by Jade Kuzma
He was still on one knee but he was already out of it.
I raised my hands up and finished the job.
Left hand.
Right hand.
Left hand.
Right hand.
Punch through him… Punch through him…
I kept punching until Samson’s face was covered in crimson. The whites of his eyes were the only thing that weren’t red.
He looked up at me, his hands at his sides and waited for me to finish him.
“No Mercy! No Mercy! No Mercy!”
The crowd was louder than it had ever been. They chanted my name and made the adrenaline race through me.
I looked over at Hawk. He was shaking with anger along with the rest of the Spades. All it would take was one more punch to send him on his way. I balled my fist, ready to give it to Samson.
“Aden!”
Danica’s voice was clear over the crowd. I looked over at her. She was smiling softly at me.
Seeing her gave me all the clarity I needed. I gave Samson one last look and shook my head.
“I’m not a killer,” I said as I dropped my hand to my side.
I moved away from Samson. He fell back and collapsed in exhaustion. I stayed standing on my feet.
“There you have it!” Yates shouted. “No Mercy is your winner!”
A combination of cheers and boos came out of the crowd. Thousands of dollars exchanging hands but I didn’t give a shit about any of it.
I walked over to Danica and she wrapped her arms around me. I didn’t care how bad my ribs were hurting or how much I was bleeding. Feeling her in my embrace was enough to comfort any pain I felt.
“Nice job,” Sebastian said to me.
“It looks like you know what you’re doing,” Hunter said.
Roman gave me a pat on the back.
“How’d you do it?” he asked.
I didn’t say anything. All of them already knew the answer.
I looked over at Yates. He gave me a nod, a big smile on his face.
I started this because of Isaac. But I finished it because of the people around me.
Hawk and the rest of the Spades didn’t bother tending to Samson as they quickly left the warehouse. I stared at them, hoping it would be the last time I’d ever see them in Ivory.
“Come on,” Sebastian said. “Let’s go celebrate. Hades is calling us.”
Chapter 24
DANICA
“It appears that your stitches came loose.”
“Sorry for that—”
“Don’t apologize. You think this is the first time I’ve ever had to deal with an injury of this nature?”
Dr. Walters was so calm and carefree. He was indifferent to the horrible state that Aden was in, stitching over the wounds on his ribs like he’d done it so many times before. When you were the personal physician of a Mafioso like Mia’s father was, there was no need to explain any injuries to him.
“Now,” the doctor said. “Let’s see here…”
He examined the stitches on Aden’s face. There was a set just above his eyebrow and another along his cheek on the other side of his face. Along with all of the bruises, Aden looked like he’d just been mauled by a bear.
“They’ll close if you let them heal,” Dr. Walters explained. “Even after they heal, there’ll be a bit of scar tissue. I recommend you try to avoid getting hit in that area. Though I’m sure my words are lost on you…”
“Don’t worry, doc,” Aden replied. “If it’s up to me, my fighting days are done.”
Aden glanced over at me and winked. Even with all of the bruises and cuts and scrapes, he still looked as handsome as he always did.
“As for your ribs, they should heal on their own,” he said. “The breaks are clean, so I don’t see the need for surgery. Though if it continues to bother you after a month, I recommend you see a physician.”
Dr. Walter stepped away after applying the last bandages to Aden.
“Thanks, doctor,” I said.
“Don’t thank me,” he said. “Just doing my job.”
He bowed his head to me and excused me from the room.
Aden and I were alone as he sat on the table in the backroom of Hades. I crossed my arms, trying to get over the fact that it was all finally over. Aden was near motionless as he stared at me.
“I can’t believe you did it,” I whispered. “I don’t know how you did it but you did.”
“You know why I did it.”
“I don’t—”
“It was because of you.”
“I…”
I shook my head and looked away from him, trying to wrap my head around everything.
“…I don’t see why it was me,” I said. “You had your reasons but me—”
“I had my reasons. Isaac got put in the hospital by those thugs. They came to the clubhouse and started a brawl. But it was you. You’re not like anybody I’ve ever met, Danica.”
“I care about you, Aden. But I don’t see why I’m so special.”
“That’s exactly why you are special. I had no money to give you. There’d be no fame by being by my side. Winning that fight wouldn’t have meant shit to you. But you were still there. You cared enough about me to want me to stop. Nobody else was like that when I was fighting. Danica…”
He put his hand on my chin and raised my face up.
“…I love you.”
My heart skipped a beat. A sudden ball of emotions shifted in my stomach. I swallowed to keep everything down but the way he looked at me made it harder and harder to hold back.
Those intense brown eyes of his. Even though his face was swollen, he still looked like the man I’d fallen for. The most amazing man I’d ever met. I kept waiting for him to prove me wrong but every moment I spent with him opened my eyes to how truly remarkable he really was.
“I love you,” I whispered the words and moved closer to him.
He wrapped his arms around me. I did the same, gently holding him to make sure not to hurt him even more than he already was. Being in Aden’s embrace was so cathartic. All of the stress and worry and doubts of the past few days had disappeared. The man I cared so much about was safe. And I was here by his side.
