by Korry Smith
“The pleasure is mine,” Ramon said, moving to escort me off the desk, but someone else, tall, and possessive, pushed his way through.
“I’ve got her,” Alex snapped, grabbing my hips, and lifting me down.
Ramon held up his hands and backed away. “I guess we’re ready to go then.”
Alex snaked his arm around my waist and jerked me to his side, rough and firm. “After you.”
He was sending a message: I was his girl.
“All right.” Ramon smiled tightly, side-stepping us and opening the door. “Follow me.”
Exiting the office, I waited until Ramon was out of earshot before jabbing Alex in the side with my elbow.
“Ow, fuck, woman!” He winced in pain, angling his body away from me.
I laughed. “Why don’t you fucking pull it out and piss on my leg next time?”
The muscles in his arm tightened, crushing me to his side, his darkened gaze meeting mine. “Would you prefer that I shot him?”
“No, of course not,” I said, rolling my eyes. “We still need him.”
Ramon was proving himself to be quite the ally and offered to drive us to our rendezvous point with Peter and Adriana. The streets were too congested with law enforcement, itching to detain any suspicious characters matching our description. Killing him now would be silly.
“Then appreciate my fucking restraint.” Alex growled, giving me a squeeze and quick peck on the top of my head.
“Okay, fine,” I said, clasping the back of his leather jacket, my short legs trying in vain to keep up with his long ones.
The kitchen looked and felt different. The narrow aisles weren’t cluttered with bodies and had taken on an eerie silence. The cooks and waiters were at a standstill in the dining room, holding their breath and awaiting the senator’s return.
Julian Ryan created this atmosphere of terror, and I wondered how he could become such a dictator within his building. How does one man gain that much power to control the people around him and instill that level of fear? Did it come naturally or was it taught?
Then there was a touch, a reassuring and leading hand on my shoulder, and reminding me of the man who stood beside me and owned every part of my being.
Alex Ryan inherited that gene. He commanded attention and put fear into people with one look. It was similar in the way the senator exerted his bloated power, but with one huge difference. My guy was upfront about who he was and didn’t hide behind a mask of deceit. He may be a criminal, but his father was the villain.
“Let’s go, hurry up now,” Ramon said, rushing us out the back door.
The underground parking garage packed with vehicles created a confined, isolative feeling, but you could still hear people shouting and car horns from the outside street.
“Get in!” Ramon unlocked the doors to the white BMW with blacked out windows, sliding in the front seat while Alex and I hopped in the back. “And stay low.”
The car roared to life, a low and vibrating growl, the power of the engine rumbled the seats.
Alex reached over and grabbed my hand, bringing it to his lips. The kiss was innocent and sweet, so much of it reminiscent of the first one he gave me.
“What’s that for?” I asked.
“I want to tell you something.”
“Okay,” I said, scooting across the seat, making sure every inch of our bodies was touching, creating an impenetrable bubble.
It was quiet as I waited for him to speak, and when he did, the harsh and demanding character in his voice made my heart stop. “Don’t introduce yourself as Kid anymore.”
“What?” I pulled away. “I thought you said you liked it.”
“I did…” Alex paused, staring at the back of Ramon’s skull. “Until that fucker said it.” He turned to me, eyes seething with ownership. “You’re my kid, Madi—not fucking his, all right?” Then as if he heard his own words, he pressed his forehead to mine. “Fuck! That sounded creepy, didn’t it? Christ, that’s not what I meant.” He sighed. “Just don’t do it again, okay?”
“Okay,” I answered without an ounce of hesitation. That name was ours and ours alone, something we shared from the beginning. We didn’t realize how sacred it was until an outsider was using it.
He gripped my neck and squeezed. “Fucking swear to me.”
“I swear.”
Staring down at my mouth, he loosened his hands and moved them up, palming the sides of my face. He leaned in, and I closed my eyes, sucking in a breath and waiting for his kiss. Just when his lips ghosted over mine the car jerked to a stop. The momentum threw us forward, our bodies crashing into the seats in front of us.
