Sex & Lies

by Michelle Iannarelli

  “The whole way here I tried to think of what to say to…”

  “You’re leaving me aren’t…”

  “What? No.”

  “No?”

  “Miguel, I love you and…”

  “You still do?”

  Alex grabbed Miguel’s hands. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

  “Forgive you?”

  “Instead of thanking you, I blamed you and I shouldn’t have.”

  “I lied, I broke my promise…”

  “You saved my brother because you love me.”

  “Alex, I promise, I don’t care who’s in trouble or what’s going on…I swear to God, I will never ever keep anything from you again.”

  Alex started to cry. “I’m so sorry, Baby.”

  Miguel lifted her into his arms and he hugged her tight. “I love you so much.”

  “Thank you. Thank you for loving me.”

  Miguel kissed Alex. “Always.”

  Ryan got up from his bed and walked over to the dresser and picked up the newspaper. He ran his fingers over Faith’s face. His heart felt heavy. He missed her so much and hearing her voice today just made him miss her a little bit more.

  “Hey, how are you feeling?”

  Ryan put down the newspaper and looked up. “Worried.”

  “Don’t worry. Miguel has eyes on her. He’s got men everywhere.”

  “Good.”

  Dane sat down. “So how are you physically?”

  “The doctor said that I’m getting there, whatever that means.”

  “You’re a lucky man.”

  “I guess.”

  “Is Alex still here?”

  “She left this morning. Hopefully she’s made things right with Miguel by now.”

  “Thank God. I don’t know what is worse…guilty Miguel or broken hearted Miguel? It’s been a rough few weeks.”

  “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

  “No problem.”

  “Dane, do you honestly think that this will end well?”

  “For you, yeah, but for the Grimaldi’s…hell no.” Dane laughed.

  “Would you mind checking out that Cliff Rogers guy?”

  “Done. He’s one of the good guys.”

  “Great.” Ryan sat down.

  “Hey, Faith loves you.”

  “Faith thinks I’m dead. What’s to stop her from…”

  “She’s still mourning your death. Do you really think she’s going to jump into bed with someone else?”

  “You’ve never had rebound sex?”

  “I’ve never dated anyone to rebound from.”

  “You’ve never been in a relationship?”

  “Nope.”

  “Damn.”

  “I screwed pretty much every girl back in high school and then I headed off to the Marines. I don’t usually screw the same woman twice.” Dane laughed.

  “That’s not what happened with my sister.”

  “Alex was different.”

  “Because you had feelings for her.”

  “We’re good friends.”

  “And you’ll never admit that I’m right.”

  “She’s with my best friend now.”

  “Yeah, let’s hope so.”

  “Well that’s my next stop so I will check up on them and report back to you.” Dane got up and walked toward the door.

  “Dane.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Thanks again.”

  Dane nodded and walked out.

  “Miles, come in here.”

  Miles came running into Cruz’s room. “Is he alright?”

  “He’s fine. Stand there a minute and watch him.”

  Miles stood there watching Cruz for a few minutes. Miles was beginning to think that Eden was nuts and then Cruz rolled over. “Whoa! When did he learn how to do that?”

  “First time was when I called you.”

  Miles walked over and leaned on the crib rail. “Hey Buddy, your mom and dad are real proud of you.”

  Eden smiled as she walked over to the crib. “Do you have any other tricks up your sleeve, Cruz?”

  “He’s really smart already.”

  “Just like his daddy.”

  “No, no, he gets his brains from his mommy.”

  “Maybe but he definitely gets his handsome looks from his daddy.”

  Miles smiled. “That I agree with.” Then he kissed Eden.

  “Did you ever think that you could have so much love for someone so small?”

  “No but it’s the best feeling in the world.”

  “It is, isn’t it.” Eden kissed Miles.

  “This feels pretty good too.” Miles slipped his hand up Eden’s skirt and slid two fingers into her pussy.

  “Mmmm…yes, it does.”

  Miles walked Eden backwards as he fingered her. Eden unbuckled Miles’ pants and pulled out his cock and started stroking it until Miles had her pinned against the wall. He removed his fingers and ripped off her panties before he picked her up and slid her down his cock.

  “Almost the best feeling in the world.”

  Eden kissed Miles. “I’d say it’s a tie.”

  FAITH WALKED INTO THE Café and looked around for Alex. When she didn’t see her she decided to go over to the counter and grab a cup of coffee while she waited.

  “Good morning.”

  Faith looked up and smiled. “Dane, hey.”

  “How are you doing?”

  “I’m surviving.”

  Dane rubbed Faith’s back. “It will get better, I promise.”

  “That’s what everyone says. So far it hasn’t happened.”

  “It will.”

  “What will?”

  Faith grabbed Alex and hugged her. “I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you too.”

  “Good morning, Alex.”

  “Good morning, Dane.”

  “Well, I’ll let you two get to gossiping or whatever it is that you women do over coffee.” Dane winked before grabbing his coffee and walking away.

  “So, have you reconsidered working with Cliff?”

  Faith grabbed her coffee. “No and I’m not going to.”

