The Con

by Justine Elvira

  We both climb out of the tub and Jagger grabs a large, fluffy towel and wraps it around my body before drying me off. The act is intimate and loving, not what most people would expect from a man like Jagger, but something I'm not the least bit surprised at after spending the last few days with him.

  I return the favor, taking the towel and drying him off before we both go into the bedroom and slip under the sheets on the hotel bed. Jagger pulls me into his body, spooning me from behind and I relax into his embrace, letting the craziness of today finally hit me.

  "Are you ready for tomorrow? We have a long day ahead of us."

  "I know," I mumble.

  "You can still change your mind and we can come up with another plan. A better plan."

  "I won't change my mind, Jagger. I'm not going to lie, when you told me about it in the car this morning, I was terrified. We have a lot to do in a short amount of time, and you're asking me to give up everything I know, but I also know you made the right decision and I'm ready for this all to be over."

  "The thought of all these changes scare me, too, Ronnie. We'll be exploring something we've never done before, but as much as I hate that I drew you into this with me, I could never do this with anyone else. You're the only woman I'll ever love. I love you so damn much it physically hurts sometimes, and while it's selfish of me, I'm glad you'll be by my side. It eases the ache in my chest I get whenever you are away."

  As each word passes his lips it sounds like a soft ballad he's singing only to me. He's giving me the world just by loving me.

  "You should sleep, baby," he whispers into the back of my head before squeezing me closer to him. I rest my head back against his chest and close my eyes. My mind should be running crazy with all that's going to happen tomorrow. I should be filled with anxiety, but Jagger's comforting embrace is enough to lull me to sleep.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Today started just like the last several days have. I woke up in bed next to Jagger in a strange hotel room, not sure of just how the day would play out. I got out of bed, showered, changed into clothes and then had a delicious room service breakfast while Jagger smoked a cigarette and ate his morning apple.

  Then our day really began.

  By two in the afternoon, on a sunny day in Dallas, Keith Hamilton and Marissa Wood opened eleven different bank accounts throughout the city–some accounts in small banks and credit unions, others in large banks with high cash reserves, and all accounts were opened in cash.

  Suspicious... maybe. The banks probably weren't used to that kind of cash, but by the time any suspicions could be investigated Keith and Marissa would be long gone with only a P.O. box to track them down.

  Jagger chose those names for us the minute he spotted them on the list, keeping with the Stones tradition. He chose Keith because of Keith Richards and I'm now Marissa Wood, after Ronnie Wood. With my real first name of Ronnie and my fake last name of Wood, I had a full name of one of the members.

  While we were at the first bank, Jagger was able to wire a substantial amount of money into his sister's account in Arizona, and I played on my iPod, downloading songs with my gift card. I'm still not completely sure how Jagger wired her money anonymously, but he was able to. There should be no way for Matteo Esposito to track the money and find out our new identity.

  At one of the smaller credit unions I was able to get a money order made out to my sister in the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. I figure it will help her pay off her school debt, and give her a cushion to start her new life as a doctor. She deserves to not have to worry about money after taking care of me for so long. It's the least I can do for her.

  I'm going to miss her.

  We gave the mailing address of our P.O. box to the financial institutions we opened accounts with. We have no credit card or debit cards on us in our new names, so we need cards fast. Jagger called Ky and gave him the P.O. Box information and he'll be getting our mail for us and forwarding us our cards and financial information once we have an address for him to send them to.

  Where we're headed is still up for debate.

  I seal the two envelopes in my hands and place stamps on each one before slipping them in the mailbox outside Dallas International Airport. In one envelope is the money order for my sister. It was made out to her as an anonymous gift so no one should be able to track it back to me. The other envelope is a letter I wrote to Pearl in between each bank visit today. I want her to know just how much I love and respect her. I want her to know how much I appreciate her raising me and how much I am going to miss her. I tell her how I'll contact her one day when it's safe, and that this letter is not goodbye. It's a see you soon.

  Walking through the automatic glass doors at the airport Jagger and I head over to the international departures, each of us dragging a sole piece of luggage. We're both in jeans, and Jagger's wearing his signature boots and white t-shirt. I'm wearing a form fitting green tank and black boots I bought at a department store yesterday. Oh, yeah, and we're both finally wearing the black leather jackets I bought us along with our black Ray-Ban sunglasses.

  We look badass.

  Skimming through flight information so that we can hopefully decide on a destination, I'm overwhelmed with the possibilities. There are so many cities to choose from.

  "What about London? We already speak the language and there are a lot of Americans in the United Kingdom." Jagger points to a flight that leaves in four hours.

