by Ali Vali
When he heard Emma take a deep breath he stopped. The joking atmosphere bled from the room, and her trembling lip made him put his plate down. Emma and Hannah hadn’t been here for his birthday last year. “I just had dinner with Mom then, but this year it’ll be better with you and Hannah here.”
“That sounds great,” Emma said, her voice cracking on the last word.
“You’re coming, right?” Hayden asked Emma.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
“Then stop feeling bad.” He moved closer to her and put his arms around her. “Of course the wet T-shirt contest and beer bash would go a long way to cure my bruised emotions.”
“Go do your homework, and I’ll think about getting you a pony for your past trauma.” Emma held him tighter before letting go. “Thanks,” she whispered into his ear, her voice still sounding raw with emotion.
“You’re my mom, and I love you,” he said before kissing her cheek. Hayden took his snack and books and left to go upstairs.
Emma stared at the door he’d walked out of, wiping her face before she turned back to Cain and Hannah. When she did, Hannah was nestled in Cain’s arms eating her third cookie of the afternoon. It was useless to fuss since she didn’t have a chance in hell of changing Cain’s attitude toward their children. After Emma and Hannah had moved in, it didn’t take her long to see that, as ruthless as Cain was on the streets, she was equally wrapped around Hannah’s little finger at home. Hannah always went to Cain first when she wanted something.
“I’d tell you something about spoiling your kids, mobster. But you did such a great job the first time around, I don’t think I could pull it off,” she told Cain.
Carmen, their housekeeper who’d moved with them to Jarvis’s, came in and took Hannah, shaking her head when she saw the cookie.
Since the kids were gone, Emma fell against Cain and enjoyed the way Cain was running her fingers through her hair. “Maybe I’m pregnant already, since I’m an emotional wreck.”
“You just need a nap before tonight.”
“I spent most of the day napping, thanks to you.”
Cain scooped her off her feet. “And thanks to me that’s what you’ll be doing this afternoon as well.” She started for their room. “I’m done with meetings for today, we’ve been to the cemetery, and all we have left is a party tonight. Let’s enjoy the quiet while we still can, before things heat up again.”
“Bite your tongue, baby. No more hot times for you for a long time to come.”
“I’d rather suck on something than bite, and please tell me there’s more than my share of hot times in my future.”
“That’s a given, as long as they center around me.”
When they closed the door to the bedroom, Emma pointed Cain to the chair near the window instead of the bed. She was in the mood to be held. “How’d it go today?”
“Good. This casino deal is a great opportunity for us and gives us a better advantage in the future.”
Emma nestled herself into Cain’s lap and rested her head on her shoulder. “How so?” These talks were becoming more common as she tried to understand Cain’s world better. After all, it would be her son’s future, and she was through being sheltered.
“To be strong takes more than just good leadership—it takes money. The more money we make, the bigger the wall I can erect around us when it comes to scum like Bracato,” Cain said as her hand rested on Emma’s abdomen.
“Big Gino’s not our concern anymore, baby.”
“There’s always someone just like him ready to fill the void.”
Cain stopped when she heard Hannah’s laughter as she ran down the hall. Carmen had obviously caught her before she reached their door.
“I plan to beef up our muscle so we become the eight-hundred pound gorilla in the room. Our enemies can still pick a fight if they want to, but they’ll have to live with the consequences.”
Emma ran her hand up Cain’s arm and paused behind her neck. She was almost through asking questions and wanted to begin more pleasurable business ventures. They kissed until her nipples tightened at the way Cain’s tongue pushed into her mouth. “And you trust Remi and Ramon enough to get this done?”
“It won’t be long before Ramon takes a more advisory role in their business. He’s earned it, and like me, he knows Remi’s ready. I trust her since we want mostly the same things.” Emma started to unbutton Cain’s shirt and slipped her hand inside.
“What things?” Emma asked.
