by Haley Ladawn
“No, I’m not getting out! If you want me gone, you can drag me out yourself.” She creased her brows, planting her bottom into the backseat. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Now, Elisa!” I glared at her, pursing my lips into a thin line. “I just have a few questions.”
“They can wait,” she persisted, tightening her hands into fists.
“Go.” It was Elliot’s demanding voice. It had lowered a few octaves, probably due to anger. “I will talk to… Lily and you can go get me something to drink, yes?”
“Fine, whatever,” she scoffed, sliding out of the car. Her cheeks were a shade of red from anger. “But I’ll be back in three minutes.”
She slammed the door and sprinted across the street to a random coffee house.
Elliot put the cigar out and shifted his body toward me, but I pushed him back with my left hand. I moved out of my seat, until I was practically sitting on his lap. My legs were spread on either side of him, and my face was inches away from his.
I ran my fingers down the hard ridges of his abs, while his eyes settled on my face, glancing down at my fingertips every now and then. I expected him to grab my hand and put it in a crushing hold, but he just tilted his head back, while my hand reached lower, until I was tracing circles on his hipbone. Even his hips were molded to perfection.
My palm moved over him slowly where he was already hard, just from faint, lingering touches. I pulled his unbutton jeans down a little further and tightened my grip around his length through his boxers, until his jaw clenched.
“You make one hell of a first impression.” He let out a low groan, biting down on his lower lip.
I ignored him, moving one of my hands to his thick mane of black hair. It had a blue tint to it in the sunlight, making his olive skin that much more prominent. I pulled on his hair, until we were face-to-face and nose-to-nose. He looked confused and aroused at the same time, as he wet his lips with his tongue.
I smacked his left cheek with as much force as I could draw, leaving a red mark across his face.
“What the fuck?” He cupped the side of his jaw, furrowing his eyebrows. “You’re fucking crazy!”
“I might be.” I ran my fingers across his lips, moving my hand back again. I was about to show him crazy.
Smack! “That one was for kidnapping me.”
Smack! “That one was for not telling me you’re in the Mafia.”
Smack! “That one was for pretending to let me go.”
“And this one,” I drew my hand back, running my hands through his messy, unkempt hair. I leaned closer to him, until there was no space between us. I placed my lips against his, breathing him in. He expected the back of my fist, but he got the inside of my mouth. He tasted different this time, like fruit and whiskey. The mint was gone. “This one is because of pent up sexual frustration.”
“K?”
“Did you just say K?” I pulled back instantly, my hands dropping to my sides. “What the fuck does K mean?”
“Um…”
“Now, you can’t speak?” I narrowed my eyes at him, my palms clenching into fists. “Did you forget how to speak English?”
He moved his hips against me, shifting in the seat. I felt his erection press against my warm thigh. He pushed me back a little, adjusting himself, but I continued to move closer to him.
“Let’s go for a ride.” I rocked my hips against him slowly, running my hand down his chest. He cursed underneath his breath. Something in Italian. He turned his head to look out the window, murmuring something to himself.
I grabbed the keys with my free hand and dropped them into his lap. I moved away from him, settling back into my seat. As I was buckling my seat belt, I saw Elisa standing in front of the car with her mouth dropped.
Within a matter of seconds, she was knocking on my window violently. I pointed to the back seat, but she wasn’t going anywhere, so I rolled down the window. Her anger faded as soon as she got a good luck at Elliot. Her irritation was replaced with humor.
She was holding in a laugh, looking like she was on the verge of spontaneous combustion.
“He’s going to kill you for that.” Elisa stared at Elliot, smiling like a lunatic. “And then she’s going to kill you for that.”
She pointed down the road where a blonde girl was rushing toward us. She had an apron in her hand, covering her face, but I knew who it was. It was Margo.
“What?” I raised my eyebrows, feeling more than confused. Margo was headed our way, and no one seemed surprised by our uninvited guest.
