by T. L Smith
Yes, yes, I do. My casino started off small, but now it’s one of the biggest in the state and attracts all kinds of patrons. It has rooms that can only be accessed if you know me personally, and I don’t like many people, so access to those rooms is very exclusive.
My private bar area costs over one hundred thousand dollars for rental, and that’s the starting fee. Followed by all the drugs, alcohol, and women your mind can dream of.
So, yes, my business thrives, and I am filthy fucking rich, but apart from that, I own a lot of other businesses. My casino is my baby though, and the one thing I treasure out of the many others.
A lot of illegal activities happen on those premises, all with my knowledge, including underground drug runners. Whorehouses around town would love to take me down and take back their parts, which I now own and run more successfully.
You sell drugs on the street?
Well, I will sell them with a shot of the most expensive whiskey, followed by a stripper for your entertainment. And if you have more money to waste, then head into one of our playrooms where you can waste even more money at our tables.
Men love to play, fuck, drink, and get high.
So, yes, I own one of the fastest-growing developments in the country.
Watching my back is how I got this far. I don’t trust anyone, because those closest to you are the assholes who usually fuck you over.
That’s how my father got caught.
“Someone will knock you off that high horse one day, Atlas.”
“Next time, send me a blonde. I’m liking the taste of them lately.” I raise my eyebrow to Harry and walk away.
Nodding to Garry to get Theadora, I walk out, stopping only to look back briefly. I find her laughing at something Benji has said.
That cannot happen.
I will put a bullet between her eyes before I let that happen.
Chapter Nine
Theadora
Benji is funny and charming, and I can’t help but laugh at him. Even when I know I shouldn’t. I’ve kept to his rule and haven’t spoken all evening. But it’s hard not to laugh, and he never told me I couldn’t do that.
“Miss…” Atlas’s driver walks over to me, “… it’s time we leave now.”
I look back to Benji. Smiling, I go to walk away when he stops me, his hand softly grabbing my wrist, making me look back to him.
“What’s your name? At least tell me that?”
I look to the driver, then back to Benji. “Theadora.” I smile before I follow the driver outside to a waiting car, hoping he won’t say anything to Atlas.
Opening the car door, I climb in. I should have looked, but I didn’t think Atlas would be in here, not after…
“I told you to not make conversation.” Atlas eyes me with a skeptical glare.
My eyes narrow at his words as the car starts. “I didn’t.”
Amber eyes lock on me like magnets. “Did you just lie to me? I thought we had an understanding, Theadora.”
I cross my legs and move uneasily in my seat. “No, I didn’t! I did as you asked. I did not make conversation with anyone. I told one man my name, and that was it.”
When I glance up to look at him, he’s watching me with stormy eyes.
I look away first. I can’t hold that glare too long—it makes me uneasy.
“You told a man you don’t know your name? After I told you not to?”
“I know his name,” I reply, staring out the window, but not really watching anything.
“Yes, Benji mentioned you.” My head flicks around fast at the mention of his name. “You think I didn’t know?” He shakes his head. “You’ll come to realize I know almost everything that goes on. Not much gets past me.”
“If you know so much, then why do you need me to listen to other people’s fucking conversations?” I ask him, crossing my arms over my chest. “And how much longer am I expected to do this shit for?”
Atlas leans forward and knocks on the window between us and the driver slows down to a stop.
“Get out,” he says with insatiable anger, and when I look down, his hands are scrunched in fists at his sides.
I look out the window—we’re on a highway with cars flying by at top speed.
“What?”
“Get out, Theadora. You think anyone can talk to me the way you just did? No. I usually do worse, like put a bullet in their brain. Now… Get. The. Fuck. Out.”
I hear a click of door locks and see the driver get out, and then open my door.
I look back at Atlas. “Fuck you, you stupid prick. You are not a god! You’re just a man with way too much power.” I go to climb out, but his voice halts me.
“Do you want me to kill Lucy and just end all of this? Would that be easier than dealing with me?”
Cold wind hits my bare legs as I freeze on the spot.
He can’t be serious? Can he?
“No.” My eyes blink, but I will never allow tears to fall. I would not give him that pleasure. “No,” I whisper, but know he hears me.
“Good! Shut the door and start walking.”
I step back and shut the door. My legs shake as I watch his car drive off and start my trek home, but first I remove my sky-high heels.
It took a few miles of walking until I got to the first turn off. Once I made it that far, I ordered an Uber, which I am getting out of right now.
Atlas is standing at his car in front of my house with his legs crossed over at the ankle as he watches me slide out. When I close the door, I walk toward him, but he doesn’t move, just stares at me with his brazen eyes.
“I’m too damn tired and cold to deal with you.” I shake my head and walk up the few steps to my door.
“What if I offered you a deal you couldn’t refuse?” he asks.
It makes me stop. As I slowly turn around to face him, my heart starts beating widely out of my chest.
Watching him push off from the car, he swipes at his bottom lip with his thumb, then looks at me through a flick of hair that seems to have fallen lose from its perfect coiffure.
