Velocity Shift
By TempestRaces
Chapter 14 – Mercury Mess
Taylor watched with growing concern as Storm continued to interact with her relatives with an insincere smile pasted on her mouth at the reception after the graveside service. The smile never reached her eyes. Not even when she was dealing with some of her cousins he happened to know she liked as a general rule. She was taking the funeral really hard. She'd been strangely needy in his apartment but no more. She was once again totally in control of herself. A little too in control to suit him.
The Storm he knew couldn't keep her temper in check this long, couldn't keep her smart mouth hidden this long either. She hadn't, to Taylor's recent memory, ever gone this long without someone pissing her off or without managing to piss off someone else. Be it him, her father, some random stranger, normally she and somebody clashed every couple hours. In a room full of her relatives it shouldn't have taken long for one or the other to occur.
The people who said things she didn't want to hear merely got treated full force to her icy green stare. Of course that alone was enough to send most people running for cover. It was amusing to Taylor, in a frightening way, that when she launched fire their way people fought back but when she gave them that icy stare with her eyes like chips of frozen jade they all simply turned tail and ran. As he was observing her from the refreshment table he caught sight of Matty moving his way from across the room.
"Why are you standing here all alone?" Matty asked as he picked up an hors d'ouvres from the table and washed it down with a glass of wine he drained in one go. He didn't look as together as his sister; his tie was askew, his hair mussed, and his suit wrinkled. His eyes were vague and slightly spaced out. In short, he looked like shit, but his reaction seemed a hell of a lot more real and healthy to Taylor than Storm's. He watched as Matty picked up another glass of wine. Taylor wanted a drink himself, but there was no beer present and he didn't want wine.
"I'm keepin' an eye on Storm. After her little outburst at the church I thought we were in for it but she's behind a wall of ice. She hasn't said a word wrong since. Of course, she hasn't said very much at all."
"A lot for her to take in lately." Matty sighed and tossed another small bit of food into his mouth. "I forget how young she is most of the time ya know? She acts so in control and so together most of the time. She hasn't had to deal with a lot of this shit. I can't think of anyone close to her that died since Bobby and she was just a kid then."
"She was close to Chris, that's for sure." Taylor said as his gaze slid back to the female in question. Plus she just found out her mother isn't dead after all. But Taylor couldn't share that with Matty, not when Matty didn't know.
"We all were. I almost wish she'd go back to having a screaming, crying fit instead of this ice queen thing she's got goin' on here." Matty watched as yet another old, Italian relative walked up to his sister and said something to her. He watched as she responded with what was expected of a woman her age, not what was expected of her.
.
Storm accepted yet another distant relative's words of condolences with a polite inclination of her head an unintelligible murmur of acknowledgement. She wished they'd all go away, but she wasn't going to tell them that. It just wasn't that important. She figured something should be but nothing was standing out. Her relatives were bothering her, but it was a bother like a hangnail was a bother; mildly irritating but not important enough to bother ripping it off.
It simply didn't matter that much anymore. She leaned against the mantle of the fireplace with a glass of wine in her hand and looked at nothing. She simply let her mind drift off into nowhere and didn't think about anything. She existed in a foggy place where nothing mattered or figured into her life other than not thinking about anything at all.
That was until she saw her cousin Lindsey head her way. No matter how uncaring she was about the rest of the proceedings, listening to her cousin's ramblings was not high on her list of things to do today. Since for the most part Lindsey only cared about her looks, money, and boys, in that order, Storm really had nothing in common with her.
Well, that wasn't totally true. She had the boy they both wanted. But he was Storm's. She thought that if her cousin pissed her off, she'd simply throw in her face the reality of who Taylor had ultimately ended up with. That should go over really well, she was sure. She felt herself warming up for the clash just a bit.
Lindsey stopped in front of her and looked her up and down. "Hello Storm."
"Lindsey." Storm answered insolently, giving her cousin some of her own medicine in the form of a head to toe look. When she reached Lindsey's face from her feet she gave a little hrmp and smirked slightly. Lindsey's eyes showed she had caught the slight and had been annoyed by it.
"I haven't seen you in ages. What have you been doing with yourself?" Lindsey asked in a snide tone. She was clearly implying the answer to her question was not much.
"Oh you know. Same old." Storm's smirk got bigger. "Doin' some racin', doin' some dancin', dealin a little X for the Russian mob," Storm met Lindsey's eyes cruelly for her next bombshell. "I've been sleeping with Taylor. A lot." Her smirk took on a gloating air.
"Taylor? Taylor Reese?"
"Taylor, 'oh Taylor' Reese, that's right." Storm rubbed it in farther crudely. "So, what have you been doing since the family found out your dad was fuckin' screwing mine, his own brother in law, over?"
Lindsey gasped. "How dare you! That's not true. My father was killed in the same accident Chris was."
"Yeah, right. I suppose Elvis is alive too, right?" Storm shook her head. "Your father was a fuckin' crook who was stealing off my pops. And when he tried to kill Matty, after he killed Chris, Matty took him out. But then, it always was Matty's job to take out the trash."
"How dare you!" Lindsey shrieked as she raised her hand to slap Storm. They were becoming something of a spectacle and Storm knew she should put an end to it sooner than later, but she knew she wasn't going to.
Storm caught her wrist. "You ever try to hit me again and it'll be the last thing you ever do, and that's a promise. You shouldn't even be here right now since your father gave the order for Chris to be shot." Storm let Lindsey go as if tossing away something vile and looked at her with a dismissive glare. "I think you were just going, right?"
