‘You’re too young.’
Her sudden statement made me pull back and look into her gaze. Her eyes were dark, almost black. Too young? I was no younger than she was. How dare she make such a sweeping assumption?
‘Age is just a number. Experience is…’ I let my sentence trail off as my finger traced a line down her arm. Her skin was soft and tanned. Was she naturally tanned or did she get a spray? Not that it mattered. As long as she was naked under me for the next couple of hours, I didn’t care.
‘You think you’re experienced? You lost a lot of money last night, I hear.’ She downed her drink and wrapped her hand around her small bag.
‘Who are you?’
What did she want with me? She had breezed into my life suddenly, knowing my business. I had never seen her before, yet something told me that she knew who I was. Earlier in the day, she had called me on the train. Was she a stalker? The thought made me smile. She paused in her manoeuvre from the stool.
‘Why are you smiling?’
Her confidence faltered as I shrugged. Her shoulders came up and her back straightened.
‘I have a warning for you. If you don’t get the money soon, he’ll come for you.’
Ah. It clicked into place. She was either a whore or the woman of my enemy. She was titillating but knowing who she was put me off.
‘You don’t quite fit the part,’ I replied.
She stalled, about to turn away from me. Her head turned slightly. I couldn’t see her eyes. ‘Trust me. I fit the part. I make sure I do.’
She walked away. Her hair swung gently as she moved. Her arse was tight in the low backed dress. I made out a tribal tattoo on the small of her back. She was one sexy woman. One woman that I was not going to get involved with.
‘She bothering you?’
I tore my gaze away from her beautiful back to clash with a pair of heavily made up blue eyes.
‘Not at all. I was just leaving. Would you like to join me?’
Her giggle confirmed her answer. I had been with her before. I usually moved onto something more exciting but I needed to forget about my threatening goddess. She was right. I was too young. I probably couldn’t handle her. The woman in front of me, however, she would take me home and adore me. That’s what I needed.
‘Let’s go, then.’
Letting her hang off my arm, I led her outside. The cool air hit us as the autumn wind swelled. I opened my arms to feel the breeze rush around me. The woman I was with frowned when I flicked my finger, causing the wind to whip up her dress. She squealed, trying to hold her dress down.
‘Leave us!’
The voice sent a chill up my spine. The soft lilt was unmistakable. My new date was about to refuse, but the powerful woman stepped from the shadows, holding a gun.
‘If you don’t leave, I will shoot you.’
We had walked a little way from the casino. I looked back to see if there was a bouncer outside.
‘Don’t even think it, Gemini.’
My attention came back to her. Hearing her say my name did something to me. She had uttered it softly, causing my pulse to race. I glanced at my date for the evening and gestured for her to leave.
‘Don’t think about telling anyone or I’ll kill him.’ Her eyes were cold as she glared at my partner.
She nodded quickly, disappearing in the opposite direction to the casino.
‘What do you want?’
The sexual friction she caused wasn’t enough to blind me to the gun in her hand.
‘I…’ Her arms shook.
The movement caught my attention. She couldn’t speak. Her gaze was sharp as she watched me. Her forehead creased as I took a step forward. Wrapping my hand around the gun, I pulled it from her grip. ‘Not as powerful as you’d like to imagine, are you?’
‘Don’t underestimate me.’ She licked her lips and stepped back into the shadows.
I followed, bringing myself so close to her that she bumped into the wall. Her breath heaved in and out of her as I traced my hand down her cheek. Her whole body shook. I placed a hand on the wall beside her head.
‘What do you want from me?’ I whispered.
Her head tilted back. My eyes traced the muscles of her throat as she swallowed. I lowered my head slowly, not taking my gaze from hers.
‘He wants you dead.’
An image of Nick entered my mind. It was unbidden, yet it set my teeth on edge. Was the man from the night before working for my archenemy?
‘And why would he want that? I’m getting him his money.’
