by T. L Hodel
“Why do you have to be so fucking difficult,” he grumbled while pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I cried out giving him an evil glare, “feel free to find someone more compliant to put under contract.”
Micha pulled out his phone and muttered under his breath as he dialed a number.
I recognized the voice that answered as the same man Micha told to run a train on Shelby.
“Hi boss.”
Oh shit, I’ve done it now. I’m sorry Shelby.
“Hi, Marco. You can report back to my father.”
My brows knit together. What was his game?
Marco sounded just as confused as me. “And the girl?”
“She’s no longer an asset,” Micha said, and ended the call.
What was his motive? Because let’s face it, there had to be one. This was Micha Kessler after all. My eyes narrowed suspiciously. “I’d don’t know what you’re planning –”
I was cut off when his hand shot out and wrapped around my neck.
“Don’t mock my generosity.” He slammed me back in the seat. “Not many people get it.”
Like the sucker for punishment I was, word vomit spewed out and I screamed, “Fuck your generosity!” My hand swung through the air, striking Micha in the face.
I swear time slowed down. Micha turned his head back to face me and my pulse burst, erratically beating loudly in my ears. I could hear every hard thump as his eyes darkened to an almost black.
“Hit me again, Mouse.” he growled, tightening his grip on my neck until all I could take was small, shallow breaths, “I dare you.”
“Going to hurt Shelby now?” I growled right back in a squeaky tone. “That’s how this works right?”
Shut up, Riley!
“Who would it hurt more to lose?” Micha chuckled and pulled me across the center console, forcing me to meet his callous glare. “Chase or Daddy?”
I felt all the blood drain from my face as I went still in his hold.
“That’s what I thought.” His fingers twitched around my neck. “I don’t need your friend, Mouse. Heroes always have someone to lose.” He leaned in, his cheek against mine, and damnit, I shivered. “Now get the fuck to class, before I decide to teach you a real lesson.
With that, Micha let me go, thrusting me back into my seat. I didn’t yell or fight. I just opened the door and jumped out of the Jeep, scurrying away as fast as I could.
Knowing Shelby wasn’t being followed was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. It still didn’t let me relax much though. For all I knew, Micha called his guy back right after I left. It wasn’t like he hadn’t changed his mind before. Look where I was now. He was supposed to hate me, not want me. Who knows, maybe he did hate me?
According to Shelby, who was surprisingly accepting of the whole boyfriend lie, I hated Micha because I was attracted to him. I guess she wasn’t wrong. I did hate Micha before all this, I just hated him more now. On the upside I wouldn’t have to be nice to him, because by Shelby logic, the more I yelled at him, the more I liked him. So, I had that going for me.
“Oh my God.” Lana said as she followed me down the hall to my locker. “Did you hear about Suzie Walker . . .”
She reminded me so much of Shelby, it was scary. They both talked so much their voices became background noise. Our math teacher spent more time telling her to be quiet, than actually teaching. One big shocker was Lana’s nan who was known around town as crazy old Greta. The adults whispered about her, and the kids dare each other to go knock on her door. Marnie was the only one of us brave who was enough to do it.
“Is that Preston?” Lana asked as I opened my locker.
I didn’t have to look to see him. I could feel his death glare boring into my skull. “You know him?”
She nodded. “That’s Parker’s brother. He graduated two years ago, so what the heck is he doing here?”
That’s why Lana knew him. I learned more about Parker from Lana, than I could’ve being locked in a room with him for months. The girl had it bad.
“Apparently babysitting me,” I muttered.
Lana’s lip curled in confusion. “What?”
I looked up, realizing my mistake. Though it was never stated, I kind of assumed the whole ‘don’t tell anyone or else,’ was implied.
Crap, crap, crap.
“So um,” I paused scouring my brain. “Parker’s kind of cute.”
Lana immediately ducked her head and blushed. “He’s okay . . .”
I closed my locker and let out a silent breath of relief.
