by Koko Brown
Darrius narrowed his beady dark eyes. “Do what?”
Seamus cracked his knuckles before answering. “I’m sure you’re not as dumb as you look. Use your imagination.”
Darrius slammed the flats of his palms on his desk. “Fuck you! Who the hell do you think you are? I don’t fucking take orders from you anymore so you either show me some damn respect or I’ll stomp another hole in your white ass. You think you’re better than me because you wear a fancy suit and some people choose to ignore who you really are. Just because your office is in a damn skyscraper downtown doesn’t mean you’re better than me. As a matter of fact, I should bust a cap in your bitch ass for thinking you still run shit.”
Seamus raised a brow. “Oh? This should be interesting. Will one of your men do it or are you man enough to back up your talk with action?”
Darrius jumped out of his seat and pulled out a gun that he must have been hiding under his desk. “Now say something else, motherfucker!” His eyes were wide and spittle flew from his mouth in his apparent anger.
A smirk tilted Seamus’s lips. “I’ve always been told never to point a gun at someone unless you intend to use it.”
Darrius cocked the gun, probably as an intimidation move but Seamus remained unimpressed.
“Do it.”
“Think I won’t?”
“If you wanted to shoot me, you would have done it by now.” Seamus reached behind his waistband and pulled out his a pistol and wasted no time in shooting off two rounds, one in each of Darrius’s shoulder’s causing the other man to drop his weapon.
“Son of a bitch!” The man yelled as he collapsed to the ground. “What the fuck am I paying you assholes for? Get him!” He yelled at his cronies.
The two men in black didn’t move a muscle.
Seamus might have faced much more dangerous adversaries in his thirty-two years, but he was no fool. Even small time thugs like Darrius could be deadly given the right circumstances. So before he’d come here, he made sure to thoroughly research the men Darrius paid to ‘protect ‘ him and had his own people approach them with offers neither could refuse. Sure they technically still worked for this scumbag, but they knew not to lift a finger when he stepped into the office. It helped that Seamus knew that even though Darrius wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, he wasn’t stupid enough to actually shoot him without realizing there would be consequences.
Seamus walked around the desk to the man wriggling on the floor, bleeding out from his wounds. “Consider this a warning. I’m a good enough shot to know I didn’t hit any major arteries, but just know that if you continue to use my name, the next shot will be in the nuts. I’d probably be doing a favor to all those little girls you seem to prefer.” At the thought of that, Seamus kicked the writhing man between the legs with all the force he could muster.
Darrius screamed in agony before throwing up and then passing out in his own vomit.
Seamus then turned to one of the bodyguards. “Whenever your boss comes to, tell him I’m taking her for the inconvenience,” he said, jerking his thumb toward the woman who was curled up in a ball in the corner. “Let him know this is the last I expect to hear from him or our next encounter won’t be as pleasant.”
The bearded one nodded with a gulp.
Seamus walked to the corner and yanked the woman up.
She screamed. “Don’t hurt me!”
“Lady, you’re lucky I haven’t put a bullet through your head yet. If you don’t want me to hurt you, I’d suggest you come with me and don’t put up a fight because right now I’m feeling very generous. I’d rather you not see my bad side.”
She yanked her arm out of his grasp and backed away from him. She looked around the room as if weighing her options before dropping her head and releasing a sigh. “Okay. I’ll come with you.”
“As if you have a choice, sweetheart.”
TWO
Tam felt as if she’d jumped out of the frying-pan and into the fire. What kind of man was this? It felt like she was trapped in a really bad video game called ’My Shitty Life’ where at the end of each level she battled an enemy worse than the last. The first had been her mother who was neglectful at her best and verbally abusive at her worst. She, however, had nothing on the parade of men she brought home. Some of them were okay but the others were sleazy scum bags who would offer her things so they could “play with her” A few of them had assaulted her when she’d turned them down. By sheer luck, she managed to get away just about every time except with the last guy, who would have stolen her virginity had her mother not walked in on them.
Of course, it wasn’t so simple that her mother would call the cops on the man who’d nearly raped Tam. Oh, no, because according to Gloria Smith, Tam was a slut who obviously threw herself at the man. So at the tender age of fifteen, Tam had found herself tossed out of the streets. For the next few years, she stayed at different friends’ houses. Because she was constantly moving from place to place, she’d ended up dropping out of school. Again she found herself on the street when a friend’s father thought that Tam should show her gratitude by sleeping with him.
That had led her to a life on the streets, where she’d been fending for herself for the past eight years. She did what she could to survive, whether it included getting odd jobs under the table, hustling, or panhandling. She stayed at shelters whenever the opportunity arose and she navigated the streets the best she could. Sometimes she had to do things she wasn’t exactly proud of but she’d managed to make it so far.
And then there were characters like Rico who had taken a sickening interest in her. He had been a local pimp who had no problem snatching young girls off the street to work for him and, for whatever reason, he’d had set his sights on her. It was how she’d ended up at that rundown rat trap. He had used one of his girls to trick her into going to that sleazy motel by telling her that they would pay her a few bucks to be a lookout for them on what was supposed to be a quick hustle. It was something Tam had done before so she’d agreed. But when she got to the room, Rico was waiting for her, knife drawn.
