Some Way

by Tiffany Jade

  She looks up and smiles at me, "Oh you jerk, I really thought you'd forgotten about me for a second!"

  "Never!" I gently pull back, I can feel my phone freaking out in my pocket.

  "Hey beautiful, do you think you could go get us some drinks? I'd love to sit and have a drink with you." I glance around before finding a couch on the opposite side of the room. "Over there! Can you go get us something strong and meet me over there?" I lean down and run my lips down her neck before she can argue.

  "Um, yeah, no problem," she whispers out.

  "Thanks babe!" I turn her around and give her a little pat on the ass. She quickly rushes away towards the makeshift bar set up in the kitchen.

  Taking a deep breath I turn back around and reach out for the door knob one more time, pulling it open just in time to hear the CRACK of a gunshot.

  Chapter 14

  The sting of her hand connecting with my cheek comes right as I see Liam and Dean appear in my periphery. Before I can react, her fist connects with my jaw.

  I knew it was going to be bad when her hand had grazed across the butt of my gun hidden under my shirt, but damn the girl had a nasty left hook.

  Quickly taking a step back to avoid finding out what her right hook feels like, she stumbles a bit as she doesn't connect, but the loud crack of the gun behind her straightens her up quick and glancing behind her and laying eyes on Liam and Dean both standing there with their guns drawn has her booking it around the house.

  "Got her," Dean volunteers as he hides his gun away and heads to follow her.

  "You good, bro?" Liam questions, as he tucks his gun back in and reaches me. "You didn't even fight back," I can tell he's trying to hide a grin.

  "She's a girl!" I defend as Daxon rushes up, concern painted across his face.

  "What the fuck just happened?! Who got shot?" He yanks my face around looking for injuries but seeing I just got knocked, he quickly lets me go and punches me in the arm. "Losing your edge, brother?"

  "He got his shit rocked by a girl." Liam has lost control of his grin and is now full on chuckling. Daxon joins him.

  "You know, I think when it's a dealer who's handing you your own ass, that whole 'Don't hit females thing,' goes all the way out the fucking window. But do you bro, apparently you don't mind a dislocated jaw." Dax is doubled over as I run my hand over my throbbing face.

  "Fuck you," my reply is lost as they both keep joking. Considering showing them both just how much of my edge I haven't lost, my thoughts are interrupted as Dean appears back around the house, minus Ms. Left Hook.

  "She had a car waiting down the block," he gets out, his breathing still uneven from running after her. "Big black Excursion, blacked out windows, fast as fuck on those heels though—damn. Sped off before I could do anything." We all nod as he explains, the laughter gone and the mood serious again.

  "So, did you learn anything good before red dress made you her own personal punching bag?" So much for that seriousness, Dean smirks as Liam and Dax snort behind me.

  "You know we started off on a bad foot, you really wanna make it worse?" I ask him, the smirk doesn't disappear but it at least fades a little bit.

  "Alright, we'll forget for the time being," Liam pipes up, breaking the stare down occurring between Dean and I. "Did you get any info?" The three of them scoot in closer.

  "Judging by the fact that she had enough fentanyl on her to wipe this whole party out, I'd say we might have a solid lead. Not to mention the fact that the more she talked the more her Russian accent slipped out," Dax grins as he pats me on the back.

  "Well that's gotta be worth that sore jaw you're gonna have in the morning." Fucker.

  "Everyone needs to report in on what we figured out tonight," I ignore my brother and face the other two. "It looks like our families were right, not only did she have the fentanyl on her, she mentioned she had access to large amounts of heroin, hydros, and oxy. And the worst part was the prices were lower than I've ever seen. This is big." Everyone nods and pulls out their phones as we head for our vehicles. Luckily Dax pulls out his phone to call Dad so I don't have to.

  The last thing I wanted to have to do was call and admit to him that he was right. After tonight I was sure the heroin and opioid epidemic quickly spreading through both New York and L.A. were definitely connected to Devlov's hand in the Russian mafia.

