by J. J. McAvoy
“Fine. Where would you like to go? And since this is a client luncheon, I’ll pay.”
“Surprise me, Ms. Wilson.”
She nodded and reached under her desk for her bag before rising. Following her out. My eyes were glued to her ass, and judging by the way she added a little extra sway to her step told me that she knew it too. She closed her door, spoke to her secretary, and then silently walked to the elevator with me.
She was so close.
“Ms. Wilson?”
We both turned to the black man who was handing an armful of files over to her secretary.
“Mr. Stevens, meet Declan Callahan, owner of the Laoghaire trust,” she stated.
His eyes widened and he reached out to shake my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Not really. I shook his hand.
“We were just about to head to lunch.”
I glanced at her. Do not invite him.
“Really? My schedule—”
“Mr. Stevens, thank you, but I’m sure I can handle it,” she said with her head held high.
The elevator doors opened behind us and we stepped in.
“We’ll talk when you get back,” he said.
“Of course. Thank you again—”
I pressed the doors close.
“Declan.”
“He has a thing for you.” And I didn’t like it at all.
“No, he doesn’t.” She shook her head and laughed as if it were impossible.
She was clueless as to the effect she had on men. Before he realized who I was, he’d looked at me with a mixture of annoyance and jealousy. His eyes were filled with lust the second they’d fallen on her.
For a split second I thought of them together, and as if to claim her I put my hand on her ass.
“Declan.”
“If you don’t like it, then tell me to let go.”
She didn’t say anything, but glanced up at the cameras instead.
“Those things don’t have audio,” I replied before I squeezed a handful of her ass, enjoying how firm it felt in my hand.
“If they weren’t there at all I would push you up against the wall, and kiss from your lips down to your—”
“D…Declan,” she said softly.
“Just like that. You would call out my name just like that. There are ninety-eight floors in the building? I wonder if I could make you come before we reached the bottom. Would my hands be enough? Or better yet, my tongue?”
“Stop it,” she said, and I let go of her ass as I fixed my tie.
“Why? Is it because you were wondering the same thing?”
She didn’t answer. Instead she fixed her skirt. It funny how we both felt the need to fix our clothes even though we hadn’t done anything. Maybe it was because we were already fucking each other in our minds.
And in my mind, the elevator never reached the bottom.
CORALINE
“Absolon, nice choice,” he replied as he unfolded his napkin, and one of the waiters, upon noticing, came over and placed a one thousand dollar bottle wine on the ice in front of us before greeting him.
Damn it. I wanted this to be my moment to show him…to show him that I was a lot classier than a car screw in the park. But he seemed well at home, like he had been to one of the most expensive restaurants in the city so many times it didn’t faze him.
“Mr. Callahan,” I tried to sound professional even though I kept thinking about how nice it would feel to be on top of him again. “These are just some of my thoughts on how I intend to triple the money you’ve in invested with us. If you have any concerns, please let me know.”
I handed him the file. He took it and put it to the side. “Thanks, but I’m sure you’ll take care of it.”
“Are you really this naïve or just stupid?” I countered, using his own words against him.
He smirked. “Neither. Like I said, I trust that you will take good care of me.”
I wanted to say don’t trust me but that it wouldn’t have been wise. He and I both reached out for the water and our hands brushed together. I quickly drew mine away, worried that he’d notice how excited I’d gotten by that simple touch.
“Tell me about the Laoghaire trust.” I picked up my menu.
“I’d rather not,” he said, and I glanced back up at him. “I rather tell you about me. My name is Declan Callahan, and I enjoy fine wine, finer women, and sex.”
I wanted him so bad.
“If you want to woo a girl, don’t you usually say something romantic?”
“It seemed pretty romantic to me since I have everything I enjoy right here.”
Damn, he was good.
“We aren’t having sex.”
“Baby, we’ve been having sex from the moment I walked into your office,” he whispered.
Please take me.
I crossed my legs under the table, trying to get a grip on myself. He noticed. How could one man make me want to forget everything and just jump him over and over again? I kept telling myself that I wasn’t this person, but I wasn’t sure anymore.
“Are you ready or would you like a moment?” the waiter asked as he came over to us.
“No!” I sat up as I answered. But the problem was that I had no idea what I wanted.
“May I?” Declan asked and I nodded. He glanced up at the waiter. “She’ll have the Teriyaki Salmon Rice with sliced mushrooms, not grounded, on the side. The glaze should go over the fish not the rice, and her drink…” He paused and looked to me. “Pair it with the best virgin you can think of. I’ll have sirloin, done the way I like it, Kevin.”
“Of course, Mr. Callahan.” He nodded.
“Impressed?” Declan asked as he lifted his glass of water to his lips.
“So you can order food. If you gave me five more minutes I’m sure I would have ordered the same thing.” I shrugged nonchalantly.
He snickered. “I’m sure of it. So, tell me more about you, Coraline.
“There is nothing more to tell—”
“So you’re saying that I know everything about you right now?”
