The Con (17 page)

He grips my ass harder, squeezing the flesh
beneath his fingertips and I know he's leaving marks, but I don't
have time to care. A finger caresses my puckered hole before he
slips the digit inside. He's filling me at both ends as his lips
move to my ear and he grunts out his release. I come, too,
screaming his name as I go to my happy place.

He pulls out of me and then gently sets me
down on the ground. He's being a complete gentleman compared to
what I experienced just moments ago. I slip my clothes back on,
ignoring the small amounts of cum that escape from inside me.

"Are you okay?" I ask as I fasten the button
on my shorts. He zips up his jeans before responding.

"Yeah, twinkle toes."

"Who was that on the phone?"

"Ky. He says everyone is looking for
us."

"Oh." I figured there would be some kind of
search party out for us, but I wish I knew just who was included in
"everyone". Is it just the Esposito organization, or are the police
involved, too? Is my sister wondering where I am? Is my sister
safe?

Jagger grabs my hand and moves us over to
the foot of the bed. He sits down and I join him, twisting my body
into his. "There's more, twinkle toes. I called Angelo while you
were out getting supplies."

"What did he say?"

"I'm so sorry I dragged you into all of
this. If I had known–"

"What did he say, Jagger?"

"It was all a set-up. I was never meant to
walk out of there with the money. I was never meant to walk out of
there alive."

My lips tremble at the implication of his
words. "What do you mean?"

He places his palms on top of his thighs
before rubbing them up and down his legs. He looks over at the bag
of money and then over to me.

"I told you how Angelo and I had a falling
out about a year ago. He had already started doing some work for
Damien on the down low and Damien is someone I've never worked
with. I've never really gotten along with him, but I'd come across
him from time to time and we were always cordial. As long as he
didn’t get in my way and I didn’t get in his, we were cool.

"Well, I got a job handed to me one night
boosting cars. I normally don't take jobs from third parties but
this one was impossible to turn down. It was dangerous, but I took
it because it was sixty G's for about twelve hours of work.

"The job was easy and I completed it with no
problems, but I found out the next morning that Angelo was supposed
to be the one on that job. That they had hired him first, but for
reasons I don't know, they backed out with him last minute and
asked me. They didn't tell him until he showed up at the warehouse
that night, an hour after I had already left to start the job.

"Angelo had been counting on that money. He
had already spent it knowing that it was coming in. That was his
first mistake. You should never spend money you don't have.

"The morning after the job I was eating in
the kitchen of my trailer when Angelo came in. He was ranting and
raving about how I stole a job out from under him and friends don’t
do that to each other. He was in deep trouble if he didn’t come up
with some cash quick and he asked me if he could borrow thirty
grand."

I clasp my hands in my lap. "What did you
do?"

"I told him no. I had already put half the
money I earned in a college fund for Mason and I needed the rest of
the money for bills and for my sister. I gave him two grand and
wished him luck finding the rest. He took the money and then
stormed out of my trailer. He never talked to me again, that is
until this job came along."

Jagger stands up abruptly and starts pacing
back and forth.

"I should have known it was a set-up, but I
let the money call the shots. I let the money push all common sense
to the side. I was blinded with greed. Angelo and I were friends.
We were close. No matter what happened between us I never thought
he'd do this to me. I never thought he would want me dead.

"Angelo and Damien set me up with the
Esposito organization. They put this entire thing in motion and
then narked on me with Matteo. Damien hand delivered Matteo to the
bank yesterday and they were ready to take me out. Damien and
Angelo look at me as their biggest competition and they were ready
to wipe me out. I'm scared to think what could have happened if I
hadn’t brought that gun and held up Cheyenne at gunpoint.

"Now the Esposito organization is looking
for us and Angelo and Damien are helping them. I don’t know who to
trust, twinkle toes. The only person I know who is trustworthy
besides you is Ky, and right now he told me to stay hidden. He
doesn’t even want to know where we are. He's afraid if I tell him,
Angelo or Matteo will be able to get it out of him."

I stand up from the foot of the bed and walk
over to a frantic Jagger, wrapping my arms around him in a
comforting hug. I hold him for a long time as his breathing settles
and he rests part of his weight against me. Words fail me so I'm
comforting him the best way I know how.

After what feels like an eternity, Jagger
pulls away from me and grabs another cigarette. He lights up and
smokes in silence. I can see the confusion and loss in his
expression. Someone he considered a friend betrayed him because of
money. This is probably the first time in a long time that Jagger
doesn’t know what to do. He’s scared for himself and for me, and
I’m scared, too. I'm scared that they're going to find him and hurt
him.

I can't let that happen. I silently vow to
myself to never let that happen. If I have to kill Matteo Esposito
myself to save Jagger, I will.

Jagger finishes his cigarette, smashing the
end in the ashtray on top of the dresser. "I’m going to try and get
a hold of Matteo. Maybe I can reason with him. Maybe if I explain
the whole thing, if I explain that Angelo and Damien can’t be
trusted, he might stop looking for us. I'll have to give him back
his money, but I’m not worried about that. There are always other
ways to earn money and I made a decent living before this job, and
I'll be able to make a decent one after."

Shaking my head because I already know the
answer, I ask, "Do you think that might work? Do you think he'll
actually let us go if you hand him over his money?"

Jagger stays focused on me. His
devastatingly beautiful eyes are filled with skepticism and doubt,
but then I watch his expression change as he masks his true
feelings and lies to me. I can tell he's lying before the words
even leave his lips. "Yes, twinkle toes. I think if we hand over
the money we'll be able to go home and get back to our lives.
Matteo can be a decent man and if we give him back his money he'll
probably stop hunting us."

I smile at him weakly, unable to fake
comfort at his words but hoping the smile across my face is enough
for him to believe that I've bought what he's told me.

