by A. J. Macey
“All right. Boss’ll meet you in here,” the man stated, coming to a stop in the middle of the hall and waving a hand off to the side.
“Oh, okay. Thanks,” I stuttered, eyeing the door where he pointed. Am I seriously fucking doing this? At that moment, I questioned my sanity. What the hell is wrong with me, going to a gang for help and protection?
Apparently, I was.
“No problem,” he said blandly, cutting off my internal panic. With wide eyes, I watched him turn and leave.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to silence the worrisome thoughts filling me about all the ways this could backfire, but all I did was tremble. Before I could chicken out, I stepped forward and opened the door. Oh, thank God. I breathed a sigh of relief to find it empty. I wouldn’t be ambushed by somebody I wasn’t really sure about being in the same room with.
It was a fairly plain room, with a long table in the center and several chairs circling around the perimeter. It seemed to be a basic conference room, which helped me relax slightly. Once I was inside, I was too shaken up to sit down, so I just walked around the table until an older man, who I assumed was the boss of the Auckland Kings, came in.
“I heard you wanted to see me?” The boss was older than I expected, but I was slowly finding that to be a trend the longer I was there. He had graying brown hair and wrinkled tanned skin, betraying how old he may have been. Then again, this business might have aged him quickly.
“Uhm…” I stuttered. “Yeah.” Shaking my head, I tried to dislodge the worry and thoughts, forcing myself to form a coherent explanation of why in the hell a random person was at their gang compound. “I was attacked this morning,” was what I decided on.
“I can tell,” he countered, glancing down and pointing to my side where the bandage was wrapped over most of my forearm.
“By the Phantoms,” I added quietly. The boss said nothing to my revelation, just stepped farther into the room and to the table. I shuffled slightly, nervous now that he was closer. He may have been older, but he was no doubt in charge for a reason.
“They dropped this.” I offered the piece of paper. He eyed suspiciously before taking it. His expression didn’t change, but I could tell it was something of interest by how he read through it at least three or four times. “There’s also a cop,” I started, realizing that probably wasn’t the best foot to start on. “What I meant to say,” I tried again. “I went to the police to report the crime before I knew it was the Phantoms, and this other guy came in, another cop… I mean inspector,” I rambled, pacing back and forth to give me something to do other than focus on the man’s intensive stare.
“So anyway, he… he came in, kind of asking questions, but then he made some really odd comments, like red-flag warning comments,” I attempted to explain, feeling like an idiot the longer I spoke. Come on, Chloe, just spit it out. “Basically, he was threatening me and trying to pin everything the Phantoms had done on you guys.”
“On us?” he asked, his tone hard. I nodded. “How are you sure it was the Phantoms who attacked you?”
“The other cop, not the mean one,” I expressed, “explained the tattoo one man had was the Phantom tattoo.”
“Ah, yes, I’m well acquainted with it,” he murmured. “Do you remember what the other cop’s name was, the one who was threatening you?”
“Uhm, yes.” I furrowed my brow, recalling the nameplate. “I don’t know how to say it, but I can write it out.
“That would be preferable.” The boss reached into his pocket, pulled out a pen, and handed it to me, along with a little notebook nestled inside his suit jacket. “What’s your name?” he asked as I tentatively took them.
“Chloe Daniels,” I answered, belatedly realizing giving my last name might not have been the best idea.
“My name’s Oscar King,” he greeted formally, holding out a hand for me to shake. A rough chuckle filled the room when I stared at it with wide eyes. The sound jarred me from my rude staring, and I reached out to take it. “Thank you for coming to us with this information. It holds a lot of value.”
“Oh… you’re welcome? I just wasn’t sure who to go to after the cop at the station. Speaking of…” I trailed off, realizing I hadn’t written it down yet.
As I was scribbling the name down, the door to the room opened. Startled at the sudden addition to the meeting, I glanced up as two men entered the room. The younger of the two was a carbon copy of Oscar, with the same shade of golden skin, deep blue eyes, and brown hair, but seemed about five to ten years older than me instead of a few decades. The other man was older with golden blonde hair, extremely fair skin, and looked to be as old as my father. The younger of the two looked at Oscar with a raised brow while the second man eyed me suspiciously.
“Come in,” the older man exclaimed with a huff, waving the two of them in. “Chloe, I would like you to meet my oldest son, Theo, and Sam, the Auckland King’s head of security.”
Neither said anything, choosing not to pepper me with question after question or wonder why the hell I was there. Which at that point, I was okay with it since I had no idea what else I was supposed to say, feeling completely out of place. Deep breath, Chloe, and you’ll be fine, I reminded as I passed over the notebook and pen.
“Where were we?” Oscar asked, nodding when he saw the paper. “That’s right, the inspector.”
“Yes.” I was unsure of how to respond or if it was a rhetorical question, but he was too busy reading the name aloud to pay my awkward response any mind. I looked from Oscar to the two newcomers, noting Theo’s lips had thinned, and Sam’s eyes narrowed into dangerous-looking slits. Clearly, they had a history with Inspector Philemonde.
