12. Rain
Chapter 12
Rain
T wo Weeks Later…
The bell above the door gave a slight jingle. The shop had been busy all day and it was all I could do not to scream. I really wasn’t trying to do another head today. I was ready to go home and prepare for my sleepover with Nora. We had finally narrowed down some time.
“Welcome to The Siren,” I gave a wave without turning around.
As I finished tidying up my stand, I admired the work Rita, another one of the stylists, was doing on a child. “Looking cute, baby doll,” I told the little girl who had her iPad in front of her, staring intently.
Going to the front desk, I offered the woman who was waiting a beautiful smile.
“Hi, how can I help you?”
The woman was absolutely stunning, but her hair was jacked up. She had bright pink power suit and colored contacts giving her eyes a grey appearance. Whoever had done her lashes had done a great job, they were full and fresh looking.
“Are you Rain Ellis-Allan?” She inquired, a small smile on her face.
I nodded a frown coming on my face. “Yes.”
“Oh good!” She clapped her hands together in glee, while I remained dumbfounded. “Your mother sent me over. She says you’re the best hair stylist in Seattle.”
Relief flooded through me. “My mom is always telling someone about my services.”
“She should do your marketing,” the woman chuckled. “But as you can see, I am in need of some work. Since I moved here, I’ve been trying to find new everything. I just found an esthetician this evening.”
“I’m happy to do a consultation for you right, now. The shop is closing in an hour so we’ll have to make an appointment for next week.”
She sighed. “I was really hoping that you might be able to squeeze me in today. There’s a rainbow tea on Sunday.”
Biting my lip, I surveyed her hair. I loved making women feel beautiful inside and out.
“What do you need done? Or better yet what do you want done?”
The woman clapped her hands together in glee. “Oh, thank you, thank you.”
Holding up my hand while a grin hit my lips, I replied. “Hold on, I haven’t agreed to anything just yet.”
She sobered and then pulled out her phone before handing it to me. “I want to get my hair trimmed into this asymmetrical bob. My ends need the trim anyway.”
Raking my eyes over the phone, I nodded. It was a very doable hairstyle.
“Alright, take a seat and give me about fifteen minutes.”
“Oh, I’m so excited. This is long overdue.”
Silently, I agreed because her kitchen needed a remodel. Watching as she took a seat, I went back over to my station and began cleaning it up. A text message from Kenji was waiting for me.
I’d kind of been avoiding him. Ever since Cassie’s funeral, I’d been trying to clean up my act. I’d been focused on staying away from anything that would trigger me.
Anything that would have me making very bad fucking decisions.
I want to see you, it read.
“I’ll just bet you do,” I said out loud to no one.
Plopping the phone in the back pocket of the dark colored jeans I wore, I got back to cleaning. Once I was satisfied with the space and how it looked, I waved the woman over.
Noting the time, I figured this wouldn’t take any longer than two hours. She plopped into my chair and I placed a pink cape decorated with an outline of a mermaid around her neck.
As I dragged a comb through her tresses, I watched as she visibly relaxed and we chatted about a few mundane things like the shape and style of her hair.
Before I knew it, everyone was exiting the shop and leaving for the night. It left just me and the woman whose name I’d forgotten to get.
Not even worrying about it, I became lost in the process of doing my job.
Manipulating hair and bending it to my will was my superpower.
We went over to the shampooing station next, and I began to work fingers through her hair. The coils of her hair under the running water turned white as I scrubbed her scalp gently. Quietness seeped into the building, a slight hum from outside.
“This feels so awesome,” she smiled with her eyes closed.
“My dad’s mom was a hairdresser in North Carolina. I used to love spending time with her, she would wash me and my sister’s hair when we went there. Or when she’d come visit us here.”
“That sounds so lovely,” her eyes fluttered.
“It was, we haven’t seen her in a while. She’s due to come out here in a few months or so.”
“You know, I wondered if this would be weird,” her eyes fluttered open again and our eyes locked.
“You wondered if what would be weird?”
She gave a little shrug as the suds washed from her strands, going down the drain like a tornado of soap.
Easing her up, I wrapped a small towel around her head.
“It’s just…well Justin…”
“Who?”
“My husband, Justin. He explained to me about you a long time ago.”
My heart began to beat rapidly, and it felt as if someone had dashed cold water over my body. I stilled as if under some sort of spell.
She didn’t even seem to notice and carried right on with talking.
“I wasn’t going to mention it, but I just feel so silly. So extremely silly in thinking that you might still want my husband all these years later. I feel so dumb.”
My words had caught within my throat and finally I found the courage to speak. “Leave!”
She stopped talking, her hands holding the towel tightly on her head. Small rivulets of water washed over her face causing her to look like a drowned rat with lashes. “What?”
“You heard what the fuck I said. Get out of my goddamn shop.”
The good pastor’s wife stood then, her face becoming stone like. Her body went rigid and tight, as she lifted her nose into the air trying to seem above it all. “He said you’d react this way. Like a jealous snake. He told me not to mention it.”
