Dangerous Games Read online

  “I don’t start on the Guinness until mid-afternoon. This is piss, and barely gives me a buzz.”

  “Yeah, and we have business to do this evening so don’t get too far-gone,” Finn spoke up as he swigged from a large mug of coffee.

  I walked over to him and kissed him on the mouth. “I ate at my grandparents so I am good but…this business you two have to do this evening, are you gonna be all right?”

  “It’s a simple drop, babe. We aren’t going to rob a bank,” he replied in his mixture of Irish and Bostonian accent.

  “Then you don’t mind if I go?” I inquired as I stared into his crystal blue eyes.

  “Absolutely fucking not. We aren’t dealin’ with the Irish tonight—we got some Haitians to hook up with, and I don’t trust ‘em as far as I can throw them. You stay here with Lita.”

  I shook my head slowly. “Finn, if you want me, if I am gonna be your girl then I have to know everything that is going on, and that means going out on drops with you two. I’m not some vestal virgin so don’t treat me like one.”

  He set his mug down on the kitchen counter, and grabbed me by the arms. “Babe, this is no joke. I don’t want anything to happen to you and if they hurt one hair on your head, I’d fucking kill ‘em all, and gladly serve the time at Cedar Junction.”

  “I’m not staying here with that Oxyball head. I’m going whether you want me to or not,” I said with fierce determination in my voice.

  “That’s my girl.” Finn wrapped his arms around my waist. “Are you sure you’re okay? Is there anything you wanna talk about?”

  I didn’t know whether we should talk about it so soon. I wasn’t even sure I had accepted the situation. It was best to just forget about everything from the past that was unpleasant but something nagged at my gut, and wouldn’t allow me to let go.

  “If we are going to talk, I’d rather we do it in private,” I whispered to him.

  He nodded his head. We walked outside to the backyard where there was a neatly trimmed lawn with two comfortable, cloth sun loungers. He sat down on one before he pulled me into his lap. Once he laid out, I got more comfortable and put my head on his chest.

  “What happened when you went to visit your grandparents’?” he inquired, his voice deep yet soothing.

  “I ran into Patrick and Clara. They had Kieran with them and nearly had a shit fit because I had shown up. Then, if my visit couldn’t get any crappier, Fiona and Chloe pay a visit after all night clubbin’ and I find out about this new business partner of yours…Brandon…isn’t that his name?”

  “Yeah and he’s totally cool people. Dylan is a bit weary of him but he’s completely professional. He’s on the straight and narrow—doesn’t drink, smoke or do any kind of drugs. His mother was a big time strawberry back in Ireland…that’s how she got him. She ran away to London for a while and got caught up with a big time pimp. He had her on the streets hookin’, and he was usin’ her as well. It’s lucky Brandon is okay outside of a few anger issues he can suffer from time to time. She used drugs and drank like a fish the whole time she was pregnant with him,” Finn explained.

  “I guess that explains the mark on Fiona’s arm. She said Brandon did it.”

  “Brandon didn’t hit Fiona. He loves that bitch though I don’t know why…well, actually I do. She could be a dead-ringer for his mam if she had taken care of herself, and hadn’t allowed her life to get out of her control. Fiona has an issue of being faithful and chances are she fucked some random guy at a club and he roughed her up a bit. The only thing she is good at is having them wear condoms. Last thing she wants to do is bring something home to Brandon.”

  “I don’t know,” I began, “Patrick and Clara were just so mean to me—it’s like they hate me for giving them a gift they couldn’t get on their own. They didn’t want me to spend any extra time with Kieran, and they totally acted really strange. I think they honestly thought I was going to pick him up, and walk out of the house with him but why would I do that? How much sense does that make when I am in college and he’s our secret? You know how much trouble I would get in if any of those tabloids ever found out the truth? Athena Donahue’s daughter knocked up at fifteen and gives birth to a secret baby?”