  “Faith.”

  “Alex, I have to…no, I need to do this.”

  “They are the ones responsible for Ryan’s death.”

  “You think I don’t know that?”

  “Faith, I don’t want to lose you.”

  “Alex, I don’t want anyone else to have to suffer like I am right now.”

  “Ryan wanted to keep you safe.”

  “Maybe Ryan should have thought about keeping himself safe and not getting killed.” Faith started to cry.

  “I’m sorry.” Alex grabbed Faith and hugged her.

  “I just miss him so much.”

  Alex felt so guilty knowing that Ryan was alive while her best friend suffered.

  Ryan was going crazy sitting around doing nothing so he decided to take a bath. Once he got into the tub he started thinking about Faith…when wasn’t he thinking about Faith? She had consumed him both body and soul. Ryan leaned his head back and thought about the first time he met Faith…

  He woke up after hearing a thud and jumped up from his bed to check on Alex. As he reached the stairs he heard giggling and knew that his sister must have been out drinking. He headed down the dark staircase to help his sister up the stairs; he assumed it was her that made the thud that woke him. “Alex, are you alright?”

  “I’m ok, but my friend is a mess.”

  He lifted Faith up from the stairs where she was sprawled out and carried her into Alex’s bedroom. When he leaned over to place her down on the bed Faith wrapped her arms around Ryan’s neck. “You’re my knight in shining armor.” Faith giggled.

  “Faith Marie! Ryan is my brother and he is OFF LIMITS!”

  Ryan smiled and stepped back. Faith was beautiful and he wouldn’t mind getting into her pants but it wasn’t worth upsetting his sister for a one-night stand. “I’m not rea
lly a nice guy, ask Alex.”

  “And you will never have sex with Faith because she is MY best friend.”

  Ryan kissed Alex on the top of her head. “Don’t worry I had enough sex tonight to keep me satisfied until morning.” Ryan winked.

  Alex smacked his arm. “You’re such a pig.”

  “It’s not my fault that women can’t keep their hands off me.” Ryan smiled.

  “Come over here and I’ll put more than my hands on you.” Faith laughed so hard she snorted.

  Alex threw a pillow at Faith.

  Ryan leaned over and whispered. “I changed my mind, maybe you should sleep in my room and I’ll stay here?”

  Alex started pushing Ryan to the door. “Go. Get. Out.”

  “Good night, Faith.”

  Faith lifted her arm and attempted to wave to Ryan. “Good night, Prince Charming.”

  Ryan mumbled. “Some Prince Charming I turned out to be.”

  Once again Lacey arrived at work to find Dane spinning around in her chair. “Good morning, Lovely Lady.”

  Lacey knew she was blushing…again. “Good morning, Dane.”

  Dane stood up so that Lacey could sit down at her desk.

  Lacey sat down and powered up her computer while Dane just stood there watching her. Before he had a minute to think about it the words flew out of his mouth. “Hey, would you like to have lunch with me before I leave?”

  Lacey quickly glanced around to make sure Dane was asking her and not someone else. “You’re leaving again?”

  “I have to go back late tonight.”

  “I’m not sure if I can get away.” Lacey looked down.

  “I’m sure Miguel won’t mind if…”

  “Miguel won’t mind if what?”

  “If I take Lacey out for lunch.”

  Miguel smiled. “No, not at all. Why don’t we wrap up those things we spoke about earlier and then you can go to lunch? Lacey can have the afternoon off.”

  “Oh no, I don’t need the afternoon off.”

  “Sounds great to me. Be ready at noon.” Dane smiled and followed Miguel inside his office, closing the door behind them.

  Alex decided that maybe he would be less upset if she told Ryan in person about her conversation with Faith. As she made her way to his door she heard moaning. She burst through the door thinking that maybe Ryan had fallen and been hurt but instead she found her brother sitting in a chair jerking himself off to a video of him and Faith on his phone.

  “JESUS CHRIST, RYAN!”

  Ryan didn’t even look up. “GET OUT!”

  Alex turned around. “You’re such a pig. I can’t believe you…and Faith…oh God, I’m going to be sick.”

  Ryan grabbed his phone and shut off the video and then he painfully pulled up his sweats. “I’m just going to run to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

  “Make sure you wash your hands!”

  “Or what, are you going to tell Mom on me?” Ryan walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He needed to finish himself off before he went back out there to talk to his sister.

  “You are such a dick!”

  “You know if you hurt Lacey, I will have to hurt you?”

  “Relax. We’re just friends. I know her boundaries and I respect them.”

  “Good. So tell me about your latest intel?”

  “I have two men who are in deep enough that they take orders straight through Grimaldi.”

  “Impressive.”

  “I’ve spoken to other agencies and they’ve joined forces with us. We’re bringing these mother fuckers down and soon.”

  “How soon, weeks?”

  “Maybe even days.”

  “I just want this to be over for Alex’s sake and for Reed.”

  “Miles will be working with Jakey on this. It’s time to tell him the truth.”

  “Yeah, I know. I hope he handles it better than Alex did.”

