by B. B. Hamel
23
Natalie
I was practically buzzing with excitement as I walked away from the stables .
I couldn’t believe Lucas. He always acted like such an asshole, such a confident dick, but he had been tender, almost kind. He was interested in my life, he had asked questions, and he had even told me things that seemed private .
It was almost like he wanted to open up to me .
And yet he still held back. I could sense it, sense that there was something more to him that I couldn’t access .
I wanted to figure it out. I wanted to know him, wanted him to give me everything all at once. I knew that was greedy and not fair, but it was the truth. I was falling into him, becoming his, and I hadn’t even realized it until those moments in the barn .
Plus, there was the way he made my body feel to consider .
I bit my lip, not thinking at all as I wandered into the house. I was starving, which was mostly why I had left, and my head was completely in the clouds. I wandered around at random, thinking about what had happened .
About his hands on my hips, his cock between my legs, the dirty way he spoke, the strong way he commanded me to show him my ass .
Everything he said and everything he did worked to overwhelm me, to make me dizzy .
Dizzy with a lust and a desire that I hadn’t ever felt before .
Almost without thinking, I unlocked a door and pushed it open. It was dark inside, but I heard some strange noises. Confused, I took a step inside .
I instantly regretted it .
Spread out on the ground was a single white sheet, and on that sheet were two bodies. The room was a storage closet, but I wasn’t looking too closely at my surroundings .
It was my mom and the driver, Franklin. He had his face between her legs, and they were both completely naked .
It took half a second to understand the scene. Franklin was furiously eating out my mom right there in the closet .
He tipped her head back, and we made eye contact .
“Oh my god!” she yelled. “Oh my god !”
I stepped back, completely in shock, and slammed the door shut .
Holy fuck .
I backed up and started walking away as fast as I could .
I couldn’t have seen that. Camille wouldn’t be so stupid, so reckless. She wouldn’t cheat on her brand-new mobster husband with one of his staff barely a month after having married him .
But clearly she would, because I saw her doing it .
Oh my god, disgusting !
I wanted to burn that image from my brain, to purge it from my mind. It was so gross, so wrong, so nasty. I practically sprinted down the hall, and it took me a minute before I figured out that I was one floor down, directly below my rooms .
I climbed the stairs and found the right door. I unlocked it and slammed it shut behind me .
I had just seen my mom cheating on her new husband .
I had never, ever seen my mom having sex. At least not that I could remember. And I really, really never wanted to repeat that as long as I lived .
I collapsed onto the bed and grabbed a pillow, shoving my face underneath it. I let out a loud, long scream .
That made me feel a little bit better .
I crawled out from under the pillow and stared blankly at the ceiling. Slowly, my disgust and shock was replaced with anger .
Camille did a lot of dumb shit. She brought around her boyfriends, she got too drunk at parties, she said horrible things to the media, and she even had a sex tape somewhere that I totally refused to ever watch .
But she had never directly endangered me. She had never done anything that could lead to anything that could actually harm me .
She went too far this time. She had fucked up so much in the past, but this was completely different .
There was a knock at my door, and I really didn’t want to answer. But I knew I had to speak my mind or else never say it at all .
I pulled the door open .
“Honey,” Mom said, “that wasn’t what you think it was .”
“Get in here .”
She walked in and I slammed the door behind her .
“You have to understand,” she said. “I’m so lonely here. I have no friends, and Franklin was so nice to me .”
“Shut up,” I said fiercely to her, surprised by my own anger. “Just shut up, okay ?”
She nodded slowly .
“Do you even understand who these people are?” I asked her .
“Of course I do .”
“Then you understand what they’re capable of .”
“Oh please,” she said, laughing. “Artie will never find out .”
“Stop rationalizing,” I said, shaking my head. “This is serious, Mom. If Arturo ever finds out, we could be dead, or worse .”
“You’re overreacting,” she said .
“No, I’m not. You’re fucking everything up for us again by acting like the completely messed-up wreck you really are .”
She stared at me, shocked. I had never said anything like that before .
I felt bad. I really did. I had tried as hard as I could to never say things like that to her, to try to support her, even when she was embarrassing and insane .
But enough was enough. She was fucking up. She was fucking up everything, and not just for herself .
“We have a good thing here,” I said softly. “We could actually like it here. You could be happy .”
“You don’t know anything, you silly girl,” she said viciously .
I shook my head sadly. “Stop ruining your life. Grow up. Be good to Arturo. Try to find happiness .”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She was on the verge of tears. “Arturo can’t satisfy me. Sexually, I mean .”
“Okay, gross. Enough,” I said quickly. “Enough. Just stop .”
“Honey,” she said, coming toward me .
I held up a hand. “Just leave me alone, okay, Mom? We can pretend like this never happened. I’m sure that’s what you want .”
She looked at me for a long time. Then silently, she turned and left my room .
