The Con (18 page)

Jagger moves quickly and I roll over onto my
back to accommodate our new position. His body is on top of mine as
he looks down at me affectionately. His short hair falls forward
and is tickling the skin on my forehead.

"If I remember correctly, I went home with
you." He's quiet for a moment before continuing. "I used to watch
you walk home all the time after you were dropped of from your
dance classes, even before our first interaction when you dropped
your ballet slippers in the puddle. I was only a kid but I knew
there was something special about you, something that made you
different from the rest of us kids in the trailer park. Just
because you can't dance anymore and you aren't able to go to some
fancy college, or dance as a principal in some dance company, it
doesn't change the fact that you can have the world if you work for
it."

The backs of his fingers move down my cheek
before the pad of his thumb rubs against my bottom lip. "That's why
I ignored you, twinkle toes. That's why I left you alone. And now
I've fucked it all up for you anyway because you're in this mess
with me and I haven't found a way to get you out of it yet."

"Jagger," I whisper against the pad of his
thumb. His words are soothing me and make me realize his guilt is
misplaced. He must have led a lonely life if he was pushing aside
the people that loved him and wanted to take care of him.

"You're better than this, twinkle toes.
You're better than this life. I've known it from the second I saw
you. I also knew that if I became a part of your life, I'd
ultimately be the reason you never got out of The Evergreen's."

I look up at him, hopeful. "What if I don't
want better, Jagger? All I've ever wanted is to be loved and to be
happy. You can give me both of those things."

"But at what cost, twinkle toes?"

"Why does it have to cost something? Why
can't we just have this and let the rest come when it does?"

His eyes flicker to my lips and then his
mouth is on mine as he gives me a slow and sensual kiss, sucking my
bottom lip between his teeth and biting down before releasing me.
"I've always wanted more for you, twinkle toes, but... I've also
always wanted you. I know how you feel, because I feel it, too.
You're the only woman I've ever felt this way about. While you were
worried about the Lola's of this world, I was worried that those
kinds of women were all that was meant for me. I never thought in
my wildest dreams I could have you."

He kisses me again and this time I wrap my
hands around him to hug his neck. My lips caress his, attempting to
sooth away the negativity and doubt that's inside him. He hardens
on top of me, his cock pushing against the V between my legs, right
where I want him to be, but then he pulls away. We're no longer
kissing as he looks back down at me in wonder.

"I... oh, shit. This is going to be a lot
harder than I thought." He closes his eyes and I watch his Adam’s
apple move as he swallows deeply before opening his eyes again. In
the dark, with the glow of the television, I almost can't tell that
he has two different colored eyes. His face is shadowed, hiding all
the intricate details of his face I like so much. "I love you, too,
twinkle toes. I think I always have, and now that you're here I'm
not going to let anything bad happen to you. You're mine and I keep
what's mine safe."

You're mine.

No two words have ever been truer. I've been
his since I was nine years old. It only took him eleven years to
realize it, too.

"What are you thinking, twinkle toes?"

I drag my nail softly up and down the back
of his neck. "I'm not thinking about much, I'm just happy. I'm with
you right now. Maybe everything at the bank happened for a reason.
Maybe it was the Universe's way of keeping us together."

"Well, then the Universe is fucked up
because it brought us together just to be torn apart. We have a lot
of problems to deal with and none of them are going to be easy.
We're not going to be flying over a rainbow riding a unicorn
tomorrow. We're going to be dealing with some heavy shit."

"I know that, Jagger, and obviously our
situation isn’t ideal, but it gave me you and I can’t be upset with
that."

He brings a hand up to pinch the bridge of
his nose. "You're crazy and delusional. Do you know that?"

"Yes, but you love me so what does that say
about you?"

"That I'm crazy and delusional, too. It's a
volatile combination."

"Jagger?"

"Yeah?"

"What about my sister, and your sister and
nephew? Will Matteo go after them to get to us? Should they go into
hiding until we get this all figured out?"