She shook her head. Her hair brushed my hand where it rested near her neck. Her chest rose and fell as I pulled back slightly.
‘He’s nasty. He’s controlled by someone else.’ Did she work for Nick? The hand that had been caressing her cheek clenched into a fist as I stepped away from her. She slumped against the wall, using her hands to steady herself.
‘Why are you here?’ I couldn’t tell whether she was in league with them or if she was warning me for my own good. I ran a hand over my hair. It was still in good shape. ‘Do you work for my enemy?’
Her hand landed on my sleeve. Perfectly manicured fingers gripped the grey material. ‘I don’t work for anyone. All I know is that he wants you dead.’
I was torn between shaking her off and pulling her into my arms. She was one sexy lady. I wasn’t prepared to play with fire. She obviously worked for Liam, the man that I owed the money to.
‘What are you doing here? Are you threatening me?’
She shook her head quickly, letting go of my arm. ‘I’m a prisoner,’ she whispered.
I spun away from her, unsure what to do. Talking with the enemy was not a good idea. She could be stalling as she waited for someone to come.
‘I’m sorry, I have to go.’
She moved away. I turned back towards her but she was running down the street with her heels in her hand. She had slipped them off when I moved away. I watched her go. There was no point in chasing. I would see her again.
Who was she? What did she mean she was a prisoner?
I clenched my hand, remembering the soft feel of her skin against my palm. I was confused. Still no wiser as to who she was and what she wanted with me. She had wanted me. I could tell. She was the enemy. For the first time in my life, I understood Cancer. She was in love with what she couldn’t have. And now, it looked like I was craving a piece of what I shouldn’t want.
Chapter Five
The cashpoint flashed at me. Two grand. I had two thousand pounds in my personal account.
‘Hurry up, mate,’ Leo shouted from the car.
The van waited by the curb. Music blasted from the windows as the people inside chattered.
‘Just wait!’ I snapped back.
‘Oooooh, handbag!’ Leo sang.
I pulled my card from the machine and put another one in. The account I checked had another couple of thousand pounds. Could I take it? The others would kill me. It was the housekeeping account.
‘Gemini, did you bring any food?’ Cancer called out of the window.
I ignored her, deciding that they were irritating enough to give me a reason to steal the money. I hit the cancel button and joined them at the window of the van.
‘Oi, you lot!’ The shout came from up the street. Aries jogged towards us. He had been staying at mother’s with Natalie for the past few days.
‘We need to go,’ Virgo said, gesturing for me to get back in the vehicle.
It was an old post office van that had been converted. It had six seats, meaning that we couldn’t all go out at once. When the twelve of us were together, we looked conspicuous anyway. It was too risky.
‘What are you doing?’ Aries huffed when he reached us.
The sun had decided to make an Indian summer appearance. Like the true British people we were, we had decided to take advantage of it.
‘We’re going to the beach,’ Leo announced, smacking the side of the door.
I climbed back in b
efore they could pull off without me. I needed to get away from London for the day.
Aries opened his mouth but Leo held up his hand. ‘No, you’re not coming, lover boy. You’ve been so busy with your bird, you’ve forgotten about us.’
He proceeded to pretend to flick his hair and started to wind up the window.
Aries put his hand in and grabbed hold of his blond spikes.
‘Ouch! Don’t be such a bitch,’ Leo said in a high pitched voice.
The window wound down again so Aries let go.
‘How dare you take time out without me? I’m the beauty of this operation. You need me to come to the beach to show off my sexy body.’
I laughed as Leo flipped Aries his middle finger and started the engine. His tattooed arm bulged as he flexed it and kissed his bicep. All the while smirking at Aries out the window.
‘I’m beauty enough for the both of us,’ he declared.
Virgo punched him on the other arm. She was a skinny thing with small features. Her long straight hair was thin and fell to her shoulders.
‘Let’s go. Aries, jump in if you can,’ she ordered.
