.2

Greetings once again avid readers! The following story continues from where we left in Destinee and Destiny ch.00. This story goes in order and probably won't make a whole lot of sense if you read it out of order. As I promised before, we're still working up to the good stuff but there will be plenty of sex all throughout. Also, as a small warning, the next chapter may contain some fairly heavy violence. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and as always, I look forward to hearing some feedback!

Chapter Three -- Running

(Two years later)

With a contented sigh, I slung my shirt and towel over my shoulder and slipped back into my sandals to head off the beach. The golden-white sand beneath my feet was scotching from the sun and I could already feel the slight itching-burn creeping over my shoulders and neck, but both were a distant concern. Life was bliss since those two tiny issues were the only complaints were the first of my entire week so far. I quickly sprayed off my feet before headed for my Firebird, noticing more than a few flirty glances from two gorgeous Hispanic girls giggling next to a beat-up looking Mustang on the other side of the small lot.

I threw my stuff in the backseat and was about to approach the girls, but the sound of my phone vibrating from the console quickly made any thoughts about them dissipate. My cell phone was in the backseat and was never on silent, signaling that it was work. I picked up the disposable phone and flipped it open, turning to flash an apologetic smile to the two girls along with a gesture at my phone.

The shorter of the two with the more brazen bikini top, two triangles that barely covered her tiny, erect nipples, pouted in a playfully sexy way and began to walk over to me with her friend in tow. With every step, her small but pert bust jiggled temptingly. I made a show of lifting my sunglasses to check her out and her coy smile turned downright naughty.

The deep voice came over the line in heavily accented English. "B, you safe?" The girls paused barely a foot away as I held up a finger with a grin.

"Give me one sec', big D." The voice grunted in acknowledgement and I lowered the phone, careful to put my palm over the receiver. I spoke to the petite one (the one I had made a show of checking out) in Spanish, but not before flashing her taller, bustier blonde friend a wink. "Aren't you a saucy little minx, if I've ever seen one. You two just coming, or getting ready to go?"

She surprised me by answering in near-perfect English, leaving just enough of an accent to reveal she was a native and not a tourist. "We were getting ready to meet up with some friends at a bar actually, but you just looked too yummy to resist."

I made a deep throaty groan, knowing that what I was thinking was written clearly on my face. "Mmm, I would be more than willing to sate both your appetites if you think you can keep up. I do have to take this call though. How 'bout you give me your number and once I wrap this up, I'll text you for the address."

She raised her eyebrows cheekily and I quickly retrieved a marker so she could write her number on my forearm. As she was leaning forward, gracing me with more than an eyeful as she threatened to spill out of the triangles, she raised her lips towards my ear. "Don't make me wait long. My attention gets diverted rather quickly."

I winked and they walked away, making a show of swinging their hips to make their bubbly asses wiggle temptingly. I pulled the phone back to my ear. "Clear now. What's up?"

My full attention returned to him when the deep voice came back unusually quiet. "You're needed now. The ship just docked in the harbor and the captain is eager to get the crates unloaded so he can return to sea. A violent storm is brewing to the east."

Mumbling a curse under my breath, I flashed one last look at the glorious retreating mounds of jiggling tanned flesh. His timing couldn't have been worse, screwing up what would've been an earth-shattering threesome, but when duty calls. Especially when duty was using code to talk.

"Alright, big D, I'll head down to the docks now. Twenty tops."

The line went dead, and I quickly pulled on my black tee over my still damp shoulders. It would've nice to get a heads up so I could stop back at my place to change, but there was no making these guys wait. It just wasn't an option.

I pealed out of the small lot onto the despondent dirt road, kicking up an impressive cloud of road dust behind me. The Firebird protested every bump along the way at high speeds, but without really having to worry about traffic laws I could make the half-hour trip in half the time.

The 'ship' was backed into the garage of the gated warehouse already as I skid into the lot. Everyone knew my vehicle, so none of the overly armed but underly dressed men along the district gave me more than a passive glance. I quickly holstered my beautiful little silver Browning, tucked hidden under my long shirt, and approached the massive 6'7" giant of a man watching the trucks being unloaded.

