Page 25 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

I laughed then, but immediately regretted it when my head protested. “I should be pissed you could possibly think I would do something like that.”

Mia sighed. “I didn’t. It was the guys. They were all ready to go after you. Lucky you text me when you got home or they probably would’ve.”

Great. Just great. Having any attention on me at the moment was bad. I didn’t need anyone looking closer than they needed to. “Well, you can tell them he’s a friend of the family’s, so they can all just back off.”

It came out a lot more forceful than I’d intended, but I wasn’t in the mood for niceties right now. My life was screwed, and I was dealing with it the best I could.

“Don’t worry. I’ll sort it out, okay?”

The lump that came to my throat came out of nowhere. What the hell? “Yeah, thanks. I know I’m probably not making any sense right now, but I just need some space to work through it, and having the guys checking on me is only going to make things worse.”

Mia was quiet for a bit, and I could picture her biting her lip with worry. “I understand, but Kaeli? Just remember there are people here who love you and would do anything for you.”

Yeah, I needed to get off the phone. I swallowed. “I know.” Shit, this was hard. “Listen, I better go…”

“Okay. I’ll ring you tomorrow. Maybe we could try to catch up or something?”

If only I had the luxury of planning anything in my life… “Yeah, sure.”

We said our goodbyes and I threw the cell down on my bed. I’d never felt like everything was so hopeless in my life.

Chapter 20

Noah

I woke to loud thumping on my door. Stumbling out of bed, I threw the door open and found Davo standing in the hall with his usual impartial expression on his face.

“Wanna come do some debt collecting?” he asked casually.

I refrained from groaning. TJ’s style of debt collecting involved threats, physical violence, and broken bones. “Who?” I asked.

He grinned. “Delaney.”

My eyebrow twitched. Delaney I could do. He was a serial loser who picked up homeless girls off the street – no matter how old they were, giving them promises of food and shelter. The only catch was once they agreed, he owned them. He got them addicted to crack and made them earn their keep by prostituting them out. I would actually take great pleasure in smacking him around. “Sure. Just let me get dressed.”

He disappeared down the hall while I quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt. After slipping on my boots, I grabbed my piece and tucked it into the waist band of my jeans.

The drive over to the northern district took just over fifteen minutes. Davo was his usual silent self as he drove, content to just tap on the steering wheel as he listened to the radio. Unfortunately it left me with my own thoughts, and they instantly wanted to recap on the events of the night before.

I still had no idea what to do when it came to Kaeli. I’d laid awake for hours thinking about it. I was such an idiot to think my plan would work. All I’d thought about was how to make it look like I was taking advantage of her to TJ and the other guys. I hadn’t even considered what would happen when she realized I wasn’t like the others.

And then there was the way my pulse overreacted to her touch, the thrill I’d felt when she’d looked up at me with so much trust. I just wasn’t prepared for that. For the past twelve months I’d been focused on doing my job, and up to the point of Kaeli’s arrival, girls had been included in that. Any girl I’d been with was just part of the job, part of the lie to make my life believable. Kaeli had reminded me I was human, that somewhere deep inside me, I was actually a normal teenage boy.

My mind instantly went to the guy from the party. I didn’t know what he was to Kaeli, but it was obvious they weren’t dating – although the desire was clear in his eyes. When he’d offered to walk her home I wanted to tell him to fuck off – she was mine, but then she’d told him no, and I wanted to beat my chest in victory.

Walking her home, I realized just how stupid I’d been. I should’ve encouraged her to go with the boy. I shouldn’t be trying to keep her for myself. I needed to just get her out of the shit Ken had put her in, and let her go live a normal teenage life where her only concerns would be good grades and boyfriends.

The thought of the position Ken had put her in made my blood boil. I was going to make sure he was put away for a long time, even if it was the very last thing I ever did.

I forced myself back to the present as Davo pulled up to the curb. If I thought about it, Ken was no better than Delaney. Okay, Kaeli hadn’t been forced to take drugs or raped for money, but I was fairly sure when Ken first sent her to TJ’s, he would’ve known that’s what would happen to her. Did it make him any better just because it hadn’t?

I was seriously starting to get pissed off. These people disgusted me.

Climbing out of the car, I slammed the door hard, sending the frame rocking, then with purposeful strides, I stormed up to Delaney’s door and thumped as hard as I could.

I could feel Davo watching me as we waited. I knew he’d be curious as to why I was so fucking mad, but I wasn’t in the mood to worry about it now.

Muffled noises came from the other side of the door, just before I heard the sound of a latch being released and the knob being turned. I didn’t wait for whoever it was to open it. I crashed against it with my shoulder, sending the person stumbling backward.

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