“Get in the back.” Elisa opened the door, pulling me from the passenger seat. She opened the back door and slid in with me. Her grip tightened around my wrist. “I hate to say it, Lily, but you just made your descent into the land of homewreckers.”
“What are you talking about?” I ripped my arm from hers, straightening myself out in the backseat. Elliot glanced at us through the mirror with squinted eyes. He seemed just as confused as I was.
“You just mouth fucked and dry humped Elliot’s twin brother.” Elisa gave me a side hug, sighing deeply to herself. “Lily meet Emmet, Emmet meet Lily! Talk about keeping it in the family.”
The man in the seat in front of me tensed, biting back a meticulous smile. “I told you I didn’t know who you were.”
I couldn’t even focus on what was going on between the two of them. I was too caught up in the fact that I’d just went to third base with Elliot’s identical twin brother… all the while thinking that it was Elliot.
“What the fuck?” I shouted at the top of my lungs, wiping my mouth in disgust. I wanted to take a bar of soap to my mouth. “Why didn’t anyone tell me? That’s so foul.”
“I tried…” Elisa shrugged, her lips lifting into a contrite smile.
“You have a potty mouth, yes?” Emmet smirked, adjusting his mirrors carefully. “Do you kiss my brother with that mouth?”
I didn’t get a chance to respond, before Margo slid in the passenger seat, sighing. She gave us a quick once over through the mirror, before turning to face Emmet. A sly smile creeped onto her cherry red lips, as her eyes trailed to his pants that were now pulled back over his hips.
I gagged. I internally screamed. I wanted to take a shower. I sighed.
My chest felt constricted as the thought of Elliot finding out about what just happened crossed my mind.
Elliot seemed like the kind of person who didn’t like to share his toys, and if I was anything to him, I was a toy. Nothing more. Nothing less. What would he do when he found out his favorite toy had been broken and used? Toss it to the trash, like it was nothing?
Chapter 20: Bubbles
The car ride to the estate was deathly quiet, and it wasn’t because we were out in the middle of no man’s land. It was mainly because I’d ridden Emmet, Elliot’s twin brother, like a horse. With clothes on, of course, but that really didn’t help the situation.
Elisa kept scooting closer to me, so she could whisper dumb things inside my ear, like, “Two for one special, am I right?”
I was so close to strangling her when we finally pulled up to a long driveway that stretched out for miles. A giant iron gate guarded us from pulling further down the road. It was beautifully made, and on either side, stood two statues of ferocious lions. They were carved to perfection by the hand of an obviously talented artist.
“The leone is our animal of choice.” Emmet gave me a faint look through the mirror, before adjusting it away from my face. I was thankful for that simple gesture because I didn’t want to stare at him. I kept seeing Elliot, but it wasn’t him. It was some type of twisted mind trick. “We’re beautiful but dangerous, just like lions, no?”
“Lions?” I shook my head, pursing my lips into a thin line. “I thought your animal of choice would be snakes since you’re all so sneaky and slimy.”
Emmet opened the car door and slid out to enter a code into a security gate. I watched him closely as he punched a number into the keypad, which made
the gate swing open. I couldn’t see that well, but I swear it looked like he typed 1234.
“Picking apples from the family tree, eh?” Elisa said underneath her breath, stifling another annoying laugh. Her jokes went it one ear and out the other. “Don’t bruise the fruit while you’re eating it. Elliot’s feelings are going to be so hurt when he finds out. I think he had a soft spot for you, and you just had to go and bruise him.”
“Does my fist look red?” I held up my hand, pretending to be hurt. I even whimpered to make it seem real.
She examined it carefully, shaking her head. “No, why?”
“Because it’s about to turn red when I punch you in the fucking face.” I laughed sweetly, forcing a smile.
We pulled through the gates and drove down the endless road, until we were face-to-face with the most architecturally pleasing mansion I’d ever seen.
Several cars were parked along the driveway, and most of them were foreign cars that had a high price tag. A few old muscle cars were in the mix, but even those were in immaculate condition.