Lindsey looked like she had more to say to her cousin. Storm pretty much wished she would. If someone gave her an excuse to have a good old knock down, drag out fight she'd take it with relish. At least the adrenaline would give her something to care about. Lindsey didn't back down, but she didn't push farther either. She stood in front of Storm, caught up in her indecision of what to do.
Taylor took the decision away from her. He decided it was time to make Storm take her leave, before she did something she likely would live to regret. He knew she could be driven to the heights of rage by Lindsey, but in the long run she wouldn't want to ruin the memory of Chris' memorial service for his parents. He reached her side, and didn't even spare Lindsey a glance.
"Storm, I think it's time to go." He said, his voice rendered even more raspy by his low tone.
"I don't think I'm ready to go." Storm said, looking up at Taylor from under her eyelashes.
"Well, I really am and it's getting late. I have to go to mom's for dinner and I thought you might want to come." He watched as shock registered in the green eyes he was holding with his own black gaze. The last thing she'd expected from him was an invite to his mother's house. In truth, the last thing he'd planned to offer had been the same.
His mother had been after him to introduce her to the girl he'd been seeing. There was very little he kept from his mother. Not that he didn't try to keep some things to himself, but she mostly saw right through it and weaseled what she wanted to know out of him. So, even though he'd tried to keep the fact he was seeing someone seriously from her, she'd forced the information out of him. However, he'd kept just who that someone was from her. He wasn't sure if she'd still be happy and pleased for him once she found out just who the girl was.
She wasn't hypocritical enough to want him to find a Jewish girl to date, having herself married an Italian man. She just wanted him to find love. But she hated the job he did and she knew for whom he worked. When she finally found out he was dating the boss's daughter she might stop being happy he had a girlfriend and start being upset. In her mind, he thought, dating Storm was just him getting even deeper into a world she already wished he wasn't part of. He wasn't even sure if she'd believe him when he told her that he wasn't dating Storm for her connections, but just for her.
"I need to go home first."
"I thought that'd be the case. That's why I wanna leave now."
"Ok, just lemme tell pops."
"Alright. I'm gonna go tell Matty we're takin' off."
"Meet you at the front door in five?"
"That works." Taylor slid a finger down her cheek, just to reassure her and help her piss her cousin off at the same time. She placed a hand flat on his chest for a second before she turned to go with a very sultry smile up at him. Even if she was just show boating for her cousin, that look went straight to his groin and settled there. His mom was wrong. If he had his way Storm would just be some random girl who had the ability to keep his interest and turn him on like no other. She wouldn't be the boss's daughter at all. This was getting complicated. He watched Storm walk toward her father, where the old man was talking to his cousins, Sal and Eva.
"So, you'n my cousin huh?" Lindsey asked. Her expression was pleasant, but her tone revealed her pique.
"Yeah." Taylor answered shortly, unwilling to get into it with Lindsey at a funeral reception.
"So I was too good for you to be with because of who my father was, but she's not? Since her dad's even more your boss than mine was that doesn't make sense. She musta moved fast."
"You weren't too good for me. I just knew any spawn of Teddy's was likely as slimy as he was and I knew better than to get involved." Taylor looked away to dismiss the woman who was busily trying to come up with a response to his insult. "I guess I just didn't want to be with someone who'd been around more than a Coney Island carousel. At least Storm has some class." With that, Taylor headed toward the front door to meet Storm, leaving Lindsey speechless in his wake.
Storm was standing by the front door when he got there. "Ya ready?" She asked.
"Yeah. You?"
"Oh yeah. The more space and time between me'n Lindsey the better. Let's go."
"How're Matty and your dad gettin' home?"
"Uncle Vito's gonna drive them later. We'll take my car now."
"Ok, but you gotta take me home for the van and I'll pick you up at your place, ok?"
"Yeah, sure. I hate the damn Caddy anyways."
They got into the black beast, Storm letting Taylor drive it. "What's not to like?" He asked as he started to move the Sedan De Ville down the driveway after moving the seat back to account for his much longer legs and the back up because he couldn't stand the way Storm drove as if laying down. "It's comfortable and big enough to be safe in accidents. Plus there's nothing wrong with leather seats."
"It's slow and looks like every other Cadillac on earth."
"That's likely why your dad wants you to drive it. So you don't stand out."
"And when I go out in public as his daughter I do drive it. When I drive my car I don't want a thing to do with him. Do you understand what I mean Taylor? When I drive my car I just wanna be Storm. I just wish my last name was Smith then. I want people to know me for being the best racer with a cool car, not for being the daughter of someone their common sense tells them to fear."
"I understand." Boy did he ever. He knew were she just Storm the street racer his mother would have a much easier time accepting her into his life. As Storm, Benny 'Chains' daughter there could be a fight over pot roast.
"For some reason I bet you do." Storm said as she looked over at Taylor where he was competently driving her car. "There some reason why you don't wanna take the Cadillac boat to your mom's?"
Because it looks like the life embodied? Taylor thought but was wise enough to keep to himself. "Because I don't want to have to go right back to your house after dinner."
"Ok. What should I wear to your moms?" Storm had never met a man whom she was dating's parents before and she really wasn't sure how she was supposed to go about doing so now.
"Whatever. She's your father's age. Anything your dad would find scandalous, so will my mom."
"Everything I own my dad finds scandalous in some way."
"He wouldn't think what you have on now was. Wear what you want Storm. It won't matter. I'm just sayin' all those suggestive tee shirts and crop tops you wear will shock mom a bit. She's not a fan of girls dressing revealing, ok?"
"Don't get all uptight on me Taylor. I'll find something to wear."
Taylor pulled the car up to his own house and got out. Storm did as well and walked around the rear of the car. She slid into the driver's seat as Taylor started toward his front door. "I'll be by for you in about half an hour, ok?"
