I Curved around the pot-holes of this road through muscle memory, straight into the long-abandoned neighborhood that held the building that I called home.

With eight other boys.

This part of town has long been left by civilization and judging by the broken windows, caved-in roofs, and broken walls on every house except my own, it wasn't hard to tell.

I guess that's why dad put all of us here.

I parked my bike right outside of the old rust-ridden fence that I can only imagine used to be white, kicking down the kickstand as I removed the briefcase from my lap.

My mind wouldn't stop going back to that guy.

He didn't follow me at all. I didn't see any sign of him whatsoever after I left him in the alley.

I'll admit that I was fully expecting him to at least try to chase me down, but he didnt.

If he really needed this, he probably would have followed me right?

I sighed as I set my hand on the front door nob.

Whatever. That sounds like his problem now, I got what I needed.

Six sets of eyes turned to me as I opened the door and stepped in.

My nose wrinkled at the all too familiar smell of them, the overflowing trash can, and whatever beer they had been drinking.

Even from the inside it looked abandoned save for the mix-matched furniture, and the rug one of them bought to cover the messed up floor.

"Hey look, she lived," Dante spoke from his place on one of the couches.

I sent him a tired grin.

Dante was pretty much the only guy here that I would consider a close friend.

Usually, he would get up to give me a hug, but he was obviously defending that couch at the moment.

The rule in this house is if you're sitting on it, you get to sleep there.

And since we only had four old couches, it had almost become a competition.

Lucky for Ashton, he was already asleep on one of them.

That boy could sleep through anything

The rest of the boys just looked relieved that I came back with the case, some cheering their "Good jobs" and "Welcome backs".

They all must have known that my life was on the line with this one. Despite it being an easy run.

"Why the hell are you guys still awake?" I asked.

I don't care if they're capable men in their twenties, it's 3 AM and they should be asleep.

"We wanted to make sure you came home safe," Collin spoke from his place on the floor.

Everyone else nodded and chatted in agreement.

A smile tugged at my lips.

Being the only girl, and the youngest in this house tends to make for some overprotective boys.

Especially Clayton who pretty much jumped to his feet to come and greet me as he always did.

My smile quickly faded.

Tanner quickly took the newly given opportunity since Clayton just gave his couch up for grabs.

Idiot.

"Are you OK? Are you hurt?" He asked, eyeing me down.

Dylan and Collin snickered quietly as he spoke. I just rolled my eyes.

I was tired, annoyed and I really didn't want to deal with him right now.

Clayton has been trying to make me agree to go out with him for about a year now.

I guess the words 'I'm not looking for a relationship right now' doesn't pass through that skull of his.

"I'm fine. Where's my brother?" I asked, taking a step past Clayton.

As if on cue, Mister Bossman himself stepped out of his room, eyes going wide once he saw me.

He hurriedly made his way over to me.

"Did you get it?" he asked.

"No, I decided to go and buy myself a different black briefcase instead," I spoke plainly.

Tyler glanced down at it before he pulled me into a hug.

"I was worried about you." He said quietly.

I just breathed out a laugh.

There was a lot of worry for someone who went down easily with a four-inch blade.

"I know, but that guy was ridiculously easy," I told him.

Tyler always hated sending me out on missions alone.

"Still, you could have at least let one of us spot you in case something went wrong."

I shook my head.

"I don't work as well when I'm being spotted," I explained pointing a thumb back at the boys behind me, "It's kinda hard to focus when I know one of these guys are watching me make out with a man three times my age."

He just held a blank stare.

I knew deep down he didn't like sending me out on those jobs, but the choice wasn't exactly his.

I heard him inhale from his nose as he stepped back, changing the subject.

"You smell terrible."

I rolled my eyes at his effort.

"Yeah he was easy but he was kind of disgusting," I added.

"I'm sorry."

I noticed how everyone else was intentively listening into our conversation.

"When is dad going to send someone to come get it?" I asked.

"About a month. Maybe more. He didn't give me an exact date, but I'll keep you in charge of it until then. "

I just stared at him for a moment.

I had over a month to do this yet he insisted I did this tonight?

I sighed, brushing it off, "OK. Care to tell me what's in this case though?"

Dad told Tyler but for some reason, he refused to tell me.