“Why don’t you ask him out?” Lana was beautiful with her dark complexion and thick curly hair. I couldn’t see Parker refusing.
“Ask who out?” Mason asked, popping out of nowhere.
Lana’s face flushed as the football team walked past. “No one.”
I shook my head. Lana was not discreet. Anyone with a pair of eyes could tell which one of the players she was ogling.
“Lana Banana,” Mason smirked and nudged her with his elbow. “Do you have a little crush on Parker?”
“No,” she cried out, her eyes wide.
I rolled my eyes at Mason. “Leave her alone.”
“What?” he said, throwing his hand over his chest, like he was all innocent. “I’m just trying to help a girl out.”
“No, you’re being an asshole.”
“I’m hurt. Now what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t let Parker know there was a cute, maybe a bit frumpy girl interested?” He stopped and eyed Lana. “You know how to suck dick, right?”
Oh my God.
“See, asshole,” I pointed out, while checking my phone for the text that just dinged.
The Piper: Second floor bathroom, behind the third stall toilet.
My feet stopped moving. I’d completely forgotten about my mystery ally.
“Everything okay?” Lana asked, stopping beside me.
“Yeah.” I nodded and quickly pocketed my phone. “I’ll meet you in the cafeteria.”
“Come on, Lana Banana,” Mason said, leading a reluctant Lana down the hall. “Let’s go find you a strapping young football player!”
I considered going to her aid, but really, what was the worst that could happen? Parker said he wasn’t interested, and then Lana could move on. Besides, I could always crush Mason’s balls later.
Preston’s death glare narrowed on me as, I spun on my heels and headed for the stairs. I managed to make it all the way to the second floor without glancing over my shoulder. That would look suspicious. Thankfully the second floor wasn’t as big as the main. It only took a couple of minutes to find the bathroom. I didn’t see why Ashworth needed this much space. It was a friggin high school for Christ’s sake.
I pushed through the door into the clean white bathroom. My lip curled at the beige couch in the corner and the pretty little tray of perfumes on the counter. The only furniture in the bathroom at my old school was the stool Stacy Trent brought in so she could smoke by the window. Hell, half the stall doors didn’t even close properly – if they were there at all. This place was like the Plaza. I had yet to wipe a single toilet seat. It was kind of weird not picking a stall based on how much it made me gag.
I heard the door open followed by clicking heels and quickly ducked into the third stall.
“She shouldn’t even be here.”
Ugh, Naomi.
There didn’t seem to be anything out of place. Toilet, garbage can and a fresh roll of toilet paper. I moved closer to the wall and bent over to look behind the tank.
“Daddy pays good money for me to come here, and now they’re just letting anyone in.”
I quietly snorted at Naomi’s use of daddy. What was she, five?
There was something back there. I could just see it stuck between the wall and the tank. I needed a better angle to grab it though. Climbing off the toilet, I sat on the floor and squished my body closer to the wall.
“I think her mother was my maid,”
Another girl said. “She used to come to work drunk all the time. Mom was going to fire her, but . . . well, you know.”
My arm froze between the cold wall and hard ceramic, and I stared at the door.
“Yeah,” Naomi snickered. “She should’ve done us all a favor and taken Riley with her.”
I swallowed the ache in my chest. Why should Ashworth be any different? I’d always be known in this town as the drunk’s daughter.
“What do you have against Riley?” a third girl said. “Micha seems to like her.”
“Oh really,” Naomi sang, in a snotty tone. “Then why did he come to me the other day?”
Micha was with Naomi? When? And why did I care?
“Because you’re easy.”
“Shut up, Amy!” Naomi bit back. “You don’t know anything.”
“I know he slept in her bed last night. Has he ever slept in yours?”
“Whose side are you on, Amy?” the girl who’s name I had yet to hear asked.
“I kind of like the girl. She’s refreshing. And honestly, you bitches are starting to get on my nerves.”
The other two gasped in shock.
“Well fine,” Naomi hissed.
“Yeah,” the other added. “Enjoy your new friend.”
