Breaking Her Bad by Michelle Mankin

 

 

 

 

 

Kyle

“Who was that boy you were just speaking to?” Martin asked. “He looks familiar.”

“Who?” I squinted, pretending not to know.

“Him.” Martin pointed, his black brows slashing together as he followed Tommy with his gaze.

“Just a new guy from school,” I said, relieved to see Tommy disappearing up the stairs.

“Hey, Kyle.” Lace swayed as she addressed me.

Turning my attention to her, I noted her unfocused gaze. “Hey, Lace. Are you okay?”

I hadn’t seen her all summer, not since she hooked up with Martin to spite War. She’d lost a lot of weight, and she was high, plus she had bruises on her skin and needle tracks on her arms. I realized I hadn’t seen her lucid since Tempest left town.

“Have you heard from Bry or Dizzy?” she asked.

I hadn’t heard from her former best friend or her brother. “I haven’t talked to any of the guys from Tempest since they left.” I didn’t think anyone had heard from them since they got their deal with RCA. Not that I knew about, anyway.

“Oh.” She dropped her gaze to the floor. Her lucidity receding like the tide, she leaned heavily into Martin. Irritated, he passed her to Arturo.

“Not here to ask about Tempest.” Martin moved in front of his bodyguard, blocking my view of Lace.

“Why are you here?” I scowled at him, wishing I could do something for Lace. But she’d made her choice with Martin. She was caught in a trap as inescapable as mine.

Martin’s coal-black eyes narrowed. “I think you know.”

“Why don’t you spell it out for me?” I asked. I was caught in one trap. I wasn’t going to blindly walk straight into another one.

“You had a fight today at school with Neto from La Rasa Prima.”

Standing my ground, even though it was shaky, I crossed my arms over my chest. “I got permission from Jorge to do what I did.”

Martin’s lips pressed together. “You didn’t get clearance from me.”

“Last I checked,” I said, lifting my chin, “I can do whatever I need to do to move product here and at school.”

“Not when you take unnecessary risks that jeopardize my partnerships.” His expression darkened.

“I didn’t jeopardize shit.”

Martin got right up in my face, his eyes flashing even darker. He was pissed, but maybe I wanted him pissed. I was trapped, unable to have the life I wanted because of him.

But now that I was eye to eye with him, my heated blood ran cold. I’d never looked into deadlier eyes.

“What’s Claire Walsh to you?” he asked, and the blood in my veins cooled to ice.

“She’s nothing,” I said, but my denial wasn’t believable. He’d caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting him to ask about her.

“Bullshit,” he spat. “Twice now, you’ve taken risks that involve her.”

Fuck.“She’s a hot piece.” Hotter than the sun. Warmer than life. Beyond my reach.

“I’ll bet she is. Her aunt—”

Stopping abruptly, Martin snapped his mouth shut. So, I took the opportunity to jump in, trying to lead him away from the truth with a bunch of mostly made-up shit.

“It started and ended with Claire the night Strader’s guys took me. I didn’t have any contact with her until she showed up at school today. I have no idea why she’s here, and I don’t want to know.” A lie, a big one. “I just saw she had something of mine.”

I lifted my arm to show him the bracelet that was on the last link to fit around my wrist.

When his gaze dipped to it, his eyes widened. “That’s a Babineaux piece.”

“Yeah, Martin.” I nodded like I knew, but I had no idea. “It’s worth a lot.” It was worth a lot because it meant a lot to Claire.

He glanced around as if looking for someone. “I can see that I didn’t get all the information I needed.” His tone was rough with irritation.

“Don’t know who’s bending your ear,” I said snidely. “But they got it wrong. This was my first day at school without Warren Jinkins overshadowing me. You know how things work. I needed to establish my cred, so I fucking did, and got a piece of jewelry worth a fucking whack. Two birds, one stone.” I was proud of myself for the redirection and the bird reference. “Understand?”

“Yeah, I understand.” His nostrils flaring, he poked my chest. Hard. “And you need to understand something too. I’m watching you, Kyle Murphy.”

I felt the sharp snap on my leash as he stepped back. Arturo stepped into the vacant space Martin’s retreat created, but he wasn’t alone. He had Bob by the upper arm, and Tommy and Missy trailed behind, looking worried.

“Leave them out of this,” I demanded.

“Why would I do that?” Martin said, giving me a taunting stare.

My heart racing, I reached for Bob. “Because it doesn’t concern them.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Arturo warned. Avoiding my reach, he peeled back his jacket and placed his free hand on his Glock.

“Ow.” Bob’s eyes filled as he batted ineffectively at Arturo’s grip on his arm. “You’re hurting me.”

Martin stepped closer and sneered at me. “I own your ass. You don’t piss or shit anywhere,” he gestured sharply with his hands, “unless you get permission from me.”

“All right.” My heart raced as fast as my thoughts. Quickly, I realized I didn’t have any other play.

Martin’s dark eyes gleamed triumphantly. “I think we understand each other now.”

“We do.” My tone was placating, but inside I was boiling.

“Stay away from the Walsh girl.” Done with me, Martin beckoned to Lace. “Come along, my dear.”

I’d forgotten about her. I think she’d forgotten me too, as well as where she was. She pushed away from the wall but stumbled. Arturo released Bob, shoving him at me so he could grab Lace.

Letting out a shaky exhale, I pulled Bob close, my eyes burning as I watched the trio depart.

“Fuck,” Tommy muttered as the door closed behind them.

Bob scowled, his bottom lip jutting out. “That man is mean. I don’t like him.”

I didn’t either. Not that it mattered. Hatred didn’t change jack.

“I wish we were back in Renton.” Bob licked his lips, which were obviously dry from fear. “If I had my old job, we’d have money. We wouldn’t have to live here. Maybe if we save really hard, you wouldn’t have to work for Martin anymore.”

“If only it could be that simple.” I hugged Bob, needing reassurance as much as I suspected he did. “I’m sorry he hurt you, Uncle Bob.”

“Maybe it is simple, or at least part of it is,” Missy said. “I think I know someplace where Bob can live that’s safer.”

“Where?” I asked.

“Footit’s. Addy needs a new busser. I saw her input the job description. It comes with a sweet salary, and free room and board at the bar. I asked her about that part. She said she has a security system, but cops are unreliable, and she likes having someone on the premises overnight in case something goes wrong.”

“You think that someone could be Bob?” Folding my arms over my chest, I considered it.

“Couldn’t it be?” Missy lifted and separated her hands.

Bob gave me a hopeful look. “I could do it.”

“I know you could, Bob.” I lifted my chin. “But Martin has someone spying on me right now, and he ordered me to stay away from Claire.”

Missy’s eyes brightened. “He did, but Claire doesn’t work at Footit’s. We were only there today because they’re short-staffed. Martin never said Addy or Footit’s Place was off-limits.”

“You’re right.” I nodded and gave her an approving glance.

Missy pretended not to care about people, but I got the idea she cared a lot. There was more to her than anyone gave her credit for. The same was true for Claire. And me. We were all more than the labels people gave us.

Relief swept through me. “I’ll figure out how to get Bob over to apply tomorrow. It’s a great solution. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled. “But you can get the application process started now. Addy put the ad for the job on Craigslist.”