by Snow, Lucy
Arkady’s eyes gleamed. “Is too bad. You keep eye open?”
“I’ll do that. If I see her I’ll let you know.”
“Done.” Arkady stood up without delay and headed toward the door. I got up as well, and we walked down to Pulse’s entrance, the staff giving us wide berths. Even the ones that weren’t connected with the family had hard about Arkady.
“Is good time, Ronan. We do again soon?”
“Anytime, Arkady.”
“Keep eye open.” And then, Arkady was gone.
Shit.
Chapter 10 - Kara
I’d never walked into a store, bought clothes, and walked out wearing them before. Maybe shoes once or twice, but a full outfit? Totally foreign to me. But that’s what I found myself doing, going into the small department store and getting some jeans and a couple shirts, as well as some comfy flats. A couple bras and panties and I was all set to go. The lady at the counter didn’t bat an eyelid when I went back to the dressing room to change after paying for all the stuff. I guessed that wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence in these parts.
After I stepped out of the department store, bag in hand containing my old clothes and the stuff I wasn’t wearing out, I looked around at the sunny day in front of me. I stood back against the glass the department store and watched people as they walked by, going about their lives without a seeming care in the world.
I remembered being someone just like that only 24 hours ago, but now everything was so different. Even though I knew better, and I knew that whoever I saw kill Greg yesterday wasn’t coming after me, it still felt like a weight hanging around my neck.
I stop by a local dive shop and picked up a snack to eat before finding the grocery store. It wasn’t a huge one, like over by where I lived, but they had everything I needed to make a really nice thank you meal for Ronan. I tried to remember the stuff that he liked, and hoped that even a few years later I could still tempt him to the table with his old favorites. And I picked up some chicken nuggets just in case.
Try to keep the haul light, though, because I had to walk all the way back to the cottage. The bags were manageable, and I started to walk back already looking forward to getting out of town and laying low for a little while. This was a good opportunity for me to travel. I could visit the other cities that I had always put off seeing until now.
Before I went back home, I realized that I wasn’t too far from Pulse, and I decided to stop in and see if Ronan was there. If he was, maybe I could say hi, and invite them to the cottage for dinner. Just in case he wasn’t planning on arty showing up.
I was about three blocks from Pulse when the hairs in the back of my neck suddenly stood up, and a wave of fear gripped me, inside and out. I stopped in mid stride, looking around to see what was going on.
Nothing was out of the ordinary, other people still milling about the streets, going about their business. Just in case, I ducked into a nearby coffee shop, and stood in the window, looking out to sea if anything jumped out at me.
Oh shit.
It was him. Across the street.
The blonde guy who spoke Russian.
From last night.
The blond guy who spoke Russian from last night who killed Greg.
Shit Shit SHIT.
I wanted to cry. How could I’ve been so bold, been so foolhardy? He was looking for me, he was looking to tie up loose ends, and I had been so headstrong that I decided not only to leave the cottage on my own without telling anyone, but I also pretty much retraced my steps from last night, almost getting to Pulse.
Not a bright move, Kara.
He was sauntering down the street, clearly having a good time. I hope you hadn’t seen me. I hadn’t exactly acted casual when I ran into the coffee shop, but I cross my fingers that he’d been distracted at the time, and hadn’t noticed the finally dressed girl with bags of food suddenly disappearing.
I got in line at the coffee shop and ordered myself some tea, all the while keeping an eye on the guy outside. He was across the street and stopped at a bookstore, one of the stores with a rack of clearance books standing outside. I always wondered why more those books weren’t stolen. Then it occurred to me that there probably wasn’t a lot of money in stealing clearance discounted books. Who would you resell them to?
The guy stayed in front of the shop, apparently really interested with a couple books he found here. My tea came and I added some honey, dripping a little on the counter because I couldn’t really pay attention properly.
Was he following me? Did he know who I was? Was he coming to kill me for what I’d seen? Breathe, Kara, breathe. I was momentarily safe, but I couldn’t stay in this coffee shop forever. I thought about calling Ronan and begging for help again, but something told me I shouldn’t do that.
I needed to get out of here. I needed to get out of this coffee shop without him seeing me and then quickly get back to the cottage.
I drank my tea, sitting in the window and watching the man across the street like a hawk while pretending to focus on one of those free newspapers every coffee shop seemed covered in.
Finally, the man decided not to buy or steal the books he was checking out and after glancing up and down the street, he continued walking down and turned away at the next intersection.
I sighed and slumped in my seat, suddenly aware of how much I’d been sweating this whole time until I’d seen the guy across the street. I waited for a few more minutes to see if he came back, but didn’t see him, and decided to make my escape back to the cottage before someone at the coffee shop started asking questions about the scary looking girl with bags of clothing and groceries.
The cool air of the outside hit me all at once when I left the coffee shop and started back down the street toward the cottage. No time to visit Ronan at Pulse now. I laughed to myself, wondering why I’d even thought popping in on him would have been a good idea.
