18. Ozzie
18
OZZIE
The underground casino is deserted when I turn up on the lookout for Zoe. I’ve gone everywhere searching for her and come up empty-handed. The receptionist in the hotel lobby said she saw her rush out the front doors, but she didn’t know where she was headed. I jogged outside in hopes I’d catch sight of her on the streets.
But Zoe was nowhere to be found.
She wasn’t anywhere on the Strip as far as I could tell. She hadn’t stopped at any of the attractions inside the Azure Sol.
I blew up her phone trying to get hold of her, but she hadn’t even taken that with her when she left. It wasn’t until I returned to the hotel lobby that I realized the one place she could go if she was manic and seeking a distraction.
Zoe has an obsession with her work. She barely sleeps as it is. I’ve never brought it up to her, but I’ve noticed her getting out of bed every night, going onto the balcony. I’ve heard her rustling through her luggage to look at her case file. She’s snuck off a few times, probably to go call her people at the bureau.
Her entire existence seems to be centered on her work as an FBI agent and her vendetta against Boone.
I’ve been there. So obsessed with something that I lost sight of everything else.
It’s why gambling’s been such a destructive force in my life. When I go on my benders, I go wild for days on end. I’m immersed in nothing but gambling, drugs, alcohol, strippers, sex. I don’t sleep for days and I barely eat either. I’ve crashed my bikes on benders and gotten arrested. Fights are common, like the time I duked it out with Mace.
There’s no stopping me if I don’t get my wakeup call that reins me in.
As I search for Zoe, this is exactly what it feels like. I’m witnessing someone else throw themselves off the deep end, seconds away from self-destructing. The elevator reaches the Azure Sol’s underground casino and I rush out, looking in every direction for Zoe.
I find her only a few seconds later. She’s in the lounge with Boone. He’s all up in her space, grinning wide like the fucking bastard he is.
But she doesn’t pull away. For as stiff and uncertain as she seems, she sits there and lets his hand sneak onto her thigh.
My muscles tense and I instinctively ball my fists up. The monster known as jealousy rears its ugly head, brewing inside me like a nasty storm about to strike.
It takes more restraint than I’ve ever known I have to keep from crashing their moment. From striding over, ripping her away from Boone’s clutches, and then knocking his fucking lights out.
Boone’s been owed an ass-whooping from me for a while now. After knowing what he did to Zoe’s sister, after watching him now prey on a Zoe who’s not herself right now, he’s owed a lot more than that.
I want to tear him apart. Rip him to shreds. Make him really suffer.
Boone backs off before my restraint runs out. He strokes Zoe’s shoulders as he finally gets up and leaves.
I make no effort to hide myself. I’m standing out in the open as he heads toward the exit. When our gazes lock, he cranks out a husky laugh and spreads his arms at his sides like we’re the fucking best of buds.
“Oz!” he exclaims. “Why am I not even surprised to see you down here? Lemme guess, it has something to do with a certain lady who wandered down here after hours. Don’t worry, I’ve been keeping her company for you.”
My jaw clenches. So do my fists. I can’t bring myself to say anything as I glare at him and he chuckles some more.
“You might want to drop the ’tude, Oz. You know I won’t stand for it. Your old lady’s a big girl. She can make her own decisions. Let’s just say… she’s embarking on a new role at the lounge. Hope you’re not gonna stand in her way. We might end up having some problems again.”
He’s gone once he’s dropped his warning, though his laughter rings in his wake.
Zoe emerges from the lounge entrance, gaze already set on me. Off her body language alone, she’s no longer on overdrive. The energy she’d been operating on earlier has faded and she’s dealing with the aftermath.
I’m so pissed, so thrown off by everything that’s happened, that I don’t even step to her like I planned.
She walks toward me, holding my gaze captive as she does. But she doesn’t acknowledge me otherwise. She bypasses me and continues to the elevator.
I join her. We ride the elevator in silence that’s taut with tension. We’re in public and can’t express ourselves how we want.
That moment comes when we’re back in our hotel room and I unleash everything I’ve been holding in for the past two hours.
“BOONE?!” I bark, following her deeper into the room. “You were angry with me so you walk out and you seek Boone ?!”
“Yes, Boone! I went back to work!”
She whips around, crackling with energy all of a sudden. Any exasperation she’d been feeling downstairs in Boone’s lounge is gone. She’s back to being a bundle of energy as her eyes widen and she speaks with her arms.
“Yeah? And what did you discuss?”
“None of your damn business!”
“I’m involved, which damn sure makes it my business!”