  I shake my head and continue looking. "We can definitely go to the UK at some point, but I think I want to go somewhere I've dreamt about since I was a little girl. I want to go to the city of romance. I want to go to Paris."

  Jagger drags a hand through his gorgeous brown hair before looking at me worriedly. "I don't know French, twinkle toes. I have no real education. It'll be hard for me to find work there."

  I reach over to him and grab one of his hands in mine. "You'll learn. I took six years of French and I speak it pretty well. We have enough money to live on for a while and I'll teach you the language while we're there. We don't have to stay in Paris for long."

  "I guess if we run out of money I'm not opposed to finding us another opportunity or two."

  "We do always have your unique skills to fall back on," I tease. Smiling at him, I attempt to assure him that we will be okay.

  I can tell the thought of moving to a foreign country where he doesn't speak the language makes him very uncomfortable, but then he's grabbing the new burner phone he picked up yesterday out of his front pocket and dialing a number before placing the phone to his ear.

  "Hey, bro. Yeah, I've got the flight info. I need you to book us on the seven-thirty flight to Paris, France on American... yeah... I'll stay on the line in case you need info I haven't given you yet."

  I stand next to Jagger patiently as he talks to Ky, while Ky books us onto a flight with his credit card since Jagger and I only have cash. Looking around the airport, I watch the people that pass us by. I try and make it a game–guessing where they are headed by how many people are in a group, and how each person is dressed. After about ten minutes Jagger ends the call with Ky and slips the phone in his pocket.

  "We're all booked. We need to find the American desk and get in line so we can get our boarding passes and check in our bags."

  "Do you want to go have a smoke first? Once we go through security you won't be able to smoke for a long time and we still have a few hours before our flight even leaves."

  "Good call, twinkle toes. You're coming with me though. I'm not leaving you alone."

  I nod my head and then grip the handle of my suitcase as I drag it behind me and follow him to the designated outdoor smoking area at the airport to watch him have his last drags of nicotine until we arrive in Paris.

  ***

  As we sit outside our departure gate waiting for our flight to start boarding, I watch the TV screen playing on the wall in the distance. A picture of Angelo and another man pops up on the screen. I don't recognize him, an
d there is no sound to hear what the newscaster is saying.

  "They're dead," Jagger comments from beside me. "Angelo and Damien were found in a ditch last night, their insides gutted."

  "Oh my gosh. Do you think it was Matteo?"

  "I'm sure it was. The authorities know it was a cartel, but nothing will ever come of it. The police will be paid off."

  I replay all that Jagger said to Matteo on the phone two nights ago. "Do you think Matteo killed them because you told him they couldn't be trusted?"

  "I'm not sure, twinkle toes. Probably, but right now I'm only worried about our survival." He looks back down at the magazine in his lap. He obviously doesn't want to discuss this any longer and although I have a thousand more questions, none of them are important right now.

  I put my ear buds in and listen to the music I loaded onto my new iPod yesterday. I've got everything from Rihanna to Butch Walker on this thing. It's a great distraction from Angelo and Damien's death.

  Jagger is skimming through a hot rod magazine with a blonde in a bikini on the cover. He bought it at one of the shops inside the airport. It reminds me of that first time I was in his room when I was twelve. His room was covered in posters like the woman on the cover of the magazine he's flipping through now. He comforted me that day, talking to me about things that really didn't matter and then he gave me my first kiss.

  Jagger will be my last kiss, too. He's a man so he's probably not thinking about where we'll be in our relationship five, ten, and twenty years down the road, but I'm not thinking about it either because I know exactly where we'll be–together. We were always meant to be together.

  Jagger taps me gently on the knee and I look over at him, pulling an ear bud out of my right ear.

  "They just called us to board."

  "Okay," I reply, smiling back at him and then standing up to stretch my legs. I'm bobbing my head to the music that still beats in my other ear as I grab my purse so I'm ready to board.

  "What are you listening to?" Jagger asks as he grabs the ear bud that's swinging loosely down my chest and lifts it to his ear. He's silent for a few moments as the bass beats through his eardrum.

  "Really?" he asks as he chuckles low under his breath and rolls his eyes at me before dropping the ear bud back down my body. "What am I going to do with you, twinkle toes? You're lucky I love you like crazy and can't imagine being apart from you."

  Wrapping an arm around my shoulder he pulls me into his side and kisses my temple before releasing me and grabbing my hand. We walk to the gate with our hands clasped and wait in line for the ticket agent to scan our tickets.