“To take care of our families and exterminate the vermin when necessary. Remi and I may come from different places, but we’re alike in our thinking and in our positions. I grew up with her, Mano, and Vinny, so it’s not exactly a new friendship, but our main alliance will be with Remi.
“What about tonight?”
“Tonight she’ll introduce the world to the new owners of Gemini Studios. The main studio production will stay in California, but the management offices will be here. With the incentives the state’s offering to film in New Orleans, we’ve become Hollywood South. It’s the perfect vehicle for us to launder money so it’s a good investment.”
Emma could tell their talk was almost over, because Cain was breathing differently under her wandering hand. “Has anyone figured out who owns the other forty-nine percent?”
“Not yet.” Cain laughed. “When they do they’ll just think your father’s finally decided to spend some of that milk money he’s been hoarding.”
“You’re a riot, mobster,” Emma said as she pinched Cain’s nipple. “Anything else we need to talk about?”
“I see a long discussion about how many orgasms you’ll have before we need to dress for tonight.”
“What are the odds it’s more than one?”
“Let’s just say that’s the safest bet you’ll ever lay,” Cain said as her hand went down the front of Emma’s jeans. Emma stiffened when Cain stroked her clitoris firmly. “See, there’s one already.” Cain chuckled.
*
“Mano, cut the third degree. I met the woman on the way back from Florida and that’s it. I don’t have time for anyone in my life right now, thanks to all we have going on.” She finished pouring the last drink and handed it to him. “I’m giving this venture a year or two. That’s how long it’ll take to turn Gemini around and hand it off to someone we trust, or sell it.”
“In life anything’s possible, Remi. You just have to want it bad enough.”
Remi puffed her cigar and for some reason thought of Dallas Montgomery and how impossibly blue her eyes were. “Maybe, but I’m not looking for anything here. I’m just curious.”
She picked up the tray and headed out to her parents’ patio to join the rest of the group. When she saw Molly, Lisa, and Mano’s wife Sylvia sitting together with an empty space for her, she almost turned around.
“Come sit by us, lover,” Lisa said.
“I don’t know, who’ll protect my virtue?” Remi asked. Her brother as well as her partners knew their women were safe from Remi’s considerable charm, but the girls liked to exercise her wit when they had the chance.
Molly picked up one of Remi’s hands and asked, “How are you going to win the hand of the fair Dallas?”
Remi squeezed Molly’s hand and said, “Back off, I mean it. You all leave that poor woman alone. Dealing with Dick must be a full-time job, and we won’t add to her load.”
“Remi, starting tonight you’ll be in the limelight more. It’ll affect your reputation with the ladies if you show up at places alone. You don’t want people to think you’ve lost your touch, do you?” Sylvia wheedled.
“Who said I’m going anywhere alone? Thanks for your concern, though.”
As if on cue all the wives said, “Well, who is it?”
Loving the game and being a master of patience, Remi smiled, then got up and walked to her open briefcase. After she pulled out a local magazine, an issue dealing with a new line of swimwear, she held it up.
Dwayne’s voice rose to a s
cary octave when he looked at the woman on the cover. “Get the fuck out of here. You’re taking Susan Wilkins to this thing tonight?”
“I met her a month ago on one of my visits to the new studio offices. The magazine was using the pool on the roof to shoot the December cover. Juno, Simon, and I were taking a little tour and stopped to watch. During one of the breaks she came over and introduced herself. She’s really a nice girl, so I called and asked if she wanted to go with me tonight.” Remi smiled at the open-mouthed men and took a sip of her beer.
“Did she mention any friends?” Steve asked, looking at the beautiful African-American model on the cover. He stopped asking any further stupid questions when Lisa delivered a blow to his head.
“What’s Dallas going to think when you show up with bikini girl?” Molly asked.
“I’m not seeing Dallas, so why does it matter?” Remi dropped the magazine and took her seat. “I’m not kidding—no matchmaking from you three.”
“Of course not,” Lisa said.
