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Chapter 35-Rough and Rugged

Jesse's POV

I pulled the Jetta into the Ramada hotel. I grabbed two duffle bags for me and Diana. I let Elijah out the back seat while Diana grabbed Jessica and her diaper bag. We were pulling over for the night. We were somewhere near Jackson, Mississippi. We had been driving since we left Savannah, Georgia. Dom was determined to get home to Letty. I understand she was sick and he wanted to be there with her, but we were all dog tired. Thank God we only had one more day of driving.

Together, we all walked into the lobby of the large hotel. It was nice. Very bright and expensive-looking. There was a large, diamond chandlier hanging in the center of the roof. The people there looked eligant and rich ... far from what we looked like. We were rough, rugged, and bad as hell. Sure enough, the room got silent and all eyes were on us. In the silence, you could hear soft jazz playing.

"Problem?" Dominic asked, his voice sounding even more powerful over the silence. He realized it probably made it worse and shut his eyes. He just made a gesture for us to continue to the counter. Eventually, the people continued what they were doing. We approached the counter.

"Hello, we'd like a couple rooms please," Dominic said to the clerk. He looked to be in his early twenties. He had red hair and green eyes. His body was small, but he seemed to have a small build to him. His nametag read 'Chris'. He looked intimidated by us. It brought a smile to my face. And Vince's.

"Um ... animals aren't allowed in the building," Chris said, looking down at Cupcake, who for the first time was behaving herself.

"Well we are travelling cross-country and we have nowhere else to put her," Diana said, holding the leash to her tighter.

"I'm sorry Ma'am. You have to keep her outside," Chris replied, smirking.

"So the pound can pick her up by the morning? No thanks. We'll just keep her in our room. She doesn't bark unless she feels threatned," Diana explained, patting Cupcake's head.

"I'm sure, but she can't be in the building. It's against policy," Chris repeated, his voice exasperated.

"Lose the attitude okay. She stays with us. The way I see it is, it's your job to get us rooms. You refuse to do that because of our dog, you're not doing your job. If you're not doing your job, you get fired. I've been driving for about ten hours and I want sleep. Get me a room. Now," Dominic growled, making sure to keep his voice low.

Chris swallowed hard and looked at Dominic. Vince and I were about to suffocate from holding in our laughter. The kid was scared shitless.

"I think you better get us some rooms. Big Dawg gets vicious with no sleep," Leon said, egging on the situation.

"Right. H-h-how many rooms?" he stuttered, looking on something at the computer screen.

"Four please," I whispered, holding a sleeping Jessica in my arms.

"Five. I do not want to sleep with the mountain bear," Leon joked, receiving a sarcastic laugh from Vince.

"Ok. One or two beds?" Chris asked.

"Three with one bed, two with twin beds please." Dominic said, massaging his temples with his fingers.

"Ok. How many nights?" Chris was almost afraid of asking. He noticed the vein in Dom's forehead that was thumping.

"Just tonight Chris. One night. We're paying in cash. We want four non-smoking rooms and one smoking. Can we have them all on the same floor please," Dom answered the questions that would probably have been next. Dom gave Chris our names, the last changed. We were: Dominic Delores, Vince Vegas (pronounced Va-gahs), Leonard Layton, Jesse Jenkins, Diana Delores (she was Dom's "sister"), Brian Bentley, and Roman Renaldo. It was obvious they were made up, but Chris didn't seem to notice.

Chris keyed in the information (and quite fast, I might add). He read us the price and the activities they had that night.

"We have poker games going on in the lobby from eleven to twelve. The pool will be open, but the young ones must be accompanied by an adult. The bar in the upper deck of the hotel is open and free," the look on Vince's face brightened up,"we're showing vintage movies-" he tried to finish.

"Look Chris, I know this is your job to give us the run down on the hotel. But you're really pressing my buttons kid. I don't know about them, but I'm going to my room and going to sleep. I'm not going to play poker or watch vintage movies. So please," Dom handed him the two grand for the rooms, "just give me the keys so we can go," Dominic said threw gritted teeth.

Chris nodded nervously and turned around. He grabbed the key cards from the wall and handed them to us.

"Rooms 120-124. Enjoy your stay here," Chris struggled. "Um, Mr. Big Dawg sir?" Chris said. Vince and I let out a chuckle, but quickly stop from the look Dom gave us.

"What kid?" Dom replied.

"Would you mine taking the elevator here? So the security doesn't see the dog," Chris said, pointing to the private elevator by the entrance.

Dom nodded and led us to the elevator. Dom, Elijah, Brian, and Vince, and Cupcake got on the first elevator. Diana, Leon, Rome, Jessica, and I got on the one next to it. We made our way up to our floor, it being vacant on both ends. Dom carried Elijah to room 120, saying goodbye to us all. We return the goodbye and went to our rooms; Vince-room 121, Rome and Brian-room 122, Diana, Jessica, Cupcake, and I had room 123, and Leon got room 124. We got the smoking room.

