Bomber was waiting by the front door as I came down the hallway. His arms crossed and his head hanging down as he studied his feet with great interest. I hadn't been expecting him to be waiting for me as I came out of Lethal's office, but against every sensible thought I had, I was relieved to see him there.

His head shot up as I approached, his face still stern as it was earlier. Thankfully, I could feel that I had a few more reservations than earlier. I was warier of him, even as his eyes raved over me in what appeared to be concern. The blood on my ear was drying now, but it was still there and I wasn't the only one aware of it as his eyes darted slightly to where he had cut me. His face only tightened further, his lips pulling at the scar on his face and he winced. It was the same wince I'd seen him do a number of times and it always accompanied a floating look of pain on his face. Was it because of the cut? Or something else?

"Well?" he asked, despite his sternness, his voice was still much softer than his brother's.

"I um- I know what I have to do now." I held up the papers that Lethal had given me as a reference to what I would be looking for in Collin's dad's office.

Bomber was silent for a moment and then he nodded sharply, "Good, good. And my brother?"

"He seems to be satisfied for now. Although, he gave his fair share of threats." I surpassed a shiver at that.

While Bomber and Vinny's threats were terrifying, there was something scarier about Lethal's. It was clear from our interaction that my safety, my wellbeing, was the absolute last thing on his mind. Of course I was the best way to the files right now, but that was only temporary security at best. He wouldn't need me after that, and if I proved useless in my task he could always find another way to get the job done.

"Come with me." Bomber instructed without room for complaint and like a newly trained puppy I trailed after without question.

I was stupid. I'd realized that as I let this man stab the wall besides my head. I'd always considered myself a head strong, competent young woman. I was level headed and a goddamn bio-med major. My mother was a nurse and my father was a lawyer. I'd been raised with a backbone and I'd never let a man walk all over me in my life. My friends has always considered me harsh when it came to the men that I saw, but I never saw it that way. The way I saw it was that if a man seemed aloof then I would be too. If wasn't interested then I'd be upfront about it. As for any man that thought he was going to play games? I'd make sure that game was rained out.

So why was it that when it came to Bomber I acted like a a doormat. With his back to me I straightened my spine and lifted my chin a little. I would be strong this time. I wouldn't be afraid.

He led me to the bathroom that he'd brought me to to shower after Randy was killed. He stepped aside to let me in first and then followed. He didn't reach to turn on the light and so the only illumination was a sliver of light from the hallway.

"Why are we in this stinking place again."

"Mmmm, remember when you were here last? Your pouty little face drove my crazy."

"Are you serious right now?" I refused to break. I refused to lean into his teasing. He was trying to break the tension, but it was tension that he had made. That should have been there anyway.

"Does this bathroom suck you dry of any humor? Because I'm noticing a pattern." he asked as he raised an eyebrow at me.

No, that's just you. I wanted to say, but I didn't reply. I let the silence hand around us for a moment. Bomber grew somber again the longer he looked at me.

I wish I could know what he was thinking. The thoughts that danced around that handsome head of his. Probably a lot of darkness, a lot of swirling grey mist that blurred what was right and wrong.

"Why did you bring me in here?" I snapped and clutched my folder to my chest as though it could act as armor.

"I needed to talk to you alone." his eyes settled on the folder in my hand, "At this point you should probably know then that this a safe house for us."

Huh?

"What do you mean?"

"It means that we don't really run our business out of here. It's just a small base for emergencies. If anything ever goes wrong, you call me on the burner and then come here. It is the closest to you out of our bases."

I was shocked. This wasn't where they lived? Perhaps it was stupid of me to have thought they lived here and when I really thought about it now it made sense that they'd reside and run their business somewhere else. The place was a dump, I'd known that from the moment I'd stepped- well woken up in it. It wasn't anywhere I would want to sleep and judging from Lethal's office, it wasn't exactly equipped with twenty-first century technology I imagine that would be useful to them.

Despite all of that though, what shocked me the most was that Bomber was disclosing this information to me. It seemed like important information that I didn't really need to know. My knowledge of it was not beneficial to either of the brothers or anyone else who worked for them. I could tell the police, I was positive that Cellar and Vinny wouldn't appreciate me knowing this information. There was nothing that was good about me knowing this was one of their safe houses. Unless, unless it was for my own safety.

"But I don't even know where we are." I replied as I recalled the feeling of the blindfold as I tied it around my own eyes on the way here.

Bomber stepped closer to me, his chest almost brushing against mine while the shadows closed around him as he stepped out of the single ray of light from the hallway, "I know. I'm going to give you the address, but you have to keep it to yourself. Not a word of it to anyone for now. Not to your parents, your little friend, and defiantly not those cops that have been poking around. Do you understand, Sugar?"

Sugar. The nickname washed over me and for the first time I liked the sound of it. It was a relief, since after our interaction in the living kitchen earlier I was worried he would remain in that terrifying persona. Maybe that was what gave me the confidence to say,

I tried to lean away but the edge of the sink pressed into my back, "If I say no will you cut me again?"

