Love or Money (4 page)

She arched against him, feeling him rub against all the right places. “Ah…”

“I missed your sweet pussy,” he murmured, thrusting harder. Her tits jiggled against him, and he cupped one of them and took her nipple in his mouth, biting it softly.

Pleasure took her over. He penetrated her deepest spot over and over, and she felt her pussy tighten around him, warmth spreading through her as she came. He came right after her, squeezing her tits and moaning her name.

He lay on top of her for a moment, both of them catching their breath. She liked the feeling of having him there. It was comfortable and peaceful. He smiled down at her, tracing her lips with his fingertips, and she smiled back, running her hands over his biceps.

Then he rolled off and took her in his arms, kissing her with a sigh. “I’m so glad you’re back, Rielita.”

She smiled and cuddled against him, pressing her cheek against his warm chest. But the real world started to seep back in, and her glow of contentment began to dissipate. She frowned, reaching up to twist one of his dark curls around her finger. “Evan…”

He gave her a searching look, then brushed his lips against hers. “I know it’s not easy for you, being back.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You do?”

“I know how hard it was for you, working for Isaias. You never wanted to, he made you. You never said anything, but I could see it.” His jaw tightened. “I’d beat the fuck out of that guy if he and Maria wouldn’t have me killed for it.”

“Definitely not worth it,” Riel said, feeling a jolt of fear. But it also felt good for him to say that. Did he really want to stand up for her?

A slow grin spread across his face, and he ran his fingers lightly along the curve of her waist. “I do have a way for you to get away from him, though.”

They gazed at each other. Her heart sped up. “What do you mean?”

“I recently got an offer from a guy I know named Mishmash.”

Her speeding heart stumbled, and she chewed the inside of her cheek. She had been hoping his plan wouldn’t involve more drug running, but she should have known. “I know him. The guy down in San Diego.”

“The very same. He says we can go work for him. A little more risk, maybe, because we’d have to cross the border, but it pays a lot better, and Isaias would never find us if we were down there. We could get new identities and everything so you don’t have that rap following you, and to hell with that probation crap.”

She took a deep breath and let it out. It would be nice to be with Evan. It would be
really
nice. But the thought of running drugs again made her feel dead inside. “I don’t know, Evan.” She looked up at him. “Do you really want to do this stuff for the rest of your life?”

He stroked her hair, gently working the tangles out with his fingers. “No. Not really. But…we could save up our money and retire somewhere where they’d never find us.” He kissed her, his hands sliding up to play with her breasts. She kissed him back, twining her legs with his, feeling a spark of hope. Did he really want to run off with her and get a house together? Or did he just need a partner in crime?

She pulled away again and nestled against him, pressing her cheek to his chest so that he couldn’t see her eyes. She didn’t want him to see how she longed for the idea of living a quiet life with him, because she didn’t know if he was serious, and she didn’t have the courage to ask him if he meant it. It felt good just to lie in Evan’s arms, to be naked next to him and feel the heat of his body. She didn’t want to risk scaring him off and ruining what they
did
have by wishing they had something more.

Love is bullshit, anyway
.
Loving someone just leads to being hurt.

“So what do you say, Riel?” he said. “Will you come down south with me?”

“I don’t know…”

His hands slowly made their way along her back to the curve of her ass. “Please come with me. We can leave tomorrow. Hell, we could leave
now.
” He brought his lips to hers again, giving her a slow kiss. Then he pulled away, gazing at her. “I’ve missed you so much, Riel.”

For a moment she thought she could see something more than his normal, flippant playfulness in his eyes, and her heartbeat accelerated. She could go away with him, away from Isaias. Maybe, if they were together, their relationship would turn into something more serious. But how long would it last before she was back in prison again, or worse? She forced herself to look away.

“I want out of this business, Evan. I got my GED, and I want to go to college.”

Evan lay there in silence for a moment, then she felt him nod a bit stiffly. “I don’t blame you. If I were smart like you, I’d want to go to college too.”

She pinched his waist and grinned up at him. “You
are
smart.”

He rolled his eyes, then fixed her with a serious look. “You really think Isaias is going to let you go to college, though?”

She swallowed. “I don’t know.”

Evan kissed her forehead and sighed. “Please, at least think about it,” he said. “I want you to go to college too, and maybe we could set that up after a while, if you came down to work with me.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“Yes, really, Riel.” He grinned. “Maybe we could get an apartment in sunny southern California. I’d get a job at Target or something and support you while you went to college. Just normal people, all legit and shit.”