“How many times do I have to tell you, this is my investigation! Mine and mine alone! You have nothing to do with this. You were never supposed to be a part of this. You forced your way in. I should’ve known better than to make you my operative—you had ulterior motives all along!”
My head cants to the side. “Ulterior motives? You’ve gotta be fucking kidding, right? And what ulterior motives would that be? Why the fuck would I subject myself to this?”
“You’re coming out pretty damn well, Gallagher! Pussy on demand. Earnings to pay off your debt. Free stay in Vegas! Take your pick!”
“You think I’ve gone undercover with you to bang you?” I laugh in her face as we’ve gravitated toward each other. It’s a laugh that comes from deep inside my stomach and sounds harsh and loud enough to echo around the room. “You might be a catch, Special Agent, but trust me when I say I can get pussy elsewhere. I could’ve just paid Sugar or some other chick.”
“But you didn’t! You’ve spent this entire time trying to… trying to make me fall for you! Guess what? It’s a lost cause! I’m not interested!”
“You can’t be this out of touch. Anybody ever tell you you’ve got zero self-awareness?” I shout back. “I’ve never given a damn about you falling for me—or anything happening between us. That was never part of the plan. You think I’d ever want some chick like you? What part of you’ve got a stick up your ass don’t you understand?”
“Then why were you going through my things? Why did you sound so excited that… that I was…” she trails off with a shuddering breath as if she can’t bring herself to say the words.
“That you’re just like me? You’re bipolar?”
“This isn’t going to work!” she screams so loudly, I can see the muscles in her throat contract. They’re straining to keep up with the volume. She’s shaking as she steps away from me and starts pacing around the room. “I have to get away from you. This partnership is done. I can’t be around you. I can’t do this.”
“Why? Because you don’t want me bringing up your disorder? You’re embarrassed? Ashamed? You like pretending you don’t got it? It was easier when you could listen to me talk about my issues while you got to act like you can’t relate?”
“THIS IS OVER!”
Her scream must be heard from down the hotel hallway. She’s practically feverish as she rushes to her luggage and starts throwing things inside. I stride over to cut her off.
“What’re you doing?”
“I’m leaving. I’m getting the fuck out of here!”
“You can’t do that. This is the room Boone put us in.”
“I don’t give a fuck! I need to get away from you. I can’t do this. I can’t do this.”
My eyes drop to her trembling hands as she shoves shoes inside the suitcase and then struggles with the zipper. She’s on the verge of a breakdown and I can see it coming a mile away.
Hell, maybe I am too.
My heart’s thumping painfully inside my chest. All my senses are keyed up. I’m wired just like she is as she fights with the zipper and I grab her wrist to stop her. She shoves at me.
Hard.
Harder than I’d ever expect.
It actually knocks me half a step back, a reminder Zoe’s no shrinking violet. She’s more athletic and toned than the average chick.
But I’ve never been one to back down and I’m not about to start now. I step toward her and block her reach of the suitcase zipper, which only makes her release another howl of frustration. As I stop her from zipping the rest of the suitcase up, she grabs back at me.
It turns into a power struggle, grappling against each other. She’s shoving at me and I’m clamping my hands around her wrists and arms when I can. Freeing herself, she launches her palm at me, the strike designed to slap me across the face.
I’m half a second faster, catching her by the wrist before she can connect.
We glare into each other’s eyes, neither budging, breathing hard.
Then she pulls a move I’d never expect but probably should given everything I know about her—she kicks my leg out from under me with a single deft Krav Maga style move.
I come crashing down to the floor, landing on my ass. The room spins around me at the sudden switch up, but I don’t let it keep me distracted for long. Not when locked into this fucking battle of wills with Zoe.
As she moves to turn away, I launch myself at her, grabbing hold of both legs and ripping the ground out from under her. She’s taken down like I’ve been, tumbling to the ground in a hard fall.
If either of us ever thought the other was backing down, that ships sailed. She throws herself at me as we return to our grappling power struggle. Her thighs try to trap both of mine before I’m grabbing both her wrists and holding her at arm’s length so she can’t do anymore damage, like surprising me with a headbutt or some shit.
Then it’s like a switch is flipped as we glare at each other and I decide to go for it.
I wrench her toward me by the wrists, crushing her lips to mine, and silencing any dissent that’s bubbling to the surface. She jerks against me at first, ever the fucking fighter, then as my tongue prods its way into her mouth, she’s an explosion.
She’s wild, giving in to my kiss. Fisting her fingers in my shirt, she shoves me down on the ground and straddles me. Her mouth opens wider, kissing me just as deeply.
