Love Drunk

by Marita A. Hansen

  She nodded. “I saw the articles. I also had a client who worked for his family.”

  “Who?”

  “I can’t say due to privacy issues.”

  I shrugged. “No worries. Anyway, I should send a message to Marino’s family, tellin’ them that Craven’s dead, just in case they don’t know. After all, they live in the wops.”

  “What did Craven do to Marino?” she asked, slowing down for another red light, Victoria Park Market on our left, the grey clouds above its chimney stack looking like smoke.

  “His goons put hidden cameras in Marino’s bedroom, filming my cuz without his knowledge,” I replied, what I’d been shown still pissing me off. “Craven sold the footage on a porn site. I only found out when the cops mistook me for Marino.”

  “I can see why, you two looked a lot alike.”

  “Which is why Craven also filmed me. Apparently, after Marino went into hiding, Craven blackmailed one of my exes to install hidden cameras in my room. The prick didn’t wanna lose his cash cow, cos Marino had quite a following,” I said, ogling a hot red Ducati motorcycle as it passed us.

  “So, you didn’t do porn on purpose?”

  My head snapped around to her. “How’d ja know I did porn? The cops were s’posed to squash that shit, since it wuz illegal.”

  “It was in your file.”

  My eyes went wider than my whole fucking head. “What the fuck?! Why the hell would Jade write that down?” I barked, making her jerk in her seat. “He bloody knows I wuz unwilling. Those videos Craven sold were clearly taken without my knowledge, and that time at his sex party wuz forced. Yeah, I fucked my woman, but I didn’t wanna do it in front of a bloody crowd. Craven and his sicko son threatened to hurt my family and friends if I didn’t play ball. So, not porn, blackmail.”

  She stared back at me, looking shocked. A horn blasted behind us, causing her to jump in her seat. The light had turned green, the other cars in front of us long gone. She planted her foot on the accelerator, while I put my hand out the window, flipping off the person behind us.

  “Dante,” she growled. “Don’t do that.”

  I pulled my hand back inside the car. “So, what other bullshit have ya read ’bout me?”

  “That you’re addicted to sex, drugs, and alcohol.”

  “Only a third of that’s true. I’m an alcoholic, not a sex or drug addict. I can control myself with the other two.” I licked my lips, just thinking about whiskey making me thirsty. “Get me some.”

  “Some, what?”

  “Whiskey. Jack Daniels in particular.” I looked out my window, my gaze roving over the shops, searching for a liquor store. “A small bottle will be perfect, nuthin’ too big, just enough to curb my craving without me losing control.”

  “No.”

  I turned to face her again. “You’re my P.A., so yes.”

  “No, I’m your minder. It’s my job to keep you away from alcohol, drugs, and women.”

  I let out a burst of laughter. “I’m sitting next to one fine chick right now, so you’re already failing. Might as well add some whiskey to the list.” I leaned towards her. “Wanna add a fuck to it, too?”

  She threw me a glare. “I’m your employee, not a prostitute, so keep your comments to yourself, because right now, this constitutes as sexual harassment.”

  I leaned back in my seat, enjoying the to-and-fro between us, her indignant replies amusing me enough to curb my craving for the moment. “Were you like this when I wuz younger?”

  “Like what?”

  “Got all indignant, putting me in my place?”

  “You needed putting in your place, like you need it now.”

  “Guess I do.” I sniggered. “Hey, are you into BDSM?”

  “Dante!”

  “Dante, Dante, I get it, it’s my name, had it all my life. Now answer my question, cos I can imagine you covered in black latex, ready to paddle my arse.” I snorted out a laugh. “I could dress up like a school-boy, if ya want.”

  She jerked the steering wheel to the side, pulling over to the kerb. She yanked the handbrake on, about to get a telling off for mistreating my baby, but I quickly shut my trap at her furious expression. She poked a finger in my face, almost hitting me in the nose with it.

  “I took this job because I didn’t want to work with that arsehole Simon ever again,” she snapped. “But I’ll be damned if I replace him with another chauvinistic pig. So, Dante, either clamp it shut or I’ll walk away right here and now.”

  I blinked at her, taken aback.