I wanted to enjoy this moment as long as I could. But Aden suddenly pulled away from me. His eyes widened.
“What?” I said. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you hear that?”
“Hear what—”
I heard it as soon as I said it. The loud noise coming from inside of the bar.
“Shit,” he grumbled as he hopped off of his seat.
“Aden! Wait!”
I grabbed his arm in a futile attempt to stop him. He limped right by me and kept moving. I followed him back into the clubhouse.
The other Devils were already there but I wasn’t paying any attention to them. Instead, my heart sank when I saw Hawk and the rest of his gang suddenly standing right there before everybody.
“Well, well, well,” Hawk said. “Look who it is. The hero of the moment. Aden Mercer himself.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Aden replied.
“I just wanted to have a little conversation.”
“We’re not having any conversation. The deal was I beat whoever you put in front of me and you pack your bags and split. So say goodbye and get the fuck outta here!”
Hawk didn’t budge. He just kept grinning at Aden and the rest of the Devils next to him.
“Samson was never a Spade,” Hawk said. “You beat a man that didn’t represent us.”
“The hell he didn’t!” Hunter barked. “You picked Samson yourself and Mercer pushed his shit in. So, why don’t you stop being a little bitch and go on your way?”
“Who the fuck said you could talk?”
Hunter moved forward and got in Hawk’s face. Sebastian and Roman grabbed him and pulled him back.
“Take it easy,” Sebastian said.
Hawk smirked at the president of the Devils and took a st
ep back. He held his arms out.
“It was impressive,” he said. “Mercer’s performance isn’t anything like I’ve ever seen. I guess that’s why you were able to become a world champion. Shame you turned into a killer.”
Aden gritted his teeth and balled his fist. Despite his injuries, he was still doing everything he could to hold himself back.
“Ivory is my town,” Hawk said. “I make the rules.”
“Ha!” Sebastian scoffed. “You don’t make shit.”
“Oh, but I do. You see… You don’t realize just how powerful of a man I am. You don’t understand who you’re fucking with.”
“What do you want?” Aden barked. “Get the fuck out of Hades and leave Ivory.”
Aden took a step forward. His confidence was only growing. I stood off to the side, trying to deal with the ball of nerves rolling around in my stomach.
“I’m not leaving Ivory,” Hawk said. “Not until I get what I want.”
“And what is it you want?” Aden said.
“A fair fight. You and me. One on one. You beat me and I’ll leave Ivory right now.”
“That’s crazy!” I shouted.
I couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Aden beat your man,” I said. “The deal was you had to leave Ivory.”
Hawk eyeballed me with a look of disdain I’d seen before.
“I don’t give a shit about the opinions of some cocktail waitress,” he said.
“It’s not my opinion—”
“Hold on,” Aden interrupted me.
He put his hand up and took another step toward Hawk.
“I kick your ass, you leave Ivory for good,” Aden said. “No more excuses.”
“If you think you got what it takes,” Hawk said. “Then again, I wonder if you have any balls, hiding behind some woman doing the talking for you.”
“Outside.”
Aden said it without hesitating. Hawk gave him a smirk as he headed toward the exit with the rest of his gang.
“You heard him, boys,” Hawk said. “The man’s showing some guts for once.”
The Spades all left the clubhouse. Everybody immediately turned to Aden.
“What are you doing?” Hunter said to him. “You’re not seriously gonna fight him, are you? Not in the shape you’re in…”
“Let me do it,” Roman said. “I’ll knock his fucking head into Holt County.”
“No,” Aden said as he put his hand up. “I’ll do it. If I can beat a man like Samson, Hawk isn’t a problem.”
He looked at Sebastian.
“You know I’ll fucking do it,” Aden reiterated.
Sebastian examined Aden’s injuries. A smirk formed on Sebastian’s lips.
“All right,” Sebastian said with a shrug. “Hawk wants to get his ass kicked by you, you kick his ass.”
Aden didn’t bother waiting. He marched out of the bar without looking at anybody else. I walked after him along with the rest of the MC.
Hawk stood outside with the rest of his gang. Even though he wasn’t as big as Samson, he still looked threatening. There was no telling what a man like him was capable of.
“You ready, bitch?” Hawk barked.
I moved closer to Aden, wanting to grab his arm and pull him away. But I knew I couldn’t stop him.
He leaned in close to me and kissed me on the cheek. His breath was warm against my skin as he whispered into my ear.
“I was bullied all my life,” he said. “Time to pay the bully back.”
“Are you ready or not?” Hawk yelled. “Let’s fucking go already—”
In the blink of an eye, Aden spun around and took a step toward Hawk. He moved so fast that nobody had a chance to react. Aden moved faster than I could snap my fingers.
Just like that, he leveled Hawk with a right hand that dropped him to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
There was nothing but complete silence in the Hades parking lot. All of the Spades were motionless as they stared at Hawk on the ground. The rest of the Devils were just as stunned.
