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Your Hellcat.
Chapter Twenty-Seven : The Sit-in
Marissa
Mychestwashollowand every moment I was alone I fell into despair. It was pathetic. I had become one ofthosegirls - the kind I swore I’d never be. My stint at The Society fulfilling my servitude produced no answers about Chantal, and all I did was spend my time leaving The Warden’s calling cards all over the place. It was difficult to not wallow in the disappointment of my failure, but it also didn’t help that I was missing Mack. Turns out that after sleeping next to him every night for almost three months, I seemed no longer capable of sleeping alone.
It had been two weeks since that morning I had snuck out - two weeks since his body was pressed against mine. The memory alone was enough to make my eyes fill with tears and my chest ache with longing. I knew I took the coward’s way out, but I also knew Mack - knew that he wouldn’t listen. He wanted me to go to Boston with him - to meet his family, and I knew that if I had moments that were filled with daydreams of the life we could have together, then Mack had gone into full-on planning mode. I didn’t want to tell him that it wasn’t possible - didn’t want to tell him all the reasons I had gone down this path - that my vengeance was so far gone that I couldn’t simply give it up, no matter how much I loved him. And I did love him.
As much as this feeling hurt, I was thankful to him - grateful that I got to experience this, even if I felt like ripping my heart out.
It also didn’t help that The Warden had us near Boston for a meeting. We were stationed in the ancient town of Arlington, and the fact that Mack’s home was a stone's throw away only made me miss him more.
“You look like shit.” Bobby Socks stood next to me chewing a piece of tobacco as he spoke, the stench something foul. As crew members went, he wasn’t my favorite, he also wasn’t the worst. Everyone called himBobby Socksdue to the scarring on his legs. As a child he was caught in a fire in his parents' one bedroomed flat. The fire consumed the apartment quickly, setting everything ablaze, including him. He had been wearing a pair of checkered socks at the time, the pattern forever etched into his skin, a permanent reminder of what he lived through - what he survived. Even with his sad tale, I still didn’t like him.
I shrugged as a form of response. As if I didn’t know that I looked like shit. I wasn't eating, I was hardly sleeping, and if I didn’t get my shit together, The Warden would start to pull me from jobs. And while he hadn't said as much, I was certain that this meeting was my last chance. I had come back home - handed over all the intelligence he had asked me for, but none of my snooping turned up any information on Chantal. Instead, I found piles and piles of information on the Bratva, the various Cartels, and every major Mafia family that had a significant stake in the economy.
And while I had interest in the information, The Warden had his own stake in the game, with fingers in each goddamn pie. His reach astounded me and, in truth, I often wondered why he hadn’t joined The Society - shared resources and all that. But then I couldn’t see him and Benson sitting at the same table, neither one of their egos would have allowed it.
It was exactly because of who he was that we were meeting in this tiny town - a discreet location where he wouldn’t be seen or recognized, especially not at this time of night.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, the hound's tooth dress feeling strange on me after wearing nothing but casual attire for the past two weeks, but at least in this outfit I could wear my gun on my thigh, small blessings and all that.
“Time to move out.” I spoke evenly, my voice flat and monotone.
“Whatever you say, Tekken.” Bobby Socks replied using my nickname - a nickname I had lived without for almost three months.
It had been nice to believe that I could have been more than what I was - lived an entirely different life, even if it was just pretend. God, I was tired. We hadn’t even arrived at the meeting and I just wanted to take my shoes off and go the fuck back to sleep. But I couldn’t do that - it would be exactly the kind of sign The Warden was looking for to bench me, and right now, his jobs were the only thing that was keeping me going.
We moved in unison, walking across the street to the small hotel that lay opposite us. I knew that inside the blue and white framework sat a meeting room on the second floor - I had scoped the place personally, and given itmystamp of approval, and this was where the meeting would take place. I had lost track of who we were meeting today. The Warden hadn’t missed a moment once he had the information I handed to him, setting up meetings with the various families, finally putting his long harnessed plan into motion. And so far, I had been at every single one of those meetings as he introduced me as his protégé, even when we both knew it was a lie.
I took the back entrance, scaling the secret staircase in the heels that The Warden insisted I wear. I swore he got a kick out of what I had to wear for The Society, arguing that such clothing was simply another form of deceit - an artful defense. And while I could appreciate the sentiment, my feet couldn’t give a fuck.
