Revved: A Singer's Garage Novel

by Helene Laval

  “Turtle?” I asked as I got close to where he was seated.

  He stood and reached out a hand, “Yes. Annie?”

  “Name doesn’t suit you,” I said reaching out myself.

  He gave me a slight grin and said, “That’s what most people say. But when you get a nickname, it’s hard to shake it.”

  “I’m assuming there is a plan in order here,” I said. Enough chit-chat. I was ready to move.

  “Right to business. I like it.” He nodded.

  “Well?” I rolled back on my heels, arms across my chest.

  “I’m going to drive to El Paso, leave in the morning. I have an appointment to meet with Hector Santiago. I’m going to make him an offer.”

  “I’m going with you.” I didn’t care what the offer was, all I cared about was getting to Steve.

  “Your father said you’d say that. He also said that if I tried to keep you here, you’d find a way to follow me. But I had to try.”

  “He’s right,” I said hands on hips. “So what are we offering?”

  “Discretion is important here. Very important. It’s best that you don’t know. It’s better if you don’t exist, and don’t go at all. After all, you are the girl fucking his daughter’s husband.”

  I scoffed. “Seriously? I very much do exist, and I will be going.” I paused. “I’ll stay low, though.” I mean, I wasn’t stupid.

  He nodded. “I have some additional items to offer as well, to sweeten the deal, if needed. That’s why we have to drive. Best you don’t know about that either.”

  Firearms? Drugs? Did I care? Not really. Not if it meant getting Steve back. I took a deep breath. It hit me suddenly what I was doing. I was going illegal, like my father. I didn’t know how I felt about that. I could see how people were driven to make bad decisions to protect the people they loved. What if whatever we were transporting ended up harming innocents? How would I feel about that? I couldn’t dwell on that for long or I’d drive myself crazy.

  “We leave in the morning?” I asked Turtle.

  “Seven a.m. Meet you here.”

  I didn’t tell a single person the plan or that I was leaving. I figured it was safer that way. The less everybody around me knew the better. Jesse would surely try to go with me, and I wasn’t going to put him in danger. Rina would kill me. Justin had a family to take care of. I had nobody but Steve, and I was going to get him.

  Early the next morning, I left Justin a text. “Watch the bar for a few days. I’ll be back soon.”

  Justin replied immediately. “Go get your man, Annie, and be safe.” He added a smiley face emoji. He was really starting to grow on me.

  Turtle met me at the bar, and we started the thirty-hour drive to El Paso. It was brutal. The longest thirty hours of my life. I just wanted to get there, damn it.

  We drove straight through, each taking turns at the wheel while the other slept. Neither of us spoke more than necessary.

  Turtle was a quiet and unassuming man, not unpleasant, but it was obvious he wasn’t interested in the slightest bit about me and mine. I didn’t care. I spent most of the trip listening to music on my headphones and forming my own plans in my head.

  We arrived in El Paso late afternoon the next day and checked into a local motel. Not too run down, but not high profile.

  The meet was the following day at the Santiago compound.

  “I’m going alone,” Turtle said when he told me of the meeting.

  I started to protest, but he cut me off. “This is non-negotiable. Santiago is very strict about who he meets. You cannot go. I have some things to work on this evening. I will let you know before I leave tomorrow.” He walked down to his own room and shut the door behind him. I was on my own the rest of the evening.

  I knew I would not be allowed to go to the meeting. My father always kept me away from his dirty work, and that wasn’t going to change, and I was grateful for it. Illegal business made me nervous. I had worked hard to be my own person with my own upstanding business. I would go down that road if I had to, of course, to get Steve back, but after those thirty hours of driving and thinking, I now had a plan of my own.

  Luciana posted she was going to Splash, a new nightclub in the downtown area that evening. I was hoping to see Steve, to let him know I was working on getting him back.

