by Korry Smith
“Yeah, sure,” Dev complied, stumbling back a few steps, and giving Alex and me a wide berth to pass.
Dev was remorseful, and she kept mouthing an apology to me as I walked out the door.
Granted, Alex said things were okay, but he also admitted to lying to me about it in the same sentence. I didn’t know what to expect, and with Nyx’s cautionary words flooding my thoughts, I knew nothing good was going to come out of having an ‘alliance’ with that man.
There was something not right about him. Something sinister.
I had to know.
“Be truthful with me. How serious is it?” I asked, glancing over the balcony and down at the parking lot where Sawyer and Len huddled around Miguel. From a distance, they looked to be talking casually, but upon closer inspection, I saw how tense all their bodies were.
“It’s not good, but I can handle Miguel. He’s all fucking talk. It’s his brother I’d be worried about.”
“Brother? What brother?”
“Marc—"
“MADI!” Nyx called out suddenly, jogging up behind us.
I released Alex’s hand and gestured towards the stairs. “I’ll be down in a sec.”
“Fine,” he said, kissing me on the forehead. “But make it quick.”
He took my bag from me and headed down the steps, glancing back up at me every few seconds. It was that separation issue again, and I realized as his head disappeared out of my view, how badly I had it.
He’s less than two seconds away, spaz.
I needed to relax.
Rolling my eyes at my dependency, I turned around and came face to face with a panting Nyx. It wasn’t that far of a distance from where I stood and the room, but she was heaving and gasping, trying to get some needed air into those lungs.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“You almost forgot this,” she said, holding up my gun.
“Oh, shit!” I winced, snatching it from her open palm. “Alex would have killed me.”
She snorted. “That’s doubtful.”
“Well, maybe not kill, but he would throw a decent temper tantrum.” I tucked the gun into my back waistband.
She laughed. “Isn’t that the truth?”
My smile faded, and concern swept over me. “Is Dev going to be okay? She seemed upset.”
“Yeah, she’ll be fine. She hates disappointing Alex. We all do. He’s the center of this whole gang of ours.”
“I’ve noticed that.”
There was a certain amount of pride in my boyfriend for commanding that level of respect, but it also stunned me to his see his friends care that much about what he thought.
Although, if he ever looked at me the way he looked at Dev, it would kill me.
“But trust me, you will never have to ever worry about disappointing Alex,” Nyx said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“What? Of course, I can. Why would you say that?”
“Oh, please. The guy thinks you walk on water. You’re the only one in Alex’s world that can do no wrong in his eyes.”
Only you.
Nyx tilted her head to the side and examined my face. “Don’t tell me that you’re so dense that you hadn’t noticed.”
I quickly glanced away from her insightful eyes.
“KID! MOVE YOUR ASS!” Alex yelled from downstairs.
“That’s my cue. I got to go,” I said, leaning over and giving her a tight hug.
“He’s an impatient asshole,” she said, and I chuckled. “Be careful out there, baby Madi. I’ll see you in Mexico.”
I jerked away, eyeing her skeptically. “Mexico?”
“Yeah. That’s where we are meeting up after this thing is over. How else are we supposed to split the score? We’re all going to retire from a life of crime and go legit.”
I jutted out my lip in a mocked pout. “That’s no fun.”
She gave a slight shake of her head and bit back a smile. “That’s what Alex said.”
I’m not sure why it felt like I was walking the green mile towards my execution. The day started out nice, and the morning sun was still low in the eastern sky, not yet noon. There was a slight chill in the air, one that I couldn’t shake off, and it lingered, giving me a sense of doom. Miguel’s glare refused to leave my thoughts. The hatred he had in his eyes socked me in the gut and stole my air. Could I be drowning? No, it was silly. I was overreacting and letting the circumstances get the best of me.
Alex greeted me as I came down the steps. “You okay?”
I nodded despite the tight knot that was materializing in my stomach.