“We wouldn’t dream of it,” Molly followed.
“You have our word,” Sylvia finished.
“I’ve seen cobras look more sincere,” Remi said. “I’d think you’d have your hands full dealing with these fools.” She pointed at the guys and laughed as all three raised their middle fingers in salute. “Come on, let’s get this over with, and remember, no comments or interviews for the press. We don’t need to become front-page news and give the feds an unfair advantage.”
Chapter Eight
“You need to wear the green Vera Wang tonight. You know, the one with the low-cut back,” Bob said, rummaging through Dallas’s closet. She’d passed on the room at the Piquant for the night, just wanting to go home. “We need the upper hand with this lowlife, and from the way those bitches waxed poetic about him, he seems like the type who thinks with his dick.”
Hearing dick reminded Dallas of their flight home, and she wondered when she would see her new friend again. She wasn’t looking forward to the party tonight to honor the new studio head, but future contract negotiations guaranteed her attendance. “I don’t really care what I’m wearing. Get out of here so I can get ready.”
“Watch your tone.”
She closed the door to the bathroom and locked it, to avoid another argument. The hot water felt good as she took her time, wanting to relax before the command performance. When she put on her robe, she remembered that not so long ago an existence like this, even with Bob in it, was well beyond her reach.
Small bit parts had paid off eventually and landed her the role costarring with Jenny in a movie about two female detectives who uncover a ring of cops who hire themselves out as killers. The sequel was in the works, but in this business nothing was certain, and the public soon forgot you if you didn’t work steadily.
The only weight dragging Dallas down was Bob, but the opportunist wasn’t going anywhere, considering the information he constantly held over her. Her career gave her the kind of attention she needed to be successful, but it also kept her under his thumb, and she had no one to turn to. It didn’t matter, though; she wasn’t about to walk away and lose the best way she had to take care of her responsibilities. To keep her secrets buried, Dallas would suffer whatever Bob wanted to dish out.
Katie Lynn and Sue Lee Moores from Sparta, Tennessee were long dead, and Dallas had no desire to dredge them up. She wasn’t ashamed of what she’d had to do for herself and her sister Sue Lee to survive. But having her brief porn career and the rest of what Bob had on her come out now would make her radioactive to Gemini Studios. And if it all surfaced, she faced another kind of spotlight that could have vastly different consequences.
Walking away from Bob was just wishful thinking. As much as she hated him, she wasn’t willing to give up the lucrative career that kept Sue Lee, now Kristen Montgomery, a sophomore at the private school up North that Dallas had enrolled her in, safe. Their father’s perversions would never touch Kristen’s life the way they had tormented Dallas’s.
After their mother had died, Dallas had done her best to shelter Kristen from the sick appetites of Johnny Moores and his equally sick circle of friends. One night after he’d finished with her and headed down the hill drinking with his friends, Dallas had packed a small bag, the coffee can of cash Johnny kept on the refrigerator, and taken off with a then fourteen-year-old Sue Lee. It’s what had happened when they ran into their father’s friend Timothy Pritchard that created the black cloud that would follow her forever.
They hitchhiked to California, and when the money for food had long run out, Katie Lynn Moores started her film career as Sweet China. The whole process had disgusted her, but it was no worse than what her father had done to her.
On the set of her first film, a fire had started in her to try for something better than what her father and his friends had used her for. No matter what it took, Dallas didn’t want to spend the rest of her life on her back letting others take what they wanted whether she wanted to give it to them or not. Dallas and Kristen Montgomery were born that day, and they started running from a past that Bob could reveal with one phone call. He was a fellow Tennessean and had started his porn-film career as a cameraman who often bragged he could do wonders for your career if you would spend some time alone with him “rehearsing” for the next shoot.
