Chapter 3
The Game
Opening night was more successful then they all thought. The pub made more money in one night than the old pub did in one week. Anyone who was anyone was there. Politicians, Actors, Writers you name it they were there. Matty and Taylor felt a small chip had been lifted off their shoulders. It was nice to see people actually enjoying themselves.
The two were also pleased with the staff. Even Charlie had made sure she was more than nice to the customers. As the night grew to an end, the two friends sat back in a booth and drank beer.
"Congratulations Mr. Reese," Matty said while holding his beer up.
Taylor smiled over at his friend. Hell none of this would have gotten done if Matty hadn't been here. His friend was focused and more than willing to make the place a success. He only wished that Marbles and Chris could be here to enjoy this with them.
"We did good," Taylor told his friend before lifting his own beer.
~~~~~~
A couple of months had gone by without any problems. The pub was running smoothly and had become a very stylish hot spot. Matty and Taylor found themselves content and settled for the first times in their lives.
Sophia paced outside McKnight's Pub, she'd only been in there once since it reopened. Of course the only reason she'd gone in there was to possibly meet the owners but they weren't there. So she was stuck talking to Mac who kept going on and on about the two fella's that bought the place. Mac seemed to really like them, she did notice however that Charlie rolled her eyes each time their names were mentioned. Sophia knew enough about Charlie to know that something was different about these two men but she wanted to make her own decision as to if she liked them. After Mac finished his beer he bid them farewell and left. Sophia and Charlie told him bye before getting into a conversation.
"So," Sophia said while moving to the other end of the bar so she could talk to Charlie. "Tell me about them?"
Charlie looked up at her cousin and snickered. "They're mob hoods."
"Really Charlie you and this mob thing needs to stop, you think everyone is on the take."
"That's cause most of them are."
Sophia shook her head before smiling. Her cousin was a complex person to say the least. She never understood how Charlie was so quick to judge people. She was always reminding herself that Charlie had grown up here, she knew about the horror of mob related violence. It was a shame that Charlie wasn't more of an open person when it came to relationships. She closed herself off to a lot, men being one of them.
"So are they nice looking?" Charlie heard her cousin blurt out. She looked up to see Matty and Taylor walking in. "Check out for yourself."
Sophia turned and saw two men walking towards her. She focused on the big one and looked back at Charlie. Charlie grinned then turned her back. Sophia chuckled then looked to the big guy's right and saw him. The him from the street, she could tell it was the same guy. Her eyes lingered over his entire body. She quickly looked away and waited for them to take their seats at the end of the bar before she looked again.
~~~~~~
Matty had noticed the blonde sitting at the bar. She looked at Taylor then turned away. He was use to women fawning over Taylor. It was dumb founding that Taylor was such a lady magnet but then would never go after them. When she looked back in their direction, Matty had become her object to observe. He smiled as he and Taylor walked by her.
After they took their seats, Matty said hello to Charlie. The bartender turned and smiled asked if he and Taylor wanted anything to drink.
"Coffee," Matty said while turning his head to look at the woman sitting at the other end of the bar.
Charlie nodded her head then stared at Taylor. He leaned back in the stool then said, "Nothing for me."
He watched her turned swiftly and take hold of a coffee cup. She slowly walked towards them and placed the cup down in front of Matty.
Matty smiled, "thanks," he said without taking his eyes off Sophia.
Sophia knew he'd been staring at her which caused a grin. Charlie looked over at her cousin and shook her head.
"Mr. Demaret," she declared while walking backwards towards Sophia, "this is my cousin Sophia Givoanni."
Matty stood up and walked over to Sophia. He extended his hand and said, "It's pleasure to meet you Ms. Givoanni."
Taylor watched as Sophia smiled and took hold of Matty's hand. He then directed his attention to Charlie who laughed a little then walked back down by him.
While Taylor and Charlie ignored one another, Matty and Sophia got to know one another.
"You're not from New Jersey?" Matty asked.
"I'm from Los Angeles," Sophia told him.
"I've only been there once but it was beautiful."
Sophia all the sudden felt like a shy little girl. The man sitting next to her looked at her like he could see right through her. She couldn't speak, for fear of saying something stupid. So instead she twirled her hair around her fingers.
"I stayed around New York all my life," Matty said hoping this would spark up the conversation again.
