A Different Shade of Violet?

by K E Osborn

  They notice me as I walk in and Papi looks at me and smiles.

  “Hey Boss, we’re pretty much done for the day. You mind if we slip out ten minutes early?” Papi asks while he looks down at Star and smiles brightly at her.

  I chuckle to myself. Anyone can see how in love they are.

  “Sure, just remember to take your entourage with you when you go,” I say walking over to the coffee machine.

  “Thanks Boss, you know we appreciate being able to spend as much time as possible together before Papi’s court case. And don’t worry, the cops follow us everywhere we go, so when we leave they will too,” Star says and I nod.

  “Well, have fun kids and be safe, okay?” I say sounding more like a mother than a Boss.

  “Sure thing,” Papi replies and leans down kissing Star quickly, then they walk out hand in hand.

  It’s cute the way they look at each other. It makes me happy to see them happy, but at the same time it makes me miserable to know I won’t have that with Hudson again. I shake my head to rid my thoughts and make myself a coffee. Once it’s ready, I head back toward the reception desk and notice Angel is no longer on the phone. I walk up behind her and she obviously observes me in the computer monitor.

  “Hey Boss.”

  “Hey Angel, how’s it all looking for today?” I ask and take a sip of my tasty hot beverage.

  “Not too shabby, Boss. Profits are up from last week. Looks like people are finally starting to find their way back here. It’s only taken a bloody month,” she berates and shakes her head, just as I hear a loud noise coming from the front of Cupiditas. I look out the window and notice six bikers pull up right out the front. My body tenses instantly because I know that Star and Papi have left with their entourage, so there’s no police backup here to keep these dicks in check. And I can’t help but wonder why they’re here anyway? I guess it’s lucky there're no clients in right now and most of the staff are out on call.

  “Boss,” Angel says with an air of fear to her voice.

  “It’s okay, Angel, they may not even be coming in here,” I suggest knowing full well that they probably are.

  They kick their stands down and all get off their bikes. They’re huge men and I can’t help but feel a little threatened. But to be honest I don’t really care what they want because I don’t really care about anything anymore. They make their way through the front door and strut in walking straight up to Angel and me.

  “Well, well, what do we have here then?” the monster of a man asks. He is huge, must be over six foot tall. He’s as wide as a bear and his long beard points down in a triangular shape and it reaches halfway down his broad chest. I can’t help but notice he’s wearing a cut off vest, which is exactly the same as the one Hudson had in this walk-in robe. I haven’t seen the back, but I’m pretty sure he’s a Rebel Dog and when I look at the front his patch reads President. I immediately tense up and take a deep breath.

  “A bunch of hairy bikers by the look of it,” I reply and he chuckles and shakes his head while he looks at the other five members with him. They all smirk and it uneases me slightly.

  “Well, looks more like we have a bunch of mouthy whores to me. Bitches who better watch what they say,” he replies while the other bikers all grin and start moving closer to me. I stand up tall and stare the lead guy right in the eyes.

  “There're no whores here, thank you. I only employ top end escorts, but I guess you guys think all women are whores, especially your old ladies, right?” I ask and he glares and grunts.

  “Listen smart mouth, you better watch yourself. Wouldn’t want your pretty face to get damaged like that shining little Star now would you?” he teases and my body reacts before my brain tells me to stop. I lunge forward and grab the biker by the collar and push him hard.

  “Get the fuck out,” I yell as he takes a step back and laughs hard.

  “You’ll get that one for free, but touch me again and you’ll look lovely in a nice shade of black and blue,” he says making me angrier.

  “Fuck you! Get out or I’ll call the police,” I say standing my ground.

  He moves back, right in my face. “It’s not nice for ladies to swear, but you’re not a lady now are you? You’re a filthy, fucking whore.”

  I lean up and slap him hard across his face. Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done. He grabs my hand and pulls it up around my back so high that a pain rips through my shoulder.