The older man had just opened his mouth to ask me another question when the door opened, revealing two more men. Gulping, I felt even more out of place, despite being able to tell they were all related, meaning they were high in the Auckland Kings and should be at the meeting, but I couldn’t stop my fingers from fiddling with the hem of my top.
Both men seemed younger than the others. One of them wore a leather jacket stretched over a barreled chest and was eyeing me curiously, but his face was stoic, and he was silent, no sense of greeting. The other, though, was taller than anyone who’d come in previously and wore a baseball cap. What held my attention the most, though, was he was glaring at me openly, and it took everything within me not to shudder at the hatred in his gaze.
The introductions were tense, almost too much for me to handle after that morning, but somehow, I kept my face flat. Well… as flat as I could when faced with someone who had a problem with me existing in his presence.
“Okay, and?” Hunter cut in sharply, glaring at me. “You went to the police. What do you fucking need us for?”
I bristled. I didn’t need them. I was here for them. My gut turned in revolt, and my mind reminded me I was so out of my depth, but I shoved it away, content to pretend I didn’t realize. Oscar scolded his son with a single snap of his name, letting me continue with my explanation for what seemed to be the fourth time that day.
“There was this,” I finally reached, pointing to the paper Oscar had laid out on the table after I’d handed it over. It took everything in me to not flash a cocky smile at Hunter when his scowl melted when he realized what I had brought with me.
“As you can see, there are clearly things afoot we were not aware of.”
“Obviously,” Hunter muttered.
I was quickly reaching the end of my rope, but somehow, I kept it on the tip of my tongue. The worry and fear I’d felt coming here overshadowed by my irritation. Thankfully, it seemed the rest of his family was also growing tired of his constant commentary, berating him before Oscar continued the rest of his explanation.
No leaving the country? When that was among his list of rules, a fresh spike of worry filled me, but I tucked it away, happy to know they weren’t going to let me fend for myself.
“Hunter?” Oscar directed to his son.
“Yes?”
he questioned in a bored tone.
“You’re in charge of watching her,” my father countered with a harsh glare.
“Watching her what? I don’t need to be a fucking babysitter!” he snapped, waving his hand at her.
“You can and you will,” his father commanded.
It took everything within me not to groan.
Of course, I’d be stuck with the one who hated me the most—just my kind of luck today.
“How am I supposed to watch someone who doesn’t even realize they’re fucking bleeding?” he huffed, waving a hand at me.
“What?” I muttered, looking down at my arm. The bandage was still clean, with no blood seeping through. Then I followed his gaze, glancing at my torso or more specifically, at my side. I saw a big, wet section on my shirt, having forgotten the man had held the knife to my side when his partner pushed me.
As I lifted my shirt, I felt the entirety of the wound. It stung and burned, and it took everything in me not to cry now that I realized it was there. Like when you stub your toe or smash your finger, it never actually hurts until you look at it. It hurt way more than any of my other wounds, not that I’d tell them. I needed no more reason for Hunter’s snark.
“I must have forgotten it with everything,” I explained with a shrug.
“Didn’t notice. My point exactly,” Hunter hissed.
“That’s enough,” Oscar commanded, and while I was glad he chastised his son, I still didn’t want to be anywhere near him.
Why did he have to be the one to watch me?
“Take her to get cleaned up,” he continued with his instructions to my new assigned babysitter. Hunter glared at his dad before shoving away from the table and storming to the door, not waiting for me. I jumped into action, chasing after him as quickly as my short legs could keep up his mile-long ones. I yanked my gaze away from his muscled form to look back at the Auckland Kings.
“Thank you.” I gave a small grateful smile with a tiny nod before scurrying after him, knowing he would no doubt leave me in here. As I followed, seeing his rigid, angry movements, I frowned.
Maybe I should have just stuck with tackling the Phantoms problem on my own because, at this rate, it won’t go any better.
Hunter
Babysitting duty. Are you fucking kidding me? I seethed as I stormed through halls to one of the places we kept first-aid kits. The girl, Chloe, followed behind, keeping up with me despite her petite stature. Of course, I would go from working the docks to being in charge of a tiny little girl who didn’t even realize she was bleeding.
“In here,” I snapped, angling my head toward the side door I shoved open. Thankfully, it was empty, although, at that moment, it might have been easier to be around her if there was someone else to focus on.
She said nothing, stepping in behind me and waiting… I wasn’t sure for what until, with a frown, I realized she needed to be told to sit. What a fucking day.
“Go on, take a seat,” I started, pointing at the bench sitting against the wall. She sat, still not talking. As I dug through the cabinets to pull out what we would need to patch up her wound, I thought about what had been revealed in the meeting.
Phantoms, always getting into shit and dragging us along with. Even if it had been by complete accident, I couldn’t stop my anger from growing. What I was curious about the most, though, despite my best attempts to quell it, was how Chloe, clearly a foreigner, found us. I knew everything she’d spouted about the inspector who threatened her, but why would she come here of all fucking places?
