Ruined: A Dark Romance

by B. B. Hamel

  “Sure, sure. Whatever Vadik wants. I work for the family.”

  Alex nodded, his eyes still narrowed. I needed to keep in mind that he was my boss and that I couldn’t say whatever I fucking wanted in front of him. Alex was a shithead, but he was also dangerous in his own way.

  I stood up, moving out of the booth. “I’m changing this fucking music,” I said. “It sounds like a fucking teenage girl’s bedroom in here.”

  The guys laughed as I walked across the bar, toward the jukebox. I stood there, glancing sideways at Sadie.

  She looked right back at me. Our eyes locked for a second, and I felt that familiar thrill run through me.

  I hadn’t felt that in a very long time. It was a mix of need, want, and lust. She looked away, but there was no mistaking it. She saw me, and she recognized me. I saw the slight surprise in her eyes.

  I chose a new song, something a little less Britney Spears. As I turned back toward the crowd, I saw Sadie standing up to leave.

  I had a moment of pure insanity. I couldn’t describe it any other way. I knew that I should have walked away back toward my table and forgotten all bout her, but I started walking. We were different people, completely different people. She was dressed like a serious business person and was holding a fat file in her hand, while I was covered in tattoos. We couldn’t have ended up in more different places.

  And yet we were both in Ralph’s. I couldn’t stop myself as I went toward her, purposefully striding across the room. As she got to the door, she looked back at me, and I saw it.

  Pure desire.

  I grinned at her and nodded. I stopped closed to her. “Long time no see.”

  She blinked at me. “Wow. Hi, Gage.”

  “Hi, Sadie.” I looked closely at her. She filled out in all the right places in the last ten years. She was a grown ass woman, not a teenage girl anymore, and she looked fucking gorgeous, even more beautiful than I remembered. I could feel my blood getting hot just standing close to her.

  “How have you been?” she asked. She glanced back toward the table I had been sitting at and back at me. Her eyes roamed along my skin and I knew she was taking in my tattoos, my tight-fitting shirt, my dirty jeans.

  “Been good. Almost as good as you look.”

  “Thanks,” she said, blushing a little bit. She did that when she was nervous.

  “Come have a drink with me.”

  I shouldn’t have said that. Instantly I knew it was a mistake. I shouldn’t be seen with her, shouldn’t get her dragged into my life.

  But I couldn’t fucking help myself.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I just got into town and I’m pretty exhausted.”

  “One drink. Catch up with the lost love of your life.”

  Her mouthed opened then shut. “You’re not the lost love of my life,” she said.

  I laughed. “You sure? Seems like you came home just to find me.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Sure it is. Why else come back to a shitty town like this? You came in here knowing I might be here. You wanted to find me.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s just the only place I know anymore.”

  “One drink.” I stepped toward her. “We’re grownups now. At least you’ve certainly grown up.”

  She sighed. “You have too. What, did you grow six inches?”

  “Maybe.” I laughed. “Come on.”

  I walked over to the bar and she followed, sitting down beside me.

  I knew I should walk away. This was Sadie, my old girlfriend, and she looked better than I could have imagined. She was a good girl and shouldn’t get mixed up with a man like me.

  But I wanted her, and when I wanted something, I fucking took it. That was all that mattered to me as she smiled and took the drink that I ordered for her.

  3

  Sadie

  Gage looked different. Of course he looked different, it had been ten years since I last saw him of course. Still, I couldn’t stop staring at him.

  He was taller and more muscular, if that was even possible. He had added a bunch of tattoos to his arms, and he had a look in his eye that I didn’t remember. He seemed harder somehow, more dangerous, but he was still clearly the old Gage that I knew. Or at least that Gage was buried under there somewhere.

  “So, what have you been doing these past ten years?” I asked him.

  He shrugged, sipping his whisky. “I’m in collections.”

  “Oh, that’s cool.”

  “No, it’s not cool. What about you?”

  I shrugged. “I went into law. You know, trying to make the family proud.”

  He laughed. “I’m sure your mom was excited.”

  I frowned and looked away. “She passed.”

  He paused. “Shit, Sadie. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. It happened a long time ago.”

  “How’s the dad? He still fucking hate me?”

  I laughed, looking back at him. “I’m sure he would if he saw you.”

  “What’s there to hate about this?” He gave me a devilish smile, and we both knew what it meant.

  “Nothing, of course.”

  “Of course.” He finished his drink and motioned for another. “Remember that time he screamed at me when he caught me in your room?”

  “I remember. You climbed up the drainpipe and snuck in my window.”

  “One of my more daring escapades.”

  “I thought he was going to have a heart attack.”

  “If he had come in maybe ten minutes sooner, he might have.”

  I blushed again, remembering that night. I remembered Gage’s body against mine, his cock buried deep between my legs. I remembered him turning me over and pushing my face into a pillow because I was moaning too loudly.

  I crossed my legs, suddenly extremely aware of how wet I was getting.

  “Yeah, well, fortunately for us he missed that part.”

  “I almost feel bad for him.”

  “Don’t. He’s doing just fine.”

  “Good.” Gage laughed. “What are you doing back in town, anyway?”

