Hush - Fighting Fate #2 (15 page)

The instant I had her in my room, she broke away from me and strode straight for the table that held my bottle of bourbon. Her hands shook as she tipped the bottle, the amber liquid sloshing messily into the glass.

With her hands still unsteady, she thumped the bottle back down and up-ended the glass in one big gulp. She didn’t cough or choke, she just screwed her eyes shut tight and took huge, deep breaths.

I couldn’t watch any longer.
Like someone approaching an injured animal, I advanced slowly. With gentle hands, I turned her to me and took her face in my hands, my gaze raking over her for any signs of injury.

“Please tell me you’re okay,” I said
, my voice strangely rough.

She met my gaze, and I could see the panic there. It broke my heart. Licking her lips, she opened her mouth to answer, but then she closed it again and simply nodded.

Her body was shaking so badly. She swallowed hard, looking like she was trying to control her emotions. Without another thought, I pulled her into my arms and just held her. I breathed slow and deep, silently encouraging her to breath with me.

And she did.

It took a few minutes, but eventually the shaking stopped and the tension in her body started to ease.

I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how
I could make up for not being here for her. I felt like I’d failed her in the worst way.

I was just going to tell her how sorry I was when I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Fuck. I hadn’t locked the door.

I had a split second to decide what to do. Lurch for the door to lock it, risking not making it and raising suspicion, or making it look like I was getting the bit from her I was so psychotically not sharing.

“Please forgive me,” I whispered, before pushing her against the wall.

With lightning fast moves, I shucked my shirt, unzipped my jeans, and yanked her skirt down. She didn’t even resist. She just let it happen with wide eyes that were barely containing her shock.

Wrapping my hand around her throat in a firm, but gentle, hold, I grabbed her ass a
nd pulled her hips against mine. At the same moment, a fist thumped on the door and it swung open.

I
growled loudly and jerked my head towards whoever the fuck was game enough to come interrupt me now. “WHAT?!”

Vinnie stood in the doorway, an apologetic expression on his face
. “Sorry, man. TJ wanted me to tell you he needs you in his office in twenty minutes.”

I
sighed heavily. “Fine. Now fuck off!”

I watched the door close, wishing I could lock it with my mind, then carefully
released my hold on Kaeli’s throat, but it seemed that was as far as I could make myself get from her. I forced myself to at least remove bodily contact, and pressed my hands to the wall either side of her head.

With the weight of everything hanging over my head, I
lowered my forehead onto her shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

What else could I say?

Chapter 29

Kaeli

I swallowed, testing my emotions. In that moment when Mitch had pushed me against the wall, I’d felt his panic. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew I had to go with it.

My body had reacted to
it, sending my heart racing, and my head into a swirl of confusion, but he hadn’t frightened me. The second Vinnie had thumped on the door and come in, I understood what he was doing. His quick thinking was keeping us both safe. My heart couldn’t help but warm for him.

I stood, pinned to the wall, although this time, Mitch’s forehead was the only part of him that was touching me. The curve of his neck was right before me, within kissing distance
if I should dare. I wondered what it’d feel like to press my lips to his warm skin. The swirling pattern of his tattoo that ran down the side of his neck seemed to invite me in.

Without any more thought, I reached up between our bodies, and touched the inky patterns with my fingertips, letting them slowly trace the patterns from his jaw, downwards. I felt Mitch still
under my touch, his breath stopping suddenly, and I found myself becoming still with him, my fingers lingering on his skin.

Slowly, he raised his head. Not enough to look at me, but just enough for his lips to taste the bare skin on my shoulder if he wanted to. I felt his breath start again,
caressing me in a way that made something inside me ache. I slid my fingers over his skin until my hand was cupping the side of his neck. Then his lips brushed against my skin.

He moved so slowly, his touch like the soft kiss of butterfly wings, tracing a line from the curve of my shoulder, across my collarbone. I found myself tilting m
y head to the side, exposing my neck, inviting him in, and when he obliged, I let out a soft sigh of fulfillment.

“Kaeli,” he whispered against my neck.

His voice sounded pained. I didn’t want him to hurt. Hesitantly, I slid my free hand to his waist, feeling the smooth warmth of his bare skin under my touch.

His lips were against my jaw, so tender and careful. He would be so
easy to kiss from this position. If I just turned my head a little…

That little voice of reason that had been trying to tell me it was wrong to be attracted to Mitch was nowhere to be heard. Maybe she knew there was no point. It was obvious
there was some kind of magnet between us.

W
hen Mitch’s hands slipped down to my waist, his fingers brushing softly over my naked flesh, I gave up completely. My mouth met his with caution.

It was just like our last
kiss, soft and unsure, but this time the tension between us was insurmountable. His fingers tightened against my back, and my lips parted in resignation. I felt so safe when I was with him. I wanted to feel that all the time. I pushed my body against his, and ran my hands over his short, prickly hair. I wanted to lick the piercing he had in his bottom lip. I wanted to suck it into my mouth and taste it. He groaned deep in his throat and moved his hands over my body, caressing every part of me.

A foreign sound escaped me. I wasn’t sure what it was. It was somewhere between a moan and a sigh. Whatever it was though, it made Mitch’s hands tighten, pulling me harder against him. But
almost immediately after that, he pulled away, stepping back and turning his back on me. I watched him run his hands over his head, lacing his fingers together behind his head and clamping his head between his arms. He growled deeply, as though he was in pain.

