This Is Where I Sleep

by Tiffany Patterson

  Instead of making my way over to Rodrigo, I strutted over to the bar. I smiled at the young, perky bartender. “Rum and coke, Sweetie.”

  “Coming up,” she beamed, as she made her way down the bar to prepare the drink.

  I watched as it was made. She slid the drink down the bar, and I caught it with one hand and pulled out a few bills out of the top of my dress with the other. Winking at her, I paid for the drink and her tip. I brought the drink up to my lips, and the smell automatically made my stomach roll in protest. I hated the smell, taste, and even the thought of alcohol. I’ve hated it ever since I was a kid, and I would smell the stench of alcohol on my father as he used me as his personal punching bag, then forced me to get up and make him another drink. Usually, I was able to mask my distaste of alcohol when I needed to for a case, but it was harder for some reason this time.

  “Shit!” I exclaimed as someone bumped into me spilling my drink. Only my quick instincts allowed me to avoid spilling it on my dress.

  “You didn’t want that shit anyway,” a low, familiar and comforting voice said in my ear.

  My lips curled up into a smile of gratitude as Liam sat on the stool next to me, keeping his head turned away so no one saw his face or that he was talking to me. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he gestured for the bartender and leaned over whispering something to her. She scurried off with a crisp $100 bill in her hand, made another drink that looked like the one I had just spilled and brought it to me.

  “Here you go, hon,” she winked at me and then moved to the next customer.

  “You can drink this one,” I heard Li say before he rose from the stool. “I’ve got my eyes on you,” he said before disappearing into the crowd. I sniffed this drink, and there was no alcohol smell to it. I sipped and realized it’s just regular coke. I could have sworn I saw the bartender pour rum into the drink. I realized Li must have paid her off to make it look like she put alcohol in it I thought as I casually sipped my drink looking around the club. I finally let my eyes rest on the area I knew Rodrigo was in. I feigned as if I was just looking around until I made eye contact with him. When he saw me, I tossed him my most flirtatious smile then looked down again, taking another sip of my drink. After a few more moments I raised my lashes and looked right at Rodrigo, to see if I still had his attention. When I saw I did, I smiled again, placed my drink on the bar, and headed to the dance floor.

  As luck would have it, Beyonce’s “Flawless” remix featuring Nicki Minaj came on, and I let myself get into the song. I grabbed the closest guy to me. He was actually an inch or so shorter than me in these heels, but not bad looking with his rich caramel skin. Unfortunately, he tried to talk and almost singed my eyelashes with his breath. I placed my finger over his mouth, shushing him. “Just enjoy,” I crooned as I turned and began grinding on him to the beat of the music. I looked up to see if Rodrigo was still watching me, and I put a little more emphasis on it, turning to give him a nice view of my ass as I held my breath and continued to dance.

  As soon as the song ended, I made my way off the dance floor, ignoring my dance partner’s pleas for a second dance. I focused intently on Rodrigo, as I strutted slowly over to him. I watched as he eyed me up and down, licking his lips.

  “Hello,” I whispered, breathily, looking up into his dark brown eyes. “Want to dance?”

  He gave me another once over and bit his lower lip. “I-I can’t leave my post, beautiful.” His voice was laced with regret.

  “Oh, are you working?” I asked in my perfect minx voice, trailing my finger up and down his muscular chest.

  “I’m security.”

  I got close and whispered in his ear. “Well, you definitely deserve a little something for keeping us all safe,” I said, sliding my hand down his stomach. Suddenly, Rihanna’s “Pour it Up,” began playing and I smiled devilishly at him. I pulled him towards the dance floor. He gave minor resistance but then followed. Once in the middle of the floor, I turned my back to him, threw my hands up to cup around his neck and began a heart-stopping grinding session. I grinned and looked back at him as his hands began to move down my sides, gripping my waist. He started moving his own hips, grinding them against my swiveling behind. Less than a minute into the song I felt his growing arousal beneath his jeans. I released my hands from around his neck and turned to face him, continuing to allow my hips to move to the music. I felt his hands go around to cup my gyrating ass. I had to tamp down on the instinct to body slam him.

