by Kiki Leach
"Hi," I finally muttered, unsure of what the hell else to even say to him. I wasn't aware of what he knew or didn't know as far as the details of my relationship with Roman, but I had guessed pretty quickly after seeing him with the gun that he knew I was with him now in some respect. And after watching me walk out of his bathroom, wet and in nothing else but a towel, the shit was clearly pretty serious. "What the hell are you doing back here?" I asked him. "Where the hell have you even been all this time?"
He grinded his teeth and sat up straight while keeping his eyes directly focused on mine. His jaw, which used to be strong and thick, was so thin now that I was sure a single knock to it from his brother or hell, even one of my students, would've broken it in half. That's when I realized along with not sleeping and bathing, he also wasn't eating much food.
"You don't seem all that happy in having me back here, Colette." His voice was harsh and scratchy as if he had lost it in a screaming match with someone. God only knew what he had been through after plowing the hell out of Cherry in my bed, but in that moment I was more than grateful to have finally cut my losses with this guy. I was also grateful that my ring was still in the bathroom instead of on my finger. God knows if he had had the chance, he would've taken it from me and kept for himself to first be pissed off about, then pawn. "I can understand why you wouldn't be, given that you're happily fucking my brother's brains out as of late, but--"
"Hey." I stepped out of the bathroom and glared. Now I was pissed off and gun or no gun, he had no right to basically call me a slut to my face or otherwise after what the hell he had done, no matter his reason for it. "You don't get to come back here with attitude while flashing an extension of your penis in my face after the shit you pulled before leaving," I snapped. "What I do now and who I just so happen to do it with is my business--"
"Even if that business now includes you riding my brother's cock?" He stood up from the bed and kept the gun tight inside his hand with his finger still wrapped around that trigger. He pointed the muzzle toward the floor and I took a step back, now nervous that he might have been cracked out enough to actuallly shoot me. Suddenly, I was regretting my words and reaction to him. "But I'm not surprised," he said. "You've been eyeing him for years, just as he had been doing with you. Every time you came over here to see me, I knew that it was in part to see him. Those tight tanks and short ass skirts, making sure your tits and ass were always hanging out in all the right places just so he would take notice of you -- and he did. Every time, that asshole made sure to check you out and tell me once you were gone just how damn good you looked and how I needed to start complimenting you more before someone else started to do it in my place." He stopped and shook his head. "Never believed in a million years it would actually be him. Even if he felt it for you, taking you on as his wife not twenty-four hours after we were finished" -- he pointed between us -- "is a line that son of a bitch never should've crossed."
"We didn't expect for any of what happened out in Vegas to take place--!"
"SHUT UP!" he hollered out, his face turning bright red as spit flew out from the corner of his mouth. I jumped back as his voice boomed inside the room like the echo of a bomb going off. He rattled his hand while keeping hold of the gun, then dragged the other one up and down his face, and rubbed his eyes. I tightened my towel around myself, making sure that I wasn't showing anything I didn't need or want to, and looked toward the door.
"How the hell did you get in the house with Checkers out front?" I asked him. "Did you take him out?"
He dropped his hand and sighed heavily. "I came in through the patio," he admitted. "Idiot isn't all that great at checking this place like he should be."
"Then he's still out front?"
"For now," he replied. "Unless I decide to blast him, which all depends on you."
"What are you talking about?"
"I came back to the city because I need more cash from some high rollers out in Vegas, but they need me to hand over a down payment before giving me anything big in return."
I frowned. "If you don't even have enough for a down payment for these people..." I stopped and peered. "Are you getting this money for Lorenzo?" I questioned. "For what you stole from him and apparently no longer have to pay back?"
His eyes narrowed. "How the hell did you know about that?"
"How the hell did you find out that I was now married to your brother?"
He swallowed hard and looked me over. "Did Roman tell you about this shit? Because as far as I know, something like this would remain within the walls of the club."
"He told me enough so that I would know what the hell was going on and would be aware if anything ever went down. He thought Lorenzo might've been the one to pull something like this with me, but never you." I stopped and looked away from him.
"Is that why he has that cartoon character looking prick hanging around out front?"
I nodded and eyed him up and down, wincing at his tattered white t-shirt, ripped blue jeans and dirt covered tennis shoes that looked as if they had been snatched from someone's dumpster and thrown onto his feet just before showing up here.
"Are you going to use the money that you need from these people to pay back Lorenzo?" I asked him again.
"Colette, I've got serious debts to pay back to other people that need their money a hell of a lot more than fucking Lorenzo ever did."
"Are you serious?" I was becoming pissed off again but tried to keep my tone in check this time after my eyes darted back down to the gun. My words, however, I couldn't seem to force myself to hold back in how I used them with him. "Do you realize your stealing that money has put your brother's MC as well as his own life in jeopardy? Were you really that selfish to never think about the consequences of your actions before taking part in them? You never once thought about how the rest of us would be affected by what you did no matter the reasons for it all?"
