Chapter 9

Ash and Jo got to the doorstep of a bungalow. Ash knocked on the door and they waited for a response.

Jo took that time to scrutinize the house. Although it had seen better days, it was cleaner and sturdier than other houses in the neighborhood. Their lawn was freshly mown too. Jo nodded, anyone who'd try to preserve their house as well as they could despite living in such a dismal place, was commendable.

The door opened, and a matronly woman wearing an apron opened the door.

When she saw Ash, she looked happy. Upon seeing the bruises on his face, her happiness turned to alarm, "Good God! What happened to you, Ash?" she asked as she let them in, she gave Jo the once over and obviously decided Ash's injuries were in need of very urgent attention, because she didn't say anything to Jo.

"Some thugs came after us. I know you've seen the bounty on our heads." Ash said, as without waiting for an invitation, he plopped onto one of the threadbare armchairs in the sitting room.

"I did," the woman said, "although I know you could never kill a cop." Left unspoken was that she couldn't vouch for Jo too.

Ash noticed the woman was uncomfortable with having a virtual stranger in her house, and sought to mitigate her discomfort by delivering an introduction, "Masha, this is Jo. Jo this is Masha. Don't worry, she didn't kill the cop too. The last thing I'd do is bring a cop killer into your house."

After Ash had vouched for Jo, Masha smiled at her and welcomed her. It seemed anyone who was okay to Ash, was okay to her.

"I was in the kitchen preparing some pasta before you two arrived. Why don't I lead you to the guest room so you can rest?" Masha asked.

Jo was alarmed at the prospect of staying cooped up in a room with Ash, but she didn't voice any complaints because she didn't want to sound ungrateful.

She held out her hand and helped Ash up. Ash grasped her hand, and it shocked Jo when she felt a tingle at the contact. She quickly withdrew her hand and clasped it behind her. She was a gang leader. Gang leaders didn't do tingles, those were better suited for Mills and Boons romance heroines. Not that she'd know, she didn't spend much time reading.

Masha led the way to the guest room, which looked like every other place in the house, well-used but still neat.

Jo knew the room would be small, but it was still smaller than she expected. The room was fit for a child, with a single bed in a corner.

"If you need anything, just call my name," Masha said as she left, "I'll be in the kitchen."

Jo watched as Ash settled on the bed with some difficulty. She remembered the beating he'd taken earlier in the day, and her heart went out to him.

She walked over to him and said, "Remove your shirt."

Ash cocked his eyebrow and grinned up at her, "Have you come to take advantage of me in my weakened state?"

Jo inwardly counted to ten to keep her temper in check. When her anger simmered down, she said, "If we're doing this together, I'll have to ascertain how bad your injuries are."

"Or maybe you want to ogle my banging body." Ash waggled his eyebrows at her and smirked. Jo had to admit to herself that the mischief in his eyes was sexy to her.

"Don't you mean your scrawny body?" Jo asked, tired of his smartass quips.

"Noooo! My ego has taken such a battering. I think I'll keep my shirt on." Ash said, combing his hair out of his eyes.

Jo smiled as she figured out why Ash was behaving like a jerk. For some reason, he didn't want her to see his bare torso. She wondered why.

"Ash, this isn't the time for jokes. If you really want us to find out who framed us and get our former lives back, then you'll allow me to check your wounds." Jo said sternly.

"Since when did you become a doctor?" Ash asked grumpily.

"My friend Sia runs a charity clinic. Like all charity clinics here in Ganghaven, it's understaffed and overpopulated. Sometimes, I volunteer to assist her take care of her patients." Jo said wistfully, already missing Andrea and Sia.

Ash sighed in resignation before he finally pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on the bed beside him.

Jo's eyes widened, not at the huge and angry bruises on his side, but at something else. Something unusual.

She frowned and looked him in the eye, asking "Why do you not have any tats?"

* * *

Bingo! There it was, thought Ash resignedly. He hadn't wanted Jo to see him without his shirt on, because he knew she was going to ask him why he had no tats.

Anyone and everyone in Ganghaven knew that gangsters, no matter their ranks had tattoos. In fact, the more important one became, the more tattoos he was expected to have.