  She nodded at me as though I’d agreed to her demand, then restarted the engine and pulled out into the traffic.

  “Fuck me,” I said. “I like you a lot.”

  She gave me a sidelong glare, not saying a word.

  I shook my head and turned to look out the window, a liquor store capturing my attention. I went to tell her to stop for it, but instead pressed my lips together, knowing she’d shoot me down. I glanced at her, catching her glancing at me. I winked, making her snap her eyes back to the road. I bit back a chuckle, sure as fuck happy she’d accepted the job, because, whether she helped me remember the time I’d lost or not, I was going to have one hell of a good time with her.

  20

  Clara

  I could feel his eyes on me for most of the ride to his home … which was soon to be my home. I refrained from shaking my head at how ironic this was, that here I was, sitting next to the man I wanted more than anything in the world, the boy who’d gotten me sent to jail, the person no one wanted me to be with, and now I was going to be living with him, spending most of my day with him, hearing the way he spoke, the way he flirted, his irreverent speech… And I was in heaven. And hell. Because I wasn’t his girlfriend, and all this flirting he was throwing my way didn’t mean a thing. He was no longer the boy who’d fallen in love with me, he was a man who only wanted sex. And I would refuse to give it to him, unless I was sure he truly wanted me for me, and not for what was between my legs. Until then, he was my boss, and nothing was going to happen between us.

  I pulled up to his house, stopping behind a wreck of a car.

  Dante swore. “Why won’t she leave me the fuck alone?!”

  I put the brake on, my gaze going to the woman getting out of the rundown car. I instantly recognised her from the clinic, her ice-cold glare directed at me. She stalked to my door and yanked it open, bending her head down to my level. “Who the hell are you?” she barked with a strong Croatian accent.

  “None of your fuckin’ biz, Kara,” Dante spat back, getting out of the Mustang.

  Kara stalked around the bonnet, getting into his personal space, firing off a barrage of words at him. I jumped out of the car and ran to Dante’s side, his ex’s voice steadily rising.

  “So, you’ve already moved the fuck on?” she snapped.

  “No, Clara’s an employee, my P.A.,” Dante growled back.

  Kara laughed. “You have a P.A.? What the hell, Dante? You can wipe your own arse without needing some pink-haired tramp holding the toilet paper.” Her eyes moved to me, the ice blue colder than the arctic. She sniffed as though I wasn’t even worth speaking to, the woman already writing me off as someone of little concern. Her hard gaze returned to Dante. She stepped in closer, her hands going to his hips, a purr coming from her lips. “You want to go up to your room and take a shower, like the last time? I’ll make it worth your while, dragi.”

  He pushed her hands away and stepped around her, muttering, “No.”

  She ran after him in her sky-high heels, her skirt just as sky high, revealing the curve of her butt. “Don’t be like that, Dante,” she said, pulling her skirt down a fraction. “I’m sorry I embarrassed you at the clinic.”

  He spun around to face her. “You didn’t embarrass me, you pissed me off cos you can’t get it into your thick skull that I’m done with you. Then you go and do the exact thing I left you for. You lashed out, shoving me, like the time you shoved me so hard that you knocked me uncons
cious.”

  “That was an accident, and I apologised enough times.”

  “Which you obviously didn’t mean, otherwise you wouldn’t have done it again, so fuck off.”

  “No! Not until you listen to me.”

  “I’ve had enough of listening to your skank-ho arse.”

  Her hand whipped out, slapping him across the face. “Don’t you dare call me that!” she yelled.

  He sneered at her. “Then don’t offer your pussy up so freely, cos it fuckin’ reeks.”

  Her eyes widened, then a torrent of words flew out of her mouth, a mix of English and Croatian. Dante snapped back at her in Croatian, adding, “Go to hell!” at the end. He stormed towards the house, shoving the gate so hard that it smashed into the fence. He continued to swear as he let himself into the house, leaving me and Kara standing on the footpath.

  She turned to me, closing the distance between us in the blink of an eye. “Are you really his P.A.?”

  I nodded, hoping she didn’t recognise me from all those years ago when I’d turned up to hers and Dante’s place.

