Shannon Read Online Free Page B

no druggie n—” Definitely South Boston, but “Bubbles” was wise enough to catch herself. “I’ve been working a couple of jobs.” She shrugged as if that shit was believable. “I’m just tired is all.”
    Right, and Shay was the Virgin Mary.
    “Cool. Take your shoes and socks off and spread your toes.” Strippers made their money off their bodies. In Shay’s opinion, Bubbles wasn’t so far gone she didn’t care about her appearance, so Shay was willing to bet the tracks were between her toes.
    “Is she serious?” Bubbles demanded, looking past Shay to Shannon. “Who the hell is she?”
    “The person conducting the interview.” Back was the cold, dispassionate voice. Shannon’s tone conveyed he could give a shit about anything happening right now, though somehow Shay knew that wasn’t true. No matter how bored he might appear, Shay knew she was being judged. “If you want a position in one of my houses I suggest you show the person with the power to say yes or no the proper respect.”
    Now the mountain Mickey’s eyes bulged out of his head. There were muffled protests of some kind from the woman in a chair—
    Wait, there was a woman tied to a fucking chair in the corner with what looked like a handkerchief stuffed in her mouth. Why the hell hadn’t she noticed that before? Skinny, but not anything like the addict standing in front of the desk. The woman looked…well, foreign. And pissed—her eyes shot daggers at Shay. For some reason that just pissed her off. Like she had anything to do with the bitch being tied up. Just because she was damned tired of—well, life—she flipped off the tied woman, then turned her head back to the druggie.
    “Look, I know you saw the line of women waiting,” Shay snapped, feeling froggy. God, it felt good to pretend she was old Shay, just for a little while. The man just seemed to goad her inner street girl.
    “Fuck this. I don’t need this shit.” Druggie turned and attempted to flounce off, only she tripped over her own feet and stumbled a little before righting herself.
    There was a small silence as soon as she slammed out of the office, Mickey at her heels. Oh, damn, did she go too far? Daring to turn her head to look at him, Shay saw Shannon regarding her quietly, but there was still no expression on his face. She tried to scoot off his lap, just a little bit, but his arms locked her in place. Totally unexpectedly, he rubbed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip.
    That wasn’t a touch a man gave to a hooker, prostitute or call girl. That was a lover’s caress. Maybe not a wife or a girlfriend, but it was something reserved for the person a man was truly intimate with, and that wasn’t always the woman he was with in the open.
    “This might go a hell of a lot faster than I anticipated.” He spoke as though talking to himself, though she could understand every word. “Something tells me this life isn’t as new to you as your little dossier claims, and I am not referring to hooking as you well know.”
    Yeah, she was real clear what he meant, and she could’ve kicked herself in the ass. The last thing she wanted was for this man to find out who she was. If South Boston had any plans on an alliance or even doing business in Mattapan, which hadn’t been the case in the last twenty years, she was one juicy peace-making pawn. No matter how much Shannon O’Shea turned her on, she didn’t know this man, and she damn sure didn’t trust him. Everyone who lived his life was a criminal and you couldn’t trust a criminal, not even one you’d known all your life. She’d found that out the hard way.
    “You’re not going to tell me who you are, are you?” He may have asked, but Shay knew that he knew the answer.
    “Sunshine,” she responded, “I’m nobody from nowhere.”
    “You know I’m going to find out, don’t you?”
    Right. She hadn’t chosen South Boston to get lost by accident. There were no open lines of communication with her