Page 6
Chapter Six
My job is to blend into the background of people’s lives. To be so innocuous as to be imaginary almost. She could never blend. She could never be invisible no how matter how hard she tried. -Lev
Why does she come here week after week? What kind of special club is she in? I try not to ask myself questions about her, but I end up doing it anyway. After two months of following the lovely and enticing Flora Thorpe, I’ve started doing a lot of things I wouldn’t normally do. But the one thing I haven’t figured out is what this group of women talk about while she’s here for two hours every week.
The small, rundown community center is the last place I would expect my Flora to go, but somehow, she ends up here every Wednesday night. The same group of women meet up in a sterile room in the back of the building. They’re obviously close, but what they talk about is anyone’s guess. I hazard a guess that a man would not be welcome into their small, tight-knit circle.
I suppose the reason I’m most attracted to Flora is that she is a complete conundrum. She’s a privileged girl that comes from a wealthy background. She’s a cheerleader, for God’s sake. But she doesn’t act snobby or condescending. I’ve overheard her conversations with her best friend, Sunny. I’ve seen her with her shy, slightly awkward friend Molly. I’ve watched her do things for others when she thinks no one is watching. I know she loves baking when she’s in a shit mood, and that she knits as a secret hobby. The girl is full of incongruities that manage to make her well…absolutely perfect, in my eyes at least.
When I was first given this assignment from my MC president, I scoffed at it. I’m one of the best in the business, a silent protector who costs a fortune and who is fuckin’ good at making sure people don’t get killed. There are people out there that have bounties on their head, bounties that they know nothing of, and I’m the only thing standing in between them and their own mortality. I am quiet, unobtrusive, and deadly. I was made for this job. Watching a fucking twenty-two-year-old cheerleader was not supposed to be on my itinerary, but here I am. And the thing is…Flora has a bounty on her head put there by one of the dangerous of them all. My gut clenches with that thought.
Flora gracefully exits the side door of the community center. I went in before and checked it out. The space was clear. No unknown threats for my Flora. I’ve had the other women in the group checked out too. They’re all legit and harmless. The one named Frankie gave me pause because of her families’ ties with the mob, but I can’t find a thing about her family that links with Flora. I can’t figure out what these very different women have in common. Obviously, it’s the psychologist leading the group who must be their leader, but what do these women have to discuss each Wednesday? A goth girl, a housewife who started her own business, a mob princess, another college student, and my beautiful Flora? There’s very little to link them together, unless as the presence of a psychologist suggests, they’ve all endured the same trauma. Is it about losing her parents or is it something else? Has someone hurt my Flora before?
That thought makes me stomach lurch and my fists ball up in rage. I hope to God no one has ever hurt my Flora. Her uncle’s job makes her a prime target, and Carmucci’s men are ruthless. The thought of one of them getting ahold of her…well, they won’t live long. Neither will anyone who has ever touched a hair on her golden head.
I watch as the dark-haired girl with the nose ring talks animatedly to Flora. She nods her head, and they share a small hug.
What would it be like to touch my Flora like that? To touch her so freely and be touched by her? My cock stirs at the thought, and I close my eyes. I can practically scent the smell of lilacs from here. She always smells like them.
As Flora leans down to get into her small, red convertible I make my way to my bike, hidden discreetly among the trees.
I’ll spend my night watching her, as I always do. She’s mine to protect after all.