High Card Bluff (House of Car...

The brat was back in the bathroom, and he was once again going through her purse. This time because he knew what he'd find, and he was right. In Adrianna's all but useless clutch was a thing of lipstick, some gum, and a joint in a tube. A fat joint, of better quality, warning that she'd figured he'd go looking. He grinned, amused that the oh-so proper model Adrianna everyone else saw used a joint to unwind after stressful events. No lecture would come from him; this certainly beat many vices out there.

But seeing the joint from her purse while his body was still ringing from that kiss left Tom having to acknowledge that maybe Dri wasn't as safely ladylike as he kept expecting her to be. He had thought the risk had been in trying to keep her quiet, but he hadn't been certain if any of the others spoke Spanish and it was the best thing he thought to do. And if maybe it hadn't been the first time tonight he'd thought about kissing her, he'd have to deal with later because he definitely just heard her puke.

"Why are you sick?'' he was knocking at the bathroom door, concern evaporating everything else.

He heard the toilet flush, the sink run, and even a towel get used, but still no answer. When Adrianna opened the door, he had to have been looming in the frame but Tom couldn't help it. A quick check showed that she'd washed off the makeup and switched into her regular clothes, but still looked like she was putting on a performance. "I'm fine, it was latent nerves." she seemed frustrated and for once it wasn't with him.

So he hugged her again, this time without the strange sexual tension from the party. It felt surreal to offer comfort instead of counter argument, but Tom knew her well enough to know that verbal gentleness would he chased any. He felt her sigh, the movement in her shoulders giving it away, and she hugged him back. Then she stepped away, going to her bag in the kitchen to pull out a notebook. When she'd come over with the full bag he had cracked wise about her moving in, but then he'd seen all the things needed for her to get ready for a house party. Adriana the model was a process that the Dri he knew put on, and if he hadn't heard her getting sick from the nerves of it just minutes ago he could almost believe that she'd been untouched by it all. It was like when he'd spied the minute traces of her fear after the rally party; Dri wasn't naïve to the dangers around her, she was just existing in a world where they come after her regardless of her caution.

But before he could awkwardly try to express any of that, he saw what she'd grabbed the notebook for; she was writing a goddam profile of Jerred himself. "I see the studying continues."

Dri paused and looked over her shoulder to see him looming again, it wasn't hard to do when she was half a foot shorter than he was barefoot; and every inch of her was just daintier.

"It helps and it helps," he wasn't certain if she was joking but he nodded like it made sense.

She'd already listed the two locations where Jerred had held his parties, with bullet points under each describing the size and layouts. Tom couldn't help but feel a little impressed; she'd been untrained, barely prepared, distracting as all get out, and yet had a damn near encyclopedic catalogue of who, what, where, and when, with descriptions of each. So he did the only thing he could do; he filled her in on the other locators he'd been to where Jerred was hosting, and the people he encountered there.

They discussed the likely location of Jerred's next rally party, he liked to move them around to keep the cops at bay, and it wasn't until Dri yawned mid sentence that Tom thought to look at the time. It was late enough if he dropped her off at home she'd have to sneak in her own window again.

"Bed, go." he directed, resigned to once again burrito himself on the shitty couch for the night.

"It's your turn to get a good night's sleep," of course she argued with him, "besides, I'm small enough I stand a chance of fitting on that thing to sleep."

Instead of arguing back, he slapped the side of his fist against his open palm in the unspoken 'rock-paper-scissors-for-it 'gesture. Dri's laugh was tired but all the nerves from earlier were at least gone. Without further discussion they both held their fists up and after a 3 count threw out their best effort; he had rock, she had scissors and Tom used the chance to cheat.

"I win, I pick who sleeps where; you get the bed." they hadn't actually laid any rules out fast after all.

"Clever goon," Dri shook her head at his tactic and Tom just smiled.

"Just let me get to spare comforter and its all yours." he gestured for her to head in and followed a moment later.

