Wounded Love (G Street Chronicles Presents From Love to Loathe Series) (3 page)

We finished the meeting talking about numbers and conferences coming into town and our two new commercials that were about to air. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Paul handed me an envelope and said, “Happy Birthday.”

I thanked him and took the envelope. As I walked to the elevator, I heard Mr. Paul tell Troy he did not ever want to see that again. Troy said he would take care of it. I knew he was talking about the bruises to my face.

When I stepped off the elevator, I saw Trey walking out of my suite. I backed right back into the elevator and pressed the button for a floor above mine. At the new floor, I got off and walked the entire floor once before I got back on the empty elevator. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with Trey’s bullshit.

Back on my floor, I stepped out and went to my door. Once I was back in the apartment, it was apparent that no one was up yet. I went to my room, shut, and locked the door. I yanked the sheets and bedding off and laid down on the naked mattress. I opened Mr. Paul’s envelope, and there was six thousand dollars in it. I remembered last year when I had to go to the bank and take six thousand dollars out of my account. That was so long ago.

After calling the car service, I put the money in my big purse and went to the safe in my closet. I pressed ten, twenty-eight, twenty, zero, nine, and the safe hummed opened for me. I pulled all of the contents out and closed the safe. I had sixty-two thousand dollars that needed to be deposited. I had been in a hurry when I left for Nantucket to visit my sick aunt. Normally, I would have deposited this money before the total got so high. I slide all the money into my purse and applied some makeup to hide my bruised face. Then I went downstairs on the staff elevator so I would not run into anyone.

I got to the bank and went to Carla, my favorite teller. “Hi there, Ms. Hooper. I haven’t seen you in a while,” she said.

“I was out of town with a sick aunt.”
That
lie again.

“Oh, aren’t you a sweetheart? How can I help you today?”

“I need to make three deposits.” After I finished up with Carla, I noticed the famous coffee shop sitting on the corner. I held my hand up to Walt, the driver, and pointed at the coffee shop. When I walked in, I was greeted immediately. The store was immaculate and everyone inside was smiling and cheerful. I walked up to the counter and ordered a latté and a black coffee with a red velvet cookie. They were the specialty cookies for Valentine’s Day.

When the woman behind the counter gave me my total, I gave her my card and a man behind me said, “I got hers.” I turned, and there stood D’Artagnan Crain. I smiled at him, but the tears were rising and I excused myself for the restroom. I shut the stall door and lost it. But quickly, I pulled myself together, reapplied my makeup, and walked back into the shop. He sat at a table waiting for me. I walked over and sat down. He gave me a small smile.

“O is engaged, and her wedding is this October. I got a promotion and now have Oregon, Washington, and California…and I miss you.”

I smiled at him, and my eyes got watery again, but I fought back the tears.

“Cricket, did you leave because of me?”

“No, not at all,” I placed my hands on top of his.

“So you live here?”

“Yes, going on a year,” I told him. We both sat there sipping on our coffee.

“Did you get the keys, Blackberry, and laptop back?” I asked.

“Yes.” I folded and unfolded the sweet treats bags. D’Artagnan watched me carefully.

“How are you?”

“I’m alright,” he said. We sipped more coffee, and then he took a deep breath. “Cricket, I’m sorry about everything, and I do mean everything.”

I looked out the window and saw Trey talking toward Walt and then changing direction and walking toward the coffee shop.

“I forgive you D’Artagnan. Now, listen me very carefully. I am going to get up and do not follow me and do not say anything else to me. I miss you guys so much, and it was so good to see you, but I have to go, and I can’t let that guy that’s about to come in see you.” I squeezed his hand and got up from the chair with the cookies and coffees in my hands.

When I reached the door, Trey was opening it for me. He pulled the coffee and cookies out of my hands, and we walked across the street. I never looked back at D’Artagnan.

That night, we were swamped and all of us were feeling the pain from it. I worked fourteen hours straight. Troy was in a foul mood, and I hadn’t seen Trey since earlier in the afternoon at the coffee shop. I was taking my third and final break at Lecrux when I heard my name being paged to come to the gold card member’s desk. I waived at Dax and went to the desk. When I got there, I saw a man with his back to me and Leslie grinning from ear to ear.

“What’s the problem?” I asked.

“I need clearance to make someone a gold member if they’ve never been here before. This gentleman wants full access, but he’s not in the system,” Leslie explained.

I picked up his ID and looked up. D’Artagnan stood there with a grin. I swiped my badge in the slot and approved his full access. I walked away from the desk without looking back. I went back to my table at Lecrux and I finished my glass of wine.

Cinnamon sat down and rubbed her neck.

“Why don’t you go and get a massage from Blythe?” I asked.

“She’s gone for the night, and Thomas digs in too hard,” she said.

“I might need your help with something very important.” Cinnamon was on alert instantly. “There’s a guy here from my past, and I need you to keep him away from me. If Trey finds out…”

She interrupted me, “I know.”

I told Cinnamon I would give her a signal when I saw him. We agreed the signal would be me tossing my hair off both of my shoulders. I made two rounds and saw D’Artagnan at the Craps table. I signaled to Cinnamon, and she went right over to him. I made two more rounds, and Troy signaled for me.

“Trey won’t be coming around you for a couple of weeks, and I don’t want you talking to him, per Mr. Paul’s orders.” I nodded and turned from him; he pulled at my arm. “That doesn’t include me though.” I nodded and walked away.

Cinnamon beckoned me to come over to the table she was working, and I walked over to her and D’Artagnan.

“Hey, Cinnamon,” I faked my bubbly voice.

“Hey there, I got a friend here who desperately wanted to meet you,” she said with a fake smile.

“Hi there, friend. I’m Cricket.”

