Page 22 of Mitch

Chapter Nine

It wassurreal to be surrounded by all of these powerful, deadly men. Mitch had hinted at how dangerous they were, but it was hard to understand it properly until you were in a room with them all. What was even more strange was that despite her baby girl being in her arms and her being so incredibly vulnerable, she didn’t feel threatened or frightened by them.

Her breathing was calm, her heart beat with a steady, calm thud in her chest, not a single sense of fear invaded her body. She glanced at Mitch sitting beside her, noting the way he angled his body towards them in a protective gesture she wasn’t sure he even realised he was making.

The rich, deep tone of his skin, a shade that was so beautifully intense, amplified the sable eyes that held her captive. Always so warm when they were on her, like a caress that heated her body, making her want to stretch like a cat lying in the warm sun of a lazy afternoon.

Feeling her eyes on him, he glanced her way, and those same eyes held so much reassurance. He would keep her safe, she’d bet her life on it and was, but she felt no hesitation. Autumn wondered if perhaps she trusted Mitch more than anyone she ever had. It was a strange thing to give someone you barely knew so much power, yet in her heart, Autumn knew it was right.

He tightened his grip on her fingers, giving the barest nod of reassurance before he turned back to the others in the room. She’d briefly met Waggs at the house. The man with short blond hair and cool, almost haunted eyes watched them as he leaned back in his chair—waiting. He seemed nice, held back a bit with her but with his friends he was one of them, a man who would protect.

Lopez was clearly the joker from what she could see, handsome and playful but with deep emotions. Then there was Decker. She didn’t know what he did, but out of all of them, he gave her the most pause. She felt as if he were in her head, judging, waiting, analysing. He was also the only man wearing a suit, and even if it was without a tie, it still screamed control. The others wore a mix of jeans or combat trousers with t-shirts.

“I need you to tell us everything from the top, Autumn, including your real name.”

She startled as Jack addressed her before lifting her chin and giving the barest of nods. The feel of Maggie in her arms and Mitch’s steady hand in her own, giving her confidence. “I was born Keisha Anderson. I met my husband, Terrell Campbell in college. We were both studying chemistry. We got together and ended up going to Uni together. We were both studying the same degree, and we pushed each other to work harder. We were so competitive with each other.” Autumn glanced at Mitch, watching for his reaction, feeling as if the walls were closing in on her as she talked about her past.

“Need some water?” Mitch asked with a dip of his head.

Autumn nodded. “Please.”

Mitch went to move, but Waggs was already on his feet. “I’ll get it.”

Waggs was out the door before Mitch could reply. Moments later he was back and handing her a bottle of icy cold water. She hadn’t known that reliving this would be so hard. She’d thought she’d processed all of her residual feelings of love and anger for Terrell until there was only apathy left.

Autumn took a sip and let the cold liquid calm her, the sense of being trapped started to recede, and her heartbeat began to calm. “Sorry, this is harder than I thought.”

“Take your time. We aren’t going anywhere and nobody in this room is judging you,” Jack said from the end of the table where he was sitting with his arms relaxed on his lap.

Maggie wriggled and Autumn knew she didn’t have long before her daughter woke properly and demanded feeding, so she hurried on. “We got married after college and both landed jobs at Orion Pharmaceuticals as Senior Research Scientists. It was the dream, and life was good, then his sister married a man called Anton Williams. I knew when I met him he was trouble, but I never imagined how much. Terrell got on well with him though, and they started spending more time together.”

Autumn rubbed Maggie’s back gently, not entirely sure who she was soothing with the motion. “Anton smoked a lot of weed, but as far as I knew nothing else, so I let it go. Then Terrell started missing work or coming home late, and I confronted him. I thought he was cheating on me, but he said he wasn’t and begged for a second chance.”

Shrugging with embarrassment she continued, “I gave it to him, and we started trying for Maggie.” She brushed her cheek over her daughter’s curly hair. “Then I began to find discrepancies at work, chemicals missing, and drugs used to analyse the reaction to overdoses missing during Terrell’s time in the lab. I went home to confront him, and we had a blazing fight about it. I begged him to stop, to come clean, and we’d face it together, but he said it was too late. He liked the power and the money, was sick of struggling to pay back student loans and scraping for every penny.”

Autumn sighed, and her eyes caught on Mitch, drawing strength from him. “I decided that night I’d pack my bags and leave the next day. Terrell didn’t like that, and he hit me, backhanding me across the face.”

Autumn caught the lip twitch from Mitch, the squeeze of his fingers as he tried to control his reaction. “I knew then the man I had loved was gone. I stayed home the next day while he went to work. I was packing my stuff when he came home frantic, said the boss had found out he’d been skimming the drugs. He was terrified, but I had little sympathy, and then there was a hammering on the door like it was being caved in by some wild hoard. Terrell pushed me into the wardrobe and told me to keep silent.”

Autumn grabbed the water and took another sip. “A man came into our bedroom and shot Terrell three times. He said this was what snitches got and nobody blabbed about the Onyx Cobras and then left.” Autumn felt Mitch stiffen beside her, his hand withdrawing from hers as he crossed his arms.

“How did you end up in witness protection?” Waggs asked.

Autumn’s eyes moved to him, and he was leaning forward, elbows on the table, his eyes intense.

Maggie began to wriggle, and without hesitation, Mitch put his arms out for her, and Autumn let him take her, offering him a grateful smile as she did, which he returned.

“The CPS begged me to testify, saying they’d protect me. Evidently, they’d been trying to get this guy for years.”

“What went wrong?” Decker asked from across the room, where he stood, leaning against the wall as if he had little care for her answer.

“Someone took the gun used to kill Terrell out of evidence without authorisation, and the case fell apart. Linton Allen walked free, and I now have to live in fear of retribution from him and his men.”

“Linton Allen?” Mitch bit out, shock on his face.

“Yes, he’s the leader of the Cobras.”

“Fuck.” Mitch scrapped his hand over his short hair as he leaned over to give Maggie back to her. “I need some air.”