Ballistic (20 page)

“We’re in deep shit bitches,” I whistled to the girls.

“My parents are going to kill me,”
a distraught Venessa whispered and instantly we are all reminded that she’s the one with something on the line. She’s the only one with decent humans as parents and yes, her parents would, in fact, kill her.

“It’s cool,” I tell her
, sitting beside her. “I know who can help.”

Taking me to the side of our cell
, Jules leans in. “Who? Venessa can’t get in trouble.”

“I know,” I tell her
, rolling my eyes for dramatic effect. “I got it, alright?”

Getting the bailiff’s attention
, I whispered to him who I needed to see. He offered me a nod and comes back about a half hour later. He gets the girls a ride back to Macy’s and from there, Venessa can make curfew. Jules was pissed I’m staying behind, but she’ll get over it.

“He will use you, Lina,” she
said.

“Of course he will,” I
told her. “Now go and make sure she gets home.”

That’s how it started.

He started using me when I was sixteen years old and I let him.

After downing three cups of coffee and grabbing a quick shower, I explain what I’ve uncovered with
Anthony. Feeling focused, I smile to myself thinking where most people zone out after a good fuck bout, I find clarity. Huh. Anthony is quiet as he takes in what I’ve shared. He doesn’t argue, he doesn’t debate. He accepts what I’ve said and is in agreement with me. Jules needed to get out of town like yesterday. Thing is, she isn’t going anywhere yet. She just needs to
think
she is. Now, he isn’t thrilled about it and I’m not either, but this is going to happen whether we liked it or not. I’m rather competitive so if there’s going to be a game, we would play by my rules.

Standing on their porch, I dial Jules knowing she’ll answer. “Hello?”

“Open your front door,” I tell her.

“What if I was naked? She asks like I’ve never seen the girls before and in case you’re wondering they are amazingly perky
.

“We’ll close our eyes.”

“Fine.” Seconds later, the door opens to a flushed Jules. It’s safe to say the honeymoon started early.

“What bring you two by?”
she asks while Max escorts us into the living room. Damn, he’s a large man. Anthony is tall, like six feet tall, but Max is like Lebron James tall.

“The usual,”
Anthon says. “Tell me, will you two be taking a honeymoon?”

“Eventually,”
Jules says with narrowing eyes. “We don’t have a specific date in mind yet.”

“How about now?” I offer
. “Now works.”

“What’s the rush?” she asks
, linking fingers with her husband.

“Oh nothing,” I say
, looking around the room. “Just there’s word there’s a witch hunt for the person responsible for offing that cop. You were there, right? Ring a bell or two?”

“Shit,” Max
says, hugging her close, no doubt remembering the events that led to this.

“My source tells me that when the, let’s call it gun fight
, happened that a DEA agent was responsible so naturally the DPD doesn’t want to tangle with the government. But Jules isn’t an agent anymore.”

“Fucking hell,” Jules
mutters, clearly unimpressed with the news.

“I hear the Dominican is nice this time of year,” I offer up sweetly.

“I’m not leaving,” she growls. “Fuck that. They want to take me on, fucking bring it.”

“I’m not so sure that’s the best course of action,” Anthony
advises. “You killed a cop in broad daylight. Our law enforcement may have some issues, but that’s a slam dunk, even for them.”

That’s when Max’s face goes red and I have to wonder if he takes meds for his blood pressure, because if he doesn’t he probably should. “He was dirty!” he yells
. “He tried to kill her, then was taken. Twice!”

“Is that right? Where are the culprits now?” Anthony
asks, keeping his cool. I want to giggle at the use of culprits but, I don’t. “Exactly. One is dead and the other is missing, only he isn’t, so that means it’s matter of time, doesn’t it? Let Lina and I do our thing and take your wife on her honeymoon.”

“You’re asking me to run,” she argues
.

“He’s asking you to lay low,” I argue back. “There’s a difference.”

“Blue,” Max says, rubbing her back, obviously sold on keeping her safe. “I can have us in the Dominican by Monday.”

After thinking on it
, I see her soften. She’ll do it for him, not herself. Jules never walks away from a fight but, I need her to think she’s walking away from this one.

“A beach and room service? I can work with that.” Then looking at us both
, she says, “You’ll keep me in the loop? You won’t pull any shit?”

