The movie ended about twenty minutes ago and we haven’t decided on another. I’m standing in the hallway stretching my arms when the front door opens. Moon sees me and his long legs stride in my direction without stopping.“Hi, baby,” he whispers in my ear as he hooks his arm around my shoulder and pulls me tightly against him. His eyes are dark and stormy. I’m thinking the meeting did not go as well as planned. I give him a tight squeeze and notice Danita’s glare of death over his shoulder.Too.Damn.Bad.Moon is disheveled. His scruff is scruffier, his tie and jacket are off, and his shirt wrinkled. It might be two-thirty in the morning, but Moon always looks like he just walked out of a GQ cover shoot. This is a different man than the one I’ve grown accustomed to. Moon doesn’t look or speak to anyone after he greets me. He keeps his arm wrapped tight and leads me upstairs and straight to his bedroom. I give a tiny wave goodbye to the ladies below who are watching us before we’re hi
There are so many things to discuss, but I’m too shaken to ask questions. I need time to absorb the revelation that I have fallen in love. I drift off to sleep with no solution to the equation ex-cop meets crime boss equals love. A slight noise beside my head wakes me. I open my eyes and see a blurry glass of orange juice. The side of the bed dips when Moon sits beside me. He’s dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of ragged shorts that look like sweats that have been cut off above the knees.His gentle voice is hard for my foggy brain to comprehend. “I’d like you to take a run with me.”A run? The man is crazy. “What time is it?” I ask groggily.“Six.”This means we’ve had two and a half hours of sleep. I have no idea why I smile. There’s just something normal about this. My new normal, I guess. “You’re fucking killing me, you know that, right?” His laughter slides over me. This is a normal I can live with.“I won’t be around today and we need to talk. I also need to work off some pent up
I take my personal phone from my pants pocket to check e-mail. I’m dressed in my normal BDUs with another loose T-shirt to cover my gun. The e-mails waiting are mostly junk with the exception of a possible client. The woman’s name is Shirley and she references one of my first clients. I shoot back an answer asking when and where we can meet.The car approaches the Sunnyslope area, and I give Philip Terry’s address. I also decide being driven around isn’t all bad. I’m in the middle of a hot game of Tower Defense on my cell when a message slides across the top of the screen that I have incoming e-mail. It’s my prospective client, and I reply that four o’clock works perfectly in my schedule today. We pull into Terry’s parking lot, and I open my door as soon as Philip parks the car. He takes his chauffeuring services seriously because he hustles around and gives me a glare after he lifts his dark shades.I shrug and walk to the door, which Philip beats me to and opens before I can. “You a
“That’s a joke, right?” Philip asks.“No. It’s not a fucking joke. I can’t think of any better way to get food poisoning and ruin a perfectly bad day than to have a mega-burrito from Manabertos.” I swear if Philip doesn’t pull in, I’m jumping out.He swings the car into the parking lot and I tell him to go around to the drive-thru.“I heard a rumor that all the cats go missing in this neighborhood.”“I heard the same rumor about dogs,” I deadpan back.He pulls up to the window. “And you’re still eating one of those things?”“You plan on stopping me?”He orders a mega-burrito and two large sodas. “Be sure to get lots of napkins,” I tell him because the burritos leak out a gallon of runny fat and God knows what else.Philip thrums his fingers on the steering wheel. “We’re not eating in the car. We can go to the park or something. I’ll never get the smell out if you open the bag in here.”“Do I need to remind you that it’s over one ten out there?”He turns, lifts his sunglasses, and give
Once more I’m jerked up by my hair, this time adding pressure beneath my elbow until I’m standing. My teeth chatter, which I’m guessing is because I’ve gone into shock. I’m brought out of it quickly when Kennedy cruelly twists one of my nipples.This isn’t happening. I think of Moon. His voice. His smile. His laugh. I ignore what Kennedy is doing as he twists the other one. He doesn’t take it any further than that. He thankfully wraps a towel around me and dries me off with quick proficiency. There’s a knock at the door and a set of yellow scrubs are thrust into Kennedy’s hand when he opens it.“I’ll cut the tape from your arms and legs. If you fight, you can go out there naked. Do you understand?”I lower my head and play the subdued little girl. “Yes,” I mumble as I seethe.He cuts the tape from my ankles first. It’s really hard not to kick him in the face while he’s down and pulling off the tape. I bide my time swearing to kill him if given the opportunity. He stands, turns me arou
I have no idea how much time goes by. I’m caught in a world of death. Estephon’s voice finally breaks into my thoughts.“Señor Moon. How do you like my film? Your lovely lady enjoyed it, no? She will die next. This will make a good addition to my collection, no?” His voice has been repulsively pleasant to this point. Now it hardens and he bites out commands. “You have two choices on how your puta dies. You will deliver the money within the hour to the address I sent earlier. You and your men will leave the state tonight. The next video will be of your lovely senorita. I will have her cleaned up so she looks nice for the party, no? You choose how she dies. That is all I will give you—a bullet or the knife. And because I am a generous man, you may say goodbye.”The phone is thrust against my ear. I take a breath and control myself. “Moon…” I’m trying not to hyperventilate.The sweet sound of his voice flows through me. “I love you, baby. I’m sorry.”He’s not coming for me. “I love you,”
Seven months laterWe’re driving up to a mountain cabin that Moon purchased near Flagstaff. It’s our getaway, and we both need a break for a few days. Gomez isn’t with us and I get to play Moon’s bodyguard. Gomez doesn’t like that much, but we don’t care. He’s left in charge of the main house.I’m now a working member of Moon’s organization. The lines I’ve crossed can never be undone. I’ve accepted that. I have never regretted killing Kennedy. Bodies have a way of disappearing in Arizona. His is only one of many, including Estephon’s.Philip was buried in Mexico in the village where Maria, Moon’s mother, grew up. A Catholic priest presided. Al burned in an airplane accident, and his body was buried at a private funeral that I wasn’t invited to. I have no idea how Moon pulled off a plane crash with the pilot and Al dead. I never asked. Maybe he has someone on the payroll inside the NTSB. Like the identity of undercover cops—it’s need to know and I’m good with that.I’m no longer an act
After we arrive at the house, we walk in holding hands. He spins me around so I’m facing him the second the door closes. The man loves his wall sex. I also notice that he no longer looks tired.I’m laughing. At least I don’t have on my boots. I kick my pumps off as Moon slides my shirt over my head and tosses it on the floor. “If you push me through the glass, I’ll never forgive you,” I say as I breathe into his mouth because he’s already kissing me. Our front door is partial glass and I’m worried we might break it.“I thought we could try the couch,” he replies and leads me in that direction. The couch is comfortable, but the fact that he wants couch sex surprises me. At least until Moon bends me over the back, locks my fingers into the cushions, and pulls my leggings and underwear down my legs so my ass is displayed. His fingers dig into my waist and his cock slides home. Couch sex has just replaced wall sex as far as spectacular goes. This position does it for me. I was jacked for