Page 14 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

Relief flooded me

when I heard Mom’s off key singing floating out through the doorway to the kitchen. Thank god it wasn’t her receiving Ken’s malice this time.

Glancing over to the den, I saw Aaron’s large figure through the gap in the doorway.

Ken’s voice cut through the noise again. “…five grand, Aaron!...fuck were you thinking?…can’t believe you were jumped…”

I leaned forward, trying to hear what they were talking about, but the music was too loud for me to make any sense out of the few words I was catching.

The door to the den flew open, startling me, and Aaron stormed out, heading right for me. I tried to make out I was just on my way down, but the angry set of his shoulders froze me in place.

Then I saw the bruises on his face. I gasped. Holy hell. Did Ken do that?

He glared at me as he passed. The bruises looked even worse up close, and there was a little dried blood on his lip from where it’d been spilt open. The dryness of the blood told me it had been done a while ago, so I didn’t think Ken had done it. I wondered what shit he’d gotten himself into now?

Trying to shrug it off, I rushed to the kitchen to see how the lasagna was doing.

I’d just finished eating when Ken sauntered into the kitchen wearing his tuxedo. He gave Mom an appraising look before his eyes finally found mine, turning malicious.

Mom fussed over him, pouring him a glass of scotch, before taking my plate and washing it. I watched her move around Ken with an increasing sense of anxiety.

The second Mom excused herself to go brush her teeth, he turned on me. “You have a transaction to make tonight.”

I gawked at him. “What? I can’t! I’m going to a party,” I said with horror.

His eyes narrowed. “You know, Kaeli, I hear an awful lot of accidents happen to women who wear stilettos.”

I felt the shock spread over my face. No! “You wouldn’t,” I whispered.

A wicked smile spread over his face, and his eyebrows shot up, saying everything his voice didn’t: Wouldn’t I?

Suddenly, I felt sick.

“TJ wants you there before seven. You’d better hurry. I don’t think you want to find out what he’d do if you were late.”

Chapter 12

Noah

Friday nights at TJ’s weren’t pretty. Even after a year and a half of witnessing them, I still found myself a little shocked by what went on there.

The music pumped hard, the sound creating invisible waves in the air that made my blood pulse with each beat. The usual girls were there, most of them half naked, ready to please any one of us at any time.

This was the part I had a hard time with. Not one of TJ’s gang minded sharing – even if the chick they were ready to get it on with just climbed off one of the other guys five minutes before.

At first, I participated in what was necessary to keep up my façade, but then I decided it was easier to play the hot headed jealous kind of guy who didn’t like to share, or touch a girl who’d just been screwed by someone else. They liked to rib me about it, but they accepted it as though it was just part of my drug fucked state of mind.

Unfortunately, it didn’t mean I could avoid sex the whole time though – that would’ve looked suspicious, but it did mean I could choose willing participants, and follow through with it within the privacy of my own room instead of disgracing her in front of a room full of people.

Tonight, I decided to take the drug fucked way and avoid the skanks completely. I’d just settled back in the arm chair with a pipe in hand, eyeing Lilly – Davo’s favorite, with distaste, when I caught TJ smirking at me with his cell in his hand. I casually lit the pipe, sucking in the fumes, and watched him saunter over.

“You might get lucky tonight after all,” he said. “It seems Ken’s out of stock again.”

Fuck. The thought of Kaeli coming here in the middle of one of TJ’s parties was sickening. I forced a knowing grin on my face.

TJ laughed. “I thought you might like that. We already have it packaged for him, but she doesn’t need to know that. Take all the time you want.”

“Fuck, yeah,” I smirked.

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