by Jordan Marie
“I can imagine,” she says, visibly cringing.
“Trust me, you can’t.”
“Maybe not. What are you doing with that penny?” she asks.
I look over my shoulder at her. She’s got her arms wrapped in front of her, hiding her boobs, with her bra lying across her lap like she’s hiding her pussy.
Cute. Damn cute.
“Trying to use it to get these screws loose. If I can get this panel weakened, I may be able to get through to the front seat.”
“Yes! Do that!” she encourages me, and I hide my smile, turning back around to try.
“I’m trying,” I say through my laughter. We’re silent for a few minutes while I continue to try—and fail at—loosening the panel.
“What song did he try and serenade Ms. Langley with?” she asks, leaning in so close against me that I can feel her breath against the side of my neck.
“Honey, I love it when you’re pressed against me, but maybe you could give me a little room to work?”
“Oh! Sorry,” she says, biting on her nail nervously and pulling away from me. “So what song did he sing?”
“Why Don’t We Get Drunk And Screw,” I answer with a smirk.
“You’re making that up!”
“Nope.”
“Oh, gosh!” she says, laughing. “What did Mrs. Simpkins do?”
“Well… I made the mistake of letting her talk to him before I arrested him.”
“Why was that a mistake?”
“The first question she asked was why he never wanted to have sex with her anymore.”
“Yikes. What was his answer?”
“Well, I guess old man Simpkins likes singing, because he immediately started singing ‘It’s Hard to Kiss the Lips At Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long’. Needless to say, Mrs. Simpkins wasn’t happy.”
“Oh my God! Is that a real song?”
“Apparently.”
“Your job is interesting.”
“It’s about to get a lot more interesting.”
“Why is that?”
“Now, Lo’. Don’t get upset, but…”
“But?”
“This ain’t going to work, honey.”
“Oh shit. We’re stuck here?”
“Well, no…”
“We’re not? But I thought you said…”
I watch as realization sinks in her face, and it does… when the cold, bright lights of a truck pull in behind us.
“Luka!!!” she screams, and it’s not the kind of scream a man wants to ever hear from a woman when she calls his name. Unfortunately, there’s not a damned thing I can do about it but wrap her up in my arms and try to hide her body.
Fuck.
37
Petal
Present:
Do you ever wish the ground would just swallow you up? Right now, that’s the prayer I keep repeating over and over as I burrow into Luka’s naked body. My mind keeps flashing through a list of people that could be pulling up behind us, and all of them are definitely worst case scenarios.
I expected Blue. I mean, we’re close to his farm. That would be embarrassing, but I can deal. It could be Gray and CC since they’re not too far from here, either. Worst case and a nightmare for me would definitely be my mother. I wouldn’t put it past Black to be the one who shows up, because somehow he always knows when to annoy me. Nothing could have prepared me, however, for what was about to happen.
“Motherfucker,” Luka growls above me, his chin at the top of my head. I try to pull away and look up at him, but he doesn’t let me.
“Luka?”
“Don’t move, Lo’. Stay right there, and don’t move a muscle,” he orders.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, which might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever asked. I mean I’m locked in the back of a police car with a pair of handcuffs on, and just to make it worse, I’m wearing nothing but a smile. What could possibly be wrong?
“What the hell is going on here?”
“Just open the door,” Luka growls, and I know he’s saying it loudly, but I can barely hear him over the pounding of my heart. Maybe in the back of my mind I thought his father could show up, but never in a million years did I really think it was him.
That voice, however, is unmistakable.
The door opens, and I tense up. Thankfully, Luka doesn’t move. If anything, his hold on me tightens, not allowing me to move either.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Shut up, Dad, and just hand me my shirt,” Luka growls. He reaches behind him and his dad must hand it to him. Color me surprised.
I feel Luka pull his shirt around my back. He holds it together and carefully backs out of the car. Luckily I am short where Luka is tall, so the shirt falls close to my knees. Still it’s entirely too short and revealing to be around Luka’s father.
“Well, I always knew she was a whore,” Mr. Parish sneers.
Luka spins around and nails him dead center of his nose with a fist. Mr. Parish instantly goes down, and blood streams from the punch.
“Stay right here, honey,” Luka tells me, turning away. He bends down to find his pants and quickly puts them on, buttoning them up and not worrying about his belt. He fishes through his pocket and finds the key to his handcuffs, undoing them.
“And she likes it kinky. Like mother, like daughter, I guess. I knew I should have given you a whirl.” Mr. Parish laughs cruelly.
“If you want to keep your fucking teeth in your head, you’ll shut the fuck up,” Luka yells. “I’m sorry, Lo’,” he whispers much softer to me.
I feel a little shell-shocked. I can’t lie. I don’t know what to say, and I figure anything I say will cause Luka’s dad to get uglier, so I just remain quiet.