“Fine. My name is Coraline Elizabeth Wilson. I’m an only child, I live with my uncle and aunt at Raven Hill Heights…”
“Get more personal,” he whispered as he leaned in. “Who are you, Coraline Elizabeth Wilson? I’ve been trying to figure it out on my own, but I just can’t seem to answer that question.”
“Personal?”
“Why are you afraid to let yourself have fun with me?”
“Because I don’t know how to have fun, Declan. I’m not like you. I need a man I can depend on, not a man who wants to turn me on in elevators.”
“Why can’t you have both?”
Why couldn’t I? Because… “Both doesn’t exist.”
“In my world, it does,” he stated.
I shook my head. “We live in the same world, Declan—”
“That’s where you are wrong. While it’s true that we share the same planet, trust me when I say that we all live in different worlds. The way I was raised was when a man takes a woman, he takes care of her, he protects her, he fights for her, and he sure as hell ensures that she’s turned on no matter where she is. The Irish would disown me if I did otherwise.”
“And you’ve taken me?”
“Goddamn I want to, but you’re keeping me at arm’s length.”
Neither of us said any more as our food was brought out. I could barely hold my fork straight as I ate.
“It’s good.”
That was all I could say.
DECLAN
My driver brought us back to her office building, and for the duration of the trip, our hands kept bumping into each other accidentally. It was as though they were being drawn together like magnets. When the car came to a stop, I didn’t want her to get out.
She opened the door without glancing at me, but before she got out, she stopped. Turning back to me, her lips crashed onto mine. I wasn’t sure if was a dream or not, but
I wasn’t letting her go. I pulled her closer to me and her lips parted for me to taste her. Her hands pulled on my hair, as mine cupped her breasts through her dress.
When I reached for her zipper, she stopped and pulled away from me.
No!
“Goodbye, Declan. You are now my client and I won’t fuck my clients. So stop tempting me,” she whispered, her lips inches from me. She moved to kiss me again, but stopped herself and broke free from my grasp.
“God fucking damn it!” I hissed in frustration when the door closed. I was so hard that it hurt.
“Where to—?”
“Where do you think? Home!” I replied as I leaned back and closed my eyes. I wanted to take a cold shower….no, I wanted to get myself off while I thought about her before I took a cold shower.
Feeling my phone, I grabbed it without checking who was.
“What?” I snapped.
“Declan.”
I sat up as I recognized my uncle’s voice.
“Sedric. Sorry—”
“What’s the matter with you lately?”
“I took the woman he was lusting over and now he’s bitching like a little girl,” Liam lied and I realized that this was a conference as Neal snickered in response.
“Get over it,” Sedric said seriously.
“I already have. You know how Liam likes to brag.”
“Hey—”
“The club owner,” Sedric cut him off, his voice stern and low. I could hear him flipping through something. This was business.
“Yeah. He was in a coma. I guess we were a little too rough.” Liam snickered. Though Liam had been the one to take care of it all.
“He’s awake and I want you to burn down his club,” Sedric said before Liam could say anything else. “I heard he had a business partner. Make sure he can’t stand on his legs either.”
“Understood. Is Otis talking?” I asked.
“All of you need to be on the lookout. A new gang is in the city. They call themselves the Seven Bloods. We’ve lost a lot of cocaine about the same time they started selling theirs. It’s a perfect match to ours.”
“A gang did this?” Neal finally chimed in.
“We were all gangs once. They aren’t any different. Not only do they not respect us, they are far more organized than they let on. The Ram is one of their houses.”
“Are you sure we shouldn’t just kill them?” Liam questioned.
There was a pause for a moment. “Declan, go the hospital tonight and see if you can get more out of Otis. If not, then do what you need to do. Neal and Liam, I want you to head to the club tonight. I already have cars for you to switch with before you go.”
He hung up.
“Have either of you heard of the Seven Bloods?” Neal asked.
“No,” Liam answered before hanging up on Neal.
“I’m sick of my father making me go on these brotherly assignments with him.”
“Well, if either of you fuck up, it will be your last assignment, that’s for sure.”
If there was one thing Sedric Callahan didn’t tolerate, it was a mistake.
I hung up before Neal could bitch at me.
FOUR
“You don't find love, it finds you. It's got a little bit to do with destiny, fate, and what's written in the stars.
―Anais Nin
CORALINE
On the car ride home I tried not to think of him, but I turned on my phone anyway hoping that he had called or texted even though I had once again pushed him away. However, instead of seeing anything from him, I had forty missed calls from Imani. Shit. I had turned off my phone because none of them ever called, especially if they still had money in their accounts. In the four years I was away I don’t think I had ever gotten a call from them for any other reason.
She’s okay, right? Uncle Adam was just in my office this morning; he would have said something…
Dialing, I called her back.
“Where are you? I called you like million times!” she yelled and then broke out into a fit of sobs.
“Imani…”
“Cora.” She sobbed.
“Imani? Are you okay? What is it?”
