by Nicole Fox
King and I left quickly after that, and I knew I wasn’t the only one who breathed a sigh of relief once we were clear of the building. It had been a long night, and I was more than ready to go home.
“So, what did Romano talk to you about?” I asked King, while we were walking down the street.
“He wanted to give me a proposition,” King replied hesitantly. The word ‘proposition’ immediately set me on edge. That could mean anything.
“A proposition?” I asked at last. It seemed very dubious to me. I didn’t even know what it was, and I was already hoping that King hadn’t agreed. I had a strong feeling that all that would come out of it was trouble and danger, and we’d had enough of that to last a long while. I trusted King’s decision making, especially since he was the calm and rational one, but a little part of me was still worried about how Romano might have manipulated him. A deal with the devil was not something we needed, now or ever, and I prayed that I was mistaken in my assumption.
“He told me that I either had to kill Rossi and take over his business, or he’d give the order for Rossi to kill me.” The words came out in a rush, and it took a moment for me to comprehend what King had just said.
“What?” I screeched in outrage. “You can’t be serious. One option will land you in prison, and the other means that you’ll die? What kind of proposition is that?” This was crazier than anything I’d ever imagined Romano might propose.
“A smart one. He’ll either get rid of Rossi, or get rid of me. Either way, he wins.”
Yes, it was a smart proposition, but that didn’t mean it was in any way good for us. Romano had lived up to my expectations of him, being just as sly and cunning as I predicted. But, in saying that, I never expected he would ask King to murder someone. That wasn’t a small task. Murder was a big ask for anyone, and Romano had just thrown it out there, like King would just say yes and get on with his life.
But what was the other option? Letting King die? That wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t as if I even cared about Rossi’s life, but killing him was still a bit of a stretch. I didn’t know what it would mean, if I was okay with King doing something like that, but if it was a choice between King living and dying, I knew which one I would go with. King was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I had no idea what he should do.
“Did you give him an answer?” I asked hesitantly, trying not to sound like I expected him to say either option. Of course, I had my opinions on it, but I didn’t want to impose them on him—not until I knew what he was thinking about doing.
“I told him I’d think about it.”
I almost groaned at his answer. King was being purposefully vague, and I wondered what was going through his head. Did he feel like he couldn’t tell me? Did he feel like I would judge him, or think any differently of him? I thought we were close enough that he could tell me things like that. Though, I supposed it was a little different when you were discussing someone’s life. Even someone as horrible as Rossi didn’t deserve to die at the whim of a mobster.
Sensing King wanted to move on from it and hoping he felt like he could tell me once he’d decided, I decided to change the subject for now.
“Well, at least that’s over,” I said, attempting to smile over at King.
Just as I spoke the words, I turned my head slightly and noticed a group of men that seemed to jump out of the shadows and surround King and I. Rossi stood amongst them, a maniacal grin on his face. It was as if he knew we had been talking about him and had appeared to enforce his revenge. The phrase ‘speak of the devil’ came to mind, but so did the word, ‘run!’
Shit. What had we landed ourselves in?
One of the masked men stepped forward, and King immediately lunged for him, fighting off his coming attack. Their forearms connected as they fought each other, punching, dodging, and blocking the other’s blows. My first thought was that King couldn’t possibly take on so many men by himself, especially after the fight he had just had. Surprisingly, though, none of the other men were attacking yet. It was just the first man, and even he seemed like he wasn’t entirely committed.
“King, wait. Stop!” one of the men shouted. I stifled my surprise at his words, the words that I, myself, was just about to utter. How did the man know King? And why was he trying to get him to stop? It could have been a trap or a trick of some sort, but I seriously doubted it, especially given the look of anger on Rossi’s face,
The man who was fighting stepped back quickly to lift off his mask, and King stopped his attack almost instantly, as if he recognized him.
“Don? Seriously?”
Apparently, he did recognize him, but I was still very much confused at the situation, and King was frozen in a mixture of shock and distress.
“King, who are they?” I asked quietly, though evidently not quietly enough, since it was Rossi who answered.
“Oh, Christy, don’t you know?” The crazy gleam in his eyes made me want to shout out that I didn’t want to know, especially not from him. “This is King’s old crew. Didn’t he ever tell you how he’s a wanted man?”
I looked at King, confused and unsure if I believed it. It didn’t seem like it was true, from what I knew of King. After all, Rossi was crazy and probably just wanted me to turn against King. Little did he know that I wouldn’t be falling for any his tricks that easily. A small voice in my head started whispering that it didn’t matter, even if it was true, and I knew that voice was right. Rossi could have turned up and said that King was a murderer, and I would have been hard-pressed to hate him for it. Boy, was I in trouble.
“King?” I asked, deciding to ignore Rossi and ask King, himself, if it was true.
