Behind the Mask Ch. 14

All characters are at least 18 years old.

------

The arms around me were so warm, and I clutched them closer to me. I hadn't felt such a thing in years, so having him with me here was a dream come true. My eyes opened as I slowly gained consciousness, my mind booting back up and going over those first few thoughts again. Peering down, I saw one of his arms around my waist, the other seat belted across my chest. Realization dawned on me, and I took a deep breath as I suppressed the reflex to freak out.

"Morning," August murmured, sending goosebumps up my neck. Swallowing, I extricated myself from his embrace and stood woodenly, making my way to the chair at my desk. He sat up and pulled one of his legs up to rest his chin on his knee while I sat down. I put a hand to my face, closing my eyes and actively maintaining composure.

I had given my virginity to him last night. It felt like losing the last piece of Jordan I had left. My heart felt heavy in my chest. Why did it feel like I was cheating? Jordan was dead. He was dead. My breath escaped me stuttered, and I choked back a sob.

August sighed. "Yeah. Knew it'd be like this." I opened my eyes and watched him through my fingers. His gaze was on the floor, a sad frown on his face. He still had the condom on from last night, and a sudden bout of hysterical giggles overtook me. "What?"

"That rubber looks fucking disgusting," I laughed, and he looked down. It was shriveled and dry, hanging limply on his flaccid member with a deposit of yellowing cum at its end. The outside was brown with dried blood. Nothing embodied the beauty of a girl's first time like such repulsive imagery, and I couldn't keep the laughter in.

"Eugh, gross," August commented, yanking it off and grimacing at the off-putting sight. He tied it off with a chuckle, and I pointed at the waste basket for him to dispose of it. After he sat back down, I gave him a small smile and he returned it.

"I'm sorry," I stated, folding my arms. "For my initial reaction. I just needed a moment to process."

He nodded. "I get it. Are you... okay with what happened? I wasn't trying to take advantage of you."

"You think anybody could take advantage of me?" I quipped, and he chuckled again.

"When you put it that way, I suppose not." I waited for him to ask me what last night now made us, but it never came. I knew he was interested in making this something more, but at least he wasn't being needy about it. "You didn't mention that you were a..."

"A virgin?" I finished, and he nodded. "Oh please. I have a reputation to maintain." We both laughed wryly. "Why, what did you think my body count was?"

"Never made a guess, but I'd assumed the proprietress of a sex club would be higher than zero," he pointed out.

"That was the idea."

"Well played." He paused, and a look of melancholy crossed his face. "Is anything real?"

I hefted my breasts for him to see, and he snorted and shook his head. "And my purity. Did you know that in China, you can have a new hymen installed?"

"No way."

"Fucking hymen implants. The future is now, old man," I hollered, and he laughed heartily.

We fell into a comfortable silence, and he watched Artemis slither into view. After a while, he noted, "Might need to rename that snake. Don't think the Goddess of Maidenhood takes kindly to girls who taint themselves by associating with boys."

"Is that what we're gonna call it now? 'Associating?'" I laughed. He was dancing around the matter with me, and I sighed. Time to break out of it and head back to the real world. "What's really on your mind?"

He regarded me carefully. "We're... talking serious now?" I nodded, and he thought for a moment. "What are you gonna do about your assistant?"

"Nothing. Can't tip him off that I know, and investigating any further won't change anything. It's a dead end."

"Then what was the whole point of that exercise?" he asked, puzzled.

"For confirmation. It wasn't pointless, it's just that we now need to pursue a different avenue of inquiry. There has to be something else I missed, and unfortunately I feel like it's something obvious. You know that feeling? Like you just know you're gonna facepalm when you finally find the answer?"

"Happens more than I'd like," he admitted.

The intercom crackled to life. "Mademoiselle?" The double agent himself. "May I enter?"

I waved at August to get dressed, and we both pulled our pants on. I pushed to talk on the intercom, "Enter." Alain walked in politely, standing before my desk. I had to remind myself to not space out and process everything I was feeling while he talked. Not an easy feat.

Alain looked courteously toward August, and I waved him off. With permission to talk shop in front of the outsider, Alain went straight to business. "Somebody is requesting an audience, mademoiselle. Muerte, from Los Cuatro 'Inetes."

"Shit," I spat. The Four Horsemen, the newest cartel terror that was steadily gaining traction in Mexico and the States.

"You're dealing with the Jinetes?" August asked gravely.

"Not Muerte. I had a bit of a turf war with Hambruna two years ago, but that's settled, and I put out a bounty on one of Pestilencia's men a few months ago." I sat back and weaved my fingers together. "What do you know about the Jinetes?"

August thought for a moment before answering. "Highly organized, much more so than your average cartel. As the name suggests, they're split into four divisions, overseeing all street crime. Pestilencia is the drug runner. Guerra is the gun runner. Hambruna runs the sex business." He grunted, troubled. "But we never got a read on what Muerte's business is. Which is worrying, considering his name. We just don't see his division doing much of anything, as far as we can tell."