  “I’m sure he will. He knows how the business runs.”

  “Yup.”

  “I wish I didn’t have to leave in the middle of…”

  “Dane, you have to do what you have to do. We got this.”

  “Thanks, Man.”

  Dane extended his hand to Miguel and they shook. “Don’t thank me, just come back in one piece.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “Look Mom, clean hands.” Ryan laughed.

  “You’re a jerk.”

  “I know but you love me anyway.”

  “Sometimes I question that.”

  “I’m sorry. I just can’t stop thinking about Faith and…”

  “Stop! I saw enough.”

  “Speaking of Faith, were you able to convince her to drop the case?”

  “No. I’m sorry.”

  Ryan ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t get it. She knows that they are the ones who tried to kill me. Why is she risking her life?”

  “She said that she needed to do it for you.”

  “For me?”

  “She wants to finish your work for you.”

  “Doesn’t she realize that they will try to kill her too?”

  “Yes. I almost think that she is hoping that they do.”

  Ryan sat down on the bed. “Oh God.”

  Alex sat down next to her brother and began rubbing his back. “Calm down. You know you shouldn’t get yourself all stressed out.”

  Ryan lifted up his head. “Calm down? Faith is my whole world. I can’t live without her.” Ryan stood up and headed for the closet to grab his shoes. “I have to stop her.”

  Alex sprung up and grabbed Ryan’s arm. “You can’t leave here and you also can’t tell Faith the truth. It’s too dangerous. Miguel never should have even brought me here.”

  “I can’t just let them hurt her.”

  “Miguel has his people all around her and I will talk to her again.”

  Ryan hugged Alex. “Thank you, thank you for everything.”

  “I love you. Even when you are disgusting.”

  “Hey, at least I’m staying faithful and not banging my nurses.”

  “True, very true. I’m proud of you.” Alex smiled.

  “I really do love her.”

  “I know you do.”

  “I’m really tired now. I think I should rest.”

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, I’ve just been very tired the last two days. I guess because the doctor said I could do more so I’ve been walking around and stuff.”

  “Yeah, I saw that and stuff.”

  Ryan laughed as he got into bed. Alex kissed him on his forehead. “I love you. Sleep well.”

  “Keep me posted about Faith.”

  “I will.”

  “Love you, Alex.” Ryan closed his eyes.

  Alex’s heart broke for her brother and Faith. She just hoped that one day soon they would be back together again.

  “Lacey called me and said that you needed to see me ASAP.”

  Miguel looked up from his desk at Miles. “Come in and sit down.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Ryan’s not dead.”

  Miles stared at Miguel for a minute as he processed what Miguel said. “And you’ve know this all along?”

  Miguel looked down. “I have. In fact, I’m the one who orchestrated his death.”

  “Clearly you didn’t trust me when this all went down so why are you telling me now?”

  “Miles, it was never about trust. It was about protecting you, Eden and Cruz.”

  “Are we out of danger now?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Then like I asked, why are you telling me now?”

  “Because I don’t have a choice. I don’t trust anyone but you and Dane.”

  “So let me guess…Dane’s known all along and now that he’s leaving you need me?”

  “My intention was to leave you out of this. To keep you all safe.”

  “Yeah sure. So what do you need?”

  Miguel could see that Miles was very u
pset with him even though he knew that deep down Miles understood his reasoning.

  “Dane will meet up with you before he leaves tonight and go over everything.”

  “Ok.” Miles stood up to leave.

  “Miles, I really wanted to tell you.”

  “Yeah, I get it.”

  “I’ll call Dane and let him know we spoke.”

  Miles didn’t even answer he just walked out.

  Dane opened the car door for Lacey and then extended his hand to her to help her down from his truck.

  “I can get down from here myself, but thank you.”

  “I don’t know how you walk in those things, moreover, climb down from a truck.” Dane looked down at Lacey’s stiletto heels for a moment too long because visions of Lacey with her legs wrapped around him in nothing but her heels ran though his mind.

  “In the beginning it was a bit of a balancing act but now it’s no different than any other shoes.”

  “I’m sure they keep your legs toned.”

  “I don’t know; I’ve never checked them to see if they were toned.” Lacey giggled.

  “We need to change the subject or I’m going to end up on my knees feeling up your legs.” Dane laughed.

  Lacey blushed. The mere thought of Dane feeling up any part of her body made her wet. “Yes, we should then.”

  “I hope you are hungry because the food here is fabulous.”

  “I’ve heard about this place but I’ve never been here before.”

  “Well then I think we should order one of everything and taste test.”

  “And eat until we explode.” Lacey laughed.

  Oh yes, Dane was already feeling like he could explode and it wasn’t from the food.

  Faith opened her door and Cliff was standing there holding a bag of food.

  “Hey.”

  “I thought that maybe we could go over some things and have lunch?”

  “That’s so nice of you to bring lunch.”

  “I can’t think when I’m hungry.”

  Faith took the bag and placed it down on the coffee table. “So what do we have here?” She began unloading the bag. “Cookies.”