King didn’t meet my eyes for a moment, but when he did, it was a look of such utter dejection that I wanted to run into his arms and tell him that I would be okay. I held myself back, though, wanting to see how it would play out. Instead, I turned to look at Rossi, a frown on my face.
“That’s right,” Rossi continued, seeming to enjoy the moment more as I kept my distance from King. “Your lover is a wanted man, a dirty criminal–”
“What do you want, Rossi?” King growled, interrupting him. I was thankful he had, because I was close to lunging for Rossi’s throat. How dare he say those things about King? He still had a mock look of innocence on his face, and it made me want to scratch it off him.
“Me? Why would you think I wanted anything at all? Consider this merely a friendly warning from a concerned citizen. I hear an arrest will be made soon.”
An arrest? This couldn’t be going where I thought it was going. No way would Rossi be able to do that.
“For what?” I asked, almost expecting to hear someone say that it was a mistake, and that King would be fine.
“Well when I asked King’s old friends if they wanted to help me out, they were all too willing. They framed him for the robbery and for stealing your money, Christy. The police will be onto him any day now.”
Shit. My confusion quickly turned to horror, and I neared King quickly, placing a hand on his arm. Why was Rossi doing this? Why did he want to ruin King’s life? I felt for King. His crew had just stabbed him in the back. And for what? A paycheck? I didn’t get it at all.
“Why are you still here,” I turned on Rossi. “Haven’t you done enough?” A haze of anger clouded my vision as I stared him down, and all I wanted to do was run up to him and punch him in the face, so that he had to pay for what he’d done. I was beginning to revise my earlier thoughts about not even Rossi deserving to die.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Rossi replied with a laugh.
“Just leave!” I yelled.
I didn’t think it was my emotion that finally got them to leave, nor was it my raised voice or threats of harm. It probably had less to do with me and more to do with King’s lack of response. Or, perhaps, it was the knowledge that there was nothing we could really do to stop them.
Either way, they left us behind soon enough, with some last departing words
. “Don’t worry, Christy. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around. King on the other hand…” Rossi’s cackle seemed to ring in the air long after he left, but I ignored it, moving to King and checking to see if he was all right.
“Are you okay?” I asked softly, clutching one of his hands firmly in mine.
King didn’t answer me, his face displaying his emotions like an open book. He looked betrayed, broken, and helpless, things that I would never have associated with him. This couldn’t happen. I couldn’t let him sink so low. I wouldn’t let him.
More than that, though, I was terrified. What would I do without King by my side? I couldn’t do anything on my own anymore—not when I was so used to having him at my back. King had quickly become my rock, and I was not willing to give him up.
If King was gone, I didn’t think I’d be capable of doing anything I’d dreamed of doing anymore. How could I even consider opening up a club without him at my side? I couldn’t think about doing something like that, when all I would have were the tainted memories of King and I.
No, I wouldn’t let him go to prison. I wouldn’t let him leave me. There had to be something that could be done.
“King, we’ll figure something out. It’s okay.”
King remained silent, and I felt my stomach drop. The look on his face wasn’t a good one, and who knew what he was planning. I hoped that he wasn’t going to do something crazy and dangerous, because, at this point, I didn’t know if I could take it.
Chapter Twenty
King
I couldn’t believe it.
I couldn’t believe that Rossi taken things so far, or that my old friends had teamed up with him and betrayed me like they had. I barely even recognized them anymore. They were just people that I used to know.
I couldn’t believe any of what had happened today, and I probably wouldn’t be getting over it any time soon.
Christy had leaned close to me, whispering reassuring words in my ear, but it wasn’t doing any good—not when my whole life seemed to be crumbling around me. Being wanted by the police was no small matter, and it wasn’t something that I could just fix overnight, not with knowing the evidence against me. There was no hope for me, no matter what Christy said.
I wasn’t the type to wallow in my own self-pity, but I could honestly say that there was no way out of my situation. Rossi had well and truly fucked me over, and there wasn’t a single thing I could do about it. The only thing that I could think of wouldn’t really fix the situation, but it would help me, and that was all I could really do now—prolong the inevitable. I knew, without a doubt, that Christy would be thoroughly against it, and that she would try to convince me not to do it, but she wouldn’t be able to sway me. Not this time.
The entire drive to Sky’s house was quiet. Christy sat beside me in uncharacteristic silence, probably not wanting to push me, and for that I was grateful. I, on the other hand, had my mind preoccupied with every single possibility and course of action. When we finally arrived inside, Christy stopped me in my tracks with a hand on my arm.
“King?” she questioned.
“I know what you’re going to say, but it’s not happening,” I said.
“Why not? We can stop him,” she insisted.
