High Voltage (15 page)

~ Minka ~

Bang Bang Bang

I
f I ever have henchmen, and they know the enemy is
on the move, I’ll be sure to instruct the idiots not to get drunk. Black
clearly didn’t have this talk with his deputies, since they’re wasted an hour
after arriving at the blond one’s house.

“These dipshits love blowjobs,” Dino says as if he
isn’t talking about every guy ever.

While sliding on my boots, I bang my knee on the
dashboard. “Crap! Stop distracting me with your whining.”

“You seem tense. Want a pussy massage?”

I can’t help laughing at his earnest expression.
“Once the prostitutes leave, we’ll get the job done. I’m sick of this fucking
car.”

Dino smiles at my frustration. He’s already wiggled
his way out of the old man outfit and into his all-black commando clothes.

“I love you,” he says, his tone startling me. “I’m
not worried about us making it out of this job alive. I still want you to know
that I do love you, and this trip hasn’t been an elaborate game by a bored
retired hitman.”

“Did you purposely make that declaration sound like
you might be playing an elaborate game?”

“No. I just have a way with words.”

Taking his hand, I press the palm against my cheek.
The gobs of makeup keep me from truly feeling his touch. I reach forward and
rest my hand on his chest so I can feel his heartbeat.

“I love you too. No man has ever gotten close to
making me love them, and you did it in four days.”

“When it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen despite
the redneck atmosphere and your unwillingness to accept my perfection.”

“I did fight it.”

“Not for long.”

“I don’t believe in wasting time.”

Dino gives me a great smile, and my heart beats too
fast. I even worry this might be our goodbye.

“You’re going to have my kids, Apples. No way can
you do that if one of us doesn’t make it through the night,” he says, sensing
my fears.

“Well, there’s that.”

Dino takes my hand from his chest and kisses the
palm and then my wrist. This gesture makes me frigging blush.

“Gets the girls every time,” he teases.

“If you’re hoping I’ll change Italian Sausage to
Don Juan, it’s just not happening.”

“I already have a suave real name.”

“That you do,” I say.

“Hookers on the move.”

Still holding Dino’s hand, I watch the two
prostitutes leave the house. They look in a hurry, likely hoping to find paying
customers.

“No neighbors out and about,” Dino says, looking
through the night vision goggles. “Looks like the assholes are watching porn
and opening up a new six pack.”

“Ready, Mister Sausage?”

“Yes, future Missus Sausage.”

I lean over and kiss him. Our lips want more. My
body still hums from our last romp hours earlier. Work comes first. Tonight
anyway. In the future, I can imagine the world shrinking to only Dino and me.

The street feels empty, and I worry about an
ambush. If Black planned to hit us, he’d have done it while we sat in the car
for the last hour. No, the street is quiet because the place is on edge.

Dino does move like a jaguar. Fast and fierce, he
hurries to the back of the house. I’m right behind him. Our weapons at the
ready, he nearly soundlessly opens the back screen door. We enter the house
where our every noise is muffled by the loud TV.

Does anyone want to die with their dick in their
hand?
Blond deputy suffers this
indignity when Dino fires into the back of his head with the other deputy’s
stolen gun.

Rushing past Dino, I focus on the dark-haired
deputy. He leaps for his gun, which is halfway across the room, but I kick him
backward. He flops on the ground, scrambles around, and again lunges for the
weapon. I punch him twice in the face. The first breaks his nose while the
second makes a mess of his lower lip.

“Don’t,” he says, putting his hands up. “I have a
family.”

“Better have a life insurance policy then,” I
reply.

Dino yanks up the guy and forces him to walk to the
couch. I take the dead deputy’s hand and rub it against the crying deputy’s
bloodied face.

“They fought. He shot his buddy.”

“No, wait,” the drunken deputy mumbles.

Dino drags him into the kitchen where his broken
nose bleeds on the counter. I tear off the deputy’s shirt and dump it into the
sink and add bleach.

“He tried to clean up the evidence,” I say.

“He realized there was no way out. In a stupor, he
took his life.”

“No, wait,” the deputy says again because he’s too
drunk to say much else.