  “I told you, you only get one for free. Now you will pay. Get to it boys,” he says and the other bikers laugh and start to rush around the reception area smashing things, all the while the arsehole has me in an arm lock. I look at Angel and she’s looking back at me with wide eyes, fear gripping her body. She leans toward the phone and I shake my head. The last thing I want is for her to get hurt. One of the bikers notices and rushes over to the desk and pulls the phone from the wall and then grabs her coffee mug and smashes it into the screen of her computer. Angel and I both jump while he laughs and rushes off to trash some more of my business. I struggle in the president’s grip and he holds my arm tighter.

  “So, little whore, you run this place? That’s good to know. You know where my drugs are then? The four duffle bags that are being stored here… where are they?” he whispers in my ear as the men start to move down the hall. My heart is racing and I’m breathing quickly while I start to hear screaming from down the hall and the noise of the bikers trashing Cupiditas. I try to struggle free again and he pulls my arm up even higher behind my back making me yelp out in pain.

  “I like hearing you whimper you little whore,” he whispers in my ear, so I turn my head and I spit in his face. His nostrils flare and eyes bulge out of his face while he spins me around grabbing my hair, then pushes me hard into the desk pinning me to it with his weight. He smells like stale body odour and it’s making my stomach churn, but there’s no way I can get out of this grip.

  “Say something stupid once more you little whore and I will shove that stapler so far up your cunt you’ll be pissing staples for a year,” he says while he starts to undo my jeans. Fear creeps up on me while he has me pinned to the desk.

  “Stop it,” Angel yells out.

  “Angel shut up,” I yell back as the president stops what he’s doing and looks up at Angel.

  “You’re a pretty little thing, Angel was it?” he asks finally unpinning me from the desk. I straighten myself and do up my jeans. I can’t help but notice my hands are shaking slightly.

  “Hey, you have a beef, take it out on me, not my staff.”

  Thor comes rushing out with the employees that are still here and stares at me. “Boss, you okay?” he asks and then turns his attention to the burly biker.

  I nod and then he looks at Angel and she nods as one of the other bikers comes up behind Thor and kicks him behind his knees forcing him fall to the floor. He moans in pain while Angel screams.

  “Enough! What the fuck do you want?” I yell and the president glares back at me.

  “It’s simple darlin’, we want what is ours,” he says and walks right up to me, there’s not a hair’s breath between us. I stand tall and stare right back at him because he needs to know he can’t just push us around.

  “Your drugs aren’t here, the cops took them away,” I snarl in his face.

  He exhales forcefully and shakes his head. “Wrong answer, sweetheart.”

  “There’s nothing here, Mad Dog,” one of the younger bikers calls out as they all start to congregate back in the reception area. Everyone is cowering, but I’m standing tall letting them know that I won’t tolerate this kind of bullshit.

  “Well, that is a shame. Looks like you better find us our drugs, you fucking whore, or you’ll be in a whole world of hurt.”

  I curl my lip up in disgust. “Find your own drugs. I’m not helping you for a second, you spineless pig.”

  He laughs and then raises his hand and slaps me across my face with the back of his hand so hard that I fall to the ground. It stings like
a bitch and I’m pretty sure I can taste the metallic tang of blood in my mouth as I look back up at him, holding my cheek.

  “We’ll be back, and lose the attitude! Shit like that will end up with you in a ditch,” Mad Dog castigates and then he whistles and all the other bikers follow him out of the building.

  “Boss, are you okay?” Rosie asks as she rushes across to me and Angel rushes over to Thor. Just as I go to answer, I hear a smash and turn to see them throwing bricks at our windows.

  “For fuck’s sake,” I yell as I scurry up from the floor and rush toward the now broken windows just as they drive off loudly on their motorbikes.

  “Fuck off, you fucking coward arseholes, and don’t you ever come back here you fucking pieces of shit or I’ll gut you myself,” I yell even though they are halfway down the street and there’s no way they can hear me. Still it makes me feel better.

  “Boss?” Rosie questions as she grabs my arm and I flinch as I turn toward her. “Hey, it’s okay, it’s just me.” She tucks some of my now messy hair behind my ear. “You’re bleeding Boss, are you okay?” I look at her and try to calm my breathing. I wipe my lip and see a line of red blood. I roll my shoulder trying to ease the ache from when he had my arm pinned behind my back.

