Fight for You: A Second Chance Romance (A Warrior for Her Book 1)

by Ayden K. Morgen

  I hop in my car and start driving around to all the places Titan could be hiding out. My stomach sinks when I see that someone from our crew spray painted Kratos, a Greek word for strength, across a street sign at the end of the block, claiming this territory as ours. Seeing it there has me clenching my jaw as anger courses through me. We don't deface or vandalize our property to declare it ours. This area is ours to protect, not to destroy.

  Whoever did it will be cleaning that shit up as soon as I find out who it was.

  It takes half an hour to check all of Titan's usual haunts, but he's nowhere to be found.

  Concern whispers through me.

  What is he doing?

  I grit my teeth and start toward Kaleo's territory, ice growing in my veins the closer I get. I tell myself over and over there's no way he'd be over here. He hates Kaleo as much as I do.

  "Fuck me," I whisper when I get to Kaleo's street and see Titan's car parked on the curb. I pound my fist on the steering wheel, equal parts pissed off and disappointed. My best friend is running around with Curtis Kaleo.

  That's why the son of a bitch hasn't retaliated. Titan sold himself to the bastard to keep him away from me and January.

  Why didn't I see it before now?

  Titan's been distant and moody. He's rarely ever home. When he is, he'll barely acknowledge me or January. He damn sure doesn't tell us what he's doing these days or who he's with when he does it. Even when I ask outright what's going on, he tells me that he's handling it and to worry about January.

  He didn't want me to know that he took care of the problem I created by sacrificing himself to Kaleo.

  I press the palm of my hand over my heart, trying to rub away the way it aches, but it's no use. Titan's running around with the son of a bitch who made our lives miserable for years…and it's my fault. I shouldn't have gone after him when Tony attacked January. Hell, that's not even the first time I've started shit with him. I've been doing it for years, pushing his buttons to keep him off my back.

  I park down the block and watch the house, my chest hurting and my throat tight. When January texts me to ask where I'm at a few minutes later, I tell her that I'm running late, but I'll be there soon.

  Fifteen minutes later, Titan and Kaleo step outside.

  Titan has his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. He looks pissed to be anywhere near the fucker who's been trying to wedge his way into our block for the last six years. But he stands there and listens as Kaleo talks. He towers over the smaller man and could easily take him, but he doesn't even try.

  Kaleo slaps him on the back a couple minutes later. Titan stalks to his car and hops in.

  I contemplate driving away, but I can't do it. Instead, I wait until Titan pulls off and then I follow behind him. Kaleo's already gone back inside, so I'm not worried about him seeing me driving by his place. I'm not sure I even care if he does see me.

  Titan takes a left at the end of the block, headed toward the high school.

  "What are you doing?" I mutter under my breath, watching as he pulls into the school parking lot and then circles around to the football field.

  He parks in an empty space.

  I hang back, trying to keep hidden behind a couple of cars parked beside the gym.

  Titan stays in the car. A few minutes later, a kid dressed in football gear comes jogging up. He leans on the side of the car and glances around before pulling a wad of cash out of his pocket. He holds it out for Titan, who takes it and hands him a little baggie.

  The kid looks at it, grins, and then waves before jogging back the way he came.

  A couple seconds later, Titan pulls off, headed away from the school.

  I don't follow him this time. There's no point. I've seen more than enough to know what I've been missing for the last year. Titan is dealing for Kaleo.

  I feel like I'm going to throw up, but I don't. Instead, I do the only thing I know how to do…I go back to my girl.

  I'm waiting on the front porch when Titan gets home a couple hours later. January and Jana are in bed for the night. I told January I was going next door to Ma Rose's to crash. I've been out here since, waiting for her brother to get home. I still don't know what to say to him.

  "You sleeping on the doorstep now?" he asks when he sees me sitting on his front porch.

  "You're dealing for Kaleo."

  His body goes rigid, his jaw clenching. He doesn't deny it though.