As planned, we were not the first to enter the room.
“Who are we meeting again?” Bobby Socks shot me a look of disdain. Yeah, I knew I needed to get my shit together, but today wasn’t going to be that day. “The Connolly family.” Fuck. It was the Irish meeting. I should have skipped because everything was reminding me of him today.
I just needed to get through the meeting. Then I could order a pizza as a reward. Even if I had no appetite, I’d still order it - still have it delivered.
Remy was already there, fronting as security, along with the family we were meeting. The Warden would arrive after us - all in accordance with our safety routine. Remy grinned at me, taking me in from across the room, and I knew that he was cackling over what I was wearing. Out of everyone here, I was closest to Remy. He had taken me under his wing, and on the hard days - the days I thought The Warden would break me, we played Playstation, Tekken standing as a firm favorite. It was how I got my name, and it pushed me to learn various different fighting styles, even if I broke bones along the way. I stilled my fingers and gave myself a mental pat on the back for not flipping Remy off in front of these people. And then I stopped. I halted my steps, unable to move past the doorway even as Bobby Socks walked into the back of me. Because herehewas.
What the fuck was he doing here. Did he know about the meeting and somehow crash? I was aware of someone else talking in the room, but I couldn’t move - couldn’t look away from his green gaze that had locked onto mine. He was just as good looking as I remembered. Funny how two weeks could change a person because his hair was slightly longer, and for a second I wondered if it was long enough for me to thread my fingers through as his tongue dipped between my thighs.
“... and this isTekken.” Remy continued, introducing me, oblivious to the mental freak out that was taking place in my head. Bobby Socks shoved me from behind, urging me to move forward, and I had no choice but to step forward and sit in the seat that was allocated for me.
That was how I found myself sitting opposite Mack, his anger a tangible thing, stretching across the table as he gazed at me with nothing but disdain. I wanted to reach out - wanted toexplain- tell him that it wasn’t supposed to be like this, but Icouldn’t. And so I sat there with nothing but a mouthful of teeth forced to watch him piece it all together. I shut my eyes at the onslaught of memories - at the look of absolute betrayal evident on his expression. When I opened my eyes, I didn’t look at him, I found myself looking at an older version of him, only this man’s gaze wasn’t filled with anger and disdain as he took me in. He offered me his hand to shake, and I took it. “Tekken is it?” I nodded, even as Mack scoffed next to him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, this is my son, Mack.” James Connolly wasn’t a man to be trifled with. He had reach, influence, means, and ability. It made him one the most powerful players in the books, and suddenly Johnny’s desire to kill Mack made so much more sense. I was an idiot because I should have known - should have dug deeper, but I was too busy assuming that if I didn’t ask questions about him, he wouldn’t ask about me.
My gaze flicked back to Mack, and even now I was drawn to him. His jaw ticked in anger, and while I understood it, he had failed to mention thatthiswas who his family was. He had no right to be angry with me.
Before we could get into anything further, The Warden arrived, fuckingfinally. He seated himself beside me, squeezing my shoulder along the way.
“Senator Bryson?” James Connolly sounded just as surprised as every one of the family members we had met over the last two weeks. No one expected The Warden to be a Senator, it was, perhaps, our biggest kept secret. He chuckled warmly, putting everyone in the room at ease. “I see you’ve met my protégé,” he gestured towards me, and once more Mack’s gaze was on mine, scrutinizing my every move.
“Tekken?” James sounded equally as surprised. I was used to that response by now - was accustomed to being underestimated. It was one of the reasons the Senator had named me as such, the man had a flair for the dramatic.
“In this room, we’re friends, aren’t we?” Senator Bryson scoffed at my code name, answering with his own question by way of reply. James held his gaze for a moment, weighing and measuring The Warden for all he was worth before dipping his head once in agreement. It was as if the room exhaled in a sigh of relief. “Thisis Marissa, and she is the one putting everything together.” He waggled his eyebrows up and down as if they were being let in on some big secret. James’ gaze swung back to mine, assessing me in a different light. The polite thing would have been to smile, but I couldn’t - not with Mack sitting there, staring at me as if he wished I would just shrivel up and die.
“In fact,” the Senator went on, seemingly oblivious to the tension, but I knew better - knew that he saw everything, “Marissa finished her servitude at The Society this past summer. Do you two know one another?” He posed the question to Mack, and I watched James sit back, interested in his son’s answer.
