Marked (Branded Book 3)

by Scarlett Finn

  Ester had needed supplies, like wine and cigarettes, but she didn’t want to leave the apartment because Nya had just unrolled Archer’s knives on the dining table at Ester’s request and pulled out two that she felt confident about using to keep Jonno in check if they needed to.

  Insisting that she should stay, Ester sent Nya to the store for food, liquor, and more duct tape. So Nya had gone on the run and been gone for less than an hour. When she was coming back in, she was in a hurry, but slowed in the entry hallway when she saw a man sitting on the stairs. He wasn’t just sitting alone; there was a toolbox and wood lying on the floor. He wore jeans and heavy boots, but it was the muscles under his tee shirt that she took notice of.

  It was a feminine awareness as well as a prickle of wariness that trickled through her. He was a potential threat who could hurt her if he wanted to. He would have the strength to knock her out if he knew how to throw a punch. Because of where he was sitting on the stairs, she couldn’t get by him, and there was no lift or alternative route.

  But it didn’t matter because as soon as she approached the stairs, he turned and landed his bright blue eyes right on her. They were so striking against his dark hair and the scruff on his chin, she was taken aback.

  “Excuse me,” she said, with every intention of squeezing past the guy to run up the stairs.

  He put an elbow on the stair behind him and leaned back. “What’s the secret password?” he asked, his warm smile startling her.

  Examining what he’d been doing with the tape measure on the stairs, she registered the new bannister spindles on the floor and the tools beside them. “Password?” The old spindles were looser than they had been before. “You’re fixing the bannister.” It had been broken since before Archer had carried her in here over his shoulder.

  “Yeah,” he said and patted the wall. “Then I’m gonna paint.”

  “You’re a handyman?” she asked. “Who hired you?”

  As far as she knew, most of the apartments in here were owned by the same guy, the guy who was happy to take as much of Archer’s money as he could and do as little as possible to manage the building. He nodded toward an apartment door by the communal entrance. “One B,” he said. “I just moved in. I like looking at pretty things and…” He scanned the environment. “This is not a pretty thing.”

  Raising her paper bag on her hip, Nya adjusted the weight of it. “Then why move in?”

  “It’s cheap. Near where I work and now I’ve found that it does have something pretty for me to look at.”

  But she wasn’t in the mood for pick-up lines. “Can I get past now?”

  “You live in the building?” he asked.

  “I’m Two B,” she said. “One up.”

  That was good news to him. “Ah, so you’re above me. I like a woman on top.”

  So he wasn’t finished with the cheesy lines. Typical that she should find herself the meat in the most arrogant apartment sandwich. “Lines like that don’t work on any woman who’s worth a relationship,” she said. “If you want a bimbo who’ll drool on your muscles, I’m not that girl.”

  Nya tried to go past him, but he slid across the stair to get in her way. “What girl are you then?”

  “I’m the girl who wants to get upstairs. I have to get back to my friend, she’s waiting for me.”

  “You have a roommate?” he asked. “Or a girlfriend?”

  “None of your business.”

  He laid a hand on his chest. “Oh, you’ve cut me deep, smexy.”

  She squinted. “What the hell is smexy?”

  “Smart and sexy,” he said, proud that he knew that. “I got it from my kid sister.”

  “Better a kid sister than an ex-girlfriend,” she said because it seemed like one of those teenage words and if his ex was a teenager, this guy had serious issues.

  “No ex-girlfriends for me,” he said, opening his arms. “I’m free and single.”

  “And that’s none of my business.”

  He didn’t seem to be getting her lack of interest. “Levi,” he said, offering his hand.

  “Nya,” she reciprocated, but ignored his hand.

  “What’s your favorite color?” he asked, not dissuaded by her snub.

  “Color?”

  He stroked the wall. “We’ll use it for the walls and have a paint party, do the whole thing, all the way to the top. Do you think I could get the other tenants involved?”

