Page 6 of Redeemed (Redeemed #1)

Chapter Five

Alexander

I t never gets easier, knowing you’re being followed by trained killers. Even if you know them personally.

I look down at the high-def pictures nestled within the black file folder showcasing a man with a spider tattoo on his bald head.

My hands grip the papers tighter with the urge to shred them between my fingers.

The Reapers will continue to be a threat until my arrangement with them is settled in full.

“I have a couple of men following him around the city. It appears he’s here on assignment, and not for us,” Patrick relays from the driver’s seat.

I’m not sure if my brain will allow me to believe that. The Reapers being this close could mean multiple things. Their leader Xavier Ross enjoys the feeling of control, which explains why he hasn’t called in the favor I owe him.

“Any idea who they could possibly be following?”

We’re parked in the alleyway outside Emerald Nights, ensuring this conversation won’t be overheard. I’m paranoid enough to not trust that someone hasn’t attempted to bug my office. When you’ve seen as much shit as I have over the years, there’s no such thing as too cautious.

“Not at the mo—” His words are cut off by the sound of a door slamming behind us.

I glance out the back window, curious as to who is leaving my place of business, from the VIP exit, when the club just opened. My eyes land on a woman walking in the opposite direction, and I’m momentarily transfixed by the sway of her hips.

There’s movement beyond her body that catches my attention. A man, dressed for a night on the town, stumbles slightly towards her direction. I watch her subtly shift out of his reach, keeping distance between them, but my stomach clenches as my hand reaches for the door.

Patrick says something that I don’t hear because I’m halfway out of the car and moving toward the back of the SUV.

The two down the alleyway are engrossed in their own world as I move in quietly, observing the interaction.

My attention is on the woman’s body language as her shoulders pull back.

I notice how she adjusts the grip of something in her hand, probably mace, for moments like this.

The drunkard speaks to her, but she ignores him, continuing toward her destination. It’s when he turns to follow her, that I pick up my pace, hoping to intervene before anything can happen.

“You have a really nice ass.”

I’m close enough now to hear the slurred words before he slides his arm around the woman’s waist.

The two stop moving when the woman draws her arm back into the man’s rib cage causing a sickening crack. I stop in my tracks as she swings around, one hand locking around the man’s throat before slamming him into the brick side of the building with a knife to his neck.

“I’m assuming you have a death wish.”

Her smoky voice drips with menacing clarity that brings a smile to my lips and gets my blood pumping. I slide my hands into my pockets, watching the unexpected scene play out in front of me.

“Bitch! W-what the hell?” the drunk slurs with one hand raised, the other gripping his side.

“You mean coming up behind me and groping me was supposed to be for my benefit?”

She applies pressure to his throat, and I wonder for a moment if she will kill him. I’d rather not have a murder on my property.

“Everything all right?” I move in closer, taking in the profile of the beautiful creature whose eyes haven’t left her victim.

“No, man, this crazy bitch is trying to kill me!”

The goddess pouts her lips, tilting her head to the side. “Aww. Are you not going to tell this nice gentleman how you grabbed me from behind and proceeded to feel me up?”

“No need for him to recount his egregious actions; I saw the entire thing.”

Narrowed hazel eyes swing to my direction, and I feel my world shift. I watch as her eyes widen in surprise, and I wonder if she feels it too. Her beautiful round face and deep brown, smooth complexion etches into my memory.

The drunkard takes her distraction as his moment for escape. He pushes at her with as much strength his broken ribs will allow, causing her to lose her balance. She teeters slightly on sky-high heels before going down as the man scurries off in the direction he came.

“Motherfucker!” she bellows out in frustration.

I crouch down slowly, not wanting to startle her, but wanting to help.

“Are you okay?”

She looks up into my eyes, brows furrowed, her full lips turned down slightly as she silently assesses me. Then she shuts down, like closing the window to her soul. I watch as her eyes harden, and she breaks the open connection to her emotions.

“I would’ve handled that situation on my own.”

I stand, reaching my hand out to help her up.

“I have no doubt in my mind that you had the situation under control. I was simply ensuring I wasn’t going to be a witness to a murder.”

I smirk down at her as her eyes soften a bit and she rolls her lips, fighting a smile. I almost think she isn’t going to take my hand, but she surprises me, sliding hers into mine.

“Don’t worry, if I murdered him, you would’ve been next. Can’t afford to have witnesses walking around.”

My smile widens as I easily pull her up to me.

My other hand lands on her waist to steady her but I quickly drop it to avoid making her uncomfortable.

She turns toward the employee lot and raises her hand slightly.

It’s then that I notice the massive man in a black suit standing by a blacked-out SUV.

She turns back to me, the movement filling our space with a light vanilla scent, begging me to lean in.

“Seriously though, are you okay? We can walk around to the front of the lounge and get you some help. I’m sure there’s a first aid kit in there somewhere.”

I’m scrambling for a reason to keep her with me a little longer. Something about her pulls me in. She tilts her face up to mine, a gasp leaving her lips before stepping back, putting more distance between us.

“Thank you, but my car is in the parking lot behind us. I would rather just go home and not cause a fuss.”

“I understand.” I nod in agreement, but wanting nothing more than to make sure she is truly okay.

My mystery woman turns to leave but stops and looks over her shoulder. “Thank you for keeping me from committing murder tonight.” The corner of her mouth quirks up.

A slight smile forms on my lips. “Anytime.”

I want to know more about this mysterious woman.

“Goodnight,” she says with a smile.

I watch as she walks the rest of the way to the parking lot before looking over her shoulder at me.

“Just making sure no one else comes close to being unalived tonight!” I shout with a wink. Another smile graces her lips before she’s shaking her head and climbing into the back seat of her SUV.