"Why did you leave?"
"I needed a new start"
Sophia watched as his features tightened. She knew there was more to the story but didn't want to push the issue. "A new start is sometimes the best thing."
~~~~~~
Outside the bar...
A black Lincoln Town Car sat idling. Two men were seated in the car, both watching the bar.
"The old man finally sold the place," Johnny Kidd said while lighting a cigarette. "I'll speak to them soon."
The man sitting next to chuckled before saying with a Russian accent, "This is an opportunity for the both of us. It is time to prove ourselves. My father has come here to expand business, so I come with him. This can't go wrong we have to succeed by any means."
Johnny Kidd understood his new found friend's feelings for this matter. They were both in the same boat.
~~~~~
Back in the bar. An hour later...
Sophia hated that she had to excuse herself but it was getting late. She wanted nothing more than to stay at the bar and talk with Matty. She looked down at her watch.
"It's pretty late isn't it?" Matty asked.
"Yeah, I really should be going," she told him.
Matty then watched as she stood up and hesitated for a moment. He stood up and blurted out. "Would you like to have dinner with me?"
He said is so loud that both Charlie and Taylor's heads turned in his and Sophia's direction. Sophia bit the inside of her mouth so she wouldn't laugh at him.
"That would be great," she told him before walking over and putting on her jacket.
Matty followed her. Hoping she would offer up her telephone number. She turned around and caught him off guard. He looked surprised. Again Sophia found herself wanting to laugh at him. She pulled out a business card and wrote down her number.
Matty took the business card and held onto to it tight. Sophia smiled at him then said, "Well it was very nice to meet you Mr. Demaret."
"It was nice to meet you," Matty told her.
The stared at one another for a moment before Charlie brought them back into reality. "OK," she said.
"Oh yeah," Sophia after looking at her cousin.
Before Matty could say anything else, Sophia left.
~~~~~~
Matty and Taylor waited around until closing time. Charlie felt like a small child that couldn't be left alone with toys. Matty, after his four hour long chat with Sophia went into the office and was doing paper work. Mr. Reese on the other hand decided he was going to play a game of pool.
After she cleaned the bar for the 1001 time, Charlie watched the man leaning over the pool table. He taken off his leather jacket and placed it on the table closest to him. Her eyes slowly moved from his face down his arms and finally homing in on his chest. Which was barely concealed by the white muscle shirt he was wearing. She did admit to herself that he was good looking. It bothered her, the extent of her attraction. If he would walk by her, she automatically back up so there was no way any part of their bodies would touch. The thought of him touching her was more than she could bear. Suddenly she realized that Taylor was watching her watching him. She looked around before turning her back to him. Shit! That was great Charlie, now he knows you were staring at him like you've never seen a man before!
Taylor smiled to himself before going back to his game. He found himself enjoying they're staring contest.
~~~~~~
A week later...
Charlie was off of work but decided to stop by and see how things were going. She walked in and said hi to Alice.
"Hey you working alone?"
Alice smiled then said, "No Michelle's taking her break."
"I'm gonna go and say hi," Charlie told the older woman before turning and going to the back room.
She opened the door and found Michelle with her head face down on the table. Charlie dropped her purse and went to Michelle.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing" Charlie heard in a muffled voice.
"Michelle, Tell me what's wrong?"
Michelle lifted her head and looked over at Charlie.
"Come on tell me what's the matter?"
Charlie watched as Michelle hesitated for a moment before saying, "I was coming to work and Johnny Kidd stopped me."
"And"
"He..He"
"He what?" Charlie said.
"He came on to me and I told him to leave me alone and he grabbed me," Michelle told her.
Charlie controlled her growing anger. She wanted to make her friend feel at ease. "Johnny Kidd comes on strong, that's it. I'm sure nothing will come of this."
"You think so?"
"Yes, everything is going to be fine Michelle."
~~~~~~
An hour after Charlie's conversation with Michelle, she was at Kidd's club. She talked to one of the waiter's who she knew to make sure Johnny was there. Her friend told her that Kidd was going to be alone is in office for a while.
Charlie knocked on the office and without a "come on in" she made her way inside.
Johnny snapped his head up and glared at her. He watched as she walked up to his desk before taking a seat in front of it.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, you can," she said.
