Conceited

by T. L Smith

  “I am, but that’s solely because you deserve it.”

  I’m mad at him, so fucking mad.

  Who does he think he is?

  He killed someone, or whoever he works for killed someone.

  “Do you want me to walk in there right now and hand myself in?” Falcon steps forward, now ignoring my hand. “Would that make you happy, if I did that?”

  “Yes,” I lie. “It would make me very happy. And while you’re there, tell them who really did it. Because when the accident happened, you were with me.”

  “If you want to talk, we have to leave.” Falcon turns and his posture straightens.

  I turn to see who he’s looking at and when I realize who it is, I’m shocked. The Governor walks out of the building and straight to Falcon and shakes his hand. “Falcon, how are you?”

  My mouth hangs open. We have been trying to do a story on this man for a year now, but we can’t seem to find anything. Everything about him is locked down tight.

  “Good, and yourself, Malcom?” Malcom looks back to me then to Falcon.

  “I’ve been well, we will have to catch up again soon.”

  “Now, you know I can’t do that. But I will see you soon?”

  “Of course, you and your lady friend have a good day.” He turns eyeing me once more before he walks off.

  “So, you know people,” I say as he watches and waits for me. He looks to where Malcom just left.

  “I do, a lot. Now can we leave?”

  “Yes.” I get back into my car and drive to the closest park, it’s the only place I can think of where we can talk right now. I don’t get out as he walks over. I sit in my car with the doors locked while waiting for him. He knocks on my window and I roll it down just a fraction, only enough so we can speak but not touch. Touching isn’t good right now. I don’t want his touch.

  “Do you expect me to speak to you through this?” He taps the glass.

  “Yes, it’s your last chance before I go. Now speak.”

  “I don’t want you to die, Ariel.”

  His words hit me. Shock me so badly that my head swivels around to face him. “What do you mean?” I ask him.

  “How far do you intend to take this story?”

  “All the way.”

  He rubs his eyes with his hands, tiredness shows on his face. “Please don’t. I’m not asking as someone you hate, or even someone you know. I’m asking you because I care.”

  “You care, for what?”

  He looks up at me dead straight into my eyes. “I care for you, Ariel. You.”

  “You could have fooled me.”

  “I care that you don’t die. If you pursue this, there’s only so much I can protect you from.”

  My head turns fast as my hands clench. “What is it you do, Falcon?”

  He shakes his head. “I want to trust you. I want to tell you. But in your hands, it’s dangerous. So, I won’t.”

  “In my hands?” I notice his eyes widen.

  “You want the inside scoop. It’s who you are, it’s what you do. I should have stayed clear to begin with. And I will from now on, you have my word. Just don’t tell anyone any more. If not for me, do it for you.” His words sink in.

  “You have connections, big ones, don’t you?” I turn to look at him again and he simply nods his head. “You could make me quiet like you made Tom quiet.”

  Falcon nods not giving me any words, but pain is evident on his face as he does.

  “Just don’t, okay? Go home for a bit. Stay clear.” He turns and walks back to his car.

  I quickly get out and call his name, and he turns and looks at me. “What if I don’t?”

  He shakes his head and slides into his car and pulls away. I watch as he does, and look to my cell, rereading the email. I still haven’t deleted it even though he asked me to. This story could do so much for me, so fucking much.

  “Tracey,” I say into the cell. “I’m coming to see you. We need to talk.”

  “You hid his stuff, even if it’s bad. Who have you become, Tracey?” I ask shaking my heads.

  She shuts the door behind me, so her girlfriend can’t hear us talk. She doesn’t know what her brother-in-law does either.

  “What are you talking about?”

  I pull the news, which is everywhere, up on my cell and show Tracey. “Falcon had him killed. He spoke about a secret club, which I’m guessing you know all about.”

  “Oh my God, Ariel, please don’t do what I think you’re going to do.”

  “What do you think I’m going to do?”

  “You’re going to publish what you know. And I’m going to tell you as a friend what a mistake that would be right now.”

  “You sound like your brother.”

  “You went to him already?” Her eyes go wide. “Fuck!” She starts pacing back and forth. “Those boys built that place from nothing, gave it their all. Darby runs it mostly, but they all play their parts, and they’re good at what they do. You’re looking at ruining four lives, for what? To boost your own career?” she asks clearly angry.

  “Four of them run it?”

  Her mouth opens, then closes. “As your friend, your best friend, I ask that you don’t repeat what I’ve just told you.”

  “They killed him, Tracey. They killed someone famous. Like they had every right to do it. And don’t even bother about the consequences.”

  “They run a tight ship, I wasn’t even meant to know.”

  “But you do because he tells you everything.” She shrugs. I’m sure that was a shitstorm in itself.

  “This story could make me, Tracey. Everything I’ve worked for, it could finally come to pass if I do this.”

  “You care about him, right?”

  I can’t lie to her, so I tell her the truth. “I do. Do you think I should put him before myself?”

  She shakes her head. “What did he say then?”

  “He told me to kill it.”

  “And you don’t want to listen to him?” she asks.

