Dangerous Games

by Selene Chardou

  Monika sat on the sofa nursing tea and looking considerately better than her boyfriend. In fact, she seemed to glow and patted a spot next to her for me to sit down.

  “Your mother and Etienne should be out shortly. How are you? Was the rest of your birthday nice?” she inquired in a good-natured tone.

  “Yes, it was. Finn was supposed to give me my gift but I guess he’ll give it to me today. We kind of got caught up with other activities.”

  Her smile disappeared the moment Clive sat near her on a suede, powder blue boutique lounge chair. “Clive, can you please wait in our suite? I’ll come to collect you when it’s time for us to leave for the airport.”

  “What is wrong with you?” he snapped back. “You have been a complete and utter bitch since we’ve been back. What the hell is going on?”

  “Listen, I don’t want to talk about it now and I especially don’t appreciate your language. This is a private conversation that should be had between you and I—if that isn’t a sufficient enough answer for you then I suggest you leave now and we’ll see each other when we get back to L.A.”

  “Fine. I’m gone.” Clive stood in frustration and began to walk out before he turned and looked at Monika with cool green eyes. “You need to decide where you want this relationship to go because I am tired of your games. I don’t need this kind of drama in my life, and I am tired of the bullshit.”

  I shuddered as he opened and shut the front door behind him. “Um, what’s going on between you and Clive?”

  “I’m going to end our relationship and that’s all that needs to be said.”

  I closed my eyes and whispered, “Please don’t tell me this has anything to do with Dylan or what happened between you two last night. He’s head over heels infatuated with you—don’t give him a reason to become obsessed because he will.”

  “I called Dylan while Clive was in the shower and I told him I would love to date him but he’s here and I’m in L.A. so it would never work. He has already started to make arrangements to move so we can be together.”

  “You don’t know him, Monika, and you don’t start a relationship with a guy after one night of hot, exciting sex. It just doesn’t happen.”

  “Ha! You’re one to talk. You don’t understand what’s going on at all. There’s a connection between us, and I can’t explain it but it was so much more than just sex. He was in tune with my body and for the first time, I have found someone who isn’t wowed by who I am or who my parents happen to be. He has his own money and he’s a great guy. I know he has a few issues when it comes to drugs and alcohol but we’ve talked about it, and he’s promised to stop using everything if it would make me happy. I don’t have an issue with his drinking—just the drugs. We have discussed it, and everything is going to be okay.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not that easy and we both know it. Have you bothered to ask him how he has money when he comes from a working class family?”

  My best friend narrowed icy blue eyes. “I’m not as naïve as I look. I know he’s a drug dealer but he’s also set aside enough money he doesn’t have to deal anymore. I’m not going to be stupid enough to tell my parents that. I like him a lot…can’t you just be happy for me once in your miserable life?”

  I wanted to answer but my mother and her husband chose that exact moment to make an appearance. They both looked stunning and freshly fucked. My mother absolutely glowed and her green-gray eyes were bright with happiness and satisfaction. They sat down on the loveseat cater-corner to ours. Although Etienne was all over my mother like a cheap suit, he still looked at me with less than pure thoughts running through his mind. I was all too glad I couldn’t read what they were.

  “Elvira, so nice of you to show up on time for once,” Mother greeted happily though her voice dripped with condescension.

  “Listen, Finn had to wait in the lobby so what’s up? I know there was a reason why you wanted to see me.”

  She pursed her lips before she continued. “That’s too bad for Finn but what I have to say to you is not for his ears but yours. I know what you’ve done, and let’s just say I was not pleased. You didn’t ask my permission to transfer to Boston University, and because of this little oversight I have spoken on the subject at length with my attorney. I won’t pay your tuition.”

  “Fine, I’ll get the money from Dad,” I replied in smug voice though I didn’t feel so sure of myself or the words I was speaking.

  “No, you won’t because he will not give it to you. I have had a long conversation with your father as well.”

