Love or Money (9 page)

“I guess I never thought that much about how it works. I don’t really want to know.”

He brushed his lips across hers. “I know. You want to get out of this business. And we will.” He gazed at her. “I’m glad you came with me, even though it’s not really, you know, what you want to be doing. It was…it was hell yesterday, knowing you were working at that place.” He winced. “I wanted to go get you right away, but Robert told me it was too dangerous, that Isaias had his eye on you.”

“It’s okay,” Riel said. “It turned out okay in the end.” She snuggled closer into his arms, burning the skin of her hips slightly on the rough carpet.

His lips pressed tightly together. “It didn’t really turn out okay, though. That fucker hurt you.” His fingers came up to gently caress the lump on her head where Isaias’ fist had caught her.

“It barely hurts,” she said.

“And just the thought of you, all those perverted men groping you like you’re some sex doll.” His jaw clenched, and Riel’s heart beat faster. Was he jealous?

“I didn’t touch any men,” she said. “I told all the ones that wanted lap dances that I couldn’t yet, because I needed lap dance safety training.”

His jaw loosened slightly, and his lips twitched. “Are you serious?”

She grinned. “I can’t believe it worked.”

He laughed, his hands caressing her naked body. “Safety training. I can just see you practicing on one of those crash-test dummies.”

“With some government inspector making notes on a clipboard.”

Both of them convulsed in giggles. Soon, Evan’s face became still and serious. He pushed a lock of messy hair back from her cheek. “You really didn’t have to give any lap dances?”

She bit her lip, her eyes darting away from his. His caressing hands went suddenly still. “What? What’s wrong?”

She looked up at him. Part of her wished she was a better liar so she could just avoid this subject. But another part wanted to see how he’d react, if he’d get jealous or angry. “I did give one,” she said.

His lips drew tight again, and she watched him closely.

“To Laina,” she said.

He blinked. His brow furrowed slightly. “You gave Laina a lap dance?”

Riel nodded. “It was training. Isaias got super pissed that I was giving the safety training excuse, so Laina just wanted to help make me comfortable.”

His hands began to move again, distractedly feeling her curves. A lopsided smile flitted across his lips. “But wait…did you like…was it a real lap dance?”

Riel’s cheeks burned. She was barely able to meet his gaze, and his eyebrows shot up. “Whoa,” he said, squirming slightly. “No offense, Riel, but that’s…that’s sorta…neat. Did you, like, you know…” He trailed off, looking flustered, and Riel grinned cheekily.

“I got off,” she said, “and so did she.”

Evan stared at her, wide-eyed. “So you, do you, you know…like girls that way?”

She gazed up at him defiantly. “Yes. I had a girlfriend in prison, named Marissa.” Her heart squeezed, and she swallowed hard.

He frowned, his eyes distant. She waited tensely. She liked him, she liked him a lot, but she wouldn’t be judged by him. “Does that bug you?” she finally asked, not able to keep the anger out of her voice.

He blinked, seeming to come back to himself. “No. I mean…it’s a lot easier to think about you with other women than with other dudes, no offense. A lot easier.”

She relaxed slightly. “No offense taken.”

“But you do like men too, right?”

She grinned at him in disbelief, but it faded as she saw the sincerity of his insecurity. “I just fucked your brains out, and you ask me if I like men?”

“Well, you could be fantasizing about me being someone else,” he said.

She shook her head. “I like fucking you, Evan. I…I like you. I’ve never liked another man, but…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. She looked shyly up into his eyes.

“You’ve never liked another man? Seriously?”

“No. I’ve never been with a man besides you. I haven’t been with
anyone
besides you and Marissa…and that lap dance I gave Laina.”

He smiled lopsidedly and pressed his lips against her neck. She could feel his cock growing hard again. Then he kissed her, his fingers creeping down to gently rub her slippery clit, and she forced back her worries about how many other girls
he
had been with. He was older, and really good-looking, and she probably didn’t want to know. Instead, she just gave herself up to the pleasure of his touch.