I watched her go. I felt devastated and exhausted. I had never come down on my mother before, but I was beginning to truly see her as the immature and messed-up person she was .
I walked over to my bed and climbed in, trying to will away the memories of Franklin’s face between her legs .
I wanted to be normal. I wanted to be a family .
But then again, normal people didn’t marry their stepbrother .
I groaned to myself, sighing into the pillow .
24
Lucas
I moved slowly through the halls of the compound, thinking to myself. It felt good to pace the mainly empty space, trying to get a handle on the situation .
Things were beginning to move fast, and yet we didn’t have all the information we needed. I felt like I was trying to fight a guy with my hands tied behind my back .
I was stressed out, but some weird part of me thrived on the stress. I liked having a challenge, a puzzle to solve, and the higher the stakes, the more I wanted to step up. My head spun from all the different layers to my situation. There was Natalie, the hijacked shipment, the other bosses on my back, and of course my father .
As I walked, I suddenly found myself standing outside Natalie’s room. I checked my watch; it was late, probably too late, but part of me didn’t care. I could suddenly taste her skin on my tongue again, her body against mine, the tight squeeze of her pussy wrapped around my cock. I wanted to hear her say my name .
I knocked once and waited. I heard some muffled sounds, and then the door pushed open .
“Lucas?” Natalie asked .
“Can I come in ?”
“Sure.”
She stepped aside and I walked in, sitting down on her couch. She looked like she had been sleeping, her hair a bit askew, her sweatpants wrinkled, but I absolutely fucking loved it. The girl coul
d be wearing absolutely anything, look like she hadn’t slept for weeks, or be covered in mud and I’d still want her. It was absolutely uncanny how she affected me .
“Is everything okay?” Natalie asked nervously .
“Everything is fine.” I patted the couch next to me. “Sit .”
She shook her head and sat on the arm of a nearby easy chair. “It’s been a rough night,” she said .
“What happened?” I asked .
She sighed, shaking her head. “Just stuff with my mom .”
I grinned wickedly. “Want me to take care of her? I can make her disappear, you know .”
Her whole face suddenly drained of color. “No. Oh my god, Lucas, don’t say that .”
I held up my hands. “I’m just kidding, Nat. What’s wrong with you ?”
“Nothing,” she said again .
I stood up and moved toward her, but she quickly walked away from me .
“What’s wrong?” I asked again. “I can help .”
“I saw something,” she said slowly, “and I’m not sure I can tell you .”
“You can trust me,” I said, and I knew that I meant it. “We’re already so deep in this together, I’m surprised you even question it .”
“It’s about your father .”
“That’s okay. You can tell me anything .”
“I saw my mom having sex with one of the staff .”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “What ?”
The story came spilling out of her then. She told me about how she went for a walk and stumbled in on her mom and the driver, Franklin. I knew who she was talking about; he was relatively new to the compound but a pretty reliable worker .
“She said all this stuff about him,” she continued, “like how he speaks Russian and a bunch of other languages and how nice he is. I think she’s in love with him .”
I cocked my head at her. “You really think so ?”
“I don’t know with her, honestly. She’s been in love a million times and it has never once lasted .”
I grinned. “So you’re saying she’s not really in love with Arturo ?”
She sighed, exasperated. “I don’t know, Lucas. I really don’t know .”
This was interesting. I had no clue how Arturo would react if he found out about Camille’s indiscretions. He’d likely have the driver killed at the very least, probably divorce Camille, maybe even destroy her career .
Obviously I couldn’t let that happen. I liked having Natalie around and didn’t want to risk any harm coming to her. I knew I should be more loyal to my father, but what did the old fool expect? He had married a notorious reality television star. Did he think she was really going to stay faithful ?
Maybe he already knew and didn’t care. Maybe they had some sort of arrangement, though that didn’t seem likely .
“This could be dangerous,” I said .
“I know, Lucas,” she agreed. “I’m scared .”
“Don’t be scared,” I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward me. “I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you .”
She wrapped her arms around me, burying her head in my shoulder. “How can you say that? He’s your father .”
“He’s an old fool,” I said softly, “but he isn’t stupid. He knew what he was buying into with your mother. And I’m growing fond of you .”
“I’m fond of you too,” she said .
I laughed. “We shouldn’t let your mother acting like a whore cause anything .”
I felt her stiffen suddenly and pull herself away. “Excuse me ?”
“I’m just saying, your mother being loose shouldn’t get between the two of us .”
“You called her a whore,” Natalie said .
I narrowed my eyes. “Because she’s acting like one .”
“My mom isn’t a whore .”
I could tell this was about to spiral out of control. I wanted to pull it back, fix it, but I wasn’t about to take what I had said back. Camille was acting like a whore. She was sleeping with another man in her husband’s house after less than a month of marriage. If that wasn’t loose behavior, I didn’t know what was .
