by Brook Wilder
Although, ‘balcony’ wasn’t quite the right word for it. There was a sunken pool in it, for one thing. An entire swimming pool. On a balcony! All Lori could do was stare at ever more signs of wealth and a life she would never have thought she would ever get close enough to see, let alone stand in.
“Wait here,” Marco said, his voice low and emotionless.
By the time she had turned around again, he had already disappeared back through the double doors.
Lori just shrugged, letting out a nervous laugh. She had to relieve her nerves somehow, or she was going to shake herself straight into that pool.
“Not much a talker, is he?” Lori said out loud.
The question hadn’t really been directed at Tex, who was standing stoically beside her, but more out of nervousness, and she didn’t expect an answer. But a deep voice suddenly responded from behind her.
“Marco is indeed a man of few words.”
The voice had a slight accent and Lori spun around to come face-to-face with Solomon. It had to be him. No one else could walk in and sit down with such an air of calm and command. And no one else would have made Tex stiffen by her side.
“Solomon?” Tex said, still just as stiff as he had been, as he took a step forward, unconsciously stepping between Lori and the other man as he held out his hand.
Solomon just looked at it for a moment before sitting down.
“I am,” he said, looking up at them suspiciously.
This gave Lori a chance to really look at him. He had dark swarthy skin, tanned by the Texas summer sun to an even deeper bronze, and dark piercing eyes that seemed to see all the way through them. With his straight nose and prominent cheek bones, he would have been handsome had it not been for the edge that hardened his features. It was disconcerting, like being examined by a hawk trying to decide if you were prey or not.
He was dressed in simple but elegant black slacks and a button-down shirt, despite the heat that didn’t seem to touch him. His dark-eyed gaze was inscrutable, and it made Lori huddle closer behind Tex.
Solomon just sat there, examining them for a long, tense moment, before finally speaking again.
“Tell me, why should I help you? Why shouldn’t I just kill you both and end this mess.”
He grimaced, the shift in his expression barely visible, but Lori caught it.
“This whole… situation is bad for business.”
“So, you know what we’re up against?” Tex asked quietly. “You know what will happen if either gang gets its hands on us?”
His green-eyed gaze hadn’t left Solomon’s once, and he was standing on the balls of his feet, ready to move at a second’s warning.
“You mean, do I know the shit storm you two have gotten yourselves into? Yes, I’ve heard.”
“Then you know we’re in danger. We need help. And you’re the only one who can give it.”
Solomon’s gaze hardened.
“I don’t run a fucking charity here. I run drugs. I sell drugs. And two of my biggest buyers are currently killing each other off because of what you two did.”
He started to stand, shaking his head, and Lori could see the rejection in his sharp dark eyes.
“No, I don’t think…”
“Please, Mr. Solomon,” Lori said suddenly, stepping out from behind Tex, despite his look of warning and his hands trying to catch her and pull her back.
She evaded Tex’s hands and his worried green gaze, not stopping until she was standing in front of Solomon. It took more courage than she would have thought possible to force up her eyes to meet his, but she knew she wasn’t just fighting for herself. And she would do anything she had to, to keep her baby safe.
“Please, just listen to me,” Lori pleaded with him, her thoughts tumbling through her head.
She and she wasn’t even sure what to say, how to convince him. But she could see that her words had given him pause. So, she started from the beginning.
“I was homeless. I was living on the streets after my dad died, just trying to survive. I was starving, broke. I hadn’t slept in days. That’s when Gears found me.”
Lori shook her head as she remembered. She’d been so grateful to him. He’d been like a guardian angel and fairy godmother all rolled into one, at first. She’d learned soon enough that he was neither. If only she had known when she had first met him. If only she had realized the monster that hid beneath the man’s surface.
“He – uh – he brought me into the gang. Into the Grim Riders. He gave me a job bartending at his club and rented me a place to live.” Lori had to force her voice not to shake as she went on, but it was nearly impossible as the memories assaulted her. “I didn’t know anything about the gang, not really. I was just a bartender. Or maybe I just didn’t want to know.
“I was so grateful to Gears and the gang, at first.”
She could still remember that first night she’d realized something was wrong. That first night closing the bar when Gears, drunk off his ass, had groped her. She’d brushed it off. But then it happened again. And again. And then the threats had started.
“Gears became… obsessed. He truly believed that he owned me. Like I was some sort of… of pet or something. He fed me and gave me a place to sleep, and that meant I was his to do whatever he wanted with. He tried… He cornered me and…”
“It’s okay, Lori. You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to.”
Suddenly, Tex was by her side, his hand gripping hers. There was a mix of sadness and rage swirling in his green eyes.
But he was wrong. She did have to. For him. For their baby.