  “And with someone like me? Basically an Irish gangster who is no better than a drug dealer? Yeah, that is enough to ruin someone’s career. All I know is there was a serious issue that happened with Kieran when he was a baby. This is all passed along the grapevine shit because I wasn’t here but since then, they have been ultra protective of him. They left the state, settled in New Haven, and make it their business to visit this place as little as possible. Basically, they come enough to keep up appearances and that is it.”

  I sat up and stared into his gorgeous crystal blue eyes. “Is this what Dylan told you?”

  “Yes, and no. Fiona told me a bit and so did Chloe because she was around at the time. I seriously don’t think they see you as a threat. At least they shouldn’t because of who you are, and who would you say the child belonged to? Plus, just like you indicated, you’re in college so what the hell are you going to do with a four-year-old kid?”

  I wanted to get off this topic as soon as possible. “About this drop tonight, tell me how a typical one goes and what I should expect? Will you and Dylan allow me to take a weapon?”

  “Can you still handle a nine-millimeter or should I find something a bit smaller for those girly hands of yours?” Finn questioned in a joking manner.

  “Fuck you,” I said before we both burst out laughing.

  “Honey, I would love to do just that…all night but we gotta go get you fixed up first.”

  I crossed my arms over my breasts. “Since when do you do everything my mother demands of you? You’re not scared of her are you?”

  “Yes, if I am being truthful. You know she threatened to cut off my balls and feed ‘em to me if I ever did anything like our little incident that happened when you were fifteen. I love you—who am I kidding?—I fucking adore you but I am not about to lose my balls to have sex with you. The next time we make love, I want it to be special and I want you protected because I don’t bareback with just anyone and I certainly don’t want to wear a condom, not with you.”

  I leaned over and kissed his mouth ever so softly. “Something tells me you have been a bad boy while I was gone. I am sure your you-know-what has been in quite a few what’s-its since I have been gone.”

  “What the hell, Evie, what are we? Twelve? What’s-its and you-know-what? Why don’t you call them a penis and a vagina or their pejorative names, which would be a cock and a pussy? I think we are a bit too old to be hinting around to adult body parts.”

  I laughed out loud as he shook his head. “You’re so serious. Lighten up, Finn. Jeez, sometimes I wonder if you’re my first love or my father. I didn’t mean to offend your delicate sensibilities—”

  “Ha-ha, very funny. Forgive me if I don’t think you accompanying Dylan and I for a drop is cute or interesting. I’m scared as hell and I fear for your safety, okay?”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, “I promise I will keep close to you all night.”

  It was almost four in the morning and the adrenaline still rushed through my veins like some kind of hypnotic drug. I had never had so much fun in my life and I had to keep pinching myself to remind me this had been a dangerous endeavor.

  Dylan was ultra paranoid and insisted we take his black, 2012 Chevy Camaro Coupe because he always took it on drug runs. Brandon showed up with Fiona in his silver, 2012 Ford Mustang GT. Apparently, the cars had been packed earlier as they both had false bottoms where the spare tires were supposed to be stored. Since both vehicles had been suped up, the spares wouldn’t have fit if either car had a blow out anyway.

  Another one of our cousins was a car nut, and had done the work himself though he’d been paid handsomely with a brand new vehicle of his choice by both Finn and Brandon. I soon found out the Escalade belonged to Finn, and t
hought it was too conspicuous for a drug run to New York (though two muscle cars weren’t).

  Brandon and Fiona rode together while Finn and Dylan rode with me riding in the backseat. Though the car belonged to Dylan, Finn drove due to Dylan’s inability to have managed to stay sober that day.

  We left shortly after five-thirty since it was almost a four hour trip to Manhattan and Dylan had not only had more than his fair share of Guinness but had also decided to do an Oxyball with Lita for good measure.

  That woman was poison and the sooner I managed to get my cousin away from her, the better I would feel. I knew the type and I also knew she thought she had Dylan trapped but I was Queen Bee when it came to getting rid of bothersome bitches like her. I’d initiate Fiona and Chloe’s help if I had to. Though we didn’t have the best relationship, we could both see that Carmelita was nothing but a druggie whore looking for a free ride on my cousin’s dime. It was obvious from her attitude that morning at breakfast she didn’t like the woman so that was definitely a plus.

