Craving BAD: An Anthology of Bad Boys and Wicked Girls

by A. J. Norris

  Chapter Three

  Ryan caught up to me and unlocked the huge padlock securing the heavy metal chain in place. He swung the doors open with a grinding screech, and I walked into an almost empty warehouse. There was a mattress on the floor in the corner with a laptop on top of it, and a collection of fast-food trash on the floor. The rest of the room was completely empty.

  I looked over at him, not even trying to hide my disgust. “Cozy.”

  “I told you it’s just temporary. You should see my place in Tokyo.”

  I furrowed my brow, looking at him incredulously. “So you’ve said. Look, I’m here. Just give me whatever my brother left for me so I can leave.”

  Ryan walked over to one of the trash bags next to his bed and pulled out a white paper bag filled with something. He handed it to me and took a step back.

  Carefully, I unraveled the top and opened it. When I looked inside, I was so shocked I dropped it on the floor. “Where the hell did you get this much money?”

  “When Les and I talked about how we were going to split the money from the heist, he told me about your student loans. This should help.” He smiled at me, picking up the bag and pressing it into my hands.

  “You agreed to this?”

  “Lu, even after all these years I’ve never stopped caring about you.” His expression changed as his brow furrowed and lip quivered slightly. “I never wanted anything to happen to Les. He felt like my brother too, but I know it doesn’t compare to what the two of you had. I wish I could take all your pain away.” He leaned into me, placing a hand behind my head and tenderly stroking the back of my neck with his thumb.

  “Ryan…” I leaned into his hand, feeling tingling sensations flow throughout my body, reminding me how good his strong hands felt.

  “Don’t talk, Lucy. Not right now.” He slowly pulled my face toward him. “You’re even more beautiful than you were five years ago. I’ve missed you.” Ryan wrapped his other hand around my waist, pulling me toward him.

  I closed my eyes, waiting for his kiss. As his lips brushed mine, I started to melt into him. I went to reach my arms around his neck but the bag of money was in my hand. It jerked me back to reality, and I shoved him away.

  “No, Ryan, I can’t do this. Les is gone and I need to focus on that. Just leave me alone.”

  Memories of our single night together flooded my mind, and I couldn’t pretend they didn’t exist. I wanted him to kiss me. Hell, I practically needed him to kiss me. As soon as he did, I felt that spark reignite, but I had to put it out. This man was the reason Les was dead. My grip on the bag filled with the inappropriate cash tightened, and I started to run out the door.

  “Lucy,” he shouted to my back.

  I refused to turn around and rushed to my car. The driver’s side was locked, so I tore through my purse looking for my keys. The bag wasn’t that big—how could they not be there? I ran to the passenger door, reaching through the broken window so I could unlock it. I emptied the contents of my purse on the floor, cursing Ryan’s name. He had me all kinds of flustered and this was not going to help the situation. I sifted through the contents, careful to avoid the glass shards, but no keys. I needed to start the car and get out of there.

  “Looking for something?”

  I glanced up to see Ryan standing there holding my keys hostage. My blood began to boil and I took a deep breath, trying to find some patience or something to deal with this guy. I left my bag on the floor and slammed the door hard.

  “Ryan, I’ve had enough of your shit. Just give me my keys.” That sneaky ass probably snagged them from my purse when he was trying to kiss me.

  “I wasn’t done talking to you yet.”

  “Well, I’m done. My parents are gone, Les is gone, and I’m left alone. I haven’t been able to sleep more than an hour since the police called me and I can’t take much more.” The exhaustion of today seemed to take over. I’d been forcing myself to put one foot in front of the other for the past week, and the devastation I’d been trying to avoid was pushing its way toward the forefront of my mind. I couldn’t handle anymore, and dealing with Ryan was my breaking point.

  “Give me the keys, leave me be, and go off to that stupid penthouse in Tokyo so I never have to see you again.” I reached a shaking hand out to him.