“It’s the truth,” I said. “Your mother is acting like a whore. That doesn’t need to affect us, though .”
Her face set into a neutral expression. “I think you should go, Lucas .”
I laughed again, shaking my head. “Come on, Natalie, I’m on your side .”
“And yet you’re calling my mother a whore. I think you should go .”
I shook my head and turned away from her. “Whatever you say, wife .”
“Don’t call me that .”
“Good night .”
I walked away, pulling the door open and heading out into the hall .
I balled my fists and headed back to my own rooms. I didn’t understand her, had no clue why she had gotten so upset. She was the first to admit that her mother was a party girl and was an awful mom. And yet if I spoke the truth, suddenly she was going to get angry with me ?
I yanked open my room’s door and went inside. I headed over to the bar and poured myself a nice, stiff drink .
It made no sense. I wasn’t the one acting out and treating her family like an asshole; that was Camille. I didn’t get why Natalie would be angry with me, her only real ally and the only person who really gave a shit about her in the whole house. All for speaking the truth ?
I slammed back my drink and collapsed onto the couch. I replayed the conversation over in my head, trying to figure out what was really going on .
And then something jumped out at me, something Natalie had said her mother had mentioned about the driver, Franklin .
He spoke Russian .
I stroked my chin, thinking. It was a pretty thin lead, but I was pretty thin on anything else at the moment. And besides, none of our guys spoke Russian, and most of them took pride in that. From what I knew about Franklin, he was just some low-level driver; what was a guy like that doing speaking multiple languages ?
I got up and poured myself another drink. I was going to have to investigate this Franklin guy, just in case, which was annoying, since I was already busy as hell with everything else .
And now Natalie was pissed .
Oh well. She’d get over it eventually, or not. I wasn’t going to go groveling back to her like some dog .
I slammed back my drink and headed to bed .
25
Natalie
I woke up late in the morning, feeling almost like I was hungover .
The conversations from the night before came swirling back into my brain with a vengeance. The image of my mother and Franklin lingered too, but I tried to keep myself from dwelling on that .
I got up and grabbed the breakfast tray from the hallway and carried it inside. The coffee was still hot, which was exactly what I needed. I sipped the strong, black stuff and looked out the window, frowning .
I couldn’t believe how willful and reckless my mother was. She was putting us both at risk. Lucas seemed to think that everything would be okay, or at least that he would make sure I was protected, but that didn’t make me feel much better. I wanted my mother to be okay as well, not just me .
Even though she was crazy and selfish and stupid, she was still my mother. And Lucas just couldn’t call her a whore, just couldn’t disrespect her that way .
Even if she was acting like a whore .
I couldn’t let him talk to me that way. He didn’t seem to understand, didn’t seem to care about anything other than the fact that he was being nice to me and that he was technically right about my mom. He completely missed the point. I wanted him to respect me, and part of that respect meant he couldn’t call my mother a whore .
Maybe I had overreacted. I didn’t feel as angry about it this morning, but still. I knew I had to draw the line somewhere, or else risk letting him talk to me however he wanted .
I felt at a complete loss. I had pushed away my biggest ally in the house right at th
e time that I needed him the most. And the feeling of his skin against mine kept ringing in my ears, infusing into everything else. Everything had happened so fast, and right at the moment when I was feeling the best about the sudden change in my life .
I was almost back to square one. It felt like I had finally broken through with Lucas, finally given myself up to him despite the obstacles, and suddenly my mother fucked up and sent it all careening off a cliff .
Frustrated, I dressed quickly and went walking through the halls. The place felt like a museum all of a sudden, and I had nowhere I could go that was even slightly comfortable. I felt like I had to keep my hands to myself and stay as quiet as possible, or else someone would yell at me .
Almost on a whim, I found myself heading toward Louisa’s room. I didn’t know why, but I felt like she was someone I could talk to. Maybe that was dangerous; maybe she was closer with her father than she let on, and telling her about what my mother was doing could cause some real problems .
But I had a feeling about her, and I couldn’t shake it. I stopped outside her door and knocked .
“Go away,” I heard her yell from inside .
“Louisa?” I called back. “It’s Natalie .”
There was a pause. “Hold on .”
I waited a second and listened to what sounded like furniture moving around. A minute later, the door slowly pulled open .
“Hey there, sister,” she said, smiling .
“Hi, Louisa. Mind if I come in ?”
She cocked her head. “You look like shit .”
“Thanks.” She turned and let me in and I followed her. We sat down on her couches .
Instantly, I couldn’t help but notice the influx of computer equipment. It all looked like it was wired into a central mainframe computer, with all her other computers running complicated-looking programs. I could tell it was way above my head, even with my own solid knowledge of the field .
“What’s all this?” I asked her .
“Don’t worry about that crap,” she said, waving her hand. “It’s just for my gaming .”