Switchblade

Chapter 71: Get Your Act Together

Three more days passed and Denise rushed home excitedly.

She hit a large jackpot at the casino and couldn't wait to count what she earned. If this didn't bring her to her goal then it brought her damn close.

She finally made it and quickly parked the car.
She'd left all of her things during her rush besides the money and her phone.

She hurried inside and then to her bedroom where she kept her past earnings in a drawer in her nightstand.

She dumped it all out from the bag and started counting after turning on her lamp.

Her eyes, brain, and hands worked at a speed faster than normal as the excitement coarses through her veins. She couldn't wait to see how close she was. It had been two months. After paying off the dept she honestly considered still using the casino whenever they were low on cash, it was so fast and efficient. Without she'd probably still be in the tens of thousands. There had been times she'd lost but she wasn't far gone enough to keep pushing it, she knew when to quit.

She spread the bills out in stacks like a cash register would then would count each stack then add it all up.
She also had some money in her bank account she'd be willing to hand over. Anything to get her daughter back from those fiends.

A big stack of hundreds.
A decently sized stack of fifties.
A large sized stack of twenties.
A large sized stack of tens.
A large sized stack of fives.
A huge stack of ones.

49,864.

She stared at it.

She quickly grabbed the bag and checked inside.

A hundred was stuck in the crease and she panted happily. But it only brought her to 49,964.
She got up and quickly grabbed her keys and phone. She was heading towards a 24 hour atm.

~•~

Tati aimed the pool stick with the best precision she could.
She forced it forward at the cue ball.
The solid purple ball bounced off of the corner and away from the hole.
"Damn it!" she exclaimed.
"Close." Killian encouraged.
Tati looked at the angle of the purple ball and wondered if she wanted to try for it again. She decided no and picked the solid green ball that would be easier. She bent over the pool table to aim again, because like usual Killian had already gotten all of his balls in. She had four left.

Now he was just being perverted.

He walked up to Tati and stood behind her while she aimed. She felt something against her backside.
"Killian." She turned and saw him standing with his crotch against her.
"Mm?" His hand found her right cheek, it squeezed and rubbed over her shorts.
Tati stood up straight and turned to face him. "We made a deal that you can't do that without permission!" she exclaimed.
"You want me to ask?" he wondered.
"Well-..."
"Can I please hold your ass in my hands and do with it what I want to?" he asked.
She just stared up at him.
He stared down at her with a straight face.

"...Why?" she wondered.
"Cause I like touching you. It's the best part of my day."
She didn't respond and just looked away.
He gently pulled her face back to his with a smile. "You can touch me too."
"I don't want to."
"Sure you do." He took her hand and draped her arm over his shoulder then both of his went around her waist. "You have free range of me."
"You sound like a slut..." Tati scoffed to cover how nervous she was.
"Treat me like one." he commanded.

She stared up at him. Then at his body.

He chuckled. "You're so cute."
"Shut up."
"One day you're gonna learn what to do with me. I'm excited." He smiled.
"What do you want me to do?" she wondered.
"I want you to put down the wall and act like you want me."
"Who said-..."
"Don't pull that bullshit with me. I know you do and you hate that you do so you try to hide it. But I see from the "fuck me" look in your eyes that you want me but you're scared to."
She looked up at him.
"I want you to start acting like it. This isn't as one sided as you're making it seem like it is. I know because you kiss me back."
Their lips began to close in and finally they collided for a soft kiss. Lips between lips that only lasted a few seconds before Killian pulled away a centimeter or two.
"See?" he smiled with a gentle bite to his lip.
Tati sighed and pulled his face closer. She brought the other arm over his shoulder to kiss again. This time deeper than the last.

•

Teo received a phone call.

It was an unknown number. But in this business it wasn't smart to ignore those.
He picked up.

"Hello?" he answered.
"Yes, I um...I got it."
He could hear that the woman was frantic over the phone. "What?" he questioned with furrowed brows.
"Is this the man? The one that took my daughter?" Denise asked.
Teo's face relaxed. "This is his employee."
"Well, can you tell him I got it? I got the money! All of it. I promise. Please bring my daughter back. I'll give it to him."
"Alright." He was about to hang up.
"Can...Can she come home tonight?"
Teo put the phone back against his ear. "No. I can't tell him until the morning. Soonest is tomorrow."
"O-Okay. Okay, that's fine. I'll be home."
Teo hung up the call.

Only to dial someone else.

Kolson's phone rang and he sighed while he laid in bed.
"Turn that off." his girlfriend instructed.
He rolled his eyes. "Go to sleep." He picked up the phone from the nightstand and read the contact. He sighed and picked it up. "What, asshole?" he groaned. He rested his hand over his face in exhaustion.
"Tell your son his girlfriend's mother gathered all the money. She wants her home tomorrow." Teo stated.
Kolson's brows furrowed. "Tati?"
"Yea."
"Who the fuck is Tati?" Melissa asked.
Kolson ignored her.
"Alright. I'll tell him in the morning. Bastard's probably fuckin' her right now."
"Alright."
Kolson hung up and put his phone back on his nightstand to charge.

"Who is Tati?" Melissa repeated.
Kolson slid closer to her and wrapped his arm over her to cuddle. "Shut up and go to bed. Nobody's cheatin' on your crazy ass."
She turned over to lay in his chest and he kissed her head then got comfortable to fall back asleep.