Finding Her (Book 2 SAMPLE)

Chapter 2 - Mason

"The moment I saw you
My soul begged for me
to make you mine."

~~Rahul

****************

~~Mason~~

Shit. What the hell was I thinking? Why did I say I would do this?! I can't do this!

My mental freak out had morphed into a physical manifestation as I paced around the living room of Kas's house. The man himself was sprawled lazily on the couch, his long legs stretched out in front of him and one foot propped on the coffee table. He was watching me with clear amusement, brown eyes following me around the room as he took another drag from the joint pinched between the thumb and index finger on his right hand.

"I'm glad one of us finds this funny," I complained in exasperation. "Why didn't you stop me?"

Kas laughed. "Why would I do that? This is too entertaining."

"You're supposed to be my friend." I had intended to sound angry, but it came out more whiny than I would have liked. I scrubbed a hand over my face and looked at him in defeat. "Why didn't you speak up, say something to bring me to my senses? I shouldn't have said I would do it."

"Did you want to have that discussion in front of QP?" Kas asked, raising an inquisitive brow. I narrowed my eyes despite the heat that rose to my cheeks. "Yeah, I didn't think so, but I don't think she would have cared anyway."

QP, which stood for 'Queen Pin', was what Kas often called Rory who was his best friend, and up until a few months ago, our boss. Most people would consider us criminals, and I guess in most dictionaries we probably were, however I preferred the term 'justice vigilantes'. To the majority of the world, Rory was sweet and kind hearted, but those of us that had been a part of the Southside Crew, we had come to know a very different side of her.

"I'm not like you, Kas," I reminded him impatiently. "My area of expertise does not include ninja skills. Unlike you, I'm not a walking tank!"

"Did you just call me a Ninja Turtle?" Kas asked, attempting to appear offended but failed when he couldn't suppress his smile. "Relax, Mase. Nik won't attack you. If Rory thought her little sister wouldn't be safe with you, I can promise that she would have denied your offer to begin with."

I resumed my pacing, chewing anxiously on the tip of my thumb. The main threat against the Rivers sister had been dealt with months ago, but that wasn't the only potential problem. Rory still had enemies even if she had disbanded her crew and handed her power off to someone else. However, she wasn't the only one of us who had a target on their back.

"Why? Because I'm just a harmless kid?" I asked in annoyance.

"You're anything but harmless," Kas replied, exhaling a cloud of smoke, the lightly acrid scent filling the room. "Look, if you really don't want to give Nik a ride from the train station, I'm sure QP will find someone else or have Benjamin send one of his guys."

My first thought was of Alex, a made man of the Crowe Family Mafia and known playboy. I could easily picture him flirting unabashedly with Anika, using his good looks and bad boy charm to worm his way into her bed. Clenching my fists at my sides, I shook my head.

"No, I'll do it." I sounded more confident than I felt. Moments later, the blood drained from my face and I looked at Kas with wide eyes. "How much does she know about... everything?"

It was Kas's turn to look uncertain and I watched with growing panic as he shifted uncomfortably on the couch. The longer he took to answer, the faster my heart began to race and I began to question my sanity all over again. It was bad enough I had only met the girl once and even then it wasn't an introduction. I just happened to be with Kas when he picked Rory up for work one morning and the twins were leaving at the same time.