I smiled as the man who liked to call himself a leader stepped back. ‘Nah. I don’t want to go with you, anyway. My bird is much better looking than any of you.’
We laughed as we waved to our brother and Leo drove us out of London.
‘I had an interesting experience last night,’ I called.
I wasn’t sure why I was going to tell them but it felt like the right thing to do. Leo and Virgo were up front. I was sitting next to Cancer in the middle. Taurus and Kerry sat in the back.
‘What was that, then?’ Virgo asked, turning the music down.
‘Hey!’ Leo moaned.
Virgo glared at him. ‘You can have it back up in a minute. Right now, we’re listening to Gemini.’
He stuck out his bottom lip, making eye contact with me in the rear view mirror. The grin on his face contradicted his childish behaviour.
‘A beautiful woman held me up by gunpoint.’
They stared at me, their mouths hanging open.
‘Was it some sort of sex game?’ Cancer said.
Leo chuckled as Virgo tutted, shaking her head at our sister.
‘She probably saw him in his suit and thought he was rich. She must have realised he was a loser, because he’s still alive,’ Taurus called from the back.
I listened to the banter that started between my siblings. Each one of us had different biological parents, yet we had one thing that bonded us together. A purpose.
‘I think she worked for Nick.’
They stopped talking when my voice rose above theirs.
‘You had sex with someone who works for Nick?’ Virgo avoided looking in Cancer’s direction as she spoke to me over her shoulder.
‘I didn’t say anything about having sex. We were outside the casino.’
Why did they assume that all I did was sleep around? It was a stupid question to ask myself. I was a bit of a player but it came with the territory. Lifestyle of the rich and famous. Not that I was rich or famous. Gambling attracted a lot of women that were after the type of lifestyle that a professional could offer.
‘Anyway. She was…’ I let my sentence trail off. I couldn’t tell them about the man I had lost a load of money to.
‘Yes?’ Virgo said, spinning in her seat to look at me.
‘She was with another player. She said that he wanted to kill me. At first, I thought she meant Nick but I think she was talking about the other player-’
‘Why would another player want to kill you?’
Virgo’s question made me swallow. ‘Well, that’s what I thought. I wondered if she meant Nick instead.’
I wasn’t making much sense, even to myself.
‘We are certainly pawns in his little games. Taurus, you know him quite well. Would he send a woman to kill Gemini?’ Virgo asked.
I glanced at the couple in the back. Taurus shook his head. ‘Nah. I don’t think he would.’
I waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t. He looked at me evenly.
‘Why didn’t she shoot you?’ Virgo said.
Settling back in my seat, I watched the traffic on the motorway. I wasn’t sure of the answer. She’d had the opportunity to pull the trigger but something had stopped her.
‘She was scared.’
As the words left my lips, I realised they were true. She pretended to be a seductress. A woman that knew what she wanted. The shake of her hand as she aimed the gun at me told me something different.
‘Well, it sounds like a fun night out.’ Taurus’ dry statement made me shake my head.
‘It would have scared the crap out of me if someone held a gun to me,’ Cancer said, coming to my defence.
I tuned them out as they started to discuss the subject of Nick. Taurus had learnt a lot about this character but there was still a lot we didn’t know.
My phone rang. I glanced down to see Aries’ number showing. ‘Quiet!’ I pressed the answer button and put Aries on speaker.
‘Missing us already, bruv?’ Leo shouted.
‘Take me off loudspeaker, Gemini.’ Aries’ tone was sharp.
The others raised their eyebrows as I did as I was told. I bristled at his controlling ways. I was slowly getting used to it. It didn’t make it any easier to deal with, though.
‘What do you want?’
We had only left him an hour ago. He always had to be on someone’s case.
‘Mother just rang. Nick has asked her to meet him so they can talk. I don’t like it. The meeting is tomorrow. He’s requested that she goes to a hotel bar. I want you to go and watch out for him.’
His order was evident in his tone.
‘Is she going to go?’ I heard Natalie speaking to Aries in the background. The people in the car were surprisingly quiet.