"My mother says not to argue with a fool, they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." Despite the day they'd had, she was still in fine form.

"Go to sleep Reinita," he repeated the term to see the look she gave him a response for it.

A glitter of laughter in her eyes because even though he'd said it mockingly, it was still kinder than all the times he'd called her a brat to her face. "Did you see the look on Adrien's face?" Her question surprised him, he'd been looking at her and not the others, "He doesn't even know what the word means, but I'd given him such shit the last time he called me babe, and there you are getting away with mocking me." this time she did hit him, a tired swat to his shoulder that barely thumped.

"Well I couldn't exactly call you the brat in front of them," he offered as a defiance. That had been part of it, but Tom had also been disturbed by how Jerred kept using Dri's full name; the man talked about his cars in the same manner, like the name was the brand and he owned it. Tom had just intended to send her off for a beer so he could state plainly to the boys just how off limits she was when she'd gotten mouthy, so he'd gotten mouthy back.

And it was time to change the channel in his brain. "Goodnight Dri," he pulled his comforter along with him, seeing her hesitate at the side of the bed.

"Goodnight Tomas," Tom closed the door behind him before letting out a slow exhale.

His dad always said that any day you live to see the end of was a win, and Tomas did consider the day a success, but a part of him still felt off balance by the whole thing. He figured a good night's sleep would solve it so he got ready for none of that on the shitty couch.

To say that the sleep he'd gotten had been poor would he an understatement. It was so bad he felt no shame in stealing the joint he'd found in Dri's purse, and opening the window to smoke it. His back hurt, his neck had a terrible kink in it, and his leg had dangled at a weird angle despite the blanket cocoon so his knee felt jerky. And it took less than half the joint before the smell reached sleeping beauty and brought her fury out at him.

"Goddammit Tomas, it was big enough to share you greedy bastard." Adrianna didn't seem to be a morning person, or at least not one of those who woke up on the softer side

Instead of answering, he offered her the joint and kept his mouth shut as she snatched it from him to smoke in petulant silence. Tom tried very hard to keep his head on straight as she glared at him; she'd found one of he shirts to sleep in and he made a point to keep his head up as she'd come out without pants on. The shirt was long enough for modesty's sake, but he wasn't ready to deal with that much thigh on the brat first thing in the worry.

"Why are you awake already?" Her anger seemed to simmer down as the smoke passed between them.

"My spine threw in the towel; that couch really is shit," he had to admit it. The idea had been to keep people, namely Nate before he smartened up, from using his couch as a crash pad but now that Tom found himself occasionally sleeping on it he really did have to get a better one.

"Poor goon," she had no sympathy in her voice, "I offered to take it so there's no point whining about it." Devil Woman.

"Get dressed, I need food and there's none here." he tossed the roach out the widow and closed it, the stench of garbage wafting up from the bins far below.

Tom managed to lock herself in the bathroom to get a shower, wanting to hear her leave the bedroom before he risked getting out. The shower helped for what the smoke hadn't, and he felt almost human again as he stepped out to see Dri already impatiently waiting. It'd taken her forever and a day to get ready for the party, but apparently a smoke turned her into speedy Gonzales.

True to form, Tom couldn't keep the commentary to himself "I need to start all our dates with a joint, it seems to get your ass moving."

"Get your own then, if you keep taking mine I'm going to stop hiding them in my purse." she retaliated, walking down the hall to the elevators without waiting for him to lock his door. To Tom it just sounded like a fun game to play, a thought he tried to smother in its sleep.

He tossed her duffle into the back of the Jeep, having taken it from her at the elevator. Despite their earlier bickering, they were quiet all the way to food. And he was once again forcibly reminded of Adrianna's willpower; he'd brought them out to a Cora's as the joint left him craving bacon and eggs, but despite having a sweet tooth even Tom knew about Dri resisted the munchies available. She ordered an orange juice, poached eggs, rye toast, and a black coffee. Years ago he'd seen her polish off a stack of chocolate chip pancakes, but she'd recently joked about not being able to eat the things she'd want to eat and it seems to have been the truth.

