Chapter Fifteen
Snake
I spend the night curled naked around Jess, listening to her rhythmic breathing. In the morning, I wake up to her breasts, bathed in morning light. I take a minute to watch her sleep. She’s on her back, the blankets bunched around her waist. One arm is extended over her head. Her lips are slightly pursed. I know that for all of Jess’ grandstanding, she isn’t meant to be hustling for the mob. She didn’t grow up like me, steeped in violence, where self-preservation is a necessity, and empathy an enemy. No, she’s higher class. She probably had a bedroom all to herself in a huge house on the beach. She grew up knowing she’d go to college, get a great job, and marry a guy just as wealthy as her father.
I know her type all to well, but the others are nothing like Jess. This chick doesn’t give a fuck. And even though she turned on Monty, that’s what I like about her. No, I don’t just like her; I’m raging hard for her. I’ve already pictured her walking towards me in a wedding gown at least half a dozen times already. I look at her calm face, smiling. Whether she likes it or not, I claimed her last night. She’s mine.
If the other soldiers on Monty’s crew knew anything about this, they’d think I’m fucking crazy. Maybe I am. But all I have to do is keep Jess in line, and they’ll never know anything. When we start getting rich off of our scheme, I know she won’t split. She’ll get a taste of this life, and knowing her, she’ll get off on it just like me. And after few more romps in the sack, she’ll get addicted to my dick, just like all the others do. I swear, my cock is a gift from the gods. It’s the perfect fit for a woman’s body, with curves in all the right places. Jess will never be able to go back.
She shifts in her sleep, making her tits bounce a little. I grow hard with the urge to taste her. I bend down, grazing my lips over the brown birthmark on her side. She gasps lightly as I kiss up the incline of her breasts. I lick her nipple, making it harden. She gasps again, louder this time.
I squeeze up closer to her, pressing my cock against her thigh. Fuck, I’m hard. I can practically feel the skin stretching over my shaft. I throb with the need to plunge inside of her, to feel her wet, warm, soft walls hugging all around me.
“Snake,” I hear her say. She sounds different in the morning. Her voice is soft, a little croaky. And she doesn’t say my name like she’s spitting out a piece of bad fish.
“Hey, baby,” I say, lifting my head from her chest. I stroke her face. Her eyes open wider, and she flinches with surprise. I roll on top of her, letting the tip of my cock trail up her inner thigh. “I was just about to wake you up,” I whisper in her ear. I bury my face in her neck to taste her skin.
“Snake.”
There’s a slight trembling in her voice. I breathe against her ear, and watch as goosebumps rise on her flesh.
“Last night-“ she gasps.
I smile against her neck. “Last night,” I repeat, guiding my rod closer to where it needs to be. “You have a good time?”
“Yes- I- I mean-“ She sits up abruptly, pushing me off to the side, and hugs the covers up to her neck. She stares at me, her eyes wide and soft. She looks scared, a side of her I’ve never seen before. She closes her eyes, shaking her head, and there’s her usual expression again, tight and bitchy. “That can’t happen again,” she says, in almost a hiss.
I’ve got to say, I lose most of my hard-on at this. “Okay,” I say, dully.
Jess bites her bottom lip. “I mean, I don’t know what we were thinking. But that was a bad, bad idea.”
“Yeah, sure.” I rub the sleep away from my face.
“I mean, we’re business partners. Us, you know, together, it isn’t good for business.”
“Right.” Actually, I was thinking just the opposite. I get out of bed, and start getting dressed, ignoring her completely. Just when I’m warming up to her, she has to go and piss me off again. “Don’t worry, Jess. I’m a one and done kind of guy. You know, I’m not in the market for anything serious.”
Jess blinks, pulling her knees into her chest. “Oh. Okay. Then, I guess we’re on the same page.”
I put on my shirt and tie, and start to feel a bit like my old self again. I even flash her my broad smile, the one I know pisses her off.
“Don’t think I don’t appreciate you, sweetheart. That was fun. Now, get yourself ready. We’re meeting Monty this morning. And wear something revealing. That’s what he likes.”
*
Jess comes out wearing a light blue turtleneck and black slacks. She’s covered up, which is a direct slap in the face to me. I don’t say anything about it. I don’t want to indulge her little stunt. And if I’m being honest, I was being an asshole when I told her to wear something revealing, but that was the point.
Before walking out of the door, I stop her, and give her fast, professional pat down to make sure she’s not armed.
In the car, I find a radio station pumping rap music, and crank it up. So, Jess didn’t fall under the spell of my mighty cock. That’s a first for me. Or maybe she did, but she’s not ready to give up her stuck up bitch routine just yet. Maybe I can eventually change her mind. Or maybe she’ll just always be a bitch.
