Passion By Control (Passion Series Book 2) (2 page)

I had the job, I hoped to be able to score some gigs since bartending and waitressing were not really my thing. Still I could put on a convincing enough performance and portray the image of a struggling waitress. So now I had the job which looked better on paper than witch or trouble maker. I needed to find a place to live. I couldn’t stay in a motel forever. Anyone would realise I couldn’t afford to live like that on the kind of money a waitress made. Discretion was very important, and keeping my clients’ identity a secret was vitally important.

I knew of a house where I could rent a room but I wanted to make contact with the owner first, to see if she and I would get along ok. I wasn’t exactly the most social of people and my nature could easily be interpreted as rude, maybe even stuck up. I wasn’t really, but I saw no need in wasting time on friendly bullshit or pretending to be the social butterfly that I sure as fuck wasn’t. I’d had very few genuine friends in my life, because most people just didn’t get me.

I continued dressing in my uniform for my job this evening, right down to the cliché fish net stockings and black high heels, which thankfully were not so high that my feet would be killing me all evening.

I studied my features in the mirror once I was dressed and pulled out some makeup to touch up my face. I wasn’t anything special to look at, well not in my opinion anyway. I was kind of in the middle of the plain and pretty spectrum. I guess my eyes were my best asset, large, almond shaped due to my tiny bit of Italian blood and green, a bright kind of jade green.

My lips were full, my boobs were a bit larger than I’d have liked on my 5 foot 4 frame, but not massive and thankfully perky enough that on the odd occasion I chose not to wear a bra, I didn’t have to put up with them sagging or bouncing around too much.

Everything else on me was tiny, tiny waist, slim hips, definitely not what my Grandmother would call child bearing hips, slim legs, but shapely enough that they didn’t look like toothpicks. The only other feature I had that I liked was my hair. It was black, thick, but mostly straight, just a slight wave through it. It was naturally black which made my eyes stand out more and I had the thick, long eyelashes to match.

Once I was dressed and made up, my hair pulled up into a high ponytail to get it off my face while I worked, I headed back out to the bar area to wait until my shift officially started.

While I waited at the bar, in the large room where Battle-axe would soon be performing, another barmaid/waitress smiled at me and came over. Obviously she was working with me since she was attired in identical clothing to mine.

“Hey Sirene is it? I’m Chloe. I’m working with you tonight it would seem.” She grinned, gesturing to our matching uniforms. “So welcome to the club, literally. I hope you like it here. It’s not too bad. Terry’s pretty good.”

She was bright and bubbly, about my height, but more curvy, and with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair and vivid blue eyes.

I smiled. “Yes, yes, thanks, thanks and great.” I answered her string of comments that probably didn’t need answering, but I needed someone on my side when confronted by an unfamiliar city and a new job where I knew no one.

“So are you new to Hobart?”

“Yes, I was born and raised on the mainland, the Hunter Valley actually, but I’ve been on a working holiday overseas and only got back two weeks ago. I figured I wasn’t ready to go home just yet and I’d heard Tasmania was a nice place. I thought I’d stay awhile if I can keep a job and find somewhere to live.” My smile was rueful.

“Where are you staying?”

I groaned. “A hotel but I can’t stay there forever. It’s sucking up my savings faster than I can afford. I need to find a house or something where I can share.”

“I live in a house that has a couple more spare rooms.” Chloe said. “My friend Cassie owns the house. It was actually willed to her when her best friend passed away about 6 or 7 months ago. I’ve moved in with her since Cassie enjoys the company but I know she’s after one or two more people to move in. She’s actually coming in tonight to the club. I’ve been pushing her to get out a bit lately. It hit her hard when her friend Allegra died.”

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of Cassie and then Allegra. Bingo. What were the chances? The very person I needed to meet. Cassie was the one I’d been told about that might be able to give me somewhere to live. My clients had given me her name and insisted that I try to get in with her. She had been around the very person I was here to stir up trouble for, so a valuable contact for accommodation and association.

Through her, I should be able to make contact with him, the one I’d heard so much about. He was a complete asshole from what I’d learned, and messing with him, could potentially be fun, well if tossing a few spells in his direction could be classed as messing with him.

“Really I gushed?” Laying it on thick, but I needed to meet this Cassie and try and convince her that having me as a housemate was a good idea.

“Yeah, she’ll be here Sirene. I’ll be sure to point her out when she arrives and introduce you two. It would be kind of cool if we lived in the same house when we work together too. We could car pool?” She said, her face lighting up with excitement and I grinned. Damn, me grin?

Still, Chloe’s bubbly personality was infectious and maybe someone like her would be good for me, bring me out of my shell a bit? Not that I really wanted out of my shell, but I know my more aloof personality made me less open to mixing with others. If I wanted to get a room that wasn’t costing me a fortune anymore like the hotel was, I had to pull my head out of my ass and socialise more, or be more social. Plus being in Cassie’s home would give me a much greater chance of meeting my target. He was known to drop around to the house on occasion apparently.

“Come on then, it’s almost show time.” Chloe said suddenly, and I followed her gaze to where the band was starting to set up. The doors to the area where the live bands performed were still closed, but we could see faces lining up outside them, so it wouldn’t be much longer and I’d be working my first real shift.

“I want five beers, one bourbon and coke, and flash me your tits will ya?” I sighed when the sweating, leering man placed his order.

‘Keep it together Sirene. You can’t turn him into a toad or something.’ I tried to remind myself, struggling to keep the rage building in me, from fully surfacing. Turning the man into a slug would not look good on my resume, I was sure.  

“Will that be all?” I asked him smiling in an attempt to be sweet, but probably looking more like a grinning hyena.

“Aw come on love, show us those gorgeous tits of yours?” The sweating lecher tried again, and I spun away from him, mumbling that I’d be back soon with his order.

