Page 27 of Bane's Beginning

“Why lie though if you’re old enough to be in a bar?” She shrugged at my question. “I guess sometimes I like to forget who I am for a while.”

“And who are you, Thea Blake?”

“A fucking mess,” she said with a smirk. “Honestly, I’m nothing special. I’m just trying to get through school with out fucking things up more than I already have.”

“What’s fucked up, shit with your ex?”

She sighed. “No, Marcus was just a distraction really. I knew how it would go, but I guess I just liked feeling wanted. You know my parents died in an accident?”

I shook my head.

“I was in the car with them,” she said and it knocked the breath out of me but I tried to play it off. Ares never told me that she was in the car with them. “Fuck,” I whispered. She started telling me about her injuries and how she didn’t remember much but waking up in the hospital. I couldn’t imagine what it might have been like for her to be next to her parents one second and alone in the hospital the next.

“Yeah, it fucked me up being the last person to see my parents alive, but what fucked me up the most is how lonely it felt and I’ve been doing a lot of shitty things to fill that void sometimes. Not many people can relate to experiencing that and my brother all but checked out on me,” she said with a nervous laugh.

I grabbed her hand and used my other one to turn her head towards me.

“You shouldn’t have had to go through what you went through, and you especially shouldn’t have had to go through it alone,” I said as I stared into her beautiful brown eyes, looking for something, but I wasn’t sure what. “I promise you this. I will fucking turn the world on its side to make sure you never have to feel that loneliness again.”

A single tear came from her eye and I realized I was finally getting to know the girl behind the darkness. I placed a gentle kiss on her lips and pulled away. We spent the next hour or so eating our dinner and spending time getting to know each other. As it got dark, I took her to the back patio to sit under the stars. The crickets were singing and there was a peaceful stillness in the air. I sat against the large cushioned patio chair, and she was nuzzled against me.

I knew I needed to ask her about the club business, but I also didn’t want to ruin our night so far if she wanted to say no. “So, I got to ask you something.”

“What’s up?”

“The club could use your help with something, and I wanted to see if you’d be interested in doing us a solid.” At that, she leaned up from my arm and stretched out a little. Her eyes seemed to pierce into my soul as the moonlight glowed against her dark skin.

“Depends on what you need help with,” she teased. “There’s been a lot of overdoses in Haven Hills and its border cities here lately. I’m sure you’ve heard us talk about that around the club.” She nodded letting me know she knew what I was talking about. “Our club doesn’t deal with drugs and we make sure that other people don’t either, unless it's just some pot or something. We’ve been trying to find out who’s been dealing this whacked coke out and we haven’t been able to get any leads. That’s why I was at Jynx the night we met.”

“You thought I was the dealer?” I heard the tease in her voice. “No, idiot, but I was doing some recon and got distracted by your sexy ass sitting alone.”

Her cheeks reddened. “Where does your favor play into this?”

“After drawing so many blanks, we came to the conclusion that we just aren’t the dealer's target demographic. You get that don’t you, future marketer?”

I laughed as she shoved at my arm playfully.

“I’m their target demographic,” she said as she was finally getting what I was putting down. “You need me to go to Jynx in my stuck up rich kid clothes and see if someone tries to sell me coke?”

“Precisely.”

“All I gotta do is go to a club and get a few drinks? That’s it? I thought you were about to ask me to do something fun like distract a guard with my womanly charm so you can break into a bank.”

I laughed at her exaggeration. “No, that’s all you got to do.” I pulled her back underneath my arm. “I don’t like putting bit-,” I stopped myself in just enough time. “Women into club business, babe, but cases keep increasing and we need a lead. Fuck if we think the police could actually do their jobs.”

“I’m happy to help,” she said. “Under one condition.”

“What’s that, babe?”

“Anna has to come with me and, of course, compensation," she replied and her voice turned sultry.

“Not up to me about Anna, and I think I may know how to compensate you.” I said as I stood up, picking her up with me. She let out a squeal and I gave her a grin. “I’ll give you some now and some when the job is done.”

***

THEA

I couldn’t believe he had actually taken me to his house. I know that going to a man’s house wasn’t ideal for a first date, but not for men like Bane. He was the type of man who didn’t try to be someone who he wasn’t to win me over, and after everything I have been through with men, that was exactly what I needed. So when he told me that he wanted to bring me the places he thought were important, I knew that was his way of telling me that he thought I was important.