  We arrived in Manhattan before I knew it but that might have something to do with the great conversation the three of us were having. I felt like one of the guys again, and that’s what I’d missed going to university. I’d missed it in L.A. too. There was a genuine closeness I had with Dylan and Finn that couldn’t be duplicated, not even with my best friend.

  True, I was gorgeous—I could have been modest and said I looked all right but that would have been a lie, and it’s hard to have low self-esteem when people always go on and on about what a stunner you are—but that didn’t stop them from treating me like their equal. I wasn’t just “some hot chick in a skirt,” I was Evie and they knew I could handle my own.

  I learned how to shoot a gun when I was fifteen by Dylan and Finn. I started out with a snub-nosed .22 and worked my way up. I was now an ace shot with a nine-millimeter but I couldn’t get away with a gun that large, not in my tight jeans and white peasant blouse. I had to settle on a Ruger LCP .380 which was extremely compact without an extra clip. It would do its job, which is all that counted and since I was an excellent shot, I wasn’t all that concerned.

  “Hey, boys,” I interrupted as Dylan and Finn discussed different weapons—they both carried nine millimeters, the bastards, “this gun hasn’t been used in a crime, has it?”

  Dylan turned toward me with cool blue-gray eyes. “Now why would I do something stupid like that, and give you a gun with a history? It’s brand new. Finn and I were going to give it to you for your birthday but we decided to surprise you with it early since you insisted on going on this run with us.”

  Manhattan twinkled ahead like a diamond and I smiled. “Well, thanks. I like it.” My smile faltered somewhat. “Hey, if it’s so dangerous for us women to go on these runs with you guys then what the hell is Fiona doing with Brandon?”

  “He always takes her,” Dylan responded with little interest in his voice. “Fiona has always idolized you, ya know, and after you left, she kind of tried to become strong like you. Unfortunately, that also means cheating on her boyfriend sometimes but Brandon puts up with it because he loves that skank. I don’t know what any man would see in my sister because she’s such a self-centered bitch but somehow, they are literally yin and yang. He calms her dumb ass down.”

  “Ease up, Dylan,” Finn responded. “Fiona is a great girl and although I wish Brandon would just go ahead and put a ring on her finger, he’s worried the cheating might not stop even after they get married. I keep tellin’ him she’s the kind of woman who needs security—”

  “My ass! Brandon is doin’ the right thing you ask me. Let my sister stew a bit, and once she learns to keep her panties on when she has a girl’s night out, then he can ask her to marry him. He’s a tough guy and wouldn’t lay a hand on her, otherwise, I wouldn’t allow him anywhere near my sister. Yeah, I know, he’s only half-black and it’s not his fault, but I don’t trust those kind of people.”

  “I realize geography isn’t your strong suit but this is coming from a guy whose girlfriend is half-Dominican? You do realize that is a country in the Caribbean that shares a border with Haiti?” I questioned sarcastically.

  “Um, it’s not like I plan to marry her and she’s hot as fuck…”

  “Are you as dumb as you look or do you just get off acting that way?”

  “Fuck off, Evie!”

  “Will you shut the fuck up, Dylan, before your mouth writes a check your ass can’t cash?” Finn interrupted in a brusque voice. “Jesus, sometimes I wonder if it is worth taking you on these runs due to your insipid talk alone.”

  By the time we arrived to the club, a very cool architectural piece completely made of glass and right on the border of Manhattan proper and Harlem, the blood in my veins was pumping at maximum efficiency. I worried if they had doormen who checked for weapons or if there was a metal detector because we were all in trouble if that was the case since we were all packing heat.

  My worries turned out to be unfounded as we all approached the club and were waved through by the bodyguards and avoided the metal detector or body pat-downs altogether.

  It was one of those cool clubs I wasn’t expecting since both Finn and Dylan had gone on and on about how they would be dealing with Haitians. You would have never known it by the musical tastes playing at the time we entered the club. Lots of cool New Yorkers—mostly white—were dancing to a re-mix of Deftones “Change (In the House of Flies)”. The place was filled to capacity and all the bars were clogged with people either sipping on or ordering drinks.

