Wounded Love (G Street Chronicles Presents From Love to Loathe Series) (4 page)

“I’m tougher than I look, I promise you that.”

“Cricket?”

“Thank you; and thank you for everything else as well. You’re a good friend.”

“Don’t mention it.”

I hung the phone up and thanked the woman behind the counter. Then, I went back to the limo and asked Walt to take me to the nearest post office. I called the business office and got Dax’s home address, and wrote a small note on the card and put D’Artagnan’s business card inside. I sealed the envelope and put overnight postage on it with required signature and photo ID for proof. I got back into the limo.

As we pulled away, Walt looked back at me and shook his head.

“Ms. Cricket, please don’t get mad at me for saying this, but you’re a real nice girl; I just wish you weren’t caught up in the casino mess.”

I reached over the seat, rested my hand on Walt’s shoulder and squeezed it. We got back to the casino and Troy was waiting out front. He opened the car door and helped me out of the limo.

“We need to talk now.”

We went all the way up to Mr. Paul’s penthouse and the room was crowded. I saw Cinnamon and Sugar sitting over on the chaise. I was about to walk over to them, but Troy tugged me with him. We went into Mr. Paul’s office and Troy shut the door behind us. Troy tucked a chunk of my hair behind my ear.

“Mr. Paul had a heart attack this morning and he’s in intensive care.”

My hand went up to mouth and Troy wrapped his arms around me. I stood there in shock. Then, Troy started rubbing my back with a little more effort than mere friendliness. When he rested both of his hands on my butt, I pulled away from him a little; still stunned by the news about Mr. Paul. I walked over toward the door and was about to open it when he stopped me.

“Listen,” he whispered in my ear, “when I tell you to do something, you better fuckin’ do it. If I tell you to suck my dick in a room full of people, you better fucking do it. Remember I know your fuckin’ secret, and I know how to hurt you. Get on your fuckin’ knees!” I nodded, kneeled down, and put him in my mouth. “Do your little trick so I can come fast, and you better swallow all of it!” He came in no time, and I swallowed all of him. I stood up, and he looked me over and told me to open the door.

We both walked back into the now super-crowded room, and I went back to the kitchen area; trying to fight back tears. Troy made the announcement, and the shock hit the room.

I couldn’t take it anymore, so I left the suite and got on the elevator. As I unlocked the door to my suite and stepped in, I saw Trey. He was sitting on the couch and looked fucked up. I took another step in the suite, and he shot up like a rocket. I turned, yanked the door back open, and ran down the hall toward the stairwell. Trey dragged me by my hair and arms back toward the room.

I screamed for help and fought him as best as I could, but once we got into the suite, Trey pushed me down the stairs at the entrance. I tried to crawl to my bedroom, but Trey got to me before I could get there. He turned me over and started punching me in my face. I held my arms up, trying to protect my face. I screamed and screamed, but nobody ever came.

Trey pulled my t-shirt up and started sucking both breasts. I tried to push him off me, but I saw the coke bag on the floor; I knew he was high and I needed to stop fighting him. He stood up and started unbuckling his pants, and I rolled over and tried my best to get away from him, but I felt like I was about to pass out. I pulled myself to the hallway, but Trey caught me.

“I’m gone fuck your pussy right now, you fuckin’ bitch!”

I screamed and screamed. He unbuttoned my jeans and yanked them down. He ripped my panties off, and then the front door flew open.

Chapter 3

Good Dream

I
woke up in bed to Cinnamon crying into my neck, and Sugar speaking Russian frantically. I opened my good eye, and Sugar was running back and forth around the room throwing everything I owned in luggage bags. I stirred under Cinnamon, and she started screaming in my ear. She laughed and said, “Tough as fuckin’ nails; I told you!” Then she looked at me and said, “Get up, Cricket. We’re leaving right now!”

A bellhop was placing my bags on a luggage carrier. I looked into the hallway and two more luggage carriers were full to the brim with Cinnamon and Sugar’s bags. I wasn’t sure what had happened; I must’ve blacked out. I’ve never blacked out from one of Trey’s beatings before.