I could see the shock on his face first and I was worried that the darkness in him from earlier would appear, but instead a slow grin spread onto his face and amusement sparked in his navy eyes, " It wasn't my intention to damage your pretty little ear. No, I wouldn't dream of hurting you again. At least not with my blade, and only if you begged me to."

"Why would I beg you-?"

"Oh sugar, I can promise you there are many things you'd be more than willing to beg me for if given the proper," he paused and his grin widened as he lowered his lips to my damaged ear, "persuasion." he whispered and then I felt his tongue flight out and graze the shell of it that was probably still a little bloody. It was hot at first and then as he pulled away a cool breath of air hit it and chilled it. A shiver shuddered through me and as I regained my senses my hands shot out and shoved him away from me.

As I did he grabbed my left hand and just as I was about to pull away I felt him shove something into my grasp. It crinkled, a slip of paper.

Before I could say anything else he was across the room again, "Cellar will drive you back. Make sure you keep the blindfold tight."

And with that he was gone. I was left quaking the darkness. The aftermath of that moment was indescribable. Probably because the man who I'd had it with was in himself an enigma. One minute he was pushing me away, threatening me, teaching me to fear him and in the next he was... what was he even doing jus then?

My hand clenched around the piece of paper he'd given me and reluctant and dazed I directed my scrambled mind to it. Carefully I un- crumpled it and tried to stretch it out so I could read it.

13 Maple Drive, Pitsborough.

It was an address. The address to this place. He'd really given it to me.

But honestly, the thing that kept replying through my mind the whole way home was one thing. It was that he'd basically stabbed me. It wasn't that I'd finally had a face to face conversation with Lethal. It wasn't that I finally knew what I needed from Mr. Monturi or that soon I was going to be close enough with Collin to get in his house.

No, Bomber had- he'd licked me. He'd fucking licked me.

☢

A couple days later I was closing up shop with Collin. It was a Wednesday, and Bobby had asked us to close up early since he'd had to leave early for a family emergency.

"You think you could give me a ride home, Anns?" Collin asked , "Sam was meant to grab me later, but she can't now that we're getting out early since she's still working herself."

He was just returning from taking the trash out. It was something that I really couldn't get myself to do anymore. The first time I tried to do it I hyperventilated and while I felt bad having him do it every time he didn't seem to mind. It just reenforced my initial impression that he was a good person.

I smiled slightly to myself. Despite how much I hated him, Bomber really had done me a favor by getting Collin to work here. It sped up the process of everything exponentially. Collin and I had been working together for just over a week and we'd definitely clicked in the way of communication and friendship. Every conversation we had was lighthearted. Joking with each other came naturally and nothing like the aggressive bickering between Bomber and I.

"Yeah of course," I replied as I finished wiping down the counter. It had been particularly messy since there had been an issue with the soft serve machine. Collin and turned it on and it had proceeded to spew creamy soft served vanilla chocolate swirl indefinitely. We had to unplug the whole thing to get it to stop. The OUT OF SERVICE sign still hung on it right now since we hadn't actually been able to fix it between the two of us. Bobby had said to leave it to tomorrow.

"Thanks! I didn't want to have to use those pictures of you covered in soft serve as blackmail." Collin teased and we both laughed out loud at that.

We were both a mess after that moment and while we'd washed up in the sink in the bathroom I still couldn't help but feel sticky. Honestly, it was nice to be getting off early after a day like we had.

"You all set? I'd love to get in the shower sometime soon and clean this sugar off my body." I replied, and Collin nodded his head in agreement. As he did, I slipped my candy pink apron over my head and folding it up. I'd need to bring it home today to wash so I just stuffed it in my big slouchy work tot bag that I kept under the sink behind the counter. Another change I'd made since that night. I tried to avoid the backroom at all possible and that included the cubby section where employees usually kept their stuff.

The worst part was my new quirks were difficult to explain to other people since, as far as they were concerned nothing traumatic or tragic happened here. Randy had come to our shift and then dipped and disappeared. There was no reason for me to be scared of taking out the garbage or for the break room to bring on flashbacks of Vin sneaking up behind me.

We finished locking up and then headed out to my car. It was funny watching Collin squat and squeeze into my tiny little car. He spared me a cheeky grin as he heard me try to stifle my giggle.

"Yeah I like to run really early to avoid the sweltering heat."

"That's smart. Usually I'm night time runner. I didn't even know you like to run though." Collin responded with a wondering mind,

I saw my opportunity and grabbed it, "We should go on one together sometime."

I felt Collin chance my way and he smiled, "That would be great." he paused, "So long as you think your short little legs could keep up with me."

"I'm not short! I'm average and some would argue tall for a woman."

"You're short to me, Anns and thats the only relevant factor here."

