A/N: Thanks to the people who have reviewed me. I just re-edited this chapter and I hope that you like it. (Be warned that I kept the last part of the chapter the same and won't change anything after this point unless it's absolutely necessary. My brain can't handle all this rewriting.) So, without further ado, here is the next chapter in the Joyride's End story…
X.X.X.X.X.X
Two years later…
Mira ran a hand over her skirt as she stepped off the ferry. Two years had passed since she had stepped a foot in Kras City. It had been two years ago that she had had a wonderful night of adventure with the great Razer. It had only been a few months since her uncle had passed away and a year since Rayn had graduated.
And now she's the boss of the city, Mira thought, picking up her bags. She says she'll be better than Uncle and Mizo, but I don't know if it's possible for a crime lord to do good for the people…
She looked up at the large screen outside of the ferry dock and saw that there was a race going on. The new 'color' of the industry, Pecker, was doing a running commentary, but Mira wasn't paying attention to him. She was eyeing the line of racers, looking for the champion who had come out of retirement during the last racing season. Of course he wasn't there, but that new racer, Jak, was.
Oh how she hated Jak like the rest of the girls at school! He had come out of nowhere with that loser group her Uncle had put together and always beat Razer. He and Razer would always be neck and neck on the way to the finish line, but he'd somehow win. All of the girls felt that he had cheated somehow and booed at the television – some had even burst into tears – whenever his ugly blonde mug had shown on the screen.
Mira shook her head and continued walking. She didn't have time to worry about the blonde racer. She had to pass three hours of time by herself before seeing the new heiress of the family business. And it would be at that time that Mira would become the new aid to the family business, forced to deal with pesky clients and confusing paperwork while the heiress lounged about at a spa and dished out death orders to people who threatened her.
"I suppose I could get reacquainted with the town," Mira muttered to herself, adjusting the strap of her pack which contained most of her meager belongings. "Though I doubt much has changed about this crummy old city."
As she walked around Kras City, she noticed the stares people were throwing in her direction. It was refreshing to know that people could look at her without having to see through her perfect cousin. It brought back memories of that night with Razer that she had treasured since it had occurred.
Mira didn't try to read between the lines about that night. She knew that he had probably just taken her on a joyride to irritate her cousin, the daughter of his former boss' enemy. She knew that she had just been a game piece in his little twisted game. But part of her thought differently about the situation.
Mira had received several letters from the racer over the last two years and an occasional flower. She had thought that some of the letters were sent to poke fun at her and further enrage her cousin, but that one romantic part of her told her that he was trying to get at something. But she never sent him a letter back because she didn't know what to say. Her friends offered to write the letters for her, but she politely refused. The troubles of a teenage girl, she was sure, would mean nothing to a professional racer. So she had accepted the letters with a racing heart and had kept silent, feeling bad about the silence but incapable of doing anything to change it.
"I bet he hates me," Mira muttered to herself as she walked through the city. "All of those letters – thirty nine letters and twelve flowers – and he gets nothing in return. All I did was scream like a love sick girl whenever his face appeared on the television screen. And there's no way he could have known that I did that or that I dreamed about him." She sighed. "He's probably moved onto the next girl. A blonde probably with an extremely large bust and a beautiful smile like that girl I've seen hanging around the race track on the television. Oh, how I hate that girl!"
Mira brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and glanced at her reflection in a shop window. She was pleased to see that she wasn't the little bony, flat girl she had been two years ago. And she could see the lean muscles in her arms that she had worked hard to get by hanging out with the boys from the boys school down the street from her old school. She had a feeling that they would come in handy soon in the kill-or-be-killed city.
Her stomach made an annoying sound, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since that extremely early breakfast of toast and jam. It was well past time to have lunch and Mira had to admit that she was starting to feel a little hungry for even the greasiest food that Kras City had to offer.
A smirk came to her face when she saw the familiar, but depressing Bloody Hook. That was the place where she had found some backbone with the help of the famous champion. Sanders was there too and he had been nice to her even though she had called his Wasteland Brew a weak drink. It was also the place where she was forbidden to enter by both her late uncle and her cousin.
"Well, let's see if the old man still remembers me," Mira said, walking towards the bar.
The Bloody Hook still smelled of stale Wasteland Brew, smoke, and sweat when she entered through the battered wooden doors. This time, there were no decent looking, young blokes in there and she knew that was because they were all out racing their shiny new cars, leaving the older, battle wounded blokes behind to get drunk.
