by London Casey
I could see the pain and even embarrassment in Tripp’s eyes when he spoke.
“Hey, you’re still here. With me.”
“I’m on borrowed time,” he said. “When this is done… I’m done.”
“No. I don’t believe that. You’re keeping me safe. That’s what you were told to do.”
“And when my purpose is up, it’s over. Trust me. I know Aldo.”
“But if the loss wasn’t your fault…”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “There was money on it. Aldo is simple. Make him money, he keeps you alive. Lose him money and he has no use for you. Believe me, you don’t want to meet him, get to know him, or be anything close to him.”
I felt bad for Tripp. I had nothing to say because I had been living the same life. No matter what I did or where I stepped, it was wrong, bad, and deadly. Even after Rocky was killed, any chance of freedom was quickly taken.
My brain was processing so much at once. I had Tripp confessing something so powerful to me just at the same time he told me that Skull X took out Rocky and that Stoney had put a bomb in my car, wanting to get Tripp’s boss here.
“You’re quiet,” Tripp said.
“I’m in shock.”
“Don’t be. This is our life. At least we have each other right now.”
“You mean that, Tripp?”
Tripp reached for my hand. He held it tight and nodded.
“I mean it, darling.”
Everything about Tripp oozed sex. But in that moment, he got to my heart.
And I knew I had to tell him everything.
17.
(Tripp)
I held her hand all the way back to the motel. Maybe Winter was right. If we were going to get shot at and killed, then fuck it. Let the bullets tear us apart.
Tear us apart.
Thinking as though we were together.
I glanced at my hand locked tight with hers and realized we were far beyond the line. This was really bad. And Stoney had practically caught me fucking her in the bathroom.
Someone had ties with Red Aces, Skull X, and Aldo. This shit was tied tighter than I originally thought.
When Winter got into the room, she plopped down on the bed. I walked to our bags and grabbed them with one hand. With my other hand, I grabbed her hand and made her stand back up.
“Tripp…”
“We’re going back to your place,” he said. “I’m done being here. I’m not going to be afraid. I’ll fucking take on the Red Aces myself if I have to.”
I expected her to fight me on it.
But she didn’t. She nodded.
“Yes,” she whispered. “There’s something I want to show you. Something… it’s private, Tripp.”
“Okay.” I touched her face. “What is it?”
“It’s bad.”
“Bad?”
“Yeah. Bad. I’m worried you’ll judge me. You’ll leave me.”
I gritted my teeth. Don’t say you’ll never leave her, man. That’s not what this thing is. It’s not a fucking movie or something.
“I’m not going to judge you, darling. If you think it has anything to do with what’s going on…”
“What if it doesn’t?”
“Then why would you tell me?”
“Because I trust you. Because I want you to see what it’s like for me.”
“What does that mean?”
I saw the hurt wash over her pretty face. Her blue eyes weren’t quite as bright as before. “It’s just stuff. Stuff Rocky used to hold against me. Why I’m stuck.”
Jesus, she was terrified, almost shaking now.
“Okay,” I said. I kissed her forehead. “It’s okay. Let’s get out of here. I’ll protect you.”
Part of me was talking out of my ass. I couldn’t really protect Winter, could I? The best I could do was offer my life. And if this Skull X group wanted her, they’d kill me and get her.
Fuck, the thought shook me to my core.
We got to my car. I started it, half expecting it to blow up.
It didn’t.
We drove to her place without any incident. The same as when we got inside, which I did first. Again, there was no winning because if someone was there to kill me, that left Winter all for the taking.
I remembered Skull X hadn’t been here though. Whatever happened with Rocky they had acted upon and had kept quiet since. Maybe Aldo was involved and keeping them at bay. Or maybe something was waiting for me tomorrow.
I locked the door and Winter went right for a drink. We had a few beers left in the fridge. Not enough to get drunk, but enough for a taste. She opened me a beer, gave it to me, and I grabbed her arm.
“Show me right now,” I said.
Her face dropped again as she nodded. “Okay.”
Winter led the way to her bedroom. The second she opened the door, my body tightened. My cock pressed against my jeans, already thickening. It was wild what this woman did to me. Christ, it was a bedroom. It wasn’t like she was naked.
The room smelled of her. It smelled of blankets and a sleep smell.
There was a dresser across from a wide bed. The sheets were black with red trim. It was kind of girlie, dark and pretty. I shut the door and looked around the room. There were some clothes on the floor, a pink thong showing. I walked to it and kicked the clothes, covering it up. It would have driven me damn crazy.
Winter put her beer on the dresser and went to the closet. She opened it and stepped inside. A light flicked on and she crouched down. I stepped up behind her, watching her shirt pull up her back. The bones and curve of her spine pushed from her back, her black panties showing a thin line.
Everything about her turned me on.
I wanted to protect more than just what was around me.
Christ, was I actually starting to have feelings for her?
Winter slithered back out of the closet and had a box in her hand. An old, maroon colored shoebox.
“This,” she whispered.
“What is it?”
“Pictures.”
