“So,” Lola started. “Tell me about yourself, Brody.”
I lifted my cup to my lips and leaned back in the booth. “What do you wanna know, Lola?”
She shrugged, grabbing the sugar bottle and spinning it back and forth between her hands. “I dunno…” She flicked her hazel-eyed gaze to me and away again. “What are you doing with Hut and his crew?”
“Why does anyone get in with Hut and his crew?”
“Right.” She rolled her eyes. “Stupid question.” She bit down on her bottom lip again, and I shuffled in my seat, trying to conceal my growing erection. Something so simple had never had such an effect on me, and I was starting to see that becoming a big problem. “I shouldn’t have asked.” Her shoulders slumped, and I couldn’t deal with the sadness emanating from her.
“I grew up on the streets.” I swallowed and placed my cup on the table. “It’s what I’m used to.” There was nothing but honesty spilling from my lips, and I didn’t regret it for a second. There was something about Lola that had me wanting to tell her everything, but I couldn’t—not yet anyway.
“Was it as bad back then as it is now?”
I tilted my head. Twenty years ago, there was a brutality to the streets, gang wars, and hatred spread everywhere. But it was different from how it was today. “I wouldn’t say it was any worse or any better, it was just...different.”
She leaned forward, her forearms pressed against the edge of the table. “Different how?” Her gaze didn’t move off me, firm and demanding, and fuck if I didn’t want to give her what she wanted. She had a pull to her that I couldn’t seem to resist, no matter what I did.
But that was a good thing, wasn’t it? I needed to get close to her to get closer to Hut. It was a plan that had every flaw possible, but I wouldn’t admit that. This was a job, nothing more and nothing less. Now if my body just agreed with that statement, I’d be golden.
“There was an honesty that isn’t there anymore. Now it’s all hearsay and snitches everywhere.” I watched her closely as I said that, trying to get a read on her, but she was oddly still and silent, waiting for me to continue. “The game changes over time, but the end goal is still the same.” I leaned back in the booth and stretched my legs out. “Money and drugs.”
Her nostrils flared as she leaned back in the booth too, her gaze moving off me and over the diner. I’d never been to this place before, but it seemed quiet enough. The bustle of patrons and the smell of bacon wafting in the air reminded me of home. I scrubbed my hand over my face and shook my head, not willing to let myself go there. Not now, and not with Lola sitting opposite me.
Plates were placed in front of us, and I dug in, thankful for the real food. Hut seemed to survive on thin fuckin' air, most likely because all his appetite wanted was another line of snow.
“This is good,” Lola moaned.
My eyes widened as she closed her eyes and relished in the pancakes and syrup. Jesus fuckin' Christ. How the fuck did she manage to look like that because of pancakes? I flicked my gaze down to my meal, wondering if she had something special in hers because we’d ordered the same thing. I shoveled in a forkful of the fluffiness, and yeah, they were good, but not that good.
“I feel like I haven’t eaten all day,” Lola remarked, digging in like she really hadn’t. “The diner I work at has been nonstop.”
“Have you?” I asked, my voice working before my brain kicked in to stop it. She looked up, the fork suspended in mid-air, and frowned. “Eaten, I mean.”
“Oh.” She tilted her head a little, looking at nothing as she thought. “I had a Pop-Tart this morning.”
I slowly chewed on my forkful, staring down at her half a pancake that was left and then at my stack of three. She needed it a damn sight more than I did so I pushed my plate across the table and picked up my cup.
“Huh?” Lola froze. “What are you doing?”
“I’m stuffed,” I told her, taking a huge gulp of the now lukewarm coffee. “You may as well eat it otherwise it’s gonna go to waste.”
Lola’s eyes narrowed, her suspicions raised, but I didn’t give a fuck. She needed to eat, and she wouldn’t get that at home, especially not tonight. “I’m not a charity case,” she ground out, her voice brooking no room for argument. “I don’t need your handouts.”