The men watched her warily as she walked towards the bar, probably unsure why she was there instead of in a nicer setting. Mira noticed that Razer's three cronies were at a back table, so deep in discussion that they didn't seem to notice her. As long as they didn't give her any trouble, she was fine to leave them be.
Mira chose a stool close to the end of the bar and waited patiently for Sanders to finish serving another customer. A smile was on the old bartender's face when he saw her and Mira couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Why Ms. Krew, I didn't expect to see you back here so soon," Sanders said. "I thought you'd go and seek out some stronger brew to boast about."
"Now, why would I go and do that?" Mira asked, propping her chin on her hand. "This is the only bar that I was ordered not to go to in the entire city. Why should I resist taking the forbidden fruit and enjoy it?"
"Ah, it warms my heart to see that there are still people who can resist your cousin," Sanders commented, tossing his dirty towel over his shoulder. "Now, what can I get you Ms. Krew? Name anything."
"Do you have any pretzels?"
"Aye."
"Then, I'll take some pretzels."
"No drink?" Sanders asked, reaching under the bar for a little basket.
"Not at the moment. I have the munchies, not thirst issues."
Sanders busied himself with getting her pretzels. Mira watched him carefully to make sure that he wasn't adding anything special to them out of habit. She needed to know that her food was safe and after living in the same place with Rayn, she knew to keep her eyes on things that would be put in her mouth.
Sanders placed the small basket of pretzels in front of her and walked off to tend to the other customers. Mira nibbled on a loop of a pretzel and looked at the cracked glass of the aquarium window. It struck her as curious as to how such thick glass could have shattered, but she didn't feel like pursuing the cause of the destruction.
The door opened and someone else entered the bar. Mira heard the growls coming from the throats of some of the men in the bar, but didn't bother to turn around to see what the big deal was about.
It had better not be Rayn, Mira thought with narrowed eyes. The old girl isn't supposed to be back in the city for a few hours.
"Hey Sanders, how about a round of Wasteland Brew for two thirsty racers?" came an annoying voice from Mira's right.
Mira's head turned ever so slightly and her eyes narrowed even more when she saw who was taking a seat in middle of the bar. A furry orange Ottsel was standing on the bar, smiling at Sanders. He wasn't the person that Mira hated even though he had an annoying voice. No, she disliked the blonde who was sitting down on the same stool her cousin had sat on two years prior.
The Ottsel looked down her way and his jaw dropped slightly. Mira rolled her eyes and looked back at the aquarium.
Men…so easily distracted…
"Rayn? Did you do something to your hair?" the Ottsel asked, walking over the bar towards her. "Or with your entire body?"
Mira shot him a deadly look. "I'm not Rayn. I'm her cousin."
"Rayn has a cousin?" Jak asked, cocking an eyebrow.
So he doesn't have brains, Mira thought with a smirk. The girls back at school were right. The only thing he has going for him is his looks and even then, he's not that good looking.
"She does." She fixed a cold stare on the blonde. "I'm Mira."
The Ottsel laughed. "What kind of name is that?"
"Daxter!!" Jak snapped, glaring at the furry creature.
"What?" Daxter moved closer to Mira and grabbed a pretzel. "So, how are you doing?"
"I was just peachy until you came here," Mira muttered, pushing the pretzels aside now that they had his germs on them. "Now I think I've lost my appetite."
"Jak and I can take you to a nice place and get your appetite back, right Jak?" Daxter looked at his friend expectantly.
"I don't think so Daxter," Jak muttered, turning his gaze away from Mira when Sanders appeared with their drinks.
"Come on Jak! Let's show this chick a good time!"
Mira laughed dryly. "Oh so think that you can show me a good time? I'd have a far better time tipping yakows."
The little furry Ottsel was very persistent. Mira almost gave into him with the hopes that it would shut him up, but she refused. She noticed that Jak had moved to the far end of the bar, leaving her alone with the annoying Ottsel.
"Listen you twit, I don't care if you're the friend of a famous combat racer. That's all fine and dandy, but his name means nothing to me!" Mira snapped, not caring about the gun that resided on Jak's hip. "You two will always be losers to me because you cheated your way through the last racing season just to help my uncle get what he wanted even though he was dead. You stole the victory from the true champion!"
Daxter's eye twitched as he slowly raised a finger and pointed it at her. "Jak, I think we've found a Razer fan girl…"
"I am not a Razer fan girl!" Mira snapped. "I like him, but I'm not about to throw myself at his feet in a fit of squeals and girlish laughter." She sighed and rested her forehead on her hand. "The thing is I just don't like Jak, ok? Now, can you please just leave me alone?"