  I had several hours to kill before evening, and I went to work. After using the tiny business center in the hotel lobby to get the stuff I needed, I called a rideshare to take me to a local mall. I found a suitable nightclub dress and heels that added an additional three inches to my height. I was not a dress and heels kind of girl. I didn’t own either until that moment.

  After a short two-hour nap, I woke to shower and get dressed. The form-fitting blue dress had a high halter turtleneck with a completely open back that nearly showed the top of my ass. My short blonde hair was pushed back to a sleek style with a silver band that complemented the strappy silver stilettos. I YouTubed some nightclub makeup tutorials and did a pretty good job painting a smokey eye and glossy dark pink lips that matched my pale complexion. I admired myself in front of the full-length mirror and spun around. Damn, I should do this more often. I was ready.

  The club was a riot of loud music, smoke, and sex laden pheromones. I sat at the bar eyeing the rest of the room watching the throngs of desperate people. Even though I owned and operated a bar, this nightclub business was definitely not my scene. I sat alone drinking a bourbon manhattan and was approached by no less than six men in the last thirty minutes.

  “Can I buy you a drink?” a man who looked a decade too old to be in a place like this asked. He was about five foot five, balding, and had a protruding round belly that made him look six months pregnant.

  I lifted my glass to show him I had a full drink and said, “Just filled it up, and it’s my last drink. Thank you.”

  “How about we go out back for a while then?” he asked, in a drunken slur.

  Ew!

  “Um, I don’t think so, I’m meeting somebody.” I looked around the bar, as if my “somebody” was behind him.

  Thank God he simply walked away like he forgot what he was doing.

  And so it went, sleaze after sleaze trying to buy me a drink or get into my pants. How women liked to come to these places on a regular basis was beyond me.

  It was impossible to miss when Luciana and Steve arrived. She was immediately surrounded by a crowd of people. It was equally impossible not to admire the long black mane of hair that fell in shiny waves the length of her back. Her figure was perfect and petite, and her white skintight dress showed off every curve of her body. Where she was delicate and fine, I was large and strong. My heart hammered in my chest and my skin warmed when I looked over to the man next to her, Steve.

  Stoic and cold, Steve glanced around the room, his face a mask of disinterest. He was wearing all black tonight. Black shirt just tight enough to show off his well-built chest, and black jeans that hung low on his hips. My mouth watered. I never took my eyes off him, and when his wandering gaze finally landed on mine, his stance tightened, and his eyes grew wide as saucers. That beautiful jaw sharpened in tension. I gave him a tiny wave and winked.

  30

  Steve

  Annie? No! No! No! This cannot be happening. Annie was here, in El Paso? I immediately ripped Luciana’s grip from my hand and started toward her. Annie shook her head, signaling me to stop. I did. She nodded toward Luciana, eyes raised. My own eyes pleaded with hers. She gave me a knowing nod again to play it cool. My heart was pounding in my chest, aching to get out.

  What was happening here? I wanted to run to Annie and explain everything. Fucking hell did she look hot as sin, and when she got up and started walking toward us, it took my breath away. The dark blue dress she was wearing did little to hide the imagination. Every curve and plane of her strong body was accentuated by the bunching of the fabric as she walked. Her hair was smooth and slicked back, accentuating her defined jaw and long neck. Not every woman could p
ull off short hair like she did, and confidence was rolling off Annie in spades.

  She walked up to Luciana. Her heels and long legs had her towering over the smaller woman. Annie was as tall as me in those heels, and I felt my dick start to harden for the first time since I left her all those days ago.

  “Excuse me,” she said with a smile as she bumped Luciana and headed straight for me.

  “Steve, darling. I’ve missed you so much!” Annie said as she wrapped her arms around me. I couldn’t help but embrace her back.

  I breathed into her ear, “What are you doing?”

  “I’m getting my man back,” she whispered.

  “Esteban! Esteban, what is this? Who is this woman?” Luciana said as she tore between us.

  “Who are you?” Annie said, a surprised look on her face. Her long lashes blinked innocently.

  “I’m his wife.” Luciana snarled, and she grabbed my hand.