For his part, Luka stands in front of me, his stance protective as he helps me with his shirt. I clumsily thread my hands through his sleeves, and only when Luka has it on me does he lean back enough to button it up. It’s tight right at the chest area. I’m not exactly small, and Luka obviously does not have the double Ds that I pack around. I would probably be blushing except I’m pretty sure the fact that Roger Parish is standing here has drained all the color from my face. I make myself look up into Luka’s eyes. I see the tension on his face and instantly want to brush it away, but I can’t.
“What? I’m just saying the truth,” Luka’s father insists. “I thought you were fucking smarter than to get hung up on easy pussy, son. You’ve always been a disappointment. Too much of your mother’s blood.”
It’s then that I realize Mr. Parish is drunk—and not just a little. He reeks of alcohol. Even from this distance, I can smell it on him.
“You fucking bastard,” Luka growls.
He turns on his father. I find myself holding on to him to keep him from hitting the man again, not because I care if Luka’s father gets the shit kicked out of him, but only because I know that even if Luka doesn’t respect his father anymore, this hurts him.
“I’m just saying the truth, son. You play with easy pussy; you don’t get tangled up in it. You don’t give up a career! You ruined both our lives. I would have won the congress seat easily if my son had been in the FBI. Christ, you just threw away your whole life for this—”
He doesn’t get the words out because Luka’s fist connects with his mouth. Then again, and again. It becomes kind of a blur, really. I reach down and fish my jeans out from the bottom of the pile on the ground, quickly getting into them. Only when I have them on and buttoned do I turn my attention back to Luka.
Luka’s stopped hitting his father, but from the look of the blood and the way Mr. Parish’s face is already swelling, he definitely got in quite a few punches.
“You don’t look at Petal. You don’t so much as say her name. If I had known this was the kind of filth you spewed at her, I would have cut you out of my life years ago. You’re dead to me,” Luka growls.
I just stand there looking at Mr. Parish, my heart beating erratically, and it’s not because of
what Luka just said or did. It’s the look of hate in Mr. Parish’s eyes—hate that is all directed at me and promising retribution. I swallow as fear settles deep inside of me.
Luka takes my hand and helps me inside the passenger seat of his car. He has me buckled in and kisses my forehead, and I remain quiet. We’re pulling away and I’m looking at Luka’s dad in the rearview mirror, and I still say nothing. I’m not sure what there is to say.
38
Luka
Present:
“Luka,” Petal whispers.
“Is this the kind of shit he threw at you when we were together, Lo’?” I bark at her, and I’m not careful with my tone—despite what she’s just witnessed and gone through. I can’t. I’m so angry right now, I want to turn around, go back, and pound in my father’s face again. My father.
I haven’t been proud of him in a damned long time, but after witnessing what I did tonight, all I can feel is shame and disgust that this man’s blood flows through my veins.
“Luka,” she says again, and I shake my head no, because I’m not letting her out of this. For once, by God, she’s going to answer me, and she’s going to answer me directly.
“Answer me, Lo’! Is this the shit you put up with when we were married? Is this why you left me?”
“We’ve already had this conversation,” she says, her voice sound resigned.
“We didn’t! You told me he said shit to get to you. You let me believe it was normal animosity between the two of you. Then tonight, I find out that he threatened you… and after what I saw just now. Fuck, Lo’. Just what kind of threats did he make?”
“Just let it go, Luka. We can’t change it.”
“You should have told me. You should have come to me. I was your husband.”
“A husband who I had lied to. A husband who only married me because I was pregnant,” she says, looking out the window. I turn my eyes back to the road. I have so many emotions running through me, I’m dangerous enough behind the wheel. I have to focus. “A husband who didn’t really trust me,” she adds so softly, I have to strain to hear it.
The truth of everything she says kicks me in the gut—hard. She’s right. She may have been the one who lied to me, but I spent the duration of our marriage holding it against her… punishing her for it. I did it without even realizing it.
“Lo’.”
“Yeah?” She sounds so tired it hurts me.
“I didn’t marry you because you were pregnant.”
“Come on, Luka. We’re both realists.”
“Maybe so, but I’m telling you that’s not why I asked you to marry me. I wanted my family with me, and yeah, you were too young, and I used the pregnancy as an excuse, but damn it, Lo’… I wanted my ring on your finger. I wanted my name on you. I wanted it so every asshole who came close to you knew you belonged to me.”
“Luka…” she whispers just as I pull into our driveway.
I shut off the car and look straight ahead. I look at the house I bought with my family in mind. I look at everything around me that I did and created, thinking of nothing more than providing for my family and putting us all under one roof. Jesus. I made so many mistakes.
“I didn’t include you in anything, did I, Lo’? Not really. Even this house, I picked it out and bought it without even consulting with you.”
“I loved this house, Luka.”
“But it was to be your home, too. You should have had input in that. You should have had input in everything. I should have listened. I should have talked to you about my father. This is why you only asked in the divorce that my father didn’t get River by himself, isn’t it, Lo’? Why the fuck didn’t that clue me in?” I growl, slamming my hands down on the steering wheel as suddenly things that didn’t make sense before now click into place. “I was being so self-righteous, playing the wronged—”
“Luka, stop. Don’t you think I have regrets? I lied to you. I didn’t talk to you about your father, and I should have. I lived in fear of alienating you further, and because of that, I let it destroy our marriage. I kept trying to be an adult, a mother to River. Instead, I was making childish mistake after childish mistake. I have the same regrets, Luka, but we can’t go back,” she whispers.
