Kindred: Kingpin (The Kindred Series Book 1) Read online

  “My secretary,” he replies as he takes a seat. She follows him quickly, standing behind his chair in an effort to hide herself.

  “She’s pretty enough to pass as one of your models,” the man replies with a sleazy grin.

  “Give me good news and I’ll let you play with her for a while,” June cocks a brow.

  “Really?” the man asks with wide eyes, “You’ve never liked sharing before.”

  “She’s not my type,” June shrugs nonchalantly, “And besides,” he adds with a cruel smirk, “she’s a bit of a slut anyway. I’m sure she won’t mind.”

  Her blood runs cold at his words, throat closing up when she spots the predatory look the man across the table gives her.

  “June,” Lucas mutters in a quiet but harsh tone and June turns to glower at him. They stare at each other for a moment before June scoffs and calls the meeting into order.

  While in the meeting, it’s revealed that one of the dealers under Jacob has lost a shipment. June has Lucas shoot him.

  Tara barely has time to close her eyes before she hears the gunshot go off. The other men in the room look tense but not surprised and it’s only as she stares at the dead body, blood pooling around it, that she realizes exactly how dangerous June is. She chances a glance at his face, finds the corners of his lips pulled up in a cruel smile and her hands begin to tremble in fear. June orders Joseph to take over Jacob’s duties.

  Nothing else happens in the meeting and when June stands to leave, he turns to Lucas, “Give her a ride home. I’ll deal with this,” he tilts his head in the direction of the body on the floor. Lucas nods in affirmation and ushers Tara out into the hallway, forming a protective barrier between her and the men who eye her up hungrily.

  Tara manages to keep herself together until Lucas drops her off at her apartment. Once she’s inside the safety of her own home, she throws up, hysteria setting in as she has a breakdown in the hallway. It’s well into the morning when she eventually manages to fall asleep but she barely gets any rest.

  Her face and eyes are swollen the next morning, her eyes red rimmed with dark bags underneath them. She doesn’t even bother to cover up how tired she feels, simply dresses and goes to work. June has her file more paperwork, cruel comments about her haggard state leaving his lips every time she sees him.

  Lucas seems especially angry with his boss today and even tells him off for one of his cruel comments. Tara is surprised when he only leaves that confrontation with a withering look from June.

  “It’s because I’m his only friend,” Lucas tells Tara when he sees her shocked expression, “He knows his domineering Mafioso act doesn’t work on me.”

  “I think you just might be my new role model,” Tara tells him with an awestruck expression and both she and Lucas chuckle quietly.

  “Why doesn’t he scare you?” Tara asks hesitantly, curious but not wanting to overstep boundaries.

  “June and I grew up together,” Lucas tells her, “I used to live in an orphanage near his house. He and his mom used to volunteer on the weekends and we would play together.”

  “So you’re childhood friends?” Tara asks and when Lucas nods, she continues, “What was he like as a child?” she eyes him with what she hopes is a casual expression.

  “I know you expect me to say he was a delinquent, a bully, used to kill animals for fun,” Lucas scoffs, “But he really wasn’t,” his tone grows soft, “June used to be really quiet. He used to like studying, did really well in school. It’s why he’s so good at this, at strategy, at making sure he doesn’t get caught.”

  “Why’d he choose this?” Tara asks with furrowed brows, trying – but failing – to imagine the person Lucas describes.

  “When you grow up with a little,” Lucas begins with a hesitant voice, “When you fight for even that little bit, you always want more. And there’s always someone out there who offers you more if you do one tiny favour for them. One thing turns into two, turns into twenty…”

  “And suddenly you’re the kingpin of an underground drug cartel,” Tara finishes with a dry tone.

  “Exactly,” Lucas grins, “There’s no use in questioning the path our lives could have taken.”

  “But surely you don’t enjoy it?” Tara gasps out too quickly and then bites her lip at her abruptness.

  “I like the money,” Lucas shrugs, “I like eating whatever I want, wearing whatever I want, walking into a store and knowing I have enough money to buy whatever I want.”

  “And selling illegal drugs, killing people, ruining lives,” Tara’s voice grows angry, “That makes it worth it?”

  “No one wondered if I was worth it when I didn’t have enough money to buy myself a meal when I was hungry, or shoes during winter,” Lucas snaps in a harsh tone.

  “I’m sorry,” Tara says in a quiet voice and her eyes water at the angry look on his face, “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad,” she sighs, “You didn’t deserve what you went through and I’m glad you don’t have to go through it again, even if I don’t approve of how you acquire the means.”

  “If we’d met someone like you back then, maybe we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Lucas muses.

  “What do you mean?” Tara asks.

  “You’re…” Lucas takes a moment and eyes her, “Good. I think you would have been a good influence on us,” he grins.

  “If it meant stopping you from a life of crime and murder, I would have given you the clothes off of my back and the shoes on my feet,” Tara tells him sincerely.

