Chapter Seven
Two hours and seven shots of tequila later, they staggered from the bar and bid each other good night. Charlie had no idea how the subject was going to get home on that bike and even less of an idea how he'd get home, but looking up the block he was surprised to see the unmarked and Reese.
She was more loyal than he deserved and angrier than he could imagine.
He stumbled to the car, pulled on the passenger door and finding it locked, tapped on the window lightly with his knuckles. He heard the door unlock and opened it maneuvering himself down into the car. He was tired and nearly sick from the all the tequila. He'd no sooner gotten into the car, when Dani climbed out and slammed her door – hard. She was still pissed.
He looked at his watch – it was approaching three hours since he'd kissed her and she was still mad. He watched her pace up and down the sidewalk near the car. She was muttering to herself and he leaned down to examine her through the windshield. He was just about to climb out and talk to her when she got back into the car, started the engine and drove off quickly. The speed of her driving was making him a little nervous.
"I know you're mad," he began his speech slurred slightly.
"And you're drunk," she stated the patently obvious.
He opened his mouth to object and then snapped it shut. After a moment he agreed with her, "yep, I'm drunk."
"Well, that's just fucking great Crews," she berated him, "did you learn anything?"
"You got a helluva right hook," he twisted his jaw with his right hand working the lower half which would be sore in the morning. "I thought you'd slap me," he commented mostly to himself.
"Why in the hell couldn't you have told me your plan?" she snapped.
"Because," his voice was low and dangerous, "I needed you to be surprised." The liquor had loosened his inhibitions. He wasn't Crews Pelican Bay Inmate #27148, but he wasn't an LAPD Detective right then either.
"You aren't easy to surprise," his tone was menacing, laced with threat. He liked that he could see the gooseflesh on her arm. She was frightened by his transformation. He needed her to be – to remember who he was and what he was capable of. He needed her to stay away, no matter how badly he wanted her to be close.
"Drop me here," he growled, "I'll catch a cab."
"We need to talk about what happened here," she argued.
"We can talk tomorrow," he countered.
"No dammit," she barked, "we're gonna talk about it now." She had three hours to work this out in her head. She had three hours to think about why she should have been shocked and angry with him instead of excited. She had three hours to wonder why she'd let him kiss her. Not the first time, but the second; part of her already knew. She wanted him to kiss her and she had for a long time now.
"Dani," his voice had an edge to it, "I need to be alone now. I'm dangerous and you need to remember that. You need to…."
"Don't you fuckin' tell me what I need Crews," she spat at him.
She continued driving at frightening speeds towards his mansion high in the Hollywood hills. They didn't talk the rest of the way. He watched her drive and imagined the things he'd like to do to her, with her - for a long time before he put his head back and let the blackness take him.