Page 16 of Hansel
Them having a pissing contest was just making my job harder.
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“So you and Gio, hey?” Gypsy curled herself up on the sofa next to me, passing me over a steaming mug of tea. I had only met her briefly at the wedding but she seemed to be just the kind of woman I would class as a friend. Ballsy and loud, Gypsy was a fighter like me. A survivor. One of many women attached to the Savage Sons that had gone through trauma.
I might have been the first but I definitely wasn't the last.
Curling my hand around the warm mug, I didn't answer her at first. I didn't want to start our friendship on a lie but I couldn't be honest with her either. Not totally anyway. It was easier all around if I didn't answer at all.
“The way Hansel has always spoken about you, I expected you two to work things out. Sometimes the time isn't right, but the love is fierce.”
Keeley cleared her throat. “You're with Gio?”
I turned to her in shock. Cocking my head to the side, I studied her. “You and Gio?”
That was news to me. Keeley was a sweet girl and Monster was super protective over her. There was no way in hell he would have given his blessing to those two hooking up.
Keeley shook her head. “No, of course not, I was just shocked.”
She was lying. Keeley had no poker face at all.
“What went on between you and Gio?” I lowered my voice, my eyes quickly scanning the room to make sure no one was listening.
“Nothing.”
“Not for lack of trying,” Gypsy whispered back, like a co-conspirator, “on Gio’s part anyway.”
Keeley’s eyes widened. “I promise you, Gretal, nothing happened. If I had known you were with him, then I would have stayed away.”
Reaching out, I closed my hand over hers. She was worried that she had stepped over some imaginary line. And I couldn't say a word to the contrary. It had been decided that it was better if people thought I was with Gio. I just hadn't expected it to cause problems on the very first day.
“You did nothing wrong, Keeley. A young woman like you can do better.”
Keeley’s eyes widened. “So can you, Gretal. Gio isn't a good man.” Her voice dropped even lower. “He's a killer.”
I smiled at her indulgently. Keeley really was the sweetest. And naive. We were all killers in some form or another.
Myself included.
Chapter Ten
Hansel
Gretal was beautiful, but every time I saw her, whether she was sitting talking to the others, or just in passing, her beauty was like a knife to the heart. She was mine and I couldn't have her. Not because she didn't want to be mine, but because she had a job to do.
Someone was killing the working girls who had been freed from a life of sexual enslavement. Which meant she was firmly on that killer's radar. Someone had already tried to hurt her. This time, they hadn’t succeeded but she was still in danger.
Having her close to me might make me feel better, but it would probably put her in even more danger. And there was the little fact that Fang and Gio suspected me. And I couldn't be one hundred percent sure Gretal didn't have those same suspicions.
So all I could do was sit and watch her from afar, my jaw clenched so tight that I was sure I was wearing my teeth down every time I saw her with Gio.
Make believe or not, every time she touched him I wanted to break my fist against his smug self-satisfied face.
Settling myself back against the wall, I studied their interaction. They weren't exactly all over each other but his arm over her shoulder was proprietary. And it made me so angry I wanted to rip my own face off. He had no right to touch her like that. To claim ownership of what belonged to me.
“You look like you are ready to do real violence.”
I recognised The Judge's voice but I didn't turn to him. What he said didn't even scratch the surface of what I wanted to do. But as the Judge worked for Gio, it was best if I kept my mouth shut. The Judge was a friend to the Savage Sons but his loyalty was with Gio and The Family.