  “I moved back here, actually.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “No shit?”

  “No shit. I got a promotion at work, but that promotion came with a transfer.”

  “Well. Here’s to your homecoming.”

  We clinked glasses and drank. He smiled at me, crossing his arms. “You look good, kid.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “You look fine yourself.”

  “Please. We both know I look better than fine.”

  “You look healthy.”

  “I assume that means you want to drag me into the bathroom and have your way with me.”

  “Not exactly.” I couldn’t help but smile.

  “Oh, sorry. I think I had that backwards. You want me to drag you.”

  “Of course. I do love an alpha caveman making me do his bidding.”

  “You say that like you’re joking, but we both know what you like.”

  I paused, biting my lip, and quickly sipped my drink to cover my embarrassment. Gage always did know exactly how to push my buttons, and apparently ten years hadn’t changed a single thing.

  That was probably the craziest thing about our conversation. Ten years had passed, and I was ready to run the hell out of there when we made eye contact, but as soon as we sat down together it felt just like old times. I knew I should probably stay away from Gage, since I shouldn’t let myself get involved with an old flame like him, but I couldn’t help myself. Gage just had that magnetic personality that drew me toward him, closer and closer.

  I couldn’t walk away now even if I wanted to. It only took maybe ten minutes, but I was already hooked. Besides, I didn’t know anybody in town anymore, not really. All of my old friends moved away, and plus, I hadn’t really seen them in ten years either. When I moved to Seattle, I had to start all over. I tried to keep in touch with my best friend at the time, but we just slowly drifted apar
t. As far as I knew, she was living in Philadelphia and had a kid.

  Gage made Ashertown feel like home again, which was just so strange. I didn’t know how he did it, but just talking to him made me feel like I was where I belonged. Ashertown had felt like my home for a long time, even years after we moved to Seattle, but that feeling had long since passed. I hadn’t missed Ashertown in a long while, had barely even thought about it.

  Gage brought all of those feelings back and much, much more. That cocky smile on his face brought back some memories that I hoped were long buried.

  I went to order another drink from the bartender, but two men suddenly appeared behind Gage. One man was overweight and ugly with a creepy smile on his face. The other man was thin and intense looking with a large, crooked nose.

  “Gage,” the thin one said. “We gotta go.”

  He cocked his head at the guy. “What do you want, Alex?”

  “We got a call. Finish up here and meet us outside.”

  The fat one gave me a creepy smile as the two men walked away.

  Gage sighed. “Guess I have to get going.”

  “Who are they?”

  “Business associates.”

  I nodded. “Okay. You work weird hours, huh?”

  “Can’t control the collections business. When you get a call, you gotta work.” He stood up and dropped some cash on the bar. It was way too much.

  “Gage, you don’t have to do that.”

  “Sure I do.”

  “That’s too much.”

  “That’s okay.” He leaned toward me. “What’s your number? I think you need to be shown around town one more time.”

  I took a sharp breath and then gave him my cell number. He nodded, typing it into his phone. I had a nagging feeling that I was making a mistake, but Gage was the only person I knew in town anymore. It would be pretty damn lonely without a single person I could meet up with for drinks.

  Besides, he was harmless. Nothing was going to happen between us.

  “Good seeing you again, Sadie,” he said.

  “Yeah, you too.”

  He smirked one more time at me and then walked away. I watched him go, admiring the muscles in his body as he disappeared out the door.

  Nothing was going to happen to me. It didn’t matter that I was dripping wet and practically panting at the sight of him. He was my old boyfriend and I wasn’t going to let myself get involved with him ever again. Even though neither of us wanted things to end, I couldn’t bring myself to do that again.

  I couldn’t risk it. I just couldn’t.

  But he looked so damn good. I finished my drink, sitting there alone at the bar, and I kept thinking about Gage. About the things we did together, the times we had together, the way he made me feel when I was with him.

  Most importantly, I kept thinking about his body against mine, and how stupidly badly I wanted that again.

  4

  Gage

  I wanted to fuck up that fat piece of shit and the idiot with the crooked nose for pulling me away from Sadie. I was in the fucking zone, completely and entirely focused on her, and I knew she was feeling the same way. I could remember exactly why I was so into her when I was younger.

  I followed Boris and Alex out to the parking lot and got into Alex’s beat-up piece of shit black sedan. “What the fuck happened?” I asked him as he started the engine.

  “Kuzma called. Evgeni was picked up by the fucking cops.”

  I grained. “For what?”

  “Who fucking knows? We’re supposed to get down to the precinct pronto.”

  “Fucking hell. I thought we bribed those pigs for exactly this reason?”

  “We did. We still fucking do. I don’t know what’s happening.”

  “Fine, okay. Let’s drive.”

  Alex pulled out and sped down the street. The precinct jail wasn’t too far away. I leaned back in my seat and looked out the window.

  “Thinking about that piece of ass?” Boris asked from the back.

  “No, you fucking pig shit.”

  “Fuck you, Gage. No need to be an asshole.”

  “Pussy,” I mumbled, staring out the window.