He turned briefly upon hearing the loud crunching of my shoes, his hand instinctively going to the grip of the deadly Micro Raptor on his waist. He nodded to me and relaxed his stance, turning back to the two Mexicans in the truck. I was long past the point of trying to fill the silence near him with questions, D was the type of guy you didn't speak to unless spoken to first.

His voice was thick with a Spanish influenced accent though his words were always perfect English. "Sorry for the short notice, B. Tony was grabbed this morning, so we're short a runner."

I mumbled another curse. Tony was a good guy, a great driver by all standards, but was too cocky for his own good. The curse wasn't for him though, that meant we only had three decent runners left now. My work would be more than cut out for me, not to mention the added heat.

"Damn. How'd he get done?"

With a deep sigh he finally turned his head to me. "The new crackdown. He fished for a Mordida, but the bitch was a real hard ass. Tony was clean though, so he'll be out quick."

I mirrored his sigh, watching the last crate get pulled into the warehouse. "Am I the only one up?"

"No, the other two runners are already gone. Once the truck pulls out you can back in. With Tony grabbed we're moving to a new shop in case he talks."

With a nod, I returned to my car and waited for the truck to move. I quickly replaced it and popped my trunk. There was no need to get out as two of D's men began loading up. D coming to my window surprised me though.

"Alright, B, you're crossing the border this time." He handed me a small unmarked envelope, thickly stuffed. I didn't even want to know with what. "Just give them this and you'll get be allowed through without being inspected."

He handed me another paper with the address and I nearly did a double take. Lexington, Tennessee. That was at least a fifteen-hour drive from Reynosa. Even if I drove all night, I wouldn't make it until tomorrow afternoon.

Sensing my tension, he clapped me on the shoulder. I think it was meant to be affectionate, but on his massive tanned frame, almost like a bodybuilder, it was like being slugged by a log.

"Your contact is Romanov Sylvanski. He's expecting you around noon, so drive straight through."

I really didn't want to know, but if I was going back to the states, I needed to know how much discretion was needed. "What am I carrying this time?"

He was quiet for a long moment as he studied my face. I jumped a little when he barked a deep laugh. It was not a pleasant or happy sound. "I think that's the first time you have finally asked, B. You don't want to know."

I nodded, feeling a little squeamish. I knew what kind of business big D was in, everything from extortion, trafficking, weapons and drugs. As a runner, the only part of it I played was transporting the stuff. It kept my conscious clear, mostly, and my pockets fat enough to live more than care free.

"Alright. Anything I need to know about this Romanov guy?"

I felt my trunk slam and one of the guys lightly tapped it. Inwardly I grinned, knowing instantly who was loading my car. Jose had made the mistake of hitting my trunk hard enough to nearly cause a dent during the first few months. If D hadn't stopped me, Jose would've been ended right then and there.

Even D knew my car was the only thing I cared about. In nearly two years I had carefully never once mentioned family or anything else. It was safer that way in case things should ever go south.

"Quiet Russian guy, big ego. He'll probably try to rip us off, but the price is three-point-five. If he tries anything, tell him deals off and leave."

I nodded slightly, getting a sickly feeling in my gut. I already knew the answer but had to ask. "Would he try to—"

D nodded, "if he does, put a bullet in him first. He wouldn't hesitate. If he tries to play games tell him the price is three-point-six." With that nugget of joy, he walked off.

There was no way I was going to kill someone for these guys, but if it meant my life... I don't know. Honestly, I had made enough money already that I could live comfortably for a while, but there was really only one way out with a guy like Demario. I needed a plan; the only issue was that I had to idea of just how it was even possible.

