Hush - Fighting Fate #2 (22 page)

Then something clicked
. Little bits of pieces falling into place like tumblers in a lock.

My breath caught.
Holy shit. What if he
was
a good guy? Like, for real? Surely he couldn’t be? But it made so much sense. The need to protect me. The hate I saw towards Pock and Ken. It was all there.

Jesus Christ.
Surely Mitch couldn’t be a cop.

I sat in a state of shock the whole time Mitch was gone. I just couldn’t wrap my head around it
, but it made so much sense.

When I saw him come back in through the doors, I almost panicked. I didn’t know how to pull myself together enough to appear normal.
He would know the minute he saw me.

“Miss Williams?”

I turned at the sound of the nurse’s voice.

“You’re okay to go up now if you want, but you’ll have to be quick.”

I nodded, thankful she was giving me time before I had to face Mitch fully. “Thank you. I will.”

As I stepped away, Mitch caught me, handing me the jacket. “Here, take this with you. I’ll wait here for you.”

All I could do was stare and nod. Taking the jacket off him, I turned for the lift.

Mom was asleep again, just like Dr. Miller said she would be, but this time I was relieved. I was too shaken up to talk to her. I spent the entire fifteen minutes they’d given me calming myself down.

It wasn’t that I was stressed over the thought of Mitch being a cop. If he was, then I was relieved. It meant my instincts about him were good. What made me panicked about it was realizing the whole situation with TJ was a big deal. Mitch was putting himself in danger being in TJ’s gang every single day – and now even more so, just to protect me. The thought nearly made me cry.

Giving Mom one last kiss on the cheek, I pulled Mitch’s jacket tighter around me, inhaling the scent I now associated with feeling safe, and went to find him.

He stood the second he saw me step out of the lift and came to meet me halfway. I swallowed as I stared into the vibrant blue of his eyes. I wondered what color his real eyes were. Not knowing was kind of tormenting.

“How is she?”
he asked.

It was amazing how differently I looked at him now. It wasn’t because I didn’t think he cared before. It was because now the doubt about his sincerity was gone, I could see how genuinely concerned he was.

I gestured for him to walk with me, and we slowly made our way towards the exit. “She’s okay I guess. I think her doctor’s purposely keeping her dosage of morphine up because he knows if she’s conscious she’ll just choose to go home instead of staying to heal.”

We walked back out into the warmer night air
, our bodies so close our hands kept brushing against each other’s. I probably could’ve taken his jacket off, but I wanted to keep it on for as long as I could.

“How bad are her injuries?”

I could hear the anger in the depth of his voice. He wasn’t going to like my answer. “She’s got a few broken ribs, a broken wrist, and had to have ten stitches to close up a cut on her temple. Apparently there’s quite extensive bruising on her back as well, but I haven’t seen it. I don’t think I want to either.”

I felt
, rather than saw, Mitch tense beside me. Giving him a quick glance, I confirmed my suspicions when I saw his jaw tensed tightly and his hands clenched into fists. He ran his hand over his short hair.

“Fuck. Now I wish I really did kill the fucker. I’m not sure I should take you home right now. I can’t guarantee I’d be able to restrain myself.”

I shrugged. “It wouldn’t bother me if you didn’t.”

He watched me
for a little while. All those times he’d looked like he had something to say made sense to me now. I could see it as I watched him back. He wanted me to know he was the good guy. That he’d protect me as much as he could.

I wanted to tell him I understood, but something told me it’d be best if I pretended not to know. I couldn’t even begin to understand the amount of stress he was bound to be under every day. The last thing I wanted to do was add to it.

He sighed. “Come on. I’ll drop you home. You might have to distract me from thinking about what that fucktard did though, or I might be paying Ken a more painful visit.”

I dutifully climbed in through the open door and clicked my seatbelt into place. I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of distraction Mitch was thinking about, but the only one I could think of – probably because it was the only one I wanted, was to hold his hand.

The surprise on his face when I clasped it warmed my heart, and the deep breath he took told me just how much it meant to him.

Neither of us spoke for the entire drive home. I didn’t know what Mitch was thinking, but my head was completely filled with
memories of all the little things that he’d done that should’ve told me he was one of the good guys.

I didn’t know exactly how long he’d been in TJ’s gang for. If he’d been telling the truth about not seeing his family for a year and a half, and that was how long he’d been undercover for, then I had no idea how he’d done it. I couldn’t imagine having to live a lie, amongst such revolting people, for so long.

Mitch pulled into the back alley behind my house and stopped at the spot he knew I had to crawl through. I knew he’d chosen to stop there because he didn’t trust himself not to get out and pay Ken another visit if he’d pulled into the drive.

Giving his hand a soft squeeze, I smiled. “Thanks.” I hoped he could see exactly what it was I was thanking him for.

The worry in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed. “Text me if you need to, okay?”

I wanted to lean over and kiss him goodbye, but I knew if anyone was watching, I’d be giving him away. Giving his hands one last squeeze, I slipped out the door and through the gap in the fence.

I saw Ken’s shadow through the back sliding door as I approached, making my nerves jump to the surface. I hoped he wasn’t angling for a pay back. Opening the door hesitantly, I tried to cover them up with a look of defiance as I walked past him.

He glared at me hard.
I could see the cut Mitch had left on his lip. It looked awful, but I couldn’t find anywhere inside me that felt bad for him at all.

“Fuck you
, Kaeli,” he said angrily, although there was no strength behind his voice. “Only you could make one of TJ’s goons fall for you.”

