Gangster's Girl (Complete)

Chapter 1 - Part 2

My plan had worked. Right down to the furious and handsome man who wrapped his jacket around my shoulders and pulled it closed to cover me up from the prying eyes as he towered over me. I should have been scared. Anyone in my position would have cowered in fear, but I knew him better than most and knew he wouldn't harm me despite his visible anger.

Over his shoulder, he issued a glare at the guys, complaining that they had been paying good money to see more and he had spoiled the show.

"Hey, what are you doing?" one of them yelled, annoyed that someone had stopped me just when I was about to drop the bikini top.

"What were you thinking?" Angel hissed, but he didn't wait for me to answer. He bundled me off the stage and pulled me by the arm to the closest exit out of the club. Fred, the bounder who that had just a few minutes ago had thrown out the handsy guy who had grabbed my leg stood back when confronted with the dangerous stare from Angel. Even he knew to be afraid of him. I followed, trying not to stumble in my high heels as I tried to keep up with him.

There was a sleek black car parked outside. The cool air that hit my skin made me shiver, and it made me well aware of the lack of clothing I wore beneath the jacket and I held the jacket closer.

"Miss Ward." Bruno, one of Angel's men, greeted me affectionately as he opened the passenger door. I had known him for a long time. But unlike my feelings for his boss, I held only affection for him.

I just got out a quick greeting to him before Angel pushed me into the back seat and then slid into the seat beside me before the door closed behind us.

I knew most of the men who worked for Angel. I had grown up in amongst some of the most dangerous men in the city. To me, they were friends, some I considered family, to other's enemies. It was the only way of life I had grown up with. To someone else, my normal would have been bizarre.

My earliest memory was of my father was standing over a table of guns and what I would later discover was cocaine. He hadn't worked an honest day in his life. He had lied and cheated to make a living.

The privacy screen was up between us and the driver of the car. We were alone.

"Are you going to explain your little stunt in there?" His jaw twitched, and I knew he was barely able to restrain his temper.

It was a warning sign not to push him, but I had never heeded that warning before and I didn't intend to start now.

"Well, you know strippers they dress in provocative clothes- ". I used the most condescending voice I could.

He grabbed my wrist and held onto it securely. Not enough pressure to cause pain. "You know what I'm asking."

He had the stormiest blue eyes when he was angry. It was fascinating to watch. He released my wrist when I tugged at his hold for him to let go of me. In close proximity to him, I felt the stirrings of something I didn't want to consider.

"You know why." I readjusted his jacket slightly to keep my nakedness covered.

His eyes didn't miss the movement, and I was suddenly very aware of what little clothing I had on. He had a way of looking at me that make me feel naked under his gaze. I swallowed. He looked away.

"And you still haven't answered my question. What took you so long?" I asked, not allowing his presence to flutter me.

I reminded myself of all the reasons I hated him to keep myself disinterested in how he made me feel when I was around him.

"I was busy." Was the curt response I got.

"Mmm," I murmured, attempting to keep myself calm when I was still so angry at his treatment of me and wanted nothing more that to yell and scream at him for sending me away from my home. "I seem to have lost my touch. Next time, I'll have to put a genuine effort in."

"Why are you here Kira?" he asked, his voice tight.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I am where I belong." My eyes clashed with his defiantly.

His lips thinned, like he was trying to keep his temper under control. "You're not supposed to be here."

This made me frown, and I crossed my legs slowly and crossed my arms. "Really?"

I was pushing his buttons by being obtuse.

"And why am I not supposed to be here, a place I call home?" My voice shook on the last word, giving more away than I intended.

It was a question I had been seeking the answer to since he had sent me away so abruptly two years before with no explanations. I had sometimes wondered what I had done to cause him to do such a drastic and cruel thing. To be sent away from the only place I had known, away from family and friends. Who would do such a cruel thing? The whole time he was still glaring at me like he had done nothing wrong and I was the person who had.

It made no sense.

"You make nothing easy Kira."

I frowned. "Maybe if you treated me like an adult and not some child, I wouldn't have to make things difficult."

Our eyes locked. It wasn't just hatred I felt for him; it was far more complicated than I wanted to even admit to myself.

His phone buzzed, and he fished it out of his pocket. He just listened and didn't say a word for about a minute before he ended the call. Angel had this way of staying cool under pressure, rarely giving insight into what was happening. It was something that annoyed me, as I was the complete opposite. I was an open book.

"Stop." He issued the command, and the car halted. He opened the door and stepped out. A car pulled up alongside us.

"Where are you going?" I asked, realizing he was leaving. I wasn't anywhere near done with our conversation or more appropriately called fight.

"To get you out of the mess you've made today." He shut the door, and the car pulled away.

"Stop." I yelled, but the car did not stop, it kept going. The sound of the car doors locking only fuelled my temper as I tugged at the door to get out. I would not let this happen, not again.

Memories of being taken away two years ago renewed the anger and fear I had experienced. "Stop the car. I want to get out." But my demands fell on deaf ears and no amount of trying opened the doors.

I breathed in and out, trying to calm myself down, but all I wanted to do was have it out with Angel. He couldn't just order me around. I had free will and I would make my own decisions. Legally, I was an adult, even though I had never worked or supported myself, but that was beside the point.

He couldn't keep me against my will. But he did. He was powerful, with people who would follow out his orders without questions. That's what happened when you were the boss in the world with no rules. It took a person with a ruthlessness and fear to keep people in line.

I had never seen that side of him, but I had heard stories. To me, he would always be the annoying boy I had grown up with. My first memory of him, he refused to play dolls with me, telling me it was for girls. He had hurt my feels. The next time I had seen I kicked him in the shin, as payback.

We had always hated each other; we had barely tolerated each other. There had only been a handful of times I could remember different. The earliest memory had been when my hamster had died. He had helped me bury it with a eulogy and everything. I had been nine, and he had been eleven.

The day I had buried my mother, I had been devastated and unable to express it. Stiff and stone faced, I had stood beside my mother's grave, numb. He had stood beside me and taken my hand in his. I had given him a blank side glance. He hadn't said a word. For that whole dreadful day, he had been at my side even when it had annoyed me and when I had broken down, finally giving into the grief he had been there to console me.

But I didn't see that side of him often enough to change my dislike for him. A few pleasant moments didn't erase all the bad ones.

And right now, I was so mad I wanted wring his neck. I stared at the familiar view and knew I was on my way to his home. A home that brought back a lot of memories, mostly bad.