"I'll be ready Taylor."
She pulled away from the curb and headed for home. When she got home she parked the car in the garage and headed in through the back door and up to her room. She took another quick shower so she could leave her hair down and headed into her room to try and pick out an outfit that wouldn't shock Taylor's conservative mother.
Ten minutes later Storm was busy contemplating how many tee shirts and pairs of various varieties of gym pants she owned in her underwear. She really didn't think the event would be causal enough for gym wear. But it wasn't like she could wear her club wear either.
She finally pulled on a pair of black stretch material flair bottom pants. She pulled a face at herself in her mirror. The pants were too low on her abdomen for this occasion, but if she wore a long enough top it wouldn't matter. The issue was she seemed to own only tee shirts and revealing dance clothes.
She quickly remembered that some of her mother's things were in a box in a spare room. There might just be something suitable in Cara's old clothes. After all, the clothes of the seventies were back, Storm thought with a smirk.
After routing around in the box 'til almost the bottom she came up with a flesh coloured blouse. It was from Neiman Marcus if the tag was to be believed and was covered in fancy beadwork with little cap sleeves and a vee neck. It went fairly deep into her cleavage but it was still classy. It had to be, after all, it had belonged to her mother and her mother was nothing if not classy. She pulled it on quickly, knowing her deadline to meet Taylor out front was already a few minutes past gone.
There went her idea to wear a touch of make up. She shrugged. If she'd been wearing make up Taylor might just have dropped out of shock. She sprinted back to her own room, slid her feet into a pair of strappy sandals she'd never worn before and jogged down the stairs.
She found Taylor waiting for her in the driveway. She opened the passenger door of his van and climbed in. "Hey."
"Hey. I was wonderin' if you decided to stay home." Taylor made a crack at her lateness.
"Yeah, yeah. I had to go lookin' through my mom's old stuff for a shirt ok, shesh."
"You turned out ok."
"Wow! Thanks." Storm retorted sarcastically before turning to look out the window. "Did you tell your mom you were bringing a guest?"
"No, it'll be a nice surprise. She kinda figured out I was seein' somebody and she's been after me who ever since."
"You actually let on to your mom you were seeing somebody? As in she knows you're only seeing one girl exclusively?"
"Yeah." Taylor rubbed his head, slightly agitated.
"I'm impressed." Storm chuckled. His discomfort did something to relieve her own nervousness with the situation.
They fell into silence as Taylor drove the van from Storm's house to his mom's. His mother lived slightly outside the city limits and they were facing about forty five minutes drive to get to her place.
When they pulled up to a pretty white house on its own lot Taylor cut the van and climbed out. Storm fought nerves as she moved to follow him up to the front door. This was Taylor's sainted mother. She hadn't seen Mrs. Reese since she was about fourteen and Taylor and his mother had still lived right in Brooklyn close to Teddy and his family. What would Taylor's mom, who had never appreciated Taylor's job choice, think of him dating someone like her?
If Storm had to guess she'd bet money on Mrs. Reese hating the idea. The question was exactly what she'd do about it when she found out. Taylor already had the door open by the time Storm started up the stairs.
"Are you ok?" Taylor asked.
"I'm fine. Why?"
"You're walkin' so slow I thought you mighta hurt yourself."
"Ha ha ha. I'm fine Tay, get in the house." She gave him a playful shove into the front hall.
"I'm just checkin' up on ya. Don't get all pissy with me."
Storm smirked. "Yeah, you were full of love and concern." She said sarcastically.
"You're really gonna hurt my feelings if you keep acting like I don't care what happens to you."
"I'm sure."
"Taylor? Is that you?" Someone called from inside the house.
"Yeah ma! It's me." Taylor called back, bending over to unlace his boots.
"Who's that with you?" Mrs. Reese called back.
"A surprise." Taylor answered, his teasing making him look years younger and half as dangerous. "What's for supper?" He called as he stood up and kicked off his shoes.
"Pot roast." Taylor's mother called back. Taylor grinned. He'd called that one. He heard his mother walking their way through the house up from the back where the kitchen was. He looked to his left and then his right trying to find Storm. He found her behind him instead. He was about to ask her if she was ok when his mother finally reached the porch.
"It feels like forever since I've seen you." She said as she hugged him. Taylor had to bend down to allow her to do so, and to place a kiss on his cheek. "Now, let's meet this young lady that's finally convinced you to pick one girl to be with for more than a few days at a time."
"Yeah, let's meet her." Taylor said with a devilish glint in his eyes as he pulled Storm out from behind himself and pushed her in front of him, between him and his mother. He rested his hands on her shoulders lightly, as much to hold her in place as to reassure her. "Mom, I'm sure you remember Storm."
"Hey Mrs. Reese." Storm said meekly as she held her hand out to the older woman.
"Miss Demaret. It's been a long time." Mrs Reese answered formally.
"About six years. But please, call me Storm. I really don't know who Miss Demaret would be. Sounds too much like you're talking to my mom."
"I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to make you think of your mother. You poor thing, growing up without her." As though thinking of Storm's upbringing had reminded her that she'd known her since she was a small girl she took Storm into a quick hug.
"It's ok, really." Storm sighed, never sure how to explain her mother to people who still thought her mother was dead now that she knew she wasn't. "My mom didn't die. Her death was faked, just another one of my father's harebrained schemes. I just found out she's still alive a little while ago and went to meet her. I have a room in her house down in Miami now, and a little sister I just met. She's twelve." Storm babbled a bit, not sure what to say.
"You never told me you had a sister 'Ella. When were you gonna tell me?"
