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FALLEN ANGEL

Louise Collins

Chapter One

Aaron pressed the ice on his knuckles, sighing in pleasure as the throbbing quieted. He hadn’t meant to be the one to take out Trey. Trey, whose loud mouth and careless attitude had drawn the spotlight onto them again and again. Trey, the loose cannon who lacked a loyal streak, who’d cost better men their lives because of his selfishness. Trey knew it was coming; Aaron knew it was coming; they all did. Aaron had only been there to watch, to make sure it went down with no problems, but as soon as Trey started threatening everyone Aaron cared about, telling him that one day they’d die like dogs, too, he’d lost it, punched him in the face, then pulled out his revolver.

“So?” Jett said.

Aaron shrugged. “So what?”

He was perched on a stool, and opposite him stood Jett the other side of the bar. He was in the club, his club to be exact, sitting inside the VIP room. The booths were full of groups of laughing clubbers, and one stag party had control of the karaoke machine. A window pointed towards the main dance floor of the club. It was packed out, and each time the door opened to the VIP bar, music blared, making Aaron wince.

“How did you bust up your knuckles?”

Jett wasn’t looking him in the eye but staring down at his hand with a sad expression. The concern amused Aaron, but it was no less adorable. All he wanted to do was lean over and kiss that look off his face.

“How did you do it, Boss?” Aaron corrected.

Jett looked up, smirking. His eyes were always so bright, so nice to look at. Aaron doubted he’d seen a horrific sight in his whole life, not like him, who’d seen endless nastiness. Looking at Jett was refreshing, so happy, so clueless, so cute Aaron just wanted to mess him up in the best kind of way.

“Okay, Boss,” Jett said, then saluted.

If anyone else had said it in that tone, with the stupid hand action, Aaron would’ve punished them, but not Jett. Jett was different from the others. Aaron liked Jett in a whole different way from how he liked the others. He had men that worked for him, men that killed, intimidated, lied, stole, concealed, destroyed, but not Jett.

“Some guy tried to steal my wallet.” Aaron said. “I punched him, and off he went.”

It was a lie, a complete lie, but Jett just accepted it, like he couldn’t imagine Aaron would lie to him. Amusing, yet adorable, and Aaron’s pulse quickened at how easily Jett just trusted him.

The door opened, releasing the music from the dance floor. Jett said something Aaron didn’t catch, and he curled his finger to encourage him closer.

“What was that?”

“I said, what a bastard.” Jett repeated.

He scrunched his brow, and Aaron took in his troubled expression, then frowned.

“Me or him?”

“Him obviously. You didn’t do anything wrong, but some people out there, they’re assholes.”

Aaron snorted. “Yeah.”

When Trey realized his time had come, he’d started spewing horrible, graphic descriptions of how his friends were gonna hunt down everyone Aaron loved, and torture them to avenge him. The truth was Aaron didn’t have anyone. No lover, only fast flings. No friends, only acquaintances. No family, they were already dead.

But when Trey had started spewing his threats, Aaron’s mind had gone to the man standing opposite him behind the bar. His brain had flashed up images of Jett battered, dying, calling out for him, Aaron’s blood had turned to ice in his veins, and he’d completely lost his cool.

Aaron couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment it’d happened, but over the years, Jett had become the most important person in his life. Jett was pure escapism, and he longed for their chats, their brief moments together. Even if it was good for his heart, but pure agony for his desperate cock.

“You sure you don’t wanna go to the hospital, get it checked out?”

“Nah, it’s fine. Whiskey and ice, that’s all I need.”

He didn’t add that his third pain relief was Jett himself. He acted as a distraction, a very good distraction. The pain lessened in his hand when all his blood flowed south.

Once Trey was dealt with, Aaron had called a cab, and headed straight to the club to reassure himself Jett was fine. No one knew his secret. Jett didn’t even know it.

Jett greeted him with one of his signature cute smiles, and all was right again with Aaron. All was right, just frustrating as hell. He wanted Jett as more than just a friend but wasn’t going to risk messing up whatever it was they had. He wouldn’t risk making things awkward, and Jett possibly leaving or rejecting him. He wanted to fuck Jett, but he needed the escape of his smile and big blue eyes more.