  “I’m okay. Are you all, okay? Thor?” I ask looking back at my employees in the reception area all looking shocked and terrified.

  “I’m okay, Boss,” Thor replies as Angel helps him to his feet.

  “What are we going to do, Boss?” Rosie asks as she plays with my hair trying to get it back to normal.

  I shake my head as I really have no idea what I can do. They have completely trashed the place and there are things broken everywhere. I can only just imagine what they’ve done to the other rooms.

  “This is fucking bullshit,” I say under my breath as everyone starts to pick things up off the floor. “Leave everything where it is. I think the only thing I can do is call the cops. What do you guys think?” I ask and they all nod.

  I inhale and roll my shoulder again. It really is aching and so is my lip, not to mention the incredible pounding in my head right now. I walk into my office and think about what I’m going to do. I know I have to call the cops, but I don’t want to exacerbate the situation. I sit down on my sofa and run my hand through my hair. Angel walks in and sits down next to me wrapping her arm around my shoulders.

  “This sucks, Boss,” she says as she pulls me to her side.

  “Tell me about it. I’m just glad Papi wasn’t here. Who knows what they would’ve done to him if he were,” I say and Angel nods. “How’s Thor? Are his knees okay?” I ask finally looking up at her.

  “He’s fine, I’m more worried about you,” she says while she studies my sore and cut lip.

  “I’m okay, just frustrated is all. I guess I need to call the cops I just don’t know if I can,” I say because the reminder of Hudson is so strong and present right now it’s burning a hole right through my heart.

  “It’s okay, I’ll call them and get them to come out. Don’t worry about a thing, Boss, I got this,” Angel says.

  “Thanks, Angel, I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I reply and she stands up and walks out leaving me alone in my office to think about what the fuck just happened.

  I lay down on the sofa and just rest my aching head. I figure all the damage is done, so I may as well take a short break before the cops get here. I rest my head on the soft cushions and hold onto my forehead for comfort. It isn’t soothing my pounding headache, but it’s a comfortable position so I stay like it. I can hear the employees talking in the reception area and everyone seems concerned about their safety, and I don’t blame them. I’m concerned about their safety as well and I have no idea what to do about it.

  It’s about thirty minutes later when I hear the police enter. My door is open. I’m so comfortable lying here. My head is no more than just a dull ache now, but I can’t be bothered moving. If they want to talk to me, Angel knows where I am. I close my eyes and take in slow deep breaths wishing like fuck that Hudson was here to make everything better. I’m missing him so much that my brain is conjuring his voice in the next room. I wish I could turn it off. I wish I wasn’t pretending to hear him. It’s driving me mental. I clench my eyes tighter and bring my hands over my ears to block out the imaginary sounds coming from reception. There’s a knock on my door and I open my eyes to see Angel standing in the doorway looking at me like I might have lost my mind. I think maybe I have… slightly.

  “You okay?” she asks and I take my hands from my ears and nod.

  “Yeah, just my brain is playing tricks on me,” I say and sit up on the sofa.

  “There’s someone here to see you, I hope you don’t mind. I called him because I thought you would like a friendly face,” she says confusing me.

  “Who?” I ask and Hudson steps around the doorframe and I swear my heart thuds so fast I feel sick. A flutter of butterflies flitters around in my stomach just from seeing him. I almost forgot how absurdly gorgeous he is. He looks at me and his eyes are still as mesmerizing as they ever were. I get lost in them straight away while he checks over my body with his eyes and he frowns. I guess he’s not as happy to see me as I am to see him. Everything in me wants me to run and wrap my arms around him. But what’s the point? He obviously isn’t here to work things out. He has on his suit and I can see a gun in his holster. He’s here to work, not for me. My eyes leave his and I look down at my hands in my lap.

  “I’ll ah… let you give your statement,” Angel says patting Hudson on the shoulder and he nods at her and walks in. My heart races so fast and my breathing is rapid. I can feel that electricity flowing between us and it’s making it hard to concentrate. I feel the sofa dip beside me and I instantly smell him. He smells amazing and I have to close my eyes to restrain myself from jumping into his lap.