"I'm sorry Tay, I guess just with," Storm looked up at Taylor and shrugged to try and fake flippancy when she really felt nothing close. "All the stuff with Chris I guess I just forgot. We haven't had a lot of time to talk since Chris was killed."
"I'm so sorry about your cousin dear. I know you were all very close." Mrs. Reese said as she took Storm's hand and started to lead her deeper into the house.
"Matty's takin it pretty hard." Storm answered.
"How is your brother? I never see him anymore."
"He's ok. I never told him about mom yet though. I'm hopin' he might just take the chance of a free place to stay as a sign he's supposed to get the hell outta New York."
"What about you?"
"I'm a big city girl at heart." Storm answered with a smile.
"Miami's not a small city."
"No, but it's not my city. I like it there but it's too," Storm paused for a word. There wasn't one. "Too sunny, too hot. The people are too fake and plastic. Too much like a vacation. New York's home. It's dirty, it's mean and it's mine. I just don't really feel at home anywhere else. The people are real here, true to what they are."
"Of course New York has some other draws doesn't it?"
"Not really, no." Storm said with a smile, pretending she didn't know what Taylor's mom was getting at. That Taylor was a draw to New York as well.
"So that's how it is, huh?" Taylor asked as he caught up to his mother and girlfriend, giving one of Storm's shiny curls a tug for punishment.
"Oh! Well, of course I miss Taylor when I'm staying in Miami. I haven't spent a lot of time in Miami yet. I just know it doesn't feel like home. That'll come as I get use to the place. I met a guy with a good garage already so at least the car has someplace to get taken care of down there. I doubt CJ'll be happy to hear it though."
"Who's CJ?" Taylor's mom asked.
"My technician. He built the Skyline for me and he does all the work on it I can't do myself."
"Do you work on it a lot yourself?"
"Just messin' around mostly. I don't know enough to be really serious about it. I just like doin' it mostly. Hangin out in the garage gives me an excuse not to be in the house."
"Is there something wrong at home?"
Storm really didn't know how to answer that. She knew that it would likely make Taylor's mother happy she wasn't in good with her old man, but it was still a sore subject. "The old man's not happy I found out about my mother." Storm's face screwed up in thought. "We had a huge fight right before that because of something I did but when he pissed," Storm looked up in chagrin when the swear word left her mouth. Taylor snickered. Storm decided to simply continue as if nothing had happened. "Me off I decided to go through his office. I wasn't sure at that time if I was gonna sell him up the river or not. When I found out about my mother I took off to meet her."
"What does Matty think of the whole situation?"
"He doesn't know." Storm lifted one shoulder. "I didn't want to tell him in case she didn't want us. I won't ever put Matty through something like that after all he's already been through."
Lilith Reese looked at Storm with new respect. "Now that you know Cara is glad to have you back in her life, and isn't going to turn you away, isn't it time you told Matty?"
Taylor looked at Storm searchingly, revealing he agreed with his mother.
"Maybe you just don't want to share her with Matty yet?" Lilith asked, putting Taylor's thoughts into words to succinctly Taylor turned to look at her in shock.
"Oh nothing like that Mrs. Reese. I was still making plans to come home and tell him the night he called me and told me he was stranded in another state and Chris and Marbles were dead." Storm didn't know if Taylor had shared the details of his injury with his mother and if he hadn't Storm wasn't going to be the one to tell her. "I've been sharing everything with my brother so long I won't mind sharing this. It's just that if we hadn't been living with our uncle life'd be a lot different for both of us. I don't want to dump on Matty that if Dad hadn't been such an ass he and I both would have gone to live with our mother and uncle Teddy never would have had the chance to do what he did. Not after all Matty just went through."
"I think you're old enough to call me Lilith now dear. And for what it's worth I think it's time you told your brother. He deserves to know his mother is still out there too."
"I know he does. You just haven't seen Matty since I brought him home from Montana. He has so much stress and so much going on right now, it hardly seems fair to dump more on him now."
"What about your little sister? Doesn't she deserve to know her brother?"
"Yeah, of course. But as far as I'm concerned she deserves to know her father too but that ain't never gonna happen."
"Why not?" Taylor asked.
"Cause she's Benny's and mom made me swear not to tell him. He doesn't know. I guess they tried to get back together when Matty and I were kids, right before pops when to jail. She got pregnant then but decided she couldn't stay with pops so she went back to Miami. When she found out about Tabitha she didn't tell dad because she thought he'd take her away like he took me'n Matty away."
"You're gonna keep that from 'Chains'?" Taylor asked. He clearly didn't think it was a great idea. He also realized he should not have used Storm's father's nickname in front of his mother a second later. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She was frowning. Shit.
"What else can I do? We hardly talk anyway now and mom's right. He'd flip out and he might decide to take Tabitha away from her for revenge. I won't do that to my own mother Taylor."
"Well, enough of this talk! You two had a hard enough day without finishing it with fighting and negativity over dinner. You two go sit at the dining table and I'll get the food."
"Can I do anything to help?" Storm offered, surprising herself and Taylor. She wasn't very domestic.
"No dear, you just go sit down. Taylor will show you where." Lilith turned to her son. "You'll need to set an extra place for Storm. I didn't know you were bringing a guest with you."
"I don't know where dining room is in the new house, but I could likely find it." Storm admitted but allowed Taylor to lead her through the rooms by the hand.
"There you are 'Ella. You hang tight here and I'll grab an extra plate."
Storm just nodded. She heard Taylor and his mother talking in low tones in the kitchen and a few minutes later Taylor came back with a plate, and silverware. He seemed to pause for a moment, thinking about where to sit. He ultimately picked a seat right beside Storm rather than across the table from her. He set up his place and left the room again. A moment later he followed his mother back into the room carrying a platter with the roast on one hand and a bowl of potatoes in the other.
