will think Jerome has. If I ever come back, I’ll have to have some huge lie about where I’ve been and how Jerome was.”
I agreed, it was too much to try to keep track of. “Look, I know this is a lot. We can make it so you can say that you were separated from him. That way you don’t have to come up with a bunch of lies about that.”
“Still, what am I supposed to say about where I was?” her voice shook with worry. “I can’t do this. I’ve got to leave.”
“I’ve told myself over and over again that I have to let you do whatever you feel like you need to do. But I can’t let you leave. You’ll be seen somewhere. I know you will. And then they’ll come for you. Please try this. It will be an exercise in patience, I know. But I’ll do my best to keep you from going stir-crazy.” Running my arm around her shoulders, I moved her head to rest on my chest. “Hear that?”
“Your heartbeat?” she asked as she rested her hand on my stomach.
“Yes, my heartbeat. Whenever you get to feeling like you’ve just got to make a run for it, put your head on my chest and listen to my heart beating. Let it remind you that yours is beating in your chest too. You’re alive right now. If you leave, then your heart might not get to keep beating.” I kissed the top of her head. “If they find you without him, they’ll shot first and ask questions later.”
“I’m not so sure they won’t do that even after McGinty takes the credit for the disappearance. I’m not sure any of this will save my life.” She looked up at me with wide eyes. “If running isn’t the right thing to do, then why do I feel so strongly that it’s my only chance at staying alive?”
I didn’t want to come out and tell her that she wasn’t running on all cylinders at the moment, but I had to say something, “There is this response that people get when they’re in danger. Fight or flight. Right now you know that you
can’t fight. So, you’re thinking that you have to use flight to get out of danger. And in a way, you have used flight. You flew to me. Now, let me do what I can to get you out of this mess. Trust me, Avia. I won’t let you down.”
“If McGinty won’t take credit, then what will we do?” her question was valid.
And I had no answer for her. “I will think of something else if he won’t help us. I mean that. I won’t let you down. Now, what do you want to do? Stay here or stay with me?”
Gulping, she looked into my eyes. “I’m a little afraid if I stay with you that I’ll just end up using you to replace Jerome.”
I didn’t want that either. “Then you should stay here.”
“But, I don’t want to be alone. Brittany is great, don’t get me wrong. But she’s got two little kids that will take up most of her attention. To be honest, I don’t know what to do. I hate that I’ve become this person who has no idea how to make decisions.” Looking down, she sniffled. “He took away all my self-confidence.”
Just another reason I was glad the asshole was dead. “Look, you can stay in the other bedroom. You and I shouldn’t be having sex anyway. It would be wrong of me to do that with you being in such a vulnerable state.”
“I’m a wreck. I know. But I feel something for you,” she said as she ran her fingers along my arm, moving them up until she had her arms around my neck. “I liked the way it felt when you held me, and we went to sleep together.”
She needed someone. She needed someone to hold her. She needed someone to care for her. And then one day this would all be over, and she would need her freedom to get back to the strong woman she’d been before that piece of shit drug her down so far.
It would mean that I would most likely be the one hurting at the end of this thing. But I’d hurt her plenty. My karma was staring me in the face.
I’d wanted Avia so badly in high school and she refused me. Now, she wanted me and if I refused her, it would hurt her more than I’d ever been hurt by her rejections.