Lance walked in my room pushing a wheel chair and Cinnamon went over and opened it up for me.

“Cricket, Lance will help you into the chair.”

Lance reached over and told me to wrap my arms around his neck. Troy stood in the hallway; not saying a word.

“Cricket?” Lance pleaded.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered to them. I looked at Troy; he had a big smile on his face.

“Cricket!” Cinnamon yelled. Sugar kept packing my stuff and the bellhop could barely keep up with her.

“Cricket, Trey’s going to fuckin’ kill you. We have to leave, and we have to leave now,” Cinnamon pleaded.

“Cricket, you really need to get out of here. Trey is a fuckin’ psycho! I saw him cut this man’s fingers and then his hand off because he had a twitch,” Lance said.

As he spoke, something hit me slowly. I remembered back to a time when I’d received an envelope and the contents inside were fingers. I also remembered that Jyme had received a box a few days prior to that, but I had never known what the contents were. But I did now; Jyme had received a box with a hand in it, and I’d received the fingers that Trey had dismembered. I closed my eyes to let everything sink in.

“Cricket, get the fuck up, and let’s go!” Cinnamon cried.

“She’s not going anywhere, are you, Cricket?” Troy asked. I just stared at him, not saying a word. There was a fire brewing in me toward this man and his fuckin’ psycho brother.

“Cricket! No, please, no!”

“No, I’m not going anywhere. Sugar, can you please get me my airbrush kit, and can someone find a pair of my metallic pants and a tank tee, very low cut and one of my leather jackets? I’m going to have to cover up the bruises as much as I can.”

Cinnamon dropped my purse and then my wallet. She turned around and left. Sugar glared at me and followed Cinnamon; tugging the bellhop behind her.

“Cricket, I don’t know what hold they have on you, but Trey is going to kill you one of these days,” Lance pleaded. I squeezed his hand and gave him a half smile. He bent down and kissed me on my forehead. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” he said before walking out my bedroom; not giving Troy another glance.

Troy came over to the bed and laid down right beside me; looking up at the ceiling. He took in a deep breath and slid his fingers through mine.

“How long did you know?” I asked him.

“Are you talking about me knowing you wouldn’t leave, or are you talking about your big Indian?” he asked.

“Jyme,” I whispered.

“Oh, I knew it when I saw you that day you got sick and that doctor examined you outside. Then, you let that big Indian finger fuck you in broad daylight. Your sister taught you better than that. That’s when I thought,
she loves him.
See, I saw you crying, and Cricket…I’ve never seen you or your sister ever cry over a man.”

“You knew I’d come for him.”

“To be perfectly honest, we really lucked out with you. I didn’t know how we were going to take care of our little problem with the big Indian. I mean, with you guys broken up and all…but I knew you loved him, so I just had to wait for the right time. You were a bonus. I was watching him and then, lo and behold, there’s Cricket!” he shouted. “You know, it is a pity it didn’t work out between you two. That big Indian really loved you, and I betcha he is the only one who has been here.” Troy slid his hand down to my crotch and massaged it. “See, I’m not like my brother. I don’t take ‘no’ for an answer, and I think it’s time for that cooch to have another tenant. But I’ll wait until you’re well enough for me.” He sat up and kissed my hand that was intertwined with his. “And Cricket, don’t get any stupid ideas because if you do, I will kill them all.”

He left the room with a big grin on his face.

I sat up and slowly crawled out of the bed. I went straight to the medicine cabinet and swallowed two of my white pills that the casino house doctor had prescribed to me when Trey broke my arm.

The floor was crazy that night; there was a convention in town and it seemed like everybody was in the casino. All of the workers apparently knew what happened between Trey and me; everyone was hugging, squeezing, or smiling a sad smile in my direction. Even Misty, in the cash cage, looked like she had been crying for me. She had held me up at the cash cage talking about how she had a little house down in Florida. She told me that no one knew about it, not even her husband. She hugged me, and I looked away through the cage out at the floor. I was fighting back my tears.