“What the fuck, man?” Alex yelled, pushing himself back up and shooting a hateful glare.
“We have a problem.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“They’re checking cars.” Ramon looked at me through the rearview mirror. “Did something happen upstairs?”
“No, of course not.” I squeaked.
Alex knew I was lying and I could feel his intense gaze on me.
If either of them knew how close I had been to ruining everything with my craziness, they would be having severe chest pains right now.
“Well, something had to tip them off,” Ramon said, and I looked out the front windshield as the commotion unfolded. An army of guards blocked the exit and was pulling people out of cars to pat them down. “This is a bit much, even for these fucking assholes.”
“Is there a way around it?” Alex asked.
“No,” Ramon said, taking his foot off the brake. “Get down and stay quiet.”
Slouching low in the seats, we covered our faces as much as possible with our beanies and hoodies. I couldn’t see much from my spot on the floor, but I could see Ramon’s side profile, and despite my own worries lodging a lump in my throat, he looked calm.
“Not a sound,” Ramon warned and rolled down the window.
The nip of the Saint Louis air wafted in and froze me solid. Fighting against the urge to chatter my teeth, I wrapped my arms around my legs and pulled my knees up to my chest to hold in my body’s internal warmth.
“Afternoon, Ramon,” a deep voice sounded.
“Hey there, Kyle. What the hell is all this?”
I peeked up and watched as a few guards circled the car, but none of them bothered looking into the tinted windows.
Kyle sighed. “The senator is a paranoid prick. Since Mrs. Ryan is home alone, he ordered that we check all cars coming in and out.”
Alex’s head snapped up, and a mixture of emotion flowed through his eyes. The one that stung the most was the betrayal. I had to look away.
“Mrs. Ryan is home?” Ramon sputtered. “Did something happen?”
“Nah, it’s a new protocol they instituted to keep her safe, but what the fuck do I know? They give me orders, and I follow them.”
“I know what you mean, man. They got me jumping through hoops like a fucking show poodle.”
“Fucking politicians think they’re God, don’t they?”
“I hear that.”
Waving off the other guards, Kyle leaned into the open window. I flattened my back against the door and hid myself from his view in the shadow. “Where are you off to, Ramon? The senator’s expected back any time now. You know the rules. No one’s allowed to leave the premises.”
“I know, but I got to run a quick errand. I’ll be back in time.”
The nanoseconds ticked by slowly.
“You’ve got five minutes,” Kyle said with skepticism.
“Yeah, and you fucking wasted three of them. Come on, give me a break here.”
“You know if I let you leave, it’s my ass on the line.”
“And if you don’t let me leave to go get what I need for the senator, your ass is still on the line. You can trust me to be back in time or fuck us all by being an asshole. Either way, amigo. It’s your choice.”
“Shit!” Kyle clicked his tongue and tapped his fingers. Finally, a
fter what seemed like forever, he came to a decision. “Fine, but make it quick, do you hear me?”
“Yup, you got my word. Keep the roads clear.”
“You got it!” Kyle pounded the roof of the car as it pulled forward.
I stayed in my spot, face buried deep in my knees, and followed the movements in my mind’s eye. Through all the traffic, turning left and then right, continuing to go straight for a block or two, I was sensitive to Alex and his growing detachment. I hoped when the BMW increased its speed to put distance between us and the senator, furthering ourselves from the danger, it would lessen, but my guy liked to brood.
I didn’t want to face him when the car came to a stop and idled.
“We’re clear,” Ramon said, and I looked up to see him gazing down at me. “Did you talk to Mrs. Ryan? Is that how you got the clothes?”
“Yeah, kid.” Alex glared as he rose from his crouch on the floor and sat back in the seat. “That’s a good fucking question.”
I reached out for his hand, but he jerked it away.
That hurt.