“Of?”
“Me.”
My heart sank a little. I crouched down and saw her eyes were already filled with tears.
“What kind of pictures?”
She turned her head and took off the lid.
The pictures were in a messy pile. But they were all pretty simple.
Topless pictures of Winter.
I grabbed a small stack and flipped through them.
Each picture she was in a different pose. Starting to take her clothes off, bending over with her tits pressing against her bra, then her bra on the ground, hands covering her nipples. Topless pictures followed. Winter touching, cupping, playing. Even a couple pictures of Winter tasting herself.
I threw them down and didn’t want to see anything else.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Just pictures. They’d come in and shut the place down. They’d demand we take pictures. The owner went along with it. It was money, Tripp. It was harmless, I thought. But Rocky wanted more and more and more. He loved taking pictures and keeping them.”
“For what reason? Blackmail?”
“I was a stripper,” Winter said. “Anyone could have seen me…”
Jealousy flooded my body.
He stood up and kicked at the box. “That’s what you were worried about? Topless pictures? Is there more?”
“Sort of,” she whispered.
“What? You and some guys fucking?”
“No!” Winter cried out. “They did that with some women, but not me. I refused. As long as Rocky could take pictures, he was happy. It was a horrible way to try and feel safe.”
“Yeah, real fucking safe.”
“I always wanted to burn them,” she said. “Just burn them all. But he would never…”
“He’s dead.”
“Yeah, he is.”
I turned and stormed from the room. Winter called my name, but I had to get away, again. Each twist and turn
with her made me want to scream. Christ, it was so tempting to just get in my car and go. For real this time. Let Aldo track me down.
Instead, I started to open drawers. There had been candles on the coffee table in the living room, which meant there had to be a lighter somewhere. I found one in a junk drawer and grabbed a heavy duty glass bowl from one of the cabinets.
I returned to the room and sat down.
“Do it then,” I said to Winter. “Start burning them.”
I watched as she collected a few of the pictures and put them in the bowl. She clicked the lighter and they caught. The flames ate the pictures right up. I grabbed a few and put them into the dying flames, keeping them alive. I couldn’t help myself as I stared at a few of them though.
Christ, she was really pretty. I mean beyond looking at her perfect big tits and everything. Her eyes, her face, her hair. Even her smile in some of the pictures.
I turned one around. “You seemed happy here.”
Winter had her hands in her hair, pulling it back, smiling. Completely damn topless.
“I was probably drunk,” she said. “Burn it.”
I brought it back to me. “I’ll keep it for myself then.”
“No,” she growled. She grabbed the picture from me and dropped it into the fire. She then inched closer and kissed my cheek. “I’ll give you a live picture later.”
Good hell.
A woman teasing me and I enjoyed it. Hell, this was the closest thing I had to a date in longer than I cared to remember. And the date was setting pictures on fire. Forced pictures that were taken of Winter. It was wrong and it pissed me off, but there was nothing I could do about it.
As the stack dwindled, Winter seemed to ease a little. She really thought I was going to get mad at her for this. Yeah, sure, I was mad, but not at her. I didn’t know Winter when all this happened. If I had, she would have never lived this kind of life.
What kind of life then?
That question felt like a punch to the gut. I had no way of giving Winter a better life, did I? I had a small apartment in a building that got raided once a week. I was at the mercy of Aldo. When he needed me to fight, I had to fight. And nobody is perfect. I’d never get a chance to lose again. Hell, for all I knew, when this protection thing ended Aldo would kill me.
I grabbed another small stack of pictures but looked at Winter instead of the pictures.
“What?” she asked.
“I’m really damn sorry all this happened to you,” I said. “I mean, for everything.” I shook the pictures. “This stuff. You feeling trapped. Being trapped. Stuck with me. What happened in that motel room and bathroom… it shouldn’t have.”
“You can’t say that,” Winter said. “I wanted it. Both times. I was begging for it. I needed it, Tripp. Don’t you get that?”
“You were lonely.”
“You were there.”
I shook my head. “Yeah, I was there. But I can’t promise that tomorrow. Or a week after that.”
“Nobody can.” Winter reached for my hand. “Please finish burning these. Because there’s something else I want you to see. I’m scared, Tripp.”
“Don’t be,” I said. “Let’s just get through this and try to enjoy the night together. Let everything happen tomorrow.”
“I like that.”
“I… I like you, darling.”
As if I couldn’t cross anymore lines.
I started to flick the pictures into the fire like a fast card dealer. With two left in my hand, I dropped one down and hurried to grab it.
I jumped back and got to my feet.
“Who the fuck is this?” I growled.
I showed Winter the picture and her face turned white. “Tripp…”
“No way. You know who this is?”
Winter didn’t respond.
“Goddammit, darling,” I said. “You better not choose right now to start lying to me.”
Her bottom lip quivered. It was sexy, but I couldn’t have that shit right now. This was serious. This was…
Winter nodded. “Yes. I know him. There’s more, Tripp… what I’m trying to tell you…”
“Fuck,” I bellowed.
