Denied (5 page)

Five

Cameron sat back
and ran a hand through his damp hair.

“What do you need a gun for?”

“What do you think? Protection. The men who took me know where I live. I’m not going to feel safe in my apartment without one, and after what you told the police, they’re not going to offer me any protection either.”

“Why not go down the usual routes? Apply for one. I assume you’re not a felon, so there’s no reason you wouldn’t get a permit.”

She shook her head. “It’s not fast enough. I need one now, or by tonight, at least.”

He stared at her, and she knew he was considering things. If he had a decision to make, it meant he at least knew where he could get hold of a weapon.

“Do you have money?” he asked.

“Yes, plenty. I just need to get down to the bank and make a withdrawal.” She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. “Does that mean you’re going to help me?”

“I might know a guy. I’m still in touch with him from college. He was always into some suspect shit, and I reckon he’d know where to get a weapon.”

“Please, just call this guy for me and ask,” she said. “You owe me.”

He sighed and sat back.

She drank the too-hot coffee, anxiously awaiting his answer.

“Okay,” he said eventually. “Give me an hour. Let me make some calls and I’ll come and knock on your door when I hear something.”

Lily smiled, unsure if she should be happy about the news, or sick with nerves at what she was contemplating. “Thank you,” she said, rising from the couch. “It really will help make me feel safer.”

“And get some more locks for your front door. Big ones.”

She smiled again, though the expression felt tight. She didn’t like that she was using this guy to get what she needed, but there was no room in her heart for compassion. She needed to be tough, brutal. If she showed weakness, it would be the end of her.

Lily left his apartment. The strange sensation someone was watching her clutched at her again, but when she looked down the hall, the space was empty. Suddenly spooked, every hair on her body rising to attention, she raced down the hall to her own apartment. With her breath heaving, she slammed her way into her place and shut the door behind her, clicking the lock into position. She leaned against the door, trying to hold back her tears. She needed to be tough, but deep down she was hurt and frightened.

“Why are you making me do this alone?” she said out loud, though she knew he couldn’t hear her. “You did this to me, Monster. You brought these men into my life and then you abandoned me. Those aren’t the actions of someone who loves another person. They’re the actions of a fucking coward!”

She didn’t even want to be in her apartment, feeling like a trespasser in her own home, but exhaustion swept over her and she managed to stumble her way to the couch. Collapsing into the soft cushions, she huddled into the fetal position and tucked her hands beneath her head. The faint whiff of vomit and cleaning fluid still tainted the air, but she’d slept in worse.

Exhaustion claimed her and she fell into a deep, fathomless sleep.

***

He was with
her on the couch, his large body pressing hard against hers as she clutched at his back. His presence surrounded her, encasing her in a bubble where she could think of nothing but him.

Lily squirmed, the familiar heat condensing between her thighs, begging to be built higher until she toppled over the brink. How strange to both desperately reach toward the final culmination, and yet never want the journey to end.

“Monster, please,” she moaned, pressing her face against his shoulder.

His hand roughly pushed between their bodies, delving between her thighs.

She wanted to lift her head from his shoulder, to look into his face, and yet somehow she couldn’t. Her head felt as though it was made from lead, and however hard she tried, she couldn’t move it. The sensation reminded her of something, of another time she’d been unable to get a part of her body to work. Alarm flitted through her, but she pushed it away, not wanting to think about it. Instead, she wanted to lose herself in the pressure of Monster’s fingers pushing against her mound, seeking their way inside her. That was what she needed, what she wanted. Somehow, she felt as though if she found her brink, everything would be all right again.

Nothing’s wrong, whispered the distant part of her mind. Monster’s here with you, making love to you. Everything is just right.

Yet, it wasn’t. She knew it wasn’t.

She was wet and slippery between her thighs. Monster’s fingers glided between her folds and entered her, stretching her pillowed walls. His digits pushed deep and hard inside her and she bucked, her back arching. She let out a groan and bit his shoulder, her teeth and tongue meeting with the soft fabric of his t-shirt.

T-shirt? Why was he wearing a t-shirt? Other than when he was naked, she’d never seen him out of a suit.

With his middle and index fingers pushing into her pussy, his little finger and ring finger moved lower. His fingers brushed the star of her anus and she gave a small cry. He said nothing to reassure her, seeming to know what her body wanted even more than she did. Using the lubrication he’d already coaxed from her, his little finger pressed against her asshole, until he breached her ring and pushed inside.