  "What the fuck, Titan?" I growl, pissed he's not even going to respond. Pissed he's doing this in the first place. It would kill January and their mom to know he's selling dope to kids at the high school.

  "Mind your business," he growls right back at me. "I told you I'd handle shit. I'm handling it."

  "By slinging dope for him?" I shake my head, acid burning up my throat. "That's fucked up. You aren't like Kaleo, man. You shouldn't be doing this shit."

  Titan laughs, the sound bitter and mocking. "Wake the fuck up, Kincaid. I've always been more like Kaleo than you. The only reason I was never part of his crew was because of you. Because you convinced me there was a better way to keep January safe. We made it work for as long as we could, but shit isn't that simple anymore."

  "One of his boys tried to rape her," I snap, pushing myself to my feet. "You forgetting about that? You really going to stand there and tell me you're cool working with the bastard when your little sister still has nightmares about that shit?"

  Titan flinches, but doesn't back down. "Kaleo didn't know Tony was going to do that. He was just trying to push your buttons. But I put a stop to all that."

  "By selling yourself to him!"

  "So what? What's it matter to you? You're not even going to be around once you graduate. You'll take January and get the fuck out of here. I'm doing what I have to do to keep her safe until that happens. I don't need your support or blessing. I never asked for it."

  "How do you think she's going to feel if she finds out about this, huh? You think she's going to feel safe knowing her brother is dealing at her school? Or that she's going to be cool with the fact that you're running around with Curtis Kaleo, doing his bidding so she has a shot of getting out of here unscathed?"

  "Doesn't matter," he mumbles. "You aren't going to tell her."

  "Don't bet on that."

  "You also going to tell her you attacked Kaleo on his own turf? That he was going to tear this block apart to retaliate but I stopped it? You going to tell her the only reason she's been safe for the last year is because I fixed what you broke?"

  My stomach sinks because he's right. This is my fault. "I never meant for this to happen."

  "Yeah, well, it did," he says, looking at me like he actually pities me. "I'm doing what I have to do to get her out of here in one piece. If bowing to Kaleo means I accomplish that, then that's what I'm going to do. You don't have to like it. Truthfully, I don't care if you do or not."

  "I'll take care of it," I tell him.

  "You're not getting it," he says. "I've already taken care of it. He isn't going to send anyone else after her or after you. And you aren't going to say a fucking word to her. As far as she's ever going to know, he backed off because he felt bad about what happened with Tony."

  "So that's it, huh? You make all the choices now and we're just supposed to fall in line?"

  He shrugs. "What did you think was going to happen when you went off to college? You're barely around anymore. When you are, you're with January. Someone had to step in and call the shots. And hate to point out the fucking obvious, but I'm doing a hell of a lot better job of keeping him off this block than you ever did."

  "And all you had to do to accomplish it was give him exactly what he wanted all along," I snap, clenching my hands into fists to keep from taking a swing at him. "The only reason we ever started this shit was to keep January safe and keep ourselves out of his clutches."

  "I did what I had to do. Deal with it."

  "You do this, we're done," I warn him. There's not much I woul
dn't do for Titan, but watching him ruin his life messing around with Kaleo is where I draw the line. Nothing good will come of that. He knows it just as well as I do. Maybe he's destined to live in this neighborhood for the rest of his life like he seems to think, but that doesn't mean he's destined to turn into another Kaleo. If that's the choice he's hell-bent on making, I'm not going to stand around and watch him do it.

  He stops with his hand on the doorknob and then shakes his head. "You do what you have to do, Kincaid."

  "You'd seriously choose him over our friendship?" I ask, though I'm not surprised. He's been pushing me away for so long now, I'm not sure anything would surprise me anymore. But I never thought I'd see the day he chose Curtis Kaleo over me. I thought our friendship still meant something to him. Maybe that's where I fucked up though. I thought he valued our friendship as much as I do, that I was family to him too. Guess that's not how this shit works anymore.