  Ok, the guy was making an effort and it wasn’t his fault that she was having a shitty day, preceded by a shitty night. She decided to relent. “I can introduce you around,” she said. Maybe if he made other friends in the building he wouldn’t bug her. “Georgie-Boy lives next door to me, he’s friendly, you’ll get plenty of chat from him. Ella lives opposite, she’s a bit quiet and kooky, but kindhearted, don’t fuck with her.”

  He raised his hands in surrender. “I’m always gentle.”

  “Next door to her is an older guy, Mr. Reyes. It kind of depends what day you get him. Sometimes he’s in a great mood and wants to talk all day. But be ready, he likes to complain about everything, it’s his hobby. So be prepared to hear every grievance he’s had since 1952.”

  He laughed and leaned against the wall. “Roger. Who’s on the floor above?”

  That floor wasn’t as welcoming as hers might be. “I’d maybe stick with the first two floors,” she said. “It gets a bit dicey when you go higher.”

  “I can be friends with anyone,” Levi said. “What are we talking? Drug dealers? Hookers?”

  “No hookers,” she said. “Though I think everyone in this building has a criminal connection somewhere, except maybe Ella, I think.”

  “That include you?”

  “I plead the fifth,” she said, happy to leave him wondering on that one.

  “What’s the deal with Ella?”

  “Her brother owned her apartment, then he OD’d. She’s his only family, and inherited the apartment. I guess staying there makes her feel closer to him or maybe she just can’t afford anywhere else. He was dealing a while, so I figure the place is paid off. Mr. Reyes owns his place too. He says he bought it before the neighborhood went to shit. The rest of us try not to take his opinions personally.”

  He laughed again and she smiled, it was so weird to be having a normal conversation without drama or life and death dilemmas hanging over their heads. She didn’t have to think about who was pissed off for what reason, or who this guy might be allied with, and if he could be an enemy. He was a guy with a tape measure and a tool box, not a leather-bound roll of knives or a bag of cocaine.

  “When you introduce me around, I’ll show you how I can charm anyone.”

  That was quite a claim. Though it could be her insider knowledge that made her dubious. “You think you can charm everyone in this building?”

  He seemed to think about it, but she knew he was just drawing out the suspense. “I bet I can.”

  “Bet what?”

  And again, his smile grew. “I like a girl who holds a guy to his word. How about dinner?”

  Nya was taken aback. “If you can charm everyone in this building, I have to go to dinner with you?”

  “Yeah.”

  Hmm, Nya considered the proposition. “What does charm mean? There has to be a benchmark.”

  “Let’s say if I get invited in for a drink, we consider that success.”

  That was a laugh, he’d end up passing out. “If you have a drink in every apartment, you’ll never get back to yours.”

  “We don’t have to go in, the invitation is enough.”

  Nya was confident that he wouldn’t be able to charm everyone in the building because she’d seen what a frosty reception Archer could give to his guests. She held out her hand as much to solidify the deal as to make up for being rude before.

  “Ok. But now I really do have to get to my friend,” she said, and he stepped aside to gesture at the stairs.

  Nya ran halfway up before she paused and looked back. “Than
k you,” she said.

  He scratched his brow with the end of his tape measure. “For brightening your day?”

  She laughed. “For caring about the place. It’s more than anyone else has done for a long time.”

  The graffiti hadn’t changed since she’d been coming in and out of here, and she hadn’t had issues with the neighbors or heard of gangs fighting on the stairway, so she’d guess that over time, those who had mistreated the place had moved out or moved on. But no one had bothered to come in and fix the building up.

  five

  Nya used her key to get into Archer’s apartment and found Ester spreading Archer’s knives out on the dinner table, making them into shapes.

  “What are you doing?” Nya asked.

  “They’re quite pretty.”

  Nya went into the kitchen to pull out her supplies. “I told you they’re sharp, you shouldn’t play with them.”

  “You need to put ice on your cheek,” Ester said when she joined her. “It’s really starting to swell.”

