“You are so smart you shouldn’t let it waste away, you should use it to help me.” She would laugh. I spent many nights teaching her things, and we studied together too. My little virgin who was determined to make me her first. I never could figure out why or what she saw in me. Our relationship was good for a long time, until she made a mistake coming to look for me at my house. My father greeted her like she was nothing. I hated him for that. He thought I could do better and I thought he was the worst my mother could have ever done. One of the worst fights I ever had with my father was when he made Franky cry. She denied it, but I saw it in her face, the reality or what she thought was reality. She never understood how beautiful I thought she was. I did my best to make it up to her, even skipped out on Luke and Elijah to be with her. That same night I tried to convince her to run away with me, get married and leave everything and everyone behind but she needed to think about it, which I took to mean that I wasn’t good enough. I became angry at her. No matter what she said after, it didn’t matter, I was convinced she saw me as nothing more than the loser that her father always called me. He hated my guts and swore he would break my neck if I didn’t leave his daughter alone. All that disgust he had for me, I assumed she herself was feeling it too. After some sharp words I left her behind to meet up with Elijah and Luke to do a job for Harvey. What I didn’t know is my brother, Connor, was out to end me for good. Watching me closely he took aim, only neither of us saw Franky come running at me with her packed bag in hand. Her eyes begged me to help her but there was nothing I could do. Connor, that bastard, learned early on how to get to me. He came after Kayla because he knew how he had affected me before. Franky wanted to be with me, but she didn’t want to leave her father alone. She loved him too much and wanted to have us both. I still feel guilty for not understanding that, for forcing her to choose. She was only seventeen, and I was a few months older, but we were sure - of each other. I miss her like crazy, and I promised myself I would never get close to anyone like that again.
Then … Kayla, the helpless young girl who looked into my soul and still told me that she loved me. My heart was hers from that moment until forever, and I will never let anyone hurt her. I will do everything in my power to make sure she spends every moment of her life perfectly happy and content. Kayla helps take away that pain of Franky but now all I can see is losing her too. Even as she sleeps soundly next to me, I worry about losing her. It was selfish to send her away with Ryan. I thought if I never know how she is then I don’t ever have to know she is in pain or that she doesn’t love me anymore. Sweeping her hair off her face I wake her and she looks up at me with a smile. Moving in close, I kiss her lips gently and reach under the covers feeling down her warm naked body. With little effort, I convince Kayla to take the initiative. She pushes me on my back like a determined woman. I don’t have to do a thing but caress her in the right places and kiss her with praise. She makes love to me softly and with more respect than I deserve. Watching her move on top of me is hypnotic and I love it. Raising my hips up, I force my dick deeper into her and enjoy the breathy gasp from her lips. The warmth of her skin against my hands, heats up even more, as the tightness I am feeling against my erection increases to a swelling pleasure. Breathless, Kayla easily falls back asleep lying against my chest and allowing me to hold her throughout the night, which only makes me love her more.
“Must you always carry that damn umbrella with you?” I gripe, huffing at Eddy and his ridiculous accessory.
“You never know when it might rain.” He says cheerfully.
“Uh –huh, sure. Just try to blend in best you can.” I fear this task is going to be harder than it needs to be with his foolishness. We both dress for our dockworker image, me in our rugged worker clothing and him with his freshly pressed cover up with the creases lining up perfectly. I try to distance myself from him until I spot the man I am looking for. The new boss, Paul Kiger, swaggers around with his chest out and holding the computer I have been waiting to get my hands on. I signal Eddy and make my move to follow Kiger. The moron wobbles his way to the back office and sets his computer down before grabbing his dirty magazine from the bottom drawer of his desk and rushing off to the bathroom. My only obstacle is the assistant guarding his office.
“How are you going to get by his assistant?” Eddy asks me.
I smile confidently and Eddy’s eyes widen, “Just barricade the bathroom door and come back here.” I walk directly up to the woman and concentrate on her as she looks up at me. “Hello sweetheart, I need you do me a favor.” Leaning down into her face I lick my lips and caress her face. She smiles instantly and holds my hand to her face. “I need to retrieve a secret on Mr. Kiger’s computer, can you login for me?” She nods and gets up, smiling as she watches me follow her closely to inside the office. Sitting at his desk, she gasps when I breathe gently on her neck as she logs in. Taking hold of her chair I spin her around, motioning to Eddy to access the computer while I distract her. “I don’t really need anything on that computer, I only wanted to be alone with you.” I smile. “How long do we have until your boss comes back?”
“He will be in there for another thirty minutes at least – morning coffee you know.” She giggles. Looking down at her dress, I trail my fingers down the buttons secured so tightly against her breasts that she barely breathes as I fumble through them.
Leaning in, I remove her hair from around her ear and whisper, “I bet your lips taste so sweet. Will you let me kiss you?” She nods. “Can I kiss you in other places?” She gulps and nods again. I moan, trailing my finger up her bare leg, pushing her dress up farther and farther, “What do you want to do to me?” Her eyes lower to my pants. Laughing I lift her face up, “Dirty girl. You want to feel it don’t you?” She inhales deeply. “Tell me baby, where do you want to feel it?” I whisper with a moan before touching my lips to her neck. She passes out instantly. “Are you done yet?” I ask Eddy as he continues fumbling through the computer. He looks up at me in amazement. “Come on, let’s go.” He shuts the computer down and puts it back in place before we leave.