  He didn’t move and my grief quickly turned to rage. I glared up at him, hoping my eyes could burn a hole in his body. “Why would you force him to do this? Our lives were so much better when you dropped off the face of the planet.”

  Ryan rushed over to me, slamming his hands on either side of me so I was completely trapped. “Really, is that what you think? Well, I’m glad that the several months I spent fighting a drug addiction in a rehab, that, by the way, your mother paid for, was so good for you. I was struggling for control of my life and I’ve done a lot with myself since then. Not all of us are cut out for the cookie-cutter college life. And oh yeah, how’s that professor you were banging? Did he leave his wife for you like he promised? I don’t see a ring on your finger.”

  His words cut through me and my mouth fell open. A hot wave of embarrassment flew through me, and I ground my teeth trying to keep from slapping him. “How in the hell did you hear about that?”

  “Your mom visited me every weekend in rehab. She liked to talk about you and what you were up to. Let’s just say I know a whole lot more about you than you think. Including the little tattoo right next to your…” He ran his hand up my leg, caressing my hip.

  I shoved his hand away from me. “Really? So you went crawling to my mom when you needed help. What else is new?”

  “Yeah, I went crawling to your mom for help. My mom was too busy hooking up with her latest bum and my best friend dragged my ass to rehab when he found me overdosed on my kitchen floor. He called your mom so she’d meet us at the emergency room.”

  “What? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I asked quietly, imagining how worried my brother must have been.

  “We weren’t speaking then. It was after you threw me out of your dorm room.”

  All pity I might have felt was gone in a flash. “You mean the night you seduced me and then your girlfriend called while you were still warming my bed?”

  “Right, that is how you’d see it.” Ryan stood up and started to walk away. But then he turned around, holding my keys up. “Look, just do me one more favor and I’ll give you your keys, then leave you alone forever. My flight to Tokyo takes off tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Why would I do you a favor?”

  “Because it’s for Les.”

  I froze, looking at him skeptically. I wasn’t sure if he was messing with me. “Tell me what it is first.”

  “Do you remember Cami Sato?”

  “Les’s girlfriend from high school? What about her?”

  “Les ran into her a couple weeks back and they caught up. She’s…well, she’s pregnant. The dad took all her money and left her in the middle of the night. Les wanted to give her some of the money to help her out. But she lives in an apartment complex with at least two cops.”

  “So you can’t go giving her the money without risking getting caught?”

  “Yeah. That’s all I need. I promise.”

  “Fine.”

  Ryan smiled and his whole face lit up like a Christmas tree.

  I went to grab the keys and he quickly pulled them out of my reach. “You’re looking good, Lu.”

  “You look like shit and you’ve said that already.” I grabbed my keys and headed to the car, shaking my head at him.

  He definitely didn’t look like shit. He’d put on at least thirty pounds of muscle since the last time I’d seen him, but he still had this childlike quality to his face that mesmerized me. Maybe it was his dimples, or the spark in his eyes whenever he got excited. I used to try so hard to be the reason that spark burned bright.

  But looking at him now, I could only feel fury and disappointment flowing through me. Part of me wanted to follow him back into the warehouse and angry
bang him until I didn’t hurt anymore. The other part was still filled with regret from that morning five years ago when he’d broken my heart and taken the one thing I’d never get back.

  Chapter Four

  “Let me get the money bag for Cami and her address. I’ll be right back.” He rushed back inside the warehouse but then came right back out. “Don’t leave. Promise me you won’t leave.”

  “When have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?”

  “Fair enough. I promise to give you the keys when I get back.”

  “I learned long ago not to trust your promises.”

  “Then I guess I’ll have to prove myself.” He ran back in the warehouse and I leaned against my car, remembering the last time he said that to me.