She felt a slight sting, but the pleasure that instantly shot through her body far outweighed any discomfort. She pressed down on his hand, wanting more, and he gave it to her. Pushing his ring finger inside her anus, she was impaled on his hand, two fingers in her cunt, two in her ass. She would come within seconds, she knew she would. Already she felt wild with desperation to reach that point, and she lifted her hips, rocking against his hand as he pushed with an almost angry force. With each thrust of his hand inside her, he let out a grunt, as though finger-fucking her anally and vaginally was some kind of punishment for her.

Lily didn’t even care. Her orgasm took hold, every muscle in her core contracting and pulsing as she came, hard. Her eyes squeezed shut, her eyeballs rolling in her head as the pleasure exploded through her. It felt like it would never end, wave after wave as her inner muscles rode his fingers.

Then finally it did ebb away, leaving her gasping.

“Oh, my God,” she said, finally able to lift her head from his shoulder.

Only it wasn’t Monster staring at her with his intense dark eyes, but her neighbor, Cameron.

He grinned down at her. “I told you I knew all about you,” he said, his fingers still embedded inside her …

Six

Lily burst from
the dream in a flurry of movement, her heart racing. She was confused and disoriented. Where was she? Shouldn’t she be in Monster’s bed? But then it all came back to her in a rush, and she suddenly felt sick. She’d orgasmed in her sleep, and could still feel the afterglow, while being horrified about what she’d dreamed.

She didn’t want to betray Monster, but did they still have a relationship? She was crazy to even be thinking about it after what he’d done, yet she couldn’t just switch her heart off like that. He was one of a kind. She’d never meet someone like him again, and her soul ached for him, even as her heart was broken.

Knocking sounded at the door, snatching her attention.

Sitting up, she pushed her hair from her face. She was surprised to find her cheeks wet. She’d been crying in her sleep as well as coming. Lily got to her feet and walked to the door to open it. Cameron stood in the open doorway, and the memory of her dream rushed back to her, making her face hot.

“Everything okay?” he asked her.

She nodded. “Yeah, sorry. I just woke up. Come in.”

She stepped back to allow him into the apartment and then shut the door behind him. “Have you got any news for me?” she said, sitting back down on the couch.

He took a seat opposite and pushed a hand through his hair. “The guy I know wants to meet you before he’ll sell to you.”

“What? Why?”

“I guess he wants to know who his customers are so he can track them down should anything go wrong.”

“Great,” she muttered. “What’s he like?”

Cameron shrugged. “He sells drugs and weapons for a living. What do you think he’s like?”

“Okay, point made. When do we go?”

“How does now sound?”

It wasn’t as though she had a busy schedule. “Sure.”

Lily would normally have grabbed her purse about now, but she didn’t have one. She felt unhinged, untethered, as though she no longer had a real place in the world.

She remembered something. If she was going to the bank, she would need some identification.

“Just give me a minute,” she told Cameron, as she headed into her bedroom to find her passport. It was something she’d never needed to use, and that she’d only gotten on a whim one day, but now she was glad she had it. Ironically, she hadn’t needed it to travel to a different country, but she’d need it to take money out of her account now she had no bank card.

With only her house keys in one pocket and her passport in the other, she followed Cameron from the apartment and into the elevator. They stood awkwardly together, and she had to break the silence.

“Did you tell this guy my name?” she asked.

“Nah, I just said you were a friend.”

“Do you think he’ll recognize me from the papers?”

“To be honest, he’s not really a news reading kind of guy, so I doubt he’ll know anything about you.”

She relaxed slightly at this news. The fewer people who knew about her, the better. Depending on how things turned out, no one might ever see her again. Cigarette Hands might kill her before she got the chance to kill him, or maybe she would die while she was taking him out. Or perhaps she would change her mind about the whole thing and walk out into the wilderness and try to forget Lily Drayton ever existed.

“You okay?” he asked.

She forced a smile. “Yeah, sorry, but you don’t need to keep asking me that. I’m just over-thinking things.”

He smiled back. “I’ve heard that can be bad for your health.

He had a good smile—kind and genuine. Why hadn’t she ever noticed him before? It was as though Monster had woken her up to the opposite sex, while ruining her for anyone else. Perhaps that had been his intention all along.

“My car is parked across the street,” said Cameron.

“You mind if we stop by the bank first? I need to get some money.” She paused. “Umm, how much do you think I’m going to need?”