“Otis got in a fight at the club and he’s beat up really badly and ended up in the hospital. They had to put him in a coma.”
“Oh my God, I am so sorry! What do you need me to do?”
“Can you come here? I can’t see him alone, they’re waking him up now. What if he doesn’t remember me or something?!”
“Imani, breathe, okay? This isn’t a Lifetime movie, he will remember you. Which hospital are you in? I’ll be right there.”
“Mercy. Do you remember how to get here?”
“Yeah. I’ll be right there, okay?”
I didn’t know Otis very well, but what kind of monster would hurt someone to the point where they needed to be placed into a medically induced coma, for God’s sake?
DECLAN
The hospital wasn’t that far from me and I wanted to go alone. But Sedric demanded that I have back up. Usually he left things like this to our people to handle. The fact that he had called on us meant that he saw the Seven Bloods as a real threat, and that he wanted them out of his city as soon as possible. I had changed into all black, and was now riding my motorcycle. I gripped on tightly as I sped down the street, cutting off more than two cars off before entering the hospital parking lot. I found a parking spot and pulled off my helmet. Eric and Patrick were already there. They handed me a gun and I glanced at it before I shook my head.
“The sensors are off,” he stated.
“No. You two carry. I doubt a gun will scare him. He knows I can’t just shoot him here. I’ll have to be more…creative.” I adjusted my gloves and stepped off my bike.
Patrick nodded as we turned to walk inside. “I heard most of the crew left him last night. He only has a few friends around him right now. If there’s any trouble, we have people here.”
I paused once we got to his floor. “Well then, why don’t we make some new friends?”
One of the nurses at the station tried to stop me from going in. Eric spoke to her and without any further questions, we went up the elevator. I hated hospitals. It brought back too memories for me, but I was sure that that was why Sedric had sent me here—to make sure I could work in a place I hated and still keep a clear head.
When we opened door, we found that the place was eerily quiet; the nurses all drifted around like ghosts.
“That one,” Eric whispered as he pointed to the room, and I walked on and pushed through the opening of the door.
Otis lay on the bed with his hand in a cast, his face a swollen mess, and a small woman who sat beside him crying. However, neither of them caught my attention. It was Coraline who stood just off to the side, still in that goddamn dress from this afternoon, who surprised me. Her mouth dropped open when she saw me and I was sure that if this were any other place and any other time, I would have shared her astonishment.
However, I ignored her and focused on the man in the bed.
“Hello, Otis,” I said as I walked over to the foot of his bed.
“You two know each other?” The small woman beside him wiped her eyes.
“We go away back. Don’t we, Otis? You ladies mind if I talk to my friend in private? I really want to know who did this to him.” I forced myself to stay focused on the man in front of me.
“Babe, go,” he whispered to the girl beside him.
She looked between us oddly.
“Babe,” he said more sternly.
“Imani, come on, let’s get you something to eat,” Coraline said as she came up beside me, and I wished I could reach out and touch her.
I ignored the urge to look at her as she and her friend left.
“What do you want, Callahan?” Otis asked me. “Breaking my bones wasn’t enough for you people?”
“Are you bitching at me right now? Should I feel bad for the fucking moron who thought he could disrespect my family’s
name? You’re lucky bones can heal. If it were me, I would have taken your tongue.” I replied as I grabbed the IV and wrapped it around his neck.
“Agh—” he tried to scream, but I pulled tighter causing him to claw at my hands.
“I’m going to say this once. You have two choices—work for us, or die for them. And remember, if you make the wrong choice, death will come for you in small, painful doses,” I hissed.
I released the line just slightly, but he wasted his words.
“The Seven Bloods will kill me.”
I strangled him again and he gasped as his body rose from the bed.
“Long before the Seven Bloods, and long after your pitiful little rats kill themselves, our family, our people, will still motherfucking be here. So again, choose wisely, because as we speak, your club is being burned to the ground.”
His eyes widened as he glared at me. “What do you want?”
“The drugs,” I hissed. “Where did you get them?”
“I don’t—”
“What do you think will snap first, this line or your windpipe?”
“Please…”
“Talk.” I lifted his head up and pulled tight before I allowed the line to go slack.
“There is a man. He’s from Mexico. I don’t know his name, but I will get it, I swear. I’ll get it when I’m out tomorrow.”
“We will be in contact. Until then, rest up. I wonder how they feel having a wounded dog in the house,” I said as I released him completely. He coughed as his good hand reached up to his neck.
“How are you involved with Coraline Wilson?”
He raised his eyebrow at me, confused. “You mean the bitch with the stick up her ass? She ain’t got nothing to do with us. I’m only with her cousin because she said she could help us clean some of our money though her Uncle’s bank.”
“The Seven Bloods are keeping money at WIB? And here I thought you would be useless,” I said emotionlessly, before I kicked his broken arm.
“What the fuck?!” he cried out as he cradled it against his chest.
“Don’t refer to women as bitches in front me or I will kill you,” I sneered as I walked to the door.