‘Of course not. She wouldn’t have let me know if she was going.’
I let my breath out. ‘What time?’
Aries chuckled. I rolled my eyes as Natalie giggled in the background.
‘Ten in the evening.’
I would have to do some online gambling instead of going out. I rarely ventured online because I got sucked in for days at a time. I had found my sweet spot at the tables. That way, I would get thrown out when I had exhausted all the money I had. Not that I had lost much before my recent fall.
‘Okay, text me the address. I might end up staying in Brighton.’
The others started muttering between themselves.
‘Don’t go losing your money, will you? We need to plan a holiday.’ Aries laughed.
The cringe that threatened was reigned in before it could register on my face. If only he knew how close he was to revealing my predicament. And here I was, going for a day out at the beach.
‘I can’t see us on a holiday somehow.’
‘Funnier things have happened. See you later.’
The phone went dead. I wiped my sweaty palms on my suit. I liked being included in the mission. We needed to get on top of Nick and his men.
The woman from the night before came into my mind. She had been extraordinary. Something was wrong with her, though. She was hiding something. Her haunted eyes reminded me of something that I couldn’t put my finger on.
‘What did he want?’ Taurus said.
I debated keeping the mission to myself. Would it really help us if we knew everything?
‘Nick’s been in contact with mother.’
‘How?’ Cancer butted in.
It was a good question. Mother was in a safe place. She had a new phone number and there was no one in touch with Nick that…
‘Where’s Matt?’ I asked Cancer.
In my worry about finding money, I had forgotten about Cancers’ man. He had completely slipped my mind for almost a whole week.
Virgo spun in her seat. Leo looked in his rear view mirror, which made him swerve the car.
‘Careful, Leo!’ Virgo snapped.
&nb
sp; Cancer wrung her hands together. She could feel all eyes on her. Scrutinizing her behaviour with a married man. Not that she had done anything with him as far as I was aware.
‘Aries has put him in another flat. I think he might be-’
‘Using him to communicate with Nick?’ Realisation dawned as Cancer nodded her agreement. Her eyes misted up. What was wrong with her? Why was she so worried about the man?
‘How can we afford to house him? I thought Nick threatened to kill Matt,’ Taurus said.
‘He did,’ Cancer said, ignoring the first question. ‘When Aries told Matt to let Nick know that he was under the Zodiac’s protection, he agreed to communicate.’
I shook my head. ‘Why haven’t we been told?’
When Aries had blown his legs off, I had stepped up to help rescue our father. Ever since we had achieved our goal, it seemed I had been left out.
‘We tried to tell you,’ Leo spoke at last. ‘But you’re so wrapped up in yourself, you fail to see what’s directly in front of you.’
His words made me stiffen. He was wrong. I wasn’t self-centred, I was trying to stop us from being bankrupt. I may have caused the problem by losing money but my intentions had been good.
The van was silent. Everybody obviously agreed with Leo. They thought that I only cared about myself? Well, if that was the case, I would let them get on with it. I just needed to sort out my cash flow first.
Chapter Six
I sent the text. My local contact would know if there were any games in Brighton that evening. The sun was fading fast. We had laughed as we’d pushed the girls into the cold sea. They had squeaked and hit us, feigning feminine sensibilities.
‘Are you staying down here?’ Leo asked. His guitar hung over his shoulder as we packed up the van. The picnic basket was sufficiently empty after our lunch session on the pebbles.
‘I don’t-’ My phone beeped, interrupting my answer. ‘Yes, there’s a game.’
Leo closed the back door and put a hand on my shoulder. Tattoos covered his arm, right up to his sleeveless T-shirt. Like Aries and Scorpio, he was a couple of inches taller than me. My six-foot height was a blessing when I wasn’t with them but I looked short when we were all out.
Gemini: Book 4 in a Young Adult Paranormal Romance Series (The Zodiac Twin Flame Series) Page 3