“So, you’ve got your gun now?” he asked, reaching behind me, and gripping the handle.
“How…”
“If shit happens—not saying it will, but if it does…” Alex paused, pushing me towards the stairwell and out of view. He pulled the Glock out from my pants and checked the mag for bullets. Jamming it back into place with his palm, he chambered a round and slipped the gun into my waistband.
My eyes went wide. “Did you flip off the safety?”
“Yes. I want you to be ready to blow off a fucker’s head.”
Now my anxiety was shooting through the roof.
“You tell me not to worry, but then you put a hot gun in my pants and say you want me to kill someone if shit should happen?”
“It’s better to be prepared for the unexpected than to be wishing you had a fucking gun to shoot.” He gripped the back of my neck and pulled me to his lips, kissing me briefly. “Jesus, kid. Haven’t I taught you anything?”
“Yes, you have, and those are some wise words, Ryan.”
He glared, putting both hands around my neck, and squeezing tightly, but never enough to constrict my airway. “It’s not smart to mock me, woman.”
“What are you going to do about it? Shoot me?” I shifted my body to him as my eyes zeroed in on his mouth—and that ring his teeth kept grazing. I bit my lip in anticipation, wanting and begging for him to kiss me.
Lowering his head and skimming his lips along my neck, Alex never applied enough pressure to be meaningful, just enough to tickle the skin. God, the jerk was tormenting me. The closeness of his body, warm and hard, all of it driving me mad. Alex made it easy for me to lose myself within him.
Everything drifted away.
Lifting my leg up and wrapping it tightly around his waist, I pulled him in with a rough, needy jerk.
Come closer, my love, until we both fade.
“Yo, assholes! Stop trying to fuck up against the wall!” Len was snickering to Sawyer about how screwing in a room full of people wasn’t risqué enough and how we had to resort to public banging.
I groaned, burying my face in Alex’s chest.
“I’m going to kill him,” he said, kissing me on top of the head. “Yup, Devlin is a widow now because that fucker is dead.”
Alex pulled away from our embrace and grabbed a fistful of my shirt, tugging me towards the car. Len was laughing and joking to Sawyer, who was smiling, but also smart enough to keep his distance from the fury that was storming his way. The atmosphere between the men seemed relaxed, but the hard stare Miguel was giving me as we approached sobered my guy up quick. It was the same hateful expression he had upstairs.
That was what changed everything.
Before now, Alex blew it off, seeing it as nothing more than an inconvenience to his plans, but now it was clear to him: Miguel was an actual threat to his girl.
Alex stopped in front of me, and gripped my shirt tighter, drawing me against his back. “You guys might want to go pack up your shit now. Check-out is in twenty minutes.”
Sawyer and Len nodded, vacating their spots on the car, giving me a reassuring smile as they climbed the stairs.
Miguel stayed put.
“That means you too,” Alex said, his hand slowly moving down to my gun.
“I’m coming with you,” Miguel said.
“We’ve discussed this. It’s me and my girl’s final run. You’re riding with Pet
er and Adriana, and then we’re all meeting back up in an hour.”
“Okay, cuate,” he said, pushing himself off the driver’s side door, making a grand gesture with his hand and waving Alex forward.
I was distrustful of his motives, and he was like a venomous snake to me, just waiting to strike.
Alex felt it too, and watched Miguel closely as he slithered around towards the front of the car. He was blocking my path to the passenger door, so I just followed Alex over to his side. If it kept me far away from that man, I was willing to climb over a center console with no fucking problem. But all it took was for me to be within the grabbing range of Miguel. He took the first opportunity to seize my arm and pull me away from Alex.
It happened so fast. I’d seen Miguel at the last second, unable to avoid his grip. He was surprisingly strong and yanked me back with little effort, my body colliding hard against his chest.
“The girl stays here with me, cabrón,” Miguel said, wrapping his dry and calloused hands tightly around my upper arms.