"You seem to be doing just fine because of what I did, darlin'," he mocked.
"I'm only doing 'just fine' now because your brother helped to pick up the pieces that you broke in me and left behind," I snapped back. "We were the ones who were supposed to get married, remember that?! We were the ones who had been set up to spend our lives together -- I was all in--"
"Regardless of how you felt about Roman."
"Yes! Because I loved you--"
"You weren't in love with me," he interjected. "And that was the shit I knew from the minute I first introduced you to him as my girl right outside there." He pointed in the direction of the backyard. "That was the reason I bought you that piece of shit ring but never bothered going through with the actual plans of making it all official between us. Everything you should've been feeling for me as your man, you felt for him first, hardest and longest..." He paused. "What kind of stupid son of a bitch would I look like marrying you after knowing all that, huh?! It would've only been a matter of time before you two started sneaking around behind my back and making me feel and look like an even bigger dumbass in this town and in the faces of people we knew more than I already would've."
"You're turning this all around on me when I did nothing while we were together. Nine years and whatever I felt for your brother, I never once acted on it, never--"
"You thought about it."
"You had sex with a club whore inside my house, asshole!" I shouted. "Inside my own damn bed! And somehow you doing that while I maybe thought about being with your brother in any way at some point, is supposed to be no big deal because you only did it to get away from me? To make sure that I wouldn't come after you as a result? You know, the funny thing about it is that I never would've gone looking for you after that night anyway, never. I didn't want anything to do with you ever again after catching you in that position with her. And yeah, maybe I've always wanted Roman and the fact is that I should've been with him all along instead of wasting time with an unambitious thief who only decided to come back around because he's hard up again and needs my help in getting the cash for it. Apolog
ies be damned, I guess, right?"
"You are really testing my fucking patience," he said, his hand tightening around the grip of the gun. "Were you always this much of a pain in the ass when we were together? Because I don't remember it and I'm shocked as hell that my brother is so damn willing to put up with it."
"Your brother appreciates this side of me."
"He's the only one," he shot back.
I folded my arms and cut my eyes away from him. "How much of what you stole from Lorenzo do you even have left, if anything?"
"About 15K."
I glowered. "What the hell did you do with the other 485?"
"Gambled with the hope of getting more and hired random women to suck my cock while thinking of you on top of my brother," he spat.
I wasn't sure if he was being honest or just pissing on my leg. Either way, it made my stomach turn and I wanted to gag. "If you already have the 15K, how much of a down payment are these people looking for from you?"
"More."
"How much more?" I asked him.
"More," he repeated.
I rolled my eyes, certain that we would be going around in circles if I asked him the same question again, even in a different tone. "Well, whatever the hell you're looking to hand off to them, I more than likely don't have it. In case you've forgotten, I'm still a teacher that owes money for schools I haven't even been to in the last seven years--"
"I'm not looking for you to give me cash to hand off to them, Colette. That part's covered."
"You said that you needed more of it?"
"I never said more of it," he replied. "I said that I needed more."
"What the hell is a down payment if it doesn't include more cash?"
"Your pussy," he snapped. My mouth dropped. He raised his hand and waved his gun toward the closet. "Now get dressed--"
"Colette!" Checkers called out to me from the living room. I had forgotten that Roman had given him a temporary key, just in case, which left me no time to be completely thrown for a complete loop or disgusted by Jeremiah and what he apparently 'needed' from me. "Colette!" Checkers called out to me again, his voice louder this time as he had moved closer to the bedroom door.
Jeremiah swore something under his breath, then swiftly walked over to me and pressed the muzzle of his gun against my throat. I swallowed against the cool metal tip and despite my attempt at a brave face, I started trembling. "Answer him," he said between his teeth.
"I ca--" I stopped to gulp back the rattle in my voice, then cleared my throat. "What is it?"
"Roman said he wants to talk to you before you head out. Are you decent yet?"
"No -- No, I'm--"
"Don't fuck this shit up, Colette, or he's dead," he mumbled. He pressed the gun down against my windpipe, making it hard as hell for me to even breathe.
I shut my eyes and blurted, "I'm still in a towel and trying to figure out what the hell to do with my hair."
"That's good," he muttered.
"Just tell him that I'll call him back before we head out."
There was a long pause before Checkers said another word to me. "Alright. He might be pissed about that, but --"
"I don't care!" I stopped again and rattled my head to keep from sounding as nervous as I felt. "I mean, he'll be fine. Just tell him that I need to finish getting ready so that we can leave here on time."
I didn't hear another word from him after that.
Jeremiah bobbed his head while looking directly into my eyes, and gradually lowered the gun from my throat. "Good girl," he said. "Now you just need to hurry up and get dressed so that we can head the hell out of here and--"
The bedroom door flung open in a flash. Checkers stood there with wild, shaky eyes while looking between us.
He didn't have his gun.