I stick close to Jess when we get to headquarters. I look around the concrete slabs warily, unexpectedly nervous about bringing her here. Sal and Anthony sit in the corner, discussing something seriously. I nod to them. They nod back. The look in Anthony’s eyes don’t sit well with me. On instinct, I grab Jess’ arm, leading her to Monty’s office. The other soldiers aren’t all I have to worry about. It’s entirely possible that Jess could try something stupid. By the time we get to the back of the warehouse, I’m sweating fucking bullets.
Monty totally ignores me, focusing only on Jess, when we enter his office.
“Miss Hunt,” he says, taking her hand. “What a pleasure to see you again.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Jess says, forcing a smile.
I give her a look. She needs to get better at playing nice.
“So, Jess,” Monty says, sitting behind his desk. “I take it Snake has discussed the revised plan with you.”
“He has,” Jess says. She’s trying to smile, but it’s not quite working. She looks like a crazy person. “I think it’s a brilliant idea, to have the charges come from ShopSuite itself. You know, ninety-five percent of our customers make three or more purchases from our site within a month.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Monty says. “I’m buying something from ShopSuite almost every night. I just ordered an espresso machine from there. Which reminds me, make sure my credit card number isn’t on that list.”
Jess grips the sides of the chair. I see the whites in her knuckles. “Will do, sir.” She’s brimming with hate. It’s written all over her face.
“So, who do we have to rough up to get access to the backend of the site?” Monty asks.
“That would be Toby Brown. He’s in charge of website maintenance and development,” Jess says.
“Good.” Monty turns to me, the first time he’s looked at me all morning. “Find this guy and have a little chat. Take the beast with you. You know what to do.”
“What if Toby talks?” Jess blurts out.
Monty looks at her with a condescending smile. “Oh, honey. Don’t you worry about that. We’ve got it covered.”
Jess narrows her eyes. She opens her mouth, about to spit venom. I clap my hands, cutting her off.
“Okay,” I say, brightly. “We know where we’re going from here.” I grab Jess’ arm, helping her up. “Monty, we’ll be in touch.”
I get her out of there as fast as I can. In the hallway, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” I say to Jess.
She’s staring at Monty’s door. When she turns to me, she has tears in her eyes. I grab her hand, and she lets me.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
I’m hoping to avoid Salvatore and Anthony, but Anthony calls my name as soon as he sees me.
“Yo, Snake,” he says. “Can we talk. Alone?”
I tell Jess to wait for me in the car. With her head down, she walks quickly out of the warehouse.
“What is it?” I ask Anthony.
Behind him, Salvatore crooks at finger at me, bidding me to come over. The three of us sit at a table, far away from anyone who could hear us.
“There’s been a development in the tequila case,” Anthony says.
I roll my eyes. “Oh yeah? Let me guess. A bus boy drank it.”
I don’t look at Salvatore, but I can feel his cold eyes on me. I stop laughing immediately. Anthony speaks in a low, serious voice.
“I had one of my guys at the forensic lab run some tests on the bottle. It came back positive for bromethalin.”
“What the hell is that?” I ask.
“Rat poison, basically,” Anthony says. “My guy figures the amount in the tequila would kill a full grown man. Apparently, it makes the brain swell, eyeballs popping out and everything.”
“Holy shit.” I look at Salvatore. “Does your old man know?”
Salvatore shakes his head. “I want answers before I go to him. I want to tell him who tried to kill him.”
“We need to find out the name of everyone at the party,” Anthony says. “I mean, everyone. Guests, waiters, cooks, bartenders.”
“Yeah, you know, anything I can do to help,” I offer. Figuring that wasn’t enough, I point at Sal. “We’ll get the asshole who tried to get your father.”
Salvatore nods curtly. “I know we will.”
I can’t get to Jess fast enough. She’s in the car, right where I told her to be. I try not to panic. They don’t know who poisoned the tequila, not yet anyway. I should’ve thrown that bottle in the ocean. Why did I leave it there for someone to find?
Jess’ face is still red. It looks like she just stopped crying.
“Are you okay?” I ask her.
Jess looks straight ahead. “I just shook the hand of the man who killed my fiancé.”
Fiancé. The word echoes in my head as I pull onto the highway. Jess was engaged. I know it shouldn’t, but it makes me jealous. While we drive, she looks down, sniffling every now and then. I grip the steering wheel tightly. With every cell in my body, I want to protect this woman, from the crew, from Monty, even from her past.
So, where do your loyalties lie, Snake? I ask myself, gritting my teeth. With the family you swore an oath to, or with a woman who wants nothing to do with you?