Riel laughed, hoping he didn’t see her hopeful blush. “I can’t picture you working at Target.”

“I could do it. I’ve got skills. I know how to help people find toilet paper and batteries.”

They both broke into giggles. “Could we get a cat? I’ve always wanted a cat.”

“Of course. We could get fifteen of them.”

They giggled again, but Riel’s smile faded. “In the meantime, though, we’d be running drugs.”

He shrugged. “Well, it’s a good way to save up money, and least you’d be away from that dick Isaias. I’d keep you safe; we’d retire as soon as we could.”

She twisted a lock of her hair around her finger. “But what about Lizette and the kids? I can’t leave them with him.”

They exchanged a long look. Evan tried to smile. “They’d be okay, Rielita. He may not be the best husband, but he’d never hurt them. And your sister can take care of herself.”

Riel’s gaze dropped, and she tugged harder at her hair. She
wanted
to go, but…

Evan fidgeted with the sheets. “Will you at least think about it?” he asked.

She nodded. “I will.”

“Good.” He kissed her. “I’ll come back to visit you tomorrow, maybe take you out to dinner or something. We can talk about it.”

She grinned. “Okay.”

Then they heard Olivia’s voice and the patter of her feet as she came running down the hall. “Auntie Riel! Where are you?”

Riel’s cheeks got hot. They jumped out of bed and started pulling their clothes on and smoothing their hair. “Coming!” Riel called.

Olivia was waiting outside the door when they emerged, her little brow furrowed. “What were you doing in there?”

Evan grinned and ruffled the little girl’s dark hair. “I just wanted to talk to your auntie. I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

Riel shuffled her feet as Evan glanced at her with a smirk.

“Oh,” Olivia said, looking back and forth between the two of them. Then she broke into a bright smile and took Riel’s hand, pulling her down the hallway. “Well, come on, it’s time for cake.”

As the three of them walked into the very crowded kitchen, Riel caught Isaias giving her and Evan a long, thoughtful glance. She looked away, smiling at her sister, who was holding out the knife for her to cut the cake.

The crowd parted, and she approached the table. The cake was huge, piled high with orange and pink frosting roses, and had
‘
Felicitaciones
, Gabriella’
written on it in looping, purple script. As Riel sank the knife into it, the crowd erupted in cheers, and several arms reached out to pat her on the back.

Maria stood at her elbow, her gold tooth glinting as she grinned. “
Bienvenida a casa
,” she said as Riel handed her a slice. “We’re glad to have you back.”

“I’m glad to be back, Mama Maria,” Riel replied. She forced a smile, feeling Isaias’ eyes still on her.

Chapter Three

It was almost midnight before the party finally broke up. Riel didn’t get another chance to speak to Evan alone—she felt like Isaias was watching them, and it had made her nervous—but he’d given her a significant look and blown her a kiss as he’d headed out the door. She watched him go, wondering if she should take him up on his offer.

But taking off for SoCal to run cross-border for Mishmash, whom she barely knew, made her more than uneasy. If she hadn’t had her sister and nieces to think about, she might risk it without much thought. But she had no idea if she’d be walking into a worse situation than she had at Isaias’. There would be no coming back to Isaias if she left, no guarantee she could ever see her sister and nieces ever again, and they were her only remaining family.

It would be nice to be with Evan, though.
She felt warm and happy as she helped her sister clean up paper plates and plastic cups.

But would it? Did he really care about her, or would he lose interest, abandoning her in a bad situation amongst strangers?

“You and Evan were sure making eyes at each other,” Lizette said, shooting Riel a sly smile as she wiped down the table. “Is there something going on there?”

Riel rose guiltily out of her thoughts and threw a wadded napkin at her sister, her face burning. “Stop it, Lizette.”

Lizette giggled, picking up the fallen napkin. “Well? It’s obvious, right? You two have it bad for one another.”

Riel hid her face behind her hair. “I don’t know if he really likes me that way.”

“Oh, whatever,” Lizette said as she waved a hand at Riel dismissively.

Lizette continued to wipe down the counters, and Riel looked closely at her. There was a furrow that never quite left her brow, and her face was pale and too thin.

“Are you okay, Lizzy?” she asked.

Lizette looked up, blinking. “Yeah. Why?”

“Everything been okay here while I was gone?”