Tyler's eyes rounded. I've never really been one to ask questions.

I saved him the trouble of having to asked me why I wanted to know, "I ran into somebody who was after it too. I took care of it, but I just want to know what this guy offered to fuck me for."

Now Tyler looked worried and mad. Fantastic.

I gave him the look that told him to just answer the question.

"It's full of information that could lead to Dad's arrest, now care to tell me more about this guy?"

"Not really," I said, walking past him to go to the room that leads to mine, "Maybe later, but I'm just really tired, you know?"

The best thing about being the only girl here: I get my own room.

Tyler looked as if he was going to say something but just nodded instead.

I passed the kitchen, removing my knife from my sleeve and placing it on the counter. I glanced up at Spencer as his confused gaze caught mine.

"Where's your other one?" He asked with his normal quiet but deep voice.

Spencer was known as the silent but deadly kind of guy.

Wait...

"Shit!"

All eyes then turned to me.

"What?" Tyler, Dante, and Clayton spoke as one.

Everyone else just looked at me wide-eyed.

That asshole distracted me...

"I left my knife," I said quietly.

Tyler seemed happy that it was only that, but even he knew that that was my favorite knife.

Plus if someone found that guy's body before the people my dad sent to get rid of it gets there, a bloody knife in the fence would lead to some pretty good leads if the cops got in on this.

I sighed, rubbing my eyes.

"I'll just go get it tomorrow," I said equally as quiet.

Dad's men usually did things in a timely manner, and I didn't really want to risk going back tonight.

Everyone stayed quiet at the sudden exhaustion in my voice.

I paused as I put my hand on the door nob.

"AK."

I turned to see the black and white cat slowly crawl out from under Ashton's couch.

I always wondered why she didn't come unless I called her name.

Probably because she literally hates everyone else. Even Dante.

But that just made me love her more.

She pinned her ears back and hissed as Dylan made a move to pet her again as he always did, further proving my point.

"Why won't she love me?" He whispered under his breath, causing me to laugh a bit.

He's always has a soft spot for animals, yet he could never get close enough to AK.

Clayton just tisked in annoyance as she strut by him.

"I swear if that cat scratches me one more time I'm shooting it." He muttered, probably thinking that I couldn't hear him.

My eyes narrowed into a glare.

"Hurt my cat and the next throat my knife ends up in will be yours."

His eyes widened as I threw my door open, allowing AK to step into the room.

"Goodnight guys."

I heard the chorus of different good nights before I closed the door.

Another sigh escaped my lips as I turned to face the stairs that led up to my actual room.

AK sat on the fifth step, tilting her head as she stared at me.

I just stared back at her, "I give you full permission to scratch him whenever you want."

She just meowed at me, flicking the tip of her tail.

I took that as a response and headed up the stairs. I wanted to get this dress, smell, and makeup all off of me as soon as possible.

I headed straight to my bathroom as soon as I opened my door, kicking my heels off.

AK hopped onto the sink to watch me fiddle with the faucet of the shower

It always took a minute to heat up, but I'm just glad that this house still had running water.

Warm running water.

I then glanced down at the briefcase.

Where the hell should I put this?

The closet first came to mind, but I quickly discarded it, deciding that the cabinet under my sink would work better.

That's where I keep my tampons so I doubt anyone would check.

So that's what I did, pushing it far against the wall behind the assortment of lady products and cat food.

AK followed me as I walked out of the bathroom and into my room.

I wanted to take off my makeup first. I've heard it's better for your skin.

AK jumped onto the vanity that sat against the wall as I approached it.

I grabbed a cotton pad and covered it with the sweet-smelling substance before I rubbed it against my eyes.

I watched in amusement as AK leaped to my couch, then to the bed, both of which sat next to each other against the wall.

She then hopped onto the thin windowsill that leads to the really sketchy balcony if you went out the window.

She looked back at me, yawning as she stretched her paws far forward, claws peeking out with it.

I gave out a weak laugh as she plopped herself down, her eyes admiring the outside.

I had to use three more cotton pads before I got enough of everything off.

God, I hate wearing makeup.

I stared at myself in the mirror for a moment before heading back into the bathroom.

Tossing my clothes into the cheap hamper, I jumped into the shower.