  "Wake up, man," he says softly. "I already chose him. You're just too fucking stubborn to see it."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Michael

  Present Day

  Dante Griggs is as much of a prick now as he was when we were kids. He hasn't changed at all. If anything, he's gotten worse. I'm not sure if his nickname, Dirty D, comes from the fact that he's an underhanded son of a bitch, or from the fact that his breath smells like someone took a shit in his mouth. For someone who went to such lengths to have diamonds embedded in his front teeth, he doesn't do much to make them shine. His mouth probably hasn't seen a toothbrush since Bush was in office.

  "You always were a snitchin' ass motherfucker," he sneers as I shove him into the back of an LAPD squad car.

  "And you always talked too goddamn much for someone with stank ass breath," I shoot back, banging his head against the door.

  He swears loudly and then ducks.

  I give him a shove, making him pitch forward into the backseat.

  He curses me again and shimmies his way into a sitting position. He shoots me a glare, but I just waggle my fingers at him, flip him off, and then slam the door closed, not in the mood to have him breathing his funky ass breath all over me any longer.

  Once he's situated in his ride to the jail, I glance up to find Officer Hollis, the same officer who responded to January's the night Trey tried to break in, watching me. The mixture of amusement and concern on his face sets my teeth on edge.

  Pain whispers through me at the thought of January. I haven't seen her since she kicked me out two days ago. I'm ready to snap. She had the right to demand answers, but I couldn't give them to her. I'm not ready to lose her for good. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. Either way, it just fucking sucks for me because I end up without her. Again.

  "You sure you don't want to get that checked out?" Hollis asks, nodding his head at the small cut on the side of my neck.

  I lift my hand and prod at it, but it's not deep and isn't even bleeding anymore. Dante never was particularly good at much. Not gonna lie though, I'm mad as hell he tried to stab me. Had I been a little slower, I'd probably be bleeding out in the street right now instead of hauling his ass off to jail for aggravated assault on a police officer and a host of other charges he won't be walking away from anytime soon.

  He'll be in good company. I've already hooked up six of his friends on drug trafficking and weapons charges since January kicked me to the curb. Kaleo is currently losing his mind, which is working out great for me. Seeing that motherfucker foaming at the mouth and shitting himself is all kinds of fun.

  "Nah, I'm cool," I mutter and peer down at my phone. "We good here? I got things to do."

  "We're good. If we need anything else, we'll call you." Hollis pauses. "You plan on taking out all of Kaleo's people on your own?"

  I shrug noncommittally, not sure exactly how far I'm going to go. Maybe I will take them all out on my own before going for Kaleo's throat. I haven't decided yet. I'm winging this shit, just like I do every other goddamn thing I most definitely should not wing. But hey, it's doing wonders for my disposition, so whatever.

  Hollis shakes his head before opening the driver's door on his patrol unit. "See you on the next one, I guess."

  "Yep." I glance at Dante again to see him scowling at me, his fucked-up teeth on full display. "Toothpaste," I mouth at him and then mimicking brushing my teeth. "Gets rid of the ass stench."

  "Fuck you, Kincaid!" he yells as Hollis pulls away from the curb.

  I shake my head as Dante starts acting a fool, throwing himself around in the backseat like he's having a seizure. I'd bet my left nut he's never had a seizure in his life. He's got jailitis, same shit motherfuckers like him always get when they find themselves in the back of a squad car, en-route to a lifetime of three hots and a cot. Hollis will probably have to take his stupid ass to the hospital before the jail will take him. Either way, he'll end up in the same damn place: precisely where he deserves to be.

  My phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket and then sigh when I see it's Ames calling. I swear, the man knows when I'm up to some shit I don't want to talk about. He tracks me down every single time. He's like a bloodhound, only worse. Bloodhounds don't talk or ask about your feelings.

  "What's up, boss man?" I ask, putting the phone to my ear as I make my way down the street to my car.

  "Tristan and Lillian are flying home in the morning," he says.

  "Fucking finally. What time?"

  "Flight leaves at ten."

  "You going back too?"

  "Yeah."