We black out from the moment, taking a break from our fight to battle in another way. Our hands move quickly, unbuckling belts and ripping shirts off only for us to reunite again in another hard kiss.
Zoe sinks down on my cock and starts riding me with the same aggression she’s had fighting me. I welcome the roughness, the combative energy, as my hands slide up to grope her bouncing tits.
It’s a race to the bottom as we take out all our frustrations on each other. Zoe sinks her nails into my chest and grinds against me, her clit rubbing against my pelvic bone. She comes like this, her pussy walls tugging at me as if to pull me deeper into her.
I switch things up, lifting her off me and pushing her down to her knees. We fuck raw and angry like this, on all fours on the floor, me pounding away and her taking every inch. We’re groaning, bodies colliding, sweat pouring, wringing pleasure out of each other ’til our lungs run empty.
It’s toxic and explosive but neither of us can stop it. So we just keep going.
We fuck against the wall, on some of the furniture around the room.
Back on the bed, where the headboard cracks against the wall and mattress shakes as I drive myself into her fast and viciously. We’re scratched up and bruised and fighting to breathe by the time we’re tapping out for good. It’s some of the wildest sex of my life, yet I know as I crash down on the bed and eyeball the ceiling that it’s probably the last time with her.
There’s no going back from the low we’ve found. The fight we’ve had and what bond we had been forming being broken.
My body rings from all the intense pleasure, my cock throbbing and balls empty, but it’s a consolation prize in the end.
It doesn’t compare to the good things we had. The feelings I had started to develop…
The sunlight the next morning is enough to sober me up. Though I hardly drank at all, it still feels like I need it. I squint sitting up in bed, memories of last night trickling in. I’m not the first awake. Zoe’s sitting on the edge of her side of the bed, her back turned to me. She’s already dressed in a t-shirt and jean shorts, which tells me she’s also already showered.
I scrub a hand over my face and sigh. The mood in the air contradicts the Vegas sunshine outside. The energy between us is toxic and tense, no better than it’d been last night.
We’d gotten caught up again and sought to express ourselves the best way we knew how—aggressive, passionate, carnal sex.
But now that morning’s here, reality’s come knocking again.
“We need to talk,” Zoe says, her tone clipped.
She still doesn’t turn for a look at me. I guess she figures it’s best if we don’t set eyes on each other.
My head’s pounding like I’ve got a hangover, but the real reason is the dread and frustration that it’s come to this. That things have broken down so bad between us that we’re practically enemies. We’re worst off than when we first came here for the tournament.
How could things get so… fucked up?
“Yeah,” I rasp. “Alright. Speak your piece.”
“We’ve broken up,” she says. “We’ll let Boone and everyone else know. You can blame it on me. Tell them I was sick of being tied down to you. That I wanted to explore my options at the club.”
“So that’s what you and Boone talked about last night, huh? You going for it, Special Agent? You gonna go that deep undercover?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“And if you can’t get out in time? Then what?” I press. “You know once you agree to it, they’re not letting you outta that room ’til they get what they want. So unless you’ve got your fed pals right in the building, you’re fucking screwed.”
“Then I’ll deal with it when it happens. But make no mistake, this isn’t your concern. Which is why this is over. I’m getting my own room and you no longer have to pretend you’re some caring boyfriend. I’ll handle the rest on my own.”
“That’s just the way you like it, huh?”
“Gallagher, I’m not discussing this?—”
“Just the way you prefer to keep things!” I interrupt loudly, drowning her out. “Push everybody away. Handle everything on your own. Suffer alone. Put yourself in risky situations that are damn near suicide missions.”
“And even if that’s true, it’s still none of your business!” she yells, popping to her feet. “ I’m none of your business. Get that through your thick, tattooed skull.”
I’m so disgusted with the situation, so frustrated with her that I can only laugh. Laugh at the fucking situation she’s putting herself in and the fact that she’s pushing me away.
“Alright,” I say. “Got it loud and clear, fed. We’re done here. All because we got too close and I learned too much about you. Things you’re ashamed of. Things that actually make you vulnerable and human. Cool. But I’m not sticking around for it—I’m not gonna hang around while you self-destruct. I refuse to fucking watch it happen! I’m gone.”
It’s my turn to jump out of bed. I snatch my Dickies pants off the floor and quickly slide into them, not even bothering with a shirt.
Zoe’s eyes round watching me grab my shit and stuff it into my duffel bag. “Gallagher, what are you doing?”
“I’m out! I’m going the fuck home! You said we’re done? I’M DONE!”
I stalk toward the door, wrenching it open, and doing what I’ve said I would.
I get the hell out of there.