I hugged myself with my arms knowing this story was going to go from bad to worse real fast.
“I don’t like where this is goin’,” I mumbled.
Ryder tensed as he continued telling me what happened.
“Trent snapped, too, and he threw my father’s betrayal in Damien’s face, and he said he deserved what he got. As you can imagine, fighting ensued. Damien can handle himself very well, but Dominic lost it when he saw Trent hit him. As brothers, we’re very close, but naturally Dominic and Damien’s bond is unbreakable, and Dominic beat the shit out of Trent for laying a hand on him. The beating prompted Trent to pull out a gun he stole from his uncle, and he trained it on Damien.”
I gasped so Ryder reached over, took my hands back in his and stroked his thumb over my knuckles, which instantly relaxed me.
“Nala came to Damien’s rescue, she jumped on Trent’s back and knocked the gun from his hand. Damien picked up the gun and pointed it at Trent when he had already pushed Nala away. My brother ignored Dominic’s pleas for him to put the gun down, he focused on Trent and when that little prick brought our father back up, Damien didn’t hesitate. He shot him.”
My eyes almost popped out of my head.
“Damien shot someone?” I asked, my shock evident.
“Yes,” Ryder said as he watched my face as if trying to grasp what I was thinking.
I knew, again, he wouldn’t be able to guess what was going through my mind, because I still had no idea what to think. The information he just fed to me seemed too impossible to be real. I knew Damien, and he was sweet, caring, and his only bad trait was his womanising. He never ever came across as the kind of person who could shoot another human being.
“What happened then?” I hesitantly asked.
Ryder cringed. “A lot of bad shit.”
“I’m listenin’.”
“You’re so persistent,” he mumbled.
I shrugged. “If I’m goin’ to be with you, I need to know all of this. I can’t be with you and be blind to your history.”
Ryder gave me one sharp nod before he said, “Trent died.”
Oh, my God.
“And Marco was pissed. He wasn’t sad that his nephew was dead, just pissed off because it was a mess he had to clean up.”
I felt my insides churn.
“The heartless fuckin’ bastard.”
Ryder sadistically grinned. “Yeah, that describes Marco perfectly.”
“What did he do to Damien?” I asked, almost scared to know the answer.
“Nothing,” Ryder said firmly. “I made sure of that, and so did my brothers’.”
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, and Ryder saw this.
“Marco knew I was planning on moving my family out of the compound and away from the life we had been living. Once my parents were gone, there was nothing keeping us there. Once Damien killed Trent that changed. Marco gave us an ultimatum, either Damien died in payment for Trent’s murder, or we worked off the debt.”
I blinked. “A life debt?”
Ryder nodded. “Marco sorted us into different jobs based on our individual skill set.”
I stared at him in horror. “This sounds unreal.”
“Trust me, darling, it’s more real than you can ever imagine.”
I moved closer to him and gripped his hands more firmly, letting him know that I was there for him if he needed me.
Ryder gave my hands a reassuring squeeze then said, “My attentiveness, and knack of moving around unnoticed, pushed me into drugs and weapons. It turns out I am very good at moving shipments and making deals for Marco. Kane became his enforcer, Dominic his fighter, and Alec his… buffer.”
“His buffer?” I questioned, my mind reeling.
Ryder laughed a little then. “Alec, as you know, is very friendly. With both sexes.”
He flicked his eyes to mine and waited for a reaction from me, and he raised his brows when he got one.
I laughed. “If you’re tryin’ to tell me he is bi-sexual, you don’t have to, I already know. I saw him kiss a lad, and a girl, a few weeks ago in Darkness, and he constantly goes on about attractive male and female celebrities. It wasn’t as if he was tryin’ to hide that he bats for both teams.”
Ryder smiled wide at me. “It doesn’t bother you then?”
I cocked a brow. “Why would it bother me?”
“Because some people aren’t accepting of it.”
“I’m not some people.”
“Yeah,” he murmured. “You’re pretty incredible.”
I grinned. “Nice try, but finish what you were sayin’ before you seduce me.”
Ryder’s smile faltered. “Yeah, okay, so Alec is basically an escort to anyone Marco gives him to.”
Anger surged through me.
I growled. “He isn’t a piece of fuckin’ meat!”
“To Marco he is, to Marco we all are.”
That infuriated me.
“So you all work these jobs to keep Damien safe, what does he do?”
“Nothing,” Ryder instantly replied. “It was part of the agreement that he doesn’t have a job.”