Bright lights flickered through the windows of the estate, blinding us even from the outside. It looked like gunfire, but there weren’t any horrific sounds.
“What the hell is going on here?” I slid out of the car behind Elisa, running my hand through my messy hair to flatten it out. “Are they having a party in there?”
I thought I could hear the faint sound of music coming from inside. The more I listened, the more is sounded like holiday music.
“Yeah! They’re having a Christmas party,” Margo answered from the other side of the car, draping her arms around Emmet. It’s like she was claiming him, just like a wolf, with that simple gesture. “I can’t believe you got invited. It’s family members only.”
I rolled my eyes, as I stared down the belly of the beast. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to go inside anymore. I didn’t know what was waiting for me inside.
Emmet pried Margo’s paws off him, and came over to where I was standing. Elisa had already made her toward the front door, but she waited on the extravagant landing for the rest of us. I was headed her way, but Emmet grabbed me by my wrist, pulling me back to his chest. It was an odd sensation that reminded me of his brother. They all shared these common tendencies, like using force to get what they wanted.
“Not so fast.” He sighed, tightening his grip, until I turned around. “We need to talk before you go in there.”
“About what?” I pretended to be indifferent, as I watched Margo through my peripheral vision. She was looking at the blue hydrangeas that lined the mansion beautifully, also mocking indifference. Her eyes may not have been on us, but I knew her ears were.
Emmet seemed to notice this too, because his voice lowered to a whisper. “I thought you were just another girl for the business. We get new people every day and it’s hard to keep track of them all. I didn’t know you were the girl that my brother was involved with. I would’ve stopped you had I known.”
“I’m not involved with your brother.” I pulled my wrist free, shaking my head in abhorrence. “And maybe you should dye your hair or wear glasses or something! Don’t trick me ever again! Does your girlfriend know that you sleep with other women “from the business,” and what the hell does that even mean? Can’t you just say the mafia?”
“No one in the mafia actually uses that word, if they can help it.” He cringed, running his hand through his hair. “And who I fuck isn’t any of your business, unless you’re threatening to tell on me.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” I narrowed my eyes at him, even though he towered over me.
“You’re not afraid of me, but you’re afraid of my brother, correct?” Emmet nodded, his lips lifting into a knowing smirk. “You’re right to be afraid of him, Lily, because he will kill you. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday. And if for some magical reason, he doesn’t… someone else will.”
“Are you threatening me?” I turned my head to the side, watching him as he walked back to Margo.
“It was more of a warning.” He didn’t look back in my direction once. I had been dismissed. I had to chase after him to hear his last set of words. When I heard them, I stopped dead in my tracks. “Don’t take it with a grain of salt. High blood pressure kills people all the time. It’s a silent killer, just like me.”
If Elliot wouldn’t kill me, his brother would.
As I reached Elisa, her hand was pressed against a fancy doorbell that she was pushing repeatedly. Like me, she had no patience.
“Open the door!” she screamed, banging on the door with her small fist to no avail. “What the hell? Open the fucking door! I can’t be out in the cold like this. I don’t have a coat on!”
A few moments later, the door swung open, revealing a dazed Connor on the other side. He was leaning against the wall for support, clearly a little too drunk or high. So, it was this kind of party? I should’ve known.
This wasn’t a little family gathering for the holidays. Men were dressed in casual wear, and women were dressed in nothing but lingerie. The atmosphere oozed sex and it even smelled like it, too.
A few of the women were dressed as elves, but the majority were dressed as skimpy versions of Mrs. Claus. All of them wore eight inch stilettos, which made me feel short underneath their intimidating stature.
“Sorry, sister from another mister.” Connor rubbed his temples, sighing. “I had to remember how to walk before I could open the door, and then I had to remember how to turn a doorknob. They spiked the eggnog with rum.”
“I’m not the one you have to apologize to.” Elisa scooted past him, pulling me inside by the arm. Her grip was gentle, not crushing. “Where’s Everet and when did you guys get back?”