“What are you doing? We’re all amigos here,” Alex said in a diplomatic tone, cautiously approaching us.
“Amigos?” Miguel scoffed, lowering his head down to my neck and taking a big whiff of my hair. “Mmm…she smells so sweet.”
“Get off me,” I spat, jerking my face away. Miguel got a firmer and more secure hold of me, digging his dirty nails into my skin, causing me to yelp out in pain.
That was the catalyst, and Alex’s pale blues narrowed and darkened. The tendons in his hands bulged as they tightened into fists at his side. He took a step in our direction, broader and closing the gap. “You fucking let her go—right now, Miguel! Don’t push me.”
This moment was one of those times where Alex told me to blow a fucker’s head off, but my hands stayed frozen at my sides, and it didn’t matter how much I wiggled, I wouldn’t be able to reach my gun.
Fuck!
“No, I don’t think so. You do whatever it is that you were going to do,” Miguel said, squeezing my arms to an intense degree, bringing my valiant struggle to a halt. He took a step backward, edging us towards the staircase. “Your girl stays here with me as an insurance policy. This way I know you will return.”
I couldn’t think of a way out of this.
“No deal,” Alex said, following suit, and keeping his steps in line with ours. “She leaves with me—always. There is no exception. Here’s the way I see it, asshole. You’ve got two options: One, you let her go willingly, or two, I shoot you right between those beady fucking eyes of yours and you still let her go willingly. Either way, you will let her go, and she will leave with me. ¿Comprende?”
“You can’t kill me,” Miguel said. God, his breath smelled like rotten eggs. “You need me.”
“Yeah, I do,” Alex said, slowly easing his hand down to the shiny handle of the Colt. It had been on full display the entire time. “But you know me well enough to know that I protect what’s mine first, and then think about the consequences later.”
“Do it then. Shoot me.” Miguel was using me as a human shield, keeping me close, and his grasp getting tighter and more pronounced with every tense second. “Tu chica es mía.”
Alex growled. “What did you just fucking say?”
“You heard me,” Miguel said, placing his lips on my cheek, and kissing me.
I shuddered at the contact, pulling away as much as I could.
Alex lost the last bit of his composure.
“You fucking…” He stormed up to Miguel and me, kicking up dirt and pulling out his gun. My eyes widened, glancing around the empty parking lot, making sure that no one was around. Alex was going to shoot him. “I don’t want to kill you today, but I can’t keep letting you touch what is fucking mine. So, this is the last time I will tell you nicely. Let her go.”
I closed my eyes, knowing that in two seconds there was going to be blood sprayed all over my face.
“Okay,” Miguel said, shoving me in the back and towards Alex. I fell into his awaiting arms face first. Miguel spat on the cracking asphalt, glaring at the both of us. “Take her and enjoy her, but you better keep that gun close, puto, because I won’t give her back so easily next time.”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Alex said, keeping his gun pointed, following Miguel as he leisurely scaled the stairs. It wasn’t until he was gone and out of our sight before Alex eased his finger off the trigger. Swearing under his breath, he gazed down at me and brushed scattered strands of hair away from my face with the Colt’s muzzle. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m…fine,” I said in a steady voice.
“I wish you didn’t struggle.”
“I was trying to get to my gun.”
He groaned, tapping me lightly on the ass. “Come on, get in the car.”
But unbeknownst to him, walking wasn’t a problem. I reached my side of the car fine, but it was my hands that were being uncooperative. They were still shaking with adrenaline as I fought with the door handle, yanking, and pulling at it, trying to get the fucker to open, but it refused to budge.
“Jesus,” Alex hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he came over to my side and lifted the door handle. He helped me into the car, reaching over my body and buckled my seat belt. “Stay,” he said, before slamming the car door.
Tucking his gun in his pants as he circled the front of the car, he kept his eyes glued on the third-floor balcony. Leaning forward in my seat, I gazed out the windshield and looked up, but saw no one there. The door to our hotel room closed shut. I felt immense guilt leaving everyone there with that crazy psychopath.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go, you know?” I said once Alex joined me in the car.