Charlie then noticed another man was in the office. She watched as he lit a cigarette then turned back to Johnny.
"I wanted to talk to you."
Johnny leaned back in his chair then smiled at her. "About what?"
"About Michelle Daniels."
"What about her?"
"She told me you spoke to her today."
"And?"
"She was upset and I wanted to make sure you understood that she isn't interested." Charlie told him.
"Interested?"
"Yeah, she isn't interested in what you do for a living, what kind of car you drive, what you want to be when you grow up," she then stood up before continuing. "Seems she isn't interested in you so how about you leave it alone?"
Johnny began laughing but suddenly stopped when he saw she wasn't joking with him. He leaned forward in his chair and put his hands together.
"Are you speaking for her?"
"Yes, Stay away from her"
He admitted to himself that the women standing in front of him was bold.
"Charlie, we've known one another for a while. That doesn't mean you could come in here and disrespect me."
"You haven't seen disrespect yet," Charlie told him before turning and walking to the door. She opened the door and went to walk out. Instead of exiting the room she spun around and said, "Oh and stay away from the pub!"
The door slammed and the Russian who's name was Dmitri (last name added in later) chuckled before stated. "Feisty American woman. I like her!"
~~~~~~
Matty was on the phone in the office at the bar. He been talking to his friend Bobby when Taylor stormed in.
"Hey Bobby, I'll talk with you later" Matty said before hanging up the phone. "What's wrong?"
Taylor put his hands on his hips and said, "Charlie went and talked to Johnny Kidd."
"What? Why the hell would she do that?" Matty asked.
"She told him to back off."
Matty stood up and ran his hands threw his dark hair. "Back off of what?"
"Michelle, and this place," Taylor told him.
"Fuck!" Matty said. "OK I'll go and talk to him and make sure this goes over smoothly."
"You think it's a good idea to go and talk to him?"
"We have to talk now Taylor. He needs to respect the fact that you and I aren't in the life anymore."
Taylor knew Matty going to talk to Johnny Kidd wasn't going to make any difference. Kidd knew how Matty's dad was and had no doubt heard all the stories going around the underworld about he and Matty. A bad feeling came over him, this wasn't going to be settled by one conversation.
~~~~~~
Taylor Reese didn't climb, he ran up the stairs to Charlie's apartment. I can't believe she went and spoke out to Johnny Kidd like that. What the fuck was she thinking. As he reached her door he hesitated for a moment, knowing he was about to start something that could end up two ways. Good or Bad. He banged on the door a couple of times while making sure not to yell at her to open the door. Why did she have to go and talk to him! Can't she keep her mouth shut for any amount of time? That fucking Russian is in business with Kidd now, they'd kill her without any hesitation. What if they'd put there hands on her... Taylor snapped back into the moment. He didn't want his thoughts to go any further. Why was he so mad? Cause she went and spoke up for her friend and put herself in danger. Did she not understand that those men took what they wanted without question?
Charlie jumped out of bed from the pounding on her door. She looked around the room then remembered she told Michelle to come over if she got scared. The pounding got louder and louder as she moved closer to her front door.
"OK...OK" she hissed as she pulled the door opened. Her eyes widened when she saw Taylor glaring down at her.
"What the hell do you want?"
"You to keep your mouth shut," he said while pushing her back into her apartment.
She backed away from him. When he slammed the door shut she jumped.
"What is going on?" she asked while beginning to get worried.
Taylor turned to face her, he shook his head then moved forward and grabbed hold of her.
"Agh," came out as Charlie was pinned up against the front door of her apartment. She looked up into his eyes and saw how angry he was.
"What the fuck where you think about? Going and talking to Johnny Kidd. Jesus Charlie you can't be that fucking stupid!" he yelled at her.
"Let go of me."
"No, you are going to listen to me little girl."
Charlie managed to move her hand so that it was pressing against his chest. She tried to push at him, but she knew Taylor was too big for her to fight against.
"Is that it?" she asked in an icy tone while turning her head to the side.
Taylor stared down at her, he couldn't understand her. She was more than ready to fight at any moment. He couldn't believe she'd give up this easily.
"Don't ever grow balls like that again. Let Matty and I handle the local muscle," he said before stepping back from her.
