If Tomorrow Never Comes (19 page)

“Look,
Butch, look at her!
 
Never forget her
beauty, and fantasize of the day you'll have her.
 
She'll never live to screw Morgan again.
 
I'll give her to you first.
 
She thinks I' m dumb, thinks I don't know she
still loves the bastard, and you, if only you could see your eyes.”
 

Laughing
fiendishly, Scorpio rambled on, “Look, Marla, see what you've done to poor
Butch, how large his rod is beneath his pants, the sweat on his brow.”

Meticulously
manicured nails dug into Marla's skin as Scorpio shook her. Pressing his mouth
hard against her ear, his sick torture continued, “Before I'm through, Morgan
will lie at my feet begging, and you, my precious piece of ass, will watch him
die.
 
Then, I'll give you to Butch and
with pleasure watch as he makes you his sex goddess.
  
Oh, believe me, he will.
 
He'll do everything I tell him.”
 
Scorpios' eyes were that of a mad man, as
they speared Butch, “Won't you Butch, because if you don't, I'll put a bullet
between her eyes.”

    
      
A
forceful shove sent Marla hard against Butch's chest.
 
She felt the heat of his lust jab her
stomach.
 
Head whirling, needing to
vomit, her knees buckled beneath her.

Grabbing
Marla Butch barely prevented her from falling.
  
Waiting until Scorpio stomped from the room; he carried her to the sofa
where he gently raised the top of her body suit to cover her breasts, lowered
her skirt, and brushed back hair from her face.
 
Plucking his hanky, he dabbed at tears flowing in a steady stream.

Shock
prevented Marla from speaking.
 
Her mind
was riveted on Scorpios' determination to kill Jake.
 
Apparently Scorpio did not know she’d do
anything for him, did, but, today he made the biggest mistake of his life,
again he made her choose. This time he lost.

____________

           
Brenda Star, Marla’s stage name, was
the Parakeet Clubs featured entertainer.
 
For several weeks each time Jake drove past the Club the billboards outside
drew his attention to the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
 
Curious, one night Jake talked John into
checking out the club.
 
Spending the
evening listening to Marla sing convinced him she was the woman he’d been
waiting for and all he had to do was convince her.

At
the time, Jake did not know Scorpio owned the Parakeet Club.
 
Following Scorpios instructions, Marla lured
Jake into a relationship purposely meant to win his love and trust and to
enable Scorpio to strip him of everything.
 

Unexpectedly,
Marla fell in love with Jake despite the magnetic force drawing her to
Scorpio.
 
Later, she didn’t know if it
was Scorpio’s power, money, or her fear of him, but somehow he convinced her,
Morgan would never be good enough for her further persuading her with lavish
gifts of jewels, furs and exotic destinations.
 

By
the time she realized who and what Scorpio was, it was too late. Knowing too
much about Scorpio, he demanded she prove her loyalty, what he asked her to do
made her no better than he.
 

Tonight,
it was clear; Scorpio was a hateful, murdering monster.
 
She wasn't a complete idiot; she'd lost his
favor.
 
Just as quickly as it began,
their relationship was over.
 
Scorpio
meant exactly what he said, after killing Jake he'd give her to Butch just
imagining the orders he’d give sent shivers of alarm up her spine.

Unable
to bear the thought of Morgan's death, Marla couldn't allow Scorpio to
win.
 
She’d played a big enough part in
destroying Jake.
  
In the past, she was
secure in knowing he’d eventually bring Scorpio to his knees.
 
What just happened, depleted her
assurance.
 
Somehow, there had to be a
way to protect the only man she ever loved.

Butch
carried Marla's stiff, sore body to her bedroom.
 
Adjusting the pillows beneath her head, he covered
her with a comforter.
 
Descending the
stairs, he moved to the bar to pour an excessive amount of whiskey.
 
Stirring treasonous thoughts into a
whirlpool, he made a vow. The next time Scorpio harmed a hair on Marla’s head;
he'd draw his last breath.

CHAPTER 19

           
In disguise, Jake and Jordan climbed
out the bedroom window and down the fire escape permitting access to the
alleyway.
 
They entered a car that, as an
extra precaution, Jake consistently made certain was never the same.
 
Everything routine, except tonight, as they
rode in crushing silence, each heard the clamor of the others beating
heart.
 

           
Static cracked in the air.
 
As if it lost its memory, the moon refused to
shine leaving the dome overhead dark, the air stagnant.
 
Breaking all the records for the month of
July the temperature was hot and excessively humid.
 
Opening the car windows emitted a slight
breeze that did little to relieve the perspiration dripping maddeningly beneath
layered clothing.
 
Now that their worlds
had collided, it was as if the wind had learned their names and with each tiny
lick was telling them nothing would ever be the same.
 
Then all at once, even the wind paused for a
moment.
 

           
Jake's brooding quirks; eyebrows
knitted together, endless smoking, thumbs drumming the steering wheel,
 
mumbling to himself, made Jordan squirm in
her seat.
 
At every stoplight and
everyone that just happened to be in his way, even some that weren’t, he
screamed profanities and flipped the bird.
 
Four times, he swiped at the perspiration beading on his forehead with
his sleeve.
  

           
A blasting horn, the driver
responsible making an obscene gesture as he veered around their car and sped on
made Jordan’s nerves stand on end.
 