So he got a single chocolate chip pancake and intended to wait her will power out.

Tom drank his coffee and saw Dri's eyes drift to the pancake he was deliberately ignoring, focusing his appetite onto the proteins. Her eggs and toast disappeared quickly, and Tom topped up their coffee before he caught her staring at the melted chocolate in the pancake. Only then did he pull the pancake to him and start to slowly cut it into pieces, eating each piece with its own dollop of syrup. Now her eyes shot to his and spied the laughter Tom was barely concealing because Dri actually gave a disgusted sigh.

"Can I have a piece please?" she finally asked, seconds before Tom's phone warned of a text

Tom ignored his phone as always, sliding the plate over to Dri with a grin instead, "Since you said please," he assented and she glared at his teasing tone while having a piece.

"Check your damn message, its making me anxious, " she took another chocolatey piece of pancake while Tom laughed.

"I hate it when people act like what's happening on their phone's more important then those in front of them," he found himself admitting honestly, "it's so damn rude."

Now Adrianna was laughing, but it sounded a little bitter, "I've had to get used to it as part of my job. I'm never the priority in the room, I'm there to do a job and stay out of the way." It surprised him to hear the weariness in her tone; she'd always seemed to enjoy modelling when she'd discussed it previously. As if to prove her point, Tom's phone bleeped again. "You have my permission to check it Goon, I'm eating your pancake." Now her tone was mocking as she claimed the plate, unaware that he'd planned that.

"Reinita is a little too on the nose," Tom bitched but finally checked his phone.

[Outside Calypso -races, betting, music, booze. Want you tweaking my ride but bring your girl, it wont be all work] and then a time for them to arrive at today.

Tom spun his phone on the table so Dri could read the news for herself. In the time it'd taken them to read the messages she'd finished the pancake, helping to lighten the sour mood Tom was in. "I'm not getting into a bikini in front of these creeps," he'd heard that much scorn in her tone before but Tom was glad for it now.

"Me either," as Intended it made her smile, "You don't have to do this Dri, I can figure out what to tell him." Even if it'd cause problems for Tom, he wanted to give her the out if she needed it.

"I'm going just so there's someone competent on the team," her tone gave no room for argument, "but despite the shoots I've done for magazines I'm not giving Jerred the show he so clearly wants."

Tom studied her seriously for a moment, seeing beyond her chin raised in challenge to the fact that she was actually ready to watch his back. There wasn't a whole hell of a lot either of them could do if things went truly fucked, but Tom figured that between the two of them they could at least get out alive. "Well since my G-string bikini is out," Tom used the humour to show he wasn't going to argue about her going, "I guess we dress to race."

"You'll have to drop me at home and let me switch out, I didn't pack for a two day series." Tom thought about it for a moment, it was Sunday and technically still morning; Reaper would be there if not the rest of her family, how the hell was that not a bad idea?

"You didn't go home last night," he stated the obvious, realizing how very screwed he'd be if he dropped her off now. 

Now he saw her laugh again, the brat enjoyed his impending murder, "I asked Honey to cover, and they think I stayed over with her now that she's in town. But I see what you mean, it'll be easier if I go borrow from her than my own closet right now."

Honey James would be easier to deal with than any of the parents, though Tom was a little curious what Dri had told her. Currently no one knew they were working a job together, or even spending any time together at all; it was just easier than dealing with the fallout of everyone finding out he put her at risk, even though she had gotten herself into it and he'd just been there to drive her home after. Tom knew the 온라인카지노게임 of Adrianna's namesake, from both Malcolm and Tom's father Carlitos, Tom knew how poorly either man would view all of this.

He paid for the meal and let Dri navigate until they pulled up in front of Honey's rental unit, closer to the city then he expected. He managed to keep quiet as Dri knocked on the door, having already texted of their arrival. Being expected didn't make the critical look Honey James gave him when she opened the door any easier to bear.