  She gave me a once-over, seemingly assessing me. “You’re his type,” she said. “Do you want to have sex with my man?”

  “No,” I lied.

  “Good,” she said, appearing pleased with my answer. “Then we can be good friends. You will help me win him back.”

  Like hell! “I was told by Dante’s boss that I had to keep you away from him.”

  She sneered. “Jade, I presume,” she hissed out. “Gay boy wants my man all to himself, even though Dante has no interest in dick. But don’t worry about him, draga, Jade doesn’t need to know a thing. Dante can fuck whoever he likes, as long as it’s me, unless…” She eyed me again. “You really don’t want to have sex with my man? I’m willing to share if you help me. Was always willing to share as long as I have him back.”

  “I’m not interested.”

  She smiled. “Are you a lesbian? I’ll lick your pussy and make you come real hard if you help me win Dante.”

  My eyes widened. “I like men!”

  “Then you’ll want to fuck my Dante, because he’s the best. If we work together, we can both have him in no time. Two women working together can achieve anything, plus you’re pretty. I wouldn’t object to pleasuring you to make Dante horny.”

  My mouth dropped to the ground, shocked by what I was hearing, the woman having changed since I saw her five or so years ago. Maybe Simon was right about her. Dante had broken her too, making her willing to do anything to win him back.

  She reached out, touching my wide-open mouth, pushing her finger inside. I quickly stepped back, the woman grossing me out. “Don’t touch me!”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “So, you’re not willing to help me?”

  “At all.”

  She clicked her tongue. “Unfortunate for you, draga, because you don’t want to make me your enemy.” A cruel smile pulled at her lips. “At all. And tell Dante this isn’t over. He promised me we’d be together. I’m holding him to that.”

  She spun on her heel and headed back to her car, climbing into the driver’s seat. I watched as the engine spluttered to life, coating Dante’s shiny Mustang with exhaust smoke. She drove off, leaving me spluttering from the fumes. Waving a hand in front of my face, I locked the Mustang, then headed through the gate, letting myself into the house.

  I called out Dante’s name, getting an, “Up here!”

  I climbed the staircase to his room, knocking on the door. “Are you all right in there?”

  “I’m fine now.” He let out a loud burp. “Fuckin’ fine as shit with Jack.”

  “Is someone in there with you?”

  He sniggered. “Yeah, Jack Daniels.”

  My face fell. I pushed his door open, finding him sitting on his bed, holding a bottle of whiskey, a good portion of it gone. I stormed over to him, snatching it out of his hands, spilling some of the liquid on his top in the process. “Where did you get that?!”

  “Found it through the cat flap. Kara left it for me with a card.” He held the card out for me to see. “She said I can have all the booze I want if I go back to her.”

  “What a bitch!” I snapped, not believing the woman.

  “Yup, she’s certainly that.” He rose to his feet and reached for the bottle.

  I moved it behind my back. “She claims to love you but gives you alcohol? That’s not love.”

  “She’ll try to get me back anyway she can, but it won’t work. I’ll drink from the bottles she gives me, but not from her pussy.”

  I screwed up my nose, disgusted by his language. “That’s a repulsive thing to say!”

  “If ya don’t like my lingo, quit. At least I’ll be able to have a drink in peace.” He tried to snatch the bottle back, but I spun around, keeping it out of his reach.

  “Stop it, Dante! You’re ruining your health and your career by drinking.”

  Scowling, he stopped reaching for the bottle. “I’d be dead by now if I didn’t drink. Pro’bly would’ve run in front of cars like my bro used to do. He wuz too fast to get hit, though he wanted to. My stepdad raped him like he raped me.”