With a resigned sigh I pulled out of the warehouse. This just really wasn't shaping up to be my day.

~~~~~

With the exception of a stop at a steakhouse in Dallas, the drive went surprisingly smooth and quick. I changed into something a bit classier than board shorts and a tee, took a half-hour power nap somewhere in-between, and made it to Lexington with time to spare.

The GPS led me to a large upper-class office building downtown. It looked legit enough that I had to circle around twice before I noticed the small alley that led to a garage and pulled into it. The only thing I could find was a small keypad and speaker, so I rolled down my window to depress the small button.

For a long moment there was only silence, until a staticky gruff voice came over the speaker. "Yes?"

I wasn't really expecting the whole smoke and mirrors thing, so I went for subtle. "Delivery from Demario."

Instantly the garage door began to lift, and I pulled forward to back inside. Two definitely Russian men in thick suits were already waiting on both sides of the car as I switched it into park. I rolled down my window as one of the suits stepped up, his face a stern and unreadable mask. Clearly, he wasn't some desk jockey, so I assumed this was the right place.

"Name?" he asked quietly.

"Brandon." He paused as if he were expecting me to continue with a last name. My face was just as unreadable as he finally realized that was all he was getting. I wasn't intentionally cross, it was just a precaution of the trade. Even D had no idea what my last name was.

His mask slipped into a frown. "Romanov is on the phone, he will be down in a moment." I quickly studied him with a sidelong glance but couldn't see any visible weapons on him. "Step out of the car."

I flashed him a long, drawn out look. He looked like he was starting to get annoyed the longer he waited. I'm not sure if he was slow or had the patient of a saint, as he slowly realized I wasn't going to move. D had a thing about lackeys and dealing only with the man in charge, I guess it rubbed off on me more than I had realized.

Luckily the big suit was let off easy as the assumed man in question suddenly stepped through a door off to the side. I finally opened my door and stepped out, slipping to a cautious smile. "Are you Romanov?"

Before the new, pale, dark haired man could answer, the suit who had tried to get me to step out of my car made to grab my arm. Reacting on pure instinct I had his wrist in grasp in a flash and twisted as hard as I could while sweeping his closest leg. The man was roughly my size but wasn't expecting my speed as his leg gave out and I wrenched his arm behind his back as hard as I could. My free arm circled around his neck as he grunted in a mix of surprise and pain.

In the same moment, Romanov froze at seeing the exchange and the other suit suddenly had a pistol out and aimed at my head. I paused before I broke the suit's neck who was in my grip, my brain finally catching up to my body as my breath came out raggedly.

The tension in the air was suddenly released as Romanov barked a heavily accented laugh, waving down the other suit to lower his gun. He met my gaze with a toothy grin. I released the man's arm and pushed off of him, finally allowing him a needed deep breath to get his red face under control.

"Sorry, caught me off-guard," I mumbled an apology. The suit found his feet and backed away to safety as Romanov came over and heartily shook my hand with a heavy grasp.

"No worries, he was trying to frisk you, I think. Bit off more than he can chew, no? You must be a military man."

I nodded cautiously, "army. Are you Romanov Sylvanski?"

His smile widened wolfishly as he nodded. "I am. You are with Demario, yes?" I told him my name with a curt nod and popped the trunk before leading him around the back. The suits moved behind us against the wall to watch me carefully.

I ignored them entirely and lifted the false bottom of the 'empty' trunk to reveal the contents inside. It wasn't my first time seeing the product in this way, generally getting a glance as I showed it to the buyer, but what I saw this time threw me off. I Usually ran guns or drugs, sometimes both. This was a whole new level of fucked that set the red flags in my head on full alert.

I moved my hand to my hip, closer to the holster that was still hidden by my shirt, but far enough to not alert the suits. Maybe it was just my own twisted sense of logic, but moving drugs scared me a lot less than the sparkling bags lining my trunk. Fucking diamonds. Some were as small as a few karats, but others were as large as my fist. This was some serious business.

Fucking three-point-five. I had assumed D meant million. I drove nearly fifteen hours carrying 3.5 billion dollars' worth of diamonds. I was already itching to get my hands clean of this whole mess.

Caution flaring, I watched Romanov pick up on of the bags and drop a few smaller diamonds onto his hand. He leaned in close and let out several warm breaths, the fog evaporating instantly. He did a few more quick tests before lovingly placing the bag back down and shaking my hand.

"Excellent, excellent. Want to follow me to my office for refreshment while my men unload? You must be famished after such a long drive, no?"