  I take the loose ear bud and place it in my other ear to drown out the airport noise and listen to the song I've had on repeat all day. It's Lapdance by N.E.R.D. and although it's cheesy for me to be listening to a song like this, I find certain lyrics fit the theme of the last few days, and the new life Jagger and I are making together.

  This is one of the reasons I love music so much. I can always find a song that fits my circumstances perfectly, there's always a song to fit my life. The song makes my life feel like it's one big movie. I used to pretend I was in a movie as an escape from what I thought was a crappy life, but I realize now that my life was never crappy. I was exactly where I needed to be in order to one day be with Jagger. Sometimes you have to take the bad to get the good, and I'd do everything all over again, exactly the same way, because it led me to him.

  I don't know what this life has ahead for me, but as long as I have Jagger by my side I know we can get through it together. It'll all be okay.

  The ticket agent takes my ticket from my hand and scans the bar code before handing it back to me, and letting me pass. As I walk through the jet bridge that leads to the plane, I sing the lyrics of Lapdance under my breath and smile, because I am an outlaw with Jagger, and together we'll be quick on the draw.

  Epilogue

  Somewhere in a sleepy old village in the South of France live Keith Hamilton and Marissa Wood, their home miles off the coast of the Mediterranean. Marissa works in a quaint boutique and reads in her spare time, while Keith finds odd jobs here and there. They live an undisturbed, loving, and happy life together.

  But sometimes, when things become too mundane, Keith will find himself an opportunity that's too enticing for Marissa to resist.

  Because after all, you can change a person's name but it doesn't change who they are on the inside.

  If you enjoyed The Con please consider leaving a review. Reviews are a great way to let other readers know what to read next.

  Want more from Justine Elvira? Check out her other books.

  The Road To Price (Price #1)–FREE

  The Road To Forgiveness (Price #2)

  Lawful Overdose

  Rough to Ride–FREE

  Changing His Game (The Reynolds Brothers #1)–International Best Seller

  Playing His Game (The Reynolds Brothers #2)

  Lane One: Temptation (Lane One #1)–FREE

  Lane One: Seduction (Lane One #2)

  Lane One: Obsession (Lane One #3)

  Lane One: Devotion (Lane One #4)

  Lane One: The Complete Box Set

  Noah–Coming Soon

  Want something new?

  Noah is a new release coming November 2015!

  No.

  It's a small word that says so much.

  It's a word most of us don't use when we should.

  It's a word that could have kept my life on an easy path.

  No is the word I should have said...

  But it never left my lips that night.

  Now I'm torn between two men. One is tender, sweet, and dependable. The other is rough, dirty, and unreliable. One man will lead me to the life I've always planned. The other man will lead me to a life with wild new experiences.

  I'm in this mess simply because I didn’t say that one word at the right time. I couldn’t resist him.

  It would have been easier if I had said no.

  I should have said no.

  *Recommended for 18+ due to subject matter and sexual content.

  **For more information on Noah and pre-order links click here**

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  Changing His Game

  *Warning: Changing His Game is a stand-alone novel. This book is for mature readers ages 18 and up. It contains sex, sex, and more sex with a porn star. It briefly touches on M/F/M and M/F/F.

  Adult Films. XXX Movies. Porn.

  These are the kind of movies I've never planned to watch. It was a taboo topic where I grew up. As a kid I had only heard of it in passing. In middle school my parents would talk about my creepy uncle Frank and how he should look for a job instead of watching "those movies" all day. In High School boys thought it was funny to ask my friends and me to star in the amateur adult films they were making. In college most of my guy friends watched them, but I never had. When I moved to California that changed.

  After surprising my fiancé at home and catching him screwing another woman, I hopped in my car and started driving. I was running away from my old life and I needed a change. I remembered my friend Tawny inviting me to visit her in Los Angeles, so that's where I went.

  I didn’t find Tawny when I got there, but I did find her gorgeous roommate, Jared. Our friendship started out rough, but he gave me a place to stay and helped me get back on my feet. He became my best friend. My best friend who millions of women happened to lust over.

  Jared plays by a different set of rules, where anything goes. His lifestyle is unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed before and it scares me. When you live your life on the edge, eventually you'll fall over. I didn't want to see that happen to him.

  At night he’s just Jared, my Jared, and I’ll deny it to anyone who asks, but I’m completely in love with him. During the day he’s Brandon Boner, an
d the world is in love with him.

  Oh yeah, did I mention he’s a porn star?

  Available Now!!!

  About The Author

  Justine Elvira is a best selling author at multiple retailers. Writing is her form of therapy and helps her escape reality for a little while.

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