“Of course.” Lizette smiled, but Riel thought she could see the strain behind it. She dropped her rag and pulled Riel into a hug, where Riel laid her ear against her chest the way she used to as a little girl.

“I missed you, Lizzy.”

Lizette stroked her hair. “I missed you too.”

Riel stood there for a moment, just listening to her sister’s heartbeat, feeling eight years old again. But she wasn’t eight years old anymore; she had to take care of herself and her family, make the right decisions, and be an adult. She looked up into her sister’s sad, brown eyes. “What do you think would have happened if Mama and Papa hadn’t died?”

Lizette was silent for a moment and then shrugged jerkily. “I don’t know Riel,” she said quietly, pulling away and running a hand through her hair.

“I think we would have both gone to college. You could have gone to art school, like you wanted.”

Lizette shifted on her feet, a pained look crossing her face. She smiled. “I wish they hadn’t died, but I can’t complain about my life. I have a good husband and kids, a nice house.”

Riel opened her mouth to say something about that, but she stopped herself as she heard footsteps approaching from the hallway. Lizette’s smile faltered, and she stiffened.

Isaias came in and leaned against the doorjamb, jerking his chin at Lizette. “Why don’t you get some rest, Lizzy? It looks like you’ve got everything cleaned up pretty well.”

Lizette twisted the dishrag between her hands, then set it down on the counter. “Okay.” She kissed Riel’s forehead and headed off to her bedroom.

Riel stood where she was, watching Isaias warily as he went to the fridge for a beer. He seated himself at the kitchen table, then pushed out the chair next to him with his foot and grinned. “Sit down, Rielita. I haven’t even had a chance to talk to you yet.”

Riel lowered herself into the chair, her foot nervously bouncing up and down. Isaias twisted the cap off the beer, his brown eyes wandering over her face and body. “It’s right, what they all say. You look good. Even better than before.”

He tipped back his beer as she twisted her hands together in her lap. “Thank you,” she said.

He set the empty bottle down on the table. “You give any thought yet about how you’re going to pay us back for the three bricks you lost us, and the lawyer fees?”

She clutched her knees. “I’m sorry that happened, Isaias, but it wasn’t my fault.”

“Then whose fault do you think it was?”

Riel gritted her teeth, glaring at him. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know who tipped the cops off, but it wasn’t me. I did everything just the way you told me, and didn’t talk to anyone about it.”

He ran a hand over his short, brown hair, his nostrils flaring as he sighed. “Well, you did something, Riel, and it cost us a lot of money, whatever it was. But don’t worry, I’m not mad at you. I know you’ll make it right.”

She dug her fingernails into her knees. “Cut the bullshit, Isaias. What do you want?”

He pulled a mock serious face, pursing his lips. “Tsk, tsk. Prison’s given you a dirty mouth, little girl. Is that any way to treat the man who’s keeping you off the streets?”

“I don’t need you. I only came back here because of Lizette.”

His lips pulled into a cruel grin. “You think you don’t need me? What do you think would happen to you out there, Riel? If they didn’t haul your ass straight back to jail for violating your probation by not living in your approved residence, then the wolves would split a cute little thing like you straight down the middle before the sun was up.”

“I’d find someplace else. I’d get a job.” But she could barely meet his eyes. A void of hopelessness opened in her stomach. He laughed.

“Sure you would. Easy for a nineteen-year-old high school dropout just out of prison to get a job, right? Especially a job that earns you enough to pay rent and bills all by yourself. ”

“I got my GED, and I have other people who would take me in.”

That made him laugh harder. “Who’d take you in? Evan? He your little boyfriend now, Rielita? Some big man he is. I had a little chat with him, and he ran away like a scared puppy, pissing down his leg. You won’t be seeing him any time soon. I guess he didn’t think you were special enough to fight for.”

She felt like he’d punched the air out of her lungs. Had Evan really run away? Tears rose to her eyes, and it just made it worse that Isaias could see them there. She wanted to scratch the look of triumph off of his face.

“Face it, Riel,” Isaias said. “You need me. You would have been fucked without me before you got busted, and you’d be even worse off without me now.”

She stared at her lap, pressing her lips together to hold back the sobs and the screams. She
hated
him. She hated him so bad that she had to clutch the seat of her chair to keep from punching him in his smug, asshole face. But she had to hold it together. She had to find a way out of this somehow, and she wouldn’t get anywhere by pissing him off worse. She swallowed hard, forcing her anger into a hard knot in her chest. “What do you want with me?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to put you back running again. You’ve proven you’re not capable.”