The silence was broken by the sound of police sirens. It was already so dead in Old Town, it was easy to tell that the cruisers were close. Only a split-second later, blue and red lights flashed in the parking lot.
“Freeze!” the cops shouted as they got out of their cars. “Nobody move!”
It all happened so quickly. The police rushed forward and slapped cuffs on all of the Spades. I felt a sigh of relief wash over me as they stuffed them into the backseat of their cruisers.
But my relief was short-lived. The cops didn’t hesitate to put cuffs on Aden and the other Devils.
“Come on!” the cops said. “This way!”
“Wait a second!” I said, trying to stop them. “What are you doing? They didn’t do anything!”
“Miss, please step away,” he said.
“But—”
“Miss, step away. I won’t ask you again.”
“It’s all right,” Aden said to me.
“Do you know what’s going on?” I said. “Tell me you know what’s happening.”
“Don’t worry, Danica. Everything’s under control.”
I didn’t get a chance to say anything more as the cop pulled him away from me. All of the commotion in the parking lot started to die down as everybody was hauled off one by one.
I stood in the center of the blue and red lights, trying to figure out what just happened. All of the cruisers started to disappear until there were only a few cops left.
There was an older-looking man off to the side. He noticed me staring at him. He walked up to me with a kind smile on his face.
“You know the Devils?” he asked.
“Something like that, yeah,” I said, somehow able to get the words out. “What the hell was that? You just arrested everybody like that? The Devils didn’t even do anything.”
“How long have you known the Devils?”
“…What?”
“How long have you know the Devils? Not long, I’m guessing. The Devils have always done something.”
“You’re not even going to give me an explanation?”
He put his hands on his hips. Despite how blunt he was with his answers, there was still some compassion in his eyes.
“Look,” he said. “I’m sheriff of this town. I have to keep the peace in Ivory. Even in Old Town. If the Devils didn’t do anything, then you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“But—”
“Go home. Get some sleep.”
“Hold on! Wait a second!”
My words fell on deaf ears as he got back into his car. The last police cruiser drove off down the street and disappeared down the road.
Old Town was empty but I felt like I was the only person in all of Ivory. Just when I thought it was all over, it wasn’t. All I could do was wait until I finally got the answers I didn’t even know I was searching for.
Chapter 25
ADEN
One week later…
You never realized how nice freedom was until they took it away from you. Getting locked behind bars was one thing. Getting told what to do and questioned was another thing.
It wasn’t shit I complained about though. I’d been through worse things in my life and this wasn’t anywhere close to it.
Ivory PD gave up when they realized that they didn’t have anything on me or the MC. They let us out with a warning that fell on deaf ears.
Sebastian called an early meeting that morning. We were back in the clubhouse meeting room, ‘church’ as they called it, to finally put an end to the business with the Spades.
“Sutton seems pretty upset,” Hunter said.
“He’s not that mad,” Roman said. “The old bastard might get a little crotchety at times with his old age. But he never gets pissed like some cops could. The old coot is just trying to do his job.”
“And he’s doing it,” Sebastian said.
The club president sat at the head of the table, leaning back in his seat and his
arms crossed. I’d never seen him look more comfortable.
“Word on the street is that Hawk and the Spades had a reason for not wanting to leave Ivory,” he said.
“The scenery?” Hunter said.
“The money. It’s always the money. Turns out that deal Arthur Burke was working on a while back is bigger than I thought it was.”
“Who’s Arthur Burke?” I said.
“Nobody you need to worry about. The only thing we need to know is that there’s a big deal going on in Ivory. Every major player is in on it. Transporting drugs through this town and funneling them through every big city in every direction. Every drug lord and kingpin in a 20-mile radius is in on the deal.”
“What’s that got to do with the Spades?”
“Too much shit moving. The more weight that gets moved, the more everybody makes. The Spades were one of those groups moving. Sutton isn’t too happy about it. Some shit went down with the Black Reapers awhile back and the feds got involved. Sutton and the sheriff’s department are trying to put a stop to that shit before it gets too big. A little weight every now and then… That shit just happens. But the volume keeps going up, then Ivory will be known for more than just the deserts and warm weather.”
Sebastian got up from his seat and moved over to the wall. He leaned up against it, his arms still crossed as he looked down at the ground in thought.
“Hawk and his boys are getting questioned. They’re in a rough spot. Turns out they’re sloppy. Sutton’s got enough on him to lock up him and his boys until they’re old and gray.”
“There’s still a chance to get out of it,” Roman said.
“Hawk seems like the kind of motherfucker who’d rat,” Hunter added.
“He does,” Sebastian said. “But if he does that, everybody’ll know exactly who did it. Hawk and his boys squeal and they’re signing their own death warrants.”
“Let me get this straight,” I said. “The Iron Spades were moving drugs. That’s why they were arrested?”
“What else do you think they were arrested for?” Sebastian said. “Sutton wouldn’t waste anybody’s time locking someone up for some street fights, even if they are illegal. He’s been in Ivory long enough to know how things work. He only wants to fry the biggest fish.”