“Oh yeah, stepbrother I begged for help last night and ended up having amazing sex with, just thought I’d show up at your work and see how you were doing. Also I brought groceries!” Yeah, that would have gone over well. I’m sure Ronan would have bene thrilled to see me standing in the doorway of Pulse, bags in hand, knocking and asking to come in.
Ugh.
Still no sign of the blond man from last night. Every so often I would stop in a storefront and do a little creative window-shopping, trying to slyly look behind me and make sure the coast was clear.
So far so good. I picked up the pace, wanting to minimize the number of stops. The worst part was stopping at streetlights and waiting for the crosswalks to change going my way. I felt like one of those joggers, impatiently tapping the walk button while running in place, not wanting to let her heart rate drop too far before moving again.
There was no immediate danger of my heart rate dropping too low any time soon, and I wasn’t even jogging, or carrying stuff that was too heavy for me. Just seeing that guy brought back waves of memories of the warehouse last night, of seeing he and Greg argue, of guns coming out, the sound of shots, and Greg crumpling to the floor, covered in blood.
I shuddered and crossed the street even a couple seconds before the light changed my way, and a passing car stopped right in front of me, the driver shaking his fist at me. I gave an apologetic wave then hurried on my way, looking behind me to see if the commotion had conjured up my blond potential pursuer.
Looks like everything was still a-OK in that department. I walked as fast as I could till I got home, still looking over my shoulder every half block or so. Nothing out of the ordinary, and no blond men jumping out in front of me or from the sides.
Whew. Before I turned onto the street where the house and cottage lay I sat on a bench at the corner for as long as I could stand, just to make sure no one had followed me. I wasn’t exactly planning on telling Ronan about my adventures today, but if I had, I figured he’d be proud at how well I’d evaded detection.
That was something mobsters did, right?
No
blond men came down the road, so 10 minutes later I hurried to the house and into the cottage. Before I sat down I put away all the groceries, and left the clothes in their bags on the table while I sat on the couch, cuddled up under a blanket, and cried.
After I wiped away the tears I sat up and thought things over. Was escaping by myself really the best option? Ronan would probably help me out, if only to get me out of his hair faster. And it wasn’t like I was taking the road of independence thus far - I’d already asked him for help.
So why was it so difficult for me to stay here and not try and leave myself? Even before I saw the blond man and thought he was coming for me?
I tried to clear my mind as much as possible, and relax. I was safe for now. No one knew I was here, and no one had followed me back.
It took a few minutes, but I managed to calm down, enough to start a load of laundry and put away the new clothes I’d just purchased. It was a little too early to begin cooking dinner, and I wasn’t even sure if Ronan was coming back tonight. If he wasn’t, I’d have to make something small for myself.
After getting the laundry started I lay down on the bed and couldn’t help travel back to last night, when Ronan had held me close like that, saying without words that no matter what he’d keep me safe. In the moment that had seemed like just the right thing for me, but in the harsh light of day, I wasn’t sure that I could be that kind of girl, the damsel in distress.
Or was I already one? I didn’t even know anymore. None of this made any sense.
Before I knew it, though, my thoughts turned to what happened after he held me like that, and one of my hands found its way up my shirt and the other one down my pants as I played with nipples and clit, feeling almost as good as when Ronan sunk his thick cock into me.
When I came, I moaned out loud, thankful no one was around to hear me.
Chapter 11 - Ronan
Thankfully after Arkady’s visit the rest of the afternoon was pretty low-key around Pulse. Tonight was gonna be another big night, so we had all the staff on board and everything was humming like a well-oiled machine.
We had a guest DJ in the house, and the VIP list and guest list were both at capacity. The entire club would be as full as the fire code would allow. Some of the new people on staff were a little nervous, but everyone else who would done this many times before kept them in line, and I had no doubt that things would go off without a Hitch.
I was in my office when my phone room. I wondered for a second if it was Kara calling, until I looked at the caller ID and grimaced. I didn’t often get calls from him, but when I did, unless there were extenuating circumstances I had to answer.
I picked up the receiver. “Yes?”
The voice on the other line was tired yet strong. “I need to see you.”
“Can’t this wait? We’ve got a full lid tonight. It’s got to be one of our biggest nights of the year, and I’m kind of in the middle of things right now.”
There was applause. “No, this can’t wait. I need to see you.”
I sighed, looking around my office and frustration. Unfortunately, this was not a request I could refuse. “I’m coming over now.”
“See you soon, son.” The other line clicked off. I hung up, and stood up from my desk. I pulled out my cell phone and called the driver, requesting my car out in front immediately.
Lastly, I found Sam on the intercom and told him to take over for a couple hours while I went to a meeting. Sam understood what I meant right away and jumped into action.
The ride to my father’s apartment was uneventful. Like me, he had more than one place, and I assumed he was staying at the apartment in the city these days. When he wasn’t feeling well, or if you want a change of pace, my father would retire to the large mansion he had on the outskirts of town.