And here he was, the leader of one of the most feared gangs in Ganghaven, and he didn't have one tattoo on him, not even a temporary one.

"I'm allergic to tattoo ink." He shrugged.

"Mhm-hmm," Jo said disbelievingly, but she didn't pursue the subject.

"Keep your arms away from your sides," Jo ordered with a stern look on her face.

Ash couldn't reconcile the woman who'd kissed him passionately in the alley with this general dishing out orders.

He did as Jo asked, and with infinite care she pressed her fingers to his bruised side.

Ash's breath hitched and came out in a woosh.

"I'm sorry. Does it hurt much?" Jo asked, her forehead furrowing with concern.

Ash shook his head, "Not much." Of course, she thought he'd reacted that way because of the pain when in an actuality, he was reacting to her.

Her touch had brought back intimate memories of their kiss, not that he'd forgotten about it at all.

Jo kept running her fingers over the welts on his skin and Ash groaned inwardly. His dick became as erect as a flagpole in his pants. He crossed one leg over the other and shifted uncomfortably to hide his condition from her.

"Does it hurt when you breathe?" Jo asked.

"No. Not really." Ash replied.

Jo nodded, "That's good then. I'd say you've bruised your ribs. It's definitely better than having them broken, but you still have to be careful so that it heals fast."

As she was about to stand up when Ash held her hand, "Thank you, for tending to me."

Their gazes collided and Jo felt the heat in Ash's gaze all the way to her core. Again, a tingly feeling settled there.

Kiss him! Kiss him! Kiss him! An inner voice chanted to Jo, but for the life of her, she couldn't break the spell of his gaze, even to kiss him.

Ash was about to lean in and take Jo's sweet lips when Masha burst in, "My boys are home and food's ready. Come to the kitchen and eat."

Ash and Jo jerked apart as though they'd been shot at.

Masha was oblivious to what she'd interrupted, and led them to her kitchen with pride, humming happily under her breath.

The kitchen was small but cozy and when they entered, two males were already seated at the table awaiting their own share of food.

"Umberto, David, how do you do?" Ash asked as he sat down.

Umberto, who was Masha's husband replied, "Very well, Ash. Too bad I can't say the same for you."

"Umberto!" Masha admonished as she dished out spicy hot pasta on various plates, "Don't be rude to our guest."

"What can I say? I'm brutally honest. Who is this woman with you?" Umberto asked Ash, as he smiled at Jo.

"Is she your shawty?" Their teenage son, David spoke up.

"No. I'm not his 'shawty'." Jo said indignantly before Ash could reply.

Masha brought the plates filled with spaghetti, tomato sauce and huge meatballs to the table.

Jo and Ash mumbled awkwardly along with the family as they said the grace and after that, they all descended on their food.

After a few minutes, Ash cleared his plate and asked for a second helping.

While waiting for Masha to replenish his food, he noticed that the usually chatty David looked sullen and withdrawn, answering any question thrown at him with monosyllabic words.

"David, what's up with you?" Ash asked, trying to cheer the boy up.

"Nothing." David mumbled without looking up from his plate.

"Don't mind him," Umberto said to Ash, "he wants a new phone but he isn't going to get one. Not now anyway."

David dropped his fork angrily and it clattered on his plate, "But why, dad?" he asked, his eyes glittering, "my phone model is obsolete. Can't even take it out with me anymore 'cause my peeps will laugh at me. I'm practically the only person in the hood using that stupid old model."

All traces of amusement left Umberto's face as he addressed David, "young man! There's nothing wrong with your phone. I just got it for you last year. Until that phone develops a fault, you'll use it."

David, who didn't like his father's statement pushed his chair back, got up and angrily walked away, ignoring his mother's pleas for him to finish his food.

Jo and Ash felt embarrassed, having witnessed what was supposed to be a private family spat, but Umberto smiled at them, "Teenagers." He said to explain David's rude attitude.

"I know right?" Jo said with a mouth full of pasta. She knew she wasn't supposed to be eating with such gusto after what had transpired in the kitchen, but she was too hungry to care.

Ash accepted his second helping with glee and ate voraciously while their hosts stared at them with satisfaction, as if Jo and Ash were their children.