  Well, shit. That's going to make my life more difficult, considering he's the only motherfucker at the DEA I'm willing to deal with. The dudes in charge of the office here are worse than useless. They're the reason Little Mama was kidnapped. But I don't begrudge Ames for wanting out of this city. It's been nothing but a pain in his ass since T and Little Mama stepped off the plane a few weeks ago. Besides, his wife is back in Seattle.

  "I'll be there," I tell him. Little Mama will kick my ass if I'm not there to see her and T off.

  Ames doesn't say anything, which makes me groan.

  "Go ahead and say whatever you're thinking about saying," I mutter, trying to hurry him along. "I got all kinds of shit to do."

  "You get the equipment you asked for?"

  "Yeah, shit. Thanks." January will probably be pissed when she finds out I set up cameras around her house, but I'll cross that moat when I get to it. I need her safe more than I need her to be happy with me. She might not see it that way, but she'll get over it.

  Fuck, I hope she gets over it.

  "You doing okay?" Ames asks me.

  "Fucking dandy."

  He snorts.

  There he goes speaking volumes without saying a word again. One day, I'm going to ask him how he does that. It's a little freaky. Not telling him that though. He'll use it against me.

  "I'm good, Ames," I tell him, only partially lying. "I'm working my shit out."

  "Right," he mutters.

  "No, seriously. I worked out all kinds of pent up aggression today. Even shed a tear. You and the shrink would be proud." The tear might have been because a gnat flew into my eye, but whatever. Still counts.

  "You going to tell me what you're doing with Curtis Kaleo?" he asks, not buying my blasé attitude for a minute. Not that I thought he would or anything. He sees through me better than most and has zero problems calling me on my bullshit.

  "No," I say, being completely honest with him this time. "Trust me, Ames, you don't want to know about this one. Just consider it community service or something and leave it at that." The last thing I want is for him to get caught in the middle if Kaleo manages to drag me down with him.

  I might fuck with Ames and push his buttons, but he's a good guy. He could have tossed my sorry ass in a jail cell when he found me dragging gangbangers in off the streets like some vigilante, but he didn't. For some reason, he saw something in me, something worth saving, and has made it his personal mission to keep my ass alive for the la
st nine years. We both know I don't make that shit easy for him, but he does it anyway. Even when he'd rather shoot me himself than deal with whatever I need at any given moment, he gets it for me. He complains like a motherfucker about it, but he does it. He keeps Roy Davis, the big boss, off my junk too. I appreciate him for that.

  "Is this about your girl?" he asks.

  "Yeah," I mutter, not lying to him about it even though I don't want to talk about January right now. He knows more about her and my past than most do. I certainly didn't tell him, but he's smart enough to put together the pieces. "Kaleo wants her block and she's fighting him on it. I'm dealing with the situation."

  "I'll let you get back to it, but Kincaid?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Be careful," he says, his voice somber. "The world needs cops like you. Don't let him be the reason you lose what matters most. And call me if you need anything. I mean that."

  "See you tomorrow," I mumble, not making him promises I may not be able to keep. He might think I'm a good cop, and maybe I am awesome at bringing down gangbangers and making the world a little bit safer, but I'm not one of the good guys and I don't pretend I am. I'm not like him and I never will be.

  I hope like hell he never finds out what I did, because his opinion is one of few that actually matters to me. Losing his respect isn't something I look forward to, but if I don't take Kaleo out before he parades out the skeletons in my closet, that's exactly what will happen.

  I slip the phone into my pocket before climbing into the car. It's almost three in the afternoon. Which leaves me plenty of time to track down Quan and find out what the fuck he's doing running around with Kaleo.

  I drive around for over an hour, hitting all of his old haunts, but don't find him.

  It's eerie how little the neighborhood has changed since I left. It's still run down and falling apart. Despite the new housing complex that went up, very few new businesses have moved in. A few of those that were around back then have closed their doors and shuttered their windows. The vacant buildings are spray painted with gang signs and crude statements.