I gripped the railing and couldn’t deny it. It was a strange feeling to be at a fight and not be the one in the middle of the square ready to unleash hell on someone.
“Look,” I said. “You don’t want Aldo and his guys to come through here.”
“If he wanted it that bad, he’d be here already.”
“Trust me, you don’t want him here,” I said. “I don’t even know if I’m supposed to be here. Name your price. You want me to get down there and throw some punches? I’ll do it.”
“What’s the kid mean to you?” Dmitry asked.
“Nothing. I’ve never met her. But those close to me… she’s everything. I won’t leave without her. Unless you just want to kill me.”
Dmitry shrugged his shoulders. He took out a gun and pointed it at my chest. He pushed at me, but I refused to move.
“Is that even loaded?” I asked.
Dmitry lifted the gun and pulled the trigger. The gunshot rang out. My heart instantly began to race. He put the gun back to my chest.
“You don’t know what you stepped into here,” Dmitry said. “I’m only keeping you alive to see how far I could drag this out.”
“Drag what out?”
Dmitry grinned. “See, it was pretty easy for me once I figured out what Endo was doing. He was a real piece of shit, Tripp. Everything was a backdoor deal with him. He fucked everyone possible. Including Winter.”
I felt hot jealousy surge through my veins. I gritted my teeth and told myself to keep my mouth shut. Dmitry wanted to get a rise out of me. He wanted me to fuck up. He wanted to kill me. But I knew he couldn’t do it. He didn’t want to start the war with Aldo and the family.
“Endo needed help to keep everything nice and quiet. He’d been a client of mine for a long time. It was actually very interesting, you know? To have this high profile guy wanting to slum around here. Wanting to pay fifty bucks to fuck some woman. Dropping a couple hundred on some blow. I knew he must have had a way to get better stuff. But he didn’t. He liked it here. Then he fucked up and got Winter pregnant. So I helped him. In return? I got money and power, Tripp.”
“That’s why you have her?” I asked.
“Exactly,” Dmitry said. “Exactly. See, having Autumn and Andrea gave me more power than I could have imagined. If I needed something done, I called Endo. If he dared to resist…”
“You threatened to kill his kid?”
“No,” Dmitry said. “Endo wanted them dead. I refused. They were worth more alive. Bargaining chips for me. Get it?”
I was shaking now. I knew Endo was a bad guy, but this was something different. He wanted his own child murdered. And that was after he forced Winter to give that child up.
“I promise you,” Dmitry said. “I’ve taken care of Andrea and Autumn. In fact, if Andrea could have lost about ten pounds, gotten better tits, I might have made a run at her.”
“You’re an asshole,” I said. “If you’re not going to fucking shoot me, then get out of my way. I don’t care who you are. Or what you do. I’ll find Autumn and I’ll save her.”
I grabbed the gun and twisted it out of Dmitry’s hand. I tucked it behind me. I put my hand out and shoved Dmitry out of the way.
Autumn had to be close. If she wasn’t, then maybe it was time for Aldo to actually take a stand. I could only do so much right now. My mind cared about finding Autumn, yeah, but my heart and soul focused on Winter.
“Oh, Tripp?”
I stopped and looked back. “What?”
“Don’t go too far. I have a fight for you.”
“Fuck off.”
“You’re going to want to see the prize.”
“The prize?”
Dmitry grinned.
I had enough. I spun and charged at him. As I ran, I saw two more bodyguards appear. We were in a mad dash to see who could get to Dmitry first.
I won and had him by the shirt. I put him against the railing and had him dangling over it a second later. Below us, another fight had started, two thicker guys without shirts on. They had beards, beer bellies, and were throwing wild punches at each other.
“Try me,” I growled. “I’m not afraid of you. Or Skull X. I’m not even afraid of dying.”
“Your prize is Winter,” Dmitry said.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Dmitry turned his head. I looked where he was looking.
And there was Winter, wrists taped together, in front of her body.
I put Dmitry back to his feet.
Winter looked up at me.
I was too distracted to hear anything Dmitry was saying.
And I was too distracted to realize the two bodyguards each had a set of knuckles on… at least not until they swung at me…
~
“We have something really special for you motherfuckers out there!” a voice boomed.
I sat against a wall, touching my ribs. There was definitely at least one rib broken, probably more. At least the bodyguards spared my face this time.
It was a narrow corridor out to the square. The people were cheering, ready to see some bloodshed.
And I was the one who had to do it. I now had to fight to save Winter. If I didn’t, Dmitry was going to keep her and offer her to his guys as a reward. My mind suddenly thought about all the shit Stoney had said. All the shit Skull X would do to her… keep her alive… keep using her…