  “Are you okay?” His voice is like deep, smooth velvet and my entire body erupts in goose bumps. I swallow hard. I’m finding it difficult to even think let alone speak. “Vee, look at me,” he says and he places his hand under my chin and pulls my face up. My eyes betray me and open while I stare at his handsome face. He gasps and his eyes run down to my lips. His hand caresses my cheek as his thumb traces over my swollen cut lip. The feeling of him touching me is sending fire straight through me.

  “Did one of them do this to you?” he asks as his thumb grazes over my cut.

  I swallow and nod. I don’t know where all the courage I had with the bikers has gone. I wish I could be strong right now, but all I want is for Hudson to hold me. “Fuck,” he says under his breath as he furrows his brows and swallows hard. “I hate that they hurt you, Vee. Did they do anything else to you?” he asks as his eyes run over my entire body.

  Somehow I find the strength to answer him. “They pinned my arm behind my back and my shoulder hurts a little, but I’m okay.” I shake my head. “Well, I’m far from okay, but that doesn’t matter…” I drift off while he frowns and exhales loudly. “I miss you,” I say as my hand reaches out for his, which is still holding onto my cheek.

  He winces and pulls his hand away from me. “That’s not why I’m here,” he says dismissively.

  I nod and bite my bottom lip to stop it from trembling.

  “Okay fine! It was the president of the Rebel Dogs and his lackeys. They did this and they threatened to come back. He threatened to shove a stapler inside me Hudson, an—”

  “What?” he interrupts.

  “I know, he’s a sick and twisted fuck.”

  “Did they say what they wanted?” he asks seeming somewhat frazzled.

  “The drugs you guys took from Papi’s room. They want them back.”

  “Okay. Do you have any security cameras inside the premises?” he asks starting to sound more like a cop than my caring ex-boyfriend.

  I tense up and shake my head. “Not yet. Thor is on it though and trust me, he’s going to make it happen much quicker now.”

  He exhales and looks aw
ay from me. “Are you in much pain?” he asks quietly looking down at his hands.

  A shit load right now. He won’t even look at me and that hurts so bad, way worse than the physical pain of my cut lip, my sore shoulder or the headache I have.

  “More than you know,” I whisper and his whole body tenses.

  “I can’t do this. I’ll get another officer to take your statement. I’m sorry this happened to you, and I’m sorry you’re in pain. Maybe you should go to the hospital to get it checked out,” he says emotionlessly as he stands up and goes to walk out.

  I start to panic. I don’t want him to leave and my mouth reacts before my brain engages, “I love you,” I say loudly. He pauses in the doorway and his chin falls to his chest which is heaving rapidly. He exhales, looks back at me and grimaces.

  “It doesn’t change anything, Vee. I can’t even stand to be here right now,” he says and then walks out of my office. When he’s out of sight, it feels like the wind has been sucked from me. I can’t breathe and I’m gasping for air. My heart is racing a million miles an hour and thudding so hard I can feel it reverberate right through my entire body. I start to feel hot like I’m burning in an intense heat and nothing can save me from it.

  I can’t breathe.

  Oh God, I can’t breathe!

  I claw at my chest to try and get it to work, to stop the thudding and to take in a breath, but nothing is happening. My body starts to shake as I pull my legs up and cradle myself into a ball. If I could cry, I would. Angel walks in and notices me panicking. She rushes to my side and pulls me to her.

  “It’s okay. Violet, it’s okay, just breathe,” she says as she runs a caressing hand over my hair trying to calm me down.

  “I can’t… I can’t breathe—”

  “Shh, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing. I’m sorry I asked him here. If it’s any consolation he looks terrible too, he looks on the verge of having a breakdown himself. It’s okay you’re safe, nothing can hurt you now,” she says while I rock back and forth. I clutch at her arms trying to find some sort of comfort, but nothing is helping. I just want Hudson so badly and he… he doesn’t want me. He has made that abundantly clear.