Daxter shrugged and walked back towards Jak. "That's all you needed to ask to get me going…you didn't have to yell."
Mira frowned after him. "I'm sorry; I'm just really disappointed about the sorry shape the racing season is in these days."
"Join the club," Daxter said before busying himself with his mug of Wasteland brew. "Some newbie won the race today. I hate newbies."
"There will always be other races to win," Mira commented with a smirk. "More important races that'll have you earning more dough. Plus, it'll give you time to find the newbie's weaknesses. I'm sure Jak will be up to number two in no time, maybe even number one if he's lucky when Razer's out there."
Mira knew that talking to him like that was just an attempt to pardon herself for the yelling she had done to him. She wasn't about to become best buds with him, but she felt like she could just have an acquaintanceship with the bloke. She figured that if he was in the town that her cousin ruled over, then she should at least know a little bit about him.
Mira's stomach growled again and she reached absently for the pretzels, chewing one slowly as her eyes turned to the large fish aquarium behind the bar.
"Hey girlie," someone said in a rough voice and Mira tensed up in her seat. "Did I hear you right when you said that you were Rayn's cousin?"
Mira glanced over her shoulder to see a man wearing a wooden mask behind her. Cutter? What could he possibly want?
"Yes." Mira muttered, turning back to the aquarium. "Though I don't see why that concerns you Cutter."
"Your cousin has given us nothing but hell since she came to power," Cutter said and his two buds, Edje and Shiv, joined him at the bar, surrounding her.
"I'm sure you're getting what you deserve," Mira said, wishing that she had remembered to bring the small gun in her purse with her. "I seem to remember her saying that you lot aren't following her orders."
"We follow Razer's orders, not some harlot's," Edje grumbled. "And you can tell her that yourself."
Mira shook her head and scooped up another pretzel. "I'll tell her nothing of the sort like I won't tell her that you were bothering me, if you go away right now."
Mira didn't expect them to do as she suggested. They were three fully grown men with muscles and weapons. And they had told her that they only did what Razer told them to do. Why would they listen to her then? She had no power at the moment, no backup. She was helpless.
But not alone, Mira told herself, glancing past Shiv at the silent blonde at the end of the bar who was watching her out of the corner of his eye. If Jak's the hero that Rayn led me to believe he was, he won't let these boys touch me…
Jak's green eyes did not move from the scene before him even when Daxter jumped up and down in front of his face. Mira smirk turned into a frown when she tuned back into what Shiv was saying.
"I think Ms. Krew gave us a form of payment after all," Shiv was saying and Mira could feel his cold stare on her back. "And who would have thought it'd be in the form of her own cousin?"
Cutter's hard fingers touched Mira's hair, lifting it so that it shimmered in the dim light. "And she even gift wrapped her…"
A knot formed in Mira's stomach. "I am not any kind of payment."
"That's not how we see it," Shiv said and his buds chuckled in agreement.
"Wouldn't your boss be unhappy if he found out that you were messing around with one of his old friends?" Mira asked, hoping that they would leave her alone if they knew that she was close to Razer.
"Razer hasn't talked about any girl fitting your description…I think you're making it up to save your scrawny ass."
Mira frowned and her stomach twisted into another knot. This was not going the way she hoped it would. She wanted out of there. Fast.
"Sanders, I think I'm going to leave now," Mira muttered, standing up. "If you see Razer, can you tell him that I dropped by?"
"Sure thing Ms. Mira," Sanders said, wiping a mug clean.
Mira heard Edje chuckle. "What's so funny?"
"Mira, Mira on the wall…Who's the unluckiest one of them all?" Edje said in a rough singsong voice.
Mira gulped and backed into the bar. "You guys really should leave me alone."
"Whatcha gonna do if we don't? Scream like a little girl until someone comes to your rescue?" Cutter demanded, his eyes narrowing behind the mask. He laughed when he saw Mira bite her bottom lip nervously. "No one here is gonna lift a finger to save you, so shut your mouth and take it like a good girl."
Mira squirmed out of his grip and punched Edje in the face. "Keep your hands off of me, you twit!"
She clawed at the hands that reached for her and twisted in their grip when they managed to grab her. She knew that a couple of buttons on her shirt had popped open, but didn't care. She was going to get these men to leave her alone no matter what she had to do.
"Let go of me!!" she snapped when Cutter caught one of her hands and Edje caught the other.
She twisted her body and planted a kick in Cutter's groin. He groaned just as a shot rang out in the bar. Silence fell over the bar as blood dripped from Shiv's cheek. Silently, everyone turned to see Daxter shove the smoking gun into Jak's hand.