  “Take me someplace quiet,” I whispered once the song ended. To add understanding to what I was saying, I lowered his head to mine, and licked his lips, then moved my head to the side to nip at one of his earlobes.

  “Mmm,” he moaned, gripping my ass even tighter. “Let’s go, Beautiful.” He turned, pulling me off the dance floor and down the hallway he had been guarding. “Mannie, watch my spot for me for a little while,” he told another guard that had shown up from the other side of the room. Mannie grinned as he looked between me and Rodrigo. I kept my fake smile pasted on, but I really wanted to knee both men right where it hurts. Instead, I allowed Rodrigo to pull me down the hall, as he twisted doorknobs, testing to see which one was unlocked.

  When we reached one that was unlocked, he paused and tossed me against the wall aggressively. A second later, I felt his moist mouth cover mine, and I fought hard to control my hands from clamping down on his carotid artery. Instead, I tightened my fingers around his shoulders and turned my head slowly, to which he began kissing down my neck, leaving a trail of saliva from his sloppy kisses. When his hands moved down my ass and tried to make their way up my dress, I pulled back.

  “Not out here out in the open, baby.” I was proud of how coy I managed to sound.

  “Okay, okay.” He hurried and pushed the door open and stepped back a little to allow me to enter.

  I entered the room and saw a huge leather couch and nightstand. I decided against sitting on the couch as my mind conjured up all kinds of thoughts of who’d been on it and what they’ve done.

  “I’ve got protection. We’re going to have fu--Oh shit!” Rodrigo yelled.

  I slowly turned to see Liam with one hand pressed against Rodrigo’s chest against the door, and the other held his piece to Rodrigo’s face.

  “What the fuck is this?” Rodrigo wondered, his eyes shifting from the glock, to Liam, to me.

  I simply stood there with my arms folded.

  “Bitch! You set me u-” his tirade was cut off as Liam stuck the barrel of his gun in Rodrigo’s mouth.

  “Show some Goddamn respect. She wasn’t a bitch thirty seconds ago when you were feeling all over her ass.” Liam’s voice was dripping with disdain, and I could tell he was close to losing it.

  I suspected his ire was more a result of seeing Rodrigo touching and kissing on me more than the actual reason we were there.

  “Li, he can’t tell us anything if you kill him first,” I reminded him, my tone flat and unbothered.

  I watched as Liam contemplated for a few tense heartbeats before stepping back just a little, and removing the gun from Rodrigo’s mouth.

  “Mr. Bennett.” Rodrigo’s voice was one of complete surprise as he realized the man who just held a gun to his mouth was indeed the CEO of the company he was hired to do security for.

  “You know me. Now, do you know why I’m here?” Li asked.

  “I have no idea. All I know is this bi-” Again Rodrigo’s angry diatribe directed at me was disrupted by Liam as he slammed the butt of his gun against Rodrigo’s face. The crunch of breaking bones was evident, and the blood squirting was the dead giveaway that his nose was broken. “Ahhh, shit!” Rodrigo screamed, hunched over as he covers his nose.

  “I told you to show some damn respect. Now, you’ve got blood on my sleeve.” Liam’s expression was deadpan. “Sit down!” Liam ordered Rodrigo.

  I watched him slowly make his way over to the couch and sink down onto it still holding his nose and groaning. I pulled up one of the cha
irs from the other side of the room and sat directly in front of Rodrigo.

  “I think it’s broken,” he whined.

  “Oh, Jesus,” I said. “I had my nose broken when I was twelve and didn’t bitch as much as you are right now. Man up.”

  At that point, I was losing my patience and the way Liam was hovering over him told me that he was also.

  Rodrigo gave me the eye, and I knew he wanted to wrap his hands around my throat. I wished he would. I could tell he thought better of it when his gaze shifted to Liam, and he cowered back on the couch.