"What the fuck--?"
Jeremiah said no words to him as he lifted his arm to a 45-degree angle and pulled the trigger, shooting Checkers directly between the eyes. I screamed as the blood gushed from his face, as chunks of his head and parts of his brain went flying and splattered across the bedroom door. He fell to the ground with a thump like a human piece of led.
Tears poured from my eyes almost instantly and I covered my mouth as it hung open in absolute terror. I had never seen anything like that before in my entire damn life outside of television, and I was sure as hell after that, I never wanted to see it again.
Jeremiah walked over to him and lowered to a squat, looking him over as if he hadn't just blown his brains completely out of his head. Then he pat him down and flipped back the lapel of his cut, reached inside the pocket and yanked out what looked like Checkers' wallet. He opened it up to look inside and removed a few credit cards and pictures of naked women, then tossed it aside and stood back up to his feet. As he walked back over to me, I noticed the blood that was soaking into the floor had now 'decorated' the edges of his shoes.
"You need to get your ass dressed already," he told me, his hard tone unchanging despite what had just taken place. It was as if the man was a complete zombie; no feeling, no heart or care whatsoever. His was like the Tin Man without the desire to see OZ. "I promised these guys I'd get you there for them before midnight and you're wasting time."
I dropped my hand and looked up into his face as more tears streamed down my cheeks and throat. "You just killed a man in front of me and don't have anything else to say except that I need to get dressed because you're on a time crunch when it comes to pimping me out?!"
He lifted his gun again, this time putting it right at the center of my forehead. My eyes snapped shut and I released a shaky breath. "I don't want you to be next," he said. "Because I need you for this shit. These assholes saw one of your old pictures in my phone with your tits and ass hanging out, and promised me more cash if they could each take you for a few spins."
Slowly, I opened my eyes and stared up into his face. Disgusted couldn't even begin to explain what I felt for him anymore. I didn't think there was a word that ever could. "Who the hell are you anymore?" I asked him. "You were never perfect. You weren't even all that great of a person, but now you're just completely crazy and ready to kill anything that gets in your way and pimp me out for cash that you're not even going to use to pay back Lorenzo -- something that would help your brother and his club."
"I don't give a fuck about my brother or his club," he hollered out. "I never did, otherwise I would've been right there beside him, patched in like my old man wanted with you as MY old lady, and NOT his. But that's not how shit worked out, is it?" He stared at me and yanked the gun away from my face. "Put on the shortest skirt you can find along with the tightest tank top. No panties, no bra. Let's go."
"I--"
He reached out with his other hand and ripped the towel from my body. I immediately covered myself, feeling both exposed and embarrassed as hell in front of him.
He snickered. "You act like I haven't seen all of this before." He looked me up and down, leering. I couldn't believe this was once someone I had imagined spending the rest of my life or having children with. The thought now made me want to puke. "It still looks good despite being tainted by Roman now." He shoved my arm away from my breasts and used his muzzle to push my hand away from my sex. He leaned his head from side to side and nodded again. "But this is why you're going to get me paid. And if you're a really good girl, there might be something else in it for you too." He brought his eyes up to mine and smirked, then moved around to shove his hand into my back and pushed me across the room. "Now let's go."
Chapter Twenty-One
Roman
After finishing up with my last car for the day, I headed back inside the club and grabbed a beer from behind the bar. I had planned to sit down and relax before trying to dial up Colette ahead of her leaving for her night out with the girls since she had yet to call me back as promised, but didn't have the chance once my cell started buzzing like crazy inside my back pocket. I reached inside to yank it out and stared down at the number, frowning when I noticed th
at it was Perla.
"Yeah?" I sat my beer down on top of the bar and stood up straight after answering.
"Rome, is Colette out there with you?"
I searched my eyes across the club and knit my brows. "What the hell are you talking about?" I asked her. "She's riding out to your place with Checkers, is she not?"
"Yeah, I thought so," she told me, "but I'm not getting an answer from either one of them. And she promised to call and let me know before she was leaving your house to make it here, which should've been about twenty minutes ago, at least."
I rolled my eyes up toward the clock on the wall to check the time. It was just after 7:20.
"You said you couldn't get in touch with Checkers either?" I asked her.
"No. I've called his cell three times and nothing."
"Shit." I dropped my head and swiped my hand back and forth across my forehead. I took a deep breath in to keep from losing my shit and slowly released it. "Listen, do me a favor and call up Atom, alright? Tell him to meet me at my house in ten."
"Okay."
"Thanks." After hanging up with her, I tried dialing up Colette myself. When it went straight to voicemail, I hung up and tried calling up Checkers instead, but his did the same thing. I slammed my cell shut and threw it back inside my pocket, then headed straight to the chapel and found Riggs and Tracker sitting at the table, reading over papers that had been faxed over to them earlier in the day by Lorenzo. Their heads were down and focused when I blurted out, "Colette's missing."