  Truth was, I was thinking about her. I couldn’t fucking help it. I could still practically feel her lips wrapped around my cock, could see her body bobbing up and down as she sucked me. I could feel her spine under my fingertips as I fucked her from behind, the way she moved and twisted, the way she rode me. Fuck, I could even hear her laugh as we drove fast and reckless down the highway in my piece of shit convertible.

  It wasn’t like me to get hung up on some chick, let alone some ex-girlfriend that I hadn’t seen or heard from in ten years. I took a deep breath and let it out. I was going to have to keep my shit together if we were going to pull this off.

  Part of my job was to drop the bribes off to the cops. Normally, I left that to Boris. Evgeni was a friend and typically managed some of the drug dealers over on the south side of town. It was pretty fucking strange that he got picked up since he never actually touched the drugs, just managed the guys that did.

  We sped down the road and eventually pulled into the parking lot. We climbed out of the car and headed toward the front entrance.

  “Let me talk,” I said.

  “You’re outranked here, Gage,” Alex said.

  “I know these guys. I drop off the bribes.”

  “Actually, I do that, asshole,” Boris said.

  “Yeah, well, you’re a slob and a prick. I get along with them better.”

  He grunted but didn’t argue. Both of those statements were factually correct and I guess he didn’t feel like contesting it.

  We headed up toward the entrance and stepped inside. The desk sergeant, a guy names James Rawls, looked up, a bored and tired expression on his face. He sighed when he saw me. I gave him my biggest, best smile possible.

  “What do you want?” he asked as I approached him.

  “Good evening, Sergeant,” I said.

  “Gage.” He sighed. “It’s late. What can I do for you?”

  “You guys picked up a friend of mine. I want to check on him.”

  “What’s the name?” Rawls asked.

  “Evgeni. Came in just tonight.”

  He nodded and typed. I glanced back at Boris and Alex.

  Rawls grunted. “Right, he’s here.”

  “What’s he here for?”

  “Doesn’t say. System hasn’t updated yet.”

  “Rawls. You know me. You know my associates. We’ve been good to the precinct, haven’t we?”

  He looked nervous. “I don’t know, Gage.”

  “We have. You know we have. I’m here to get my guy back. If we need to put some bail money in somebody’s hands, we’ll do that.”

  “Bail isn’t set yet. Won’t be until tomorrow at best.”

  “Don’t act dumb, Rawls.”

  He leaned forward. “We can’t do this. I’m sorry.”

  I leaned toward him. “Can’t do what? The things we’ve been doing for a while now? My friend Boris over there brings you guys a little package full of money and you overlook some of our business dealings. It’s been very lucrative for both of us.”

  He nodded. “Fine. Maybe that was the old deal. But something is changing.”

  “What’s changing?”

  He shook his head. “More pressure from the top. We can’t just let this one slide.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “What aren’t you telling me, Rawls?”

  “Sorry. That’s all I can say.”

  I clenched my fists and wanted to smash the guy’s face, but I resisted. Clearly, we didn’t have as much power over the cops right now as we once did.

  Alex stepped up behind me. “Sergeant, what’s the problem here?”

  He glanced at Alex. “Step back, sir.”

  “I’m just trying to understand.”

  I could tell Rawls was getting uncomfortable. An uncomfortable cop was a dangerous cop, and I didn’t feel like making a b
ad situation worse.

  “Come on,” I said to Alex, taking his arm. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  “The fuck?” Boris asked. “Why do we fucking pay these pigs if they don’t help us out?”

  “Get out of here,” Rawls said to us. “Get the hell out. Check on your friend later.”

  “Come on.” I led Boris and Alex out of the main lobby and back out front. “You idiots. Don’t you know how to be fucking subtle?”

  “No,” Boris said.

  “There’s something going on,” I told Alex. “Rawls seemed to want to tell me, but couldn’t.”

  “Fuck,” he said. “We’ll have to go back to Vadik with this.”

  “Looks that way.”

  He grunted. “Fine. You two stick around here. I’ll go.”

  “No,” I said. “First, we’re going to wake up that damn lawyer.”

  Alex grunted. “Why do I have to come for that?”

  “You know where the lawyer lives.”

  He laughed. “Okay. Fine. I’ll go to Vadik after.”

  “Fine.” I looked at Boris. “You stay here.”

  “Why?”

  “In case someone else shows up, you can tell them what we’re doing.”

  “Okay then. All good.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Alex and I got back into his car while Boris found a bench to wait at down by the road. He couldn’t stay on police property, so he was going to have to sit around near traffic and kill time. I doubted anyone else would show up, but there was always a chance.

  Alex headed back into town. The lawyer’s name was Rogers, if I remembered right. I had to deal with him one time when I got picked up for threatening someone and harassing him. Rogers got the charges dropped in two hours, and three hours after that I was back breaking the knees of the asshole that got me arrested. That was a pretty good night.

  I didn’t know why Rawls seemed so hesitant about the whole thing, though. He’d been one of the more amiable cops in the past, but clearly something was happening in their department. Might have something to do with them cracking down on us, but I had no real clue. I could only guess, and that wasn’t worth the time.

  It was going to be a long and boring night, I could already tell. At least I had the memory of Sadie’s body against mine to keep me going.