Mark (Mallick Brothers 3)

I moved around the back of the building where I had seen them all emerge from, running up the penny brick steps that were crumbling and jagged.

My hand was raised to knock on the rotted out door when it suddenly flew open in my face, making me almost stumble backward, the air bringing a swirl of a very distinct lavender and citrus scent with it.

"What the... oh," she said, eyes rounding almost comically as her mouth fell slightly open.

I stretched my arm out, touching the side of the house, blocking her in slightly, knowing her first instinct would be to plow into me and take off before I could even get a word in. That seemed her style.

Even as the shock was draining from her face, it was getting replaced with a veiled sort of annoyance. Like I was a problem she didn't want to deal with right then.

Somehow, I liked that shit too.

"Scott, huh?" I asked, my lips twitching as her dark eyes lowered at me, as her arms moved up and crossed over her chest, looking both hostile and defensive. "An armed robber."

"And you're Mark Mallick, a loanshark enforcer. So what?"

"I don't really think being an, I repeat, armed robber is a 'so what' kind of situation."

"Really, because I think being a brutal kneecap-breaking bully totally is a 'so what' kind of situation. And in my case, honey, no one gets hurt. You can't go around saying you don't have blood on your hands. You know, along with... what is that? Concrete?" she asked, squinting at the hand blocking her way.

"In my case, honey," I said, lips twitching when her eyes lowered at me again, "I don't take from innocent people."

"I don't take anything from any people. I take from a corporation that has its money insured so, all things said and done, I'm not actually hurting anyone in any way shape or form. The same can not be said for you. Not only do you hurt people physically, but you rake them over the coals in interest charges that no one with a soul would demand of another person who, if they are turning to you, are clearly out of other options."

I didn't feel bad about my job. In fact, nothing she could say could actually make me feel that way. The fact of the matter was, it wasn't like we loaned money to single mothers with sick kids and beat the shit out of them when they didn't pay. In fact, we didn't do a loanshark thing at all with women because not a single one of us would ever put their hands on a woman. The guys who came to us were the shits who lost their shirt at Hex or in AC or when they picked the wrong team in Fantasy Football. We loaned money to people who were careless with it to begin with.

Did I have the cleanest of jobs? No, of course not.

But it wasn't as dirty as it sounded either.

And you got way more slack with the Mallick family than you did anywhere else. Shit happened sometimes; Pops understood that. Pops was forgiving of that if you came to him about it. It was only when you did the chickenshit thing and hid that he got pissed.

Also, all said and done, enforcing made up only a part of my income these days. With the ever-expanding contracting work and landscaping work, I was, quite frankly, rather rolling in it. As were all my brothers with their various endeavors. The loansharking, that was just, I don't know, tradition. An homage to our father who busted his ass getting that going to provide for our mother and us when we were little. It was the only thing that eventually allowed us all to take on legit business practices.

There was no shame in my game.

"How did you find me?" she asked suddenly, voice taking on an edge that gave away some of her uneasiness. I guessed when your freedom depended on not being found or found out, being walked up to in your hideout being addressed by name was not a good thing.

"You know, I'm thinking in this situation, I get to be the one asking questions. You know, seeing as you almost broke my foot and all."

"Oh, please," she snorted, rolling her eyes. "The most damage there could have been was a bone-level bruise with those heavy work boots you had on. Don't be such a baby about it."

It would have been a snotty thing to say had her eyes not been dancing a little when she said it. Like maybe it was something she would tease one of her many brothers about. Actually, the having four what seemed like older brothers explained a lot about her.

"Regardless, wouldn't maybe good manners dictate you invite me in for a cool or hot refreshment?"