When I got to the bar and placed the order, I stood for a moment, my eyes scanning the room and saw Chloe approaching me, with a blonde haired woman by her side.

When they got up to me, despite the noise of the band, Chloe managed to make me understand that the woman with her was Cassie. So this was the woman I needed to get in good with? I studied her for a moment and noticed how haunted her expression was, the sorrow and pain around her eyes.

I could see that the loss of her friend had hit her hard, and I realised I could help her with that, if I could get in with her and make her trust me.

I smiled at her and offered my hand which she took, her answering smile lacking enthusiasm. I shouted back over the noise of the music that I hoped to speak to her, and she dug around in her bag, dragging out a piece of paper where she wrote down her name, address and mobile number for me.

I thanked her and explained that I needed to get back to work and left her and Chloe. When I took the order back to the sweaty lecher, I noticed that Cassie was sitting at a table, alone and seemingly not really all that interested in what was going on around her.  

The next hour or so passed fairly quickly. I managed to serve everyone without messing up or casting some spell on any man who couldn’t keep his hands to himself. So a good night all round.  Cassie was still sitting at the table nursing the same drink she’d started off with and as I worked, I kept one eye on her. That girl wasn’t good. She was depressed, it was obvious and I started mentally going over potential spells I could cast that would make her feel better, maybe even take away her pain completely, since there was no need for her to continue suffering over the loss of her best friend. She was throwing her life away mourning when it wasn’t necessary.

The band announced they were performing their last song and there was a chorus of chants from the crowd for more. While many got up to dance or leave since things were wrapping up, I started clearing glasses from the empty tables and took the last few orders for the evening.

When the music finally finished and people began to leave to head to other parts of the club, those of us working the floor started tidying up.

While I cleaned, I watched Cassie, wondering if she was going to leave or not, as there might still have been a chance of speaking to her about a room, while she was here.

Suddenly two men and a woman walked into the room catching my eye. I watched them as they looked around, their very presence, imposing. Damn, whoever they were, they had sure scored well from the gene pool. Each of them was simply stunning, fucking gorgeous even, and that included the girl with the black hair, black clothing and pale skin that screamed gothic.

I saw the man with dark, dirty blonde hair and strange almost white streaks, glance towards Cassie, and start walking over to her. The others followed him and as I cleaned up, I kept an eye on them as they stopped by Cassie’s table and sat down. It was obvious she knew them, and I tried to gauge her body language to see if she was happy to see them or not. It was hard to tell so I gradually moved closer as I cleaned to see what was going on.

Chloe turned up out of nowhere and took me by surprise when she started dragging me towards Cassie. “Now’s your chance before she goes, to ask her about seeing the room.” She said, with bubbly enthusiasm.

I dug in my heels, literally, reluctant to disturb the little gathering that sat at the table with my potential future landlady. “She’s got company Chloe; maybe we should wait and not disturb her now?” I tried to say but she wouldn’t listen and kept hauling me along towards them.

“It’s ok, they aren’t her friends, that’s just Fabian and his kids. Good looking kids huh? Fabian’s hot too; not sure how he keeps himself looking so young. Seriously, that man does not look old enough to be the father of kids their ages.”

At her description and that name, suddenly I wanted to get to Cassie, and I stopped resisting and allowed myself to be pulled towards the table.

As we approached them, the one with the dark, streaky blonde hair glanced up. When his eyes met mine, I faltered, missing a step and only just saved myself from stumbling and looking like a fool. His eyes were unbelievable. Pale, the first thing that registered was how pale they were.  I thought they were grey, a silvery colour, but as I drew closer, I could see there was a hint of blue in them too.  

I shivered when he pinned me with those strange pale eyes. They were so intense and penetrating, and as he watched me approach, I felt like he could see inside me, that he could see my very soul.

Somehow I broke free of his pale stare and managed to focus on the rest of him. Holy hell, he was gorgeous, more than gorgeous; he was stunning, the hottest thing I think I’d ever laid eyes on. He was the perfect example of sex on fucking legs; in fact he oozed sex from every pore on that gorgeous body.

As I looked at him, I knew I was doomed. How the hell could I do what I had to do to this man; and how the hell was I going to stop myself from tearing my clothes off, and begging him to lay me out on the table and fuck me senseless? It had been over a year since I’d had sex last, and looking at this beautiful but dangerous man, I desperately wished it hadn’t been so long. I should have asked my clients for a photo, so I’d have known what I was letting myself in for. I would have turned the job offer down. I was supposed to hate him and I should hate him. He was an asshole. I just wish he’d have been an unattractive asshole instead of this god like creature who I knew already, was going to be nothing but trouble to me.

Unable to help myself, my eyes moved over the rest of him, or what I could see, that wasn’t obstructed by the table. He was dressed in dark blue jeans, that looked to hug his long legs, a black shirt with the sleeves rolled back, showing off strong forearms. It wasn’t tucked in either, which sent a wave of warmth through me. I don’t know why a good looking man in an untucked shirt excited me so much, but it did.

He was broad through the shoulders, and a part of me longed to see what he would look like under that shirt. My guess was, he’d be well muscled and probably have a six pack.

His hair was long, brushing his shoulders and tied back, giving me an uninterrupted view of his strong jaw with a covering of blonde stubble. Looking at him, I was officially in hell. He was too much, he was beautiful, he was sensory overload and I was cursed obviously.

Reluctantly I pulled my eyes from him to look at the man and the woman that had accompanied him. The ones Chloe said were his children. The man was dark, black hair, brown eyes, olive complexion and the girl was definitely a fan of the gothic look. They were all stunning. Of course I knew as I looked at them that this was no father/children outing. They weren’t his children, any more than he was their father. The only connection they all shared was a blood tie.