Luke grinned. “The dealers, Rose. I’ll take control of the city, and then I’ll take control of the drugs. I control the fights too. Everything becomes mine.” He stepped toward me. He now lovingly stroked my cheek. It made me cringe with sickness. “So your death is a beautiful thing. I just need to set it all up.” A knock sounded at the door. “Oh, there’s my help now.”
My stomach did a back flip. Luke opened the door a little and I heard a voice say, “He’s alive.”
I smiled.
Wes? Alive?
“Who is?” Luke asked.
“Fucking Aton. He survived. He’s making requests…”
“Motherfucker,” Luke growled. “What about Wes?”
“He ran right to Aton. They made an offer…”
Wes was alive?
I bounced in the chair, making it move.
Who was at the door?
How did he know so much?
I bounced again and again.
Luke then tore the door open and spun to face me.
“New plan,” he announced.
Then he cracked his knuckles.
But I wasn’t focused on Luke. I was focused on the guy in the doorway. I’d seen the guy before. With Wes. With Aton. With Tommy.
It was Aton’s other guy… it was Danny.
38.
(Wes)
Aton had a cane and gritted his teeth as he sat down in his chair. I couldn’t believe he was awake, talking, walking, and that he was out of the hospital so fast. There were nurses in the office, along with a slew of medical equipment. He had two doctors on call for any complications, but right now, it was back to business.
He held the handle of the cane and stared across the desk at me. “Poor Tommy.”
“I agree,” I said. “I’m so sorry, Aton. For everything…”
“I sent Danny to retrieve the body. We’ll properly send him off.”
“You have to let me do this,” I said. “I have to find her. I have to kill him. I…”
“Your wife,” Aton whispered.
I tried to keep my face straight. “Yes. And her brother killed my brother.”
“The Assassin,” Aton said. “I know. I’ve tried to protect you, Wes. From everything. I was there, Wes. I stood there and watched you…” Aton shook his head. “I saw the whole fight. How bad it got. How fast it all happened. By the time Luke was taken away… Christ, Wes, you were on your hands and knees, holding Shane’s head. He was gone. Then you stood up and you touched me. You grabbed for me. It was like you needed me, Wes. I almost…” Aton laughed, coughed, blinked fast. “For a second it was like a son reaching for his father. You smeared Shane’s blood and brain on my sleeves. I’ll never forget that. That’s when you became Wes. When you became the fighter. If I kept your anger contained to the fights, you were okay. You were okay.”
“This is more than that,” I said. “He has Rose. He’s going to hurt her. He’s manipulated everything. You wanted to kill Rose!”
Aton put a hand up. “This is deep family business, Wes. Your blood…”
I stood up. “Fuck my blood. I’m tired of hearing that. This is my… this is the woman I love. She’s all I have. All I love. I’m not going to lose her like I lost Shane. I don’t give a damn what you say, Aton.”
I turned and walked to the door.
“Wes,” Aton called out. “Look at me.”
I looked back. “What?”
“You never let me finish. I tried to protect you from it for years. I should have known your paths would cross. And of course you and Rose would end up together. You were raised in this life. You understand it. Normally I’d plan out a long fight. But this is different. This is the only way to end it, Wes. You and Luke.”
“What are you saying?”
“You’re going to fight him. You’re going to fight the Assassin. The man who killed your brother. And you’re going to kill him, Wes. Because he tried to kill me. I can’t promise anything for your sweet Rose. She’s a pawn right now.”
“He agreed to this?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“What’s his stipulation?”
“If he beats you… well… he’s going to try to kill you, Wes. And if that happens, Rose is dead. I’m dead. He’s going to take over everything.”
I was like a block of ice.
This wasn’t just a revenge fight. This wasn’t even a fight to save Rose. It was my chance to avenge Shane’s death and find peace.
I had to kill him… I had to kill the Assassin.
~
I bit at the tape and ripped it. The roll fell to the floor and rolled. A cane came down and stopped it.
“Are you supposed to be here?” I asked.
“No,” Aton said as he labored a breath. “But I have to be here. I have to witness this. I have to…”
“Bets are being taken?”
“Of course,” Aton said with a sly grin. “This is business.”
“How’s the money looking?”
“You want to know who’s betting you or him?”
I didn’t respond. I fixed the tape on my wrists and stood up. I ran both hands through my hair and then walked to a wall. I started to throw punches, warming up.
“Wes, I have the faith…”
“Aton,” I said and stopped. “I can’t hear anything else right now.”
“Okay. Good luck.”
Good luck.
This wasn’t about luck. Or faith. Or even skill. This was about will. This was about aggression. This was about anger.
I looked down at my hands. I thought about the night I looked down at my hands and saw my brother’s blood dripping from them.
Will, aggression, anger.
That wasn’t a problem for me.
“Hey,” a voice said, and then there was a knock on the wall. “It’s time to go, fighter.”
39.
(Rose)