  I became angrier and agitated with each passing moment—never had I wanted to knock someone out more than stuck in this luxurious hotel suite with the she-bitch that was my mother. “What exactly do you want me to do?”

  My mother studied her perfect fingernails. “Etienne is heading back to L.A. because he has a photo shoot, and you will board that plane today with him and Monika. You will attend UCLA this autumn—and let me just say I pulled a lot of strings to get you in because their junior year is packed and they had no room. However, a student dropped out due to some drug issues, and I was able to get you in so it would be nice if you could at least act grateful.”

  My heart thudded in my chest. “Mom, I can’t go back today. Can you give me a week to take care of some loose ends, and I promise I will board a plane—”

  “One week is all you’re going to get out of me, young lady. Don’t bother trying to pull anything because if you put one foot wrong, I will snatch your inheritance away from you so fast, it will make your head spin. I’ll make it that you’re damn near middle-aged until you get one goddamn dime. Do I make myself clear?”

  Where was the tough-shit Evie who was going to tell my mom what was what? I was frightened, and I knew she was serious as a heart attack. Finn and I could figure out something in a week. Hell, if Dylan could move across the country for Monika then why couldn’t he do the same for me? It wasn’t forever and the situation was temporary. Two more years and after I graduated from college, I would receive my inheritance. Then I could tell my mom to stuff it, and I wouldn’t be beholden to her or anyone else for the matter.

  “Crystal, Mommy dearest,” I bit out though the words pained me to speak them.

  I didn’t want to go back to L.A. I knew my life was here, and it was so fucking unfair but no one ever said life had to go as planned, just that life happened while we were busy making plans. All those terrific ideas Finn and I spoke about were about to be put on hold. Once I was finished with school, maybe I would finally allow him to make an honest woman out of me. I had zero chance of finding my “great” love in a city like L.A.

  My mother whispered something to Etienne before she smiled. “Perfect…now, if you’ll excuse me, we need to do some packing, and I am expecting you in L.A. a week from now. I won’t be finished with my film until the beginning of July but Etienne will be there…and so shall you.”

  There were times I truly disliked my mother and this was one of them. “If you insist—”

  “Believe me, I do,” she cut me off.

  I watched as she and her husband disappeared behind closed doors and held my face in my hands. My whole body felt like it was on fire with humiliation and embarrassment. Anger penetrated me to the core of my marrow and if I could, I would have screamed and cried tears of anguish like a child.

  “Evie, are you okay?”

  I looked up and faced Monika again whose face had become a mask of pity and worry. “No, I’m not but I have to do what Mommy dearest wants so what difference does it make? It might just destroy my relationship but what the fuck does she care?”

  She flinched as if I had slapped her. “Finbar isn’t going to leave you, Evie—stop being so melodramatic. You could give your mother a run for her money in the acting department. Just explain the situation to him and he’ll understand. He can commute to see you or even relocate if he wanted to. Dylan told me how much money he, Brandon and Finn have made, and it is completely unreal. I mean
like Scarface unreal. They have accounts in the Caymans and Switzerland. They have had to do money runs for God’s sake. The guys aren’t poor by any stretch of the imagination.”

  “That’s not the point. Finn loves it here—”

  “He may like it here but he loves you more. For God’s sake, give him a chance to have an opinion before you fall apart. He knows all about your inheritance, and if you don’t go back to L.A., you’ll lose it until that French gigolo who happens to be married to your mother will be in his fifties. Is that what you want?”

  I breathed deeply. “No, of course not. But I don’t want to go back, Monika.”

  “Stop acting like a child, Elvira Sandstrom. L.A. is not Bangladesh! You’d think your mother asked you to move into Hell or something—”

  “She did. And why are you always taking up for her? If anyone should be able to understand my predicament, I’d hope it would be you.”