  “No, Tracey, I don’t want to listen to anyone. I want to do the right thing. This would be the right thing. They can’t just go around killing people when they don’t meet their standards. It’s not right. What are you going to say at my funeral… ‘I miss her, but I did warn her’?”

  Tracey shakes her head. “He won’t let you get hurt.” She says it like it’s the truth.

  “Maybe he wouldn’t have a choice.” I turn, ready to walk out and decide what I want to do.

  “I think he loves you.” I stop in my tracks at her words. She’s looking down.

  “That’s a shit thing to say just to stop me, Tracey. Even for you.” I open the door and walk to my car, but she follows closely behind.

  “I’m not saying it because of that. I think you should know. I think he loves you. This is coming from his best friend. Me. I know him better than anyone else. And he doesn’t talk women to me unless he’s saying how annoying they are. When he talks about you, it’s different. A good type of different.”

  “That’s good and all, Tracey, but it will only be a phase. Falcon isn’t a one-woman man, that much is obvious. Hell, he even proved it on our date.

  “What did he say?”

  I cringe at remembering his words. “He said, ‘If every date’s like this, what the fuck have I been doing?’”

  She flinches. “I’m sure he meant someone else.”

  I shake my head at her. “Stop defending him, Tracey. I’m your friend, too.”

  “I know, that’s why I never wanted you two together. I don’t want to choose between you. I love you both.”

  “We aren’t together.”

  “But you should be, he smiles bigger when he’s with you.”

  I get in my car and look up at her. “Don’t tell him I came here, Tracey. Please?”

  She nods. “I promise.” I start the car. “Where are you going?”

  I sit back, unsure of what to do. “Tell me where he is?”

  She shakes her head
fast. “Is that something you want to know?.”

  I smile at her and drive away without answering, maybe she’s right.

  My cell starts ringing straight away and I check the rear-view mirror and see Tracey with her cell to her ear, so I don’t bother answering.

  Driving to the beach, the same one he took me to, I sit in my car and look out. It’s dark now. It took me over an hour to get here, and in that time, I’ve contemplated what I should do.

  Should I, or shouldn’t I?

  That’s the million-dollar question.

  I could get a pay rise. Other writing jobs will open up to me. It only takes one story to climb and this could be it. I know it could be it.

  I ring him one last time. He answers straight away, my name falling from his lips. All the play gone. “Ariel.”

  “Malcom is a client, isn’t he? That’s how you can get away with what you do. You have the most elite people in the state at your disposal.” He doesn’t confirm. “It’s bigger, isn’t it, I bet it’s in the country. That’s how you’ve stayed hidden for so long.”

  “You’re stepping in deep water I can’t pull you from, Ariel.”

  “If they had a gun to my head, and were going to pull the trigger, would you let them, Falcon? Would you let them kill me?”

  “Yes.”

  My world goes silent.

  The call disconnects. My heart, the one that’s beating heavily in my chest, explodes and pain radiates from me.

  How can one word ruin everything? He just ruined everything with one single word. I pull myself up and wipe my tears.

  I won’t let him win this round.

  Not now.

  23

  Falcon

  I see her in the rear-view mirror, it’s a minute too late. My hands slam on the steering wheel. “Fuck,” rips from me. Her long black hair is down and if I were a dying man, I would wish to have that hair wrapped in my fists one last time as I take her. Slamming the car door, I get out and lean against it.

  She walks over to me.

  “Stalking is low, even for you.”

  She looks past me, her eyes going everywhere before they find me again. “Did you know I was following you, is that why you stopped at an old shit warehouse?”

  If only she knew. But she doesn’t, and I have to keep it that way.

  “Go, Ariel, and don’t come back.” I wait for her to leave, but she crosses her arms over her chest.

  “You would kill me if I talked?” I groan. “If I published it for the world to see?” I look behind her and hope and pray to fucking God that Darby’s not in the surveillance room right now with Echo, because I know Echo is as he rang me earlier.

  “Go, home.”

  Her hands touch my chest and it takes everything in me to react to her, to not grab her to me and kiss those pissed-off lips right now.

  “You aren’t the boss of me, and soon I’ll find out what you do exactly, and how you do it. I’ll expose the whole fucking thing,” she screams. Her eyes dilate, her lips thin. I turn knowing she won’t leave until I open the car door. She stops it with her hip to prevent me from closing it.

  “If this…” I point between us, “… meant anything, you would drop it.”

  She coughs, it’s fake. “You didn’t care about this…” she says waving her hand between us, “… you’re the one that didn’t want this.” She waves her hand again between us.

  “Ariel, I’m not in the mood. And as sexy as you are angry, I don’t want to deal with it today.”

  “You’re a real asshole, you know that, right?”

  I bow at her before getting into my car. “Thank you, now, please… go home.”

  My cell rings as I drive away. I see her in the rear-view mirror and hope to fucking God she leaves before anyone else sees her standing there.

  “He knows she’s out the front,” Creed says then hangs up.

  I hang up and ring Darby. He doesn’t answer, so I ring again.

  “You didn’t handle it, Falcon. I asked you to handle it.”

  “Don’t do anything.”

  “You aren’t in charge here, Falcon.”