He looked over at me with a cocked eyebrow as he inserted the key into the ignition.
“Well, I just…feel…”
“He’s not going to do anything. There are six against one. Besides, that little prick is all fucking talk.” He peeled out of the parking lot, screeching, and spinning the tires. It was classic Alex, leaving his fucking mark on the pavement.
I sighed, lifting my arm, and inspecting the bruises. It still burned and stung from Miguel’s grip. “Well, it sure as shit felt real to me.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry. That shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t expect him to fucking grab you like that. He was unarmed, and I just...”
“Expect the unexpected,” I said, raising my hips, and pulling my gun out. I sat it down on my lap, caressing the elegant lines of the barrel.
If only.
“He was fucking with us!” Alex yelled suddenly, snapping his head towards me, and giving my heart a start. “Miguel was testing my feelings for you, pushing me to the brink, and seeing how far I would go.”
“What? Why?” I asked, blinking up at him confused.
Alex’s face paled, as if he said too much, and gave me an unconvincing, relaxed smile. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll deal with that asshole later. Right now, I just got to keep my head in the game and free of all outside distractions.” He glanced back and forth between me and the gun on my lap. “Are you okay? Do you think you can do this robbery with me?”
“You mean our last job together?” I asked, hoping to keep my sulking to a minimum.
I didn’t want this part of our lives to end.
“Madi, you should know by now, when it comes to us? There’s no such thing as our last job.”
“Stay close to me. Do not, for any reason, leave my fucking side. You hear me?”
It was the same speech given to me before every robbery. Alex was all balls to the wall, even fearless at times, but when it came to me and my safety, his anxiety would increase to an insurmountable level.
But it was our ritual, and like always, I took hold of his hand and smiled, reassuring him with one sentence. “Nothing in this world, not even a fucking meteor falling from the sky could pull me away from you.”
That did the trick, and he replied with a firm nod. “Let’s fucking do this.”
&nb
sp; We exited the car, and jogged up towards the side of the building, holding our positions with our backs flat against the brick wall. He placed his hand on my chest, protectively keeping me out of sight as he poked his head around the corner. After a minute, he gestured for me to peek around the wall. We watched from a safe distance as the owner of the store parked her car.
Alex swung around and gripped me by the neck with both hands, cool leather against damp skin, and pressed his forehead to mine. “In and out, two minutes.”
“I know.”
“Any signs of trouble?”
“Shoot them.”
“That’s right, baby. You shoot that fucking gun until that shit is empty.”
“Then reload?”
“God damn!” Alex smiled and lowered his head, those fucking lips of his so achingly close to mine. He breathed. “I love you.”
I slipped my fingers into the front pockets of his jeans, clutching at the denim, and yanking him towards me. “I love you.”
He kissed me, not too hard, yet rough and still full of want. All too soon he was pulling away, and I chased after him, needing more and more.
Chuckling at my greediness, he removed his grip from my neck and grabbed my hand, holding it tightly. He took another step back and looked around the corner, reacquiring a visual of our target.
Our declaration of love and hasty kisses didn’t waste one second. The heavyset woman was straining to walk with the cane and made it a few paces across the parking lot. It was painful to watch her struggle, and I felt terrible.
“Should we go help her?” I muttered.
Alex turned around with a questioningly look on his face.
“It’s nothing,” I said, brushing him off.
Taking the black ski-mask out of his back pocket, he pulled it over his head and hid all his handsome behind it. “You ready, kid?”
Mimicking his movements by putting on my mask, I inhaled deeply, smelling only Alex. I doused it with his Axe Cologne many jobs ago. “I’m ready.”
We stood still with our guns out and waited for the perfect moment to ambush the poor unassuming store owner—who was taking her sweet ass time. It’d been ten minutes since she returned from lunch. Alex was growing impatient.