--

Adrianna felt almost detached from the nerves that had made her throw up last night, once again in the mode to handle whatever came at her but she knew the fall apart would come later. [Long 온라인카지노게임, I need another big favour. I'm on my way with the Goon and I need an outfit]. Adriana had texted Honey and sat back to wait the inevitable barrage of questions.

Yesterday she'd asked her to cover, say yes if anyone asked if Adri had slept over. But she hadn't said why at the time, hoping to come up with a plausible 온라인카지노게임 for the shrewd fashion designer. Now instead she was bringing Tomas with her to Honey's and there was no way Adri could straight up lie, so she needed to use the truth in a particular way.

Next to her Tom drove as if uncaring for the imminent disaster they were about to encounter, the fact that Honey didn't text anything but a thumbs up did not bode well.

"Good morning Adri, Tomas; please come in." Honey shared some of the same features as Westley Jones, her half brother, but she was almost as pale as Ophelia. At almost 40 Honey looked 30, and when she put effort into it could match Adri's not yet 20. Instead of effort, she had answered the door in a tastefully chic lounge set meant to be seen.

Adri got a hug and Tomas got a kiss to each cheek, and before things could be awkward, Honey had gotten Tomas to sit at the TV while she whisked Adri to the wardrobe. Of course, a fashion designer would have an entire room dedicated to clothes, but before Adri could start to enjoy the experience, Honey turned a serious eye on her.

"Before anything else, I need to know; is he as good at kissing as he looks?" Honey demanded, and for some reason Ali found herself blurting out.

"Better." And then she actually slapped her face into her hands.

Honey laughed, resting a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "I'm not going to tell anyone, but I desperately want to know everything. Consider it my cost for helping out." She shamelessly extorted. "Besides, I can't say I'm all that surprised. I've seen how worked up the two of you can get when you're fighting, and all that energy can be quite..."

"Please stop," Adri blurted out in discomfort, aware that even with her complexion she was blushing. After that the only way to convince Honey it wasn't what she thought it was, was to actually tell her what had happened. So while Honey helped Adri get ready, she told her everything; from her ridiculous mental image of him rising from the couch like Hades from the Underworld, to the fact that they were posing as lovers because she'd picked up a creep and he was doing a job. Since Honey didn't interrupt while playing doll with her, it was less than an hour later that she was ready to go and Honey had all the news.

"You sure do like to make things hard on yourself." Honey gave her a hug, "But it's given me a great idea for the Catwalk, so thank you." That felt suspiciously foreboding but Honey continued, "text me if you need me to cover again, we can tell everyone its because you're my lead model for Catwalk this year."

Now Adri smiled, a flash of pride at Honey wanting her to be the lead model for her line this year. "Thank you, and yes we will do Catwalk things soon I promise."

Honey brought her back to where Tomas was waiting, and she saw him check the outfit the designer had selected for her. She'd selected a silk halter top and jeans that would provide some warmth from April's chill; although it wasn't the coldest during the day the nights could still go cold.

"Does this cabrón (asshole) just throw parties for a living?" It occurred to her that the schedule seemed erratic, but was consistent all the same.

"Basically." Tom took only a moment to figure out who she was talking about. "There's a reason I was hired to get information." He turned his attention to Honey, "Thank you for your help, and discretion."

Honey smiled, waving it off. "It's nothing, I'm glad to help. Besides, the amount of my own exploits that Adri has kept quiet on could fill a book."

That made Tom give her another assessing look, apparently only just realizing what appearing innocent could hide; she just gave him her pleasant model smile and knew he read nothing off it. "We still need to switch to the Supra if we're racing, so I hate to steal a favor and go but..."

"Remember to text if you need an alibi," Honey bade them off and Adri went to the Jeep wondering why she felt like Honey was laughing at her.

The ride was quiet, Tom focusing on getting to wherever he kept pulling all the cars from, and Adri was trying to prepare herself for the day to come. Being in a public place indicated that it might not be a late night; although Honey's offer was nice Adri didn't want to abuse it if not needed. Besides, she'd really like to have a moment to figure out the strange turn her life had taken.