  “We know that, Darby, every fucking person knows who’s in charge. But you forget… you don’t solely fucking own it. We all do. Now, I’m asking you as your friend to leave it alone.”

  “I did, as your friend, leave her alone. You were meant to handle it, tell me again why you haven’t?”

  “I did.”

  Well, I thought I did. Fucking hell! Maybe I just hoped she would forget.

  “Now, I’m taking over.” He hangs up before I can say another word.

  I swing the car around and floor it back to the parking lot.

  Creed answers on my first call to him.

  “If you hurt her…”

  He doesn’t say anything. My heart beats hard as I get closer and closer and hope to God she’s okay. Because no matter how much I thought I could lose her, I can’t. She doesn’t deserve to be with someone like me, she needs better. And I am far from that for her.

  24

  Ariel ‘Raven’

  I watch as he gets into his car. His strides are long and he’s so devastatingly handsome. Why did I have to fall for someone who’s so far out of my reach? Because that’s what he is. He just proved that and to say it didn’t sting would be a complete and utter understatement. It fucking stung all right. Standing tall and not letting what just happened completely ruin me, I walk back to my car, but just as I get to it, a door behind me opens in the warehouse. Music floats out and I turn fast, but as I do, something hits my head and my world goes black.

  My hands and legs are bound, I can’t move. My eyes are heavy and something’s in my mouth making it next to impossible for me to open it. The room is dark and I can hear someone breathing. My eyes search frantically, not understanding what’s happening or where I am or why I’m bound. I try to scream but nothing comes out, it’s just muffled noise. I try moving my hands, hoping I can attempt to untie myself, but whatever’s holding my wrists together has them held down tight. I can feel a panic attack coming, I haven’t had one of those since I was a teenager and right now is not the time to have one. Closing my eyes, I take deep breaths trying to tell myself I’m not in some dungeon about to get sliced and diced by some fuckwit. No, I’m in Tracey’s house and she’s playing tricks with me.

  It doesn’t work, though, as sweat starts dripping down my forehead and my breathing becomes rapid. My hands which are struggling to get free and are becoming sore from rubbing on whatever has them tied. My feet have pins and needles and there’s not a thing I can do about it—they’re locked tight.

  “Pleeease.” It’s weak and comes out muffled, but it’s all I’ve got left to give knowing whoever it is isn’t going to let me go just because I asked. The breathing in the room becomes heavier, and just as I’m about to start screaming, a door slams open and loud footsteps echo through the room.

  To say he would be my knight in shining armor would be a lie, he isn’t. I have a feeling the reason I’m here is based on him. He walks past me, only briefly looking at me before I hear a loud whack. Then hands are freeing my wrists, and the minute they are I pull them to my chest and rub them. Falcon bends down in front of me and looks at me like he is a god—a god of fucking disaster—with steely eyes that will fuck me up more than I ever want to be.

  “You.” He shakes his head and reaches down to grab me. I hit at him and attempt to stand when my legs are free, but the minute I do I land back on the seat that I woke up tied to.

  “I’ll need to carry you, you can’t walk.”

  A sob rips through me. What is this life? What is happening? I was just a writer trying to go places and here I am, where? I still don’t know, being carried out by a man I thought I was falling in love with.

  Falcon lifts me and I don’t fight him. I look over my shoulder to see a large man lying on the floor with his eyes closed. I flinch when he moves, but he doesn’t open his eyes.

  �
��Who is that?”

  “He works for us… a bodyguard,” Falcon says, finally telling me something that’s true.

  “I don’t want you touching me. Put me down,” I say looking up at him. My hands are on his shoulder as he holds me to him like a child. We reach a set of stairs and he puts my feet down first. I’m unsteady, and I don’t know why.

  “They gave you a sedative, you’ll feel drowsy. Let me take you home.” I shake my head and step back, my legs wanting to give out as I do, but somehow I manage to stand.

  “I don’t want you to touch me, Falcon.” He’s so devastating beautiful it hurts to look. Why? Why? It’s not fair.

  He almost looks hurt by my words, like he was the one that was taken to a place without his consent and drugged. Fuck, no, I was the one who was drugged. My body bends over almost falling to the floor as I start throwing up whatever was in my belly. It hurts and stings. Hands touch my back and rub in circular motions. I push them away as I stand up, wiping my face.

  “What didn’t you understand about the fact that I don’t want to be touched by you?” It’s coming again, I can feel it, but this time my legs don’t hold me and I fall to my knees as my body starts to dry retch. My stomach and throat burn but I have nothing else to give.

  “Let me help you.”

  I swat at him and I hear him huff next to me. Wiping my mouth, I sit back and look around—we’re in the suburbs outside a house.

  “Where are we?”

  He looks around then back to me. “I need to get you to my car. I’ll take you wherever you want to go. But please, we need to move.” He attempts to touch me again and I shake my head.

  “I can do it. Don’t touch me,” I seethe at him. He shakes his head and walks to his car, opening the door and holding it for me. The minute I’m in, he shuts the door behind me.

  “You need to not publish that story of what you know, Ariel. Don’t, please.”

  He’s never said please, ever.