All I could see was red.
“Your husband is a sicko…get the fuck out of my shop!”
I found myself pulling her out of the chair while she protested. Picking up the purse, I pushed her and it out of the door.
She was standing on the sidewalk, wet hair and all, the cape still around her neck. Fuming.
I literally didn’t give a shit.
Walking over to the door, I locked it and pulled the shade down. The air around me seemed feel stale and I needed something to take the edge off. Looking down at my hand, I could see that they were visibly shaking at this point.
Slowly, I rubbed them against my pant legs, trying to push the tension out.
I inhaled a few times and slowly exhaled before I pushed away from the door.
Anger began to overtake the anxiety in my body. I wanted to calm the memories that were flowing back to me. I could still remember the musky smell emanating from that perverted preacher’s body the first time he ever made me…
Running to the shampoo bowl, everything I’d had for lunch came up.
Green vomit went everywhere as I leaned over the black porcelain bowl.
When I was done, I dabbed at my mouth and stepped away from sink. I reached for one of the white towels that I kept on hand for drying hair and swiped at my face.
“Gross,” I shook my head.
Once I cleaned out the bowl and calmed down some, I decided to head to Noir. I just wanted to grab a beer or two before heading home.
I switched on the alarm to the shop and left. Pulling out my keys, they jingled as I twisted them in the lock.
Turning, I ran smack into a firm chest.
“Sorry,” I mumbled about to topple over.
The man steadied me, and I stepped back and found myself looking up into Kenji’s face.
“What are you doing here?”
He grinned. “You haven’t exactly been returning my calls. I’ve missed you.”
I swallowed, not in the mood to talk or to be touched. “Just trying to get myself together.”
“What does that mean?”
I sighed. “I’ve had kind of a long day.”
He leaned in. “Let me make it better.”
Kenji was a dog with a bone and he wasn’t going to stop. He would keep on until he got what he wanted. Staring over his shoulder I saw the sun beginning to sink lower and lower with each passing second.
“Look, I’ll call you,” I eased up and dropped a kiss on his cheek.
He smelled good, like some sort of soap that was familiar.
“Rain, are you okay?”
Forcing a smile, “Just a long day. But I promise I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe we can do dinner.”
Hurrying past him, I didn’t look back.
Speeding away from the corner, I headed straight for my brother’s bar. I was sure I could score coke off someone there. Cassie had been my real connection to the good shit.
The pure shit, I thought.
It’d be risky as hell to get something off a stranger because people were dropping dead left and right from fentanyl laced crap. It was all about making a quick buck. People didn’t give a shit if you lived or died.
Surprisingly, Noir was quiet when I arrived.
Jill, one of the waitresses was behind the bar. She spotted me when I sat down and came over immediately.
“Hey Sugar,” she greeted. “You look like shit.”
I grinned. “I feel like it. Man, it’s kind of dead in here tonight.”
She nodded. “Tell me about it. I took this shift tonight from Stacy thinking I’d wrack up on tips.”
“Wait, Stacy with the big tits or Stacy with the big butt?”
Jill laughed and slapped her knee. “Stacy with the butt. Girl, you’re too much. Can I get you anything?”
Yeah, got any Pure Columbian Honey, I thought wishing Jill was a plug.
The small gold bell above the bar door shook itself into a merry jingle. Usually, you couldn’t hear it over the noise of the crowd, so it stopped me in my tracks when it hit my ears, and I turned to see who had entered.
Immediately, my heart dropped and settled into my stomach.
The second Matteo Zacharra’s eyes landed on me, I felt like running away. His brother Carmine was with him as well. I had no problem with Carmine, he was always relaxed. But Matteo made my jaw clench.
He was always watching me, and there was something about his gaze. I couldn’t describe it, it wasn’t natural.
Whipping my head away, I found myself looking back into Jill’s waiting gaze. The older woman was now wearing a smile.
“You need to give him a chance,” she leaned in.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard what I said. He’s fine as hell. He has all his teeth….girl if I was twenty years younger,” she bit at her lip.
“Jill, get me Yuengling and please hold the love advice,” I shook my head.
I could feel a presence behind me, the heat was radiating off him threatening to burn through my black t-shirt. As Jill sat my beer on the bar, I turned around. “There has to be a million bars in Seattle. Why are you and your brothers always here?”
He grinned then leaned in. “What’s the matter Rain?”
Something was off about him tonight. His eyes seemed dark and dangerous, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Slowly, he braced his hands on either side of me, invading my space until we were nose to nose.
I should have been kneeing him in the balls.
“Step back,” I hissed.
“No,” he whispered back.
I began to get flustered, feeling slightly caged. “What is your issue?”
“You,” he stated simply.
“Me?”
He nodded slowly, licking his lips. “Yes, you.”
“Then move out of my space.”
“Make me,” he bit out.
