TWENTY-FIVE - ROMAN #2
Her words trailed off mid-sentence when I leaned over and pressed my lips to hers. It was the only thing I could think of doing to get her mind off my leaving.
She always liked to play dirty. I play dirtier.
She softly moaned into my mouth, a sure sign she wasn’t going to object or stop me.
Her body slowly moved in time with our kiss. I could already feel myself getting hard. Shit. This was supposed to be about her, not me. I grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into me. Our tongues slid across each other’s. All I could think about was how her pussy tasted.
Fuck.
Just as quickly as I’d come on to her, I pulled away. As much as I enjoyed her, I had shit to do that required my clothes to stay on.
“What was that for?” she asked, wiping her mouth with her hand.
“Nothing in particular. Just giving in to temptation.” I stood up and helped her to her feet. “But I really need to go. I told Leon I’d be there by now.”
“Fine. But we’re not finished.”
I pulled her into me and kissed her on the forehead. “Looking forward to picking things up again later.”
Fuck. I was supposed to meet River five minutes ago, and I hadn’t texted Ivan to make sure he was even available to take over for me. At this point, I was going to start heading in that direction and figure out what to do with James along the way.
I shot Ivan a text and hoped for the best.
Me: I need a few minutes. You free?
Ivan: Yeah. Say when?
Me: Now. Main floor.
Thank fuck he responded.
James and I made our way downstairs to the casino floor to meet Ivan. I spotted Ivan immediately. If it hadn’t been for our very eye-opening conversation, I’d never have trusted to leave her with him. Given the recent shift in power between us, he was no longer in a position to question me.
“Sorry for throwing her on you last minute,” I said to Ivan as we met up.
Jameson slapped the back of her hand against my chest. “You say that like he’s my babysitter.”
“I mean…”
She narrowed her eyes, giving me the kind of look a mother gives her misbehaving toddler.
I smirked at her and winked, knowing damn well how much it would irritate her. I’m sure I’d pay for it later.
“No worries,” he said. “I just seen Kelly. She mentioned wanting to see James for some things. I don’t know for what. Girly shit, I suppose.”
“Sounds good. I’m about to piss myself anyway. You two have fun. I’ll catch up with you soon.”
Ivan went one way with Jameson, and I went the other, making a beeline for the main public bathroom.
A wet floor sign blocked the doorway. I skirted around it anyway.
“Bathroom’s closed,” the janitor called out with his back to me.
“Sorry. Can’t hold it.”
I walked past the man mopping the floor, heading to the last urinal. As soon as I started to piss, the back of one of my knees buckled out from under me.
“What the fuck?”
I almost broke my neck looking back over my shoulder, attempting not to piss everywhere, only to find River standing behind me. He looked ridiculous in an Emerald Haze cleaning crew uniform, mop in hand.
He grinned. “Nice suit.”
“Thanks, asshole.” I adjusted my pants and personal parts back into place, then quickly glanced around the bathroom, squatting down to peek underneath the stall doors, looking for anyone else who might be quietly eavesdropping while dropping a deuce.
“Do you not think I already did that?”
“This isn’t where I told you to meet me,” I whisper-yelled.
He treated this shit like a joke. I saw exactly zero humor in his little costume and scheme.
“Oh, I know. Your idea was dog shit. Catching you with your pants down was much better.”
“How’d you know…never mind. I don’t want to know. I don’t have time for your humor right now. Ivan can only hold James for so long.”
He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a phone. “Per your request.”
I took the phone from him. “Just one?”
“That’s all you need.”
Christ. River had zero idea what I needed at the moment. “Meet me in my suite in five.” I gave him the room number. “Don’t be late.”
“10-4.” He went back to mindlessly mopping the bathroom floor.
“Next time, try using water.”
“Thanks for actually meeting me here. It’s not exactly an easy feat to conduct business in a public bathroom,” I said sarcastically.
We met back up at my suite as agreed without a minute to spare.
“I’ve worked in worse conditions. This is a nice setup you got here. Doesn’t look like you’ve been here almost a week.”
“Because I haven’t. That and I’ve been staying at James’s the last couple of nights.”
“Oh, yeah?” He waggled his eyebrows. “You hittin’ that again already? That didn’t take long.”
“Fuck off.” I wasn’t about to tell him that I wasn’t just hitting it.
I’d let myself slip and catch feelings for her again, though I wasn’t entirely sure they’d ever gone away.
I’d just learned how to suppress them because…
reasons. “I’m in a hurry. Ivan’s got her distracted, but I need to get back before she comes looking for me. ”
I pulled a beer from the fridge and handed it to River.
“Thanks, man.” He cracked it open and took a long pull from the bottle before setting it on the bedside nightstand. “So, as fast as you can, tell me exactly what’s going on.”
“It’s complicated.”
He threw himself on his back onto my bed and casually stretched out with arms behind his head and legs crossed at the ankles. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve got all the time in the world.”
“What? No computers to hack? Government files to steal?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Things are slow right now, what can I say?”
I sighed. This was literally my brother. The man who’d bailed me out of everything from lying about my grades on my report card to taking the blame for a murder, then making all of the case files disappear.
The only people who understood our relationship were us.
I spent the next few minutes giving him a quick rundown about everything that had been going on, from the night I’d left Memphis a year ago down to the moment I called him right after my conversation with Ivan.
He stared at me silently, completely dumbfounded.
“Exactly.”
He blinked.
“River. Say something.”
“I mean…Jesus Christ. I knew you were up shit’s creek without a paddle when you called, but damn. This is…”
“Shut the fuck up. That’s not very reassuring.”
“I’m not here to reassure you. I’m just trying to save your ass.”
“Obviously, I think you can help, or you wouldn’t even be here right now.”
“Maybe I just wanted to check out this spectacular view of the Mighty Mississip?”
“You’re such a dick.”
“It’s what I do.” He winked. “Now, I guess since I’m in on this because you just told me your dirty little secret, guess now’s a good time to tell me about tomorrow. What do you need me to do for you?”
“Burn an empire to the ground.”