  “His wife? Steve, I thought you said that you divorced your wife?” Annie looked back at me questioning, her lower lip pushed out in a pout. I didn’t move a muscle.

  “We are NOT divorced. He’s mine, get your ugly hands off him, bitch.” Luciana put a hand on her hip and practically spat venom.

  “Steve, isn’t this the woman who cheated on you with at least two dozen men? Who you said you left her divorce papers?” Annie said this very loudly, all heads turned to stare at the three of us.

  Luciana gaped, and then screeched, “Get out!”

  I was speechless. I didn’t say a word. I saw Luciana’s guards hovering closer, prepared to take action. All of the people crowding around us had their phones out, filming away at the entire scene.

  Suddenly, I got it. It hit me what Annie was doing. She wanted Luciana at her ugly worst for all the world to see, and it was going to work.

  “You bitch! Who do you think you are? Steve is my husband. He is not allowed to leave me.” Luciana huffed.

  “What do you mean not allowed? Do you mean he’s just supposed to sit around and watch you fuck other men? Do you keep him on a leash or something? Lock him up? Threaten the people he loves if he ever decides to leave you? Is that what you do? Doesn’t sound like much of a relationship to me.”

  “Damn right I do. He is only allowed to leave when I say he can! He must stay at the house until I call for him,” Luciana screeched.

  “Really? And what happens if he disobeys? Who do you hurt?”

  The crowd started murmuring. Luciana opened and shut her mouth. Photos were still being taken. Cameras still filming.

  “I won’t stay. I really must leave,” Annie said almost casually, and then leaned close to Luciana so others couldn’t hear. “But I will tell you this. Steve is mine. By this time tomorrow we’ll be on our way home.” Annie kissed me softly on my cheek and whispered in my ear. “I’m coming for you, baby.” Every eye in the place watched her long lean legs walk out the door.

  Luciana whirled on me. “Who was that!” I just shrugged my shoulders. I hadn’t talked to her all week, and I wasn’t about to now. I said nothing, wouldn’t even look at her. People in the crowd suddenly erupted into questions like a bunch of reporters rather than random club goers.

  “Luciana, is that true?” a voice from close by asked.

  “Esteban, who was that woman?” another asked me.

  “Luciana, why keep a husband you don’t want?”

  Luciana once again grabbed my hand and yanked me outside. The guards surrounded us, and we were escorted back into her car.

  When we got back to the house, Luciana was crying fitfully, and enraged like a hormone crazed teenager. She kicked off her shoes and threw them across the room. I started walking to the garage.

  “Stop right there, Esteban. You aren’t leaving until you tell me about that horrible woman.”

  “She’s not horrible. She just loves me.” That enraged her further.

  “You! You did this! Everybody is talking about her. Everybody is talking about me!” She quickly pulled up her phone and started wailing again. She got more and more distraught as her thumb moved to scroll the pages. She eventually threw her phone across the room.

  I couldn’t find the energy to care. For the first time since I left Song, I felt hope. My thoughts of Annie hating me were unfounded. She had come here, to El Paso. For me. I don’t know what her game was, but I couldn’t wait to find out. She was a survivor, tough as nails, and nobody fucked with Annie. And if Annie was here, I knew we had a way out of this.

  Luciana deteriorated further. I couldn’t help but start laughing when she picked up a candy dish and threw it across the room.

  “Stop laughing at me!”

  It made me laugh harder.

  “You are nothing more than a petulant child, Luce. I can’t believe I ever felt anything for you. I can’t believe I let myself get suckered back to this place. I’ll be leaving in the morning, I’ve—”

  “My father will stop you!” she interrupted.

  “We’ll see, Luce, we’ll see,” I said, and walked out of the room to get as far away from her as I could.

  31

  Steve

  Once again, I found myself in Hector’s office. This time Luciana was standing next to me. I spent the night in the garage, again. Luciana tried several times to come and get me, but I wouldn’t budge.