I sat there listening to the click of heels fade away, wondering if that just happened? Did one of Naomi’s minions defect? Well shit.
My elbow bumped against the ceramic tank, pulling me back to the task at hand. I managed to wiggle my arm in enough to pull out a black box. My nose crinkled when I opened it. It was filled with putty or something.
What the hell is this for? I texted The Piper.
The Piper: To take an impression of a key.
Me: What key?
The Piper: The one Micha wears around his neck.
Micha wears a key around his neck. Shit, shows how much I pay attention.
Me: How in the hell am I supposed to get that?
The Piper: Get him to take it off.
Me: Like naked! No way!
The Piper: Do you want out of the contract or not?
Me: Well yeah. But that’s a lot to ask.
The Piper: Did you think it would be easy?
I sighed. No. I knew it wouldn’t be.
The Piper: I also need a fingerprint. Collect a glass he used and put it in a Ziplock bag.
What the hell was he planning to do? Break into some-super secret spy liar? I laughed at that. Micha the spy. He was more likely to kick down the enemy’s door, than sneak around in black suits stealing secrets.
Me: You didn’t tell me what it’s for.
The Piper: It doesn’t matter.
I huffed out an angry sigh. Why did everyone keep ordering me around? I was tired of it.
Me: Listen buddy, you came to me. Not the other way around.
The Piper: You want to play the game with me, is that it, little one?
Did I?
Me: Maybe?
The Piper: Get me what I asked for and we’ll talk.
This guy could be some creeper pervert for all I knew. I really didn’t know anything about him. Was he even a him?
Me: In person?
The Piper: Don’t worry, you’ll meet me very soon.
Chapter Eighteen
Micha
My little mouse liked to get under my skin. Running her mouth like a brat when I asked her what she was doing in the second-floor bathroom. That bathroom was reserved for the cheerleaders, and last I checked, Riley wasn’t waving pom-poms in the air. She seemed to forget I knew her every move. Preston texted me before she left the damn bathroom. Still pulled attitude though. If she wanted to play this game, that was fine. She was still a beginner. I was a motherfucking master.
It wasn’t hard to get a rise out of my mouse, but there were three things that really got to her. Her drunk mother, threatening or picking on other people, and the third, anything sexual. Which I employed by hauling her ass onto my lap, and making her spend the lunch hour with my hand up her skirt. Riley was the kind of girl who would rather throat punch you, than kiss you. She thought she was immune to the powers of lust, but no one could fight that beast. I’d been trying to do it since the night I caught her painting Severson’s.
As far as I was concerned, I had the patience of a goddamned saint. Sitting there with my fingers inches from a her hot pussy. I’d been dreaming about that shit for months. I didn’t go for it though. No matter how much Riley wanted it. And she wanted it, told me as much, every time her thighs clenched together. Her poor little mind didn’t stay so clean. I whispered so much filth in her ear, she walked out of that cafeteria red as a tomato. Fucking adorable.
“Why do you drive a Jeep?”
I cocked my head at Junior. “What’s wrong with my jeep?”
“Nothing,” he said. “You have buckets of money, I figured you’d drive like a Ferrari or something?”
I chuckled a little. “Cars are Logan’s department. My Jeep gets me from point A to point B. That works just fine for me.”
“Mason has a Corvette.”
“Mase has a Corvette because chicks like it, not because he does.”
I was surprised he could drive the fucking thing. Logan damn near blew a gasket when he bought it. Made Mase take driving lesson with him for a week before he’d give him the keys back.
“Doesn’t your brother have enough girls?”
“There’s only one girl he wants.”
Junior’s brow furrowed up at me. “So, why isn’t he with her?”
How did I explain the inner workings of Harper and Mase’s fucked-up relationship to an eleven-year-old? “Because she betrayed him.”