I head back toward my car, wanting to kick myself for not asking for her name.

Patrick is leaning against the back of the SUV, arms crossed, watching me with his head tilted. There’s a playful smile on his lips, but I see the curiosity in his eyes.

“Should I be worried about that look on your face, Alex?”

I walk past him to head to the entrance of Emerald Nights. “We need to look at these security cameras. I also want Tori in my office when her shift ends.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Patrick says with a deep chuckle.

“If you look over here again, I’m going to draw this process out even longer,” Patrick declares from the other side of my office.

He doesn’t even look my way, but he knows I’m dying for any information on the woman from the alley. Based on the sneaky smile tilting his lips, he’s enjoying making me wait.

“You do know I will fire you, right?”

His response is simply a deep chuckle, reveling even more in my misery because he knows it’s an empty threat.

My concentration has been shot to hell thinking about the interaction with that stunning woman.

Briefly, I wonder whether our paths will cross again.

Since she was leaving from the VIP door, I assume she was the applicant Tori met with earlier.

This woman has intrigued me in a way that hasn’t happened in quite some time and I’m anxious to know what Tori thought of her.

One chance interaction in an alleyway has me thinking about a future that would be dangerous to pursue.

I’ve worked hard to find a neutral standing in the criminal underworld since setting myself apart from The Reapers.

Aligning myself with someone who has ties to another organization could be bad for business.

That woman didn’t look like she needed anyone to protect her.

“The security footage should be hitting your email shortly. I’m going to work on pulling an ID on the man.”

“I need a name and location on him ASAP.”

It’s been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of instilling fear in someone, I may need to pay him a visit. I would hate to think how differently this situation would have turned out if she had been alone and unable to protect herself.

Hell, it could’ve been one of my employees that he attacked.

I check the time as I pull up the footage Patrick shortened from the alleyway. The night is winding down for the lounge so Tori should be here soon, but I need to view this footage.

The video flares to life and I watch the interaction play out on my computer screen.

I notice how smoothly she retrieves her knife, knowing she may need to act quickly.

Her movements are precise, muscle memory kicking in and guiding her limbs through a combination.

There must be something wrong with me because the image of her protecting herself turns me on.

The confidence in how she moves is incredibly sexy.

I want to see that power unleashed within the four walls of my bedroom.

“What’re you so focused on? Your aura is bright red,” Tori says, breezing through my office, eyes narrowed on me. “If you were any closer to that monitor, we’d have to Windex the screen.”

Patrick snorts from across the room and I flip him off.

Tori has been seeing colors around people for as long as I can remember. We never questioned it, but it becomes annoying not being able to hide your feelings.

“I’m reviewing video footage of an attack that Pat and I witnessed in the alleyway tonight. Was your meeting today with a VIP applicant?

“Yes, Kennedy Eden. What do you mean an attack? What happened?”

Kennedy. A beautiful name.

“Is this her?” I ask as Tori leans over my desk to study the still frame on my screen. “I’m going to disregard the fact that you had a VIP appointment without full protection on site.”

Tori’s eyes roll, nodding her confirmation.

I know my overbearing tendencies drive her crazy, but I need to protect her from the harm we willingly invite into this club.

The money and connections are too good for me to completely take the legal route—I decided long ago to do what it takes to take care of my people.

“Did something happen to Kennedy?” Tori steps back from my desk with her brows furrowed.

“More like Kennedy happened to somebody,” Patrick chimes in as he leans back in his chair. His focus locks in on Tori as it always does whenever the two are in the same room together.

Tori lowers into one of the chairs in front of my desk. “Explain.”

Patrick and I relay what we witnessed in the alley and Tori silently takes it all in with a gentle smile forming on her lips.

“I knew I liked her.”

“What did you get from the meeting earlier?” I’m eager for any new information on Kennedy my sister can provide.

“The meeting went well. I didn’t get a bad reading from her, but I can definitely tell she’s going through a lot. Her aura was black when she arrived but was brighter by the time we made it through our conversation. I was planning to pass her through so you can meet her.”

“Go ahead and approve her membership.” I begin clicking through my calendar, trying to find the next available time I have for a meeting. “I can meet with her in two days.”

“Whoa,” Patrick interjects. “Don’t you think we need to run a background on this person before we grant her access.”

“Approving her membership is the least we could do after she was attacked outside this building.”

“That doesn’t mean we skip security.”

Here’s the thing, I know he’s right and that he’s looking out for the best interest of the club, and under any other circumstances, I would be the one pushing for the background check before meeting, but I want to see her again.

“Run the background check for protocol but keep whatever you find in her file until I say otherwise. No one else views that file but you.”

He nods his agreement and goes back to work. Tori’s eyebrows are raised as her face forms an evil smirk only a sister could muster. She looks so much like our father it hurts to look at her at times, but thankfully she’s nothing like him.

“I never thought I would see the day that someone actually catches your attention.”

“It’s nothing more than me trying to make amends for the issues she faced outside of our business.”

“Sure, it is.” Tori’s smile brightens as she stands and heads toward the door. “I will make the call, set her appointment, and bring you her application.”

“Thank you. If she agrees to come in, reserve a booth in the VIP section for that evening. Come up when you’re done for the night; we’ll leave together.”

Her eyes roll again, but nods in agreement on her way toward the door.

“T.” She turns back to me. “You avoiding Mom’s calls again?”

She blows out a breath, causing her bangs to fly up. “I’m not avoiding her. She’s just started bringing up Dad again and I’m not ready for that conversation.”

I can’t fault her there because neither was I.

“I understand. Take some time to yourself but give her a call when you can. She’s worried about you.”

“I will.” She smiles briefly before leaving the room.

Now that I’ve done my good deed as a son and big brother, it’s back to discovering what I can about Kennedy Eden.