"You!" Shiv snarled and he moved towards the blonde at the end of the bar.
Cutter and Edje dropped Mira's hands and followed after the orange haired man.
X.X.X.X.X.X
Mira sat at the bar, watching the chaos around her. In a matter of minutes after Daxter had shot Shiv, the whole bar had erupted into a large brawl. Tables were upset along with chairs and glasses were flying. She could see the shining of knives and broken bottles as the gruff men started to get rougher with each other.
"Is it always like this?" she asked of Sanders when the old man sighed.
"Pretty much." He shrugged. "Unless Razer's here, that is."
Mira's eyebrow quirked up. She had no idea that Razer could keep an entire group of large, drunken men from beating the living daylights out of one another. Sure, she knew that he was intimidating, but she couldn't quite grasp the idea of him intimidating a large number of men twice his size.
He's just that good, Mira decided before jerking forward in her seat suddenly. That better not be what I think it is!
She turned her head slowly to find Shiv touching her ass. Her eyes narrowed and her face grew warm. She stood up and punched him in the face. Then a hand was placed on her shoulder.
"You want some too?" she demanded, whirling around. "Oh…it's you."
Mira's anger faltered when she found herself looking up into Razer's deep blue eyes. She smiled uncertainly and ran a hand through her hair.
"You do have a way of getting into trouble, don't you?" Razer's lips twitched at the corner into a half smile.
"Runs in the family, I suppose," Mira mumbled with a look around the room as things started to quiet down. "But don't worry, I can handle these buggers all by myself."
"Oh I'm sure you can," Razer said with a small roll of the eyes.
"I can!" Mira declared, crossing her arms. "Would you like me to demonstrate what I've learned on you first?"
Razer shook his head and looked away. "I see why the boys got so riled up. You've tried to seduce them."
Mira glanced down and noticed that her shirt was partially unbuttoned. Rather than blush over it, she calmly re-buttoned the two free buttons and smiled slightly.
"I'm a big girl and can do whatever I want. Though seducing bums isn't my favorite pastime."
Razer gestured at the bar with a hand. "And this is where you decided to spend your time as a big girl?"
"I was looking for someone," Mira told him.
"Did you find him?"
Mira shrugged a shoulder. "In a way." She turned and sat down on her stool again. "I need to talk to you about those letters you sent me."
Razer pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "What letters?"
"Oh, don't you play dumb with me. You know about the letters that you've been sending me for the last two years." Mira snapped a pretzel in half. "The letters about your problems with having to retire, coming out of retiring to deal with a loser named Jak, and the woes of dealing with Mizo."
"Ah yes, I remember them now." Razer smirked and blew smoke in her direction just as she was about to put a pretzel in her mouth. "You never bothered to answer any of those letters."
With an irritated sigh Mira waved away the smoke and tossed the pretzel aside. "What did you expect? I didn't think you'd find anything about my life important. I could have said 'Dear Razer, today I saw you lost to Jak. What the hell is wrong with you?' or 'Today, I cut my hand changing a muffler on a car. Then I realized I was PMSing. Does the world hate me or what?' Does any of that sound remotely interesting to you?"
The champion shook his head and stole a few pretzels. "The fact is you didn't even bother writing down a single sentence. Yet here you are, acting like we can be friends."
Mira shrugged a shoulder. "Sanders, a Wasteland Brew if you don't mind. And…" She glanced at Razer. "What did you order last time I was here?"
"How easy people forget these days…" Razer commented with a look up at the ceiling.
"Get him a scotch and put it on my bill," Mira told Sanders. "Just in case the poor old boy came shortchanged again today."
Sanders smiled and bustled off to get their drinks. Mira tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked at Razer.
"Why aren't you sitting down?" she asked, munching on a pretzel again. "Or did you forget how to?"
Razer's eyes narrowed. "You're in my seat, Krew."
"I don't see your name on it," Mira commented, looking down at the stool. "And I'm not getting up for you because every stool at this bar is the same as this one. They're just in other positions."
Razer reached over and tried to push her off the stool. Mira turned and raised her foot up, brushing the toe of her shoe against his groin.
"Don't even think about it mister," she said with a devilish grin. "I'm not a lady that allows herself to be manhandled easily. So, if you want to keep your sexy voice at the same level, I suggest you take a seat and let me keep mine."
The champion looked slightly amused as he took a seat on the stool next to hers. Someone has certainly gotten feisty over the years…
Mira smiled at him and let her foot drop back to its normal level. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?"