Dino maneuvers the deputy onto a chair in the
adjoining dining room. He fires once against the side of the deputy’s head and
then allows the body to fall. Looking over his work, he frowns.

“Where should I leave the gun?”

I take the weapon and set in the dead man’s hand.
Adjusting it a few times, I want the gun to look natural in his grip. This
isn’t CSI, and the scene just has to tell the story Black wants it to tell.

“There.”

“Let’s go before the neighbors call the remaining
cops.”

We hurry out of the back door, around the house,
and down the block where the car waits. The street remains quiet. In the few
lit houses, TVs play loudly.

Dino drives us back to White Horse while I listen
to the police chatter.
Kids vandalizing the high school. A domestic dispute
at Target. A large dog running around someone’s yard.
Nothing on shots
fired.

We dispose of the car and our clothes, leaving
nothing for Black to find. Dino remains relatively silent until we walk three
blocks from our dump site to the hotel.

Once we’re in the elevator, he says, “Fucking
hallelujah! We can finally leave this dump and start our life.”

“Well not exactly.”

Dino sighs exasperated. “What now?”

“We have to make sure Black plays ball with Cooper.
Oh, and get Ruby a new car.”

“Fucking shit fuck.”

Wrapping my arms around his waist, I wait until his
angry eyes focus on me.

“I don’t want a long engagement.”

Dino’s irritation fades. “No. I want to make things
official quick.”

“We’ll get married in a small hall and serve
spaghetti at the reception.”

Laughing, Dino kisses my forehead. He can’t wait to
get out of White Horse, but this is the place where I fell in love. Despite
what Dino says, I worry about what our relationship will look like in the real
world.

~ Dino ~

The Long Goodbye

M
inka’s fake accents are perfectly awful. I
especially enjoy the Italian one she does while leaving a message for Black the
day after we eliminate his two deputies. My fiancée sounds like Mario from the
Nintendo games I played growing up.

“Tell the sheriff that Mister Cooper Johansson
wants a meeting in the next two days. He can be reached at the following
number.”

Minka gives Johansson’s burner number to the
sheriff’s receptionist and then hangs up.

“I think Cooper will be very happy to negotiate
with that spicy meatball,” she murmurs while still playing up her Mario voice.

“I love you,” I say, wrapping her in my arms. “But
never ever do that accent in front of my mom or anyone back home.”

“You’re not such a spicy meatball when you whine.”

“I’ll look like a douche if you talk like this in
front of people.”

“Wuss.”

“Promise.”

“I swear on the world’s supply of spaghetti.”

Pressing her back on the bed, I straddle her and
take her ripe tits in my hands.

“Let’s take the rest of the day off.”

“You’re an incredibly lazy man.”

“I think you underestimate how much effort fucking
you takes. I pulled another muscle last night.”

Minka’s fingers dig into my thighs. “I remember
that fuck. You were so determined to have me hanging half off the bed.”

“I like the way your ass looks at that angle.”

“You’re a man who knows his priorities.”

I tug up her shirt and sigh. “I own these tits.”

Minka wants to say something. I can see the need to
fuck with me in her eyes. She looks at my fingers sliding under her black bra.
Her gaze finds mine, and she only smiles.

“You’re so my bitch,” I say, and her nails dig
deeper.

Grinning wider, I squeeze her hard nipples between
my fingers. “Your silence means you agree.”

Minka narrows her eyes, but she refuses to respond.

“When you punched me that first day, I knew I’d
teach you how to know your place.”

“That’s it,” she says, laughing and smacking away
my hands. “I’m kicking your ass.”

She shoves me back on the bed and grabs a pillow.

“I do love a sexy pillow fight,” I say as she pelts
me. “Your bra is holding you back. Allow me to help.”

Minka can’t stop laughing even after she tosses
aside the pillow and devours my mouth with hers. She finally rolls off of me
and laughs herself out.

“I’m in love with a dickhead.”

“Poor, Apples,” I murmur, sliding off her pants. “I
feel your pain. And your wet pussy.”

“That’s laughing wetness. I’m not horny at all.”

“Mmm…”

My index finger dips inside her and finds the hot
flesh sopping wet.

“Tastes good,” I say, sucking on my finger.