“Yes,” Anthony
says, rolling his eyes at her bossy tone. “We’ll keep you in the loop and I don’t
pull
shit.”

“But I do,” I say smiling
, then there’s a knock on the door and Venessa charges in, pitching a fit over the club and effectively giving it back to Max. The meltdown lasted about a minute then she falls next to me and bumps shoulders.

“Feel better?” Jules
asks, arranging the papers she threw.

“Oddly enough
, I do,” she says, then her glare levels on Anthony. “What are you doing here?”

“Visiting,” I tell her
, standing up wanting to give them time with the happy couple. Walking over to Anthony I ask him “Wanna grab a smoke?” to which he takes my hand to help him up.

“Thought you’d never ask.”

Walking to the door, Venessa can’t let it go. “Hold up,” she says, standing in between us but addressing me while Rogan hangs back watching her. “Since when do you smoke?”

“Why?” I ask
. “You looking to call my mother?”

“Pump your brakes trigger,” she snaps
, then turns to him. “Smoking’s disgusting, seriously. Tony, you smoke, too? You like pussy wine I knew that, but cigarettes? Nasty.”

That fire consumes me again. Venessa is awesome, I love her, I do
, but she’s also opinionated and clearly protective when it comes to the man who came inside of
me
only hours ago. I have no issues pissing on her leg to mark my territory and it just so happens I have a full bladder. Getting in her space I ask her, “You kissing his mouth these days, Venessa?”

Clearly thrown by my question
, she back peddles. “What? No!”

“Then shut
yours
,” I advise her as we walk away. “No one asked you.”

Just as I get to the door she growls at me
, “The fuck is your problem?” she says, getting in my face this time.

“Step down,” I order her
. “I haven’t seen you in ages and you have to start this shit with me because I smoke or, is it because
Tony
smokes?”

“Whoa now,” she says
, getting angry and looking confused. “What in the fuck does that mean?”

“Angel,” Rogan steps in
, aware of the tension and the fact that I was about ready to slap her. “Step down, now.”

“No,” she says
, standing her ground. “You two have some explaining to do. Especially you,” she says, pointing around me to Anthony. “You lied, took off and now you’re both here a united front and still holding out on us. You two know all sorts of shit you aren’t sharing. Now she’s in my shit for no reason, so what the fuck, yeah?”

“Now isn’t the time,” I tell her
, going around her, but then she grabs my arm. Not tight, but enough to stop me in my tracks. Bad fucking idea. “Let go,” I tell her quietly, but she doesn’t.

Jules comes over and stands next to Venessa and says
, “She said let her go.”

“Jesus!”
Venessa says, throwing up her hands. “What is with you two?”

“Quit pushing her,” Jules
advises. “Do it again and you’ll deal with me.”

“You always take up for her like she can’t handle herself,” she argues
. “We’ve shared cell space, Jules.”

“Last time I checked
, I also got our asses out of those cells too, Venessa.” Having heard enough, I take Anthony’s hand and we go out to the porch and leave them to do whatever it was they came to do. I need to get back to the house and work these leads out and was about to tell him just that, when she walks out on the porch followed by a smirking Rogan. Venessa sucks at apologizing.

“Sorry,” she says
, looking at the ground. “It won’t happen again, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I offer up and then she slaps my ass as she leaves. Heading back in we stay for a few more hours talking about nothing in particular. When they tried digging for information
, we shut them down together and eventually they quit asking. Going home that night, I was plagued with nightmares, only this time I wasn’t the star, Jules was.

I understood things had to unfold as planned so the DPD wouldn’t be tipped off, but
that doesn’t mean that I am handling it well. Having no choice but to shove her to the front lines for the next battle, the only comfort I could find was knowing she could take care of herself. I’d also be there in the background putting the pieces together once the shit hit the fan.

Everyone knows when the shit starts flying, you duck. I mean
, really, who wants to be covered in shit?

“A good woman will respect you,” he
said, testing out the garbage disposal “A good man will respect her in return.”

Handing him the wrench
, I kneel down and asked him, “What’s with all the life lessons, Pop?”

“I’m not going to be around forever, son,” he
said, tightening the bolt. “I just want you prepared for when I’m not.”

“I know about respect,” I remind
ed him. “I watch you with Mom. You two are great teachers.”