When we got to our, it was absolutely beautiful. The colors of the room were green and gold. The bed was queen-sized. The headboard was gold and the comforter was green and plush-looking. There was a small table by the window, which overlooked the city. There were priceless paintings on the walls and exotic-looking plants in the corners of the room.

"Jesse come check the bathroom out," Diana yelled from the back room. I carefully laid Jessica in the center of the bed, covering her with the comforters. Cupcake jumped in the bed, laying at the end. I walked into the bathroom where Diana was. It looked better than room itself. It was bright white with green towels and washcloths. The tub was large enough for at least four people. The whole hotel room smelled of potpouri.

"Can't we just live here?" I asked her, walking back to the room.

"I wish," she mumbled, following behind me.

We both stripped down and changed into our undergarments. I clicked on the televsion, which was a relatively normal size. I was about to crawl under the sheets until there was a knock at the door. I sighed and walked over, swinging it open.

"What V?"

"I'm going to check out the bar. Wanna come?" his eyes said he wanted me to go, but his voice said he wanted to be alone.

"No thanks bro. I'm gonna get some rest. You should too," I replied.

"I tried already. I'm gonna go down and talk to Jack for a while," he smirked.

"Jack?"

"Jack Daniels, my friend. See ya tomorrow," he said, walking down the hallway. I smiled and shut the door back. I shut off the light and crawled in bed with my wife, who was holding my daughter tightly.

Vince's POV

I made it over to the bar, which was on the second floor near the ballroom dancing area. There weren't many people in the bar. There was a young lady sitting at the very end, and another couple sitting at a booth. I walked over next to the young lady. Might as well have some company.

"Jack Daniels please," I said to the bartender. He nodded and walked away. "This seat taken?" I asked the woman. She looked to be in her late-twenties, early-thirties. She had sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. There was a purple bruise around her left eye.

"It's all yours," she said, tossing back her drink.

"What you drinking?" I asked her just as the bartender, who's nametag read Dennis, brought me my drink.

"Um, I think it's a mix with Scotch and Vodka, but I'm not even sure anymore," she replied, smiling at me. She had a nice smile.

"Yo Dennis, let's get the little lady another drink," I yelled. "So what happened?" I was never really one to beat around the bush.

"One, I can buy my own drink. Two, I don't think it's any of your business," she sneered, grabbing the drink out of Dennis' hand.

"Whoa Miss. Just trying to have conversation. Just being friendly," I replied, holding my hands up in surrender.

She looked an me with apologetic eyes. "Sorry, but still, it isn't any of your business. If you must know, I got into a fight with my husband," she said.

"What happened? I mean, why?"

"Same thing that happens everytime I tell him I want a divorce," the mystery woman answered.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm Vince, by the way," I held my hand over to her.

"Lisa. Where you from tough guy?" she asked, nudging me a bit.

"What makes you think I'm not from here?"

"Well if you listen, just about everyone in this hotel has a southern-accent. Except for you and your friends I saw you come in with. The other-"

"Rough, rugged, badasses? Yep, that was me. But I'm from Los Angeles," I finished, tossing back what was my third shot.

"I was going to say racers, but I guess," Lisa said, staring at me.

"What makes you think I'm a racer?"

"Well the tattoo you have. The eagle. A lot of racers in Vegas have it. Plus, those cars are pretty illegal. Especially the Skyline," she replied. She was a very observant woman.

"So how long have you been watching me? And what do you know about cars Miss Lisa?" I asked, smiling at her.

"Well I notice just about every person who walks through that door. And I know a little something about cars. My husband is a mechanic. But enough about me, tell me about yourself. Why are you drinking your sorrows away?"

I spent the next few hours in that bar talking to Lisa. She was a sweet girl. I told her about Sasha and Desmond. She didn't seem to be affected by it, which was good. I wasn't looking to cheat on my wife. Just looking for someone to talk to for a bit. So was she, so it was all good. She told me about how her husband became abusive over the past few months. Jack was beginning to kick in, and Lisa was becoming harder to resist. I could tell she felt the same, for she kept finding the need to rub her hands down my arm. She traced my wire scar slightly.

"Why don't you say we take this conversation back to your room..." she said, grabbing another drink from the counter. She slammed the glass back on the counter. "Don't worry. I just want to talk. C'mon," she pulled me from the barstool and led me out.

We stumbled our way to my room. I heard on the door to the room on the left of mine open. I could barely make out the person staring at me. All I could see was a bare, pale chest and piercing blue eyes. The person stomped back into his room, slamming the door. I finally got the lock in the door, pushing it open. As soon as I shut the door behind her, Lisa slammed me up against the door, pressing her lips against mine.

"What-about-talking?" I asked in between kisses.

"Take me now Vince. I haven't had a man so aggressive and rough as you. I love it. Take me now," Lisa begged, tugging on the hemline of my mesh top. I smirked and put my hands up, letting it slide over me. I picked up her and carried her to the bed.

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Ohhh bad Vince. Does he do it? Does he back out? Read&review to find out.

-Kita