Until I Met You (COMPLETE)

Chapter Thirteen

Twenty-four hours later, Halex lay across his large bed in Dubai, his bare feet hanging off the side with his hand tossed over his eyes, Angel on his mind as her red hair bounced in his memory. Why did she have to get tangled in his thoughts? Why did she have to return now? Why? WHY?!? He was being tormented as the long-legged Czechoslovakian beauty slid onto the bed with him and pressed against him.

Ileana he could afford to lose, Angel he could not. If anyone found out about her they could easily destroy him, and he sighed, shifting on the bed as he thought about her. The music switched tempo downstairs, and he smiled as he knew the club was doing well. But was his angel? She was still withdrawing when he left, left to the devices of Rain. Could he trust Rain?

The heavy oak bed cradled him, the magnificently carved bedposts, stained dark and kissed the night as he dreamed of Angel sleeping in it, her waves of red hair kissing the golden sheets, spraying over the pillow to the heavy board. Oh how he wanted her, needed her. He had to get her out of his mind; he would drink her out if he had to.

The phone on the matching desk in the corner rang, and he slid himself off the bed and dawdled a little before answering it, "Adler." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Chicago sure." He listened a little while longer, "Got it we'll be their tomorrow night. Sure. Thanks. "He shifted and hung up the phone, things were going bad in Chicago, and he had to go straighten it out. The danger was too close to Angel, and he shivered. "I'll keep you safe." He said to no one in particular

Slipping into a long tee-shirt and leather pants, he made his way to the prodigious door that separated the club from his home. He tugged it open, getting blasted in the face by the smell of alcohol and half frozen bodies warming up. Rammstein played on the stereo system not far away from the steps he hopped up two at a time to get to his sanctuary in the club and watched the throng of young people melt to the music. Du Hast poured out as he was brought a cold freezer bottle of vodka no glass and he opened it tilting back his head for a long pull on the frosted bottle.

Moab and Midian sat talking to one another motioning to him as he slid in and smiled, "We have not so good business." Midian nodded as he joined Halex sitting on a chair opposite him as Moab sat beside him.

The men looked at him, "What did you mean we have trouble?" Moab asked as he finished his beer and ordered another dark ale and looked at his brother, "Where is it? Where are we going?"

Halex shifted and toyed with his drink, "The trouble is in the US... In Chicago." He left out, where Angel is from the men he considered brothers.

"What's going on there," Moab asked him as he ran a hand through his hair, "What is going wrong? Well if it's the US we are in trouble. I'm sure by now we're on their watch list and may not even be able to get in. They're cracking down on all of that you know."

"Our stance in the drug world is getting challenged, and people are getting hurt because of it. We have to go to sort it they are trying to overthrow us they want us out of the territory so they can come in with their drug and rule the territory. Much like the mobsters of old used to in prohibition times. So we'll let it happen, we'll go, we'll plan, and we'll leave." Halex shifted and turned back to Moab, "I can get us in, that's not the problem it's getting us all out alive. We'll only have a small window of time. Two days tops to set up and make the deal." He sank back on the couch and closed his eyes the music sliding into a Skrillex-Korn mix, and all he could do was mouth the words.

Moab growled and pulled out his ever-present deck of cards seemed it was the only way the guy could think was playing a game of poker against his brother Kirill who was staying relatively quiet. No one would speak until Mikhail got there he was the go-between and managed to keep the waters still, instead of diving into an ocean during the perfect storm.

"We're leaving in an hour," Was all Mikhail said, and they began to sober up for their flight. Mikhail, who was very rarely questioned, leaned against the pillar looking over the sea of partygoers everyone sat up, Kolya was gone he'd been replaced with a lower down Oded, who had watched over the creation of the drug and now he was with the big dogs to see if he could swim. Halex looked at Mikhail, "Have you made the preparations I asked for along the way?" Mikhail shifted under his scrutiny, "They will only meet in the hospital parking garage for University Medical, so it's where we go."

That was no good it was too close to Angel. He'd studied the University campus many times since they first started having trouble with the gangs in Chicago. He knew Angel had gone back to work and he knew Rain was with her and that scared him more than he'd admit.