As I did, I saw a man with a black blazer, denim jeans, and a hat. He reminded me so much of Jyme; his copper skin and his height. I squeezed my eyes shut, patted Misty on her back, and told her thanks. I felt like a fuckin’ charity case, and I hated that. I was on my second break for the night and I went back to the suite to freshen up my makeup.

After I finished with my makeup, I shut the front door to the suite and headed for the elevators. I saw two men at the end of the hall dressed in suits. They saw me and froze; I stopped and then I took one step back. They stared at me, and I was staring right back at them. I slid my key out of my purse slowly; one of them saw me and sprinted toward me. He took long quick strides. I unlocked the door and shut it quickly behind me; putting the latch on the door. I ran to my room and slid a chair under the knob so that it would not turn. I yanked the phone off the table and I called security. They showed up a minute later, pounding on the door, yelling my name.

After an hour of searching all of the floors, security told me the men had left. They all agreed the men were probably admirers of mine and that I needed to be more careful. The head of security told me he would watch the cameras himself to see where they came from and where they went. Then I worked another five hours and called it a night. Security walked me back to the suite at the end of my shift, and the guard checked the entire suite before he left. I got into the shower and when I got out, I realized that I didn’t have any clothes in my closet. Sugar had packed up every damn thing I owned. I found a pair of black leggings and a plain white tee with a sequin pocket. This was going to have to do because I was exhausted. I took two more white pills, pulled my hair up in a bun, and slid into bed.

I woke to an alarm but it wasn’t mine. I sat up, looked around, and realized it was the hotel’s fire alarm going off. I jumped up, ran to Cinnamon’s room and swung the door open. She was knocked out on her bed half dressed. I shook the shit out of her and she started yelling.

“What the hell is that noise?”

I ran down to Sugar’s room, and she was butt naked and so was her company. I screamed at the both of them to get up. They both jumped up disoriented. I ran back to my room. I put my stilettos I’d had on earlier, in my big purse and slid into my house shoes. I ran back down the hall, passing Sugar and her company. I ran back into Cinnamon’s room, and she was wide-awake at her safe in her closet, getting money out. I had forgotten about my safe, so I ran back to my room. I put the code in and yanked the door open. I pulled out the small stack of money and reached in deeper. I got the plastic bag that was balled up in the corner and shoved everything in my purse. I reached deeper, found the last item in the safe, and slid it on my ring finger. I slammed the door to the safe and took off toward the living room. Cinnamon was waiting at the door; we clasped hands and ran for the stairs. The hotel was in an uproar. We made it down to the lobby, but it was so congested with customers trying to leave the casino.

“Basement!” I yelled to Cinnamon.

We took the restricted employee’s staircase and ran down the long concrete hall. There were about a dozen people in front of us, but we finally made it through the door. When we got outside, the back lawn was crammed with people rushing toward the front of the building. Cinnamon and I still held on to each other’s hands. We made it to the front of the building, and everyone was frantic. I pulled out my cell phone to call Sugar, but someone pushed me so hard, I dropped my phone. I let go of Cinnamon’s hand to try and retrieve it. I found it and stood up straight; a man in all black with a white ski mask stood right in front of me. Before I could even prepare a good scream, someone covered my mouth with a wet bandana, and then I was out.

I woke up to soft kisses all over my face, and then I stretched wide. I was sleeping well, and I kept my eyes shut. Someone was happy to see me. I had had this dream so many times, and I enjoyed every single one of them.

“Hi there,” I breathed.

“Hi.”

“Where’ve you been?”

“Looking for you.”

“I’ve been right here the whole time.”

“What?”

“You used to come and see me all the time, and then you stopped,” I told him. I kissed his neck and pulled him closer.

“I’ve missed you so much.”

“Cricket?” he said my name in an odd way.