  “Look, we know you were there the night of Larry’s accident. We also know you went to the junkyard to try gaining access to his car. I’ve also had some friends of mine do some digging. The week after Larry died you had $30,000 deposited into your account and another $10,000 a few weeks ago. That’s a lot of money for someone who made $50,000 a year for the last three years. Care to explain?”

  “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The widening of Rodrigo’s eyes and sudden tapping of his foot was a dead giveaway that he was lying. As if I needed any more clues.

  Behind me, Liam growled. He stepped around me to lunge at Rodrigo, but I placed my hand around his wrist.

  I moved to pinch the bridge of his nose.

  Rodrigo let out a loud wail of pain, but I remained unmoved.

  “Rodrigo, as you can see here, Mr. Bennett has run out of patience. And so have I. You know something about Larry’s death. Hell, maybe you were the one who set it up. Unless you start talking, and I mean now, you’ll be joining Larry in the afterlife.” I was looking Rodrigo squarely in the eyes. I saw the very moment he decided to cooperate, and I released his nose.

  “Alright. It wasn’t me,” he said panting, “I didn’t kill anybody. I just had someone come to me and ask me to do them a favor.”

  “Keep talking,” Liam barked out when Rodrigo paused, wiping more blood from his nose.

  “He said his name was John. He said all I had to do was make sure the cameras played on a loop for about five minutes while he went in the garage and that was it. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

  “Someone offered you $40,000 to have security cameras play on a loop in a place where employees park their vehicles for hours on end, and you didn’t think it was a big deal!?” The outrage in Liam’s voice was apparent.

  “I needed the money. I had some gambling debts…” Rodrigo’s voice trailed off.

  “Which they no doubt knew about,” I said. “Finish the story. How did you end up at the junkyard?”

  “I managed to play the video feedback and make it show on a loop for the time specified. Then when the money was deposited, and I didn’t hear anything back, I didn’t think anything of it. When I heard that guy died, I got worried, but then the police ruled it an accident, so I shrugged it off. A couple of months go by and nothing happens, so I moved on. Except a few weeks ago this same guy, John, calls me on my cell, he says there’s a problem, and he needed me to go to the junkyard. I told him I wasn’t getting involved in any murder, but he told me I already was. That’s when I got scared, so I did as he asked and went to the junkyard to look for some file that was in the car. When I was told I needed permission, I backed off. I tried to go again a few days later, and I was told someone had already come to look at the vehicle and released it to be crushed. Later that day, I went to work, and Ron asked me in for another interview. That’s when I panicked, and after that day, I left town.”

  Liam turned his attention from Rodrigo to me, raising an eyebrow.

  I looked at Rodrigo and noted his gaze shifts downward to the left as he answered the questions. The tapping of his foot had ceased and even though he is in obvious pain, it’s clear he’s telling the truth. “He’s being truthful,” I told Liam.

  Liam nodded and looked back at Rodrigo.

  “Did John tell you who he worked for?” I questioned.

  Rodrigo shook his head. “I asked him how he found me and he said his employer had ways, but he wouldn’t reveal his name.”

  “How did he contact you?”

  “The first time he approached me as I was getting in my car as I left the gym one day. The second time it was over the phone, although I never gave him my number.”

  I nodded. “We need access to your phone records. What did this ‘John’ look like?”

  “Tall, kinda skinny, dark brown hair. Looked to be in his mid-forties.”

  “Alright, stand up,” Liam ordered as he pulled Rodrigo out of his seat. “We need to make sure you don’t run off anywhere.”

  “Wh-where are we going?”

  “We’re just gonna get you some medical attention for that nose and make sure you don’t run off until we’re able to track this John person down.” Liam pulled Rodrigo towards the door. He opened it, and there were already two of his own security staff waiting.

  I followed as Liam gave them instructions on where to take Rodrigo for medical treatment and where to hold him afterward. We left out the back door where there were two cars already waiting for us. Ron was the driver of the first car, while Mitch drove the second. Liam released Rodrigo to his security, and they took him to the awaiting car. I felt Liam’s hand around my waist pulling me to the second car.