I looked at the picture again and wanted to throw up.
It was a picture of Winter, this time in a bra. A lacy black bra that matched the panties she wore in the picture. She was on someone’s lap, arms around his neck, her cheek pressed to his.
The guy sitting in the chair had a nice grey suit on. Money in his hand. A cigar in his mouth. Slicked back black hair. An aura of complete asshole that burned even through the picture.
My world spun as I tried to make sense of it.
It was a picture of Winter sitting on Endo’s lap.
Endo.
Aldo’s son… who was shot and in a coma.
Fuck.
~
I knew I had to stop running away from Winter. But it seemed each time she dropped something on me, I was pissed enough that I had to leave. I had to get away from her for a second to catch my breath. To convince myself none of this shit was her fault.
Christ, I had been told to come and protect her.
Yet there was a picture of her on Endo’s lap?
It seemed that Aldo was getting more and more tied into this fucking mess. And I was smack dab in the middle of it and had no clue what was happening, what had happened, or what was going to happen.
I walked to the wall I had punched already.
Fight. Do it. Fucking fight, man. That’s what you’re meant to do. Not to fall for some woman. Not to care about how you fuck her. Not to feel a little guilty for fucking her in the bathroom… because you want to take her to her bed and taste her fucking body. No. You punch the wall. You leave this house. You find someone to fight. A real fight.
I cocked my fist back. It was my only sense of relief. The pain I’d feel in my knuckles, hand, wrist, and arm would mask the pain in my heart. And that’s what it all was right now. Pain in my damn heart.
“That won’t fix anything.”
My fist shook. Then I lowered it. “You think I don’t know that?”
“Tripp, why are you so angry?”
“Endo. He was the one shot at the fight.” I looked over my shoulder. “The fight I lost. He’s in a coma right now.”
Winter touched her mouth. “Holy shit.”
I turned and walked toward Winter. She looked terrified. But I couldn’t let her win this battle. No fucking way her emotions were going to overpower mine.
“Endo is Aldo’s son,” I said. “Aldo and his family control everything. Aldo sent me here to protect you. Skull X kills Rocky. Stoney tries to set you up, wanting Aldo to send more people down here to help. What the hell does it all mean, Winter? What else do you fucking know?”
She shook her head and backed up until she bumped into the doorway to the bedroom. She stumbled and I grabbed for her arm to keep her from hitting the floor. I pulled her toward me. Her hair fell in front of her face. I could see her blue eyes burning at me.
Slowly, I ran my fingers into her hair and pushed it out of her face. I cupped her cheek and started to pull her closer. My mouth ached for her. My body demanded I have her.
“You have to tell me everything,” I whispered. “Now or never. I’m sorry if you’ve never been able to trust anyone in your life. You can trust me. You have to trust me, darling. I don’t think we’re safe. I don’t think I was sent here to actually protect you. Something else is going on.”
“Okay,” Winter said. “Okay. Just…”
“Tell me how you know Endo.”
She just stared at me for a few seconds. Usually when life was going to fuck me over or knock me down I didn’t see it coming. Like the first time one of my mother’s boyfriends used me as a punching bag. Or the first time I had to really fight and defend myself. Even the fight I lost that put me in this position. My head was turned and I got rocked.
Hell, meeting Winter was taking its toll on me.
But loo
king at her now, I knew it wasn’t going to be anything good.
“Winter,” I said. “We’re wasting time. Tell me everything you know about Endo. If you don’t, I’m gone. I’m going to get in my car and just go. For good.”
“You said you wouldn’t leave,” Winter whispered.
“How can I stay if I don’t know why I’m here?”
Winter slipped away from me. She backed up to the bed and sat down.
And the truth poured from her mouth.
18.
(Winter)
I’d never forget the look on his face when he found the picture of Endo. The anger that washed over him. How badly he wanted to punch the wall, but I saved him from it. If anything, he should have punched me. But he wouldn’t do that. Tripp was too good of a man. A real man. No matter what he said and no matter how he tried to play his life off, deep down, Tripp was a good person.
I felt it when he looked at me. When he touched me. When he kissed me. I felt it when he thrust his perfect cock inside me. Most of all, I felt it when he held my hand.
I sucked in a breath and knew it was no time to cry.
“He used to come in where I worked,” I said. “I met him before I met the Red Aces.”
“Were they friends?” Tripp asked.
“Close enough. I mean, Stoney called your boss for help, right?”
“True.”
“So they’ve had ties,” I said. “At first, it was kind of neat. I don’t know. I mean, there were guys in really nice suits with a lot of money. Five dollar bills were suddenly fifties. You know?”
Tripp nodded. He folded his arms and leaned against the doorway. Like he was keeping himself guarded, halfway out of the room. I hated it. It hurt to see.
“There was a group of them. I don’t remember all their names. Mostly like Bobby, Richie, Petey, little Jack.”
“Aldo?” Tripp asked.
“No. I’m not sure I remember that name. Well, Stoney had said it before. But he never came into the club.”