  “I do and I am sorry everything worked out the way it did but let’s get real here. It is her and your father’s money to do what she pleases, and they don’t owe you anything. Play by her rules, finish your schooling at UCLA, and then you’re free. It’s not that difficult of a choice. You’re the one that is making a mountain out of a molehill.”

  I stood and turned toward my friend. “Yeah, you would think that.”

  She attempted to respond but I didn’t stick around long enough to hear her response. I was sick and tired of the whole ugly, miserable situation and wanted to escape that room as soon as possible. Once I was safe in Finn’s arms again, I would be able to breathe and think. I desperately needed a plan to get out of the situation but I couldn’t see past the whole bottom line. I was trapped and there was nothing anyone could do to help me.

  I found Finn exactly where I left him reading an article in Maxim with a completely ordinary looking chick on the cover. She looked like every other Hollywood wannabe starlet, and that reminded me even more why I didn’t want to go back.

  I hadn’t missed the fake and phony atmosphere of that place, and I hated I would have to subject myself to it for another two years before I was free to live my life exactly the way I wanted to. I could do it now if I wasn’t so damn stubborn but that money was mine, and no way was I going to allow some phony Frenchman to come in and steal my mother blind. If I were a decent enough daughter, I would be worried about what kind of hold this Etienne character had over my mother.

  My gorgeous lover looked up and smiled with clear crystal blue eyes. I loved him so much but I was going to have to do the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life, and I knew I would hate myself later but it had to be done.

  He threw the magazine to the side, stood and walked over to me. I slipped my arms around his neck while his arms held my waist snugly. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

  We separated and I couldn’t stop the tears as they began to fall. “She’s making me go back, Finn. I have to leave for L.A. next week. She wanted me to be on the flight today but I told her I needed time to take care of some unfinished business.”

  Finn grabbed my hands and held them in his own. “We’ll work something out. I’ll commute to L.A. until I can get things sorted here and move permanently. Stop crying—I’m not going to leave you.”

  “Then I can’t take that ring until you’re able to move to L.A. I won’t wear a symbol of our love, and not be able to see the man who gave it to me on a regular basis, Finn. It isn’t fair to you or me. We’re human and you know how much I hate long-distance relationships. They don’t work. They never do and someone always gets hurt in the end.”

  There was a deep sense of disappointment in his eyes. “I know, Evie, but I have a business here, no matter how illegal it happens to be. I have clients and I can’t drop everything to join you in L.A., not now.”

  I crossed my arms against my chest. “Well that sure isn’t stopping Dylan because he’s leaving as soon as possible to be with Monika. I don’t know what she did to him and likewise, but she’s completely enthralled and he’s pussy-whipped. Their relationship is based completely on lust yet what we have is real, and you are truly willing to risk that?”

  “Dylan can do what ever the hell he wants. When Rich said he no longer wanted him and Fiona on runs, he kind of lost his status as a full partner. Brandon and I bought him out so the business is ours. He has enough money and he’s never really cared about anything but finding a woman to settle down with…looks like he accomplished his goal,” Finn explained in a flippant manner.

  “And what about you? Do you not care about me enough to leave everything?”

  He pulled me to him and kissed the top of my head. “Don’t be silly, Evie. I have been in love with you since I was eighteen and you were fourteen at the time. I would do anything for you but just like you don’t want to be without your inheritance, I don’t want to lose all my valuable connections. I don’t slash and burn—I have never done it and I won’t do it now—not even for you.”

  Finn made perfect sense and I knew how unreasonable my behavior was therefore I said nothing else. He couldn’t just leave everything he’d worked so hard to achieve at the drop of a hat because I’d decided to come back into his life. We could make this work. We would have to if I wanted him bad enough, and God knows I did.

  We walked out together to the valet and he handed the guy the slip for him to bring around his Escalade. I knew right then and there I had no wish to fight with him. What should have been a great summer between us had turned into an otherwise temporary vacation from which I would have to bail in less than seven days and although I didn’t look forward to leaving, I wanted to enjoy the time we had left.