“Good.” I quirked one side of my lips up. “Because you’re not getting any. They’re just pancakes. Eat them, kid.”
Her lips flattened into a thin line, her eyes lighting up. “Don’t call me that.”
“Call you what?” I shrugged, acting like I had no idea what she meant.
“Kid.” She pulled my plate closer to her. “I’m not a goddamn kid.” She kept her gaze fixed to mine. “I haven’t been a kid since I moved into that shithole.” She loaded her fork with pancake, ran it through the drizzle of syrup, and placed it in her mouth.
I wanted to ask her what she meant by that. I wanted her to tell me what had taken her childhood away from her. But I knew better. I had to wait for the little tidbits she’d give me and piece it together on my own.
At least until she trusted me.
LOLA
I paced in front of the counter in the diner, waiting for my student to arrive. Shit. I had a student. How insane was that? I had to keep reminding myself that I could do this. I had all the knowledge I needed to help a high school freshman that was flunking, so why the hell was I so nervous?
“You’re gonna wear a hole in my floor, Lola-Girl,” Sal grunted from the kitchen.
I narrowed my eyes at the grin on his face. “I’ll replace it if I do.”
Sal chuckled and stepped back. “I’ll hold you to that.”
I shook my head and opened my mouth to reply, but the whoosh of the door opening distracted me. I spun around and stared at the kid who was sauntering into the diner like he owned the joint, his gaze tracking over the few people in here, and stopping on me.
“Lola?” he asked, his voice deeper than I was expecting.
I pointed my thumb at my chest and cringed at the action. “That’s me.” I stepped forward and held my hand out. “You’re Cade?”
“Yep.” He placed his hand in mine and gripped it harder than was necessary, probably trying to act older than he was. “Mom didn’t tell me how hot you are.” He glanced down at my legs and over my torso, stopping on my chest and raising a brow. “Dayummmm.”
My head reeled back, and I choked out, “Excuse you?”
His lips lifted into a smirk, the same smirk that all teenage guys wore when they thought they were hot shit. “It’s all right, babe.” I screwed my nose up at that word. God, I hated it with a passion. “I see you.”
“You see me, do you?” I raised a brow and crossed my arms over my chest, using all my willpower to hold in the chuckle that desperately wanted to escape. “And what is it you see, Cade?”
His eyes lit up. “A damn fine body.”
“Wanna know what I see when I look at you?” He tilted his head and stared at me intensely. It didn’t matter that he was my height, I still looked down at him. “I see a teenage boy who’s failing his classes and using his charm to get to where he wants to be.” I paused, staring into his dark-blue eyes. “But wanna know a secret?” I leaned closer to him and dropped my voice. “Your teachers don’t give a shit if you can get a girl into your bed. All they care about is the work you can do.” I pulled back. “Now I’m gonna ask you something, and think very carefully before you answer.”
He scoffed. “Whatever.” He pulled his shoulders back. “My mom is paying you to tutor me, so you gotta do what she—”
“That is where you’re wrong.” I stepped closer to him, solidifying in my mind that if I didn’t put him straight right now, we’d never get anywhere with his studies. “You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but let me tell you, my first impression is one I’m hoping is wrong. Don’t be like every other entitled kid who comes in here. You’re better than that.” I frowned. “At least, I hope you are.”
His gaze flicked down, a sure sign that I’d hit some kind of nail on the head.
“Are you willing to work to get your grades up? Because if not, then you should walk out of that door and don’t come back.”
The atmosphere was tense, and I could see his mom's car idling in the lot, watching us through the windows. But I didn’t give a shit. Rule one was to show no weakness, even to teenage boys who thought they were the best invention ever.
He glanced up at me, his dark-blue eyes holding something that hadn’t been there when he first walked in. “Yeah. I’ll do the work.”
I wanted to whoop and holla at what felt like my first victory, but I tamped it down and twirled around. “Great. Follow me.” I moved past the counter and into the break room where I’d already set up some drinks and a snack. “Sit,” I told him, taking one of the seats.