We continued to chat back and forth until I turned onto Collin's street. It was a gorgeous private drive with numerous large, stunning houses on it. It was clear that these houses had been built independently and before the stone mansion frenzy had set in. It was warm and chic architecture that dotted the street and I loved. The around the houses were also stunning with fountains and benches and dozens of different flower species blanketing the flower beds. Collin's house had a stunning array of daffodils and even a butterfly bush of impressive size with purple blossoms.

There was a jet black Mercedes with its lights on still in the driveway as we pulled up. It was fancy, just like about everything else in Collin's life. His house was huge, as I had found out after the first time I happened to drop him off after work. I hadn't expected it, but it made me even more curious about his father and what he did. I couldn't imagine that good man would be entwined with the barbed boys. Even Randy had been a skeevy pervert and a dick most of the time.

"Oh, my dad is just getting home. Isn't it fucked up my father gets home earlier than me when he makes like $500 an hour and and I'm barely getting minimum wage?"

"The world we live in." sighed dramatically while shaking my head. Collin laughed and I felt the satisfaction that came with the success of entertaining him. each interaction was a step in the direction of achieving my goal. Each step was a step towards safety, towards

Just as I came to a stop next to the car with the tinted windows the door opened and a tall, slender man stepped out. He seemed graceful as he unfolded himself from the small car that was fairly low to the ground.

He was dressed similar to my own father after a day of work, in a grey suit with a red tie, and carrying a shiny leather briefcase with shining gold clasps. A set of dark, aviator shades covered his eyes. His dark brown hair was slightly greying, but was styled back neatly. Overall he was handsome, put together, and while he looked like a savvy business man he also just seemed like a father with laughter lines around his mouth.

"Here come out and I'll introduce you guys." Collin offered and jerked his head slightly in the direction of his dad's car.

Before I could object Collin was already stepping out of the car. Oh shit. I felt my heart rate pick up and I quickly checked my reflection in the review mirror. I was a mess with my hair in a floppy, deconstructed messy bun on my head. My curtain bangs surely still had some ice cream in them. I wanted to make a good first impression on his dad, but all I could was but my lips and slap my cheeks for a moment to put some color in them before jumping out of the car.

Collin and his dad stopped their brief conversation as I came up besides Collin and offered my brightest, most polite smile. Mr. Monturi had taken off his sunglasses and as both men looked at me I saw there resemblance I hadn't before. Collin looked down at me beaming and pushed his glasses up his nose absentmindedly, "Dad, this is Ainsley Oakley. We work together at the parlor." he explained.

Mr. Monturi smiled warmly back at me and offered his hand for me to shake and I received it. He had a good handshake, not too tight and not too loose. The perfect business shake, my dad would say.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ainsley. I'm Judson Monturi, Collin's father."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Monturi." I replied. The whole time I could feel Collin watching the two of us like a kid in front of the T.V. with Nickelodeon playing.

"Oh please, I get called Mr. Monturi all day at work. When I get home I'm sick of it. You can call me Judd. I've heard so much about you from Collin over the past few weeks."

That surprised me and I couldn't help but turn to look at the boy beside me. Was that just a turn of phrase? Or did he really mean it? Judging from Collin's blushing, his father's words were truthful. If only I wasn't doing all this for the wrong reasons. If only Bomber and Lethal weren't involved, Collin was the type of guy I'd love to have a real relationship with.

"Yeah you know, there's always crazy stories working in customer service." replied not looking at me and shooting a slightly bereaved glance at his father.

Mr. Monturi chuckled, "Well I'll leave you two to it. It was nice meet you, Ainsley. I hope to see you around here in future."

"Thank you Mr. Monturi-" he shot me a look, "Judd. I hope so too." and with that Mr. Monturi smiled and turned away.

As he did I turned my attention back to Collin. He was looking at me funny, nervously.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't expecting him to be here. But um I was gonna ask. Do you, uh, want to hangout on Saturday?" Collin asked, as his father's figure disappeared through the front door of the house. His arm reached up to scratch the back of his neck and it caused his muscles to flex lightly. I wouldn't say that I looked at Collin and thought "Gym Guy," in fact he gave me soft boy vibes often, but he was also in shape.

From the moment he'd come into the parlor I'd appreciated how cute he was. And it seemed like he was asking me out. In the most twenty-first century, generation z type of way.

"We could go on that run or something." he added and tossed me lopsided smile that I couldn't help but find endearing.

This was exactly the opportunity I'd been hoping for. This was my way into his house and my out of my arrangement with Bomber and Lethal. Excitement and nerves shot through me. And even a little bit of guilt.

"I'd love to."

A/N- Wow we had a lot going on in this chapter! Bomber clearly doesn't know how to follow his own advice and Ainsley is understandably confused! Bomber wasn't even supposed to be in this chapter, but I just couldn't keep him out of it

I'm trying not to put too much stress on myself on making things perfect anymore that way you guys can get more chapters faster. So please be kind!

What do we think?