Easy Enough

Chapter 6

"I take it this bigger operation isn't so legitimate, am I right to assume?" Did I say that out loud? I needed sleep.

"Smart girl."

This explains so much. The reason Miss Belle hardly ever came out of her office, Ace coming in every Friday; presumably to collect laundered money, and everybody going into fright mode whenever either of them came around.

This little piece of information probably should have had me running for the hills, but if this is what you grew up around your entire life, it becomes almost... normal.

"Why exactly are you telling me this? Wouldn't you want as few people to know about it as possible?"

The sudden outburst of laughter that echoed throughout the room was pretty unexpected.

Aiden was the first to speak up. "You watch too much TV, Love."

"Baby, I've only had this conversation with a few of the ladies here, and I do mean few. I felt they could handle it and I feel you can handle it."

I was tempted to ask why she trusted me with this information, but I felt I had maxed out on questions, especially about this. So, I elected to remain silent.

"We looked you up." Now, if she didn't have my attention before, this definitely got it. "We know all about your mother, your sister, your aunt, your da-. Let's just say we know more about you than you know about you. Therefore, we know that you'd be able to handle yourself if anything were to pop off unexpectedly."

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

"I know this is a lot to take in, so I'll let you go on home and process everything. Sound good?" Miss Belle questioned with hopeful eyes.

I simply nodded in reply.

With the meeting adjourned, I grabbed my things off of the floor next to me and headed out of the office and out of the salon. Before I could even make it halfway through the parking lot I felt a strong hand grab my arm.

I whipped around quickly, prepared to fight whoever felt as if they could touch me. I turned around and ran straight into Aiden's chest. It wasn't until then that I realized just how tall he was. He had to be at least 6'5", which towered over my much smaller frame.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Going home, it's late." I snatched my arm out of his grasp. He was cute and all, but I didn't know him. "And you can't just be grabbing on people like that, I could've stabbed you or something."

He attempted to hide his smirk, but his dimples gave him away as he held his hands up in defense. "I apologize. But, I'm not about to let you walk anywhere around here. Come on, I'll give you a ride home." He turned around and headed towards the familiar Mercedes, not even giving me a chance to protest.

If it had not been for my aching feet and booming headache, there would have been no way that I'd even consider accepting a ride. But, since they were both factors tonight, I didn't think twice before following him to the luxury vehicle.

He led me over to the passenger side where he opened the door for me before walking over to the drivers side and getting in himself. I couldn't help but to marvel at the car. Never in my life had I been remotely close to being in anything like it, so I was soaking it in.