“No, Christy. Not this time.” We wouldn’t be able to figure a way out of it this time. If the police caught wind of me, then I’d be going to prison for a long time, for something that I hadn’t even done. All the evidence was against me, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to talk or fight my way out of this, like I had in the past. There was only one thing I could do now.
“What do you mean? We have to do something. You can’t just let yourself be arrested.”
She didn’t understand what I meant, and I hated what I was about to say. There wasn’t even a small part of me that wanted to tell her what I was about to do. I could already predict her reaction clearly in my mind.
“I need to leave town, Christy. It’s the only way.”
Christy frowned up at me, then began nodding her head.
“Okay. We’ll leave then. That’s okay. It’s probably the best idea, until things calm down a bit and then–”
“No, Christy. That’s not what I meant. I need to leave town,” I said again.
“Yes, I know, King. I’ll get my things ready, and we can go–”
“Christy!” I interrupted with a shout, watching her eyes dart around in confusion. “I’m going on my own. I can’t let you come with me,” I said seriously.
She had to understand. I had to make her understand.
“Are you serious, King? How could you say that? We’re in this together. If you have to leave, then I’m coming with you.”
“Christy, I can’t let you do that.”
How could she not understand? I couldn’t let her go on the run with me. We weren’t vacationing somewhere, and we weren’t going to visit a new place. We would be running from the cops. How could she want to be dragged into that? It was one thing to want to stand by me, but this would be ridiculous.
“King, you can’t stop me,” she pleaded. “I won’t let you go that easily.”
Before I knew it, Christy began to stride forward toward me, wrapping her arms around my neck, and pulling my lips down to hers. I knew what she was doing. It wouldn’t work, but I wasn’t going to stop her from seducing me, if that’s what she deemed the best was to convince me. If she wanted to give me something to remember her by, then there wasn’t a single part of me that would even think about complaining.
Instead, I deepened the kiss, intertwining my tongue with hers and biting down on her plump bottom lip. She had her hands on my collar now, moaning into my mouth. I slipped my hand up her thigh and under her skirt, cupping her ass and drawing her tighter against me. Christy and I were wrapped so tightly around each other that I was scared I was going to break her, but I didn’t let go, gripping her tighter to me.
She didn’t even bother leading me to the bedroom, taking me over to the sofa instead, and sitting me down roughly.
“I’m coming with you,” she said as she stepped back, pulling her shirt over her head and revealing her lace bra.
“No, you’re not,” I replied, even as my hands lifted to cup her breasts while she straddled my lap. Our lips connected once more, moving in sync as we lost ourselves in each other. She was grinding on me, rotating her hips with almost hypnotic circular motions.
I wanted her even closer to me, and I knew she thought the same when she slipped my own shirt above my head and pulled herself even higher on my lap.
“I’m coming with you,” she repeated, as I unclasped her bra, letting her bare nipples rub up and down my chest as I tilted her hips to a more comfortable position. My erection was so close to her, only separated by a few layers of easily-discarded clothing. Her skirt and my pants came off next, both in a fumble of fingers and limbs, as we struggled to stay connected.
I didn’t want to leave her for a moment, not now when I needed to connect with her one last time.
“You’re not,” I replied again, but this time with more of a grunt as she moved in a particular way that made my hips jerk.
I was determined for Christy not to change my mind, but, fuck, when she did things like that, I forgot why.
Finally, Christy’s panties came off too, and, at last, there was no barrier between us.
I gripped my cock in my own hands and helped her lower herself onto me.
“King,” she panted, seating herself down completely and arching her back so that her perky tits were right in my face. I bit down hard on one nipple as she began her slow rising and falling motion.
“You’re not going off by yourself,” Christy said, her head tipped back and her hands grasping my shoulders.
“You can’t change my mind.”
With every downward stroke, she clamped hard around me, almost coaxing me to orgasm.
It didn’t take long before we reached bliss together, our sweaty bodies reaching the height of our pleasur
e and sharing it with each other. If it were any other time, then maybe I would feel content, peaceful, or even loved, but knowing I had to leave her had cast a darker light on things.
“Please, don’t make this harder than it has to be,” I said. “I won’t be able to stand it if you do.”
“This is bullshit. You’re being set up! Why can’t we fight this? Together!”
I knew what she wanted. It was the same thing that I wanted myself, but I couldn’t get through to her that it couldn’t happen.
There was no way I was going to weigh her down with all my baggage, drag her around from place to place while I stayed on the run, and let her become a criminal, just because I was a selfish bastard.
No, she would have to stay behind and avoid Rossi as long as she could. Maybe he would leave her alone, and maybe he wouldn’t. I’d make sure she was protected, nonetheless. Maybe I’d pay Romano another visit and try to strike a deal for her protection. I had a feeling I might not need to, though, if what I suspected of Romano was true. He would find his own way to protect her, regardless.