Riel huffed, but held her tongue.

“Besides,” he continued, leering, “I think you’re more valuable to me elsewhere now that you’re legal age and starting to fill out a bit.”

Riel’s shoulders tensed. Her heart took off running. “What do you mean?”

“I bought a club while you were away. It’s a nice little business, brings in a fair amount of money.” His leering grin grew wider, and he reached out with his sock-clad foot to nudge her calf. “You know how to dance, right?”

Before she could stop herself, she jerked away from him, her chair legs squeaking on the floor tiles. “Nuh-uh. No way. I’m not dancing in a titty bar.”

“Oh, come off it, Riel. You’ll be popular there if you loosen up a bit. You’re not the scrawny little kid you used to be. You’re actually turning out pretty hot.”

Riel crossed her arms, taking a deep breath through her nose and letting it out, willing herself not to explode. “
No
, Isaias.”

“No? Then what are you going to do to pay me back, Riel?” He raised his socked foot and ran his big toe slowly along the back of her calf.

Her spine stiffened. “Stop it, Isaias.”

He laughed softly, and the toe’s progress halted. He put his foot back on the ground. But then he leaned forward and reached out to squeeze her knee. “You don’t call the shots in my house, Rielita.” He dragged his fingers along the inside of her thigh. “I pay for the roof over your head and everything else, plus I saved your ass from a thirty-year sentence. You wouldn’t have a life at all if it weren’t for me, and this is how you treat me?”

She squeezed her eyes shut, bile rising into her throat. “Stop, Isaias. I won’t do this…I won’t do that to my sister.”

“Your sister won’t know what we don’t tell her.” His fingers made their way up to her crotch, and he pressed them hard against her pussy through the fabric of her jeans. Then he leaned closer, taking her earlobe between his teeth, and his other hand slid under her t-shirt to cup her breast. Riel squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back her nausea and frantically trying to think of a way out of this trap.

“In fact,” Isaias murmured, “I think I’ll take my payment both ways. I’ll pound your hot cunt,
and
I’ll see you up there on stage, wiggling around for tips.”

Panic took hold of her, and she pushed herself away. She tried to spring up from her chair, but he caught her wrist and yanked her back down, hard enough to make her cry out in pain.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Isaias, I—”

“You think you can fuck with me, Riel?” He twisted her wrist, and she yelped again. “I work my fucking ass off for you and your goddamn sister, and I’m not going to take any shit from you.”

Then Maria’s voice broke through the struggle. “Isaias!”

He froze, and so did Riel. Mama Maria came in, her long, grey hair hanging down her back, her flannel nightgown falling to her thick calves. She fixed hard eyes on her son. “
Sueltala
!”

He glared angrily at his mother, but he let Riel go. Riel stepped back from him, massaging her wrist.

Maria’s emotionless gaze fell on Riel. “Riel, we give you a good home. You need to follow the rules. You’ll go to work, like he says.” She looked back at her son, anger flashing in her eyes. “And Isaias, stop breaking fucking commandments. God will punish you.”

Isaias stared a challenge at his mother, his mouth tight, but he didn’t say anything.

“Go to bed, both of you,” Maria ordered.

Riel didn’t wait to be told twice. She ran down the hallway and locked herself in her room, then sat on her bed with her face on her knees, trembling.
I’d rather be back in prison than dealing with this shit
.

She sat for a long time, letting her heartbeat slow down. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t see how she was going to get out of this with her life and her dignity intact. But she’d find a way. There was no way she was going to let Isaias be the boss of her forever.

If Evan came back at that moment, Riel knew she’d leave with him. She remembered his arms around her, his cock in her, his sweet words and caressing hands. Had he really abandoned her? Were a few threats from Isaias enough to make him forget his promises? Her heart squeezed, and a fresh wave of tears sprung hot into her eyes.

With great effort, she forced them back. Thinking about all this stuff wasn’t going to help her right now. If Evan kept their dinner date for the next day, then good. If not, there was nothing she could do about it, and there was no use crying. She sat up and picked up her guitar, testing the suppleness of the strings.

As she played, working out a song she’d had in her head, her muscles loosened, her pain and fear eased.
I’ll find some way out of this
.
I just have to keep my eyes open and not lose hope.

Her fingers were soft and out of practice, but she played until she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. She set the instrument aside and went to sleep.