Chill walked into the club and surveyed the crowd. After greeting a few of the regulars he had come to know over the years, he headed to his usual table to await the man he was meeting. Despite the business at hand, he found his mind was clouded and not in the usual, liquor induced kind of way he enjoyed.
“Damn you, Cherry,” Chill murmured into his vodka tonic.
“I didn’t realize you knew I was here,” Cherry purred, walking up from behind him.
Chill cursed lightly under his breath before saying, “I didn’t. Did Raptor let you off your leash?”
A look of pain passed through the blonde’s eyes as she sat across from him. “Even a slut like me gets a night off now and again, Chill.”
“Cherry, you know I didn’t mean…”
“Yes, you did,” she interrupted softly. “Of course, I would probably feel the same way in your shoes.”
“You have no idea how I feel,” he snapped.
“I’m sure you’re right,” Cherry replied. After lighting a cigarette and puffing a few times she added, “I have no better an idea how you feel then you have of why I’ve made the choices I have.”
Through the numbing wave of pain Chill felt every time he was around her, he heard the logic in her words and relented. “Fine. Why don’t you explain it to me, sweet?”
“Look, none of us are exactly angels here. We all have to play the hand we were dealt, but I didn’t get the same wild cards you and Ramsey got. I don’t have a trust fund, or connections, or the ability to pull off cons without a hitch. The only thing I have going for me is that Raptor pulled me into his bed. Granted, it is the last place I would ever want to be, but you know what they say about keeping your enemies closer than friends.”
Chill looked at her incredulously. “You had alternatives. You could have come to me for help.”
Cherry shook her head. “No, I couldn’t have. You made it abundantly clear to me at Marcus’s funeral that you didn’t want anything more to do with me.”
“I had just buried my kid brother,” Chill countered.
“Yeah, so you, of all people, should have understood how I was feeling.” She took a few more drags on her cigarette to calm herself. “Besides, I couldn’t have come to you for help regardless of your behavior. I’ve never forgiven myself for the way things ended between us.”
Chill sighed. “Water under the bridge, sweet.”
“Anyway, I’ve put myself in an excellent position to betray Raptor and Ramsey’s plan is the way I’m going to do it.”
“Do you really believe that Raptor trusts you?”
Cherry shrugged absently. “No. I’m quite sure he does not trust me, but he’ll still ask me to be part of this. When he does,” Cherry’s tone became excited, “I will enjoy pounding the last nail into his coffin.”
Chill laughed. “Such vivid imagery. I’d almost believe you had been planning this.”
“There isn’t a night that goes by without me thinking of some new way to kill him. I woke up in the middle of the night once with the thought to smother him in his sleep. He grabbed my wrist before I could ever reach for the pillow.” Cherry looked at her watch and frowned. “I have to go.”
“Lose your taste for the night life?”
“Trevor was supposed to have drinks with a builder he’s been working with. It would annoy him if I wasn’t home when he got there.”
“Maybe he’ll loosen your leash one of these days if you’re a good little girl,” Chill bantered.
“Or I’ll cut it myself.”
Chill considered everything she said for a long while after she left his table. Cherry was playing a dangerous game, but she couldn’t possibly understand that. Raptor was far more calculating than she seemed to give him credit for and he would be able to see through any change in her behavior, no matter how slight, which is why she’d have to stay in his bed for another week.
Fuck.
As a frail-looking man approached, Chill decided he would have to put Cherry out of his mind. There was business to attend to at the moment. His chemist had finally arrived.
© 2011, Sydney Katt. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of content will result in dragon attacks.
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Chemist?? ………ok………Looking forward to where you go with this……
So Chill still has the hots for Cherry……..Now I am wondering if she is gonna underestimate Raptor and pay the price….I hope not, but then I’m a sap…LOL!!!!!
See ya tomorrow…or is it today??……Anyway…Toodles…xxxx
Yep. Don’t forget, I worked in a bank for 8 years. If anyone knows how to take it down using a chemist, it would be me.
From my view, they’re ALL underestimating Raptor right now.
I don’t know if it’s tomorrow or today, but the next chapter should be live in the next 5-6 hours. And, if it’s the chapter I think it is – and it probably is – it’s a doozy of a chapter. No spoilers, but, let’s just say that Parker isn’t the only person in that townhouse pulling a con. *smiles sweetly*