“Did you drug her?” Eddy asks me.
“No, why would I bother doing that?” I answer feeling his eyes continue to stare hard at me with his mouth held wide open. “What?”
“You are scary. Cool, but scaaaaarrrry.”
“Tell me Eddy, you are more than capable of working for any big corporation in the world. Why did I find you working for Ellis?”
“The whole world is full of criminals of every level, the corporate world is full of them. What is the difference? The corporate world doesn’t pay as well, and the government steals half of what you make for their own uses, whether you agree with them or not. I like to make my own decisions and work with people who are a little more exciting to be around. Who needs television when you have a man simply staring at people and turning them into mush? And then there is your wife.” He gets a giddy smile as I eye him from the corner of my eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, working with you is exciting, but working with her … well it’s much nicer.” He gushes and I have to laugh at him.
“I will let her know you approve. So Eddy, have you ever been with a woman?”
“Yes, a Ms. Daisy Carol. I let her share my umbrella one night. See, you have your strengths, and I have an umbrella.” I laugh out loud, shaking my head.
“Ahh Eddy, I think this is a start of a beautiful …”
“Friendship,” he says proudly.
“Partnership. Which is better because I respect you more.” I say, leaving for home with my new partner.
Eddy gained access to Estrella’s shipments and was able to figure out the patterns to determine which ones we need to target, but there is a change of plans when Estrella acts first. Elijah calls me early in the morning, a surprise, Estrella is going to him. Estrella expects my next move is to take out Elijah, and then to come after him. Reasonable, but what he doesn’t know is Elijah and I have a long standing agreement to never come after each other.
Actually, we agreed to stay out of each other’s business, until now.
Estrella has invited Elijah to his home in hopes of joining forces to come after me. Instead, Elijah is going to spy on him and help setup our next attack, from the inside. We decide to suit up Elijah with a monitor and some listening devices, just in case Estrella is setting him up. Elijah is not overly excited about the plan, but to help out I send Eddy with him so he can take in all the surroundings and report back exactly what he sees. Ryan and I sit back, listening to Elijah ramble on about how he would rather be fucking and drinking than dealing with this bullshit. “Would you shut up? You big baby.” I yell at him, when I can finally take no more.
“Listen Nicky, I am in this mess because of you! So you will damn well sit there and listen to me and like it.” Elijah demands as Ryan rolls his eyes towards me and whispers an appropriate name for Elijah. “And what’s with this dweeb and his umbrella you sent with me? Is this supposed to be my bodyguard? Nicky, I am feeling that our friendship needs some negotiating.”
“Don’t worry about it, just look at him as your assistant for the day.” I suggest.
“My assistants usually have better legs and bigger breasts.” Elijah insists.
“Mr. Stevens, I assure you that I would much prefer the company of a lady, as well.” Eddy says respectfully.
“What the fuck are you talking about? Nicky! Let me out of this car!” Elijah yells.
Finally, they arrive at Estrella’s and Joseph comes running out to greet Elijah firsthand. “Elijah Stevens, finally we meet. It is a pleasure, I must say.” Estrella beams.
“Uh huh, nice to meet you too - I guess.” Elijah mumbles, always the charmer.
“And who is this?” Joseph asks, apparently referring to Eddy.
“Who is this – well, this is the guy that carries my umbrella. Why, don’t you have one? Oh you should, it’s all the rage in Paris.” Elijah says smartly.
Joseph escorts them to his private office and offers Elijah a drink, which he was not suppose to take but does anyway. They talk about nothing for some time until Elijah becomes tired of it. “You know, as fun as this bullshit is, I have other things I would rather be doing so spit it out already. What do you want?”
“A man that likes to get right to it, I like that. I assume you know Nicholas Jayzon? Well, he and I are currently at odds and I would like to fix that and take over his business. I will be happy to split it with you in exchange for your help.” Estrella speaks with an encouraged tone.
“My help taking down Jayzon, and what do I get out of it exactly? And don’t cheap out on me Joey, I got needs you know.” Elijah comments with little interest in what he is doing.
“Well with his recent acquirements, I would like to keep the art and car dealings, so maybe you could have his strip club and prostitutes?”
“Strip club? He has a strip club and prostitutes? Hmm, news to me. Keep going, I like what I am hearing Joey.” Elijah says with a shuffling sound, which I assume is him motioning for another drink.
“Don’t get excited Elijah, you already have a strip club and you see plenty of prostitutes. You don’t need any more on the payroll. You’ll go broke.” I remind him.
Joseph laughs, “So you like the ladies. He certainly has some of the best. None better than his wife though.”
“What is that?” Elijah perks up.
“His wife use to work for him. Stripped, was a professional you might say. I hear she knows how to do some incredible things. I have had my eye on her for some time, but I might be willing to part with that acquirement too.”
“Incredible things - like what?”
“Well we can talk about that some other time.” Joseph insists.