Chapter Seven

It was growing dark the next day when they pulled into their hotel in downtown San Diego. The hotel building rose up sleek and gleaming into the twilight sky. The shoreline spread out behind it, palm trees silhouetted against the last orange-green light on the horizon.

“Jeez, Evan, you’re not skimping on the hotels,” she said.

He shut off the car and leaned over to kiss her, his hand working its way under her shirt to squeeze one of her tits. “It’s not too expensive,” he muttered. “Besides, I liked fucking you in that spa tub last night. I was hoping we could try it again.”

She snorted, but part of her couldn’t help but worry that if he was flinging money around like this, he wasn’t really thinking about saving up for the long-term.
All that stuff about quitting running, getting a house, helping me go to college, it was just talk.
If I want out of this life, I’m going to have to do it myself.

He pulled his lips from hers and looked at her worriedly. “You all right?”

She made herself smile. “I’m fine. Just hungry and tired of being in the car.”

He kissed her on the forehead. “Well, let’s go check in and get some food before we call Mishmash.”

Riel winced. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing him. She was Isaias’ sister-in-law, after all. How suspicious would he be of her?

They unloaded the suitcases and rolled them into the lobby, and Riel tried not to think about how much prison time she was lugging behind her. What if Isaias figured out what was going on, and snitched them off as revenge? She wiped the sweat from the back of her neck and pushed the thought away. There was nothing she could do about it right now.

A statuesque blonde clerk made eyes at Evan as they walked up to the reception desk.

“Checking in?” she asked with a smile that made Riel’s guts twist.

She’s flirting with him right in front of me.
She didn’t blame the lady for thinking she had a chance. The clerk was almost six feet tall and put together like some sort of Danish supermodel, and Riel stood there, just over five feet tall and in the same clothes as yesterday, for lack of other options. But then Evan put an arm around her, pulling her close, and Riel gazed up at the other woman a bit smugly.

“Reservation for Theodore Anderson,” he said, tugging his wallet out and sliding a credit card over the marble-topped counter.

The woman checked them in and handed over their key cards. Riel glanced sidelong at him as they headed for the elevators. “I didn’t know you had a false identity,” she murmured.

“Of course. I don’t want Mama Maria to find us. Mishmash should have documents for you too, when he comes.”

The elevator came, and they got in. “Really? Already?”

He smiled and pinched her nose. “I have to admit I was really hoping you’d come with me, so I paid for them before you were even out of prison. I figured, even if I couldn’t convince you to come, it was worth the expense, just in case.”

The doors opened again and they got out on their floor. Tinted windows lined the corridor, and Riel gazed out at the city lights far below. “Jeez, Evan,” she murmured. “Isaias must have paid you way more than he paid me. Fake identities aren’t cheap.”

Evan let out a mirthless bark of laughter as he unlocked the door to their room. “Isaias didn’t really pay you, Riel. He just blackmailed you into working for him. Besides, I’ve always had something going on the side.” He shut the door and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t be nervous, Rielita. Isaias won’t be able to find you now. You’re safe.”

She laid her ear on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
I won’t really be safe until I’m out of this business.

***

After dinner, Evan called Mishmash and told him they’d arrived. Riel’s ahi-filled stomach suddenly felt sick, and she curled up on the mattress to wait.

Evan stretched out next to her and turned on the TV. “Ooh,
Seinfeld
reruns,” he said, and leaned over to kiss her neck. She knew he was trying to keep her mind off things, but that was impossible right now.

After about forty-five minutes, there was a knock on the door. Riel sat up, clutching the blankets, and Evan tousled her hair. “It’s going to be all right, Rielita.”

“I know,” she muttered.

Evan went to answer the door, and Riel heard Mishmash’s voice. “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Good, good, how are you doing?” Evan said.

They came into the room, and Mismash grinned at Riel in a friendly, almost childlike way. He came over to shake her hand. “Hey, I remember you,” he said. “Hard to forget a face like that.”

