Page 92 of Unwritten Rules

This time, we had a thief in the ranks, stealing some of the product after a delivery overseas. That wouldn’t fly seeing as we ran a tight ship.

“I’m sorry boss!” He yelled in pain, giving me spikes of excitement with every punch I laid on him.

“No. You’re. Not.” Each punch perfectly marked each word. Throwing him to the ground, blood smearing his face, I growled, “You’re sorry you got caught.”

I held him down by my boot, spitting on him for good measure.

My phone started ringing in my back pocket. I checked the screen to see who was calling me at this hour.

Phone call: Blondie

“Sit still, this is an important phone call.” I dug my boot in deeper.

I answered, blood smearing on my phone as I swiped. “Hello?” My voice was a light, excited purr in response to her choosing to call me. Thank God I put my number in her phone.

Her voice was on edge, but still so sweet to hear. “Hey, so I need to cash in that delivery promise right now.”

The idiot under my boot squirmed as he tried to get out from under me. I bent down and pressed my knee into his chest–we weren’t done here. “Like, right now?”

A moment of silence filled her end of the call. Was she going to retract? “What are you doing?”

Ah, I made too much noise with the little idiot. “Nothing, Blondie. I’ll be over with your delivery in...” I checked the time while covering his mouth. No way I’d let him interrupt my girl finally reaching out to me for once. “An hour, tops. See you soon.”

I hung up quickly and smacked him across the face.

Dropping my voice to a sinister growl, I leaned further into him, grabbing his cheeks. “Tonight is the luckiest night of your pathetic fucking life. If Ieversee your ugly face again, a beating will be the least of your worries. Capiche?”

He nodded, fear in his eyes.

“Good, good.” I released his face, giving it a light but forceful slap. “Don’t make me regret this or you’ll have an immediate appointment to meet your maker.”

Trying not to sprint to my bike knowing I was on the clock, I didn’t want her to be waiting for too long and change her mind. Not when I was making so much progress with her.

She was going to be mine.

Ding!

The door to the diner opened, announcing my arrival. I broke far too many traffic laws to get here, get her food, and get back on time.

Martha quickly made her way around the counter, looking around me. “Where’s the girl? Brent, so help me if you scared away the first girl I got to meet...Is that blood on your ear?” She went from wagging her finger at me to cleaning up the blood on my ear.

I didn’t have much time to clean up.

Martha was the woman who raised me. When my mother handed me over to the Dictator, he hired anyone who dared try to calm my wild nature. He didn’t have time for it himself. I couldn’t blame him–running the conglomerate didn’t leave time to look at a child more than once a week, let alone raise them.

I never knew if she met my mother before she killed herself, but I never dared to ask. I accepted my life for what it was–shitty. Plus, opening up about mommy problems? No thanks.

I held up my hands. “Chill,Mom, she’s the one who sent me here! Don’t worry about the blood.”

Her shoulders relaxed while she cleaned me up, her smile returning. “Oh! I am so glad. The one girl I ever met and she’s gone instantly? I would beat you silly if you did that to me; my old heart couldn’t take it,” she said, gripping her chest in her typical dramatics.

She was the only one who could draw a smile out of me. “She’s not going anywhere, Martha. Anyway,” I held up my box. “I need this stuffed to the brim with whatever she ordered last time.”

Giddy as could be, she took the box. “I love a girl who can eat. Tell me about her while they cook up the food.”

We spent a few minutes–like mother and son–catching up and talking about Fallon. Martha never saw me with girls–I never stuck around long enough to get names most times. But Fallon? I knew from the moment I first saw her that I would pursue her until I died. She was the flame and I was the moth.

But getting attached to my grandfather’s business partner’s daughter? Not my plans, but she was sure to be stuck with me forever.

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