“What offer?”
He steps forward, knowing he has me. “Do you love her? Is that why you wish to save her?” Atlas asks, his head dropping slightly to the side.
“Yes, she is my sister. Of course I love her.”
He nods his head. “But do you like her?”
“What kind of question is that?” I remark while shaking my head.
“Answer the question, Theadora. You can love someone and not like them. Do you like her?”
“How would you know?”
I’m surprised when he answers me. “I love my father, but I do not like him.” His eyes blaze into mine, and I can almost see the flickering of flames in them. “So, do you like her?” he asks again.
“No,” I utter the word but don’t break eye contact. “But I am all she has. And I would hope someone would do the same for me if I were in the same situation.”
“You think Lucy would save you?” he asks as if he has trouble saying the words.
“No. No, I do not.” I let the realization of that sink in, and I start to shake. I’m cold and just want to be in bed, forget about all of this, if only for a few hours.
“Goodnight, Theadora.”
“Do you like to control and scare people into what you want them to be?” I ask while opening my front door. Stepping inside, ready to shut the door, I notice he’s watching me intently.
“Yes, and it works.” Atlas gets into his car, leaving me standing there wondering what type of man I am in business with.
And how the fuck do I get out of this mess I am in.
“Thea! Thea!” My name is yelled, but I bury myself in my bed even farther. “Thea, get your ass up out of bed, we’re meant to be running today, and you make me do this shit all the time, even when I want to flake out on you. So get up.” Something lands on my head, and I pull the covers back.
“Tina, really?” I pull the covers back over my head.
&nbs
p; “Aren’t you happy you gave me a key?” She laughs, and then pulls all the blankets from my bed, leaving me with only a pillow. “You do this to me, so now it’s payback, baby. Which I might add, I thought the day would never come.” Tina laughs, jumping on my bed. “Sleeping in? Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?”
“I had a big night. I just want to sleep.”
“If you don’t run, you’ll have a bad day, we all know this.” I ignore her words, closing my eyes. “When was the last time you ran, Thea?”
“Fucking fine! I’m getting up.” I throw the pillow and slide out of bed to get changed.
Tina watches me, waiting for me to answer her question, so she repeats it, “Thea, when was the last time you ran?”
“Last week.”
Her mouth goes wide. “A week?” She shakes her head. “You never go that long. What’s wrong?”
“Ready?” I ask, putting on my sneakers and tying my hair back.
“You’re avoiding my question. It’s Lucy, isn’t it?”
“Tina, let’s just run.”
She nods and doesn’t push me further; I know she will once we’re done, though. When we step outside, I see a familiar black car pulling up at the front of my house. I start running, and Tina isn’t that far behind me. For someone who complains that I make her run with me, she’s pretty good at it.
We don’t talk. We usually don’t, but I can feel her stare penetrating me the whole way there and back. By the time we arrive back at the house, the car is still there and so is he.
Why is he here?
Tina comes to a stop next to me and clutches my hand in hers. “Who is that man?” Her voice is raised a little louder than a whisper.
I can’t blame her for wanting to know.
Atlas isn’t dressed as he was last night, he’s dressed in ripped jeans and a white shirt showcasing a lot of his ink, and not just a flower up his arm, no his arms are covered in black ink. I thought he had some tattoos from the ones I saw peeking up his neck, but I did not expect this many.
Risking a glance, I see his eyes lock onto mine.
Tina nudges me again as we walk closer. I totally think about ignoring him. The last thing I need is for him to be a fixture in my life, and my co-workers and friends knowing about him. But I know Tina will not let this go either.
“Tina, this is Atlas.”
I watch as she steps forward, her chest rising and falling as she walks toward him offering him her hand. He looks to it, then looks at me. I raise an eyebrow, waiting to see what he will do. He’s the one who’s showed up at my place on a Sunday morning with no warning after leaving me to fend for myself last night.
“Tina.” He takes her hand, leans down, letting his lips brush against her knuckles before he stands and offers her a small smile.
“Oh my God, if you don’t marry him, Thea, I will.” Tina turns, walks over to me, kisses my cheek, and whispers, “I hope you’re hitting that. Hard.”
I can’t help but giggle at her words before she waves and disappears to her car.
I focus back on Atlas who is now leaning against his car again with his arms crossed over his chest and his lips puckered.
I wonder what he’s thinking. What is flying around in that head of his that makes him keep coming back? It can’t just be what my sister owes him. If he thought I was going to run, I would have done so already. And I like to run.
“You haven’t been running this week.”
I wipe a stray piece of hair from my face as he watches me. “I’ve been busy. You’ve kept me busy.”
“That I have,” he agrees.
“Now, if you would kindly tell me why you are here, that would be great.”
Atlas pushes off the car and steps to me, looks up at my door, and then back to me. “You should run more,” he says, as if he knows everything, then he turns back to his car.
“What do you need me to do?” I ask.
“Relax. I won’t need you until next weekend, Theadora.”