That seemed to be a good enough answer for Junior, because nodded and pushed through the doors to the Y. I sighed and followed. Why he insisted on coming here was beyond me? Half the building was stuck in the seventies, with mustard-colored tiles and shag carpet, while the other half was so white and sterile it reminded me of a hospital. I hated that fucking chemically clean disinfectant smell.
“You know I have a pool at my house, right?” I said, shrugging off the shiver that ran up my spine.
Junior’s face twisted. “That maid lady keeps pinching my cheeks.”
He was talking about Paulina, who worked in my father’s wing. Normally I couldn’t be bothered to learn her name, but it was kind of disturbing the way she followed Junior around with this lost look on her face. When I complained, my father told me to give her a break. She lost her son in a boating accident when he was around Junior’s age. Personally I think my father was fucking her, because no one on his staff got special treatment.
“Besides,” Junior said, heading over to the donation center, “I need a coat.”
“What the fuck happened to the one I bought you?”
He shrugged. “Got a bit ripped.”
Knowing Junior, it got ripped in a fight. His school was full of a rough bunch of fuckers. I’d enroll him in Westend, Ashworth’s elementary school, but he didn’t want to be seen in a uniform. Couldn’t blame him. Walking around in his neighborhood wearing that preppy crap would just put a target on his back, and Junior had enough troubles.
I sighed as he dug through a box. “I’ll buy you another one.”
“This one’s fine,” he said, shrugging on a jean jacket that looked far too much like Preston’s for my liking.
Unfortunately, there was no point in arguing with him. If I did buy Junior another jacket, he’d just wear that one anyway. Stubborn little fuck, he’d rather suffer than accept help. I learned that the night we met.
* * *
Three years ago:
I sat on the dock with my bottle in hand, glaring out at the lake. Moonlight glinted off the rippling water like it was a sea of diamonds. I snorted, and took another swig of whiskey. Just another example of what beauty can hide. Nothing in this world was truly beautiful. It may look pretty, but underneath it was just a twisted cesspool of pain and misery.
“Fuck you,
” I growled, spitting in the clear water.
Mother is God in the eyes of a child. Yeah, right! Whoever said that never met my mother. This was the third night this week that I sat at Cherry Lake getting drunk and cursing her name. Last time, Logan had to drag my ass home.
Why the fuck did I go to the carnival? I knew it was a bad idea, but Logan insisted on dragging me along. Seeing Riley and her mother just put me in a worse mood. What the fuck did she have to be so happy about? She just got out of the hospital, and there she was, laughing with the person that who near killed her.
Maria Adams couldn’t stop drinking, even after being faced with her daughter’s mortality. She was stumbling around the carnival like an idiot. What did Riley do? She helped her useless mother walk around, like nothing was fucking wrong! Wasn’t so happy when I pushed her in the mud though.
I smirked and tipped the bottle to my lips. “Should watch where you’re going, Mouse.”
My attention was drawn away from the lake when a group of kids broke through the tree line. It looked like they were arguing or fighting. There was one kid in the middle, with five or six around him. Couldn’t be sure, my vision was starting to blur.
“How was your dinner tonight, Junior?” One kid laughed, pushing the scrawny fuck in the middle. Little bastard couldn’t weigh more than fifty pounds. “My mom threw out some extra cat food, just for you.”
“Sorry, Trevor, all I found was a bunch of used condoms,” Junior replied with a smile, “Isn’t your dad out of town?”
Kid had balls. Too bad for him he was outnumbered, and the other boys seemed to be on Trevor’s side. I sat back watching the swarm inch closer to the waters edge. It was a full-on fight now. Fists flying in a ball of fury. Still, Junior refused to go down. He fought back, knocking two of the kids back with a punch to the jaw.
“You give it to them, kid,” I mumbled, polishing off the rest of my bottle.
Splash.
I looked back just into time to see Junior fall in the water. The other kids took off like their lives depended on it. Guess Junior lost that one. Too bad, I was rooting for the kid. I sighed and shook the empty bottle. I knew I should’ve brought two. Guess it’s time to head back. I pulled myself off the ground, and eyed the water.