Both set down their burdens onto the table. "You want a drink Storm?" Taylor asked.
"Whatever you're having." She answered.
Taylor returned with two glasses of water. "There you go."
"Thanks."
Dinner went well, in Storm's opinion. She was glad to know that Lilith didn't seem to hate the idea of her and Taylor together. It wasn't like she'd break up with him over it but she knew it would bother him if his mother, whom he loved and respected very much, couldn't stand the thought of them together.
They stayed to talk a while after the meal. Storm couldn't shake the feeling that while Lilith Reese was ok with her personally she still wasn't thrilled with the idea of her being with Taylor. She's seemed ok with it at first. Storm could only figure that seeing Taylor with her, seeing how he truly treated her well and seemed to really care for her had turned Lilith off the idea.
Storm could only guess perhaps at first his mother had seen them as a passing thing and was now seeing them in a more permanent light. She figured she was on to something when Lilith asked Taylor to help her move something upstairs. Storm offered to help and was told it would only take a moment so she might as well stay put. When they came back downstairs Taylor had a strange look on his face.
A short while later he told Storm it was time to go. Lilith showed them to the door and they drove back to the city. Taylor didn't say much and since Storm didn't know what had put him into such a bad mood she didn't say anything either. She didn't want to make it worse. She didn't think, after her day and all the things she'd been through up to today she could take a fight with Taylor. When he drove her right home, despite how he'd told her earlier he didn't want to have to take her right home she was sure his mother had said something that had made him think if he wanted to stay with her or not.
Her mental state was fragile enough that she had herself convinced he was going to break up with her over it. She walked into her house fighting tears. Taylor Reese was the one thing in her life that still had the ability to make her feel such intense emotions. Even Matty didn't make her feel to the extremes he once had.
With thoughts of what she figured was her impending break up with Taylor running through her mind she took off up to her room.
Taylor started the forty-five minute drive back out to his mother's with a sigh. He hadn't wanted to leave Storm waiting in the living room while he fought with his mom but he was going to have to go talk to her. She was upset, he was upset and he had a bad feeling they'd managed to upset Storm, despite trying not to.
He knew Storm was very in tuned with moods around her. She was very good at reading people. It was almost uncanny how she could know things people were hiding from her just by how they held themselves and how they spoke. She could pick things up from what was said and from what was left unsaid on purpose equally well and she often used them to decide how to act or what was going to happen. Knowing that made him feel even more unsettled.
The conversation he'd had upstairs with his mother was still running through his head.
"Taylor, you always told me you wanted to have a Jewish wedding, live a Jewish life."
"That hasn't changed mom."
"She's a Catholic. You can't marry her in a Jewish wedding. Not one legal in our faith."
"We'll cross that bridge if we ever get there."
"Taylor, she won't convert. Her family is just as dedicated to being Catholic as we are to being Jewish."
"Not Storm." Taylor said defensively. "She only goes because Matty and Mr. Demaret do."
"She will not do anything that will have her father mad at her, mark my words. They might be angry with each other now but they will make up. You know the relationship they have just as well as I do. It was always evident that that man has put all his pride on his daughter and she all her idolization onto her father. They're two people cut from the same cloth."
"Mom, it's not important right now. I've only been dating her a few weeks. I don't think I'm likely to go down on one knee any time soon. She and I will work it out if it ever becomes an issue."
"You already care about her a great deal." His mother had said, sadness in her eyes. "I can see it when you talk to her, look at her. There's something in how you look at her. It's never been something I've seen from you before."
"She's a good person. You just have to know where to look to see it."
"I do see it. I just think she'd be better off finding a nice Italian boy to date and you would do better finding a girl who has our beliefs. Both of you will be happier and suffer less in the long run if you do it now not later."
"I can't believe we're having this conversation. You married an Italian man."
"Yes and I wouldn't change it for the world because I had you, but turning my back on my faith and my beliefs changed me in a lot of ways and I don't want that for you."
"Can't you just want me to be happy?"
"By happy do you mean higher in this corrupt world you work in? Don't think it hasn't crossed my mind you're using this girl for what she can do for you!" His mother started to get irate the more she wound herself up.
"I like Storm. I won't lie and say I would have met her anyway if my father hadn't been one of Teddy's men. I don't know, maybe I would have and maybe I wouldn't have. But I do know I'd like her just as much, if not more, if she wasn't Benny's kid, if she was just another Brooklyn hoodrat."
"Of course you're saying that, but how much of this infatuation you have with her is because children the two of you have together would be able to be 'made' because their mother was pure blooded Italian?"
Taylor tamped down his anger with effort and rubbed his head. "Mom, I'm gonna take Stormianna home and then you and I are gonna talk about this more."
Lilith frowned heavily but nodded her agreement.
They walked down the stairs together. When Storm's green eyes met his he saw that she knew. Much as he and his mother pasted smiles on their faces and acted like all was well she saw right through him. He told her it was time to go very soon after and they left. He hated every minute of the ride to her house. He could tell she knew something was wrong but she was so messed up from the day she'd had she didn't know which way was up as it was. She simply sat in her seat in his van with her legs pulled up to her chest and looked out the passenger side window instead of the front. She almost hadn't waited for the van to stop before she was out of it and running up to the front door of her house.
He pulled up to his mother's house for the second time with a sigh. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation.
Storm walked into her room and started shedding her dressy clothes in a trail on her way to her closet. She headed straight to the closet and walked in so she could get dressed again. She picked out an outfit which had been hanging in the back of her closet for some time. The tags were still firmly attached because she'd never worked up the nerve to wear the clothes in public.