Riel smiled. His hand was warm and dry, which made her realize she was sweating. The sleeves of Mishmash’s plaid shirt were rolled up over his thick forearms, and she saw he had a bible verse tattooed on the inside of his right one.

No se angustien por el mañana, el cual tendrá sus propios afanes
.

She took a deep breath, let it out. “
To each day its own problems.” That’s a good philosophy in this business
. “It’s good to see you, Mishmash,” she said.

Evan stretched back out next to her on the bed, and Mishmash settled in a chair, tugging at the legs of his jeans so they fell straight. He was still watching her, and he grinned again, then reached into an inside pocket of his shirt and pulled out a folded manila envelope, holding it out to her. “So I hear you’re starting a new life.”

Riel tried to keep her hand from shaking as she took the envelope. She clutched it tightly, feeling the passport and her other fake documents within.
My new life,
she thought a bit bitterly. “Yeah,” she said. “I’m done working for that dick Isaias.”

He laughed. It was almost a giggle, and the sound of it made Riel smile. She had to remind herself that this guy wasn’t as sweet as he seemed; he’d likely killed more than a few people. “I don’t blame you,” he said. “Not after what he did. I couldn’t believe he’d screw over his own sister-in-law like that.”

Riel glanced at Evan, her brow furrowed, wondering if he’d told him about the strip club and how Isaias had hit her. She couldn’t imagine the two of them gossiping like that. But Evan looked just as confused as she did, staring at Mishmash with a frown. “What do you mean?” he asked.

Mishmash’s eyebrows shot up, and his meaty lips formed an “O”. Then he laughed again, slapping his stocky thighs. “Oh shit, he didn’t even tell you, did he?
Chingada madre.
What a fucking
cabrón.
”

Riel’s chest tightened. “What did he do?”

Mishmash gave her a hesitant look, rubbing his knuckles against his upper lip, then shrugged. “He got into a tight spot with some feds. They needed a sacrifice, I guess, because they were getting questions from higher-ups and were worried their cover would be blown. So he threw you under the bus. I heard he cut a deal in regard to your sentencing, but still, that’s pretty messed up. He could have given them someone outside the family.”

Riel’s ears rang, and the world seemed to go dark. For a moment she thought she was going to puke and had to close her eyes. As she took deep breaths, she felt Evan’s arm go around her, steadying her.

“I’m gonna kill that dick,” Evan muttered. “I thought she got busted somehow fair and square, and that he just stepped in to keep her going away for hard time.”

“Sorry to have to be the bearer of that bad news,” Mishmash said. “I thought he at least would have told you, given you some compensation or something.”

“Nope,” Riel said through gritted teeth.

Mishmash’s broad brow creased slightly, his shrewd eyes not leaving her face. “If that’s not the reason you took off on him, then why did you?”

Riel gathered herself up. “Because he’s an
asshole
, that’s why
.
He treated me like shit. He didn’t pay me. He made me do things…” She squeezed her eyes shut, catching her breath, and Evan’s arm tightened around her.

“That fucker hit her,” Evan said. “I don’t even want to know what else he would have done to her if I hadn’t gotten her out of there.”

“Oh, shit, I get it,” Mishmash said quietly. “Sorry to bring it up.” He chuckled darkly. “
Que putaso.
Well, you’re well rid of a piece of garbage like that. Hitting females is just wrong. You don’t do that.”

Riel nodded, wiping her eyes. Mishmash smiled and leaned forward, patting her foot. “That crap is all over for you. You’re safe with me. And maybe you’ll get your chance to get back at that
culito
for what he did, eh?” He grinned wider, and Riel gazed at him, startled. Then she felt a smile spread across her face.

“Maybe,” she said.

Mishmash laughed. “That’s the spirit. I think we’re going to enjoy working together, you and I.”

A desire for revenge flared up inside Riel. All those months in prison had been because of Isaias. And then he had the audacity to try to make her pay him back for the drugs and lawyer fees.

I’ll kick that guy where it hurts
.
I’ll twist his balls into a knot. I’ll make him wish he were dead and that he never heard the name Gabriella Hernandez.