  “We’re going home.” I felt his warm breath against the back of my neck and shivered at the earnestness in his voice.

  ****

  Coral

  “I never left you.”

  Those words garnered my full attention. In spite of my desire to remain cold towards him, I took a chance and looked over at Liam on the other side of the car. I noted the blur of the passing lights and street signs as we headed back to his home.

  “Wh-what?” My voice had a slight tremble that I wasn’t used to.

  “I,” he began slowly as his strong thigh muscles bulge beneath his Italian designer pants as he slid over closer to me.

  I swallowed deeply, feeling like a deer caught in headlights as my eyes met his fierce gaze.

  “Never left you,” he repeated, this time pulling me to his side. “You’re not often wrong, but you were wrong earlier today. I didn’t leave. I…” he paused.

  “You weren’t there,” I accused. “I woke up and you were gone. A few weeks later it’s all over the news that you’re engaged to be married. I sat in the…” I stopped myself from blurting out what I was going to say. “You weren’t there,” I said with finality and attempted to pull away.

  Liam’s grip around my waist tightened. “There are things you don’t know. I’ll tell you soon,” I heard the sincerity in his voice, and I wanted to believe it.

  I couldn’t get out a word before we pulled up to his driveway and soon enough to his front door. Liam continued to stare at me until the car made its final stop and Brian opened the door. Only then did our stare-off end, but the warmth from Liam’s gaze continued to emanate down to my very core. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe there was some deeper meaning behind why he left, but I was hesitant. There was always a part of me that believed I never fit in with Liam’s world. I wasn’t from a multigenerational family of wealth and privilege the same way he was. I didn’t come from high society. I came from a world where fighting every day was a way of life, both inside and outside my home. Michele, the woman he married and who birthed his child was more on his level. She came from his world. Where the hell was I supposed to fit in all of that? That may have been the reason I waited until he told me first to confess that I was in love with him. That may have been the reason I left for years after he left. And I knew it was the reason I have yet to ask him outright why he left me five years ago. I didn’t want to hear him confirm my suspicions that I just wasn’t good enough to be the woman in his life. Not the one he married or had children with.

  “Thank you, Brian. Make sure Rodrigo is well taken care of,” I heard Liam say as we made our way to the front door.

  I didn’t even look back as Liam inserted the key and pushed the door open, while sta
nding behind me. “I’m going to sleep in the guest room,” I said, trying to put some distance between us. The words hadn’t even fully left my mouth when my back was pushed up against the closed door, and Liam’s arms bracketed either side of me.

  His face was incredulous as he peered down at me. “Why the hell would you do that?”

  “Li,” I sighed out at a loss for words. I didn’t have the energy to deny him.

  “That isn’t my room. It’s ours,” he emphasized the last word as if he was trying to tell me something important. I didn’t have time to discern his meaning before his soft lips were pressed against mine. The logical part of my brain knew I should push him away and go to my own room to sleep. However, the feeling of Liam’s lips as they made their way to that sensitive spot on my neck and his hand moving up under my dress, completely over rid any logical thinking for the night.

  “Hssss,” I hissed when his hand brushed over my bare labia.

  “Another thing,” he pulled back glaring at me.

  I raised my eyebrow, angry as hell he’d stopped to freaking hold a conversation.

  “Don’t ever let another man put his hands or anything else on you.” He dipped his head and bites my lower lip, sucking it into his mouth, licking it.

  Something between a moan and sigh escaped my mouth at the same moment our tongues touched. I tasted a hint of rum and coke on Liam’s lips and tongue, but instead of it making me nauseous like it did earlier, the taste, mixed with his natural taste, invigorated me. I kissed him back with same fervor and passion he was kissing me. His hands were now on my back, sliding the zipper of my dress down. I sent a silent prayer up thanking God for Laura’s grandparents who had taken her for the weekend to make up for the previous weekend they had to cut short.