My knee moved involuntarily to hit him in the nuts. With some insanely fast speed, Matteo had both my legs gripped tight and spread. He moved in between them but stood still. I was breathing fast as hell for no reason, my chest rising and falling like an ocean tide.
“Aye, Matty!” Carmine called out from the pool tables. “Stop playing with your dinner and come get your ass kicked. You owe me fifty dollars from yesterday.”
He ignored his brother, and we continued to lock eyes, his mouth hovering near mine. He did the most feral thing ever and growled at me. “Later.”
I was still breathing hard when I turned around and found Jill and Lucky staring at me like I’d grown a second head. Looking down I noticed my beer was gone and I knew he’d grabbed it up. Without missing a beat, my eyes hit the mirror behind the bar. He was turning my beer up to his mouth and taking a long swig.
Jill began to fan herself. “Now Sugar, that’s what I call electricity, y’all could burn a house down.”
“Jill…pleaseeeee,” I groaned.
The truth of the matter was, I was good and wet. Matteo had gotten my juices flowing and I hated myself for it.
I had come to this damn bar for a cold beer, and I was going to have one in peace if it killed me. She giggled still fanning herself before reaching down and getting me another drink. The cap landed in the trash with a dull thud before she sat it down.
Snatching, I smiled at Jill. “Put them both on his tab.”
Matteo and Carmine were shooting pool, and I never even glanced his way as I stepped outside on the covered patio. I could feel his gaze biting into ass with each step that I took.
What is going on with you? I thought.
Letting Matteo Zacharra even think he had a shot was dangerous.
Sitting down, I nursed my beer for a few seconds becoming lost in thought. It was quiet. Surprisingly. Only a few people walking by here and there. Couples holding hands and smiling at each other. My thoughts drifted back to my encounter with that weird bitch.
That sleezy fucking predator of a pastor….
Someone had come to sit down in front of me and without looking up I knew it was Matteo. I avoided looking at him and turned the bottle up.
“Invading my space again, Boy Scout?” There was a television on in the corner of the lounge area, a soccer game was on.
I could tell from the sound of his voice; he was smiling like an idiot. “You like it.”
Taking a deep breath, I turned and took him in. “Agent Zacharra…”
“Why do you do that?” He shook his head.
“Do what?”
He tilted his head, those dark eyes watching me intently. It was scary how his eyes seemed to almost be black. “Why not call me Matteo…are you worried you might like how it sounds once I finally fuck you and you’re screaming it?”
I jumped and beer spilled everywhere. “Excuse me?”
Matteo had ten pounds of audacity and probably a fat dick because he leaned forward like he knew how to work every inch of my body. My legs instantly clenched trying to give myself some relief.
“You heard me, Rain…”
To fight off the need to rock my legs, I took another swig from the bottle. “Dream on. And look, after the day I’ve had….”
“So, use me,” he grinned.
“What?”
“Are you hard of hearing tonight, Stizzy?”
Finishing up the rest of the beer, I slammed the bottle on the table. “Not hard of hearing, Agent Zacharra. Just trying to figure out why you think I’d ever fuck you.”
His expression turned dark, and I imagined him thinking of sinful things to do to my body. I didn’t care, my bed was calling. Considering I wasn’t going to find any coke tonight, I’d sleep it off. I stood up and out of nowhere he had me pinned up against the door to the bar.
Is this motherfucker moving at the speed of light or am I just tired? I swear I hadn’t even blinked once and he was there, pushing up against me.
Hard and ready.
“We would…what did Jill say, burn a house down?” He grinned down on me.
Slowly before I could blink, Matteo Zacharra had his fingers down the front of my stretchy black pants. The heat from his fingers made me grasp at his shoulders and my mouth parted.
My legs moved apart of their own accord, and my breathing became erratic. He moved around and slowly found my clit, the second he brushed over it, I whimpered.
Slow, lazy circles.
Not enough to make me cum.
But enough to drive me crazy.
“Mmmm,” I moaned.
“You could use me,” he whispered in my ear.
I imagine to the outside world if anyone was looking into the dimly lit area, we looked as if we were making out instead of him fingering me.
God , I wanted to ride his hand…
“I…I need to go,” I whispered back.
“Do you?”
“Yes,” I whispered again.
Slowly, he withdrew his fingers, and I watched as he stuck them inside of his mouth. He closed his eyes as he sucked my juices from his hand.
“I’ll be seeing you, Sitzzy,” he whispered.
He was gone then like a fucking shadow, as soon as I blinked. The door to the bar was already closing behind him and I let out a breath.
“You have to be exhausted,” I murmured.
Reaching onto the table I grabbed the bottle and tossed it into the trash and left out of the side entrance. My bed really and truly was calling me. The beer while it had been cold hadn’t done much for me.
Anger was still bubbling beneath the surface but Matteo…
He had caused another reaction.
It was one I was determined not to give into either.
Hunger. Something told me that if I ever let him get in my body, I would become a true feind. He would replace Pure Columbian Honey in a heartbeat.
I didn’t like that idea at all.