Pushed to the exasperation point a quick thrust of her hand plucked the
cigarette from Jake's mouth and tossed it out the window.
 
“These goddamn things are going to kill you,”
she sputtered, stunned by the act she’d just committed.

           
Jerking the steering wheel hard to
the right, their car barely missing another, Jake abruptly changed lanes.
 
Squealing brakes pitched them forward, the
tires hitting the curb bringing the vehicle to a screeching halt.
 
What was there about Jordan that continually
irritated the hell out of him Jake fumed?

           
It appeared as though the back of
his hand would connect with her face as he swung, his fist connecting with a
powerful jarring thud against the seat instead.
 
Eyebrows climbing into his hair, eyes ablaze with belligerence, he
bellowed, “God Dammit don't you ever do that again.
 
Jesus Christ, Jordan, you'll be the death of
me long before my fucking cigarettes,” his animosity becoming unstable in the
face of her upset.

           
 
It took an iron grip to thwart her frantic
attempt to exit the car her eye's flaring wide pivoting to challenge his.
 
Like a cornered animal, her hand slapped his
that held her.
 
“Let me go, now,” she
shrieked and with full intentions of knocking him senseless, she swung
again.
 

           
Quick reflexes barely preventing the
hit secured both of her wrists firmly in a warm, damp grip. “You're not going
anywhere.”

           
Trying to decipher whether his
expression was as furious as his tone, even though it wasn't, she hissed like a
rattlesnake, “The hell I'm not.
 
You
either let me out of this car or tell me why you're brooding. Why you’re so
afraid?
 
If you don't let go of me this
instant, I'll scream bloody murder, bite your nose off.”
 
The silliness of her last statement made her
smile.

           
Jake's defense mechanisms seemed to
go all to hell when it came to Jordan.
 
At first, he smiled back unrepentantly, and then could not stop the
chuckle swiftly replacing it at the thought of what she said.
 
There was no doubt in his mind she’d do what
she said.
His head shook back and forth as he wondered
at what point she’d become his only
weakness.
 

           
As eyelids shaded emerald gems, he
eased his holds on her wrists. When the shades rose again, there was no
mistaking the raw desire flaring within.
 
The kind Jordan was suddenly battling herself making it difficult to
understand her crippling disappointment when his hands abruptly fell away.
 
Though his hold on her was both firm and
singeing, beneath she felt a peculiar tenderness that for some irrational
reason made her want to draw him into her arms, maybe even . . . kiss him.
 

           
Adding to her confusion the idiot
opened her door and with a voice capable of melting steel said, “Go ahead, get
out, you're through.
 
You're free to
go.
 
I have all the information I
need.”
  
Returning to his position, arms
draped over the steering wheel provided a resting place for his throbbing
forehead.

           
Baffled, for a moment Jordan did
nothing, then an impetuous reflex made her slam the door shut.
 
At the same time, her voice escaped the
snarled web of her thoughts.
 
“I won't and,
you can't make me.
 
I said I'd help
you.
 
I never go back on my word.
 
Besides, until you get Scorpio, you will not
be able to meet the terms of our agreement.
 
Perhaps you've forgotten?”

           
Eyes tightly shut; Jake tried
valiantly to ward off the lust gathering all too quickly in his center twisting
his guts into one gigantic ball of heat.
 
Little did Jordan know, he was hanging on to the wheel for dear life
trying to calm the unpredictable component of him that one second wanted to
thrash the hell of out her, the next pull her into his arms.
 
If he did, he’d kiss the soft, luscious, lips
he was dying to savor, draw them into his mouth spread them open and search out
the nectar to see if it tasted as sweet as imagined.
 
Hell, right now, he'd walk fire and brimstone
to lick every inch, kiss every part of her.

           
Instead, eyes full of amusement
glided toward hers.
 
Emerald and gold
clashed turning both gems into red-hot coals.
 
No longer did he see Jordan’s rags, camouflaged hair and face, nor could
he smell the stench of her clothing.
 
She'd taught him to look beyond what the naked eye sees to where the
beauty of one’s heart and soul outshines their visible wrappings.
 
Bravely keeping them concealed, she’d proven
she had more heart, more guts, more love to give than anyone he'd ever
known.
 

           
To his exasperation, without
terrifying her, there was no way he could express the emotions inflating his
head and heart making them ready to explode, no way to display his
feelings.
  
No words, except for those he
vowed he’d never say again.
 
Frightening
him most, this time he knew it wouldn't be a game of make believe.
 
An overwhelming, all-consuming awareness
stabbed his stomach.
 
He was shuddering
from the realization that his heart abandoned his mind and had fallen irrevocably
in love for the first and last time.

           
Jordan couldn't make another
delivery the chance that something might happen to her would kill him.
 
Setting her free was the only answer.
 
That was his plan before they dressed, before
they left the apartment, before they got this far, the problem was, he couldn't
find the guts to do so.
 
It wasn’t easy
letting go of something so rare, so precious but he knew the time had come, now
before he begged her to stay and after tonight, though he never begged, he knew
he would.
 
Reaching into his pocket,
groping fingers found what he placed there.
 
Holding it out to Jordan, he said, “I have Scorpio where I want him.
 
I have enough to put him down.
 
We don't have to go tonight.
 
It's over.