“Things got bad. Really bad,” Lori said after a moment, wrapping her free arm around herself as she shivered despite the heat. “I knew I couldn’t stay there. I knew that, if I did, Gears would hurt me. Or worse. So, I saved as much money as I could, working extra at the bar, but it wasn’t enough. Tex tried to help me, but then Gears found out about us.” Lori squeezed Tex’s hand, looking over at him. “About our baby. And he went crazy. I didn’t have a choice.”
“We always have a choice,” Solomon said gruffly, and she could still see the hesitancy in his face.
“You’re right. And I made my choice. To do whatever I need to do to save my baby. With or without your help,” Lori added as bravely as she could, tilting up her chin. “But with your help, the three of us have a lot better chance of surviving.”
Solomon was so quiet for so long that Lori was sure he was going to say no. When he finally did open his mouth, she drew in a sharp breath and stopped him.
“Wait! I… I have something I can give you. We can pay you,” Lori said hastily, earning a curious look from both the men as she dashed to where she had dropped her bag. It took her a moment to dig out the brown bag wrapped package, but she grasped it in one hand and turned back, holding it out to him.
“Please, take it,” Lori said, begging him. Not just for herself, but for all of them.
Slowly, Solomon reached out and took the package. His dark eyes widened as he peeked inside and saw the brick of cocaine that Robbie had given her. With his gaze still filled with shock, he looked back up at her.
“Well? Will you help you?”
Chapter 19
Lori held her breath as she waited for Solomon’s answer. The moment seemed to stretch on and on, like an eternity shoved into just a few seconds. The waiting was unbearable. This was her life at stake. Her child’s life. Everything she loved and cared about hung in the balance.
He opened his mouth and Lori flinched. She had no idea what he was going to say, but she did know that he was their last hope. Her baby’s last hope. And if she had to fight to get him to help them, she would. She wouldn’t give up easy, that was for damn sure.
But the next moment, Solomon was raising his hand, snapping his fingers in the air. Less than a second later, Marco seemed to appear out of nowhere, melting from the shadows behind the doorway, where he’d been waiting unseen and unheard until now.
Lori jumped as Marco came forward, stopping next to them with the same stoic, emotionless expression as before.
“Follow me,” he said stiffly.
Lori shot a concerned look at Tex, but he just shrugged, obviously as lost as she was.
“Wait, does this mean… does this mean you’re going to help us?” Lori asked breathlessly, almost too afraid to hope.
Solomon nodded solemnly in her direction, a hint of a smile breaking through his sharp features.
“It does. Your story… Let’s just say, I know how hard this – like – can be on a child.”
Something sparked in his dark eyes then, almost too fast for her to follow but Lori caught it. Sorrow. Regret. Anger. But more than anything a soul deep mourning.
“I’ll help you. Now go. Marco will show you to your room.”
“Our room?” Lori asked
Excitement and trepidation warred inside her. But Solomon was already gone, disappearing back through the French doors he’d first walked out of.
Marco nodded impatiently, and Lori and Tex had no choice but to follow the nearly silent man as he led them back inside through a different set of doors and down a long hallway. There was ever more evidence of the extreme wealth and opulence of Solomon’s lifestyle everywhere Lori looked.
Every single room they passed seemed to hold even more treasures, and Lori couldn’t help but wonder how he’d acquired all of it and, more importantly, why. It seemed to her that, besides Marco and Solomon himself, there wasn’t anyone else there. Who was admiring all those wondrous things. Or who was meant to?
Finally, at the end of another long hall, Marco came to a stop in front a set of oak doors. He pushed them open and gestured for Lori and Tex to enter.
“You can stay here. If you don’t mind, you will be locked in for a short time as Solomon… verifies that what you’ve told him is the whole truth.”
“I wouldn’t lie!” Lori said hotly.
He just shrugged, her anger rolling off him like oil on water.
“Nevertheless, he must be… diligent. I’m sure you understand. I’ll have the chef prepare you a meal while you wait.”
Lori opened her mouth to say something else, but the door was already shut and then the sound of the lock being turned followed shortly after.
“Can you imagine the nerve. Locking us in here!”
“It’s smart. I would do the same thing,” Tex said simply, shrugging as he paced out the large bedroom.
Actually, it was more of a suite. Bedroom was far too meager a word to describe it. The walls were painted a soft blue-gray, with ornate molding that followed along the top and bottom of the entire room. There was a sitting area with a blue velvet couch and several chairs along with a glass table that all framed a large stone fireplace.
On the other side of the room was a massive four poster bed, which Lori glanced over quickly. There were two doors on the wall beyond the bed. One led to a walk-in closet, bigger than her entire house, and a bathroom that looked like it was straight from some luxury spa.