She pulled on the pants first and looked in her mirror. With a face she pulled them off again and removed her underwear. There was no help for it, she couldn't wear anything under her pants. The front and back were two separate pieces of material joined from top to bottom by straps, allowing her leg to show through from hip to ankle and the front across both her hip bones and most of her stomach was cut out in a starburst pattern. Anything she wore under them was going to show. Not to mention the material moulded her body like a second skin, the shiny cloth looking like mercury across her body and bringing out the best of her naturally dark, tanned skin.
She put the matching top on. It was a cropped bustier that also laced up the front and had interesting cut out sections as well, not to mention not much of a back.
As she put on the matching silver armbands around her upper arms she contemplated the sanity of wearing the clothes she was wearing out of her house. As she tied on her mile high, clear as glass wrap around sandals she tried to convince herself it was a good idea to go to a dance club dressed like she belonged in a rap video, or barring that swinging around a pole to the tune of some stripper song.
She straightened her riotous curls into a sleek waterfall of shining blonde before she did her make up with a very heavy hand and sprayed on 'Beyond Paradise' before pulling on her leather trench coat so if her father or brother saw her on her way out they wouldn't flip out at her and forbid her from leaving the house. Not to mention it was November and she knew she'd freeze to death waiting for the car to warm up without a coat. She got in the Cadillac and headed down to Overdrive.
She left her coat in the car reluctantly, unsure about having so much of her body on display. She knew Taylor would hate it and the part of her thinking like an adult knew that was why she was wearing it. It was too racy and attention seeking to be her style. But she wanted to piss him off like he'd hurt her. She also knew he wasn't even likely to see her wearing her new outfit but she didn't care. Other people would see her. Other guys would want her. And goddamn Taylor Reese and his mother anyway. Who needs them?
Even as her eyes were adjusting to the dim lighting of Ivan's club she was seeking out Devon and CJ. She found them in their usual corner and started their way. She stopped beside CJ and waited for them to notice her. When they finally did two jaws dropped.
"Storm? Is that you?" Devon asked. Storm nodded. "It's just that I've never seen so much of you at one time." Devon continued.
Storm smiled almost shyly. "Is it too over the top?"
"If you don't want every guy in the place slipping in his own drool then yes."
"Damn you look good grease monkey." CJ said, using his pet name for Storm as he turned around in his chair. "Wanna dance with me? Please?"
"If you want your toes stepped on than sure." Storm answered, glad her friends still saw her as just Storm and didn't feel the need to treat her different because her cousin died.
"You drinkin' tonight sweets?" Devon asked as CJ started to lead Storm out onto the dance floor.
"Hell yeah." Storm answered back over her shoulder. As she and CJ reached the dance floor the dj started to play 'Get it poppin'.
"So, whatcha drivin' tonight?" Cj asked into her ear as he gripped Storm's hips in his hands as they moved together.
"Cadillac. You?"
"Just a little CL500 convertible I picked up the other day." CJ grinned.
"Really?" Storm cocked an eyebrow as she looked back over her shoulder. Did anyone just 'pick up' a Mercedes CL500? There was more to the story than CJ was telling her. She resolved to find out later how he came to have his new ride.
"Yeah. You ever wanna go for a ride you lemme know girlie."
"If that's ever an option I'll let you know." Storm said, picking up on what CJ was offering. There had always been an element of attraction in their relationship Storm knew. It was just that it was more on his end than it ever had been hers. He was a nice looking man, but Storm liked him too much to do him the favour of giving Taylor any reason to go after him. Who'd fix the Skyline then?
"Alright. Do I even want to know where the Skyline is?"
"It's in Miami, but it's still mine. Long story."
CJ only nodded, sensing it wasn't a topic she was interested in pursuing just then. When the song ended they made their way back to Devon, who was holding down the fort at their table with a selection of drinks.
"I didn't know what you wanted so your friend Ivan sent over a selection."
"I love Vanya." Storm said with a grin as she tossed back a very interesting rainbow coloured shot off the table. "Whatever that was, it was good."
"There are two more." Devon pushed them over with a smile. Storm drank them in rapid succession.
"Don't just sit there, drink up." She told her friends. They were all too happy to oblige. Likely because he knew what Storm had been through with her cousin's funeral Vanya kept the table covered in the drinks he saw her enjoying the most and Storm, unable to waste good liquor kept sucking them down.
'You're being stupid' kept running through her head but she didn't listen. She also knew it was more over the fact she'd convinced herself that Taylor would be soon telling her he didn't want to see her anymore than over Chris, but all the factors had merged together to leave her in a lethal mood. Being at Overdrive was driving home the point that her cousin would never again walk around the security with a cocky grin right over to her side to pull her into a dance even more suggestive than the one she had been executing with CJ. On that note, CJ asked her to go dance with him again and she said yes, tossing back another shot for the road.
Taylor walked into Overdrive. He wasn't happy. That might even have been the biggest understatement ever. His conversation with his mother had been long and painful. They hadn't come to any sort of resolution other than to let the subject drop. Neither of them was willing to cave to the other's position.
To add to the horrible night of driving and fighting he'd dealt with, when he'd called the house to talk to Storm she'd been long gone. Matty hadn't even known where she'd gone, let alone when or how. Matty had been working on the assumption she was still out with him. Of course Taylor had known where she was right away. There was only one place she'd run off to when she was mad at him and the world, not to mention no doubt looking for revenge.
Being prepared for it didn't make it any easier to handle when he walked into the club she was so fond of and found her dancing to a very sexy song with her friend CJ. He stopped in the shadows of the door and watched her move, CJ behind her moving his hips in a synchronous rhythm with hers.