When they finished eating, they volunteered to do the dishes together, but Ash ended up doing them all because Jo asked for a bath and escaped before he could protest.

* * *

Jo sighed in the content. The hot water had felt good on her body. After her shower, she was about to get into Rex's hoodie when Masha walked into the room.

"You can't wear that to sleep, the weather's too hot for that." She said, taking the piece of clothing from Jo.

"But I've got nothing to wear." Jo protested.

"I may have something for you." Masha said as she pulled out a ratty suitcase from a corner of the guest room and began to go through it.

"Aha!" She exclaimed when she found what she was looking for. She pulled it out and held it up for Jo to see.

Jo felt herself redden at the scrap of clothing that was supposed to be a nightie. She shook her head vehemently, "I'm sorry, Masha but I can't wear that."

"Oh! Oops! I forgot you're sharing the room with Ash. Don't want him having the wrong idea." Masha said as she crumpled the nightie into a ball and resumed her search.

After a while, she found a comfortable pair of pajamas and gave them to Jo who collected them with gratitude, "Thank you, Masha."

"Any time." Masha smiled and left.

Jo wore the pajamas and settled on the tiny bed, thinking about how they'd share it. Obviously, it was too small for the both of them to fit comfortably.

Her breath caught when she saw Ash appear in the doorway, shirtless.

His hair was still damp from the shower he'd taken, water droplets clung to his bare body.

Jo stared at his chest and hoped she wasn't drooling. Even if she was, nobody could blame her. Although she'd called Ash's body scrawny earlier, it was anything but. His chest and pecs were clearly delineated and his pants hung low on his hips, missing the indecent mark by just a hair.

He looked at her, and immediately she averted her gaze.

When he approached her, she inhaled deeply and regretted it. The air was filled with his scent. Not the scent of the soap, they'd shared the same soap. No, this was different. This was the scent of the man.

He sat next to her on the bed and fixed a smile on her, "So, how are we going to share the bed?"

Jo felt herself get wet and groaned inwardly at the wonder his voice was working on her body.

* * *

Ash groaned inwardly as he settled on the floor next to Jo. They'd had an argument over who was supposed to take the bed which came to a stalemate. After that, they both agreed to take the floor instead.

His cold shower hadn't helped matters. His dick was still as erect as it had been earlier on. What would help matters was if he stopped stealing glances at the outline of her nipples under the huge pajamas she wore, but he couldn't look away.

She reached for her phone and Ash looked at her, "What are you trying to do?"

"I need to listen to music. I rarely fall asleep without music lulling me to." Jo replied.

"Me too. I guess we have some things in common." Ash said as he put his hand behind his head.

"I doubt that." Jo said as she played a track.

Ash winced. The song was raucous, with a loud and discordant beat and a shouting rapper.

Ash took the phone from her, "Really? How is this supposed to help you sleep?" He squinted at the phone, "Who the hell is Lil Pimp?"

Jo laughed, "It's Lil Pump not Lil Pimp, you idiot."

"Whatever. The song still isn't up to snuff. Let me play real music." Ash said and changed the track.

Jo frowned as some old music without any singing filled the room, "Boring! How can you listen to this! No one's singing."

"That's because it's a ballet piece. Nobody's supposed to sing. And it isn't just any ballet, it's Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky." Ash explained.

"Do you actually like anything from this century?" Jo asked.

"Yes." Ash nodded, "I find Hans Zimmer's compositions irresistible."

Jo groaned, "We do have nothing in common."

Ash chuckled, "I'm sure there things we like. Okay, what's your favorite food?"

"My mother's apple pie." Jo replied without pause, "You?"

"Roast lamb chops with Greek yogurt." Ash replied with longing.

Jo gave him a sharp look, "Ok. What are your hobbies?"

"Listening to classical music and going to the opera. I can't remember the last time I saw Carmen." Ash replied, and saw the look Jo shot him.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"For someone who lives in Ganghaven, you sure do have Gulden tastes." Jo replied.

Her words brought a change to Ash's demeanor. His expression became blank, but Jo heard the tightness in his voice when he said, "Good night." And turned the other way to sleep, leaving Jo to wonder what she'd said to trigger the change in him.