Glancing over my shoulder at her once I’d found the gauze, I found her frowning at her side. The cut didn’t seem deep, but it kept bleeding. Rolling my eyes at her, I soaked a cloth with the antiseptic to properly clean her wound, then reached over without warning to wipe the wound. She jumped and hissed in pain, the whimper trailing off as she ground her teeth together, but she still didn’t say anything, which pissed me off even more.
“You don’t talk very much, do you?” I muttered, trying to keep the irritation at bay but failing miserably by my short and snappy tone. “How old are you, anyway?”
“I don’t know what to say,” she said with a shrug. “And I’m twenty-five.”
“Really? Twenty-five years old, and you ended up targeted by the Phantoms by what… accident?” I snapped, hoping I could pester her enough, she would finally react. Why I was doing so, I didn’t really know, but she needed to do something other than sitting there as if everything was all fine and dandy.
“Yep,” she responded, honesty ringing through her single-word response.
Well, if that doesn’t work to rile her up, I’ll just have to try a different approach.
“That happened to my brother’s girl. Want to know what happened to her?” I asked facetiously as I finished cleaning the blood from her tanned skin.
“Uh…” she started, eyeing me with skepticism.
“She got kidnapped,” I explained without waiting for her to respond. “Then she and my brother were almost killed by the Phantoms.” Her eyes widened. That’s right, Short Stuff, show some emotion.
Now, maybe after a story like that, she’d be willing to be smart and head home. Maybe she wouldn’t want to stick around, no matter what my father said. Here’s to hoping. I tape the bandage to her side.
Otherwise, I don’t know how I’m going to fare for the next week.
5
Chloe
“Now what?” I asked, pulling my stiff, quickly drying bloody shirt down over my torso. Shifting off the cold surface, I eyed the man as he shoved things back into the cabinets.
He was tall, so much so, I had to crane my neck back to see him. While the youngest of the three had been the bulkiest, with a wide chest and shoulders, and the oldest not far behind him, Hunter seemed to make up in height for what he lacked in bulk. A wash of stubble covered his tanned jaw, and a pair of aviator sunglasses hung from the pocket of his plaid button-up. The baseball cap he wore was pulled low over his eyes, the edge of the bill frayed slightly. To look at me, he had to stand from where he was crouched, tucking away the stack of gauze. The animosity and annoyance in his gaze made me frown, but I smoothed out my expression as he crossed his arms. It wasn’t as if I asked to be mugged that morning. The least he could do was keep his irritation to himself after I brought them information.
Guess I should have expected that, knowing this is a criminal enterprise and not just a normal family.
“Now? I find you a damned flight home to the states and deposit you at the airport as soon as possible,” he ground out.
My eyes narrowed, and I didn’t bother to conceal the downward tilt to my lips. “Didn’t your dad just say I wasn’t supposed to leave?”
“Come on, let’s go,” Hunter instructed bitterly, not waiting for me to follow as he strode from the room. Huffing, I chased after, having to jog to keep up with his long legs.
Curse being only five feet tall.
“Wait—” I tried to get him to stop, grabbing hold of his forearm when he wouldn’t slow. Whirling to face me, Hunter stopped. The abrupt movement made me slam into him, his solid torso warm against me as I steadied myself.
“Wait? For what? More trouble from the Phantoms because you were dumb enough to go down an alley by yourself in a foreign country? I don’t think so,” he hissed, towering over me. He was close enough that with each breath, his shirt brushed against my chest. Despite the anger in his voice and the harsh expression he wore, this close it was hard to ignore how attractive he was.
Even if he is being a huge dick for no fucking reason.
“My family’s had enough issues with them after the last time a pretty little girl waltzed in here after a run-in with them, and I don’t plan on letting it happen again.”
“But—”
“But nothing,” he cut me off. “I’m not a fucking babysitter, and if I had been in charge, I would have booted you off the property as soon as you explained your story. You don’t need protectio
n from us. You need to go home.”
By the end of his tirade, I was stunned speechless. Anger simmered me, hot and fiery, but I bit my tongue. I had no idea how he’d react if I pushed the subject, and I’d had enough violence for one day.
“Then what’s the plan? It’s not like I can exactly afford a new plane ticket back home,” I bit out through clenched teeth. I may not have argued, but I couldn’t hold back from letting the frustration fill my words. Dark sapphire eyes narrowed on me, but instead of answering, he dug out his phone. If this was how it was going to play out over the course of the time he was babysitting me, I had a feeling I would throw something.
Preferably at his stupidly handsome face.
Shoving the thought about his looks away, I forced myself to take a deep breath. If the choice was going home early or being stuck with him for the next week, I’d take home sweet home. As he scrolled through whatever he found so interesting on his phone, I stepped back and fished mine out.
“Damn it,” he cursed under his breath. “Well, guess it looks like you’re with me for the night.”
I gaped. “Uh... what?” I questioned, thrown by the change of plans.
“Next flight isn’t until tomorrow, unfortunately, meaning we’re stuck together for the next twenty-four hours.”
I glared. It was clear by his tone how he felt about the situation.
Stuck with this asshole for a night? Great.
Hunter
After how quiet and unrattled she’d been, seeing her finally show some fire in her honey gaze made me a little less frustrated about having to watch her for the day. Short stuff might have a backbone, after all.