The outfit she had on should have been illegal for several reasons, not the least of which was the way most of the guys within a ten foot radius of her were watching her move. The multicoloured lights of the dance club glistened on the silver, liquid silver surface of her clothes and danced in the shiny gold of her hair. Her hair being down around her in that outfit should definitely have classified as a sin on its own. He had never seen her hair straight before and it changed her look from a wild hoyden to a sexy, sophisticated woman. Even from the other side of the room he could see how it focused attention on her exotically slanted green eyes and winged brows which pointed instead of arching. She had her brother's high cheekbones and her straight hair played up the angles.
He didn't know the song they were dancing to but she was enjoying it whatever it was. She was moving against CJ in ways he knew he never wanted to see her move with any man but himself.
As much as he hated it, he was almost hypnotised by it and he stood frozen to his spot and simply watched her move. That was until the first time the song spoke the phrase 'when they ask me who I love you're the answer.' When he heard that line and saw his girl dancing with another man he saw red. He started her way but he made slow progress, hampered by the intoxicated, grinding crowd who were thickly filling the floor. Storm was on the far side of the room and he realized he was going to have to make his way around the long way. He was never going to make it across all the dancing bodies.
She and CJ were dancing to 'King of the Dancehall' by Beenieman when Storm realized Taylor was at Overdrive. She'd honestly thought he would never figure out where she'd be. She also knew for a fact he hated both dance clubs in general, but especially the one where she worked for a Russian mob boss. When she finally saw him moving around the crowded room it was clear the expression on his face was a study in anger. She managed to keep from him the fact she had seen him and continued to play it cool. She never stopped dancing, never lost her rhythm as she wiggled her way down to the floor.
Like he sensed trouble was really forthcoming for both Storm and CJ if Taylor got across the crowded club to where they were dancing before they stopped Devon got up and crossed to Storm. He was closer and smaller so he made it in lots of time to cut in before Taylor could finish his obstacle ridden path around the perimeter of the room.
"CJ you need to go cool it someplace else." Devon said as he grabbed Storm by the hand and pulled her away.
"Devon, you're messing with somethin' you don't understand." Storm warned in low and angry tones even as she picked up a much tamer version of the same dance with Devon.
"I know you're in this club wearing less than he's gonna like dancing a lot more friendly with CJ than he's gonna like."
"I can handle my own self." Storm assured, the alcohol she'd ingested making her feel ten foot tall and bullet proof. "No one tells me what to wear or where to dance or with who!"
"I have no doubt. No one tells you that much of anything if you don't want to hear it sweets. It's always been that way, even when you should really be listening instead of playing at being the most independent woman on earth. But fine, that's your prerogative. What about CJ though? Doesn't he think Taylor's just some guy in collections you happen to date sometimes? He doesn't know why he should be a bit more afraid of him does he?"
"No, but I can take care of me and my business. And that includes Taylor and his bullshit."
"Then take him outside and handle it. You know you can't afford to make a scene in here. What if Ivan decides to handle it for you?"
"He won't."
"He might. Taylor's almost over here and the closer he gets the more red his face turns." Devon confided to Storm before walking away with a wave. Storm turned around to find Taylor right behind her.
"Hey." She yelled to be heard over the music.
Taylor didn't answer her greeting, just took her by the arm and dragged her around the crowd and out the front door.
"Christ Taylor, you're hurtin' me." Storm growled as she fought to get her arm back out of his grip.
Taylor let go abruptly. "Sorry. What the fuck are you doin' in there?"
"It should be pretty fuckin' self explanatory. I'm dancing and having a few drinks with my friends."
"Where the hell are your clothes?"
"I sorta thought that was what I had on." Storm answered sarcastically.
"That don't pass for clothes in my book."
"I guess it's a good thing I don't care what you think I should wear then isn't it?"
"Why you takin' this shit out on me? I didn't do anything but you're here to punish me and you know it."
Storm's brows drew together over her nose, one side of which rose skyward, taking the corner of her lip with it in a sneer. "What'd you care?"
"I care because I care about you and I hate to see you doin' this shit to yourself because you can't deal with it in a better way."
"I deal just fine. Know what? Fuck you! How I dress and how I deal are none of your fuckin' business."
"You made it my business when you came to my place and asked me to come with you today, made me sit with the family, made me ride with your family. You can't pull me that deep into your life and then tell me that the things you do don't affect me too, because they do."
"My clothes have nothing to do with that." Storm partially capitulated, willing to admit that he was a big part of her life because she'd made him one, but not willing to admit that he had any say over what she did with her free time or how she dressed while she did it.
"Maybe not, but you wearin' that, up in a place like this bein' all over some guy does."
"CJ is just my friend. He knows it ain't more and can't never be more. Just cause we're dancing doesn't mean anything else."
"The simple fact is you didn't come here in that outfit planning to have a few drinks and hang out with your friends. You came out here dressed like that to get back at me for whatever you think I did that made you give me the silent treatment in the car."
"You can stop frontin' like you weren't talkin' about me when I wasn't in the room. I know you were so just drop the act." Storm tossed her head and looked away, toward the entrance of the club. She was getting uncomfortable with the subject matter and getting ready to simply walk away from the conversation.
Taylor rubbed his head agitatedly. Just as he feared; she knew. "I don't know what to tell ya Storm."
"Just tell me we're through. Get it over with."
"Is that what you think?"
"It was pretty fuckin' clear your mother couldn't stand the thought of you with me so how long will it take for you to give into what she wants? I mean, for cryin' out loud, my father seems ok with the idea but your mother can't stand it."
