Page 57 of Hush (Fighting Fate)
“Fuck. Now I wish I really did kill the fucker. I’m not sure I should take you home right now. I can’t guarantee I’d be able to restrain myself.”
I shrugged. “It wouldn’t bother me if you didn’t.”
He watched me for a little while. All those times he’d looked like he had something to say made sense to me now. I could see it as I watched him back. He wanted me to know he was the good guy. That he’d protect me as much as he could.
I wanted to tell him I understood, but something told me it’d be best if I pretended not to know. I couldn’t even begin to understand the amount of stress he was bound to be under every
day. The last thing I wanted to do was add to it.
He sighed. “Come on. I’ll drop you home. You might have to distract me from thinking about what that fucktard did though, or I might be paying Ken a more painful visit.”
I dutifully climbed in through the open door and clicked my seatbelt into place. I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of distraction Mitch was thinking about, but the only one I could think of – probably because it was the only one I wanted, was to hold his hand.
The surprise on his face when I clasped it warmed my heart, and the deep breath he took told me just how much it meant to him.
Neither of us spoke for the entire drive home. I didn’t know what Mitch was thinking, but my head was completely filled with memories of all the little things that he’d done that should’ve told me he was one of the good guys.
I didn’t know exactly how long he’d been in TJ’s gang for. If he’d been telling the truth about not seeing his family for a year and a half, and that was how long he’d been undercover for, then I had no idea how he’d done it. I couldn’t imagine having to live a lie, amongst such revolting people, for so long.
Mitch pulled into the back alley behind my house and stopped at the spot he knew I had to crawl through. I knew he’d chosen to stop there because he didn’t trust himself not to get out and pay Ken another visit if he’d pulled into the drive.
Giving his hand a soft squeeze, I smiled. “Thanks.” I hoped he could see exactly what it was I was thanking him for.
The worry in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed. “Text me if you need to, okay?”
I wanted to lean over and kiss him goodbye, but I knew if anyone was watching, I’d be giving him away. Giving his hands one last squeeze, I slipped out the door and through the gap in the fence.
I saw Ken’s shadow through the back sliding door as I approached, making my nerves jump to the surface. I hoped he wasn’t angling for a pay back. Opening the door hesitantly, I tried to cover them up with a look of defiance as I walked past him.
He glared at me hard. I could see the cut Mitch had left on his lip. It looked awful, but I couldn’t find anywhere inside me that felt bad for him at all.
“Fuck you, Kaeli,” he said angrily, although there was no strength behind his voice. “Only you could make one of TJ’s goons fall for you.”
I almost stumbled with his words. Is that what it looked like to Ken? That Mitch was falling for me? I knew I shouldn’t, but I liked the sound of that. A lot.
Trying to hide my smile, I went straight up the stairs to my bedroom and locked the door behind me.
Chapter 40
Noah
Things were starting to get on top of me. My head had been in a fucked up kind of spin since Kaeli had shown up with that fucking black eye five days ago.
It wasn’t just the overwhelming need I had to protect her, or the way she’d somehow, above all comprehension, decided to trust me either. In fact, my feelings for Kaeli were only a tiny part of my problem.
What had shaken me up most was the fact that I’d seen my father. It had been the last thing I’d expected to happen to me when I’d gone out to get my jacket from the car for Kaeli at the hospital. It’d been the first time I’d seen him in almost a year and a half, and it’d almost killed me to walk straight past him like we were strangers.
It just added another weight to my chest, almost suffocating me. I’d never been more determined to finish something in my life.
But things had gone from bad to worse over the course of the week. Mr. X had gotten wind of the bad news fakes and had decided to put the exchange back until things had settled down, leaving TJ more than a little fucking feral.
Frustrated as fuck, I’d decided to go on my own little recon mission, managing to track down one of The Shadow’s dealers and finding out where the little fucker lived. I was sure it’d almost killed TJ to not go there and torture the dude, but he’d managed to hold it all together, agreeing we should just watch the guy and hope to catch him making a transaction.
Since then we’d been taking shifts to watch the guy. I knew my team was watching too. I’d only seen them once, but I knew they were there, just out of sight. Waiting.
And waiting.
Tonight TJ had taken everyone but me and Davo because Ken wanted to do business, and TJ knew Kaeli was mine.