  Les and Ryan met in preschool and had been best friends ever since. I wasn’t as good at making friends; that happens sometimes when you have a twin. It’s like a built-in best friend. Well, Ryan and Les never minded if I hung out with them. As a result, I spent a lot of time mooning over Ryan as he grew into the sexy bad boy every girl secretly wanted. I think I was in love with him before I even really knew what that meant.

  When I was in college, Les and Ryan drove up to Washington to visit me for the weekend before Christmas break. Les was going to drive me home, and of course, he’d brought Ryan so he’d have company.

  I’d taken them to a couple parties and we were generally having a good time. Les was king of the campus that night. Well, he was the king pretty much everywhere he went, and Ryan was his mischievous sidekick. Every girl wanted them and every guy wanted to be as cool as the starting quarterback for a division one football team, or the rebel criminal with a smile that warmed your soul. As per usual, I was trailing behind them, too nervous to go off on my own, at least until they started playing that song.

  Everyone has their inner stripper song. When it comes on the radio, you strut, strip, pose, and grind as if you were the highest-paid stripper in the business. Well, mine came on, and when you add that to the three beers I’d drank trying to keep up with Les, it got me on top of a table.

  Les about had a stroke and tried to get me to come down, but I wouldn’t move until the song ended. He lifted me off the table and started yelling at me. But I didn’t hear a single word he said. I was too busy staring at Ryan. He looked at me as if I were the sexiest woman in the room. It was as if he suddenly noticed that I existed. He told Les he’d make sure I got back to my room, since Les had something going with this other girl. Well, he definitely did that…and a little more. About half an hour later, my virginity and my heart were officially Ryan’s.

  I thought that maybe he’d finally want the relationship I’d always dreamt about, but then his girlfriend called. Apparently, I was the other woman. I kicked him out of my room and my life, heartbroken and used. That was the last time I saw Ryan.

  Until today.

  He gave me Cami’s address and I stormed off before I could change my mind. I needed to get over the power he had on me. It was probably for the best that he would be leaving the country. After all, it’s not like I’d cross the ocean for a booty call. There were definitely easy ways to make that happen. That was all it was. I hadn’t gotten any in six months and he was the definition of sex on a stick. That had to explain my reaction to his touch. I wanted Ryan out of my life and my fantasies for good. There was only one thing to do, so I picked up my phone to dial.

  I pulled into the parking lot of Cami’s apartment complex and rolled up the money bag even tighter.

  “Just remember,” I told myself, looking in the sun visor’s mirror. “The cops have no reason to question you. Get it together. Walk up to Cami’s door and pretend there’s takeout in this bag.” I grabbed my purse and then realized I had no place to shove my own money.

  My purse was nowhere near big enough. I opened the glove box and tossed it in there. Besides, who’d be dumb enough to steal a car from a parking lot with three cop cars? I just wished the window wasn’t broken. It felt like I was asking to have the money taken. So, I took it out of the glove box and stored it in the trunk before locking it. At least a thief would have to work for the money.

  I knocked on her door and waited, feeling my heart pounding against my chest. She was taking way too long. But, finally, Cami came to the door, her little belly just barely showing.

  “Lucy, is that you?” She pulled me into a hug before I had the chance to answer.

  “Hi, Cami, how are you doing?”

  “Not here,” she whispered in my ear. Cami draped an arm over my shoulder and brought me into her apartment. “I don’t want the cops to hear anything. They were here a few hours ago, you know, questioning me about…”

  “Questioning you about Les,” I finished for her when she couldn’t quite get the words out.

  “Yeah. He and I were kind of rekindling things, so they asked me a bunch of questions. But, honestly, I don’t know much.”

  “Well, I saw Ryan today. He wanted me to give you and the baby this.” I handed her the bag, and she had a similar reaction to mine, except she cursed.

  “Those guys. I still can’t believe Les died trying to help me out.” She dropped the bag and began sobbing. “Lucy, I am so sorry.” Cami got up off the couch and sort of shuffled over to me, forcing me into a giant hug. “I should’ve tried harder to stop him but he wouldn’t change his plans.”

