Page 80 of Unleash Hades
“If he dresses like you, no.” The She-Bear’s eyes drifted down Bellamy’s outfit, and I found I could smile again.
My face was unfamiliar with the expression. My cheeks were getting sore.
I looked around because Iknewthat he was supposed to be here. Richard. He was supposed to attend this fight, and I wondered if he’d bring his mistress. Then again, he’d know I’d be here, so maybe he’d show an ounce of decorum and come alone.
“Oh, no, no, no!” Bellamy said, “The man has the personality of a taxidermied snake. He dresses like every other boring executive. Probably Prada double breasted, and if he’s feeling brave a pin stripe.”
The same acidic disdain that people threw at Bellamy he threw back at his critique of Richard now.
“English, you say,” the She-Bear’s eyes narrowed. “And what do you want from me?”
“Oh, just information, dear lady.” Bellamy bowed with a twirling hand at his stomach, and his left arm pulling back behind him. Like he was some kind of regency gentleman and she was a debutante. “Whatever you wish to share would be a great treasure for myself, and my colleague. We’re journalists, you see. We’re on the side of the angels.”
She snorted, rolling her eyes.
Not everyone thought that journalists were good people.
He took a seat - not the one the She-Bear had vacated, but one that placed a space between her and the girl in the dress.
Bellamy looked down at the seat she had left. A quiet invitation for her to sit and relax.
“Why would I tell you anything?” the She-Bear pursed her lips.
I didn’t miss how she shifted her shoulders to put the girl behind her out of Bellamy’s view.
“I don’t know…” Bellamy inspected his nails. “Maybe to…”
“The man we’re asking about is my husband,” I interrupted, and the two looked at me, their eyes blank.
But it was in that blankness that I knew they were surprised. They were choosing to school their features.
“I have twins,” I said, hoping to appeal to some womanly instinct that she might have. There was a scar on her lower belly that I recognized. A C-Section scar. Adelia had the same one. “They’re my life. I want to keep them safe.” There was a sudden softness in her eyes that thawed my heart. “They’re everything I have and…”
The She-Bear reached into her pocket. She looked away from me for a moment, her eyes full of… something. But then her men - the Mafiosos in their suits - suddenly took interest in what she was doing and got up from their little circle to hover around us.
“Who are you?” one of them said in a thick, Italian-New York accent.
“I’m…” I stammered.
Fear was my reaction. Fear, because I knew that he was here. That they were Richard’s eyes and ears. I didn’t know how. I knew it the way you might instinctively understand which way was north, or if it would rain. It was something you felt in your bones.
“I’m just talking to our champion,” Bellamy said, holding up a ticket in his hand. “I’ve got some big money riding on her today, and I’m just here to lend my support, as it were.” He lifted his fist and weakly, almost comically, let out a roundhouse punch, then presented a betting slip. “Just trying to psych her up, so to speak. You know?”
One of the men looked at the ticket, nodding in satisfaction.
I hadn’t seen him place that bet and had no idea who he was betting against. But the Mafioso was satisfied by the cover story.
“Clear out,” one of the men said, rudely nudging Bellamy with a pointed finger. “She has to get ready for the fight.”
“Oh, of course!” Bellamy said.
“You’re friends with the Legionnaire?” the She-Bear asked, completely ignoring what else was going on. “You know him, yes?”
“I do,” I said with my whole chest.
“Okay,” she said, looking away with a false disinterest. I knew it was false because her fingers kept flexing into a fist and out again. She was up to something, but I couldn't ask what it was.
We were in danger. We were surrounded by it.