  We were halfway back to Charlestown in his SUV before I said, “I’m sorry. I know I’m being extremely selfish and it isn’t fair to you. I don’t know what I am doing half the time, and I am so angry with my mother, you wouldn’t possibly understand how much this whole situation frustrates me.”

  “Of course I do, babe. You don’t wanna go but Athena isn’t giving you much of a choice. If that is the situation then you have to do what is best for you. Know that I am not trying to abandon you, but I need to make sure everything is all right here before I join you.”

  He made a right turn and I realized he was going to our favorite bar instead of home. It was barely noon but I needed a drink and I wanted it to be with him. No more lazy days like this after I was due back in L.A. so I might as well enjoy the time I had left with him.

  “Listen to me, you need to go back even though it kills you because you have to protect what is yours. That husband of your mother’s is no angel, and I hate to send you back but promise me you’ll watch your back. I have a feeling he’ll be trying his moves out on you within a week of you getting back into town. I also know I can trust you because it has never been just about sex with you. If there is no attraction then you aren’t going to do anything. Just know if something did happen, I forgive you already. It’s not really your fault.”

  Finn parked the car and we both got out and headed to the bar. There were a few patrons inside, mostly people our age who were enjoying the nice weather and wanted a couple of drinks before they continued to where ever they had planned to do for the day.

  I sat in our favorite booth while I watched my boyfriend order us two JDs followed by two pints of Guinness. He paid and walked over, handling everything so expertly, one would swear he’d been a waiter in another life.

  I grabbed my Guinness and JD before he sat next to me with his own.

  “Here’s to us. May I never break your heart again, and hopefully you will hurry your ass to Los Angeles so I won’t have too many nights alone in a bed that will feel so empty without you,” I began and tried to stop the deluge of tears that wanted to fall from my eyes.

  Finn stared into my eyes. “Here’s to you and me. I love you, babe. I know you won’t wear my ring until I get to L.A. but I am hoping you won’t take this off until I get there.”

  He presented a dark blue rectangle
box before me; we clinked shot glasses and swallowed our rounds of Jack. It burned like fire but immediately warmed my belly and made me feel cozy and safe knowing his arm was wrapped around my bare shoulders.

  “What’s this?” I inquired as I picked up the box and studied it. It wasn’t a ring and it wasn’t a necklace.

  “It’s your belated birthday present so open it and find out. It took me a long time to pick it out and the sales lady at Cartier went through a lot to have it altered because I wanted it to suit you.”

  “I didn’t even know you knew about Cartier. I expected you to go somewhere flashy like Tiffany’s but thank you,” I replied as I opened it and gasped.

  It was a gorgeous, platinum link bracelet known as the Agrafe but where the jewelry was supposed to be onyx, he had traded it for small baguette sized diamonds. It was beautiful and sturdy and I would never take it off except to shower.

  He slipped it on my left wrist but it was slightly loose so it slipped a little but it was perfect in every way. I didn’t know what to say but I reached over and kissed him passionately, darting my tongue inside his open mouth, and enjoying the taste of Jack Daniels on his tongue.

  We parted reluctantly and I whispered, “Thank you. You’ll never know how much this means to me. I love you so much, Finbar Reilly.”

  “I love you even more Elvira Sandstrom.” He kissed my nose before his lips led further down and our lips were pressed against one another’s again.

  My whole body responded and I could feel the sudden dampness of my sex as he continued to kiss me with such force, it was overwhelming and seemed to devour me whole.

  How could I possibly be scared about what would happen in California when it was obvious there would never be another man like Finn?

  A week can feel like an eternity but in our case, it went by way too fast. I spent the fourth night on a run with Finn. It was local in that we were only delivering some goodies to a bunch of spoiled kids in Belmont Hill but those could be the trickiest of deals because who knew if the kids were serious or not.