  “Wait, did you just say he was planning it?” I pulled out of her hug and stared at her, more confused than ever.

  “He called Ryan begging for help. Les’s career was just picking up and his salary wouldn’t go far when the baby was born. I know it wasn’t his baby, but he was willing to raise him like he was.”

  “I had no idea.” My brother was starting this big family and he’d never told me. I felt guilty. I would’ve tried to help somehow. Maybe I could’ve done something about this. And to be honest, I felt a little betrayed. Why wouldn’t he tell me? “He never mentioned you guys were back together.”

  “We were planning to tell you after the heist. We just wanted to be sure the relationship was going to work out.” Her head dropped and she made a show of pulling her long black hair out of her face. “I worked as a secretary at one of the firms Les audited, and we reconnected. But then I had a bad spell and the doctor put me on bed rest, which meant disability and less money.”

  “Are you doing all right now?” She was up and moving so that had to be a good sign.

  In high school, she’d been the beautiful girl all the guys fawned over. Her dark skin and hair gave her this exotic, captivating look. At first, I didn’t like her on principle. She was naturally prettier than I’d ever manage with a full beauty squad. But as she and Les grew closer, she’d won me over and we became good friends. I wish I’d stayed in contact with her after I went off to college. It’d been two years since I’d seen her.

  But now, I couldn’t help but notice how her tan skin was actually pale, her full hair was greasy and flat, and her beautiful face was covered in worry lines. This pregnancy thing did not suit her.

  “I have good days and bad. But my medical bills are getting a little out of hand. Les thought if he could just get us ahead, then we wouldn’t have to worry as much. So that’s when he got this brilliant idea. All these diamond stores, they have insurance money if something is stolen, so to him it was like a victimless crime.” Her almond eyes started to fill with tears again and I grabbed a tissue box from the side table.

  “I always thought Ryan forced Les into the heist. He’s the criminal, after all.”

  “From what Les said, he had to beg Ryan.”

  “I don’t know if I believe that.”

  “It’s true. Apparently, Ryan invested the money he’s saved up from a few of his early heists and made a killing.”

  “Why didn’t he just give you guys the money then? What a selfish…”

  “Les told me he wasn’t liquid enough. He purchased a big apartment in Tokyo and needed to cash in some of his investments. But
some government agency froze his assets here and he couldn’t access the money while within the United States.”

  “Did I just step into a mob movie?”

  “I don’t know. But Ryan told Les he’d be heading back to Tokyo permanently after the heist and he’d be running with a new kind of gang, so he wouldn’t need his cut of the money. He told Les to give his cut to you so you could pay off your student loans.”

  “What?” I stared at her incredulously.

  “Yeah, Les was going to give you some money out of our share, but Ryan insisted.”

  “I just made a huge mistake.” Guilt washed over me. I never thought Ryan would have been looking out for me like that. He was trying to help my life and I might have just ensured his was over for good.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I saw Ryan today and I was so angry at him. I thought he’d dragged Les into all this and I wanted to get back at him,” I admitted quietly.

  “Okay, so what happened?”

  “I told the cops where he was.”

  Chapter Five

  “I’m sorry. I have to go and warn him.” I got up, gave Cami a quick hug, and rushed to the car. Checking my watch, I realized that I’d called them maybe fifteen minutes before. There was a slim chance I could get to him before they did. Cops had to organize, right? Besides, the police station was farther away than Cami’s. If I stepped on it, I could just make it.

  I was flying down the street, ignoring lights, swerving around cars, and making a complete ass of myself. But I managed to get back to the warehouse in record time.

  “Ryan,” I screamed as I got out of the car, leaving the engine running. He obviously didn’t answer, since he was inside, so I ran up to the door and started pounding on it.

  “Lucy?” he asked when he opened the door.

  “Grab your stuff, the police will be here any minute.”

  “What, how do you know?”

  “Because I called them.”