Razer did not favor her with an answer. Sanders came back over and passed out their drinks.
"You might as well give him the whole bottle," Mira commented, eyeing the small glass that the scotch was in. "He might need it in a little bit." Without a word to Razer, the girl took her drink and took a swig. "Did you do something to your brew Sanders?"
Sanders smirked. "Why do you ask?"
"Because…this has gotten stronger," Mira admitted, coughing. "Not that I can't handle it…"
Sanders smiled and walked off to clean some mugs and tend to the other customers. Mira's throat burned and she could feel her eyes starting to water.
"Oh look, my mere presence has reduced you to tears," Razer commented with a smirk.
"You wish." Mira straightened in her seat and plucked his cigarette from his lips, crushing it out in an ashtray. "I'm not one of your overly excited fan girls who cry when you turn your pretty blue gaze on them. Oh no, I one of those rare girls that act the same around everyone, no matter how hot or famous the person may be."
Razer blew a stream of smoke in her face. "That was my last cigarette."
Mira waved the smoke away again and smiled. "So? Now you can't breathe a cloud of death in my face to hide behind." She sighed as she looked at the drinks and empty pretzel basket. "I think I can pay and leave now."
"You couldn't afford to pay for this scotch." Razer reached into his coat pocket to get at his money.
The black haired girl reached into her purse before he could grasp any orbs and pulled out a handful of her own, placing them on the counter. With a smile, she closed the bag and stood up.
"That should cover everything," she said with a smirk. "Thanks for the grub Sanders."
Sanders waved to show that he heard. Razer watched Mira wave at Jak and Daxter and head towards the front of the bar. She threw a smirk back in his direction and disappeared through the wood doors. With a deadly glare in Jak's direction, Razer was on his feet and out the doors after the black haired Krew.
When he burst through the doors of the bar, he was temporarily blinded by the sunlight. The instant he regained his vision, he found that he couldn't see the girl walking away in any direction. She had simply vanished.
"Looking for someone?" her voice came from his left.
Razer turned to see her sitting on the hood of his Havoc with a small smile on her face. He strode over to her and glared up into her eyes.
"You actually thought you could get away from me after all of that, didn't you?" he asked.
Mira shook her head. "I wasn't planning on going anywhere actually. You see, I'm making up everything as I get to it. After all, I have about two hours of time to kill before the blue haired brat from Hell shows up and demands my full attention."
Razer placed a hand on the hood of his car, on either side of her. "What makes you think that she won't show up sooner to punish the naughty little girl that you are?"
Mira smirked down at him. "I have no doubt that she might come here sometime sooner, but to punish me? I'd like to see her try to punish me for having a little fun after all those years I've spent at that boarding school with those strict crones we had for teachers."
She shook her head in an attempt to clear it before she could be swept into memory lane, full of bad times that overshadowed most of the good times.
"What she does to me can't be all that bad. She'll probably just freeze my allowance or something that she thinks will hurt me."
Razer chuckled. "Rayn will do much worse to you than that. She has a horde of men working for her and they are awfully lonely. A pretty face like yours would make them happy for awhile if she decided to hand you over to them."
Mira paled. "I-I hadn't thought about that..." She put a hand to her throat, feeling her heart race through it. "She'd do it, you know? She hates that me that much because of that night I spent with you and the kiss we shared at the ferry docks…Maybe I made the wrong choice coming here, disobeying her orders." She looked at him. "Razer, maybe you made the wrong choice when you should have taken her on the joyride two years ago."
"No. I believe I chose the right Krew," Razer commented, not even amused that he had the girl doubting herself now that he could see the fear and uncertainty in her eyes. Something was completely wrong about those things in her eyes.
"It would have saved you a lot of trouble," Mira muttered, letting her hand drop back onto her lap.
"Don't you remember what I said about trouble?"
Mira nodded. "It makes life more entertaining…and dangerous."
"Yes, it does." Razer smirked. "But you don't have to worry about that. Rayn couldn't handle killing her friends, so she wouldn't kill you. She'll just continue to make me her bitch."
Mira frowned. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not. It's quite amusing to see what your cousin will do next."
"Razer, are you sure you wouldn't change anything in the past about choosing me over Rayn? To keep you out of trouble and from being her…bitch?"
"No." He glanced at her. "Everyone needs a healthy dose of trouble in their lives. It keeps them sane. And if keeping you around keeps the trouble coming, I won't complain."