Scrunching my eyebrows, I shake my head. “So why did you come?”
Opening the car door, he looks me up and down. “Have a good day, Theadora.”
“Fuck you, Atlas,” I say with a smirk. And those words make his lips twitch.
He nods, then gets into his car and drives off.
I stand on the side of the road watching his car head off in the distance, wondering what on earth he wanted. For what reason did he come here?
Atlas is a mystery, and one I’m not sure I want to figure out.
Chapter Ten
Theadora
Flowers still come every day when I’m at work. All from ‘A.’
I don’t see him that weekend, and when the next weekend comes and goes, I am beginning to get angsty. He was a no show again, and I don’t understand how he went from so many times in one week to no contact at all in two weeks.
The following Friday rolls around three weeks after I last saw him, and when I get home that afternoon, he’s leaning against his car, looking at his diamond watch when I walk up to him.
“You’re late.”
“Didn’t know I was meeting you,” I answer.
He looks up at me from his watch, and his eyes scan me.
“How is my sister?”
“She’s fine. Mouthy as usual.”
I go to smile at his response, then quickly shake my head and remember we are not friends. This man had me kidnapped and is using me to his own advantage.
“Will I get to see her again soon?”
His eyes narrow. “I have work for you tonight. You’ll be my date.” Turning, Atlas reaches into the car and walks over to hand me a dress.
“I already have two good dresses. I don’t need another.”
“Take the dress, it’s cocktail.”
“Am I allowed to speak tonight?”
He holds out the dress, and I take it from his hands. Atlas shoves his hands in his pockets and looks at me. “When asked to.” He turns, walks to his car and looks back at me.
“I know. Be ready by six. Right?” I turn, not waiting for his answer as I walk up the stairs to my door. When I turn back around, he’s gone, and in my hand is another expensive dress.
After stepping inside, I take my time opening this one. I have a few hours to kill before he’ll be back to collect me, to take me to God only knows where.
Atlas is slowly removing my power, and I don’t like it.
Pulling out the designer Chanel dress, I almost weep at the sight of it. It has an all-black skirt. The top is made in a flesh-colored mesh with black velvet flowers covering the right parts to give it the look of a top when, in reality, it’s basically skin with strategically placed decorations.
It’s beautiful.
And my absolute favorite so far.
Getting dressed is easy, and it fits like it was made for my body. My nipples are covered by the black velvet flowers, and a few are scattered over my belly, with a few on the back too. But mostly, I am bare from the waist up. A dress like this deserves a great hairstyle, so I have put my hair up with loose curls and a black flower to the side. I paired the ensemble with black heels.
Once I am completely dressed, I pour myself a wine, because if previous events are anything to go by, I will not be drinking. And I really need a damn drink. Wine in hand, a knock comes on the door, so I drink it fast until it’s empty, before I open it, knowing it is going to be Atlas.
As soon as I see him dressed again in a black suit, I have to remember to not stare. Atlas’s eyes flick to my wine glass, then back to my face, assessing me.
“How many?”
“One,” I say, telling him the truth.
He nods, then walks to his car. I place my wine glass down on the nearby table and follow him out, making sure I have my purse and keys.
Atlas holds the car door open for me. I slide in, and he watches the way my body moves. I can feel his eyes glued to me. Fuck! I was glued to my body too when I looked in the mirror. T
his dress would make a six look like a ten, that’s the kind of magic it holds.
“Do you plan to give me instructions for tonight?” I ask when he gets in.
The car takes off, and I turn to look at him. His head is down, looking at his cell phone.
“The plans I had for you aren’t really working out. So change of plans,” he says, not looking up.
“What were the plans?” I ask.
Turning to look at me, he says, “You were to do a lot of things you more than likely wouldn’t be comfortable with.”
“You play me like a chess piece, and now you’re pulling me off the board and calling what? Checkmate? I’m confused.” I shake my head. “What was it you would have had me doing?” The car comes to a stop, and he turns to get out. “Tell me, Atlas. What would you have had me do?”
He turns to look at me, leans over and grabs hold of my face, gripping it hard between his fingers. “I would have used and abused you in ways you can only imagine.”
“How?” I manage to speak, though I am shocked by his words.
“You would have been a pawn. I would have made you suck the cock of my enemy to get what I wanted, just like that girl did to me. I would throw you to the wolves and wouldn’t care what they did to you, as long as you came out with valuable information, if that’s what was needed.” His breath is heavy on my face with his closeness. Atlas squeezes my face just a second longer before he drops his hands and pulls back. “Now stop questioning me before I decide to make you pay your sister’s debt back by getting on your knees for me.” He leaves the car as I sit there, more than a little shocked. My cheeks now hurting from his firm grip, and wondering if I should have thrown meat at the tiger like that and not have expected him to bite me back. Because if I am not careful, soon he may just feed me to the wolves.
My door opens, and the driver stands there with Atlas in front of him, his elbow extended, waiting for me. Blowing out a breath, I slide out and take his waiting arm. He doesn’t even glance at me before he starts walking.