  “Where are the divorce papers, Luciana?” Hector asked his daughter.

  “What divorce papers?” she replied innocently, like she had no idea what Hector was talking about.

  “Don’t play stupid with me, girl! I know Esteban gave you divorce papers, to which you said you’d sign. Now, where are they?”

  “In my room, in the drawer of my nightstand,” Luciana admitted.

  Hector signaled a guard with two fingers in a sweeping motion, presumably to get said papers.

  “Esteban, you know I am a devout man that does not believe in divorce, only in the most extreme circumstance.” He took a deep breath. “I never thought you were the right man for my daughter. She found you on the street. You were poor, with no good upbringing. You had nothing to offer her and were not worthy of her.” He held up a hand to stop my rebuttal. “However, I have never heard you utter a single word against her despite her being unfaithful, many times over. That is honorable.”

  “Daddy!” Luciana’s cry burst from her. Pleading.

  “Don’t you dare, Luciana. I may be many, many things. Have done many unthinkable things, but a liar and a cheat are not one of them. I spoke vows to your mother and never broke them, even now, many years after her death.” He slammed a fist down on the table and stood up. “You disgrace your family. You disgrace me!”

  Hector threw a folder down onto his desk, and several full-sized photos leaked out. They were all of Luciana—with men, men that weren’t her husband. They were not the photos a daughter ever wanted her father to see. And seeing Luciana’s face drained of color, and her hand go to her mouth, I actually felt sorry for her. It was shameful.

  “These were brought to my attention this morning.”

  “Daddy, I—”

  “Don’t say a word, you don’t need to say a word.” He walked around his desk to stand face to face with his daughter. “Do you know what would happen to your reputation if these get out to the public? It’s bad enough you flaunt yourself out there on the Internet, photos of everything and everyone. But this?” He pointed at the photos. “This would ruin you.”

  She didn’t speak. I didn’t either. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

  A guard rushed into the room with a stack of papers and handed them over to Hector. He looked them over briefly and looked at me. “You get nothing. You want nothing.”

  “Nothing. I just want to leave,” I said to Hector.

  “Luciana, sign these papers and Esteban will go.”

  32

  Annie

  There was a knock at my hotel room door. The smile that overcame my face at seeing Steve standing in front of me as the door swung wide, wearing
a smile that lit his entire face propelled me to leap into his arms. He caught me and spun me around. He grabbed my cheeks and kissed me senseless.

  “Tinker Bell. Oh God, baby. I can’t believe you’re here.”

  “I’m so sorry. I overreacted. I didn’t let you explain,” I said when he nuzzled into my neck. “I had to do something. I couldn’t just let you leave.”

  He kissed me again, deeply. “I’m so sorry. I have a lot to explain.”

  “Later. We’ll have lots of time later.”

  I was just about to shut the door when I looked into the street where Turtle stood leaning next to his car, watching.

  “Thank you!” I called out to him.

  “The meeting went well. You won’t be hearing from Luciana or Hector ever again. Smart move, Annie. I like your style,” Turtle said as he walked up to the door. “I’ll let your father know it all worked out, and it didn’t cost him anything.”

  “Be sure to thank him for sending you, and tell him we’ll talk on Sunday.” I smiled. I couldn’t get the goofy grin off my face, clinging to Steve with one arm.

  “See you around, Annie.” He bowed his head slightly and turned around.

  “See you around, Turtle,” I said to his back.

  He ducked into the driver’s seat and drove off.

  So a little blackmail and bribery, but nothing that illegal like a car full of guns or drugs or whatever deal my father was offering up. I’ll never know, and I don’t want to.

  It was Luciana’s stupid fault to not shut the blinds. This day and age, somebody’s always watching. After stalking her social media pages, I noticed that there had to be more to it. She had many pictures with other men, but they weren’t intimate. Not so much as a kiss. But the way those men looked at her? There was no way she wasn’t fucking them. I talked to Michael since he seemed to be able to find anything. Halfway through my explanation he said, “Got it.”