“No,” Knox said. “Stop being a fuck head, Slam. Ace has a hearing tomorrow and you’re going to get out on good behavior and the charges will be dropped. In exchange you just keep your nose clean for a little while. I’m tired of my boys sitting in cells in this fucking place.”
I stared down Knox. I wasn’t against taking a swing at him. Fuck his VP patch. Fuck Matteo too. Fuck everything. All because of a botched run, I was stuck in this fucking hell hole. All because of some asshole Chief that wanted my ass. That’s what it was. He singled me out, thinking he was taking the muscle off the streets.
“Just sign the papers, brother,” Knox said. “Don’t make me bring Uncle Jakey down here. He’ll cut off your protection. You’ve done enough time. You’ve learned your lesson. You’re going to be a stellar man in society.”
Knox grinned.
Matteo snorted.
“Yeah right,” Ace said.
I looked at the lawyer. He looked like a weasel.
“Something funny?” I asked him.
He stood up. “Look, I don’t give a shit about you, Spencer.”
I gritted my teeth. Nobody dared to use my real fucking name. Ever.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Ace said. “Spencer. I’ve got your entire file. I got paid already. I’m here to finish this up and move on. Take this deal, okay? Get the hell out of here.”
“We need you,” Knox said. “The clubhouse isn’t the same without you there.”
“And I’m supposed to just sit there and do nothing,” I said.
“Exactly,” Ace said. “I’m going to finalize this deal and walk away right now. Whatever is said when I’m gone I can’t be held responsible for.”
I signed whatever the fuck Ace needed me to sign.
He left the room and Knox walked around the table and hugged me. I hugged him back.
“I’m sorry this happened,” he said to me. “It was a fucked up job and a cash grab. I should have never brought it to the table and we should have never voted it in.”
“We all did,” I said. “Including me. Chief Richards wanted my dick in his hand. That was the set up.”
“Agreed,” Matteo said. “He’s still lingering around. But not as much.”
“I’m going to get him back for this,” I said.
“Slam, you have to take it easy,” Knox said. “You get popped again and it could be a long term sentence. This is your one and only get out of jail free type of thing. Don’t fuck this up.”
“Knox, I’m looking at you as your brother here. We wear the cut. We are the Reap. I don’t bullshit. I’m going to get him back.”
Knox shook his head and backed away. He knocked on the table a few times. “We still need your vote. You can do it in person this time. We’re going after who set all this up. We have names.”
“And I can’t do a thing?” I asked.
“Not a thing,” Matteo said.
“Except get yourself dressed the right way,” Knox said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“The paperwork was filed days ago. The second Ace sends the signatures over, you’re out. We’ll be out front waiting for you.”
They walked out of the room and I stood there alone.
I was going to be a free man, but not as free as I had hoped.
Like I gave a damn, right?
I would keep to my word.
I was going to get revenge on the man who put me in prison.
three
(belle)
NOW
It was another typical party kind of thing. We were too old for this kind of thing but it happened more than it really should have. All the women stood in the living room while the guys hung around the table, playing cards and smoking cigars. Some of us had boyfriends, the rest were single and everyone was there to be set up with someone.
Yeah, fine, maybe six years ago it was fun to do. And maybe I should have just let things happen back then so they weren’t so awkward now.
I felt Megan tug on my arm, almost spilling my warm drink.
“I still can’t believe it,” she said, her words slurring. “Not even a little bit?”
“A little bit?” I asked.
“You know, like the tip of it. Just, like, touching it. Like a little boop on your vagina.”
I laughed and said, “Don’t say vagina. And, no, there’s never been a boop down there.”
I had become some kind of circus freak to all my so-called friends because I was still a virgin. Granted, being closer to thirty than twenty made it seem weird, but it was just something that never happened. There were plenty of chances, I just never took them. I had done plenty in my life, but when your father is the chief of police, it’s hard to really get away with much. Not to mention when you’re an only child and your mother was murdered when you were young, it sort of sets the pace that you’d be over protected.
My father had no problem with having his guys follow me. He had no worries against busting into anyone’s house, at any time, to see what was going on. One time when I was studying with a guy friend, we got a little flirty and kissed. You know, a typical awkward high school kind of kiss. Our tongues touched, were sloppy, breathing heavy because we were both so nervous. He reached across the table and touched my breast and then there was a heavy thud against the backdoor.
One of my father’s guys was there, claiming to be checking on a call of a gas smell.