Charlie felt her entire body relax. She pushed herself off the door and walked up to him with hands on hips.
"I thought you said that you and Mr. Demaret weren't 'in that life' anymore."
"Don't worry yourself about what Matty and I are into. And we aren't in that life anymore!" Taylor told her.
"You nothing but a hood Mr. Resse and nothing is going to change that!" she yelled up at him.
Something snapped in Taylor, these past months had been an up hill battle with the woman standing in front of him. She'd never hidden her dislike for he or Matty. Charlie made sure they felt her coldness towards them. Her calling him a hood felt like a knife cutting his skin. Fuck this!
Charlie watched quietly as Taylor seem to be fighting an internal battle. His body straighten up and he took a step towards her. She told herself to move away from him but her body wasn't listening. As his hands encircled her forearms, she closed her eyes. Her eyes fell open when she was pulled hard up against his chest. She held her breath for a moment as she stared at his shirt. His breath was warm against her neck. Both their hearts beating wildly. Slowly he pulled back. He didn't let go of her, he let go of one of her arms only to place his hand at the base of her neck. Charlie looked up at him and knew what he was going to do.
"Don't," she said before her lips were crushed to his.
Taylor growled deep in his throat after his lips meet hers. He pulled her even harder against him. His body burning, he stayed awake so many nights dreaming about what kissing her would be like. This wasn't like the other women, it was much more dangerous.
The feel of his tongue entering her mouth caused Charlie to push against him. Not that she wasn't enjoying it, that was the problem she was enjoying it too much. Her anger at him turned to lust and she felt her body ready to give up the fight. Both of them hadn't noticed that Taylor had backed them up against the door. The bumping caused her to gain some sense of reality. She pushed against him. This time Taylor let go of her and stepped back.
The lust that had taken over only a moment ago now was replaced again with anger.
"Get out of here," she told him as she opened her front door.
Taylor walked slowly to her door and was not going to say anything. He decided to say something but when he stopped and turned to her. He was meet with a hard slap to his left cheek.
"Don't ever put your hands on me again!"
Charlie watched as he placed his hand over his cheek and glared at her. He said nothing then walked away. After she shut her door, Charlie found herself shaking.
TBC
Opening night was more successful then they all thought. The pub made more money in one night than the old pub did in one week. Anyone who was anyone was there. Politicians, Actors, Writers you name it they were there. Matty and Taylor felt a small chip had been lifted off their shoulders. It was nice to see people actually enjoying themselves.
The two were also pleased with the staff. Even Charlie had made sure she was more than nice to the customers. As the night grew to an end, the two friends sat back in a booth and drank beer.
"Congratulations Mr. Reese," Matty said while holding his beer up.
Taylor smiled over at his friend. Hell none of this would have gotten done if Matty hadn't been here. His friend was focused and more than willing to make the place a success. He only wished that Marbles and Chris could be here to enjoy this with them.
"We did good," Taylor told his friend before lifting his own beer.
~~~~~~
A couple of months had gone by without any problems. The pub was running smoothly and had become a very stylish hot spot. Matty and Taylor found themselves content and settled for the first times in their lives.
Sophia paced outside McKnight's Pub, she'd only been in there once since it reopened. Of course the only reason she'd gone in there was to possibly meet the owners but they weren't there. So she was stuck talking to Mac who kept going on and on about the two fella's that bought the place. Mac seemed to really like them, she did notice however that Charlie rolled her eyes each time their names were mentioned. Sophia knew enough about Charlie to know that something was different about these two men but she wanted to make her own decision as to if she liked them. After Mac finished his beer he bid them farewell and left. Sophia and Charlie told him bye before getting into a conversation.
"So," Sophia said while moving to the other end of the bar so she could talk to Charlie. "Tell me about them?"
Charlie looked up at her cousin and snickered. "They're mob hoods."
"Really Charlie you and this mob thing needs to stop, you think everyone is on the take."
"That's cause most of them are."
Sophia shook her head before smiling. Her cousin was a complex person to say the least. She never understood how Charlie was so quick to judge people. She was always reminding herself that Charlie had grown up here, she knew about the horror of mob related violence. It was a shame that Charlie wasn't more of an open person when it came to relationships. She closed herself off to a lot, men being one of them.
