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Repo
Repo watchedas Cat disappeared back to his spare room. He had just about swallowed his damn tongue when she appeared in his kitchen wearing the t-shirt he lent her and nothing else. God, she was gorgeous but he needed to keep his damn head on straight and remember that she was his job and once this mess was all over, she’d go back to the streets—back to the faceless, nameless men who paid her for sex. He didn’t give a fuck where she had been but he wouldn’t make her his knowing that it wouldn’t change anything. She’d let other men have her body for money and that wasn’t something he could live with.
He also knew that if given the chance, Cat would take off, leaving him high and dry. She wanted to run—he could see that in her eyes every damn time she looked at him. He knew all the signs because he used to be just like her. Repo’s past was just as dark and seedy as he was betting Cat’s was. That was something he could also see when she looked at him—the fear and self-loathing and yeah, he knew both well.
Repo lived on the streets for years after his mother died and his old man took off. It was either that or be tossed into the welfare system and hope like hell that he got in with a good family. He knew the odds of that happening were slim to none. Not many families wanted a sixteen-year-old teenager. There wasn’t anything cute about a kid who looked like a full-grown man complete with facial hair and two tattoos. Yeah, he was past the whole, “I’m adorable, please adopt me,” phase. He knew he needed to lay low and keep to himself for two years until he aged out of the system. No one was looking for him and no one cared whether he lived or died. Repo knew he had to count on himself and leave his past behind, so he changed his name from Tyler Morris to Repo and he assumed the badass persona that everyone knew him for.
Things were tough those two years and he had to do whatever it took to stay alive, including pimping himself out to whoever was paying—women and men alike, it didn’t matter to him as long as they had cash. After he turned eighteen and he could come out of living in the shadows, he got a real job at a bike shop. It’s where he discovered his love of motorcycles and he was able to leave his life of pimping himself out behind. He learned the ins and outs of the different bikes the little shop had and even figured out how to fix them. He made enough at his new job to get himself an apartment and save a little money to start up his bail bondsman business. He loved what he did for work and he made a good deal of money at his job. He was able to buy his cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee that he considered as close to heaven as he’d ever get.
Someday, Repo hoped to move back to Gatlinburg full time but right now, his place was in Huntsville, Alabama. It’s where his life was—his club, his friends, and the majority of his business. When he first bought the cabin, he dreamed of meeting someone and settling down to start a family there. But after ten years, that was starting to feel more like a pipe dream and less like a possible reality. Still, he got home to his cabin as often as possible and what little time he spent there was pure heaven.
Repo got the kitchen cleaned up and settled on his sofa, pulling the blanket he kept thrown over the back of the couch onto his body. He didn’t trust Cat as far as he could throw her and if his hunch was right, she was going to make a run for it. There was no way he’d miss her sneaking out of his apartment if he was asleep on his sofa. His living room was right off the entrance and if Cat tried to get out of his front door, he’d hear her. There was no way he’d let her just walk out of his apartment and out of his life.
* * *
Repo heardCat trying to sneak past him, if that’s what she was doing could be called. Honestly, she made more noise than an elephant trying to walk through an antique store. He laid as quiet as he could until she slipped on her shoes but that was as far as he let her get. If she walked out his door, he might never find her again and then he’d be out his bond money and that wasn’t going to happen—not on his watch.
“Going someplace, Honey?” he asked.
Cat jumped and squealed, “Shit, Repo,” she said. “You scared the fuck out of me.”
Repo sat up on his sofa and turned on the overhead light. They both blinked against the brightness and when he got a good look at her Repo realized that she was wearing a black tank top and skintight jeans.
“Nice outfit,” he taunted. “I thought you didn’t have anything to wear?” he asked.
“I don’t,” Cat said. “Just this and my outfit you found me in and well, that was dirty.” Repo had a pretty good idea why she needed a fresh outfit to go out but he didn’t want to be right.
“Where you headed?” he questioned, already knowing the answer.
“I have a job,” she almost whispered. “It’s the only way I’ll be able to get back on my feet and out of your hair.”
“No,” Repo spat. He stood from the sofa, letting his blanket fall to the floor. Cat looked him up and down, her eyes resting on his boxer briefs and he grabbed a throw pillow from his couch to cover up. “Jesus, Cat,” he grumbled. “Stop looking at me like that,” he ordered.
“Maybe put on some pants,” she offered. “Listen, my client isn’t going to wait outside for long,” she said.
“Wait—you fucking gave your client my address and had him meet you here?” he asked. The last thing he needed was for anyone to think he was pimping out Cat and her clients, as she liked to call them, showing up at his home wasn’t acceptable.
Cat shrugged and defiantly raised her chin. “Well, I’m not sure where we are or where the closest bus stop is. We both know I can’t afford an Uber, so unless you have a better plan, I need to head out.” He had a better plan—he had a fucking fantastic plan. He would just lock her in his spare room until her arraignment and then he’d drag her ass down to the courthouse himself. But she was right, he couldn’t hold her prisoner no matter how much easier that sounded than having to deal with the shit she was giving him.
“You are not going out to work, Cat. I told you that you are staying here until your day in court. Once that happens, you are free to do as you please,” he said.
Cat barked out her laugh, “Or, I’ll be in prison for the next year and won’t have a chance to get back on my feet once I get out. You know that when they finally release me, I’ll be in this very same position, right? The only way I can plan is to make some money now and sock it away someplace safe for when I get out.”
“Why do you think they’ll put you away for a year?” he asked. He wasn’t a lawyer but he had been around enough criminals to know some of the finer points of the law. She was a first-time offender and if he had to guess, she wasn’t someone they’d want to make an example of. She didn’t seem to be hooked on anything and she wasn’t a threat to society. She was just a woman down on her luck and most of the time, the court would take pity on someone like her.
“You’ll probably just get some community service and maybe have to pay a fine or time served with probation,” he offered.
“And, your law degree is from where, exactly?” she asked, crossing her arms over her ample chest. Her tank top accentuated her every curve, making him want to throw his rule of not fucking with his money, out the window.
“I’ve been around enough to know how things run, Cat,” Repo said. “You told me that this is your first court appearance.” Cat nodded and looked down at her feet. The last thing he was trying to do was make her feel bad about who she was but that was all he seemed capable of doing around her.
“Yeah, the other two times, I was let go with a warning,” she said.
“Sure,” Repo said. “After you gave the cop a blow job, right?”
“Well, yeah. Figures you’d remember that part of the story. The point is, this is my first offense, as you already said. Do you think I’ll get off easy?” she asked. Cat’s phone chimed and she looked at it and back at him. He knew that she was trying to figure out her next move but what Cat didn’t understand was that she wouldn’t be leaving his apartment tonight with the guy who was waiting downstairs for her or anyone else for that matter.
“You want to let your client know that you won’t be joining him or should I just run downstairs and tell him to fuck off?” he asked.
