Page 77 of Push & Pull
The worst was the lack of anything from Petra. Not that Simone expected anything, but…
She doesn’t even know my real number.That hadn’t stopped Simone from checking her prepaid phone for anything from Petra.Like I have anything to say to her.Every time Simone missed her, it was memories of lying in bed or having bullshit conversations in the car that triggered the pain in her heart. Not what had led Petra to storm out of the hotel suite as if Simone had somehow wronged her.
Yeah, right. More like Petra would never explain her way out ofthatpaper bag.
She’s a thief. A grifter. A succubus.Even if Petra never intended to hurt Simone, she had – by not being forthright with what she was about. Then again, what was she supposed to say?
None of it made sense to Simone, who scrolled through her contacts for anyone that might understand her. Elena? Simone wasn’t in the mood to be coddled, especially one day after a dinner where she acted like a lovesick fool. Hailey? Her being friends with Petra for so long made Simone question what Ms. Lambert did in her own free time.Maybe all of that was a lie, too.The stories about Greek islands and wealthy fathers had been amusing when they were hurled at the denizens of Zeta Nu, but now Simone questioned how many lies she ate up because they were plausible… and because Petra was good at delivering them.
One name at the bottom of her list made her stop.Y.No, not Yvonne Marseille, but someone who was still familiar with the French sisters who had a reputation of their own.
Y was someone who should have been dumped from the contacts after Simone decided to get clean once and for all. After all, Y was the source of most of Simone’s late-night hazes that pushed her deeper into the world of dangerous escapism.
Anything Simone wanted, Y could procure for her. The man was known among most of the local party kids as the hookup of hookups. Molly for raves, coke for house parties, and acid for intimate nights with the missus. Those who had really gone down the hole and needed even harder stuff had tracks on their arms with his name on them. Meth? He knew where to get the purest stuff. Simone was pretty sure it was some of Y’s speed she had that one fateful night that made her realize things had gone too far.
Not that I’m going to… but if I were…Realistically, she’d probably go upstairs and start drinking. Pot wasn’t going to cut it. She also never got those cigarettes back from Petra.
Yet if she were going to text him for something… well, it had been a long time since she got lost with some good downers. Those were the easiest for him to get. Shit, they were the easiest forherto get, since all Simone needed was a fake name and a doctor willing to look the other way when she bribed them for a prescription. The pharmacies were easy to deal with after that.
Honestly, though?Sounds like too much work.
Simone wasn’t even in the mood to fall off the wagon. Instead, she kept coming around to a bottle of wine she had been saving for a special occasion. Wasn’t her fault if a special occasion now meantI am so depressed I want to curl up on the couch and not wake up for a week.
She was about to get out of the car when she received a text from Hailey.
“I’m sorry,”it said.
“What are you talking about?”Simone was quick to reply.“Is this about Petra? Don’t suppose you heard about that.”
Although three bubbles popped up to announce that Hailey was responding, words never arrived. Instead, Hailey dropped out of the conversation. Simone was better off shoving her phone into her pocket and not looking at it again until she was in her home.
As soon as she opened the Aston Martin’s driver side door, she swore she saw a shadow move in the corner of her eye.
It was probably a trick of the light since it wouldn’t be the first time Simone had a mild heart attack while swearing she saw someone in her private parking garage. Two of her three spots were filled with vehicles, including the Aston Martin beside her and a BMW she used for long-distance trips that took her beyond the county. The third was currently empty. Save for a splotch of dirt that Simone swore was not there when she left earlier that afternoon.
I’m losing my mind.Either that or she would need to talk to the building manager about the state of her garage. She paid top dollar for the private spots and her own garage opener. From the day Simone moved into this building, the point had always been to avoid other people – and to provide privacy to the women she occasionally brought home with her, whether they were her assistants, or one-night stands she picked up while out and about.
All of that felt like a faraway dream now. Simone was getting too old – and too tired – for those shenanigans. Especially when it was so hard to find a partner whoreallyunderstood what turned her on.
“I wonder if you can get cigarettes delivered,” she said while standing in front of the door that led to the short hallway connecting all of the private garages and the elevator that would take residents up to their domiciles. “It’s the 2020s, I don’t see why…”
Later, Simone would wonder if going through the door would have saved her this grief. While she would later conclude that, no, she was fucked no matter what, she still was never prepared for the man who grabbed her from behind, a handkerchief over her face and the world fading away quicker than any drug she ever knew had accomplished.
Chapter 27
Twointhemorningwas often Petra’s favorite time if given the choice. It was when the world was asleep and she could do as she pleased.My uncle doesn’t bother me at this time of night.Michail was already on her ass about somebody else he wanted money back from, but Petra had yet to respond to his phone call. She had ruined a good thing with Simone by working for her uncle the night before. Why the hell would she subject herself to that again so soon?
Besides, getting her share of the money earlier that morning had been a big enough headache that, if Petra weren’t already considering leaving the family business, she sure had enough evidence now. Michail hadn’t bothered to show up to handle the money, citing “another big job that has nothing to do with you.” Instead, Samson of all people had driven up from North Carolina to haggle with Petra over what she was owed. She demanded all of the cash she had taken off Earl and wanted a higher cut of the proceeds from his cards.The cash isn’t enough to get me through this next week.A job at a fast food joint would pay her more than what the family was offering.
The only reason Samson finally relented and gave her more was because Petra was on fire that morning. She still burned with frustration over what had happened with Simone.If I only had five minutes to explain myself…Yet, she knew it would never have been enough. Women like Simone not only lived in their La La Lands, where they understood the plights of the poor about as well as they understood trigonometry, but Petra couldn’t exactly explain what had been going on while looking like a shining beacon of morality. Although she and Simone were far from going-steady girlfriends, the potential had been there, and that probably hurt more than anything else.
So Petra had no qualms going up against Samson to get what she was owed for that debacle. If she were to lose Simone like that? She wanted her fair cut. With interest.
Tonight, she was in New England. Not the city Simone was from, but close enough to feel like they were only an arm’s length away. The neighborhood was nicer and quieter than the budget hotel Petra picked to hide out at while they waited to see how Earl would react. Most of the time, the marks understood why Petra had been sent after them and backed down from involving the police. Yet one never knew. Especially Petra, who ignored another call from her uncle at around midnight. She’d rather go take a shower and pretend she didn’t know someone named Simone Evans.
She returned to find a text from Hailey.
“I want you to know that I consider you one of my oldest, closest friends.”