He placed his bag on the floor and ran his hand through his short brown hair, making it stick up on end. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, slowly sitting down. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
“Apology accepted.” I leaned forward. “Let’s start over.” I held my hand out. “I’m Lola Martin.”
“Cade.” He placed his hand in mine and smiled, making his whole face light up. “Easton.”
“Well, Cade Easton.” I pulled my hand from his. “Tell me what you’ve been learning so far this year and where you’re struggling.”
He nodded and leaned down to his bag, pulling out several books and then placed them on the table. “Math and English.” He groaned. “They’re gonna kill me.”
I added dramatic to the list of things I’d already found out about Cade, and pulled his English textbook toward me. “Let’s start here.”
I flicked through the book and Cade showed me what they’d been learning this week, and then we got to work.
An hour flew by before we even knew it, and when we switched over to math, I was feeling good about this. Maybe this was what I was meant to do? There was some weird feeling rolling throughout me and euphoria spreading through me like wildfire the more we worked and the more he started to understand.
I’d never known what I was going to do at college or what I wanted to be after it. I didn’t have an end goal when it came to my education and where it would lead me. I’d always thought short term: get out of the house. But now I had a real option of what I could do after that. I’d been working toward a goal that wasn’t planted into place, but the more I sat opposite Cade and witnessed the smile on his face and light bulb moments as it all clicked into place for him, the more I realized this was what I wanted to do.
“Shit.” Cade pulled his ringing cell out of his pocket. “My mom’s been waiting for thirty minutes.”
I looked up at the clock, seeing that we’d gone over our allotted time, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. This was what I wanted to do, and the revelation meant more than anything else right now.
Cade packed his books away and grabbed his half-eaten cookie off the plate. “Same time next week?”
I stood. “You betcha.”
He pulled his lips up into that boyish smile again, waved, and walked out of the room as I stared at the open door in shock and wonder. They said everything happened for a reason. What if Cade came into my life to show me the direction my path was meant to take? Or maybe it was a coincidence?
Either way, I’d be finding out more at college tomorrow about how to become a teacher.
Chapter Seven
BRODY
I tapped the pads of my fingers on the steering wheel, matching the beat of the music that was on a low volume in the car. I didn’t think I’d been driving for too long, but an hour after I started following Ford, I was still waiting to see where he’d finally stop.
The more I observed him and the way he acted around Hut, the more I suspected he wasn’t who he said he was. A fraud always knew a fraud.
He finally pulled up in front of an apartment block, but his lights stayed on. Jordan was following my tail back at our setup in the run-down house, reeling off facts to me through the speaker of my cell when the door to the building swung open.
“Someone’s coming out,” I told Jordan. “See if you can tap into any of the cameras.”
“On it,” he replied, and I shuffled forward, idling far enough back so Ford couldn’t see me, but not too far as to where I couldn’t see who they were.
The darkness created a veil of security around us all, but once the person got closer to Ford’s SUV, I could tell it was a woman. “Woman,” I blurted out to Jordan. “Around five-five.” I narrowed my eyes. “Dark hair.”
She hopped into the passenger side of Ford’s truck, but they didn’t move for a second. Maybe this was a deal he was doing that I wasn’t aware of? But when he pulled out of the small lot, I knew it wasn’t. They wouldn’t do any kind of deal like this.
“Got the footage,” Jordan barked over the line. “Just putting her through facial recognition now.”
“Call me when you have a name,” I told him and ended the call.
I followed behind them, trying to keep my distance on the more or less empty roads. Ford was always aware of his surroundings and who could or couldn’t be on our tail. That was why he made such a good second-in-command, but I wasn’t sure Hut realized what was right under his nose. Ford was the kind of person who’d become so good that he could tip the scales in his favor and take over in the blink of an eye. Maybe that was his end game? To overthrow Hut and have it all for himself.