She’d never fought so hard in her life to just survive as he smacked and punched her with one hand while threatening her with his weapon in the other. Tam had already decided that she would rather die than to be one of his women. She’d seen how he treated them. Most of the ladies were emaciated from not having eaten days at a time, not to mention their arms and legs were covered in track marks from repeated drug use.
They’d struggled until she was able to grab a lamp that had fallen off a nearby nightstand. Using all of her remaining strength, she’d bashed him in the head with all of her might, causing him to lose his grip on the knife. She then pulled the box cutter out of her pocket. It had only been her intention to use it for protection to get away from him, but when he’d lunged at her, she instinctively slashed the weapon against his throat. She’d never seen blood squirt from someone’s body like that other than the movies.
Her nightmare continued when those two thugs had burst in and had taken her to Big D. She’d never met him before them, but she’d heard of him. He practically ran all the illegal activities this side of town. Everything she’d heard about him wasn’t good so when she found herself at his mercy, Tam was certain she would have been better off with Rico, especially when he spoke of her now owing him a debt because she’d killed Rico and the money that he’d owed Big D had become her burden to bear.
And then came an even bigger monster. He had to be, to make Big D tremble. The gangster might have talked a good game, but Tam had noticed his hand tremble when the man in a clearly expensive suit stepped into the office. She remembered Big D referring to him as the ‘Irish Demon’ and indeed he must have been a special kind of evil to scare Big D.
Truth be told, despite his obvious good looks, there was something dangerous about the man. The way he’d strode into the office with a swagger of a man who no one fucked with. Tam reckoned he topped 6’1, not as large or tall as Big D or his goon
s, but the force of his presence was larger than life. His broad-shouldered frame looked taut and if she ventured a guess, he was probably quite ripped beneath the expensive suit. When Tam had dared to catch a glimpse of his face, however, she gasped. Surely this man was no demon. Devil was more like it because it had to be a sin to be that good-looking. With his ink black hair that was artfully swept off his face, dark brows that slashed over eyes so blue it was like looking in an ocean, and a jawline you could cut diamonds on, this man had the type of masculine beauty that inspired artists to paint and sculpt. The only thing that saved his face from absolute perfection was a scar, about an inch long that ran from the corner of his mouth. But even that added to the character to his gorgeous countenance.
But what scared her the most about this man who was now essentially her captor, was the fact that this wasn’t their first meeting. Her mind drifted back to their previous encounter.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. She’d been kicked out of the women’s shelter for fighting even though technically it hadn’t been her fault. Sure she’d attacked first but it was because her roommate had stolen her wallet that had fifty dollars inside of it, all the cash she had to her name, as well as her ID. She needed that ID to obtain work.
This was a special shelter where one could stay as long as they were in need but they either had to contribute what they could financially which was for a nominal rate of twenty-five dollars a month, or they had to volunteer a certain amount of hours. The reasoning behind that was that it gave the residents a certain amount of pride because they were earning their keep. Tam had been at the shelter for the past year. Having earned her GED a few years previously, most of the money she managed to earn was for college courses at the community college. She had a goal to get out of this situation that she was in and eventually have a ‘normal’ life.
Then came Rita, a pleasant middle-aged woman who’d lost everything after a divorce. According to the other woman, her husband had poisoned their children against Rita and had taken the house and had gotten custody of the children, leaving her nothing. Tam had heard so many sob stories over the years, most of them bullshit, but she’d actually felt sorry for this woman, which in itself was a rare thing since she’d learned not to trust many people over the years. They’d become fast friends. Rita had encouraged her to better herself. But then Tam started noticing troubling signs.
She’d find empty alcohol bottles all over the room and once she’d even found a needle. It had become apparent why Rita had lost her family. She was an alcoholic and an addict. But just as Tam discovered the truth about Rita, her stuff came up missing. Since the shelter was full, it was impossible for Tam to find another room so she took to hiding her valuables. Apparently, she didn’t hide her things well enough because her wallet had come up missing and Rita could be the only culprit.
The other woman had denied it even when Tam had gone to the shelter’s director. But the final straw was when Rita had the audacity to say that Tam was the one stealing her things. Tam had stolen things in her time, mainly food to survive, but she’d considered Rita her friend and would have never done something so heinous. Seeing red, Tam attacked and ended up busting Rita’s lip and giving her a black eye before she was pulled off by two security guards.
She found herself on the streets once again. It sucked that she allowed herself to trust only to be stabbed in the back, yet again. And the kicker was, had Rita asked for the money, Tam would have gladly given it to her. Tam was young and able-bodied. She’d earn more. The biggest loss besides the friendship, however, was her ID. Without it, she couldn’t obtain employment anywhere, and she didn’t have the money to replace it.