“So, I guess we’re stuck here,” Lori said with a nervous laugh as she walked around the room, pretending to be engrossed in every painting and piece of art that was on the wall. Anything to not have to look over at where Tex was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking good enough to eat.
Tex didn’t say anything, just sat there, stoic and silent as Lori’s thoughts tumbled chaotically through her head. For a few hours at least, she’d been able to push the horrible memory of Carrie’s screams out of her thoughts, but now that there were no more distractions she couldn’t ignore them.
All the fear and worry for her friend that she’d pushed below the surface came back in a rush to overwhelm her. She drew in a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly, trying to slow her suddenly pounding heartbeat.
How was Carrie now? What was Gears doing to her? Was he torturing her friend because of Lori’s decision to run? Was this all her fault?
She tried to make herself relax. They were surrounded by the luxury of the mansion. Hell, it was better than a five star hotel. Way better than any place she’d ever stayed at. But there was a tension in the air. A stillness. As if their anxiousness had leaked out into the atmosphere. She drew it in with every breath.
They didn’t know what was going to happen next. Lori wasn’t even sure if Solomon was really going to help them. Every single thing the man said had been vague. He hadn’t exactly offered any promises and, after what Marco had said, she just didn’t know
“I think I’m going to go take a shower. I need… I just need…”
Lori cut off the mumbled words as she turned and headed for the enormous bathroom, closing the door partway behind her. She needed privacy. She needed to be alone. She needed to try and come to terms with what was happening, but she didn’t even know where to begin.
She didn’t even really see the black-and-white marbled floors or the large gilt mirror that hung above the matching marble double vanity. She glanced at the soaking tub, which was nestled into one corner and was easily big enough to fit two, maybe even three people, but she didn’t walk towards it.
Instead, she headed straight towards the luxurious walk-in shower, opened the door and turned the water on. Steam started to fog up the glass sliding doors.
Lori stepped inside, drawing a deep breath and trying to exhale all the tension that had knots aching in her neck. But she couldn’t seem to inhale deep enough. She couldn’t seem to exhale at all. All of her breath was backing up in her lungs, choking her as she stepped under the warmth of the shower spray.
She just wanted it all to go away. The fear. The worry. The panic. The uncertainty. All of it, she wanted all of it gone. But with every breath, all the thoughts and feelings she tried to keep at bay rushed over her, paralyzing her.
Tears stung her eyes, and this time there was nothing she could do to stop them. One by one they fell, rolling down her cheeks to mix with the water from the shower head.
Lori tried. She fought. Desperately, she tried to keep them at bay, but now that the flood gates were open they wouldn’t stop. She swiped an angry hand against her cheek, wiping away the moisture, but a moment later it was just replaced again.
Choking back a sob, Lori didn’t hear the shower door open until Tex was standing right behind her. She looked back at him, tired and crushed with terror and the trauma of everything that had happened the last few days. Hell, the last few months.
Before she could stop herself, even if she had wanted to, she was reaching for him. Tex wrapped his arms around her, enfolding her in his strength as he pulled her close. The tenderness in his touch broke through the last of her resistance and all she could do was cling to him as tight as she could while sobs wracked her body.
Tex never let her go as they both stood there. The warm water washed down their bodies as Lori let everything go, for the first time maybe in her entire life, completely trusting herself with another person. Not with just anyone. But with Tex.
He made her feel safe enough to be afraid. He made her feel like he would protect her from anything, even her own overwhelming emotions. And, god, did she have a lot of them at the moment.
Finally, the storm within Lori started to ease and her sobs started to turn into gentle hiccups before fading away altogether. After another moment, she was able to compose herself enough to look up at him, meeting his eyes, dark emerald with worry for her.
“God, I hate crying,” Lori said with a watery laugh, as she swiped at the last few tears that stung the corners of her eyes.
“I think, after everything that’s happened, after everything you’ve been through, you deserve to let yourself cry,” Tex whispered, his voice as gentle as the look in his gaze as he swept a thumb across her cheek. He tucked a sodden strand of hair behind one ear before cupping her cheek again in his palm. It was as if he couldn’t stop touching her, couldn’t stop trying to comfort her. At the moment, she was more than okay with that. His touch really did seem to push bac
k the storm inside her.
Suddenly, as their eyes locked together, Lori could seem something shift in Tex’s gaze. The same shift of regret that she felt inside herself.
“I’m sorry,” Tex said, just a moment before she could. “I’m sorry about shouting at you, I’m sorry about the fight.”
“Me too,” Lori whispered, blinking away the droplets from the shower her lashes as she looked up at him. “I’m sorry I stormed off like that. I never should have… I know it was stupid. I was just so… afraid.”