The Guerrero Garage she'd been to before as it was on the same lot as their house, but this was an actual compound somewhere else, and it had the security fence that word drew to mind. The Jeep was only one of many vehicles, and Adri realized she'd underestimated the work the Goon did with his dad. The value of most of the cars was up there before the mods she could see were even added, but to make the arrival time Jerred had specified she couldn't stop to appreciate them all, and instead she slid into the Supra and they were off in a growl of acceleration.

It was easier for her to focus on the unfairness that Tomas had required a vehicle change, but his original outfit was fine; because men can go anywhere in jeans and a shirt. The nerves that would mob her later faded like a mist, waiting until her dreams tonight to play all her worst-case scenarios from the back of her head now.

"Hey," Tomas broke into her train of thought, "I'm betting you can't hide a glock on you in that outfit."

Without thinking about it, Adri slapped his arm and tried not to laugh. Honey's halter-top did not leave room for a bra, and even if it wasn't obvious from the front there was simply almost no real back to hide straps under. She'd worn more revealing things at the beach last year, but his comment had put to rest her anxiety. "Goon, Its called fashion. I'm not supposed to use a weapon to kill."

Somehow Tom managed not to laugh as he parked the Supra, seeming to watch all the cars and people at once. With that many potential eyes watching back she was going to let the argument drop, especially as he'd come around to open her door for her, but he surprised her as she stood next to him.

His hand came up to rest on the bare skin of her back, safely above her ass, but distracting nonetheless, as he whispered, "In that outfit you really could kill Reinita. I was just saying it wouldn't be with a glock in your bra." It made her laugh; her real, hand-to-stomach laugh and Tomas looked thrilled to have gotten that response from her. Adri tried to recover, but the damage was done; not only did the Goon look triumphant, it had drawn attention.

For some reason Adrien had been elected as Jerred's errand boy, probably as part of repaying the bet he should never have made, and he was staring at them. "Jerred's ride is the way," he looked about as thrilled to be collecting them as Adri felt to have him there, but Tomas seemed to take it with good humor.

He kept his hand on her back, once again managing to walk with instead of push or pull her. It seemed like things were going to go more according to plan today as they were brought to a bunch of cars where Jerred and his posse had their hoods up, and Adri spotted the crowd of semi familiar ladies still close. It made sense that she join them, Tom was going to be playing the Goon anyway, so Adri turned to say that but he misinterpreted the move and interrupted her with a scorching kiss to the lips. And then she was on her own as the ladies absorbed her into their cluster.

Leann looked to be having a great day already, her smile was beaming, "Well now I need to hear what's happened since Sunday!" her demand was friendly and inevitable. "Because I know the girls and I thought you'd come in with Adrien, but from what I see and hear that is not the case." Around her the other women nodded, murmuring their agreement and curiosity. Since Adri was certainly not going to tell the whole truth, she did what she did best and lied with parts of it.

"I work with Adrien on some shoots. On Sunday he asked if I'd be interested in 'going to a party'; Tomas was working so..." she shrugged as if that answered anything, "everything else is an issue between the men that they'll figure out."

"Oh I can believe it," Leann laughed, "my step-brother was furious with Adrien failing on a bet; nearly got himself banned entirely." Adri's logic pieced in that Leann must be Jerred's stepsister, and was glad she'd kept things vague.

"How did Adrien get back into Jerred's good graces?" Adri kept her tone light, turning to watch the cars get worked on as she pried for information.

"Money usually," one of the ladies called out and got shushed by another.

"It's true, Jerred likes the colour green," Lean laughed and Adri wondered if the blonde knew the depths of her step-brother's work. She might know of the parties, but the information Tomas was tracking was more criminal than just illegal. Jerred hadn't accepted Adrien's money on Sunday, that hadn't been enough then so she couldn't see how it was now, so what had Adrien given him?