I almost stumbled
with his words. Is that what it looked like to Ken? That Mitch was falling for me? I knew I shouldn’t, but I liked the sound of that. A lot.

Trying to hide my smile, I went straight up the stairs to my bedroom and locked the door behind me.

C
hapter 40

Noah

Things were starting to get on top of me. My head had been in a fucked up kind of spin since Kaeli had shown up with that fucking black eye five days ago.

It wasn’t just the overwhelming need I had to protect her, or the way she’d somehow, above all comprehension, decided to trust me either. In fact, my feelings for Kaeli were only a tiny part of my problem.

What had shaken me up most was the fact that I’d seen my father. It had been the last thing I’d expected to happen to me when I’d gone out to get my jacket from the car for Kaeli at the hospital. It’d been the first time I’d seen him in almost a year and a half, and it’d almost killed me to walk straight past him like we were strangers.

It just added another weight to my chest, almost suffocating me. I’d never been more determined to finish something in my life.

But t
hings had gone from bad to worse over the course of the week. Mr. X had gotten wind of the bad news fakes and had decided to put the exchange back until things had settled down, leaving TJ more than a little fucking feral.

Frustrated as fuck, I’d decided to go on my own little recon mission, managing to track down one of The Shadow’s dealers and finding out where the little fucker lived. I
was sure it’d almost killed TJ to not go there and torture the dude, but he’d managed to hold it all together, agreeing we should just watch the guy and hope to catch him making a transaction.

Since then we’d been taking shifts to watch the guy. I knew my team was watching too. I’d only seen them once, but I knew they were there, just out of sight. Waiting.

And waiting.

Tonight TJ had taken everyone but me and Davo because Ken wanted to do business, and TJ knew Kaeli was mine.

Stupidly, I was a little excited about Kaeli’s impending visit. I kept telling myself I just needed to see she was okay, but I knew the real reason was because I just wanted her. I wanted to see her, smell her, and taste her. Oh, and maybe feel her
against me. Just a little.

The sound of my cell
pinging saved my thoughts from going where they had no right to go. I pulled it out of my pocket and immediately recognized the number as the disposable cell I’d given Kaeli. Why was she texting me again? She knew it wasn’t safe.

When I opened it up and saw she’d actually written words this time, I nearly cursed. I’d told her not to do that.

I stiffened the instant I read what she sent.

I think someone’s following me…

Fuck! I typed quickly.
Where r u?

I waited for
her answer with clenched hands. When nothing came back straight away, I started to panic. I was just about to type again when a response finally appeared.

Alley. 2 blks away.

Without wasting a second, I started striding for the door. “Davo! We’ve got a situation!” I called.

I didn’t wait for h
im. Kaeli could be in trouble, but by the time I’d reached the corner, Davo was beside me. “What’s up?”

“Kaeli thinks someone’s following her,” I said straight.

I knew having Davo know I’d given Kaeli my number could be dangerous, but I was pretty sure he’d be cool with it. Out of all the other guys, he seemed to be the most understanding and nonchalant when it came to my choices with women.

His eyes hardened, but that was the only emotion that came. I liked that about Davo. He didn’t ask questions. He just did what was needed to be done and got out. No fuss.

I already knew the exact route Kaeli took when she came - I’d made damn sure of that when I realized how innocent she was, so I moved through the back streets with sure, quick steps, Davo following my every lead.

We stuck to th
e shadows close to the buildings, our eyes wide and watchful as we moved. When we rounded the next corner, I saw them.

The guy had her cornered, a knife drawn in front of him to scare her. Pulling out my gun, I released
the safety, and began my slow, agonizing approach. All I could think about was getting Kaeli away from the fucker. Then killing him.

I could hear him
yelling at her to hand over the bag. “Now, bitch!” he snarled, waving the knife in her face.

My blood
went from an aggravated simmer to boiling within in the blink of an eye. I moved as stealthily as possible, wanting to get as close to him as I could before making myself known.

I watched Kaeli slowly hold the bag out to him, then him snatching it out of her hands. He dropped it to the ground, instantly searching its contents.
I took the opportunity to advance further.

The guy
must’ve liked what he found, because he laughed and zipped it back up before standing again. “Aaron said you were a hot piece of ass,” the guy drooled.

I froze, m
y eyes instantly narrowing at hearing Aaron’s name.
He
set this up?

Kaeli’s head jerked back a bit in surprise and she blinked.
Obviously she had the same thought as me.

“He also said I had to kill you.
”

Yep. Last s
traw. I was going to kill him. Then I was going to find Aaron, and I was going to kill
him.
But not before torturing the fucker.

The fucking scumbag started to
stalk confidently towards Kaeli, an evil grin plastered to his face.

“What?”
Kaeli said, panic flaring in her eyes.

My brain hurried to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. If Aaron wanted Kaeli dead, then he was obviously trying to cover his tracks, which meant he didn’t want Ken to know he was behind it.

“Sorry,” the guy said, not sounding very sorry at all.

I decided now was a good time to move in.
Taking aim, I moved out of the shadows, not surprised when Kaeli’s gaze jumped towards me. I expected the thug to turn to see what had caught her attention, but he grabbed Kaeli and forced her in front of him, holding the knife to her throat instead. Fuck.

“Don’t come any closer or I’
ll kill her!”

Motherfucker!

Okay. Think. Quick!

I
sneered at him, my gun still aimed at his head. “If you think I’m here for the girl, you’re stupider than I thought.”