There were a handful of times where Alex’s anger towards me made sense, and since I didn’t kill his mother, this was not one of them. Besides, why should I be sorry for lying? He started it from day-fucking-one.
“What does it matter?” I asked on the defensive. “We got out, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, but fucking barely,” Alex said, low and frustrated, rubbing out the furrow in his brows.
Ramon watched from the front as the tension between Alex and I grew. The heated feelings of resentment and distrust from the apartment resurfaced, and now since our freedom didn’t preoccupy our thoughts, we had time to fight.
I sighed. “What do you want me to say?”
He turned his back to me. “Nothing.”
The transition from car to car was effortless. We said our goodbyes and parted ways with Ramon, but neither of us wanted to see each other again. I’ve had my fun in Saint Louis, more than my fair share, and all I wanted to do was go home.
Wherever that was.
Peter smiled at Alex and me as we got into the beat-up Ford Escort. The seats were vinyl and not the plush leather of a Beamer, but I felt more like myself in the less expensive confines.
“We didn’t think you were going to make it,” Peter said.
“Yeah.” Alex grunted. “Things got hairy there for a minute.”
Adriana turned around and smiled, but it was distant and wary. I almost felt guilty for wanting to kill her.
Almost.
“Did you get it?” she asked.
Alex lifted his hips and pulled out the folded envelope from his back pocket to hand to her. “Everything you need is in there.”
She opened it. “Did you have trouble with the safe?”
“No.” Alex turned to me for the first time in ten minutes, but it was void of emotion. “Madi took care of that.”
“And the drugs?” Peter asked.
“She took care of that, too.”
Adriana laughed. “What did you do, Alex?”
He forced a smile. “I hacked the computer.”
Peter scoffed. “I believe Devlin was the hacker.”
I listened as they discussed the job, and it was clear that everyone knew the real goal. It fueled my anger. How dare Alex treat me like I was the worst person in the world for not telling him about his mother? He lied to me daily. It was a shitty double-standard, and I was tired of it.
“You’re such a hypocrite,” I grumbled.
He shot a wide-eyed look towards Adriana and Peter, who were unaware of our fight, and then back at me, leaning in close. “I don’t want to discuss this with you right now.”
“I don’t tell you one thing,” I whispered, “and you fucking shun me.”
“I asked you, Madi, and you fucking lied to me.”
“But that’s because you lied to me first!”
“Jesus Christ, woman.” He tilted his head up towards the heavens, eyes closed tight, with his hands in his hair. “Are we still fucking talking about this shit? I didn’t lie to you. I just omitted a few details.”
I laughed, but it was more out of amazement in his ability to downplay his deceit. “You don’t see why that’s a big deal?”
“No, not really.”
“You fucking blindsided me, Alex!”
If Peter and Adriana weren’t aware of our fight before, they were now.
Alex smiled tight and placed his hand on my knee, squeezing the tendon. “Fucking drop it.”
“Fucking let go of me.”
There was anger in his eyes, fuming and irate, and he wanted to strangle me. The feeling was mutual. He could assert his strength all he wanted, but he didn’t control me, not by a fucking long shot, and we both knew it.
“Fine!” he said, releasing me, and sliding across the seat.
The distance was a few feet, but maddening. No matter how much Alex pissed me off, I still craved his touch.
If that wasn’t fucking confusing, I didn’t know what was.
Stewing in our thoughts, we didn’t speak the rest of the way to the hotel. It was an uncomfortable ride in silence, and Adriana had to turn on the radio to ease it. By the time Peter pulled into the parking lot, I was scratching to get out. I didn’t even wait for the car to come to a complete stop before I was jerking at the handle, forcing the door open.
Tuck and roll.
Alex grabbed my arm and pulled me back in, and I shot him a hateful glare.
“Wait for me,” he said.
“No!” I yanked my arm free and got out.
Slamming my door, I watched Alex dart around the back end of the car, trying to get to me before I walked away. I’d be halfway to Mexico if I weren’t such a spiteful bitch. Determined to add more kerosene to the out of control inferno, I turned back and leaned into Adriana’s open window.
