The Lion’s Mail Order Menage

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“Sh*t.  Sh*t, man.  I’m glad you called me.”

Tyler was all action and it was exactly what Caleb needed.  It was pretty amazing how effective he could be when he wanted to be.  This was the version of his friend that he had relied on since birth and he couldn’t have picked a better time to show up to the party.  As different as the two of them were, in some fundamental ways they made each other stronger.

If there was something to fix, they would fix it and if she had left because she didn’t want them anymore, didn’t want him anymore, well, Tyler would take him out and get him blackout drunk for as many nights in a row as he needed.  Because they were friends like brothers and that’s what brothers did.

“What do you think?”

“Well, first off, you’re right.  She was freaked the fu*k out when she left.  And she wasn’t alone.  Someone paid her a little visit.”

“Do you know who it was?”

Tyler was turning an alarming shade of red and looking around the room like whoever it was that had been here might still be in the apartment.  He knew.  For once, he was the one who had kept a level head and he knew who it was who had been here. Maybe he could tell Caleb why the fu*k Meena was gone.

“I do.  I know exactly who was here and we’re gonna go have a little conversation.”

Tyler stormed right back out of the apartment and, seeing as he was the only one of the two of them who had a clue what might be going on, Caleb followed without asking any questions.  Not that he had to go far.  Just a few blocks, and all blocks that were familiar. 

Actually, he was starting to get a little bit nervous because now they were headed into Geno’s territory and that was the last place he expected to go. 

“Whoa, Tyler, what are we doing here?  I just want to find Meena, OK, man?  I don’t want to bring Geno into this.  It’s not his problem and I don’t want it to be.”

“Well, that’s good because we aren’t going to see Geno.”

“Then what the hell are we doing here, Tyler?”

“We’re going to see Bella.”

“Bella?”

“Bella.  That’s who was in your apartment.  That’s who was talking to Meena.  Now we’re gonna figure out why.”

“But Tyler-”

“No.  No buts.  This is what we have to do.”

Now everything was happening very, very fast and they were standing in front of the door of the apartment Geno had undoubtedly bought for his wayward daughter.  Tyler pounded on her door with one large, angry fist, the booming noise echoing throughout the entire hallway and alerting every other resident to their being there.  If stealth had ever been part of the plan, it sure as sh*t wasn’t anymore.  Bang, bang, bang!  His fist against the thick metal, his teeth bared and body primed for a fight.

The lion running through his veins was so close to the surface that he looked like he was both animal and man at the same time, both ready for the attack.  Finally, Caleb heard the deadbolt moving and the strain of the door as it opened.  It was impossibly dank and dark in that apartment and there was Bella; he knew it was her because he could smell that same musk.  Tyler glanced back at him and made one quick, angry motion for him to follow him inside.  It felt like a dangerous thing to do but it was also the only thing he could do. 

“What do you want?”

“Nice to see you too, Bella.”

“Seriously, what the fu*k do you want?  Why are you here?  Why are you at my apartment?  How do you even know where my apartment is?”

“Really?” Tyler said with a look of complete and utter contempt that would have made a more delicate girl cry. “You think we don’t all know where you live?”

“Is that supposed to mean something to me?  Because it doesn’t.”

Bella stormed towards Tyler with murder in her eyes and an ugly snarl on her face.  She looked like sh*t.  She looked like she hadn’t been to bed in days, dark rings of mascara underneath her eyes and a constant grinding of the teeth that served as evidence that her somewhat legendary cocaine habit was still in full swing despite her three year exile in Italy. 

She looked mean and hateful and entirely capable of doing something dangerous.  Tyler was right.  She was the one who had been in the apartment.  Now Caleb just needed to know that she hadn’t hurt Meena.  Tyler took a menacing step towards Bella, his hands trembling, backing her further and further into the room.  Finally, she had nowhere else to go and was forced to sit on her couch and face the man she had been trying to seduce just the night before. 

Defiant as ever, she picked up a murky, half-empty glass of some foul smelling liquor and took a long swig, her faint grimace the only sign that it tasted as brutal as it smelled.  It was like she was daring them to do something to her, like she had been in here waiting for this confrontation the way a normal girl waited for her sweet sixteen.

“Well?  Cat got your tongue?”

“We know where you live because you’re a mess and everyone knows it.  Your dad has us keep lookout, watch to make sure you don’t do anything stupid enough for us to have to clean it up.  You’re about as far from daddy’s little girl as you could possibly get, OK?  If you weren’t his daughter, he would have had you taken care of already, no problem, no questions asked.  Got it?  Hope you feel better.  All of your questions answered.  Now it’s my turn.”

“Aw, what’s the matter, sugar,” she said as she licked her lips suggestively and opened her legs in a grotesque attempt at looking sexy, “that little girl of yours just not doing it for you?  Not enough of her to go around?  Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.  I’ll take care of you so good you won’t ever need that little bi*ch again.  I know how to make a man feel good.”

Tyler moved so quickly Caleb hardly saw it at all, his hand closing around Bella’s throat and beginning to squeeze.  Her eyes grew wider, but not nearly as wide as they should have.  Most women in this situation would be beyond terrified.  Bella was so deadened and numbed out by all of the sh*t she had been shoveling into her body that she couldn’t possibly react the way she should have.

Either that or she was really so crazy, so far gone, that having fingers as strong as ropes of steel closing tighter and tighter around her neck didn’t seem like that big of a deal.  She actually laughed, leaned into the choking, like she liked it.  Something in Caleb’s stomach turned.  This girl was not right, not by any stretch of the imagination.