Chapter Twenty-Six
Alissa
December 26, Tuesday Afternoon
“I’ll see you soon, okay?” Cade murmured against my lips as we both leaned against my doorframe. “I’m sorry to leave you, but I want to make sure my New Year’s plans don’t fall apart like my Christmas one.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” I playfully pouted as I clung to his tee shirt in a vice like a grip. “Just stay here, it’ll be fine. Neither of having anything to do...”
Actually, that was a lie. I was supposed to be looking for a job before I lost everything, but I would have much rather hung out with Cade. There were still parts of his body that I hadn’t touched or licked...probably.
“I’ll be back soon, I promise.” With that, he kissed me once more, and I felt my knees knock together with excitement. Even after a full day and night of having sex on and off I still wanted him. I was exhausted, my body was sore and worn out, but I still wanted him again. I was like a sexual animal with absolutely no control over myself.
The orgasms he gave me were on another level. I didn’t know it was possible to feel that good with another person. I needed it; I craved it like a drug addict.
“Okay, I will see you soon then, I suppose. Bye.”
As I finally closed the door, my heart soared and flew. I literally fell back against the front door and clutched onto my chest as I swooned. I acted exactly like a cliché which was falling in love, and I just didn’t care. I was so happy that I could’ve danced all around the room like a madwoman. I wanted to leap and jump and to let my body run free.
Cade had changed me. We’d only known each other, actually known each other, for a short while, but already I felt like I’d transformed into someone else. I was freer, more confident, excitable, and happy. I did things I never thought I would, and I utterly loved them. I even told Cade about Luke, which was something that I never wanted to talk about again, and I felt okay about it. It didn’t hurt anymore, and I didn’t get any judgment from him, either.
I was in love.
There was no point in trying to hide it anymore; there was no point in denying it to myself – I loved him massively. I had fallen head over heels, and that was incredible. My heart skipped a beat every single time I thought about the word “love.” I loved Cade with every part of my being, and I couldn’t wait until the time was right to tell him so.
I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy – my mother wouldn’t allow me and Cade to just be together without complications. She was going to have an absolute field day when she found out what I was up to; the names that would come out of her mouth were going to be unbearable, but even that couldn’t put me off. I trusted him to support me against her, and I felt certain that he wouldn’t let me down. At least he understood what we were up against. He knew she was awful but still wanted to be with me. He was one hell of a man.
I bounced through the apartment, and I wrapped my arms around myself to try and keep some of the glee inside. I didn’t want it to seep out leaving me a mess; I wanted to embrace it. I loved this warm happiness; it filled me up in a way no emotion ever had before.
I knew Cade was disappointed that his Christmas plans had fallen apart, but I honestly didn’t mind. The dinner and the orchestra would have been amazing, but lying in bed and learning more about the wonderful man I was falling for was just as great. Of course, it only made him more determined to make New Year wonderful, so it looked like I’d end up with the experience day after all.
When did I get so lucky? When did everything change and turn good for me? There had to be something that I’d done; maybe I was really good in a past life or something....
“Alissa?” Elle suddenly burst into the apartment at a million miles an hour. “Alissa, are you there?”
All the happiness instantly zapped from my body as I realized that while I was going through the happiest time of my life, it seemed my friend was going through the worst. All the stories I desperately wanted to tell her about my time with Cade fell from my lips as I saw tears staining her cheeks.
“Oh my God, are you okay? What’s going on? What’s happened?” I dragged her over to the couch and studied her carefully. Possible solutions flooded my brain, but the only thing I could assume was that Brad had broken up with her. I didn’t want to be too excited about that, but it’d be much better not to have him around the apartment all the time. “Elle?”
“I... I... I...” she gasped noisily. I jumped up and raced into the kitchen to get her some water. She needed to calm the hell down and cooling her throat was a good place to start with that. “Thank you.” She took a deep swig. “Oh God, Alissa. Help me; I need your help.”
“Anything.” I grabbed her hand and stared deeply into her eyes. “Whatever you need me to do.”
“I screwed up,” she sobbed. “Oh, Alissa, I screwed up bad.”
“What have you done?” Cheating? Drink Driving? Oh God, what could it be?
“It’s Brad.” Yep, I guessed that much already. “I never should have gone out with him. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Why do I always have to go for the bad boys? The worst type of person?”