"So are they nice looking?" Charlie heard her cousin blurt out. She looked up to see Matty and Taylor walking in. "Check out for yourself."
Sophia turned and saw two men walking towards her. She focused on the big one and looked back at Charlie. Charlie grinned then turned her back. Sophia chuckled then looked to the big guy's right and saw him. The him from the street, she could tell it was the same guy. Her eyes lingered over his entire body. She quickly looked away and waited for them to take their seats at the end of the bar before she looked again.
~~~~~~
Matty had noticed the blonde sitting at the bar. She looked at Taylor then turned away. He was use to women fawning over Taylor. It was dumb founding that Taylor was such a lady magnet but then would never go after them. When she looked back in their direction, Matty had become her object to observe. He smiled as he and Taylor walked by her.
After they took their seats, Matty said hello to Charlie. The bartender turned and smiled asked if he and Taylor wanted anything to drink.
"Coffee," Matty said while turning his head to look at the woman sitting at the other end of the bar.
Charlie nodded her head then stared at Taylor. He leaned back in the stool then said, "Nothing for me."
He watched her turned swiftly and take hold of a coffee cup. She slowly walked towards them and placed the cup down in front of Matty.
Matty smiled, "thanks," he said without taking his eyes off Sophia.
Sophia knew he'd been staring at her which caused a grin. Charlie looked over at her cousin and shook her head.
"Mr. Demaret," she declared while walking backwards towards Sophia, "this is my cousin Sophia Givoanni."
Matty stood up and walked over to Sophia. He extended his hand and said, "It's pleasure to meet you Ms. Givoanni."
Taylor watched as Sophia smiled and took hold of Matty's hand. He then directed his attention to Charlie who laughed a little then walked back down by him.
While Taylor and Charlie ignored one another, Matty and Sophia got to know one another.
"You're not from New Jersey?" Matty asked.
"I'm from Los Angeles," Sophia told him.
"I've only been there once but it was beautiful."
Sophia all the sudden felt like a shy little girl. The man sitting next to her looked at her like he could see right through her. She couldn't speak, for fear of saying something stupid. So instead she twirled her hair around her fingers.
"I stayed around New York all my life," Matty said hoping this would spark up the conversation again.
"Why did you leave?"
"I needed a new start"
Sophia watched as his features tightened. She knew there was more to the story but didn't want to push the issue. "A new start is sometimes the best thing."
~~~~~~
Outside the bar...
A black Lincoln Town Car sat idling. Two men were seated in the car, both watching the bar.
"The old man finally sold the place," Johnny Kidd said while lighting a cigarette. "I'll speak to them soon."
The man sitting next to chuckled before saying with a Russian accent, "This is an opportunity for the both of us. It is time to prove ourselves. My father has come here to expand business, so I come with him. This can't go wrong we have to succeed by any means."
Johnny Kidd understood his new found friend's feelings for this matter. They were both in the same boat.
~~~~~
Back in the bar. An hour later...
Sophia hated that she had to excuse herself but it was getting late. She wanted nothing more than to stay at the bar and talk with Matty. She looked down at her watch.
"It's pretty late isn't it?" Matty asked.
"Yeah, I really should be going," she told him.
Matty then watched as she stood up and hesitated for a moment. He stood up and blurted out. "Would you like to have dinner with me?"
He said is so loud that both Charlie and Taylor's heads turned in his and Sophia's direction. Sophia bit the inside of her mouth so she wouldn't laugh at him.
"That would be great," she told him before walking over and putting on her jacket.
Matty followed her. Hoping she would offer up her telephone number. She turned around and caught him off guard. He looked surprised. Again Sophia found herself wanting to laugh at him. She pulled out a business card and wrote down her number.
Matty took the business card and held onto to it tight. Sophia smiled at him then said, "Well it was very nice to meet you Mr. Demaret."
"It was nice to meet you," Matty told her.
The stared at one another for a moment before Charlie brought them back into reality. "OK," she said.
"Oh yeah," Sophia after looking at her cousin.
Before Matty could say anything else, Sophia left.
~~~~~~
Matty and Taylor waited around until closing time. Charlie felt like a small child that couldn't be left alone with toys. Matty, after his four hour long chat with Sophia went into the office and was doing paper work. Mr. Reese on the other hand decided he was going to play a game of pool.