"Matteo is a family man. That's one area he
doesn't mess with. It's part of this unspoken code he has. Everyone
else in his world doesn't have any boundaries they won't cross, but
Matteo does. He never goes after innocent family members, no matter
how desperate he is to find who he's looking for. He won't go after
your sister. She's safe."

I sigh a breath of relief knowing that Pearl
won't be messed with. I'll need to call her soon so that she knows
I'm okay, but it'll be easy to sleep well tonight knowing that one
of the biggest criminal organizations in North America isn't after
her.

I lower my hands down Jagger's back,
dragging my nails into his flesh until I meet the band of his boxer
briefs. I slide my hands inside and squeeze, his back and ass
flexing as he grinds his erection into me.

"I think we've done enough talking for one
night," I pant across his lips. He doesn't answer me with words. He
kisses the corner of my mouth as his hand slips between us and
under my panties until his fingertips meet my clit. My lips part as
I groan out in pleasure and then I'm kissing him eagerly.

While talking can be nice, in moments like
this it's overrated, so I let our bodies do all the talking for us
as Jagger slowly removes our undergarments and makes love to me for
the first time.

Chapter Fifteen

"Were you able to get in contact with your
sister?"

"No. She must already be at the hospital
doing rounds, but I left her a message letting her know that I'm
fine and that I'll call her again soon. I also told her to be
safe."

Jagger smiles over at me, but he's
remorseful for the situation he's put me in. I don't say anything.
It's a pointless argument to get into because he can blame himself
all he wants, but I'm the one who agreed to do the job. I'm the one
who said yes.

I sit at the foot of the bed and put on a
pair of clean socks followed by the gym shoes I bought myself at
Target. My ankle is still a little tender, but it feels better than
it did yesterday.

"Are you going to tell me how it went with
Matteo this morning? You've been quiet ever since you made your
phone calls." When I woke up this morning Jagger was already on the
phone, calling around until he could find someone who could get him
in direct contact with Matteo Esposito. I left him alone to make
the calls, taking a shower and packing our things up while he
stepped outside to talk.

When he came back I was hoping his face
would give something away. I was hoping I would be able to read the
situation through his expression, but it was impossible. His face
was blank and he was quiet, only telling me to call my sister and
let her know I was okay.

Standing up from the bed I walk over to him,
slipping my hands in the front pockets of my jeans so I have
somewhere to put them and I'm not fidgeting in front of him. I look
pretty basic today in jeans and the gray t-shirt. It's exactly the
way Jagger wants us to dress so we don't draw attention to
ourselves.

"I was able to set up a meeting with him in
Albuquerque for tonight," he says as he moves around me and grabs
the duffle bag full of cash out from under the bed, placing it on
the mattress. He unzips it to look inside before zipping it back
up. "He says he'll come alone."

"And you believe him?"

"I don't have much of a choice, Ronnie. This
may be our only chance to explain ourselves."

I walk over and stand next to him, resting
my palm against his lower back. "You called me Ronnie. Are you mad
at me?"

Turning to face me, he slips a hand in my
hair and tangles it in my untamed waves. "I'm not mad at you,
twinkle toes. I just like to use your name sometimes. It's a
reminder to me of just how much we fit together. Another way fate
brought us together."

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused on how
my name is a reminder of this.

"Have you ever wondered why I was named
Jagger? And why my sister's were named Charlie and Richie? It's
because my dad was a huge Rolling Stones fan. He lived for their
music and when my mom started popping out kids he named each of us
after a member."

He stares off at the wall behind me before
shaking his head and continuing. "My dad loved The Rolling Stones
more than he loved us kids, but he loved my mom even more. When she
died, I think drinking was the only way he could cope. He'd lock
himself in his bedroom for days with a twenty-four pack of beer and
a bottle of whiskey, the Stones playing in the background.

