In The Pope's warm embrace

Deacon, Christian, Sam and Wayne sat looking at their loot at an unknown location. The precious stones and the cash they stole covered the entire area of the coffee table. A few icy beers were scattered around the feet of the table. The phone in Deacon's hand rang. Pope called and Deacon wasted no time to pick the call, "Hi. We got 2.3 million bucks in cash and the stones are estimated to be worth twenty- nine million." Deacon paused and allowed Pope a moment to speak. No one save Deacon heard what the 'The Pontiff' said over the phone. He nodded his head a few times before throwing the phone on the table and making an announcement, "Pope has stuck to his original offer. We get half of the money and a quarter of the stones."

Christian, with a bewildered, commented, "We did the damn job. We risked our lives, why should someone get half the cash and three quarters of the stones? Does that make sense?"

Sam and Wayne sunk back in their seats shaking their heads in disapproval with the latter venting out, "No". Deacon looked at his men sternly, one after the other. "We come a long with the Pope. You all know that. The information the Pope gives us enables us to have our daily bread. We're who we are because of the Pope. And mind you, there are a lot of gangs out there who would kill for the opportunities we have." Sam sipped his beer and spoke, "Listen man, we can kill the Pope and walk away with the loot. Once we sell this shit, we are set for life."

"Loyalty." Deacon smiled and probed, "Have you ever heard of that?"

Sam was dumbfounded. He could only manage a nod. Thus Deacon continued with his reasoning, "We kill the Pope, we are out of business. So, before we can kill the Pope, let's see to it that we dig our graves first. Because his men will definitely come for us. We don't need that, do we now?"

"No," the trio chorused a reply in unison.

Deacon nodded and assured them, "We will negotiate for a better percentage next time."

Without further ado, the men got their own share of the loot and they all parted company.

Later that evening, at a five-star hotel, Deacon laid naked on a money decked bed. Crystal, only wearing her under-pant bent erotically on him sucking and gently biting his nipples. She then licked her way up to the neck and ears, kissing every inch that she glided on. He groaned in pleasure while he firmly railed his strong hands on her back. Crystal pulled her pant to the side and pushed in her wet and expectant vagina Deacon's penis. Her eyes rolled up before closing involuntarily as she gently rode his magic stick. And for good measure, she reached for his lips and kissed him in a teasing fashion. Goosebumps were dotted all over her body. Passion fueled their pleasure until they orgasmed almost at the same time after a while. Groans and heavy breaths punctuated the moment as they declined from the summit of pleasure.

"We did babe." Crystal, laying on Deacon's chest remarked.

"Yep." Deacon consented. "The boys wanted a bit more though."

"They always do." Crystal smiled. "I hope you did you blow my cover."

"Nah." Deacon assured her. "You'll always be the Pope. Period. And I must say, you're one hell of an actor. You played your role well."

Crystal reached for his lips and kissed him before remarking, "The hard job was done. We robbed a bank. Killed people. But now, the harder part must be done. Laundering the cash and whatever we will realize for the stones and jewelries. We need to be smart."

A moment of silence swept across. Deacon, who was clearly a prisoner of thought, inquired, "Launder cash? What's that even? How do we even do that?"

"Well, it's basically disguising financial assets, cash and the stones in our case, so they can be used without the authorities tracing of the illegal activities that created them." Crystal courteously shared the note with Deacon. "What we need is a way of removing our footprints from the robbery, transplant them to a legit source and from there, we can all smile."

Deacon sighed, "It sure sounds like hard work."

Crystal nodded in agreement. "It is, actually."

"So, what do you reckon?" He wondered sounding rather worried.

Crystal gently tapped his chest and weighed in, "We need to find a way. We will find a way. Don't you worry. Okay?"

Deacon bobbed his head, "Okay."

"Who's that guy who cracked the code? Where did you get him?" Crystal inquired.

"Oh," Deacon lightened up with a smile. "That's Mateo Becho. We were classmates in high school. He was brilliant, I must say. He graduated with excellent grades. He went to UNI to pursue Information Technology but he could not graduate. I hear his thesis was squashed. He's an overthink and usually lives in utopia."

Crystal recounted, "I still can't believe he took the bullets for me."

"I told you, babe. He would prove to be a liability at last. On the streets, business with emotions never meet eye to eye."

Crystal turned and looked at Deacon in the eyes – as though searching his soul, "tell me though, what would have happened if he chose to shoot me when you bade him to kill me?"

The Kingpin, without thinking twice, wrapped his hands around her and spoke, "the plan was simple. If he chose to shoot you, I would have shot him the moment he took aim. There was every chance he would be slow and shaky. I bet it was the first time he held a gun in his miserable life. He played hero, I shot him. Either way, the plan was to kill him. Keep the trusted trio and move on."

"You're evil" Crystal smiled and continued with her appraisal. "I love that."

Deacon chuckled warmly and countered, "No. I'm smart. And just so you know, the world never evolves around hard work. Smart work makes the world go round."

Crystal smiled and kissed his chest. The duo embraced in a warm and long cuddle. Thus far, the system they employed, albeit soiled with cruelty, unfairness and blood, was paying out handsomely.