  Now we had known their crew spent years before I was born staying mainly out of the narcotics game however that obviously had drastically changed and now that Russia was in possession of the title of 'World's Fastest-Growing Drug Trafficking and Abuse Problem'—catchy right—it was only to be expected that since most of his customer base had succumbed to overdoses, or hefty prison sentences, it was now time to bring the party to the good ol' U S of A. And with the amounts they had here already and the cheap ass prices, shit was about to hit the fan. And now that I had seen with my own eyes what was happening, my Father's panic to get this handled was understandable.

  Now why would my family want to pull these drug dealers off the streets? Clearly my family were no saints after all, as positions of power in our world are not grabbed by hugs and hand holding. But drugs like what Devlov was bringing over, had every leader, criminal and otherwise, across the country straightening their spines and getting ready to kick some ass. That's why we had other players in the game helping us, like Liam and Dean. Oh but Daddy dearest liked power, and what better way to win it all then to take out the man who was threatening everyone's livelihood. If he could claim his boys ended Devlov's run on American soil, every known family would feel they owed a level of fealty to him. He'd be in charge, and that's all he had ever wanted.

  I can hear my phone vibrate from my bedside table as I begin to wake up. Cracking my eyes open just a bit I see the room filled with sunlight. Reaching over to grab my phone I can't help the smile as I see Grayson's name lighting up the screen.

  1 New Message

  Gray: What are you doin Queen

  Layin in bed

  Gray: Get up lazy ass

  Lazy ass?!

  Gray: It's noon Liv

  I look at the clock on my phone in surprise.

  Well shit.

  Placing my phone back down on the table I begin to stretch out a little bit. I hear our doorbell ring and am about to get up, but hearing Jenna walking around I lay back down.

  Jenna's laughter and a couple of deep voices sound from outside my room, right before my door is yanked open and a large body lands on my bed.

  "Good morning, sunshine!" Gray exclaims, sliding up next to me. "Or should I say afternoon?" he raises an eyebrow at me. His eyes sparkling with playfulness.

  "The hell are you doin?" I ask him, pushing him back a bit and covering myself with my blanket.

  "Kidnapping you," he answers, trying to pull the blanket off of me. When he doesn't succeed he begins to feel around on top of the blanket. Finding my stomach his hands freeze for a second, "I'd suggest you get up right now."

  "Or what?" I challenge him with the blanket still pulled over my head.

  "You give me no choice," he fakes a sad voice before he begins to tickle me.

  I automatically begin to wiggle around under the blanket, trying to get way from his hands but between the blanket, his body, and the wall I am left with little room.

  "OKAY! OKAY!" I shout in between bursts of laughter. He pulls the blanket down and throws it onto the ground but instead of stopping he straddles me and begins tickling again.

  I begin wiggling around and giggling again but after a few seconds his hands stop, resting, one on each hip. The oversized sweatshirt I had went to bed in had ridden up to reveal my bare stomach, and the red boy cut underwear I was in was not leaving much fabric between myself and Grayson.

  My breath catches in my throat as his thumbs begin to rub small circles on my exposed hips and his grip on me tightens. My belly button ring catches his attention and he reaches up to touch the rose gold colored dreamcatcher. When he gives the ring a gent
le tug, I tear my eyes from watching his tattooed fingers on me only to be met by his eyes piercing into mine.

  "Nice pjs Queen," Gray's voice, deep and husky penetrates the silence. He pushes himself up a bit and places his hands on the bed on either side of my body, making sure not to touch me. My eyes automatically close as he brings his lips up to my ear, "Red is my favorite," he whispers. Lingering for only a second, he then jumps off of me. "Get ready, Dax and I made plans!" He winks at me before disappearing from my room.

  Chapter 15

  "LASER TAG?!" Liv exclaims as I pull up in front of the building. Making quick work of parking I turn to take in the eager smile lighting up her face.

  "We might kinda still have bruised egos from you girls kicking our ass at beer pong," Dax explains as we all unbuckle and get out. As we all reach the front of my truck he continues. "We figure this is more our speed." Liv and Jenna both tilt their heads.