"His favorites were Miss You and Sympathy
for the Devil. He would play those two songs over and over again on
repeat. I won't bore you with how fucked up my dad was after my
mom's death, but he was a huge Stones fan and taught us kids to
love them, too. That's why when I found out the little ballerina
who walked to her trailer every day after dance's name was Ronnie,
I knew my Dad had somehow brought you into my life.

"I'm not saying the man is in heaven and has
some kind of pull, in fact I'm pretty sure my old man is rotting in
hell somewhere, but I wonder if he got to ask God for one thing
before he was sent into the fiery pits. Like maybe he asked him to
send a girl named Ronnie into my life to make up for all the shit
he put me through."

He throws the duffle bag over his shoulder
and starts to walk towards the door to leave. "Why would he ask for
me? What's the significance of Ronnie?"

Keeping his back to me he turns his head
slightly to speak over his empty shoulder. "Ronnie Wood, twinkle
toes. He's been a member of the Stones since the seventies. He
wasn't an original member of the band, but now he's part of the
family just like you. You weren't an original part of my family,
but now you are a member. Fate brought us together."

Opening the door to the motel room, he walks
out and I grab the Target bags filled with our stuff and follow him
out of the room. His words stay with me and fill me with so much
love and happiness I could burst. He may have told me he loved me
last night, but his feelings today show me that not only does he
love me but he also wants me to be a part of his life.

When I follow Jagger to the car we stole two
nights ago, I throw the bags into the backseat before buckling up
in the passenger seat. It's a four-hour drive from here to
Albuquerque. We have the entire car ride to talk. He can fill me in
on what the plan is and why he trusts Matteo to be a man of his
word.

"Did you call your sister?" I ask him as I
turn the radio on low and he pulls the beat-up car out of the motel
parking lot. I look over at him, admiring how good he looks in his
white t-shirt and jeans. He has an unlit cigarette tucked behind
his ear and the way he looks is comforting. It's how he's always
looked and if he hasn't changed maybe that means nothing else
will.

"Yeah. I told her I could be gone for a few
days but not to worry and that I will call her soon. If she needs
anything she knows to call Ky and he will help her out."

"Did you warn her about Angelo?"

"I didn't need to. Rumors fly like crazy
around the trailer park and she doesn't like Angelo anyway. He'll
leave her alone."

I turn the radio up and sit back in my seat.
I'm ready to drive down to New Mexico and hopefully straighten
everything out with Matteo Esposito so Jagger and I can return back
to the Evergreen's. We can put all this behind us and hopefully
start the beginning of a real relationship.

***

We arrive at the abandoned warehouse in
Albuquerque around three in the afternoon. Jagger's meeting with
Matteo isn't until six, but he wanted to get here early to scout
the place out.

The large brick warehouse is in the middle
of an industrial park. The parking lot is made of old asphalt with
pebbled cracks and weed sprouting out through the breaks in the
gravel. It's a ghost town out here. The perfect place to get rid of
someone and no one would hear it.

My doubt is starting to take over.

After we drive around the warehouse we take
a single lane road that leads to the next street over and pull into
the parking lot of an address I don't recognize. When Jagger drives
around to the back of the building and parks with the vehicle
facing away from it, I realize why we're here. This parking lot
overlooks the street below and the warehouse we're meeting Matteo
at in a few hours.

"So is this why you wanted to get here so
early? You want your eyes on the place."

"It’s something I learned early on when
meeting up with anyone involving a job. Always arrive before they
do. I'm sure Matteo will be doing the same thing but most people
only arrive shortly before the planned meet-up. I like to get there
hours before."

He straightens up, his back slightly arched,
as his eyes trail over the perimeter of the building below. Turning
around in my seat, I lean over the middle console and start digging
through the bags in the back until I have two waters and a bag of
potato chips. I hand him a bottle and then open mine before taking
a sip. Pulling at the top of the bag of potato chips with both
hands, I rip it open.