  Lucas gives her a grateful smile, eyes softening when he looks at her before he grins cheekily, “I don’t think your shoes would have fit me.”

  “You’re ridiculous,” Tara scoffs and rolls her eyes.

  “He doesn’t mean anything he says,” Lucas says after a moment of silence, nodding in the direction of June’s office, “He’s just complete shit at dealing with stuff that scares him.”

  “What about me scares him?” Tara asks in a skeptical tone.

  “Lucas! Come here!” June bellows from inside his office and Lucas sighs reluctantly. Their conversation is left forgotten when June piles an even larger stack of paperwork on Tara’s desk and she’s forced to work well into the night.

  A few months later, Lillian comes to visit Tara’s new job and glances around in awe as she takes in the place, “Fancy,” she quips.

  “Unnecessarily so,” Tara scoffs, “You were supposed to meet me outside the club.”

  “The guard let me in when I gave him your name,” Lillian shrugs.

  She’s about to reply when the door to June’s inner office opens and he comes striding out, looking at Lillian with curious eyes, “Who is this?” he asks in a curt tone and Tara feels her heart drop when his hand brushes over the waist of his jeans where she knows his gun is hidden.

  “No one!” Tara rushes past Lillian, standing in between her friend and her boss, “I’ll escort her out.”

  She pushes Lillian towards the door, hands trembling against her friend’s back and Tara is grateful when the blonde complies. It isn’t until they’re in the safety of her apartment, that Lillian rounds on her with narrowed eyes.

  “You’re afraid of him,” Lillian states rather than asks, “And don’t think I don’t remember him. He was with the guy who had been following you a few months back, right?” when Tara doesn’t respond, Lillian pushes, “Explain, Tara.”

  The other woman sighs, gripping her hair between her fingers and tugging lightly. She doesn’t realize how hard she’s pulling until Lillian walks up to her and stills her hands, doesn’t realize she’s crying until she looks up and Lillian’s figured is blurred because of the tears in her eyes.

  “You started pulling your hangnails again,” Lillian sighs in a soft tone, eyes glancing at Tara’s fingers.

  “It’s been a rough few months,” Tara chuckles out a weak reply, taking a deep breath and attempting to dry her face. She’s ashamed at the state of her fingers but she can’t do anything about t
hem so she simply tugs the sleeves of her sweater over her hands to try and hide them.

  “Go clean up,” Lillian gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, “I’ll make you a cup of tea.”

  Tara gives her friend a grateful smile before heading to her bathroom. After a hot shower, she feels more in control of herself and wanders over to the lounge carefully. Lillian sits on the couch, sipping something from a mug. She gives Tara an encouraging smile and ushers her over, “Want to talk about it?”

  So Tara tells her about June, about his work, about the club and about the threats he’d made against her family. Briefly, Tara wonders if telling Lillian any of this will put her friend in danger but finally getting a chance to speak to someone about things feels so relieving that she can barely restrain her words. By the time she’s done, Tara feels lighter and Lillian looks murderous.

  “You can’t let him get away with what he did,” she snaps.

  “What do you want me to do?” Tara chuckles, “If I turn him in, he’ll kill me and my family. You know I won’t let that happen.”

  “There must be something you can do?” Lillian presses but even she sounds like she’s trying to convince herself more than Tara. A beat of silence passes before she chances a glance at Tara and asks in a hesitant voice, “Is he the reason you’ve started covering your Mark?”

  Tara looks at her for a moment and tries, tries so hard to keep herself calm, but the tears run down her face in hot streams and her shoulders shake with the effort, “He’s my Kindred,” Tara tells her, lip wobbling and voice trembling as she does.

  “Oh, Tara,” Lillian sighs, pulling her friend into a tight embrace. That night, Lillian watches helplessly as her friend falls apart in her lap only to put herself back together again when she has to go in to work. In that moment, there’s no one that she hates more than June Park.

  CHAPTER SIX

  A few months after the incident with June’s men, he closes a deal with a buyer overseas and Tara’s left with planning a celebration party for it.

  She’s sitting at her desk, fighting for dates with a potential caterer when Ren and June walk into the office.

  “So it’s okay if I bring her?” Ren asks and June rolls his eyes but nods.

  “Yes, but she has to blend in well. And if I hear that you’ve told her about any of the kind of deals we make…” June trails off but the threat is clear in his voice.

  “I won’t,” Ren promises and sends a happy grin June’s way. The CEO scoffs and strides into his office, beckoning Tara into it as well so he can yell at her about the entertainment. She sends Ren a curious glance but he waves his hand dismissively, mouthing a “later” in her direction before he turns and makes his way down the hallway again to prepare to open the club.

  “Do you have the guest list?” June asks when he and Tara are alone again.

  “Yes,” she nods and checks through the sheets of paper in her hands, “All fifty have been sent invitations.”

  “And Michela and Jacob Frye are on the list?” he asks in a serious tone.

