Michele

The sound of motorcycles pulling away can still be heard as the front door opens and Antonio strolls in, furious.

“Where the fuck are they?” He charges at me. The anger radiates filling the building.

“Gone,” I say as the fear builds to a point of combusting.

Roughly, he wraps his hand around the back of my neck and yanks me to the stairs. Half dragging me up them I stumble to try to keep up with his pace.

Tossing me to the side, I fall on the unforgiving hardwood floors onto my hands and knees. The air feels thick as the fear builds deep inside me.

“Where the fuck did they go?” Antonio says pacing.

“I don’t know.”

Slowly, I stand up. When Antonio makes his way to me, his eyes meet mine. Red lines shoot out around his pupils in the whites of his eyes. The puffiness around them make me wonder if he’s not sleeping or he’s high. If he’s on drugs, I am thoroughly fucked. A man on drugs is unpredictable and more than that it’s a man out of control.

“Your husband need not be here. He can’t save you from this.”

“He doesn’t know about you.” I try to defend Jackson. “He doesn’t know anything but I’m alive when he thought I was dead.”

Antonio’s lips curl slowly into a deviant smile. “You don’t know your husband at all.” He takes my hand pulling me hard into the middle of the living room. On a shove, he pushes me onto the couch. Sitting on the coffee table, he continues to smirk sinisterly. “Let me tell you about Jackson “Rowdy” Presley.”

I swallow hard, wringing my hands together nervously.

“I’m gonna take you back to the beginning. Like your precious peonies, I’m going to peel back the layers of your husband for you, but this won’t end in a beautiful bloom.”

Tension builds as a small tingle in my big toe and crawls its way up my entire body until it’s a dull, throbbing, insistent pain. The room suddenly feels smaller, darker, almost hopeless.

“Your brother, Paul. He worked for Javi. Low end job, but a point person in Cloverville. Paul was devoted, dedicated, and driven. He was also smart, your brother. We had no intention on giving him more territory, but the fucker went and got his car turned into a bitchin’ ride. Hideaway compartments so a standard search wouldn’t make anyone take notice. Then he got some special filters that make it almost impossible for a K-9 to sniff out the drugs.”

A lump grows in my belly. My hands are sweaty as I twist them painfully into one another to keep my whole body from trembling.

“You know who created those compartments? Your man.”

Shock hits me like a punch to the kidneys. I knew Jackson did some custom work for Paul. Did he know what it was for though? “It was another job,” I whispered feeling that lump, that dread climb up and settle in my throat.

“Well, that’s what Paul tried to say too when the truth came out that he didn’t build it. You see we took that car and we made trips back and forth over the boarder, both Mexico to the US and Canada. It was when we asked Paul to outfit some more vehicles for us that we learned the truth.”

Antonio reaches out and taps his index finger on my nose. I jump and blow out a breath.

“That truth was that your husband built the car, not Paul. This made him a liability. It also meant that Paul broke the code.”

Tears prick the backs of my eyes threaten to spill over.

“You should know we gave him the option to join us.”

I shake my head back and forth. No, no, this isn’t happening. Jackson wouldn’t work with men like this. I just know he wouldn’t.

“You shouldn’t worry. I see the panic. I can even smell it on you. The fear that is. Your husband, Jackson Presley was too good to associate with us. He preferred to earn his money his way. We told him that there would be consequences.”

My head spins. Jackson never told me any of this. He went to work, came home, and never once let me think anything was wrong. When the deputies came to arrest him, he never let on that he knew anyone criminal or could be tied to anything. In fact, he never mentioned any side business or associates my brother had in his entire trial. He refused to take the stand in his own defense and begged me to believe in him, regardless of the evidence.

It was so confusing at the time. Now, I see he was not going to rat on my brother even to save himself.

“Lee Bates was on our payroll for the Cloverville area.” Antonio explains and I feel like my head make explode with all the emotion and information. “He was good to turn a blind eye when we had shipments pass through, or an associate caught up in the area.”

Bates, he set up Jackson. I couldn’t see it then but I know it now. Blinking, colors burst in my eyes, the tell-tale sign a migraine is brewing. I pinch the bridge of my nose to try to find some relief as everything settles in my mind. Bates wasn’t my friend. He wasn’t the All-American hero looking to serve and protect.

