"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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"You had to bring it?"
"I wasn't going to leave it at home."
Beth shrugged, staring at the other three women incredulously. The three women eyed the paper takeout bag warily, the untouched burger, fries, and gun weighing heavily in their minds.
Adriana knew that the food was meant for her but after seeing the gun and what it implied, her appetite had disappeared. She quickly handed off the bag to Beth as the three women decided to regroup later at Ruby's donut job.
Now, the three women stood in the back room of Dandy Donuts as they each weighed their options. Killing Boomer or getting killed by Rio.
"Alright, lemme see it. Come on."
Beth was quick to pass off the bag to Annie, per her request, watching curiously as her little sister sifted through the bag, tossing the burger to Adriana before pulling out the gun buried underneath the spilled fries.
"I think that's for you. From your baby daddy."
Adriana let out a sarcastic chuckle, before tossing the burger into the trash, feeling everything but grateful for the sad meal.
"Yes, a burger with a side of murder."
Annie whistled as she clumsily handled the gun, admiring the piece as if she knew what she was doing.
"Really?"
"Put it down."
Adriana flinched away from Annie before grabbing a napkin from the paper bag and gently pulling the gun from her grasp, the weight of the heavy metal wrapped in a napkin, familiar in her grasp.
"Maybe let's not wave it around, hm?"
Adriana set the gun down against the stainless steel table with a heavy clang as Annie reached for her phone to check her schedule.
"Alright, how's Tuesday."
"Sara has a doctor's appointment."
"Well, Wednesday, I have Sadie. Thursday?"
Adriana shrugged at Annie's expectant gaze, desperately wanting to be done with the conversation and the whole ordeal.
"I guess Thursday works," Ruby muttered, her eyes darting between the three women. Annie paused, the three women's eyes now landing on Beth as they awaited her response.
"Want to whip out your iCal, or--" "No!"
"Y'know, I'm just trying to be proactive here. Okay? Good news is, we have the means. Now, we just have to find someone to do it. I say we look on the dark web. On 'The first 48' they always hire, like, a gym trainer or something."
Adriana could tell that Beth was heavily against the idea of killing Boomer, she couldn't the woman, but it's not like they had any choice. It was either kill or be killed, and after facing death once Adriana was not ready to face it again.
" how do we get on that?"
" I don't know. That's why it's called the dark web, it's not meant for us"
"Am I the only one that doesn't want to do this?" Beth glanced between the three women, doubt and disbelief in her eyes as she looked at Annie across the table
"No." Ruby chimed, her voice small.
"He's a rapist." Annie reminded the three as if the answer was obvious, which it was to Adriana.
"He's a person." Beth tried to reason.
"Who rapes."
Adriana once again mentioned, her brows twisted in confusion at Beth's words.
$$$
"So, how are you and your girls planning to do it?"
"That's not what you're here to talk about."
Rio chuckled, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. He watched intently as Adriana moved about her living room, tossing her throw pillows back onto the couch. He couldn't help but admire her, only clad in pajama shorts and a tank top after a long day and even a longer night.
"Right."
Adriana finally stopped her obsessive cleaning before turning to face Rio, gazing at him as he stood across the room, hands stuffed in his pockets. The moment was familiar to her, yet everything was so different. Now, he stood there as someone she knew would always be in her life, something she used to wish but she now dreaded.
"You didn't tell me you had a son."
"You never asked."
"If I did, would you have told me the truth?"
The room fell silent once again, and that was the answer that Adriana needed as she shook her head with a scoff, the silence only reinforcing the lack of trust she had in him.
"And when were you planning on telling me that Marco left? Or when you were thinking about selling the company, or-- better yet, when you and you girls were gonna turn me in?"
Adriana grew tense with every word as his voice rose, a mix of anger and something else that Adriana couldn't pinpoint, swimming behind his eyes. She tried to push down the guilt, because deep down she knew this would come up and even deeper down, she knew that he was also right.
"That's different, okay? That's business. I'm talking about us."
"So, now there's an 'us', right? Only when it benefits you—"
"Yes! Because we're having a child together."
For once, Adriana could see Rio's walls crumbling as his eyes darted towards her stomach, his brows twisting in thought. She followed his gaze, suddenly feeling small as he grew silent, his jaw clenching before finally meeting her gaze.
"I'm gonna tell your girls to do it tonight and when they do it, I don't want you there. I don't want you involved with them no more."
Adriana couldn't help but roll her eyes, dread swirling in her chest at his words. She once again knew that he was right, but the last thing she wanted to talk about was murder and her relationship with the girls. A relationship that was currently crumbling now that Rio was going to be in her life, probably forever.
"No business talk, remember. You're here because you wanted to talk about our baby."
"This is about our baby. I don't think y'all understand that this shit's not a game. It's dangerous—"
"I know—"
"You don't though! I'm not gonna have you out in the streets playin' with my baby's life, and I definitely don't trust whatever it is you got goin' on with the girls. Those bitches don't got your back, and if it came down to you or them, they're choosing themselves—"
Adriana couldn't find it within herself to say he was wrong, no matter how much she wanted to. She felt her breath catch in her throat as Rio approached, her heart hammering in her chest with something other than fear. His gaze was intense, as he towered above her, reaching out to tilt up her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"And what about you, if I wasn't carrying your baby, would you still choose me?"