The urge to roll my eyes was almost to great to stifle as I squashed down my jitters for an unreadable mask. "I do not wish to be rude, Romanov, but I have other business to attend to today unfortunately."

He nodded amicably, dark eyes flashing though his expression stayed pleasant enough. "Of course." He gestured to one of the suits, who quickly disappeared back inside. He returned quickly with a large briefcase. "So, the set price was two and a half billion, yes?"

The corners of my mouth turned up in a smile against my will. "Demario agreed to three and half billion, no less."

He feigned an apologetic smile, his accent only getting worse as he talked. It either meant a lie was coming or he was growing increasingly anxious. "Ah, forgive me, English is my third language. I must've misheard Demario. I cannot do more than three billion, I'm afraid."

With a nod, I ignored the suit holding the briefcase next to me and began to cover the panel of the trunk. He made a nearly imperceptible sound as I gently closed the trunk. "No can do I'm afraid, Mr. Sylvanski. I'll send your regards to Demario."

I was already halfway to the driver side door before his voice seemed to catch up with him. He matched my pace to come beside me, looking like he wanted to grab my arm but stopping himself. "My apologies, Brandon, I did not mean to offend." The dangerous flash in his beady eyes was worse now though his face was reassuring.

This man was a fucking viper waiting to strike. It was clear with every subtle twitch of his high cheekbones and the tensing of his massive shoulders. Thankfully he dropped his ploy with a curt nod. "Three and half then."

I shook my head, unintentionally puffing out my chest a bit. "The price is now three-point-six, nonnegotiable. Demario doesn't appreciate games."

The man's face dropped as he cursed something in Russian back at the suit with the briefcase. The man disappeared once more before returning with the rest of the money. Tension was high as I nodded and followed the now silent man to the trunk to count the money. It was only half to piss him off further since there was no way he could be trusted now.

I nodded to the suit, "count it." He looked to his boss who just glared back and quickly went to work. Once the money was secure, I gestured to put it in the backseat and popped the trunk. The suits went about unloading the diamonds, leaving a palpably pissed off Russian man watching me in a mix of content and respect.

I shrugged it off and finally closed the trunk, glad to be almost out of this pit. Romanov nodded at me, "Send Demario my apologies, please. I hope this misunderstanding does not muddle our future affairs." Surprisingly he actually sounded sincere.

I forced a smile and shook his hand firmly. "Of course not, Mr. Sylvanski."

Unknowingly walking right into it, he grinned, "actually let me make it up to you. Join me in my office for a drink, feel free to bring the case if it makes you feel better."

Inwardly sighing, I quickly tried to think up some excuse. Refusing his 'gracious apology' would make me seem rude now, giving him an excuse to complain to Demario and possibly muddle future buys. Conceding would mean watching my back every second, so I didn't get a bullet in it.

Falsely smiling widely, I nodded, "Of course. Lead the way." I grabbed the case from the seat and locked my car, following him through the door leading into the office building. It looked legit, richly carpeted floors, fake plants here and there, eccentric artwork. Basically, nothing that stood out in any way from the usual business as he led me down a hallway to his enormous study-like office.

I sat across from him on a nice leather chair as he poured two glasses full of clear liquid from a strange jewel covered bottle. He caught my eye and smiled, "Oval Vodka, stronger with less bite." I nodded appreciatively and capped it in one gulp, shivering at the heat traveling down my gullet.

It was smooth, I suppose, but freaking 84 proof was way above my usual threshold. He began telling me about a few meaningless different subjects concerning his business, which all the while I nodded politely and did my best to seem interested. I gave him twenty minutes and politely declined two refills before making a show of standing.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Sylvanski, but I must get back to Demario now." Eyes flashing, he nodded and led me back to the garage in relative silence. We shook hands again as I kept an eye on the suits and breathed a sigh of relief as I finally got back in my car.

The trio watched me like hawks as I pulled back out into the alley and slid the briefcase under the passenger seat away from view. I was sweating a nervous storm by the time I pulled out onto the road and drove for a few minutes in relative calm before pulling into some restaurant parking lot.

As soon as I was in park as I finally let myself truly take a deep breath and cursed up a storm along with punching the steering wheel. Fuck, my nerves were a wreck. Keeping your body coiled like a freaking spring for thirty minutes, watching every subtle movement or twitch wreaked havoc.

When I finally calmed, I pulled out the spare phone and called D. Two rings and he picked up, "yes?"