Page 3 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

There was a slight flirtiness in her voice that amused me. “Having a bad day?”

Her eyes moved over my chest and arms, then slowly, she turned her body so it was angled directly towards me. Still smiling, she bit her lip with playful contemplation. “It might be about to get better…”

Damn, she was good. She picked up her glass and threw back half of its contents. I followed suit, never taking my eyes off her. “What’s your name?”

Her lips twitched with amusement. “Renee. What’s yours?”

“Mitch,” I said automatically. “You know, Renee, I’m a very good listener...”

She looked me over again, a wicked smile creeping onto her lips. “I think I’d prefer to be distracted from my problems than talk about them,” she said suggestively.

I pushed myself up off the edge of my seat, coming to stand only a few inches away from her. Her breath hitched. “You want a distraction?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

I stared into her eyes for a moment, trying to get her to fold, but she stood resolute. I downed the last of my drink and smiled. “Come on then.”

She looked at me for a while, seeming to be making a decision. With a quick glance back at the barman, she picked up her glass, emptied it, and took my hand.

Without another thought, I led her straight to the restrooms. It was an obvious choice, but that was the point.

As soon as the door closed behind her, she locked it and smiled at me widely. I quickly stepped away from her and laughed. “You know, Renee, I didn’t know you were such a slut.”

She tried to pretend to be offended, but her smile gave her away. “Yeah whatever, lover boy. What’ve you got for me?”

I sighed, quickly switching to business mode. “Not a lot. TJ’s warming to me. He’s still taking Pock to most of his transactions, but mentioned to all of us that a big delivery is coming soon. I think he wants all hands on deck with this one, so I should be in. I’ll try to get some details about it over the next week.”

“Okay.” She looked me over, this time a slight worry creeping into her gaze. “Captain wanted to know if you were okay, so…are you? Are you handling everything okay?”

I knew what she was trying to get at. The drugs. I knew when I was asked to take on the job, I’d be required to do everything humanly possible to look as though I fitted in with TJ’s gang, and that included doing what they did. That’s what undercover meant. Unfortunately, it meant I needed to drink, party, womanize, and do whatever drugs they did. And it took everything I had to look as though I enjoyed it, because believe me, I didn’t. I had to repress the urge to punch at least one of them more than once a day.

I sighed. “Yeah, I’m alright. Some of the shit’s going to be a bitch to kick though,” I said in a defeated tone.

She gave me a sympathetic glance. “Just be careful okay? We don’t want to lose you.” She stepped closer then, giving me a quick sisterly hug. “We’re going to send Leah in next Wednesday, so give her a hard time for me, okay?”

I laughed. “Sure thing, and Kate…Thanks,” I said softly.

She gave me one quick nod, then unlocked the door and stepped out. As the door swung closed behind her, I caught a quick glimpse of her straightening her dress as though she’d just gotten a bit as she headed for the door. After a few more seconds, I strode out to the bar for another drink.

***

Later that night, I sat on a stained brown sofa, in the middle of a dingy lounge room with worn, mottled carpet that stank like alcohol and smoke. Pressing a joint to my lips and inhaling deeply, I tried to numb it all from my mind.

&nb

sp; Unfortunately, this was where I lived. We called it The Den. I have no fucking idea why. I guessed it was supposed to imply we were some sort of family, and if that was the case, then it was some fucked up family.

I blew out a puff of smoke in a sigh. Yep. This was my life. I fucking hated it, but it was also my job.

TJ, the leader of this fucked up gang of disgruntled criminals, paced the floor in front of me. He was on edge, swearing each time he turned and paced the other way.

“Fuck, I hate waiting!” he yelled.

I inhaled again. I was used to his behavior by now. So were the other guys. None of us so much as looked up from what we were doing. I leaned back on the couch and exhaled, and Davo turned another page on the titty mag he was reading beside me. When TJ’s cell beeped with a message, he swore again, but he seemed to calm a fraction.

We continued on like this – Pock and Vinnie sharing a cone, while Davo and I slumped on the couch, and TJ paced. The only one not there was Mac, who was in the kitchen with a bad case of the munchies.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at the back door.

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