Mira looked away from him. "I'd thought that you would be eager to get rid of me. I mean, I haven't talked to you for two years and I didn't even come back to Kras City when school was out for the summer to even attempt to see you. I'd thought you'd move onto someone else and put me in your past…And with all of this drama coming from Rayn, you should be more eager to have me gone, but…"
Razer couldn't stand to listen to her nervous babbling and did the one thing that came to mind that he knew would shut her up. He grabbed her and kissed her. Mira was unresponsive for a moment, unsure of what to do, but she caught on fast and kissed him back just as passionately as he was kissing her. She could feel Razer smirk into the kiss before he pulled away several moments later, leaving her breathless.
"That's how it should have been done two years ago, despite how pressed for time I was," Razer commented with a smirk.
Mira smiled slightly, her cheeks burning with color. "My friends would have fainted and Rayn would have murdered me in a jealous rage if it had been like that."
Razer chuckled. "I do have that affect on women."
Mira nodded in agreement. "You do."
"Now Ms. Krew, you're going to come with me and I will allow you to participate in something that would make a whole population of women very jealous," Razer said, stepping back to allow her to slide down. "Not to mention, very upset and heartbroken."
"I'm probably going to end up dead by Rayn if I do this, right?" Mira asked as Razer pushed her towards the passenger side of his Havoc.
"If you want to chicken out and pass, I completely understand," Razer said, holding the door open. "I just thought –."
"Watch who you call a 'chicken'," Mira snapped, leaning close to him. "I'll make you scream your head off before tonight is over with, whether it is from insanity or something almost as fun. You mark my words."
The dark haired champion smirked as she climbed in the Havoc. "That's good to hear. Now let's see if you can deliver."
X.X.X.X.X.X
Mira felt her heart beat rapidly in her throat as she lay there, breathing heavily. Every inch of her was on fire and she loved it. She hadn't known what to expect when Razer had taken her to his mansion a few hours ago, but now she was like wow. A champion combat racer wanted her and he had just proved it for over two hours. She was in heaven or she was in a really good dream that she never wanted to wake up from.
Razer chuckled as he traced as the contours of her arm with a finger. "You're speechless now. That's a first."
Mira giggled. "I – I don't know how to put words together to describe how I feel…"
"Alive?" Razer offered.
Mira thought about it for a moment before nodding slowly. "I feel alive and loved."
"Then I have done my job."
Razer looked annoyed when someone banged on his door. "What do you want?" he demanded in a loud voice.
The door opened and Mira quickly pulled the satin sheets up to her chin when Shiv entered the room with Edje and Cutter behind him. The latter two smirked when they saw her in their boss' bed, but didn't make any comment.
"Boss, we have a problem," Shiv announced.
"What is it?" Razer demanded, climbing out of the bed and pulling his black pants on. Mira politely looked away from him.
"It's Krew. She's outside with dozens of armed men. I think she's looking for a fight."
Mira's eyes widened and she wrapped the sheet around herself before climbing out of bed and wandering over to the window. She peeked through the heavy curtains and saw her cousin standing near the front gate in the light of her combat car's headlights. Dozens of armed men stood around her. Fear clawed at her insides and Mira shivered from an inner cold.
This is my fault…Mira told herself, glancing over at Razer when he joined her near the window. He knows it. His men know it. Everyone knows it.
She's going to kill everyone in this mansion because I'm the one that stole Razer's heart. But I won't let her…I can't let her. I have to end this now. By myself.
Mira turned away from the window and felt around the dark room for her clothing. The trio of men was gone, so she wasn't afraid to let the sheet she had wrapped around her fall to floor.
"What are you doing?" Razer asked, watching her slip her underwear and bra back on.
"I'm getting dressed so I can go out there and talk to my cousin like civilized people," Mira told him, shimmying into her skirt. "And don't think about stopping me. I've already made up my mind that this is the only way to keep her from opening fire on your ass."
She scooped her shirt off the floor and slipped it on, but did not button it up. Instead she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the window.
"I should have known that she'd act this way. She wanted you and still does. Maybe you chose the wrong cousin to love Razer."
"You're wrong in thinking that," Razer said, sticking a cigarette in between his lips and lighting it.
Mira sighed. She was too tired to argue with him. All the happiness she had felt was gone now and all she could think about was convincing her cousin to leave her the hell alone. It was about time that the old girl got over her jealousy. She turned to leave the room.
"This is a big person's game Mira," Razer said, slowly exhaling a cloud of smoke. "It's a war and I don't think you're prepared to deal with the unpleasant aspects of it. Of course, I could be wrong…"
"My uncle wouldn't have entrusted me with so much power if he didn't believe that I could do him proud," Mira whispered, glancing over her shoulder at him.