Jagger may know that we don't have a chance
in hell, but now I know, too, so I can start plotting ways for us
to somehow make it through this. I can start plotting ways to keep
Jagger alive and breathing.

Chapter Fourteen

We decide to spend one more night at the
motel before Jagger hunts down Matteo Esposito's cell number and
gives him a call. Deep down I know Jagger wants to stay because
once he makes that phone call he thinks we might get caught. I'm
not sure about staying another night at first, but then I figure
we're as safe here as we would be anywhere else.

We order take-out from a local barbeque
place down the road and when Jagger comes back to the room with our
food, the smell of barbeque ribs, coleslaw, and fries make my mouth
water. All I've eaten today is an apple and a cereal bar.

I'm not worried about etiquette or how I may
look as I dig into the ribs. My fingers are coated in barbeque
sauce and I can feel traces of it on my lips and cheeks, but it's
too good to stop eating. Jagger laughs from across the bed, smiling
at me as I take another bite. His hands are coated in sauce, too,
but he's somehow able to avoid getting it all over his face.

We both reach for the last rib, but he lets
me take it and I eat the meat clean off the bone.

"You're a mess, twinkle toes."

"I was hungry," I mumble as I chew the last
bite of meat.

"I never knew a woman as slim as you could
eat so much. Where does it all go?"

"I'm blessed with a naturally fast
metabolism." I grab the wet wipes that came with the meal and clean
off my hands, wiping between each finger before grabbing another
fresh one and wiping my face.

I'm clean and full. That meal will
definitely hold me over until breakfast.

I stand up and clean up the dinner mess this
time, since Jagger cleaned up dinner yesterday, and then we both
get ready for bed. We take our turns in the shower and then brush
our teeth with the toothbrush and paste Jagger was somehow able to
convince the night manager of the motel to give us, since I forgot
to get some at the store.

Slipping on a clean pair of panties and the
black tank I bought at Target, I slide underneath the covers and
wait for Jagger to join me. He puts the television on low as he
flips through the channels. There isn't much on again beside some
soft-core porn and the hard-core channel, but when Jagger comes
across a comedian doing stand up I make him put the remote down.
This is something I can stand watching, and the perfect distraction
so we can both forget about the worries that will come tomorrow
when Jagger makes the phone calls to find Matteo.

The comedian is funny, but I've seen a lot
better, or maybe I'm just too distracted right now to enjoy any of
it. My mind is running at a million thoughts per second.

My reasonable questions all have to do with
the current situation Jagger and I are in. What if Matteo doesn't
accept our deal? What if they find us here in the middle of the
night? Where did Jagger hide the gun? Does Jagger have a plan B?
Should I come up with a plan B?

Then there are the other questions roaming
through my mind. Questions that, while important, can wait until
all of this is over. What did last night mean between Jagger and
me? What did today mean? Does Jagger have feelings for me? He said
a few things that make me feel like he does, but he's so hard to
read. He's been on his own for so long, in charge of his own
well-being and happiness, and I don’t think he knows how to let
people in.

Does he know that I love him? Does he know
that my world has revolved around him since I was nine years old,
even though we weren't in each other's lives regularly? Does he
know that I would do anything for him, even kill for him, if it
meant he gets to be the one to survive all of this and move on?

I turn on my right side to face him. He's
lying on his back, his bare chest glowing from the light of the
television. He has one hand drawn back behind his head and his
other hand resting on his stomach as he laughs at something the
comedian on the television says.

An outsider would take one look at him right
now and see a relaxed man enjoying the evening, but I see what's
hidden underneath. Jagger's scared, even if he doesn't want to
admit it.

I slide my right hand underneath the side of
my head and rest my temple against it. "Can we talk?"

He turns his head slightly so that he can
see me. "About what?"

"About us. About what happened between us
last night. About what happened between us five years ago."

"Twinkle toes, why rehash old wounds? We
don’t need to talk about what happened five years ago," he sighs
out.

"Yes we do, Jagger. I need to know why you
left me that night."

"I told you before, I didn't want you hung
up on me when you had your dancing to think about."

"But that wasn't your choice," I say with a
little bite to it. "Do you remember when we first met?"

"How could I forget?"

Ignoring him I continue. "I was nine years
old, sad about my ballet slippers but also sad about life in
general. I had no parents and my nineteen-year-old sister was
raising me when she should have been out enjoying her life. You
swooped in that night and saved me. You may have only been buying
me a pair of ballet slippers, but to me you were buying me the
world because dancing was my world. It was my escape from my
screwed-up childhood and you made it possible for me to continue my
adventures."

I pause, debating for a second if I should
say what I'm about to say. Once I say it I can’t take it back and
it could make tonight and tomorrow really awkward if he doesn’t
understand where I am coming from. I don’t expect him to feel the
same way. How could he? He can't begin to understand the way I feel
about him, or the reasons why I feel the way I do, but I hope to
make him understand a little tonight. I want him to know I would do
anything for him.

"I fell in love with you that night,
Jagger."

His eyes grow wide as he turns his body onto
his left side. His hand on his stomach falls to rest against the
sheet below us. "You were nine, twinkle toes. You couldn’t have
fallen in love with me."

"But I did, and every time I saw you after
that I fell deeper and deeper in love with you, but I knew I
couldn’t have you. You were so much better than me and you could
have any girl you wanted. That night at the party I saw you with
Lola. I saw the way she hung all over your every word and I knew I
couldn’t compete with her."

He moves his hand from the mattress and
brings it up to my face to caress my cheek. "There was never a
competition, twinkle toes. You wiped her, and any other girl, clear
out of the water just by being at that party. You are better than
all those girls combined."

"If I was better than all those girls you
would have been chasing after me at that party instead of letting
Lola lick you like a cat."