“Be quick about it. I have errands to run.” Minka
lifts a leg and rests her foot over my shoulder. “You may serve me with your
Italian sausage.”

“You engaged chicks sure are bossy.”

“I am engaged,” she whispers, sliding off her
shirt. “My man takes good care of me.”

Minka’s panties tear easily, and I take a whiff of
her warm scent.

“I’m going to fuck you stupid,” I say, tossing them
aside and relaxing my body on top of hers.

“I like when you make idle threats.”

Accepting her challenge, I strip us both and make
her beg for an hour. Minka turns the tables after faking a leg cramp. We finish
our morning fuck with me handcuffed to the bed begging for relief.

“That’s a good sausage,” she murmurs to my cock
after sucking it dry.

Minka and I finally clean up enough to get a meal
and head to a used car dealership belonging to Asshole Hayes.

“Do you think she’ll like it?” Minka asks me as we
stand next to a sporty little green SUV.

“Compared to the dump she was driving, yeah, I’d
guess she would.”

“You don’t get why I’m doing this, do you?”

“I get everything. I just don’t feel as guilty
about shit as you do.”

“It’s true that I’m a nicer person than you. Now,
should I get this car?”

“Sure. If she doesn’t like it, she’s a bitch.”

“Why are you so damn cranky?”

“I don’t want you ever feeling bad about anything.”

Minka smiles and pats my cheek. “You’re setting
yourself up to be cranky for the rest of your life.”

“Yeah, but better to aim for perfection than accept
mediocrity.”

“Gorgeous and wise? I’ve got myself a real catch.”

Minka’s smile is infectious. I’m grinning while she
talks with the salesman. Despite my sudden good mood, I need to stand between
them because I don’t like all of the eye contact he makes.

Ten minutes later, Hayes agrees to let Ruby bring
back the car if she doesn’t like it and get something at a similar price.
Listening to him on the phone, I wonder if he’s flirting with her. Every time
his voice sounds a little too friendly, I clear my throat and mention that he
smells like a pig. He eventually hollers cuss words at me, and Minka hangs up
on him.

“Let’s wrap this up,” she says to the salesperson
behind me.

I’d rather spend the cash on a ring for my woman,
but Minka’s do-goodery makes her happy. Besides, the sooner we tie up things in
Redneck Paradise, the sooner our relationship can become official back to
Houston.

I follow Minka from the car dealership to the Lush
Gardens Trailer Park. Ruby stands near the entrance, unwilling to let us see
her home. She looks around nervously when we drive up.

“Biker issues?” I ask after parking.

“No. Just wondering about Black.”

“He has bigger problems.”

Ruby nods, but remains on edge.

Minka hands Ruby the keys to the sporty compact
SUV. “It was a repo. Only 6,000 miles on it.”

Not understanding, Ruby frowns. “Okay.”

“It’s yours,” Minka adds. “If you don’t like it,
you can get credit at the White Horse Auto Plaza for something else.”

“Why?” Ruby asks, realization brightening her eyes.

“Black trashed your car because of us, so we
figured…”

“It isn’t your fault he’s an asshole.”

“No, but we wanted to do it.”

“I don’t know,” Ruby says. Stepping away, she hands
back the keys.

“Look,” I mutter, “it's not personal, okay? We’ve
done bad shit, and we’re doing nice shit to even things out. Call it kissing up
to God or karma, but this gesture isn’t really about you. Now take the car or
sell it or return it. We don’t care. We’re leaving town and will never see you
again. Whatever you fucking decide to do, just do it. Nice meeting you and your
kid. Good luck and goodbye.”

Ruby looks at Minka, who shrugs. “He isn’t wrong,
but I would have said it in a less dickish way.”

“His way saves time,” Ruby says, gripping the keys.
“Thanks and good luck to you too.”

Minka smiles at the happy thoughts that come from
doing nice things for strangers. Even thinking she’s nuts for caring, I love
her smile. I also love the way she struts when she’s happy and the way she
scowls when she’s pissed. I love the way she stands up to me and every other
person who gets in her way. I love how she cares about people she doesn’t need
to care about.

I love every damn thing about this woman.