"Power?" Razer's eyebrow quirked up. "You have no power in this city."
Mira chuckled. "Now you're wrong in thinking that Razer, but that's because I've been gone for two years. After I'm done with Rayn, I'll get you caught up to speed."
Razer's eyes narrowed as he watched her pull open the door to his bedroom. She threw a smirk in his direction and disappeared from view.
X.X.X.X.X.X
Mira saw her cousin leaning against the hood of her vehicle with her legs crossed at the ankles. The blue haired woman had a large gun resting across her lap, the barrel of which she was stroking fondly. Rayn's amber eyes snapped up and held Mira's moss green one's captive, hatred burning in them. Mira stopped a few feet away from the older woman, aware that dozens of guns were aimed at her and could be fired at her at any moment.
"I knew you'd be here," Rayn hissed, pushing herself away from her vehicle. "Even after everything I've done for you, I knew you couldn't stay away from the man that I wanted!"
"You wanted him only after I said that he was my favorite racer. Before then, you hated him just as much as your father did." Mira cocked her head to one side. "And it's not my fault that Razer hasn't accepted your advances. Maybe you shouldn't have been such a spoiled brat and obedient to your daddy. Maybe then you would have been the one that got the joyride two years ago. You could have been the one that he fell in love with and we wouldn't be having this fight."
"It's not my fault that my father wanted me to be the one to rule over the city! I had to learn everything and you were given so many freedoms because you're not his daughter!"
"I had to learn everything that you did," Mira reminded her. "I had no free time because of that. Uncle wanted to be sure that someone could keep the company from collapsing in the event that you weren't strong enough to handle it all."
"Well, it came so easy to you! You had time to go out with boys and you were allowed to get away with sneaking off with Razer. It was supposed to be me that got him! I deserve him!" She took a step towards Mira. "I am his boss now and he should do whatever I want him to! I told him to stay away from you! I knew he was still in contact with you, still infatuated with you, but I thought with a certain brand of persuasion the bloke would fall for me. And you ruined it all!!"
Mira held her hands up in surrender. "You said that you wanted me back here after I graduated and you seemed happy to hear that I was coming back to Kras City to help you."
"I was acting, you silly girl. I have always been such a good actress." Rayn sneered. "I have always hated you. I have always wanted you dead and now, I'm finally getting what I want."
Mira eyed the gun in her cousin's hands warily as she heard footsteps behind her. She allowed her gaze to flit away from the shiny gun for a brief moment when another gun entered her line of vision. Razer stood there with a gun aimed at Rayn.
"Rayn, be a good girl and lower your gun," Razer ordered. "I know you wouldn't kill your own cousin if you couldn't even stomach killing your own friends."
Rayn's eyes narrowed. "I'm not lowering my gun Razer. You will."
"Razer, don't listen to her," Mira whispered.
Razer's fingers tightened on the gun. "I wasn't planning on it."
"He has to listen to me," Rayn said with a confident smirk. "He works for me. The whole city works for me."
"And that's where you're wrong, dear cousin," Mira announced, lowering her hands. "Boys, lower your guns."
Half of the men lowered their guns and ignored the looks from the rest of the men. Rayn looked surprised and tried to order them to aim their guns back at Mira and Razer. They wouldn't listen.
"Traitors all of you!" Rayn cried.
"Actually, they're doing exactly what Uncle ordered them to do," Mira declared, crossing her arms. "You see, Krew knew that you couldn't handle the business all by yourself so he left orders with his business associates to hand half of the company over to me in the event of his death. Half of the power you have over the city belongs to me."
"I – I don't believe you!" Rayn snapped. "Father said nothing of this in his will!"
"That's because he came to the school shortly after you graduated and signed away half of the company to me in secret, but I had to wait until I graduated to claim it." She smiled slightly. "I was hoping to wait awhile longer to claim it, thinking that you would have grown up since I last saw you, but you haven't."
"Be that as it may, you have no power over Razer and his gang!" Rayn said, glaring at the said ebony haired man. "They work for me!"
"Actually I do." Mira glanced over at Razer. "Uncle told me that Mizo's dream team would be mine to control when he ended the feud between the two crime families. Razer and his men work for me, Rayn. So, do me a favor and stop bossing Razer around."