Thankfully she still had her birth certificate and social security card which she kept on her person at all times. As Tam walked the streets that night she’d gone over in her head how long it would take to get the money. Somehow she ended up outside of a restaurant downtown. It was the fancy kind where they didn’t place the prices on the menu. Usually, these spots tossed out the best food. If she waited around long enough she’d be able to partake in some fine dining.
Her stomach started growling and she remembered that she hadn’t eaten since last night’s dinner. Clutching her midsection, she looked longingly at the patrons eating. That’s when her gaze fell on a beautiful couple sitting in the middle of the dining establishment. She only caught their side profiles, she could tell they were both good-looking people, the man tall dark and handsome, while his petite blonde date was the picture of femininity. She doubted either one of them had ever had to struggle just to live or have even known what real strife was.
Tam didn’t realize she’d been staring so long at the couple because the next thing she knew, the gentleman turned his head in her direction. Their eyes locked. Before she could help herself a gasp escaped her lips. She couldn’t quite make out his eye color from so far away but she could feel the intensity of his gaze from several feet away. They stared at each other as if trapped in the moment that neither could break free from.
His date must have noticed because she turned to see what he was staring at and when she saw what it was, she made her displeasure known by tapping her date on the arm. He turned away from Tam then, returning his attention to his lovely companion. Tam wasn’t sure what had happened there but she had to push him out of her mind. So what if he was hot, she’d run across handsome men before. Besides, her priority was getting something to eat. She glanced at the clock across the street on the bank. It was late so the restaurant was closing soon. If she waited around long enough she could get something to eat from the dumpsters and then she could go about setting up a place to sleep for the night. By now, most of the park benches were likely taken but there was an overpass nearby where a few people usually set up tents at night.
It was getting chilly and the thin jacket she wore wouldn’t sustain her tonight so she’d have to set up camp soon. The head of the shelter had only given her a set amount of time to get her things and leave before she called the police, so Tam had been forced to leave a few things behind, and her heavy coat had been one of them. Thankfully she had her sleeping bag that kept her warm.
Tam stood outside the building, rubbing her icy hands together and moved out of sight when she saw the maître’d poke his head out of the restaurant. As cold as she was she contemplated sleeping her hunger off and worry about finding food in the morning.
“Do you want something to eat?”
The smooth baritone caught her off guard making Tam nearly jump out of her skin. When she turned to see the owner of the voice she widened her eyes in surprise. It was him.
He was even more gorgeous up close and personal. There was no smile on his face, in fact, his expression was unreadable. Normally, when men approached her on the pretense of ‘helping’ her out, they wanted something in return. Tam was no angel and there had been times when she’d been in a bad enough way to do things that made it difficult for her to look herself in a mirror the next day.
With this man…would it really be a hardship to see what he was offering? “And if I say yes?”
He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and took one out before silently offering her one. She shook her head. Tam watched in fascination as he lit up and took a long deep puff. Normally she found the act of smoking disgusting and at the moment she wasn’t exactly crazy about the smell, but there was something incredibly sexy about this man when he did it. He reminded her of the icons from the old 40’s movies she used to watch as a kid.
“You’re either hungry or you’re not. I was about to go get a burger. You can come with me or not.”
She moistened her suddenly dry lips with the tip of her tongue. “But didn’t you just get finished eating?”
He snorted. “Those portions couldn’t satisfy a toddler. I need some real food.”
“What about your date?”
“Took a cab home.” He took another puff from his cigarette before raising a midnight
brow. “Any more questions?”
Tam shook her head.
Just then the valet pulled up in a slick luxury vehicle that looked like something out of a spy movie. “You coming?” He walked to his car without looking to see if she followed.
For all she knew, he could be a serial killer. She had a rule about getting into strange men’s cars because she knew that it didn’t always end well, but something told her to throw caution to the wind. Besides if push came to shove, she could always use the trusty pocket knife she carried in her backpack.
When she slid into the car, he’d already tossed out his cigarette and thankfully there were no lingering fumes.
“There’s a good burger joint down the street. It’s a dump but the food is good.”
She thought she detected a bit of an accent but decided it was best to keep the conversation at a minimum while she sized him up to see what he wanted from her. But instead of talking, he simply drove. There was something about sitting in close proximity to him that made her pulse race, which scared the fuck out of Tam because she hadn’t had a reaction like this to anyone in a long time. The scent of his cologne made her squirm in his leather seat. What was this guy thinking to pick someone like her up? Maybe he believed he could buy her with a couple burgers. Just as that thought crossed her mind, her stomach betrayed her again as it let out a loud growl.
A smirk tilted his sensual lips. “From the sound of it, you’re just as hungry as I am. We should be there shortly, love.”
The offhand endearment caught her off guard. He probably used it with all of his women. A man like him no doubt didn’t suffer from a shortage of them. She couldn’t figure this guy out. Most of the men she encountered would have made a move by now with either a hand on the thigh or at the very least he would have pulled into a dark alley by now. Her silent driver was driving her crazy as she tried to figure out his motivation. It got to the point where she could no longer be silent.