  Tara nods, “They’ve already accepted the invitation,” Tara tells him.

  June nods and glances back down with an, “I expect everything to be perfect on the night of the party,” muttered dismissively and Tara takes that as her cue to leave his office.

  She strolls over to her desk to continue with the party’s preparations while Lucas watches June’s door with a bored expression.

  When Tara meets Ren at the club door once they’ve closed for the night, she decides that her curiosity demands to be sated and asks, “So what were you and June talking about earlier?”

  “I asked him if I could bring my girlfriend to the party,” Ren says, “As my date.”

  “Is that a wise decision?” she asks him skeptically, “Considering the kinds of people that are invited.”

  Ren shrugs, “She hasn’t been to anything fancier than an expensive restaurant and I wanted to take her to the party the media keeps hyping up,” he explains.

  Tara groans, “Don’t bring up the media attention. I don’t understand why this party needs to be mentioned in every tabloid publication within a fifty kilometer radius but I’m sick of people calling in and asking for an invitation.”

  “You sound personally offended by this,” Ren snickers.

  “There are so many other stories that they could be covering! Our country’s drought problem, water contamination in mining towns, xenophobic attacks! But every other reporter and their mothers want to know who’s on this party’s guest list,” she grumbles out petulantly.

  Ren eyes her curiously as they set off in the direction of her apartment, “You miss your old job,” he guesses.

  Tara doesn’t reply but the heavy silence that falls between them tells him that his assumptions are correct.

  To lighten the mood again, Ren tries to change the subject, “At least you’ll finally get to meet Gwen,” he speaks about his soulmate, “She’s really excited to meet you.”

  “I’m excited to meet her, as well,” Tara gives him a small smile. She glances up at the building they’ve stopped at and eyes the security guard who watches them intently, “Thanks for walking me home,” she thanks him with a grateful smile.

  “It’s not a problem,” Ren brushes off her thanks with a dismissive wave. He’s been walking her home since the incident with her security guard under strict orders from Lucas, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he lifts a hand to ruffle her hair, “Goodnight, Tara.”

  He watches her walk up and into the building before he types a simple message to June that reads ‘safe’. His message is read almost immediately after but he receives no reply.

  “Haven’t done field work in forever,” Ren mutters to himself as he adjusts the gun holster strapped around his waist. It had been digging into his side for the past ten minutes but he didn’t want to reveal the weapon and frighten Tara so he’d suffered through it.

  He rounds the corner to find a black car waiting for him. He’s ushered inside and isn’t surprised to find that it’s Lucas driving the car.

  “You can just walk her home yourself,” Ren scoffs, “If June is so worried about her safety.”

  “I didn’t say June was worried about her safety,” Lucas eyes him from the driver’s seat. He puts the car into gear and sets off in the direction of Ren’s home.

  Ren gives him a deadpan look, “So you’re chauffeuring me around town while on the clock for no reason?” he asks, “While your boss – who you’re employed to protect at all times – is back at the potentially dangerous club that he owns, because June isn’t worried about her safety.”

  Lucas doesn’t speak for a while. Eventually, he lets out a quiet sigh, “June didn’t ask me to make sure that she’s safe for the reasons you think he wants her safe,” Lucas finally tells him, “He’s concerned about the level of rival gang activity in the area as of late and he wants to make sure that she isn’t captured because she has a lot of valuable information they could use against us.”

  “That sounds so rehearsed, I hope you know that,” Ren chuckles, “Is that what June told you?”

  “Word for word,” Lucas scoffs with a grin.

  “So that’s the lie he’s going to tell himself?” the bartender continues.

  “Seems so,” Lucas replies with a sigh.

  On the night of the party, Lucas pulls a limo up to her apartment two hours before the party is scheduled to begin. Tara had been at the club for most of that Saturday morning, making sure that everything went according to plan.

  She’d quickly gone home to change for the party and was just about to call a taxi when Lucas had called her telling her that he was outside the apartment.

  When she spots the limo with Lucas leaning against it, she furrows her brows in confusion.

  “June wants you to accompany him,” Lucas explains as he opens up the door for her.

  “Oh, great,” Tara sighs and gets into the car, her shoulders slumping with exhaustion, “This way
he can yell at me some more about not hiring the right stripper company or complain that the lighting is a shade wrong.”

  “I think he just likes messing with you,” Lucas chuckles, “You’re cute when you’re angry,” he glances at her from the rearview mirror with a cheeky grin.

  “And you should keep your eyes on the road,” Tara scoffs. She tries to ignore the blush coating her cheeks by brushing off a bit of nonexistent fluff on the dress she’s wearing. Lillian’s words ring through her mind.

  “You look really pretty, by the way,” Lucas adds, “Planning on stealing hearts tonight?”

  “That line was way too cheesy to be coming out of someone who looks like you do,” Tara chuckles, “This dress is actually from June,” she shrugs, “It was on my bed when I got home yesterday.”