I groaned. Just what I needed, freaking gangbangers to further complicate my life. I'd rather have the other type of gangbangs, I thought ruefully. "Did he say what he wants?"

"A face-to-face," Alain replied.

"Yeah, I'm just dying to meet a guy called Death," I muttered, and August snorted. "Alright, I want everything we can get on Muerte. Same goes for the other three Horsemen."

"Lexi..." August cut in before apparently reconsidering. When I waited for him to speak, he decided to continue. "Are you actually gonna meet this guy?"

"It's what the background check is for," I pointed out before turning back to Alain. "Our best bet for information is from rival gangs, probably other cartels. And Alain, I want this quiet. I don't want this guy knowing we've been sniffing around. If he's not even on FBI's radar, I'd rather not spook him." I thought for a moment. "How'd he send the invitation?"

"One of our men was approached by a member of the 'Inetes, asking for La Cazadora."

They knew where to find us because of our dealings with Hambruna. That put us at a tactical disadvantage. "Tell our guys if they can't get the intel quietly, disengage. What are the possible consequences of not agreeing to a meeting, Alain?"

"Unknown, mademoiselle."

"Shit." I groaned and buried my face in my hands. Once again, potentially walking into a situation -- likely a highly dangerous one, at that -- without any intel. This just wasn't my month. I only knew of one person who could possibly shed some light on the Jinetes without tipping the gang off. Not like I had any plans today anyway. "Alright, get on it." Alain nodded and left, and I turned to August. "I need a favor."

"You want me to go through FBI records of Jinetes activity," he guessed. I shrugged. Pretty good guess. He sighed and deliberated for a moment. "Fine. I'll see what I can do... fiancée."

"Smartass," I muttered, smirking wryly.

He smiled and stood, moving to leave. Suddenly stopping, he turned back to look at me. There was too much emotion in his eyes for somebody I'd only fucked once. "Lexi... be careful."

"You know me," I said with a grin, and he managed a small smile before leaving. I took a deep breath with my eyes closed, then watched Artemis for a while, letting my mind clear. Then I picked up my phone and dialed. "Hey Drew, it's me. You free today? 'Cause I'm about to ruin your whole week."

--

"You're right, week ruined," Drew noted as soon as he was in my car.

I shrugged. "I figured I should ask, since it's your business too."

"Yeah, yeah." He gazed intently out the window as I drove, arms folded. "You seriously get up to some weird shit, you know that?"

"Nobody knows it better than me," I said proudly, and he actually chuckled. He turned to look at me curiously, at one point scratching his chin. "If you wanna ask, ask."

"Eh, it's nothing. Just wondering how the club's doing." Ooh, he was going there.

"How'd you know I golfed?"

"C'mon, Lex, skip this," he growled. "Yeah, you're probably the smartest of us, but that doesn't make us idiots."

"Who knows? Maybe I'm the idiot, 'cause you're gonna have to spell it out for me."

"What do you do at Taboo?"

I feigned a resigned sigh. "I run I.T., which is mostly just making sure the camera feeds are working.

"If you don't want my help, you can just stop the car now," he threatened.

"Damn, somebody's sassy," I remarked playfully. "Understandable, given the circumstances. Fine." I paused before opening the horse's mouth. "I'm the owner."

The news still took Drew by surprise, though not by much. "Yeah, guess that makes sense," he chuckled. "Damn. I was right, you really are a twist."

"This twist roped you the literal woman of your dreams," I reminded him. "Don't be ungrateful, now."

"Don't worry, I'll never forget what you did." He did a bit of contemplation before speaking up again. "What happens to all the security footage in the club?"

"It gets overwritten every week if it's not relevant, like checking for theft or whatever."

"And...?"

I grinned. "And the good stuff gets sent to my spank bank."

"Your eyes only?" he asked sternly.

"My eyes only."

"Ugh. Alright, I think I can live with that," he muttered.

"It's just good business," I assured him, and he rolled his eyes. "Do the others know?"

"Not that I know of. Maybe Leon might have some suspicions, I dunno. The twins have always wondered from the beginning, but I think they dismissed it after a while. I'm guessing you wanna keep it that way?"

"Yeah. Just for a little while longer, until I'm ready."

He studied me. "So what's the story there? How long have you been doing this?"

"Four years." It felt liberating that I could finally tell one of them.

"You weren't even eighteen yet. What the fuck happened that you ended up running a club like that?" He raised a brow skeptically. "You don't secretly fuck your dad, do you?"

"The only one of us who even remotely likes their dad is Cherry," I said firmly. "And she went totally the other way with that. I could probably give you a run for your money on how much you hate your old man."