  "The gun part? Or the hiding and sneaking around part?" Jenna asks. Devilish grins hit both mine and Dax's face as we look at each other and then back at the girls.

  "Let's go!" I reply, grabbing Liv around the waist and walking with her to the door. Once we enter we are immediately greeted by a white haired older man at the front desk. Spotting us he hurries over.

  "Demonte?" he asks, as soon as we nod he reaches out to shake first mine and then Daxon's hand. "Pleasure to have you boys, the playing arena has been prepared for you and all gear is laid out in your respectable locker rooms. I will be back in a few hours. Please," he waves us off as he heads for the door, "enjoy yourselves." He flips the open sign to closed and locks the door behind me.

  "Uh?" Liv turns to me.

  "Family friend," I smile at her and nudge her toward the girl's locker room. "Go get geared up, we will meet you in the arena."

  "You know, this is kind of unfair, dude," Daxon laughs as I enter the room. He's already strapping the laser guns across his body.

  "We can take it easy on them," I suggest as I bend down to strap a pistol around my thigh. I glance up to meet his gaze.

  "Na!" we both say as we crack up. We hurriedly finish up and tug our vests on over our heads. Heading out to the arena we both shake our heads as we listen to the girls in their locker room.

  "The strap doesn't go there!" Jenna's voice floats out of the room.

  "Well where the fuck am I supposed to put it then?" More mumbled frustrations and a few more wisecracks, and both girls appear at the entrance. Looking slightly disheveled and a little out of breath, my eyes meet Liv's and I know I'm grinning like a damn fool.

  I had told her to dress comfortably while we had been waiting for her to drag her slow ass out of bed so she had obliged and dressed in tight black leggings and a black tank top. Her hair thrown up in her signature 'I don't give a fuck' bun, it had been more put together before she had had to fight with all the gear, but the strands that had escaped were now framing her face in the best way.

  "Need any help Queen?" I ask her as I walk towards her, Dax following close behind.

  "Could you just maybe," she turns her back to me, "adjust this strap?" She points towards a strap that looks perfectly fine across her back.

  "There's nothing wr—" I'm cut off by the sound of my vest going off as she flips around and shoots me square in the chest, at the same time Jenna connects with Daxon.

  "What the fuck?!" both D and I freeze.

  "Game on boys," Liv winks and her and Jenna run off into the maze of cover.

  "Oh, it's on baby girl."

  Jenna and I giggle as we book it away from the boys. Skipping our first chance to turn, we take the second and begin to bury ourselves into the set up obstacles. We had whispered our plan in the locker room and had made sure we had given them time to get into the playing area before we got dramatic about getting ready.

  In truth, we had already been set up and had been standing around making faces at each other as we spoke.

  Music starts to pump through the wall speakers, effective way for the boys to be sneakier. I guess I couldn't knock them too hard since as big as they were it was probably harder to be quiet, but still... cheaters.

  With a little wave Jenna and I part ways, her speeding off around a stack of pallets and I climb up a tall ladder to a platform that is walled in on three sides. Laying down on my stomach I take deep breaths to steady my racing heart.

  A few minutes pass before the buzz of my cell phone makes me jump.

  Ok, so maybe I shouldn't be too mad about the music because that could have totally given me away. I quickly glance around to make sure neither of the boys is close and pull out my phone.

  1 New Message

  Grayson: Come out come out wherever you are...

  Hmmm...

  Na...

  I smile as little dots instantly appear on the screen as he types his reply.

  1 New Message

  Grayson: Last chance Queen

  I send off a kissy face and slide my phone back into the zipper pocket in my leggings. A high pitched shriek sounds from a few yards away followed by Jenna's laughter.

  "Damn you Daxon! That was a good hiding spot!" I see the light from the lasers bouncing around as they start chasing each other. Giggling quietly I quickly run my eyes around looking for Gray. Jenna shrieks and giggles again as I watch her run below me, with Daxon hot on her heels.