“An hour ago, maybe? And he was making weed brownies the last time I checked.” He gulped, shutting the door once Emmet and Margo stepped inside behind us. “Or maybe he was making meth. I can’t really tell the difference.”
Elisa let out a growl, pushing past him. “I have to find that idiot, before he blows this entire house down! He’s not a fucking chemist!”
Just like that, Elisa was gone, vanishing into the crowd of warm bodies. It wasn’t until her absence did Connor finally seem to notice me.
“Is that you, baby girl?” He squinted, running his hand through his sandy, brown hair that was now spotted with green and red garland. There was even some silver tinsel on the top of his head. He looked trashed. “Are you thirsty?”
“Depends. Do you have any water?” I raised my eyebrows apprehensively, peeking into his red cup. It was filled with beer that had a thick layer of foam on top of it. “I don’t want any alcohol.”
“Um…” He scratched the back of his head, looking dumbfounded. “There’s booze in the fridge and a keg in the living room.”
“I just said that I didn’t want any alcohol.” I creased my eyebrows, laughing underneath my breath. My suspicions had been confirmed. He was as drunk as a skunk.
“I thought you meant r-rubbing alcohol or w-w-whatever.” He slurred his words, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. “I think there’s tap water, but I don’t remember where the kitchen is.”
I shook my head in bemusement, liking this version of him. It reminded me of the good times. The days before he faked his death and got caught up in this murderous lifestyle. The times when the only things we had to worry about was getting bad grades or getting caught drinking on the weekends.
“Candy man! You got the goods?” A man with dark-brown hair jumped on Connor’s back out of nowhere. He had an unmistakable British accent. “I want some Christina in my margarita!”
“Who’s Christina?” I asked curiously, crossing my arms.
“Some people call her Crystal.” The man flashed me a giant smile, releasing his hold on Connor, who was having trouble standing. “Crystal Meth.”
“I’m fresh out, Gabriel.” Connor gave the man an apologetic smile. “Maybe you’ll come faster next time.”
“That’s the worst adv
ice you’ve ever given, mate.” Gabriel patted Connor’s back. “We all know that you have to take your time with the ladies and do it real slow.”
I shook my head as I pushed past Connor’s tall silhouette. I needed to get away from all these people, and take a minute to think. I just needed five minutes to clear my mind.
“Wait, baby girl. Come back!” I heard Connor yell over the music, but I ignored him, giving him the cold shoulder.
I ran up the grand staircase, pretending not to hear him. I assumed there would be an unoccupied room up here somewhere that I could barricade myself in.
To reach the next floor, I had to sidestep a bunch of couples that were making out on the stairs. The second floor was just as compacted as the first, with groups of people packed against the walls talking about sex and drugs.
"How much would it cost to have a night with you?" One of the men whispered into a woman's ear, rubbing her shoulder softly.
“Depends,” he replied breathlessly, leaning in closer to his chest. “Is it just you or will be others joining us?”
I shook my head in disgust, pushing past them haphazardly. The first room I opened had a bunch of older men in it, sitting at a business table. They all looked at me when I opened the door.
“Why are you interrupting us?” A middle-aged man grumbled, raising his dark eyebrows that were scattered with gray hairs. “What do you have to offer us? Your body, or drugs?”
“Neither!” I hurriedly shut the door and sprinted down the hall, knocking people out of the way in the process.
I expected someone to chase after me for barging in, but that’s not exactly what happened. Instead, an angry, overweight Italian man dressed as Santa Claus ran down the hall ferociously and I was in the line of fire. I was about to be tackled.
“Santa Claus is coming to town!” the impostor roared, as he beat down on his chest, like an ape.
I continued to run, until I reached the last door at the end of the foyer that was engraved in suave lettering. It had a number carved into it, like you’d see at a hotel. I pushed the door open slowly, canvasing the area. I slid inside, separating myself from everyone.