“I can see by the look in your eyes, you’re finally putting the pieces together. Paul had to be dealt with for breaking our trust. Bates handled it and found a way to stifle Jackson in the process. I considered it a two for one special.”

Swallowing back the acid building, I ask with a scratchy voice, “so why bring me in?”

Antonio laughs. “Your brother provided a service in transporting for us. We needed a replacement. You had talent and gave us another way to ship undetected. Bates, honestly, set up everything perfectly.”

My leg bounces nervously and I don’t try to stop it.

“Then Jackson got out of prison. By that point, you were doing your job and no longer existed to him.”

Bates brought me in to make sure Jackson kept quiet. I feel it in my gut. This was a way to put me in the direct line of danger, if Jackson were to find out I was still alive. Bates didn’t give me this escape to ease my burden, but instead to bury me in more problems.

“So why is Jackson a bother to you now?”

“He got out and tied himself to Bates’ partner, Dover Ragnes. That man was hell bent that Bates was dirty. Between your husband and Ragnes, Lee Bates didn’t stand a chance to survive. Then the two started their motorcycle club. Jackson Presley earned a name on the street of Rowdy. Your husband isn’t afraid of getting dirty or being loud. In fact, I think the man would go back to prison for Bates murder if Ragnes hadn’t covered it up. Needless to say, they are in the business of serving their own kind of justice.”

“Jackson’s a good man.”

Antonio humphs. “No man is a good man. Your Jackson is no different than me. We just have different things we are willing to sacrifice and different morals to which we are willing to hold others accountable for.”

I stand up for Antonio to reach out and pull me back down. I feel the need to pace but I am stuck with his rules for the time being.

“When he returns-,”

I hold up my hand stopping him. “He won’t.” I lie and know it’s a lie.

“Oh, he’s coming back for more. I’ve tasted those lips. The sweet essence of you Michele is one a man cannot resist. He’s coming back. He’s tasted that pussy, ripe and delicious. To have a second chance to drown in your juices again, I promise you as a man your husband is coming back.” Antonio smiles as he reaches to the crotch of his pants to adjust himself and I feel the bile rise. “You have two choices, my beautiful flower: kill him or get him to leave for good. I prefer the first but if you can’t stomach it, I’ll take him out once you get him gone.”

I open my mouth but words don’t come out. I have nothing to say.

The pause is deafening between us before I finally form words.

“Does Javi know this?” I ask knowing he seems to be the calmer of the two men.

Antonio’s hand comes at me, grabbing my neck and squeezing my throat painfully. “Do not think you will turn us against each other. A woman tried that once and she ended up where your brother did. Javi knows what he needs to about you, Paul, Bates, and Rowdy, as he’s known on the streets. I supply him the information about our associates without bothering him with shit that he doesn’t need to worry with.”

I choke and gasp, my lungs burning for air. I feel my face flush as the panic is consuming me.

“You will kill your husband or run him off, but mark my words Hermosa, no matter how pretty the pussy, no matter how sweet your sauce, you belong to us. You walk the line we tell you to walk. You cross it, you die, your mother dies, and we’ll make sure your dear husband watches.”

I blink. The room is spinning, everything becoming fuzzy. Antonio laughs as I claw at his forearm trying to get relief.

“Can you see it now, Peony? Rowdy coming in to find you tied to the bed while I taste your sweet cunt. After I bring you to orgasm, I will take my knife and press it to your throat. When I shove my cock into your hot, wet mouth only then will I slit you from ear to ear while you suck me off. My cum will mix with your blood as your man stands helplessly at the door. The last sight you will see is my cock in your face. The last words you will hear are the agonizing sounds he makes as he watches you be violated, humiliated, until your very last breath. I will make it so Michele. Do not test me.”

My mind races. This is what I deserve for not believing in the man I knew to be good. This is what I have earned. My penance for failing my husband is to be mind-fucked until my last breath.

Everything goes black as I wish for oxygen. The last vision in my mind is the one he gave me with his words.

I earned this and more.