Drew nodded as if it was the most natural thing in the world. We were silent for the rest of the drive, until we finally reached the prison. We were cleared to go inside, and were brought to the visiting area. We had our own room, and sat on one side of a stainless steel table that was bolted to the floor. Drew's leg was bouncing uncontrollably, and I patted his arm in support. All I could hope was he didn't lose his shit the second the guy was brought in.

Andras Narai was led in by two prison guards. His dark hair had grown out a bit, ratty and unkempt. He stumbled as he walked, which was natural. I couldn't imagine it was easy getting used to being blind while in prison. He wore a blindfold over his empty eye sockets, making him the only six-foot-eight dude who didn't have a better view due to his height.

The guards sat him down across from us and cuffed him to the table before leaving. Beside me, Drew was exuding so much hatred, it was a miracle he hadn't launched himself at his father yet. For that I was thankful, because I had to get through my questions first.

"Drew? Are you there?" The man sounded pathetic. I guess it came as no surprise. No dick, no balls, no eyes, in a federal prison... Yeah, I was surprised he hadn't offed himself yet.

"The only reason you're still alive is because of mom, and my friend," Drew snarled. "Now she has some questions for you."

"Indeed I do, Josh. Can I call you Josh?" I said casually.

Andras frowned and dipped his head. After a moment, his forehead creased further. "I recognize your voice. You're that Russian bitch that was hanging out with Coco. Accent's gone."

"Color me impressed. Six months after only meeting me once, and you still remember what I sound like."

"I need to pay attention if I wanna stay alive," he said bitterly. "And my hearing's probably gotten pretty good. What do you want?"

I leaned forward. "I want to talk about Los Cuatro Jinetes."

Andras stiffened before gritting his teeth. "Don't know anything about them."

"'Course you don't," I said. "That's too bad. Guess I spared you for nothing." I sighed dramatically. "Y'know, Drew wanted you dead, after torturing you. I asked him, if he had to pick only one thing, what it'd be. He picked castration." I saw Andras twitch, as if feeling phantom pain from his loins. "And then I'd overheard that Coco threatened to gouge your eyes out, which I really liked. So I decided to do both."

Andras froze, then his breath turned ragged as his rage began boiling. "You... You did this to me?!"

"Eh, what was I supposed to do? You were threatening them, and I care a lot more about them than you, so." Admittedly, I had waited until he escalated the situation before I did anything, in order to justify my actions in the future. But nobody needed to know that.

He lunged in my direction, and though his handcuffs kept him in place, he was pretty freaking tall. As a result, he almost did reach me, and I was proud of myself that I didn't flinch. As he lay on the table savagely growling, two cops ran in and yanked him back into his seat. If they hadn't been on my payroll, I suspected the visitation would have ended right there.

Andras seethed, his teeth still bared. I glanced at Drew, who was regarding his father with disgust and contempt. It was unfortunate that following the rules -- or at least keeping up the appearance that we were following the rules -- meant he was required to be here; I didn't have visitation rights.

"Do that again and you'll get tasered," I uttered. "Now, I have some questions for you."

"Why the hell would I listen to anything you have to say?" he spat.

I leaned forward and lowered my voice, just for effect. I didn't care who heard. "Because I managed to put you in here without the Jinetes knowing. You really think you'd have lasted this long if they knew?"

"Am I supposed to thank you?"

"You're welcome. Because based on what I know, they would've done worse to you."

"Who cares if they kill me?"

"You're not afraid to die. I respect that. But there's more than one way to die." He didn't have anything to say to that. "So either you answer my questions, or I tell Pestilencia where to find the man who ghosted him with his hundred K."

Drew was looking at me with a measured expression. He knew I had arranged to have Andras mutilated and put away for him. He had never asked questions, but I knew he and Coco were aware that I was way more than a perverted high schooler.

Andras ground his teeth before growling again in defeat. "What do you wanna know?"

"The Jinetes cover drugs, guns, and sex. But there are four Horsemen. So what does Muerte do?"

It's a shame he didn't have eyes anymore. It might have given me a better read on what Andras was thinking when he quote unquote looked at me. And his mouth spread into a wide and sinister grin. "I only worked in Pestilencia's quarter. Why do you think I know anything about Muerte? Could it be that I'm your only lead?" He chuckled hollowly. "If you had the resources, you'd go digging for intel yourself. If you're smart, you wouldn't have so you didn't spook the Jinetes. And that's why you're here."

"If you think that gives you leverage, I can always just cut something else off," I offered.

Andras shook his head and leaned back, still chuckling. "If you're asking about Muerte, that means he's after you. That means you're dead."

"Enough bluster," I said, a slight edge to my voice. "What does his quarter do?"

He grinned, and when a blind eunuch grins at you... It's an unsettling sight.

"Let's just say somebody very powerful wants you pushing up daisies."