After she cleaned the bar for the 1001 time, Charlie watched the man leaning over the pool table. He taken off his leather jacket and placed it on the table closest to him. Her eyes slowly moved from his face down his arms and finally homing in on his chest. Which was barely concealed by the white muscle shirt he was wearing. She did admit to herself that he was good looking. It bothered her, the extent of her attraction. If he would walk by her, she automatically back up so there was no way any part of their bodies would touch. The thought of him touching her was more than she could bear. Suddenly she realized that Taylor was watching her watching him. She looked around before turning her back to him. Shit! That was great Charlie, now he knows you were staring at him like you've never seen a man before!
Taylor smiled to himself before going back to his game. He found himself enjoying they're staring contest.
~~~~~~
A week later...
Charlie was off of work but decided to stop by and see how things were going. She walked in and said hi to Alice.
"Hey you working alone?"
Alice smiled then said, "No Michelle's taking her break."
"I'm gonna go and say hi," Charlie told the older woman before turning and going to the back room.
She opened the door and found Michelle with her head face down on the table. Charlie dropped her purse and went to Michelle.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing" Charlie heard in a muffled voice.
"Michelle, Tell me what's wrong?"
Michelle lifted her head and looked over at Charlie.
"Come on tell me what's the matter?"
Charlie watched as Michelle hesitated for a moment before saying, "I was coming to work and Johnny Kidd stopped me."
"And"
"He..He"
"He what?" Charlie said.
"He came on to me and I told him to leave me alone and he grabbed me," Michelle told her.
Charlie controlled her growing anger. She wanted to make her friend feel at ease. "Johnny Kidd comes on strong, that's it. I'm sure nothing will come of this."
"You think so?"
"Yes, everything is going to be fine Michelle."
~~~~~~
An hour after Charlie's conversation with Michelle, she was at Kidd's club. She talked to one of the waiter's who she knew to make sure Johnny was there. Her friend told her that Kidd was going to be alone is in office for a while.
Charlie knocked on the office and without a "come on in" she made her way inside.
Johnny snapped his head up and glared at her. He watched as she walked up to his desk before taking a seat in front of it.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, you can," she said.
Charlie then noticed another man was in the office. She watched as he lit a cigarette then turned back to Johnny.
"I wanted to talk to you."
Johnny leaned back in his chair then smiled at her. "About what?"
"About Michelle Daniels."
"What about her?"
"She told me you spoke to her today."
"And?"
"She was upset and I wanted to make sure you understood that she isn't interested." Charlie told him.
"Interested?"
"Yeah, she isn't interested in what you do for a living, what kind of car you drive, what you want to be when you grow up," she then stood up before continuing. "Seems she isn't interested in you so how about you leave it alone?"
Johnny began laughing but suddenly stopped when he saw she wasn't joking with him. He leaned forward in his chair and put his hands together.
"Are you speaking for her?"
"Yes, Stay away from her"
He admitted to himself that the women standing in front of him was bold.
"Charlie, we've known one another for a while. That doesn't mean you could come in here and disrespect me."
"You haven't seen disrespect yet," Charlie told him before turning and walking to the door. She opened the door and went to walk out. Instead of exiting the room she spun around and said, "Oh and stay away from the pub!"
The door slammed and the Russian who's name was Dmitri (last name added in later) chuckled before stated. "Feisty American woman. I like her!"
~~~~~~
Matty was on the phone in the office at the bar. He been talking to his friend Bobby when Taylor stormed in.
"Hey Bobby, I'll talk with you later" Matty said before hanging up the phone. "What's wrong?"
Taylor put his hands on his hips and said, "Charlie went and talked to Johnny Kidd."
"What? Why the hell would she do that?" Matty asked.
"She told him to back off."
Matty stood up and ran his hands threw his dark hair. "Back off of what?"
"Michelle, and this place," Taylor told him.
"Fuck!" Matty said. "OK I'll go and talk to him and make sure this goes over smoothly."
"You think it's a good idea to go and talk to him?"
"We have to talk now Taylor. He needs to respect the fact that you and I aren't in the life anymore."
Taylor knew Matty going to talk to Johnny Kidd wasn't going to make any difference. Kidd knew how Matty's dad was and had no doubt heard all the stories going around the underworld about he and Matty. A bad feeling came over him, this wasn't going to be settled by one conversation.