“I’m D’Artagnan.”

“Well, D’Artagnan, what brings you in here? Business or pleasure?”

“A little of both, but I would love to spend some more time with you.”

He knew the game here and instantly I felt sick to my stomach.

“I just might be able to arrange that. Are you staying here at Three Strikes?”

“No, I’m actually staying across town, but I saw this limo with this casino on the side of it and I was intrigued.”

“Well, please come with me; bye bye, Cinnamon,” I smiled. I had to take D’Artagnan with me because I knew Troy and/or Trey were watching us from somewhere. Cinnamon told me D’Artagnan had requested me personally, and if I made anything look suspicious or out the ordinary, Troy would investigate and then I would have to worry about D’Artagnan’s safety.

“Bye bye, Cricket.”

I looked over at Troy and slid my hand down to my side and pointed out four fingers, our code for forty minutes. He nodded. I slide my arm through D’Artagnan’s and we caught an elevator.

As soon as the doors shut, I pressed the tenth floor and pressed up against him. “Shut up, and follow my lead,” I whispered. I kissed him and he wrapped his arms around me. He slid his tongue into my mouth and I let him. I reached down and rubbed his bulge up and down. The elevator dinged, and I pulled away; straightening myself. D’Artagnan kept his arms around me. He kissed my neck, and then he licked the top of my left breast and then the right one. I put the key into the door and we moved into the suite.

D’Artagnan was still in rare form; tugging and pulling at everything. I led him to my bedroom and told him to sit down on the bed. Then I stood across the room from him.

“D’Artagnan, is
this
what you want from me?”

“Huh?”

“Alright,” I put on my business face, “it’s three hundred for some head, five hundred for one nut, and one thousand for the whole night.”

“Cricket,” he whispered.

“You need to make a decision because we only have thirty-five minutes now.”

“Cricket, you have to convince me not to call Jyme and tell him exactly where you are.”

“What?”

“Cricket, I don’t know who the fuck these people are that you’ve got yourself tangled up with, but this isn’t you.”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong,” I assured him.

“Explain…Now!”

I looked over at the clock and went to closet and pulled out something else to wear. Then, I gave D’Artagnan the edited version of my life.

He said nothing, just sat there and listened. After twenty minutes, I stepped inside the bathroom and dressed quickly, still telling him my story. When I came out, he was looking out the window. I saw we only had ten minutes left, so I rushed through detailing the final days. When I finished, I had to silence my racing heart.

We had five minutes to get back downstairs. “D’Artagnan, we have to go now,” I said, walking toward the door.

“Cricket, I can’t just leave you here. I can’t do that.”

“You have to. I’m afraid they’d kill him, and I would just die if that happened.” I took a step closer to the door. “We have to go now!”

We walked to the front door, and then I ran my fingers through his hair and shifted his clothes around a little.

“When can I see you again?”

“I can’t risk them finding us out. You’re too important to me.”

We stepped out into the hall and got onto the elevator.

“Cricket, I can’t do this.”

“D’Artagnan, you have to go.

“So what? Were you just going to do this until…when?”

“I guess until they’re done with me.”

“I love you Cricket. I always have, and I always will, no matter what.”

I leaned in to him, and kissed him long and hard. The elevator doors opened. “Thank you,” I whispered and stepped out of the elevator to find Troy right in front of it. He moved aside, and I walked toward the roulette tables while D’Artagnan went back toward the crap tables. Cinnamon looked at me; I smiled, and she smiled back.

I made four more rounds and then called it a night. Back in the suite, I got into the shower and stood under the water until it turned cold. I blow dried my hair and crawled into bed. As I started to drift off, my phone buzzed. I touched the screen and there was a text message from Troy: “I need you tonight.” I turned the phone off and rolled over, pulling the covers over my head.

The next morning I woke to the sun shining down on my face. I sat up and stretched. Normally, Trey was always stretched out drunk in my bed and I just could not sleep next to him; so waking up in my bed alone was a blessing. I turned my phone back on; I’d missed two calls and three text messages from Troy. The first missed text asked if I’d received the text from before, the second told me to open the door, and the third reminded me that he wasn’t like his brother, that he had other ways of punishing me besides hitting me.

I slammed the phone down and then I saw the white piece of paper on the floor. I picked it up, D’Artagnan’s business card. He had left it on purpose, I was almost certain of it. I got dressed and headed down to Lecrux for some breakfast. I looked around for Dax but didn’t see him anywhere. I sat in his section anyway, and Molly came over and took my order. After she scribbled down my order of an omelet and breakfast pork chops, I asked about Dax. She leaned over my table and refilled the sugar.

“He got canned this morning.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Mr. Troy,” she said, shaking her head. “I feel so bad for him. He needed this job. His girlfriend is expecting.”

I nodded and blew on my latte. When it arrived, I ate my breakfast slowly; my mind was weary. I went back upstairs after breakfast and called a car around to the front. I put D’Artagnan’s card in my wallet and went downstairs. I went back to the bank and was happy to see that Carla was free.

“I need a cashier’s check of three thousand dollars.”

She printed out the check and slid it under the glass. When I got back to the car, I told Walt I needed to go to Hallmark for a greeting card, and then I asked him what kind of coffee he wanted. He gave me his order as I stepped on to the curb in front of the store. I bought an, “I will miss you” card and checked out. Then, I walked two doors down to the coffee shop. I made my order and asked to use their phone. I pulled D’Artagnan’s card out of my wallet and dialed his cell.

“This is D’Artagnan.”

“I need a favor.”

“Anything.”

“A guy by the name of Dax is going to call you in a few days, and he really needs a good job. I recommend him highly; he’s the best in the business. Can you do this for me?”

“Cricket, of course, but what about you?”