Dallas put the morose memories back in their cage for the night and set her mind to what came next. After drying her hair and putting on a little makeup, she slipped into a different dress from the one lying on the bed. “God, I wish they’d make these things so that every so often you could actually put on underwear.” Dallas checked the fit in the closet-door mirror, finding it satisfactory. She slipped on a pair of black pumps, and with one last glance in the mirror she was ready to face the evening.
*
“You’re early,” Shelby Philips said, making her remark sound like an accusation.
“From where I’m standing I’d have to say I’m late,” Muriel said.
“How do you figure?”
“Two minutes earlier and I would’ve caught you in the shower. The robe and wet hair mean I’m late.” She took a step back and nodded in the direction of the car. “I can come back if you want.”
“That doesn’t sound like the cocky Muriel Casey I know. Running away doesn’t suit you.”
“True, but I’ve never dated a girl who carries handcuffs as part of her job description,” Muriel said, taking another step back. The space gave her the opportunity to really admire Shelby.
“Just my luck.” The door creaked as Shelby leaned against it. “I finally decide to take a walk on the dark side and date the bad girl, and she turns out to be a Girl Scout.”
Muriel surged forward and grabbed Shelby by the waist, lifted her off her feet, and slammed the door closed with her hip. She made Shelby stop laughing by kissing her with so much passion that she moaned and pulled Muriel’s hair. “Girl Scout, huh?”
“Let’s say you’re making a good comeback.”
“Are you encouraging me to be bad?” She laughed when Shelby bit down on her neck. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Their next kiss was slower, and Muriel walked to the sofa and sat down with Shelby still in her arms. “This is going to look bad on your performance review at work.”
“My fallback is that you aren’t a criminal. You aren’t, are you?”
“Like you said before, I’m a regular Girl Scout.”
“Uh-huh.” Shelby caught Muriel’s hand inside her robe. “I don’t think there’s a badge for this.”
“Sure there is. You weren’t looking in the right manuals. A little more research and you’d have found all the interesting badge requirements.” Muriel moved her hand up and cupped Shelby’s right breast.
“I think you just found something interesting.”
“Nah, just checking for bugs,” Muriel teased as she moved her other hand under the robe so Shelby’s left breast wouldn’t feel neglected. “Is that a pair of listening devices or are yo
u just happy to see me?” Muriel asked as she pinched Shelby’s nipples.
“If you don’t stop trying to be funny, I’m going to make you drive around the block until it’s time to go.” Shelby put her knees on the sofa and pulled herself up until she could strip the robe off. “Want to prove to me that you missed me, since I haven’t seen you in days.”
“I did miss you, but it feels like you’re never very far away,” Muriel said, referring to the constant surveillance.
“No business, not now.” Shelby pulled Muriel’s bow tie off and worked her way down the studs of her pleated shirt until she reached the cummerbund. “Right now it’s just you and me.” She threw the long piece of silk behind her and unfastened the pants. “Take your own advice.”
When Shelby pinched her clitoris between her fingers and tugged, Muriel let out a stream of air. “What…ah.” Shelby tugged again. “What advice?”
“For a little while let’s forget the three letters that represent my job, and let’s forget your last name. All I want to think about is you lying over me making love to me.”
Muriel’s pants pooled around her ankles when she stood up, and she laughed when Shelby took the time to fold them over a chair before leading her to the bedroom. Coots, Shelby’s cat, stretched before jumping off the bed and pranced down the hall after weaving through Muriel’s legs.
“Did you really miss me?” Shelby asked.
“I did,” Muriel said, letting Shelby take the lead for the moment and lying on her back so Shelby could sit on her. Shelby was so turned on, Muriel felt her stomach getting wet. “How about you?”
“Can’t you tell?”
“I’d rather you showed me,” Muriel said.
Shelby never lost eye contact as she positioned herself, then reached down and spread herself open. She brought her hand up and offered Muriel her wet fingers before reaching down again and repeating the action with Muriel. She started slowly pumping her hips, and Muriel jerked whenever Shelby’s hard clitoris passed over hers.