  As nice as it was that Ester cared, there was little to be done to help her injuries now. “I don’t think ice helps sixteen hours after the injury,” Nya said, though she didn’t know exactly how long it had been since she’d been hit, it was evening now, so she had to be close.

  After packing away the supplies, she went to pick up a knife, using its reflective surface to check out her face. “Did Jonno give you any trouble?” Nya asked.

  “Nope, bastard. I was hoping I might have some fun.”

  Nya began to slide the knives back into their pouches. “There’s a new neighbor under me. I met him on the stairs.”

  “Is he yummy?” Ester asked. Sex appeal was high on Ester’s priority list.

  “He got sexier when I put my inner bitch aside.”

  “You’ve been testy all day,” Ester said. “I’ve been ignoring it ‘cause I figured you’re pissed about Jonno, or it’s all those pregnancy hormones zipping around inside you. Your boobs look bigger, are they sore?”

  Trying not to rise to the bait, Nya held onto her patience. “I’m not pregnant,” she said, aware that Ester just liked to tease her.

  “Then it’s something else, what is it?”

  Nya couldn’t answer that, so she changed the subject. “Have you decided what to do about the court papers?”

  Ester’s arms flopped to the table. “I’ve already torn them up, you’re getting your way.”

  Well at least she’d achieved something today. “Thank you. I know Derren will appreciate it.”

  “I didn’t do it for him. I did it for you,” Ester said, making sure there was no confusion about her motivation. “Are we going to talk about the other thing you said?”

  “About Damien?” she asked, drawing her finger down one of the blades she’d just put back. “I don’t want to talk about him.”

  “Not him,” Ester said. “About the ridiculous thing you said about Archer, about how you’ve lost him.”

  The sting of a cut made Nya yelp and when she looked down she saw her blood smeared on a knife, the one with his initials carved into the tip. Turning her arm to see her brand, she recognized that this was the knife used to put the mark there. It had just sliced open her finger and blood dripped from the wound. Although it was deep, she didn’t feel pain, she no longer felt anything.

  “Nya?” Ester asked.

  Her gaze leaped up to the soft sound of her friend’s voice. Before she could respond, the front door opened. Archer took three steps inside, dumped his bag, and slammed his door. “What the fuck have you two done?” he asked.

  Neither of them had spoken to him and Jonno didn’t have a cellphone because they’d taken it from him, turned it off and put it in a kitchen drawer, so Archer couldn’t really know the truth… At least, Nya didn’t think he could.

  Seeing Archer standing there, Nya tried to make herself feel. She figured it would be easier to embrace her physical wound than the emotional numbness. But it didn’t work.

  Heading for the kitchen, she turned on the faucet to wash away the blood. “I’m gonna go downstairs and cover this,” Nya said, when she returned to the dining table.

  “You cut yourself?” Archer asked. “Why the fuck are my blades out? I told you not to play with them.” Like they were a forbidden toy and the women were disobedient children. “There are Band-Aids in the bathroom. You know where they are.”

  “Uh,” Ester stood up, put an arm around Nya, and scratched her jaw. “Nya can’t use the bathroom right now.”

  “Why not?” Archer asked, suspicious to the end, but this time, he had good reason to be.

  “What do you think of Nya’s boobs?” Ester asked. “Do you think they look bigger than normal?” Ester nudged her. “Take ‘em out, let him see.”

  Nya was mortified she’d use such a blatant distraction technique. “Ester!”

  “They’re fine,” he grumbled. “What’s wrong with the bathroom?”

  Staying breezy wasn’t going to fool him. “Nothing’s wrong,” Ester chirped. “We just… have a guest.”

  The smile in her voice was so out of place, there was no way to sugarcoat what Archer was going to find in there.

  “A guest?” he asked. “A guest in the bathroom?”

  Ester pressed her lips together. “Mm hmm.”

  “It’s not your fucking fiancé, is it? That guy’s a crook.”

  “We know that,” Ester said, nodding and looking at Nya as if she wanted her to nod along. But Nya couldn’t move. “No, Woodrow is old news, we got rid of him last night…. Did you meet the new neighbor? Nya says he’s sexy.”