  "Well that's a nice view." Gray's voice from behind me makes me shriek myself, flipping around and raising my gun, I'm shocked to see him crouched in the corner. A cocky smirk spreads across his face, but he raises his arms to show me his weapon free hands.

  "How the hell did you?" I question, the ladder was in front of me there was no way...looking around I see a tower a few feet taller than where I am at, but it was at least ten feet away. There is no way he could have jumped from there to where I was.

  His cocky grin grows wider as he sees me connecting the pieces. My eyes widen looking between the two platforms and he shrugs as he drops from his crouching position and sits on his knees.

  "Why didn't you shoot me?" I ask, keeping my gun up and pointed at him. I don't like to lose and this boy obviously had a plan.

  "You never shoot someone in the back," he responds simply, not even taking a second to think. The instant answer takes me back a little bit, game or not there were some serious undertones to his comment.

  "Or in the ass apparently?" I ask, as I slowly move into a crouching position.

  "It's a nice ass, it'd be a real shame if anything were to happen to it," he winks as he raises back up, not missing a beat of my movements. I need a distraction. Thinking quick I holster my gun and move towards Grayson before he can react. His eyes sparkle as he looks down on me as I settle onto my knees in front of him.

  "Can I help you?" he asks, his voice a deep whisper. He licks his lips as his eyes glance down to watch as I bite down onto my lower lip. A bouncing light from the strobes around the room light our small hiding spot in time for me to watch as Gray's eyes darken as they focus on me.

  Taking my chance I lean forward and pull his full bottom lip into my mouth and run my tongue across it. A low groan leaves him as I deepen the kiss, teasing him with small nips before kissing away the bites.

  Reaching out for him I push him down from his crouching position until he is flat on his butt, on my knees we are about even height wise now. Pushing my body flush against his I try not to melt all the way into him as his hands begin to roam over my body. Landing on my ass they begin to squeeze and in return I nibble on his earlobe, smiling at his quick intake of breath.

  He goes to wrap his arms around me, but that's not what I want right now so I quickly lean into him so that he has to lay his hands out behind him so we don't topple over. He chuckles and shakes his head lightly as I run light kisses along his jawline.

  "I know what you're doing Queen," he murmurs, tilting his head to give me access to his neck.

  "Mmm? Is it working?" I question as I run my tongue along the lines of the wings that
had caught my eye that first night. He glances down, drawing my attention to the huge bulge showing through his grey sweatpants. He raises an eyebrow at me but keeps his hands planted to the ground behind him.

  "You have five seconds to run," a mischievous grin lights up his face. "Don't let me catch you Liviana, or I might not let you run again." Shivers run through me as my name leaves his lips. I so want him to catch me.

  But...ya girl has a competitive streak a mile long and I'm not gonna just let him win this one. I bend down and brush my lips across his again.

  "One," he begins counting. Before he can get to two I'm to the ladder and on my way down.

  "Two." As I hit the ground I glance up to see his smirk as he stands by the ladder.

  "Three." My mouth opens in shock as he jumps down, landing perfectly about two feet away from me.

  "Three and a half," he chuckles out, making me shake my head and turn to run. I round a corner as I hear him saying four, but I'm out of ear shot before the last number is called. My heart racing not only from the running but from the after effects of his lips on mine. I look around for a place to hide but I'm in a built up alleyway, graffiti marking it as 'Ambush Alley' surrounds me.

  Fitting name.

  Running through as quick as I can I nearly jump out of my skin as a body turns the corner and begins running towards me, I quickly realize it is only Jenna though and with a quick high five we pass each other.

  "Dax and I are tied so don't let Gray hit you!" she says as she gets by me. Easier said than done the way that boy moves. I continue down the alley, realizing I'm being funneled to a two way path. As I reach the intersection I pause and take a deep breath. Quickly looking around I glance down both paths. No sign of Grayson. Woo!

  I choose the left path and start looking for another path leading to the platform we were just in. He wouldn't expect me to go back to it, so it was my safest bet.