Ford slammed his brakes on outside a bar, and the driver’s door flung open. He stood in the middle of the road, his gaze focused intently on my windshield.
Shit.
There was no way he didn’t know he was being followed, and I could either act like I was just around this part of town or turn this in my favor.
“I know that’s you, Brody!” he shouted, his hands clenched at his sides as he stepped toward me, not giving a shit that he was walking in the middle of what would usually be a busy main road. “Did he send you?” He was ten feet away now, and my headlights illuminated his face. “Did he? Huh?”
I kept the engine running but opened my door and slowly pushed out of the car as to not spook him. It’d be easy for me to go along with what he was saying, but that wasn’t the tactic I liked to play. That was how inexperienced undercover agents got themselves into shit.
“How long did you know I was on your tail?”
Ford growled, his gaze flicking back to his car briefly. He didn’t want me to know about whoever was in there. “About thirty minutes in,” he said, widening his stance and crossing his arms over his chest.
In the harsh lighting, I could see the hardness of his features, but a hint of vulnerability was showcased in the way his body moved and his gaze that kept wandering back to the car.
Ford was careful not to let much slip, but the reality was that we all had a weakness, and I’d just found his. Now all I needed to know was exactly who she was.
“Did he?” Ford asked, his voice becoming deeper. “Did Hut send you to spy on me?” The straight line of his lips and narrowing of his eyes told me he wasn’t impressed by the thought of Hut having him followed.
I shrugged. “I’m just doing what I’m told to do, man.” I omitted anything concrete, not wanting to slip up on my own words at a later stage.
“Fuck!” He paced back and forth in front of me, scrubbing his hand over his face and through his hair. “Shit.”
“Look.” I stepped forward, and he halted, his hand whipping out lightning fast and drawing his gun from his waistband. It wasn’t the first time I’d had one pointed at me, and I could almost feel the burn of the bullet as it pierced my skin. The pain had been like nothing else. Thank god it had only happened once so far. Once was more than enough to have me holding my hands in the air in surrender. “I don’t care what you do in your own time.” I raised my brows, hoping he’d lower the weapon because I really didn’t want another scar to add to my collec
tion. “I just want to go home and get some sleep. I’m tired as fuck.”
“Then go home,” he ground out, his arm as steady as a rock. “Forget what you saw and I’ll let you walk away.”
I pursed my lips and lowered my hands, not giving a shit if he was still pointing his gun at me. He thought he had the upper hand, and he didn’t. He really fuckin' didn’t.
“That right?” I stepped forward, causing him to step back. I had a feeling if he didn’t have someone in his car, he’d have matched me step for step, but he didn’t, and it could only mean one thing: he was protecting her. “Who’s the girl?” I asked, tilting my chin toward his car.
“None of your fuckin' business!” Spit flew out of his mouth, his rage becoming more than he could control. “I suggest you get back in your shitty fuckin' car and pretend you didn’t see a thing.”
“See…” I leaned on the hood of my car and crossed my ankles, acting like this was a normal thing to do. “I don’t think I can do that. I was following you for a reason, so I need something to report back.”
I looked at my nails, acting like I wasn’t paying him much attention when it was the complete opposite. I was hyperaware of each of his movements as he lowered his gun. He knew if he wanted my cooperation, he had to give me something in return, it was the way the world worked.
“She’s someone I don’t want Hut to know about.” The protective stance he took could have told me that, but his words confirming it meant I had more to go on and an in to ask about.
“Why’s that?”
“Because she’s better than this shit. She’s better than him.”
I tilted my head, staring at him intently and making it look like I was thinking about it. My mind was swirling, trying to piece everything together. If Ford thought Hut was having him followed, then that meant there was a rift starting to form between them. And if the person who was in his car was important to Ford, it meant she was a bargaining chip to me.
Fallen Duet: Brody & Lola: Free Fall & Down Fall (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 1) Page 7