Выбрать главу

And then she was gone.

“It’s cool.” I threw away my butt and grabbed my bag, loading it into the back of the car. “Lets get the fuck out of here.”

#

“So, any plans now your out?” Mace asked, trying to fill the silence that had lasted since we’d left the prison.

“The first thing I’m going to do is drink a few beers. What do ya say, bro?”

“Sure,” he replied with a sigh. Like spending time with me was a chore. “Leet will meet us later for dinner, so until then, I’m yours.”

“Okay then,” I grinned, “Diamonds it is.”

Mace groaned and shook his head. Diamonds was a strip club where most of the dancers were known for having rather loose morals. Slip them a twenty and it would buy you almost anything.

“Cash,” he paused, as if rethinking what he wanted to say. “Will this time be any different? Do you actually want to keep out of prison, or is this all one big game to you? If I’m wasting my time, let me know.”

I laughed. He had some balls, asking me that. Did I want to change? Of course I did. I’d never tell him, but I was jealous as fuck of Mace. He had everything I wanted. But I was smart enough to know that I’d fucked my life up a long time ago, and nothing short of a miracle was going to change the track I was on.

“Dude, I’m a criminal. Take after me old man. It’s gonna take more than you and that sweet little girl of yours to change that, okay?”

I sighed, feeling bad for shitting all over his attempt at helping me.

“Look, I appreciate what your trying to do, but I think I’m beyond help. Just drop me off at Diamonds and go home to Leeta.”

He pulled into the parking lot of Diamonds, and waited as I climbed out.

“Wait,” he said, pulling out his wallet.

“I don’t want your money, dude.” I shook my head.

“Yeah? Then how do you plan on getting home? Or paying for the blowjob you’re obviously here for?” he challenged. I laughed and reached over, snatching the fifty from his grasp.

“You’re house key? It’s under the mat. Call me if you need me, Cash.”

I waved him off and walked toward the front door, listening to the sound of him driving away.

Inside the strip joint, I made my way over to the bar. I laughed, not quite believing my eyes. Three years and he was still here? The rest of the place looked the same too. Same red velvet couches, same daggy wallpaper, same scuffed, torn carpet. Probably the same women too.

“Yo Frankie.”

Frankie turned around, the shock on his face quickly turning into excitement.

“Holy shit Cash, I didn’t know you were out.” He walked around the bar and hugged me. I chuckled, patting his back.

“Yeah, as of about an hour ago. What’s up? Tell me everything. And grab me a beer while you’re at it.” I pushed the fifty across the bar. He shook his head and pushed it back.

“No fucking way, your money’s no good here, man. Sit down.” He filled a beer and placed it in front of me. “Hey it must’ve been awhile since, well, you know.” He winked at me. “Hey Crystal! Get the fuck out here!”

I chucked. Good old Frankie. I glanced up at the stunning blonde who had rounded the corner. She wore a simple white sundress and nothing else, which was evidenced by he stiff as fuck nipples that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from. Her face lit up when she saw me.

“Yeah Frankie?” she asked, her eyes still firmly on me as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger.

“This is an old friend of mine. I want you to give him the royal service. Whatever he wants, he gets. My treat.” He winked at me as Crystal took me by the hand and led me away.

Yep, being out of prison definitely had its perks.

Mace

Leet met me at the front door, frowning. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me.

“That bad, huh?”

“Pretty much. Dropped him at a strip joint, he said he’d call if he needed me. In other words, he’ll call when he wants me to bail him out of whatever shit he gets himself into this time.”

“I’m sorry,” Leet said. “I know how much you wanted things to work out with him.”

I nodded, not having the heart to tell her that this was exactly what I’d expected. This was classic Cash. We’d go back and forth for a few months until he fucked up big enough to land him back inside.

Leeta took me by the hand and led me into the kitchen. My bike was still there, surrounded in grease covered newspapers. I chuckled, and shot her a look.

“Thought this was all going?” I muttered, kissing her neck as she smiled.

“Well, I remembered that this is your place too now, and if you want to fix your bike in the kitchen, then you should be able to.”

I put my hand around her neck, cupping her chin. There was something so incredibly sexy about her right now. I kissed her, hard, my lips crushing against hers, my brother all but completely pushed from my mind.

“Fuck I’m a lucky guy,” I muttered, my tongue rolling down her neck. She giggled, cupping my face with her hands and bringing my lips back to hers.

“No, you’re not lucky. I’m lucky. Even if I have to come home to a kitchen covered in grease every day, I’d still say I’m the luckiest girl in the world.” She laughed as I tugged at her shirt.

“Yeah? I’ll show you how lucky you are,” I muttered, picking her up. She squealed as I hoisted her over my shoulder and carried her into the bedroom and threw her down on the bed, collapsing beside her.

“But really, Leet. I love you. More than anything.”

“I love you too.” She smiled, and kissed me.

Number Thirteen, by Bella Jewel

Available on all major online retailors from March 20th, 2014

Synopsis:

We're thirteen girls, captive, slave to our master.

A master we've never seen.

Obedience will become all we know in our shallow existence. It is the only emotion we're permitted to feel.

When we're bad, we're punished. When we're good, we're rewarded.

Our scars run deep. Yet we survive, because we have to...

because HE teaches us to.

All of us are special, we feel it with everything we are.

He has us for a reason, but it's a reason we don't know.

We've never seen his face, but we know that something deeply broken lies beneath the darkness. With every touch, with every punishment, we know it.

Then something changed.

He showed me who he truly is.

Now I want him.

I'll go against everything I know to be with him.

A monster.

My monster.

Loving him is a sin, but a sinner I am. I won't stop until I see every part of him. Even the parts he keeps locked deep down inside.

I am Number Thirteen, and this is my story.

Excerpt:

Prologue

My boots crunch in the yellow autumn leaves as I walk towards the schoolyard. I didn’t want to come today, but Momma told me I had no choice. She said school is for smart kids, and if I don’t go, then how am I ever going to get smart? I could get smart, the man on the television tells me everything I need to know. But she claims that I can’t make friends with the man on the television, that the only way to make friends is to go to school. I could have told her that I don’t need friends to be successful, but she’d only tell me I’m being silly.

So I came to school.

I didn’t tell her that there are bullies here, or that every day they push me around and shove me into lockers. That would make me sound weak, and now that my dad is working, and my brother is away because he didn’t like the school here, I’ve had to become the man of the house. There’s no room for weakness.