  Archer strode to the end of the dining table. “Stop trying to change the fucking subject and spill it.” Lifting the back legs of the chair he was leaning on, he slammed them down. “Tell me what the fuck you did.”

  “How do you know we did anything?” Ester said. “If you don’t know about Jonno—”

  “Jonno?” he asked. “What the fuck is…?” Nya saw clarity cross his features. “Oh my fucking God, you have Jonno in the bathroom? How the fuck did you manage that?”

  Ester grabbed Nya’s chin to raise and twist her head. “He beat on Nya,” she said, pointing at Nya’s concealed bruises. “He hit her! Again and again! But she wouldn’t give you up! He wanted to know where you were, but no, Nya wouldn’t tell him! She told him to go fuck himself!” Great, Ester didn’t know that she was putting emphasis in all the wrong places. “We were talking about her bastard of an ex, Damien, he’s a real piece of work. You better deal with him or I will.”

  “Damien?” Archer was confused and Nya didn’t blame him. “What’s he got to do with—”

  “Nya was telling me all about him and what a bastard he was. There was a knock on the door and we thought it was Derren, so I went over to answer it, but it wasn’t fucking Derren, was it? It was that prick! And as soon as he saw Nya, he started waling on her. He was going to whip her with his belt and I—”

  Archer was already storming across the room. Ester went hurrying after him, but Nya was slower. This was exactly why she hadn’t given Archer details about Damien when they were together, because this was the man she couldn’t control.

  By the time she made it to the bathroom, Archer had a hold of Jonno by his shirt. He was holding him high, and he must have gotten a couple of hits in because there was blood pouring from Jonno’s nose. But he punched him twice more, bloodying his knuckles and letting his victim’s head ricochet off the bath.

  “You worthless piece of shit, you’ve done it now,” Archer sneered down at him. “No more free passes for you.” He punched him again then whirled around. “You two go downstairs, give me one hour, and you’ll never see this worthless cocksucker again.”

  Archer had told her that he didn’t like killing here. So either he planned to get rid of Jonno fast or he planned to take him somewhere else. He had off-site locations that he used for work he didn’t want traced back to the apartment.

  “You were r
ight,” Ester said, turning to her, and Nya realized she was only half paying attention.

  “About what?”

  “When you told Derren that Archer still got pissed off when people hurt you,” Ester said, gesturing to the two men. “I’m beginning to see your point.”

  “Derren won’t be coming back,” Nya murmured and drifted out of the room.

  Nya didn’t get halfway up the hall before Archer’s large hand curled around her upper arm and yanked her backwards. She knew she was being ushered into the bedroom, but she didn’t put up a fight. Wandering in as he closed the door, Nya was dazed.

  “Did he hurt you? Let me see?” Archer asked, coming around to get in front of her so he could take her chin.

  Nya shook her head free and walked backwards. “It’s fine,” she said.

  “Then let me see.”

  He came at her again and she tried to turn around, but he just moved in front of her. They kept going with this dance until she was against the dresser and had no way to escape. Looking as far left as she could and then as far right, she wouldn’t let her eyes touch his as he got enraged by what he saw.

  “No fucker gets away with putting his hands on you, especially not here,” he snarled. “I’m doing this one alone. I’ll cut off everything that dangles, I swear it. I’ll make him scream. I’ll make him beg.”

  “Whatever makes you happy,” she said and squeezed out from between him and the drawers.

  “He’s one of your seven and you want him to suffer. I thought you still wanted—”

  “I don’t know what I want,” she said, stopping at the door. “He’s your friend and if he’s useful to what you do, cut him loose, I don’t care.”

  “Whoa, wait a second, who the fuck are you?” he asked and this time when he came over to take her arm, she lifted it out of his grip, but did as he wanted and looked at him.

  “Ester did what she had to, to protect me. I appreciate that. But he’s a lowlife, like every other lowlife out there. Taking him out’s not gonna make any difference to how safe the streets are.”