I stood against the wall, feeling very vulnerable in just my bra and panties – somehow my shirt had fallen to the floor while we were kissing.
I didn’t know what was going on, why he would pull away from me when I was obviously very willing.

The see-saw of my conscience abruptly swung, tilting away from my attraction
and taking me back to feeling ashamed. I had no idea what was going on with me. No wonder I felt so exhausted lately.

Eventually he turned back to face me with a troubled gaze.
I noticed this time his eyes were brown. I didn’t know how I hadn’t seen them when he was looking at me before. I guessed I’d still been too shaken, but I was amazed by how much the brown changed the whole look of his face.

His eyes softened a little when they met mine, then he picked up my skirt and walked over to hand it to me. I took it without saying a thing. I was way too confused to use words. He didn’t say anything either. He just gave me a strange look then went over to his chest of draws, and started rifling through the top one.

I shakily stepped into my skirt, then slipped my shirt back on, trying to work out how to best keep myself covered now all my buttons were missing. I pulled it together as best I could and tucked it in to my skirt.

Mitch stepped in front of me and held up a safety pin. “Here,” he said.

I looked at him steadily before taking the pin off him and threading it through my shirt, between my boobs. He watched me until I’d finished, then held out a small black cellphone.

“I already have a
cell,” I said, a little confused.

“Your
s is monitored.” He handed me a tiny piece of paper with a number written on it. “This is a spare. I want you to take it. Text me when you know you’re coming here. That way I can make sure I’m always here when you come. Memorize the number. Don’t program it in the cell.”

He watched me, making sure I understood what he was
saying. “Okay,” I said.

“Don’t text words though. It’s too risky. I know the number. I’ll know it’s you.”

I stared at him for a little while. He confused me so much. He seemed like such a good guy. I didn’t understand how he could’ve gotten himself mixed up in this mess. I wanted to ask him, but I knew it wasn’t my place to say anything, so I just nodded to show him I understood.

Gently, he reached out and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. We both knew something had changed between us now, but what was going to happen from here on
out, was anyone’s guess.

“You ready to go?” he asked quietly.

Was I? I took a deep breath. I knew I didn’t really want to go home, but I had to drop the damn bag off to Ken. I didn’t have to stay though, did I? I thought about the ticket Aiden had given me and made up my mind.

“Do you have a mirror?”

He nodded and stepped over to the wardrobe, opening the door to reveal a full length mirror stuck to the inside of it.

I tried not to cringe at my reflection too much. At least I wasn’t wearing any mascara. I desperately wanted to fix up my hair, put it into a pony or something, but I knew it was beneficial to leave myself looking that way.
I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to draw too much attention to myself on my way back to my car.

Mitch came to stand in front of me, his fingers softly brushing against my palm before slowly sliding up until his hand was gently circling my upper arm.

He swallowed and glanced down at his hand. “Sorry...” he said regretfully. It wasn’t a question, but he made it sound like he wanted me to answer. I nodded.

Slipping on my shoes, he led me downstairs.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to pass a single soul on my way out the door.

Chapter 30

Noah

I watched Kaeli walk out the door with a burning sense of unease. I hated that I couldn’t drive her home, but TJ wanted
to see me and I hoped it had something to do with the delivery. Regrettably, I had to put that first. It was the only way out for either of us.

Knocking on TJ’s office door, I waited for the muffled sound that told me I was good to go in then pushed the door open
. The other guys were already in there. Vinnie and Pock in the seats in front of TJ’s desk, Davo lazing against the wall, and Mac sitting on one of the boxes in the corner.

TJ gave me a curt nod of approval, for what I wasn’t sure, then gestured for me to close the door. I quickly
complied and found a seat on an old chest near Davo. TJ inhaled deeply as he took each of us in, then leaned back in his chair.

“I’ve just gotten word from Paulie that a number of people have
ended up in hospital after taking a little blue pill with an X on it. Now, I know it’s not our fucking pills putting these people there, so I need you all to take care of whoever the fuck is trying to sell these piece of shit drugs as
our
brand before we start losing some major business. If this gets back to Mr. X, we can kiss this next shipment goodbye.”

A couple of the guys grunted their agreement. I just scowled.
We were going to miss this next shipment over my dead fucking body. I was ready to go out and personally take out every fucker that was getting in the way of this nightmare of an assignment ending.

“
I can’t have Mr. X catching wind of this,” TJ continued. “If he thinks there’s any threat at all, the shipment’s off. I really need you all to step up your game. These fuckers need to go down.”

We all nodded in agreement and
looked to TJ for instructions. We all knew we’d be on the job tonight. Time was seriously against us.

“I know I don’t need to tell any of you how important it is
for us to find out who the fuck is behind this. Vinnie and Mac, I want you to head down to Frank’s and get the feel of the situation there. If Bryce is there, get him to keep his ear to the ground. Davo and Mitch, I want you to go riverside. Check out the clubs. Find out what the word is. Pock, you’re coming with me. We’re going to pay Mono a little visit.”

We all nodded our confirmation and split up to do our jobs. I had no doubt someone was going down tonight.

And it was going to feel fucking good.

Chapter 3
1

Kaeli

I stared at the
line waiting to get into The Crypt, the club Fighting Fate were playing at that night, and sighed. It almost ran half a block. Looking down at the ticket in my hand, I wondered for the tenth time if I really could be bothered at all, but then I thought about returning home and my resolve strengthened.