  The atmosphere was charged, and it was obvious a great deal of the crowd was more than merely drunk. There were definitely pharmaceuticals and other illegal substances involved. I was glad I hadn’t drunk anything, and was as sober as Brandon and Finn. Both Fiona and Dylan were flying obviously though they hid it quite well. However, they were family, and once I’d seen them high, I would never forget. Neither of the siblings was sober in any way, shape or form.

  We walked several flights of stairs and passed tons of club goers until we reached what looked like a freight elevator. Brandon possessed a key and inserted it into the elevator before it opened.

  “Ladies first,” he murmured in the same Bostonian/Northern Irish brogue Finn possessed, and both Fiona and I got inside before the men boarded. It took us up a couple floors before it jerked to a stop.

  The doors opened and a group of Haitians were seated around a round table. There were a couple of women—the requisite air-headed blonde types—but they were both as out of it as two of our companions.

  One of the Haitian guys who could have been a dead-ringer for Gary Dourdan stood and walked our way. His irises were a hypnotic gray with green crescents surrounding his pupils.

  “You want to introduce the newest member of your crew, Finn?” he inquired without a hint of an accent other than pure New Yorker.

  “This is Evie, my girlfriend,” he replied in a non-committal tone.

  Um, since when did we begin dating again let alone become a steady item? It was news to me but my cheeks burned with pride and my whole body below my waist went all tingly and lit up with a feeling of pure pleasure.

  We hadn’t even been in one another’s company for more than a few days, and already, I found it difficult to stay away from this man. He was definitely making it hard for me to wait. As satisfying as my relationship with Amaani had been, I realized I needed a real hard-core cock. Toys were nice and fun but they couldn’t replace a flesh and blood man.

  “Nice to meet you, Evie. My name’s Richard but everyone calls me Richie. I’ve been dealing with your boyfriend, Brandon, and Dylan for a while now. They supply a great deal of needed…stimulators for my club-goers. I came from nothin’ so we have that in common. I have built myself an empire so large yet inconspicuous, it would make Tony Montana proud.”

  He walked back over to the table and sat down before he sipped on his cognac. “Of course, I have learned a few lessons from my heroes. From New Jack City,
I learned if you only narrow down one place to buy the product, it makes it easier to avoid run-ins with Five-Oh, especially if you have a few powerful ones on the payroll. From Scarface, I learned to never get high on my own supply. I don’t use drugs and never have.

  “I have nothing against those that do but I believe there is a time and a place. When you are doing a drop, all parties should be drug-free. It’s obvious three out of the five of you have followed this rule but…Dylan, Fiona…why don’t you accompany my girls downstairs. They’ll get you set up in a booth—all nice and comfy…”

  I watched as his gray eyes followed his two blonde companions who led my cousins off. He pretty much swirled the cognac around his glass until they were gone.

  My heart beat faster as I followed the eye-play between Finn and Brandon. Richard stood again and walked over to me. From the corner of my eye, I saw Finn’s fingers flex, and knew this wasn’t a good sign but Brandon moved quietly to his side, and whispered something in his ear to calm him down.

  “You look familiar…you see, I never forget a face and I know I have seen you before so why don’t you fill me in on who you are…rich girl?”

  I stared into the Richard’s gray eyes. “My mother is kind of famous. She’s an actress but I’m not here on some kind of power play. Finn really is my boyfriend, and my life is all fucked up. It isn’t as glamorous as you think. I don’t get along with my mom, and I don’t know my dad all that well. Let’s just say I am much more comfortable where I am now than I ever was in L.A.”

  He laughed though there was no mocking or judgment in the expression from him. “I can take one look into those hard blue eyes of yours, and know life hasn’t been easy for you. You’re damaged goods, girl, but Finn always has been good at the tough cases. I can see why he wants to protect you. You can take care of yourself—no doubt about that—but there is some part of you that has been hurt…and you’re incredibly vulnerable.”

  Richard touched my chin and lifted my face higher until our eyes locked. “I look forward to seeing you again.”