AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No.” Mack’s answer was swift and sure, “I haven’t had the pleasure of meetingTekken,” he spoke my nickname with heated emphasis, and I wanted to quiver and cry right there and then, but there was no place for tears in this meeting.
“Oh, what a pity.” He shrugged off Mack’s answer, ignoring the tension in the room, but James’ gaze was fixed upon his son. This wasn’t an uninvolved parent - he knew Mack’s ticks and moods - knew that something was amiss.
The Warden made a show of looking down at the notes before him, but I knew that the movement was unnecessary - was only done to put them at ease, to offer them a sliver of privacy.
“I believe that you and the Juarez family are now working together?” He asked another question that everyone in the room knew the answer to. The turn-around in their relationship was the talk of the criminal underworld, for their feud was something of legend. Of course, some are saying that they came together over a girl, but I knew that the truth was far more complicated than that.
“That was all Mack’s doing,” James chuckled, praising his son, and this time I looked away as Mack’s gaze found mine.
“Good. Good…” the Senator’s voice trailed off. He paused for a moment before diving in and outlining his plan, explaining that these families that operated outside of The Society held the same amount of powercollectivelyas The Society itself. Of course, it was a long shot - we weren’t expecting everyone to agree. There were a lot of big egos at play, and some of the feuds spanned centuries, and yet ,so far, every single family had agreed. It seemed that as much as they hated each other, they hated The Societymore. The Warden outlined the agreement, proposing a new order of power. Naturally, he would hold a seat at the table, and because he was orchestrating the whole thing, no one seemed to mind. James seemed intrigued, and even Mack couldn’t hide the interest entirely. I zoned out as they went over the finer points of how the operation would work, and I knew that he’d tell them about the agreement. It had been my idea, actually - to get everyone to sign an agreement that placed all the families on equal footing with one another, arguing that it needed to be signedbeforethey took The Society’s place.
Surprisingly, James agreed fairly quickly.
“Marissa will come past tomorrow to drop the agreement off.”
What?I didn’t fight or argue, but me visiting Mack and his family was certainly news to me. James simply nodded, bidding us a good night as he and Mack stood up and left, the meeting officially adjourned.
It was only The Warden and his followers left in the room. “Leave us.” He barked the command, his voice no longer jovial or kind, and I knew that I hadn't been given leave to go, the instruction had been for Remy and Bobby Socks.
My hands grew clammy as he leered towards me, his anger so much worse up close.
“I don’t know what’s going on with you, little girl, but I’m getting mighty tired of you not following my instructions.” I swallowed audibly, unsure how to defend myself as I attempted to place when exactly I had defied him. “Itoldyou I wanted Raquel taken care of. Did you think I wouldn’t notice that she wasn’t part of the bodies that popped up with my seal on it? That I wouldforget?That girl is a nuisance. She is part of a group working against The Society, and her stupidity may just be enough to blow my carefully laid plans out of the water.”
Fuck.
“And now James’ boy is sitting here lying about knowing you when we both know that the two of you were roommates.” I stared at the imposing man next to me, even at his age, he was built, his mind sharper than anyone else I knew. “Fix. It.” Spittle hit my face as he seethed before walking out and leaving me to think over his warning.
Chapter Twenty-Eight : Escape
Mack
Iknewthatshewas working for The Warden, but workingforsomeone and being theirprotégéwere two completely different things.
And none of that changed the fact that sheleft. She left without a goodbye or an explanation. I was sitting there building plans with the girl of my dreams in my head, while she was planning her escape.
It was infuriating. Da knew something was going on - noticed that I couldn’t stop fucking looking at her. God, she was just as pretty as I remembered. There had been some nights when I was a bottle of whiskey to the wind that I was convinced that I had exaggerated her beauty in my mind. But no, last night served to confirm that she truly was breathtaking.
I knew that I was a dick of the highest order because seeing her looking so goddamn defeated made me feel justified in my own feelings. This separation had taken its toll on her, too.
I walked into the bar, sliding behind the counter, a comfort of the highest order. The grain of wood curved and warped under my palm, speaking of countless nights of men talking it out with good ol’ uncle Jack. I had long since found whiskey to be the best kind of therapy. The knowledge that she was cominghere todayhad me on edge. Worse still, I wasn’t surewhat time. Da took Ma, leaving me to deal with Marissa all on my own, knowing full well that she and I had our shit to sort out. I was angry. Yeah, I was fucking livid, actually, but when I closed my eyes, it was stillherI envisioned. Fuck, I wish Patrick was home so I could talk it out with him. I knew how that sounded - that my little brother was my best friend, but it was true, he was the best person I knew. He’d probably tell me to hook up with someone else - to get over her. But even the thought of it made me cringe. She better not have tried that shit herself because I had already warned her once that her pussy belonged to me, and I wasn’t in the habit of repeating myself. My gun sat snugly in my waistband, offering me strength where my own resilience seemed to fail.
I had never been so fucked up over a woman untilher. I wanted to rage at her - scream at her - yell until my voice was hoarse, and then I wanted to fuck her. Repeatedly. I unpacked the dishwasher, desperately needing to keep my hands busy. I polished the countertops and refilled one of the kegs that Mick seemed to be slacking on - all things I’d been doing since I was a kid.
“Wow,” her voice floated across the bar, but I didn’t stop the task at hand - couldn’t - I needed to get a handle on my emotions. “You really do know how to handle a bar.”
She sounded genuinely surprised, and I wondered if she was looking at me in a different light now that she knew who I really was - if that kind of thing mattered to her. When I finally looked up, she was standing far closer than I thought she’d be. She looked more like herself - more likemyMarissa - like the girl I was in love with.
Did she know? I wasn’t sure I wanted her to know. She wore jeans and a plain navy t-shirt. Kicks and not heels covered her feet, and her hair was down. Under the fluorescent lighting, I noticed the purplish rings under her eyes. Was she not sleeping? She didn’t look bad, but I knew what she looked like when she was happy, and this was not it.
I ran that thought over in my mind once more, the knowledge thatIhad been a key player in her happiness somehow settling the unease within me. Her fingers curled around the contract that The Warden had sent her here with.
“I didn’t lie about my abilities - about the fact that my family owns a bar.” Even when I didn’t mean to, my words came across angry and hostile, and half of me wanted to bite my tongue, but a much bigger part of me wanted to have it out with her. I hopped over the counter, taking in the couple of feet of space that had separated us, and as I stood there, towering over, breathing in the scent of lemons and something else, I knew that she was home. She just needed to get it through that stubborn mind of hers.
“I told you,” I pulled back on my fury, but the words still came out in a growl, “that you couldtrust mewith your shit.” Her pretty blue eyes stared up at me, anger and defiance glaring right back, and so I pushed some more. And I would keep pushing until she cracked - until she acknowledged thatthismattered - thatwemattered. “Does TheWardenknow that Ihelpedyou with some of his tasks?” Her face blanched, and finally we were getting somewhere. The old goat didn’t know everything about her. “Tell me,Tekken, if I was willing to help you do his dirty work, whatever made you think that I somehow wouldn’t be okay with the rest of this? Of who you are and what you do?” I stared deeply into her gaze, imploring her to see the sincerity there.
“You weren’t exactly honest about thingseither.” She spat the words at me. And there she was,myhellcat.
“I. Didn’t. Run.” I hissed the words, and even when I was mad, I missed this - missed the way we bantered - missed the way her pupils dilated when she was pissed. I bit the inside of my cheek, knowing full well that if I laughed now, she very might well hit me.