His lips twisted. “A grand, at least. Is that doable?”

“Yeah, that’s doable.”

Within fifteen minutes, Cameron pulled up outside the bank and she hopped out of the car.

“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked, leaning across the passenger seat she’d just vacated.

“I think I can manage making a withdrawal myself,” she said. “I’m a big girl.”

He gave a shrug. “Only offering. I’ll wait out here for you.”

“Thanks.”

She slammed the car door shut and turned to walk into the bank. A cashier was free, the bank relatively empty for so late in the afternoon. She made her way up to the woman sitting behind the Plexiglas and removed her passport, setting it down, open at the identification page.

“Hi, I’d like to make a withdrawal, please.”

The woman reached to take her passport, checked it, and then looked up at her with a smile.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Drayton. We thought you might be stopping by to see us soon.”

Her stomach did a slow flip, the hairs on the back of her neck standing to attention. That was the last thing she’d been expecting, especially since everyone else had been shocked to see her. “What do you mean?”

The woman hesitated, uncertain, clearly picking up on Lily’s awkwardness. “Well, because of your recent deposit.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t deposited any money in the last month.”

She gave a thin-lipped smile. “Shall we go into a private office? We probably shouldn’t discuss this here.”

“Okay, fine, but I have somewhere I need to be, so this has to be quick.”

“Of course. Please, follow me.”

She followed the cashier to an office at the rear of the bank.

“I’ll just send my manager in to see you,” the woman said. “Can I get you anything to drink? Tea? Coffee?”

“No, I’m fine, thank you. I really am in a rush.”

Luckily, the bank manager appeared at the cashier’s shoulder. “That’s fine, Ruby. I can take things from here.”

The cashier gave her a smile and disappeared.

The manager approached, extending his hand. “Ms. Drayton. I’m so glad you called in to see us. I was going to call you myself today.”

She braced herself to make contact with him and shake his hand in return, and then hazarded a guess. “About the deposit?”

“That’s right.”

“Can I ask how much it was for?”

“Of course. Let me print you out your statement.”

He printed out a sheet and pushed it over the desk toward her. She glanced down. Five hundred thousand dollars.

Fucking Monster.

She had no doubt he was responsible.

“I don’t want it,” she said.

“What?”

“I don’t want the money. Send it back.”

“I’m afraid it’s not as simple as that, Ms. Drayton. Deposits of that size trigger our Anti Money Laundering division, and they’re going to want to investigate where the money has come from to make sure it’s legal. Are you saying you don’t know where the money has come from?”

Aware she might be implicating herself in a crime, she just said, “I don’t know anything about it. I didn’t even know the money was there until your cashier mentioned it. All I wanted was to take some money out of my regular fund so I can pay my bills. I don’t know how much you’re aware of, but I’ve gone through some trauma myself recently. Someone stole my purse and bank cards, and I need money to live on.”

His cheeks heated. “Yes, of course, you can take money from whatever was previously in your account, but please understand that you cannot touch the half a million until it’s been investigated.”

“I don’t want the half a million. I thought I’d already said that. I only want the money I’ve worked hard for and saved all these years.”

He cleared his throat. “Yes, we can do that, but we will be in touch about the rest of the money.”

Lily sighed. “That’s fine. Please, I just want what’s mine.”

The bank manager processed her withdrawal and she got the hell out of there. What did Monster think he was playing at? Didn’t he realize that sort of money was bound to get the attention of people it shouldn’t? If they tracked it back to him, he’d be investigated.

But no, she was sure he would have taken precautions to avoid that happening. He might have no clue about the value of money to regular people, but he did know how to hide his tracks.

She didn’t know whether to be insulted or to feel exasperated by him. Was this his warped idea of trying to look after her? She didn’t want or need his money. He knew she had a decent career of her own. Sure, it wasn’t a multi-million-dollar illegal business, and she lived in an apartment rather than a walled mansion, but that didn’t mean she needed him throwing money at her as a way of making himself feel better for washing his hands of her.

Cameron was loitering on the sidewalk, waiting for her. She grabbed his arm as she passed and dragged him toward where his car was parked.

“What happened in there?” Cameron asked her.

“Nothing you need to know about. I have the money.”

He looked like he was considering pressing her on the topic, but then changed his mind. “Okay. My friend’s apartment is on the other side of the city. It’s not a great district, kind of rough, so prepare yourself.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, her tone cool. “I’m sure I’ve seen a lot worse.”