“Oh, by the way,” I said, flashing a toothy grin. “You can call me Kid.”
Alex ground to a stop, his eyes crazed, and I winked at him. It was a low blow, but I played dirty. It didn’t matter what they called me; I was going to be on a bus tonight.
He hung back to explain and apologize for my crazy, but it wasn’t surprising to have him chasing after me a second later as I climbed three flights of stairs.
“That was mature.”
“They don’t call me Kid for nothing.”
He sighed heavily, quickening his pace, and coming up fast behind me. “What the fuck do you want from me?”
“I want you to be honest.”
“Honest?” He laughed. “Like you are with me?”
“It’s an omission of truth, Alex, remember?” I gave him a defiant stare over my shoulder. “You taught me that.”
He stopped suddenly, looking around with a bewildered expression. “Where in the fuck are you going?”
I paused mid-step and spoke slowly, “To the room…”
“And what room would this be? Ours is on the bottom floor.”
Ah, fuck me gently. My big dramatic storm off and I’m doing it wrong.
Squeezing the shit out of the side railing, I cursed under my breath for being so stupid. Swinging around, I found Alex a step or two below me, and he wasn’t smiling or bantering, he just looked tired.
“I knew that,” I said, pushing him out of my way and jogging down the stairs.
Peter and Adriana were sitting on the hood of the car, passing a lit cigarette between each other, watching the madness that was the ‘Alex and Madison Show’ unfold right in front of them.
“Where’s our room?” I asked in an exasperated huff, stomping past them like a pouting two-year-old. They both pointed to the left and Adriana mouthed the room number. “Thanks.”
139.
It was like all the other rooms in this flea-bag hotel, faded orange carpets and shitty brown curtains. I stood by the door, impatiently tapping my feet waiting for Alex to unlock it. The bastard had the key card, and when he realized that fact, he took his sweet
ass time—just to annoy me.
“Let’s go, Grandpa.”
“God, you’re such a fucking brat,” he muttered, sliding the card into the key slot. It blinked green and unlocked with a beep.
He reached out to open the door, and I shoved him aside, dashing into the room. My eyes were on the duffel bag in the corner, zipped up and ready. All I needed to do was pack my toothbrush and hair supplies.
“What are you doing now?” Alex asked, resting his hand on the bathroom door frame to block me in.
I threw random items into my make-up bag. “What does it fucking look like?”
“Well, it looks like you’re determined to give me a fucking headache.”
I shut the bathroom cabinet and glared up at him. “I’m a headache?”
“You’re a fucking migraine, kid.”
“Yeah, well, don’t you worry,” I said, rising to my feet, and ducking underneath his arm. “I’ll be out of your life very soon.”
He tried to grab me as I passed, but I was too quick for him and slipped right out of his fingers.
“Fuck!” He punched his fist into the wall.
There goes four-hundred bucks!
As he cursed and paced, I did my best to ignore him, picking up my large duffel and tossing it on the bed. Stuffing my toiletries into the side pocket, I quickly turned and scanned the room for discarded belongings. When I swung back around to pick up the bag, I saw that it was gone.
Alex was across the room and leaning casually against the closet door. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Oh, no? Watch me!” I charged him like a bull and placed both of my hands on his arm to push him out of my way, but he didn’t move—not even an inch.
He laughed and patted my head. “Come on, kid. You gotta put your fucking back into it.”
“Ugh!” I roared with frustration, wanting to rip my hair out. “Why do you fucking care so much if I’m here or not?”
“Because you’re my girl and—"
“Mine, mine, mine!” I mocked. “Is that all I am to you, a fucking possession? You don’t give a shit about me or my feelings!”
“I can’t worry about hurting your fucking feelings all the time, Madi. I’m trying to get you out of this fucking mess and give you a life—preferably one where you’re not on the run.”