Rayn looked horrified. "Father betrayed me…You've all betrayed me…"
Mira shook her head and approached her cousin. "Rayn, I would be content to let you continue to run the city as you have for the past few months now with only my occasional assistance. You can run it as you see fit, but should you come after me or Razer again, I will have my men take you out and then I'll take complete control by myself. Well, mostly myself. I plan on giving some power to someone else…"
Rayn frowned and lowered her gun. "Why would you do this to me, Mira? I thought you were the good one…"
"Rayn, I'm being nice to you and will continue to be nice to you because you're my cousin. I just want to be able to put this behind me and to move on with my life. I hope you can do the same."
Rayn nodded her head once. "Very well…Boys let's go, but mark my words…this isn't over."
Mira watched Rayn leave with her men. Those that worked for her looked to Mira for orders. She told them to go home and then report for work tomorrow for Rayn until she called upon them again. Then she glanced over her shoulder at Razer when she heard him lower his gun.
"When were you going to tell me that you're my boss, Krew?" Razer asked and Mira noticed that he didn't sound pissed.
"Around the same time that I was going to tell you that I don't care what you do," Mira admitted, turning to face him. "I don't want to make you follow my orders. I don't even want to give you orders. You're older than me and smarter when it comes to gangs. It doesn't seem right for me to try to rule you." She sighed. "But in order to keep you safe from Rayn…you may have to act like you listen to me when she's around. I don't want her to make you her bitch again."
Razer smirked. "You might be the only boss that I can agree with."
Mira shrugged and started buttoning her shirt up. "I think I should go home now." She heard Razer chuckle. "What?"
"Do you think that two crime lords can live peacefully in one mansion? Rayn will try to kill you when you least expect it. You'd be lucky to survive a week with her."
"So, I can't live with her…"
"She's probably already thrown all your stuff out on the lawn."
Mira sighed. "Then I'll just have to find a hotel to stay in until tomorrow. Then I can buy myself a cozy little house and –"
Razer grabbed her arm and pulled her to him roughly. "Have you forgotten that you are mine? I can't just let you go after all the trouble you've caused me."
Mira frowned and put a hand on his chest, trying to push him away but failing. "Is that an invite to stay?"
Razer smirked. "You have no choice in the matter."
"Your boys won't be happy to have me around for however long it is that you plan to keep me here."
"They will grow used to it. You are going to be kept here forever or for as long as you live. Which ever comes last."
Mira smiled into the kiss that Razer placed on her lips. I could get used to this whole hostage thing…
Razer pulled away from her when heavy footsteps alerted them to his gang's arrival. "You're late," he said in a hard voice.
"Sorry boss, but the weapon's closet door was jammed…" Shiv muttered, not quite meeting his boss' eye.
"Shiv, don't blame a simple door for your incompetence!" Razer snapped, glaring at the orange haired man. "There were weapons in the garage that you could have easily gotten to. But instead, you fight with a door while a woman goes out and confronts a crime lord and her armed minions alone and unarmed. You shouldn't even be able to share the same air she breathes."
Shiv didn't flinch and Razer didn't expect him to. He turned his gaze upon Mira once more when she placed a soft hand on his arm.
"Please go easy on them," she whispered. "At least they weren't stupid enough to walk out in front of dozens of loaded guns without some form of protection like I was..."
Razer's eyes softened as he looked at her. "They acted like cowards and I will not let this go unnoticed or unpunished. But I will let them keep their lives and jobs because now that I have to protect you, I'll need all the help I can get. Even if it comes from cowards."
Cutter looked interested now. "We have to protect her?"
"Gentlemen, let me introduce you to my real boss, Mira Krew," Razer said with a smirk as he removed his cigarette from between his lips.
The three men stared at the two of them in shock. Mira smiled at their confused expressions, though she wondered what Cutter's facial expression was behind that wooden mask. She could tell that they were thinking about killing her, but would wait to see if Razer wanted them to.
"Go fetch her things from Krew's mansion," Razer commanded his men. "And put them outside my room until morning. She's going to be around for a long time…" He turned and started walking up the drive, keeping an arm around Mira's waist. "Maybe she can make better men out of you lot."
Mira laughed. "I doubt I'll do anything but make them worse."
"Great changes can happen to a man when there's a good woman around," Razer stated. "So I expect you to make my men into mercenaries."
Mira laid her head gently against his shoulder. "I'll see what I can do."
X.X.X.X.X.X
A/N: It's a kind of crappy ending, I know, but with my fried brain cells, there's not much I can do. And I know my grammar has issues, but I'm still working on bettering it.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter enough to review. I worked hard on this for almost a day and a half on it (typing, reading, retyping, and reading again), to give you this finished product. So, I hope your critique isn't so bad. Thanks. ~Scarlet