Sitting up and wiping off
, he levels with me. “Son, you may meet a girl with the same upbringing as you and you may not. Not everyone has two amazing parents like you do.” When I laugh, he continued. “The point is, if you meet a girl that doesn’t, you have to be patient with her, listen to her, guide her and be honest with her.”

“I can do that.”

“I know you can, son,” he said, smiling. “I am a great teacher, you said so yourself.”

I know the plan and I can say with certainty, I don’t like it. I understand why it had to go down the way that it does, but this is going to wreck Max and the thought of him hurting again did not set well with me. Agreeing to follow her lead on this, while she’s in the shower getting ready, I head to the kitchen to grab a smoke and wait for her. Her phone is charging near the door and it pings constantly. Without touching it when it pings again, I look down before the screen blanks and see it’s Julian begging to see her. Swiping the message to open, I scroll up and see he has sent her at least a dozen messages, all asking the same thing. Granted, she didn’t respond to them, but she knew he sent them and didn’t say anything. She’s my woman. We share a bed together and she’s in our god damn shower, therefore she owes me an explanation.

Before I lose it again
, I make a phone call. A brief one because if she hears me, she’d break her other hand on my face for my deception. “We’ve got problems,” I offer in way of a greeting.

“No shit,” he says
. “You ready for tonight?”

“As much as I can be,” I mutter
. “She wants war. You better know what you’re doing.”

“You handle Lina,” he advises
. “Let me worry about the rest.”

“Handle Lina?” I laugh
. “Her best friend is about to be publicly arrested and I should handle her? You’re fucking delusional to think I’d even try.”

After he hangs up, I scratch my head wondering if I should tell her everything
, knowing I can’t, that the timing isn’t right. When her phone pings again, I shift focus. Climbing the stairs I can hear her singing. She has a beautiful off-key voice. I have no idea what song it is, but it’s not G-rated, I can tell you that much. Standing there until the song finishes, I walk in, snap a quick photo then toss the phone to her. “Explain.”

“Oh I got this! It’s a cell phone, specifically the IPhone 5S although the battery life sucks, Suri is a twat who doesn’t get anal jokes and believe me I’ve
tried
. I dig the camera features, though.”

“Julian has been sending you messages for days, Lina
,” I growl. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You touched my shit again,” she says
, putting both hands on her gorgeous hips. “Is this going to be a habit with you?” She’s see’s I’m about to lose it and continues. “Alright alright,” she says, tossing it on the bed. “Julian is like a stray dog; as long as I don’t feed or pet him, eventually he goes away.”

“As the past proves he also likes to hump,” I yell at her
, knowing I need to shut up. “Specifically
you
.”

“Ouch,” she says
, walking up to me and pulling my face down to hers. “That was mean, coach. You’re better than that.”

“You’re right I am
, but I have every right to be pissed off right now.”

“
Touché’,” she says, kissing me. “You have a point. I’m sorry for not telling you, but until now I forgot. If it’s not worth remembering, I just
don’t
.”

“I may have overreacted,” I admit
. “This isn’t an easy thing for me to accept so let’s just get tonight over with. This whole thing has me on edge.”

“You trust me
, right?” she asks, biting her lip. “I’m not hanging her out to dry, or Max for that matter, but this has to happen. I need the DPD by the balls.”

“I’m FBI
, Sherlock. We may have a way of doing things differently, but people we know and love are at stake here. There’s no protocol for this. If you think this will get the players moving, then this is what we’ll do.”

“Speaking of FBI, how are you here? I don’t see you reporting to anyone and this isn’t a case with the bureau
, so how are you able to give this your full attention?”

“I took a leave of absence,” I admit to her without disclosing more
. “I may have a job when I come back, I may not, but the more time I spend here with you, I’m rethinking my position.”

“If you’re on leave, how do you make money?”

Pulling her to me I rest my chin on her head. “My parents left me everything,” I tell her. “I could never work again and be okay.”

“Wow,” she mumbles
. “Your parents really loved you.”

“They did.”

“What’s that like?” she asks, looking up at me.

“It was everything,” I tell her
. “Or at least, I thought it was, until I met you.”

“We should go,” she says
, pulling away but, I don’t let it bother me because it’s the look of wonder on her face that gives me hope. My girl hasn’t known love, but if that look is anything to go by, she’s open to it.

Like I said, plans.