"Mom has issues, but I'm twenty four years old Storm. My mother doesn't run my life. If she did there'd be a hell of a lot more different with it than just me not dating you. Besides, she'll come around."
"Maybe I don't think I should have to know she hates me while we wait for that to happen."
"She doesn't hate you 'Ella. She hates the life I live and she hates the reminder of it in the form of you but she likes you just fine."
"Or at least she would if I wasn't Italian and catholic."
"She'll learn to like it or she won't. It won't change my mind about you. Would it have changed yours if your father decided he hated me?"
"No, but I do a lot of things that I know my dad will hate on purpose so that's not even comparing apples to apples."
Her statement actually managed to make Taylor laugh. "Like change your hair to this colour?" Taylor asked as he picked up a handful of the silky straight tresses, which almost reached her waist.
"Among other things." Storm answered with a suggestive look up at him from under her eyelashes, which had been coaxed into impossibly long, thick fans by some very cleverly applied mascara. She batted them in what she hoped was a seductive manner.
Taylor laughed harder. Storm and flirting were just so antonymous to each other that when she tried it was so obviously not a comfort zone for her he couldn't help but chuckle. When she really wanted to outright remind him how sexy he found her he couldn't resist but when she tried to play the coquette it was just amusing. Straightforwardness was far more effective from Storm than a flirtatious act.
Instead of taking it badly he'd laughed at her attempt, like he'd sort of figured she would she joined him laughing. It could have been the liquor she'd had or just the stress but either way she didn't seem insulted.
She took his hand and headed toward the door of the club. "Come dance with me awhile before you take me home." The phrase could simply have been pointing out that she was too intoxicated to drive herself, but the way her green eyes smouldered when she said it, she was clearing implying more than the fact she would need a ride.
He agreed with a nod, unable to force words out of his suddenly very dry mouth. He allowed himself to be led out onto the dance floor. Allowed Storm to place his hands where she wanted them as they waited for the next song to start.
As the music started they started to move. Dancing in a club to such music was one thing where Taylor was more than happy to let his girl lead. He knew it wasn't his strong suit but when he just focused on keeping eye contact with Storm his body seemed to just know what to do to follow hers.
How was it that men looked hot and tired when they got sweaty but women looked like they were glistening with something that just might have been sex appeal? Taylor asked himself as he looked down at the exposed caramel of Storm's Mediterranean skin which was shining with the perspiration resulting from their efforts on the floor. So many girls looked deathly pale next to his dark complexion, but Storm's skin made his look almost white. Funny that her brother looked like any other white man where as Storm definitely showed her decent came from a place where the sand was white and the water was clear blue and snow was a four letter word to which there was no meaning.
CJ watched Storm dance with her boyfriend to Infatuation by Christina Aguilera. They moved like one person, totally in tune to each other. If they'd broken eye contact over the course of the three songs they'd danced to since Storm had brought the large man back inside the club CJ hadn't picked up on it.
"He steals my heart when he takes my hand and we dance to the rhythm of the band. I feel his fingertips grip my hips and I slip back we dip into a state of bliss…"
The intensity they had for each other was plain to see. But Storm did everything in her life with that same intensity so that didn't surprise CJ one bit. He just hoped that in the end this Taylor punk wouldn't be just another guy who saw Storm as a quick ride to the top of some scene or another. It had happened in the past.
"…reads the tattoo on his arm. He tells me Mami I need ya. And my heart beat pumps so strong…I begin to give in with no hesitation…its pure infatuation."
He had to admit they looked good together which shouldn't have been the case. Storm was dressed to the nines in an outfit more blatantly sexy than anything he'd ever seen her wear. Taylor was wearing a white undershirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. He shouldn't have looked good with a woman like Storm.
She should have looked good with a man in a loose button up shirt and Tommy Hilfiger slacks with dress socks on and Italian leather loafers. Someone wearing cologne not bought at a drug store. Someone with perfectly styled hair, not someone without any. In short, she should look better with him than with her Taylor. But she looked better with Taylor and CJ knew it. And it was all simply because of how they were just looking at each other.
"Skin the color of cinnamon, his eyes light up and I melt within. Feels so good it must be a sin. I can't stop what I started, I'm giving in. He brings life to my fantasies. Sparks a passion inside of me. Finds the words when I can not speak. In the silence, his heartbeat is music to me."
Like the rest of the dance floor, the rest of the club, the rest of the damn world didn't exist and didn't matter one iota to them. Like they couldn't wait to blow the whole scene off and be alone some place.
And god damn it, it wasn't fair.
Taylor upset her all the time, put her down. He wasn't good to her, not like CJ knew he would be. He'd make her his queen, put her on the throne she belonged on. Let her race, make sure her car would win. Take her dancing, take her to beautiful places she'd only dreamed of seeing. He had the class to be welcomed everywhere and the money to take them there. But she only had interest in Taylor.
He had more in common with Storm than Taylor ever would. She could be a great driver, like he'd been before his wreck. With him to build the cars and her to drive them there'd be no stopping them.
He knew that could be true even without the romantic entanglements, but he wanted the whole package. He also knew if he valued the life he'd come so close to loosing in a flaming car wreck, he wouldn't push his position. Storm could keep the details of what her boyfriend did unsaid all she wanted, it wasn't as obtuse as she seemed to think. He wouldn't mess with Taylor, he wasn't that stupid. But that didn't mean he didn't wish he was the one out there with Storm.
He watched as Taylor led her off the floor toward the door.
No, there wasn't much he wouldn't give to be in Taylor's shoes right now.
He tossed back another drink with a violent sigh as his blue eyes scanned the room. It was time he moved on and looked for a girl he was free to chase after. Waiting for Storm to fall for him was just wasted time.