“My father isn’t going to take this quietly. It might get uglier, Lo’. Until I know exactly how unhinged he is, I don’t want you or River alone.”
“You really think he’ll get that bad, Luka? I mean, he’s evil, but he’s also the mayor. He can’t do anything overt…”
“I think he’s been drunk more than sober lately. I think the man I saw tonight had nothing but hate inside of him, and I know there’s no way he will win re-election, which makes him dangerous—more so than before.”
“He was always dangerous, Luka. Nothing has really changed.”
“Except now you have me with you, Lo’. I’m right here with you.” I put my hand on her lap, palm up. She stares at me and then down at my hand. Slowly she puts her hand in mine, linking our fingers together.
And just like that, some of the anger inside of me lessens.
39
Petal
Present:
“Lo’, wake up,” Luka says, nudging my shoulder.
I blink a few times trying to focus. It’s barely daylight. I stretch and yawn before I can even speak.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “Are you going into work?”
“Later today, yeah. I have some things I need to take care of first. I thought I’d drive you to your mother’s or Gray and CC’s for the day.”
“What? Why?”
“No reason.” He shrugs. “I just thought you’d like the company.”
“Bullshit. What’s going on?”
I know there’s no way that Luka would willingly drive me to my mothers. Heck, I don’t even want him to. My mother would have an aneurysm if she knew I have been spending the night with Luka like I have been. I mean, I know realistically that I’m going to have to come clean soon, but I’d like to put that moment off as long as I can.
Luka starts rubbing the side of his neck, and I’m awake enough now that I can see the tension on his face he’s trying to hide.
“Daniel called me,” he explains.
I frown. “Your deputy? Do you need to go into work sooner? If this is about what we talked about last night, you need to stop worrying. I really don’t think your father will try anything obvious, but even so, I can stay here and have Mary or Maggie pick me up. I won’t go out alone—”
“Lo’, he called me to give me a heads-up.”
“Heads-up? About what?”
“My father went in this morning and swore out a warrant for my arrest,” he says.
For a minute, I can’t breathe. It feels like the air has been knocked out of me. Then that feeling is quickly replaced with a sick dread that makes me want to vomit.
“He’s trying to get you arrested?”
“He’s not trying, Lo’. He has a warrant issued for me. I will be arrested. It’s just a matter of time. Daniel is delaying things as best as he can right now, but we need to hurry.”
“Hurry? Why? Luka, you can’t go on the lam!” I cry in a panic.
He stops and stares at me, a stunned look coming across his face, and then he laughs. How he can laugh at a time like this is beyond me.
“I fail to see anything funny about this situation, Luka,” I grumble, getting out of bed.
“I just realized I married Ida Sue.”
“That’s a mean thing to say, and we’re not married,” I grumble. It’s not the first time people have said I’m just like my mother, and sadly, the older I get, the more I see it.
“We need to fix that.”
“Fix… What did you just say?”
“I said we need to get married.”
“You just proposed to me as if it was the answer to a problem while I’m wearing a t-shirt and have bed hair, and when you are moments away from being hauled off to jail!”
“So?”
“That’s not when you propose to someone, Luka. Not even close.”
“It’s not like we haven’t already been married, and honestly in my mind we’ve never really been divorced. This is just like… dotting our I’s and crossing our T’s.”
“Dotting our… Crossing our… If your father doesn’t succeed in destroying you, Luka Parish, I may kill you.”
“But you’ll marry me?”
“I’m not having this conversation. We need to talk with Black. He’s a detective now, so he can help us figure this thing out,” I mumble, picking up some jogging pants, a t-shirt, bra, and panties out of the overnight bag I keep stocked in Luka’s closet. I barely pay attention to what I’m doing, intent only on getting to the bathroom, dressing, brushing my teeth, and trying to keep Luka on the right side of the steel bars.
“Seems like you should have more faith in me to handle this instead of your brother. I am your man, after all,” Luka grumbles like a sullen child.
I look up at him once I have my clothes thrown on. “Are you really going to pout? Shouldn’t you be getting dressed?” I ask him disbelievingly. I put toothpaste on my brush with a sigh. Men are such big babies.
“I’m not pouting. I’m merely pointing out a fact. You should have more confidence in me. This is my father I’m dealing with. I have this under control,” he gripes.
It’s clear he’s put out with me. “Will you cut me some slack? You woke me up to inform me you’re going on the lam—”
“I am not going on the lam. I’m not even sure what you think that means. I’m going to take you somewhere where you are surrounded by your family and River is with you. That way, I don’t worry about what my father is trying to plan, and I will deal with this shit head on.”
“If you think that I am going to stand back and let you deal with all of this alone, you’re crazier than a Bessie bug!”
“Lo’, I love you, but you’re starting to scare me with just how much you are sounding like your mother.”