~~~~~~
Taylor Reese didn't climb, he ran up the stairs to Charlie's apartment. I can't believe she went and spoke out to Johnny Kidd like that. What the fuck was she thinking. As he reached her door he hesitated for a moment, knowing he was about to start something that could end up two ways. Good or Bad. He banged on the door a couple of times while making sure not to yell at her to open the door. Why did she have to go and talk to him! Can't she keep her mouth shut for any amount of time? That fucking Russian is in business with Kidd now, they'd kill her without any hesitation. What if they'd put there hands on her... Taylor snapped back into the moment. He didn't want his thoughts to go any further. Why was he so mad? Cause she went and spoke up for her friend and put herself in danger. Did she not understand that those men took what they wanted without question?
Charlie jumped out of bed from the pounding on her door. She looked around the room then remembered she told Michelle to come over if she got scared. The pounding got louder and louder as she moved closer to her front door.
"OK...OK" she hissed as she pulled the door opened. Her eyes widened when she saw Taylor glaring down at her.
"What the hell do you want?"
"You to keep your mouth shut," he said while pushing her back into her apartment.
She backed away from him. When he slammed the door shut she jumped.
"What is going on?" she asked while beginning to get worried.
Taylor turned to face her, he shook his head then moved forward and grabbed hold of her.
"Agh," came out as Charlie was pinned up against the front door of her apartment. She looked up into his eyes and saw how angry he was.
"What the fuck where you think about? Going and talking to Johnny Kidd. Jesus Charlie you can't be that fucking stupid!" he yelled at her.
"Let go of me."
"No, you are going to listen to me little girl."
Charlie managed to move her hand so that it was pressing against his chest. She tried to push at him, but she knew Taylor was too big for her to fight against.
"Is that it?" she asked in an icy tone while turning her head to the side.
Taylor stared down at her, he couldn't understand her. She was more than ready to fight at any moment. He couldn't believe she'd give up this easily.
"Don't ever grow balls like that again. Let Matty and I handle the local muscle," he said before stepping back from her.
Charlie felt her entire body relax. She pushed herself off the door and walked up to him with hands on hips.
"I thought you said that you and Mr. Demaret weren't 'in that life' anymore."
"Don't worry yourself about what Matty and I are into. And we aren't in that life anymore!" Taylor told her.
"You nothing but a hood Mr. Resse and nothing is going to change that!" she yelled up at him.
Something snapped in Taylor, these past months had been an up hill battle with the woman standing in front of him. She'd never hidden her dislike for he or Matty. Charlie made sure they felt her coldness towards them. Her calling him a hood felt like a knife cutting his skin. Fuck this!
Charlie watched quietly as Taylor seem to be fighting an internal battle. His body straighten up and he took a step towards her. She told herself to move away from him but her body wasn't listening. As his hands encircled her forearms, she closed her eyes. Her eyes fell open when she was pulled hard up against his chest. She held her breath for a moment as she stared at his shirt. His breath was warm against her neck. Both their hearts beating wildly. Slowly he pulled back. He didn't let go of her, he let go of one of her arms only to place his hand at the base of her neck. Charlie looked up at him and knew what he was going to do.
"Don't," she said before her lips were crushed to his.
Taylor growled deep in his throat after his lips meet hers. He pulled her even harder against him. His body burning, he stayed awake so many nights dreaming about what kissing her would be like. This wasn't like the other women, it was much more dangerous.
The feel of his tongue entering her mouth caused Charlie to push against him. Not that she wasn't enjoying it, that was the problem she was enjoying it too much. Her anger at him turned to lust and she felt her body ready to give up the fight. Both of them hadn't noticed that Taylor had backed them up against the door. The bumping caused her to gain some sense of reality. She pushed against him. This time Taylor let go of her and stepped back.
The lust that had taken over only a moment ago now was replaced again with anger.
"Get out of here," she told him as she opened her front door.
Taylor walked slowly to her door and was not going to say anything. He decided to say something but when he stopped and turned to her. He was meet with a hard slap to his left cheek.
"Don't ever put your hands on me again!"
Charlie watched as he placed his hand over his cheek and glared at her. He said nothing then walked away. After she shut her door, Charlie found herself shaking.
TBC