  He slumped back down onto his bed, removing his whiskey-soaked shirt, his muscles flexing as he did it. “I used whiskey and vodka to help me forget ’bout my stepdad raping me. I also used ’em to forget ’bout him raping my bro and stabbing my mum to death. I even used booze to forget ’bout Kara shoving me around, yelling at me like I wuz a fucktard with no brains.” He shook his head. “I bloody loved that bitch, would’ve done anything for her, but she ruined that.” He flopped onto his back. “I also drunk to forget ’bout Beth, my other love. She treated me like I wuz dumb too. She wuz also a liar. She straight up told me the baby she wuz having wuz mine, when it wuz my bro’s.” He pushed up onto his hands. “Remember I told you she wuz in a relationship with my bro before me? She cheated on him to be with me, but I couldn’t decide between her and Kara, and when I finally decided on Kara, Beth lied to get me back. When I found out, I broke up with her. She ran after me, gettin’ hit by a car in the process. It happened right in front of my eyes. I drink to forget ’bout that too.” His face twisted with sorrow. “There’s so much I wanna forget, for those moments to be wiped from my memory, but what do I get? Good memories wiped away instead. Is that fair?”

  I shook my head, none of it fair.

  He patted the bed next to him. “So, help me remember the good memories so I don’t think ’bout the bad ones.”

  I walked over and sat down next to him, placing the bottle on the floor, out of his reach.

  He watched me do it, then raised his gaze to my face. “I wanna remember loving you,” he said.

  I felt my chest clench, wanting that too.

  “Help me remember, cos I have a feeling you treated me better than Beth and Kara. I wanna remember loving someone who didn’t lie or hurt me.”

  “I’m hardly an angel. I did things I shouldn’t have, went to prison for them.”

  He grimaced. “Don’t remind me of the bad, only the good, or I’ll get that bottle of whiskey offa you, and you won’t be able to stop me from downing the rest.”

  “Fine.” I breathed out. “How about I start from the beginning?”

  He nodded, sitting up straighter, his sullenness instantly turning to interest.

  I took a deep breath in, then started from the day I’d helped save him from three thugs. “It was my first day at Wera High as a teacher. I saw three seniors ganging up on a boy. I didn’t think, I just ran, trying to stop them from hurting him. It was a stupid thing to do since the thugs were twice my size. I could’ve gotten hurt, but that thought came too late. Luckily, they took off, leaving me alone with the boy. That boy was you.”

  “So, you saved me?”

  I nodded. “Though, you weren’t grateful, in fact you were quite angry that a chick had made you look like a fool. While I was just stunned.”

  “’Bout what?”

  “You.
”

  He frowned. “How?”

  “Quite frankly, you were beautiful. Not like anything has changed, you still are.” My face fell. “I didn’t mean to say that, forget it.”

  He laughed, the sound beautiful in itself. “Nope, I’m keeping that one. So, what did I do?”

  “You stared at me for a moment, like you’d been struck, then your anger snapped you out of it.”

  “What happened after that?”

  “You thought I told the principal about the fight, getting you into trouble, but I hadn’t. Little difference it made, because you decided to make it your life’s mission to torment me as punishment.”

  He laughed again. “Sounds like sumpthin’ I’d do. So, how come we got together if I wuz a prick to you? Do ya have a thing for bad boys?”

  “No, I was intensely attracted to you, as you were to me. You taunted me, trying to goad me into doing something with you, like the time in the girls’ toilets.” I swallowed at the memory of Dante on the other side of the toilet door, getting a—

  “Ha!” he said, his eyes lighting up. “I wuz gettin’ a blow job from a senior. You walked in, lookin’ like you were gonna bust us, but froze instead. I could see you over the top of the toilet door. You watched me like you wanted to be the one blowing me.” He laughed. “Fuck, how did I remember that? It just came outta nowhere.” He prodded my nose. “It’s you, you’re making me remember. Fuck, that wuz hot. I also remember imagining it wuz your lips wrapped around my cock instead of the senior’s.”

  I bit my bottom lip, having imagined that too.

  His eyes dropped to my mouth. “What else do ya remember?” he asked, still staring at my lips.

  I cleared my throat and ran a hand over my skirt, using it to distract me from his stare. “You also kissed me in my home.” I shook my head, what had happened that night so wrong, even though it was one of the memories I brought up constantly. “But I took it further.”

  “How?”

  I closed my eyes, remembering every detail. How he’d flirted outrageously, provoking me, trying to get me to give in to him. And how he’d kissed me, tasting of whiskey and heaven. I’d slapped him for it, then slapped him a second time after he’d been rude, going in for a third when he wouldn’t give up. He’d grabbed my wrists, stopping me. But he couldn’t have stopped what was coming next.