"I crave you as if I've already had you before, that scares and excites me all at once"
« In which Adriana Narvaez, a mother
of two, finds herself falling deep
into the world of crime after an
innocent robbery turns into a money-laundering bus...
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"Hey, I brought Chilli. Stan made it, it's spicy."
Adriana followed behind Ruby, shutting the door behind them. Adriana could smell the chili wafting through the air, her stomach letting out a soft rumble.
"Yum. I'm starving."
"Thank you, I'm so hungry."
Adriana noticed the lethargic gaze from Beth, her brow lifting in interest. Shrugging off her coat, she met Ruby's gaze for a brief moment before turning back to sluggish sisters. "Did you stay up all night?"
"I mean, she stayed up all night. I slept next to her like a baby." Annie grumbled, her head rested on Beth's shoulder. Adriana let out a sigh, propping one arm on the stair's railing, the other one gripping her coat.
She couldn't blame them. She, herself couldn't help but stay awake throughout the night, but that's how it's been in the Navarez household as of late. Coming home late from a meeting with the girls, cleaning the house, maybe making dinner for the kids if her mom couldn't bother to do it.
Shaking her head from her thoughts, Adriana found her mind drifting to the man resting upstairs on the pink children's bed, her shoulders sagging with an unsettling feeling. "Is he still out cold?"
"Um, maybe we need, like, smelling salts or something." Giving Adriana the answer she needed.
"Right, 'cause it's 1892." "Do you want him to wake up?"
"I want him to not die in my house." A loud thud resonated throughout the house, startling all of the girls into a deafening silence. Adriana could feel the hairs standing on her skin, her mind immediately going to the gun stashed in Beth's linen closet.
$$$
"Where am I?"
The man repeated, his voice growing significantly louder. Adriana'a breath shook under the glare of the silver gun, her hands held up in surrender.
What would it take to get a break from all this mess?
"My house. You're in my house." Beth stammered out, her heart beating out of her chest. As much as Adriana wanted to say that she was used to these types of things, she still couldn't help but fear the gangster standing before them.
"Who the hell are you?"
"I'm a friend of your friend's. He thought that you would be safe here." Adriana mentally cursed their so-called 'friend', her arms glued to her side. Beth and the man each took a step, inching closer and closer to the door where the other three girls neared.
$$$$
"Two car seats plus a booster. What's that gonna set me back, like, 600 bucks?"
"Maybe he'll realize it and bring them back."
Adriana only scoffed, her head resting on the armrest of the couch. Watching intently as Annie poured the scotch into the cup, she rested her arm over her eyes, shielding them from the glaring light on the ceiling.
"That's not how carjackings work."
"I don't want him back. He just had a gun in my face."
Annie only let out a sigh, pouring the last bit of alcohol into the other two cups as Adriana slid her legs off the couch, sitting up, ready to accept the drink.
"Guys, what is even happening? What are we doing?" Urging Annie to hurry with the drinks, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, pulling it out to find the overdue reminders, reminding her of the countless tasks she had yet to do. She almost forgot she had a job to get to and a school to create.
"What do you mean?" Adriana inquired, tossing her phone on the coffee table to escape the onslaught of thoughts that threatened to fill her mind. She just wanted to forget it all again, and be home with her kids.
"I mean, I am so tired of almost dying." Adriana quirked her brows in amusement at Beth's declaration, finding the situation kind of ironic. Taking her second drink from Annie with an appreciative grin, she watched the liquid slosh around the cup, listening intently to the conversation playing before her.
"Oh, are you?"
" Okay, let's just try to get through this, okay?" Adriana only shrugged in response to Annie's suggestion, taking a sip from the intoxicating drink.
"Oh, Carl." "No."
"Carl who?" Adriana questioned, searching Ruby's eyes for any sense of recognition. Ruby shrugged, her lips sinking into a frown as she took another sip of her drink.
"Emma's favorite bunny."
"He was on the dash."
"Now he's on a drive-by."
Hearing the front door slightly creak, Adriana downed her cup, sliding it underneath the coffee table. Then came the excited voice of Kenny Boland, prompting the other women to do the same, as they hurriedly drank their drink and hid the cup along with the alcohol.
"Mom?"
"Hey, sweetie, what are you doing here?"
"Just don't be mad at dad."
Adriana let out a low whistle, quickly grabbing her purse that sat by her side, taking this moment to head home.
"Why? What did he do now?"
"He told me all about the party with the bounce house and the water slide, and I invited, like, all my friends. Five can't come, but--but 32 can."
Adriana couldn't help but let out a surprised laugh, brushing past Kenny with a pat on his head, only to be halted by the sight of Dean Boland. She greeted him with a nod, glancing back at Ruby. "Need a ride?"
"Hey! Don't be mad."
The four women stood in silence, all eyes falling on Beth to gauge her reaction. Adriana felt for the woman. It wasn't her fault that her husband and baby daddy was a lying, cheating, cowardly bastard. She'd take a dangerous gangster over him any day, though it wasn't much of a competition.
"Do you wanna go play video games?"
"Yeah, definitely."
"Let's do it."
"Ruby," Adriana called over the heavy footsteps of Kenny and Annie, her keys jingling slightly in the tense air. Ruby cleared her throat, gathering her purse before brushing past Dean.