“No, I want to know now.” Elijah demands.
“Asshole get off of my wife!” I yell at Elijah to calm the cocksucker down.
“So she is … hmmm.” Elijah eases down a bit.
“You want her?” Estrella tempts.
“Excuse me? Want her, you mean own his wife?”
“If it seals the deal then I am happy to give her up to you.” Joseph cruelly promises.
“Deal.” Elijah says happily. “So these things she can do, does that include like …” Elijah asks.
“Motherfucker, I swear if you don’t get off my wife …” I seethe into his ear.
“So how are you planning to go about this?” Elijah asks calmly. “Jayzon isn’t exactly going to be an easy target, he is smart and he’s got that crazy eye intimidation thing going for him.”
“Well the gentleman I am working with is about to cause a major upheaval in their lives. He is getting a judge to issue an order to take their kid from them. That should send her over the edge forcing him to come after the kid but it will be too late, and that should cause him to lose focus, giving us enough time to take him.” Estrella speaks without a waver in his voice.
“You are going to kill his kid?” Elijah suddenly realizes the depths at which these people will go.
“Amongst other things, plan on leaving him with a former father figure of Jayzon’s wife – he is not exactly.”
“I suggest you not tell me anymore about that, I might vomit up my lunch on your pretty rug.” The intensity in Elijah’s voice heightens and I know now he is with us for good.
“It’s business, can’t have another Jayzon growing up you know. So we will wait for the right time and then hit him from both sides.” Joseph says happily. “Can’t tell you how excited I am to have you with us.”
Some details are discussed before they plan their next meeting. Elijah leaves not speaking a word all the way back to our house. “They are putting a hit on your kid.” Elijah says to me.
“I heard him.” My hands are still shaking as I try to be calm when Kayla walks in. “We need to get Nicky out of here.”
“Why Nick?” She asks, already getting upset and anxious. “WHY?” I hold her and explain the details, trying to figure out the best place to send him. I plan on getting him to Exie since she is already well hidden with Sierra. She will take care of him as well as anyone. However, Kayla won’t allow him to be that far away from her and decides to take the matter into her own hands. Only her plan is not one I am comfortable agreeing to. Simone and my sister show up within the hour. They happily agree to take Nicky with them, but Simone has to rub it in one more time before they leave.
“Don’t worry Jayzon, he will be fine. No one will ever suspect that I, of all people, would help you out. Besides, Nicky is a great kid and it will be good practice for Lena and I, you know, when we have our kids.” He laughs, exiting quickly before I can hurt him.
“Okay let’s get to work. I want this asshole. Eddy what did you learn?” I demand using my anger to plan the best attack.
“A lot actually. I took the time for a bathroom break in which I did some exploring on my own. For some reason no one considered me a threat.” Eddy says.
“It’s probably because of that ridiculous umbrella.” Elijah responds.
“This umbrella carried in ten listening devices and three explosives that I was able to strategically place within the home.” Eddy smiles up at Elijah’s shocked expression. “The explosions won’t cause a lot of damage, but will set off enough smoke to cause the inhabitants to become disoriented and …” He excitedly claps. “And cause them to open the home freely on their own to any unexpected guests.” Kayla excitedly hugs and kisses him, causing him to become dizzy and nearly fall out of his chair. He probably would have, if I hadn’t caught him and put him back in his chair.
“You know Kayla, I helped too.” Elijah says expectantly.
“Good for you.” Kayla snaps back.
I look over at him and he catches himself before accidentally looking me head on. “What is with you buying my wife?”
“Just part of the game Nicholas, got to play the part and all. Well it’s getting late. Are we done here? Can I go actually have some fun now?”
“Go. We will take it from here and call
you with the next steps.” I nod, preferring him to leave rather than annoy me with his constant remarks.
“Yes Elijah, you can go back to your alcohol and prostitutes. We will handle the big boy work.” Kayla smiles at him.
“Big boy work - what was that I just did today?” He asks, meeting her face to face.
“Well from what I heard, you were a little nervous, rambling on and on like a scared puppy. I would hate for you to involve yourself into something that might scare you.” Kayla laughs.
“Nothing scares me. And I was not nervous, just irritated.”
“You weren’t just a little bit scared of the big men with all the guns?” Kayla teases.
I quickly step in front of Elijah before he says something that I will have to deal with later. “Go home Elijah, we will talk later – big boy stuff and all.” I glance back at Kayla and her smirk.
Chapter 33
~Ryan~
Back to listening to Welch’s conversations, I couldn’t be more bored if I tried. Nick is holding us up to make sure the plan against Estrella is near perfect. With Elijah’s help we are slowly closing off all of his trade routes and picking up some supplies along the way. I would prefer to be working on that, but at least I get to go back to the cabin tonight and spend the night with Sam, but not until Welch finally ends his day. I assume he is about to leave, but before he can take another step he gets a call. Sigh
“Hello?”
“Spence.” Sam says launching me straight to the window. What the hell is she doing? I told her not to call him! “Spence, I’m sorry for everything that has happened but I had to call you and tell you that … I don’t love you and … that I am in love with someone else. I wish you well, but please stop searching for me. I am happy now and …”