“What’s he done?” I interrupted gently. “Just tell me.” Occasionally, I wanted to shake Elle for the bad boy types that she chose because she was so much better than that, but of course, it was her life to make the mistakes she wanted.
“I didn’t know,” she insisted, defending herself before I even knew what had gone on. “I wasn’t sure. I guess I didn’t really know anything about him, otherwise...” She sucked in a few deep breaths before getting to the next part. “He’s been running drugs for some guys in the mob.”
“What?” I exclaimed in dismay. “He’s doing what?”
“I mean, he always had money, but I never knew where it came from and I didn’t bother to ask. When I did find out a little while back, I felt like I was in too deep. That’s why...” She did that deep breathing again which coiled panic around my heart. “That’s why I wanted to know about your schedule over the holidays, so I could keep you out of it.”
“So, you knew about Brad, and you stayed with him?”
“He promised me he was going to end things after Christmas. Just this one last job, and he’d give it up to be with me.”
“Okay.” I didn’t fully understand what the hell had been going on in Elle’s life recently, but instead of worrying about that, I needed to get to the root of her worry. “So, what’s happening now? Why are you in such a state?”
“Brad got pulled over by the cops. I guess they suspected, or maybe they got a call; I don’t know. Anyway, he tossed the drugs, but they took him in anyway...something about parole. I don’t know; it seems that he’s hidden a lot from me.”
She clutched onto me tightly as if I was the only person left in the world. There was a chance that she genuinely felt that way after all that she’d been through. “Now the mob thinks I have the drugs. They’re saying I took them with me and I’m going to sell them, or something. They assume that because I know, I’m a big part of it and this is all...some sort of plan.”
“What? But that’s insane!”
“These aren’t reasonable men, Alissa. There are dangerous criminals. They’re the sort who shoot first and ask questions later. I’m scared; I’m really scared.”
When I offered my help, I didn’t think it was going to be something like this, but I couldn’t exactly back out now. My friend had her life on the line, she was in genuine danger, and I needed to find a way to get her out of it.
“So,” I gulped noisily. “What do we do?”
“I need fifty thousand dollars,” Elle declared quietly. “If I don’t come up with that sort of money, then I’m toast. They’ll kill me. I mean, they’ll probably kill Brad when he gets out of jail, but I’m dead for sure.”
It was like the sort of thing you saw on a movie screen, not in real life. How on Earth had Elle managed to get herself tied up in such a mess?
“Where the hell are you supposed to get that kind of money?” I jumped up and paced the room while I thought. “How is a normal person supposed to do that in such a short space of time? Why don’t you just call the cops?”
“If I call the cops I’m dead.”
“Alissa, there’s really only one person who can help me here, and it’s you.” My heart stopped dead as she said that. “I hate to ask, you know I wouldn’t if I wasn’t so desperate that I could weep, but I really need you to get me the money. I’ll pay you back, somehow.”
I wanted to laugh, that was absolutely ridiculous. “Elle, I can’t even pay my rent. How am I supposed to...”? I trailed off as if it was obvious. “Oh, you want me to ask Jacob.”
“That sort of money is nothing to him; he won’t even care. You can even just tell him it’s for your bills, and he’ll give it to you. He’s desperate to give you cash. You could literally save my life here.”
“But what about Brad?” I didn’t want to start giving Elle money just for her to use it to bail that idiot out of jail. I only wanted to save her.
“I’m done with Brad; I promise you that. I don’t want to ever see his stupid face again – he can rot in jail for all I care. I just... I don’t want to die because I’ve picked the wrong man to like.”
My heart went out to her. I knew Elle wasn’t a bad person; she just didn’t have the best judgment. Surely if I could help her, it was my responsibility to do so. After all, she’d supported me through my hour of need, even if it was only emotional support that I requested. If I were any sort of friend, I’d do this. Especially when I knew that she’d do the same for me.
“Fine,” I finally conceded, but the agreement weighed heavily on me. It didn’t feel like the right choice to make. “I’ll speak to Jacob, but I’m going to get some advice from Cade first. He knows how to work his dad better than anyone.”
“Thank you.” Her shoulder sagged with relief. “You have no idea how much this means to me. Just, erm, be quick about it because I don’t know how patient these guys will be. They’re pretty damn pissed at me right now. I don’t know how long I have.”
“Yep, quick.” I grabbed my cell phone and wiggled it at her. “I can do quick. You just calm down, and I will get this sorted.”