I try to figure out what he wanted to talk to me about while in the car on the way over. I assumed it had some links do with the Russians. The negotiations were coming up tomorrow, at least the first day, and I’m guessing he had some last-minute ideas that he wanted me to be aware of when I went into the meeting with Arkady.
There was a slight chance, near zero really, that this was about Kara. I dismissed that for my mind as quickly as the thought arrived. There was no way my father had heard about her situation, or that I was hiding her.
The sun was just starting to go down as I pulled into my father’s apartment building. Like me, he like to live in style, and had the penthouse suite of this building. When I got out of the car, I told the driver to wait for me, that I wouldn’t be too long. Even if I did have to come when my father called, I didn’t have to stay very long. And it wasn’t just that he and I didn’t exactly get along too well; I also had a club to run, and work to do.
There was a man in a suit standing at the bottom of the elevator. He looked like he belonged, like he was part of the furniture. I knew he was a guard, they are to fit anyone who tried to use the elevators that could lead to my father’s apartment. He knew who I was, and nodded to me imperceptibly as I passed by and waited for the elevator to come.
On the ride up, I wondered for a moment whether this apartment would become mine someday. Was it a rule that the head of the family had to live here? Or can I keep my own place?
The doors open on the penthouse floor, not inside my father’s apartment as in my building, but in a hallway with another two armed guards standing watch. These were more conspicuous, with strapped on assault rifles at the ready. They too knew me, and let me by with a glance.
My father security was critically important; he was a powerful man in the city, and over the years more than one group or individual had gotten it into their minds to try and end his life. None had been successful so far, but that was because my father didn’t make it easy for them. If anything, he prized security and stability over everything. I couldn’t say that I blame him, given the number of attempts on his life, but at the same time, I liked the freedom that my life brought me.
It was a daunting idea, to need to be watched by so many people with so many guns all the time, just to make sure you stayed alive till tomorrow. I wondered how long it would take me to get used. I had a feeling that people who hated my father could very easily be convinced to transfer their hate to me at some point.
My father’s personal attendant ushered me into his office without a word. My father’s office was furnished ornately, like he was the governor of the state, or the mayor of a major city. In some ways, he was a form of shadow mayor of the city, though he didn’t have any telephone lines that went directly to city hall, if he made a call, someone else would make a call, and someone in city hall would listen.
I sat in one of the two chairs, rigid and upright and uncomfortable, that stood in front of my father’s gigantic desk. The desk had been carved from the wood of some battleship from long ago, a story my father was very fond of telling, and I was very fond of forgetting immediately after it was told every single time.
As I sat, I felt my temperature rise at the power play my father was using on me. He knew that I was busy and had other things to do, yet here he was making me wait, making me wait an indeterminate amount of time, before he finally showed up and graced me with his presence.
It would have been nice, for him to drop all of the strategies and tactics that he used around me. We didn’t have to be at such loggerheads as we always were. We were father and son, after all. It was possible for us to get along.
Finally, the door behind his desk and off to the left opened, and my father shuffled in. In a long purple robe that looked extremely comfortable. “Ronan, there you are,” He said, as if I had just arrived, and as if he hadn’t noticed me.
My father looked like me +30 years of not going to the gym every day. He slouched a little bit, but you could see in the way he walked in the way he carried himself that this had been an immensely strong man, that had been able to command those around him through intimidation and the ability to make good on his threats or lend credence to his neg
otiation skills. Now, however, he commanded those around him through sheer force of will. Just because his style and methods had changed, did not mean he was any less formidable and he was in his youth. People who had been around him is from the start, still spoke in the present tense when they talked about my father’s abilities.
His hair was longer, and white with age, but he always started every day with shaving his face clean, and always stressed impeccably, in tailored suits that came from the same store as the first one he got more than half a century earlier. Men’s fashion, he was fond of saying, was timeless, and any attempt to improve upon a well tailored suit was simply folly.
My father looked and acted like the kind of man who didn’t like opinions. He liked decisions, and feelings didn’t enter into equations.
I stood up. “Yes, yes, father, I’m here. What’s this all about?”
My father waved away my question. “Have a drink with me. It’s been a long time.” He walked over to the bar next to his desk, and began pouring himself a drink.
“None for me, thanks, I’m working tonight.”
“Yes, yes, another night at Pulse. Tell me, how are our clubs doing these days?” He finished preparing his drink and moved back toward the desk, settling in his own chair that I knew from experience was actually comfortable to sit in.
Another game of his, always keeping the people he was meeting uncomfortable, always on edge. He had taught me all the tricks in his book, and I had realized a year or so ago, that I preferred to use almost none of them.
“You’ve read the reports, I’m sure. You know exactly how well the clubs are doing.” I looked around the room. “They pay for all this, and more.”
Again my father waved me away. “Yes, yes, I know, but you know how I like to get information straight from the horse’s ear.”
“Horse’s mouth, father, horse’s mouth. I don’t think you’ve ever gotten that one right.”
He smiled. “I’m just making sure you’re listening.”