by London Casey
I went after the gorilla full force. Now he was the one protecting himself. His long arms were bent, covering his face, but that left his body exposed. Each punch hit his sweaty shirt, splashing dirty sweat, but my strength and knuckles were doing their job as he kept stumbling, groaning, trying to absorb the punches without getting hurt.
I had to hand it to the gorilla. He had guts and balls. He swung his right hand at me, smacking me across the chest. It stung and surprised me. I couldn’t remember getting smacked before during a fight. Gary then threw a left, connecting with my jaw. I spun all the way around and instinctively kept my fists up to protect my face. Gary threw another left and I punched it away. I threw an uppercut with a right, hitting him in the jaw. His head snapped back.
“Not again!” Little Petey yelled. “Fuck!”
I punched Gary in the gut a couple times and then went for his face. Left, right, his jaw cranking side to side. His feet were shaky and not in a good stance. I swung my right foot to his right foot, forcing Gary to trip and fall. He put his large hands out to catch himself. I heard a breaking pop sound when he hit the ground. I came down at him with two punches and then a knee to the face. The gorilla went down to the ground for good, his head on the concrete floor, his eyes dazed and spinning as he stared straight up.
Truthfully, I could have kept going. If this were a real fight, I would have until the fight was called off. Instead, I turned and looked at Little Petey and Aton. Little Petey was red faced, his hair literally standing straight up from tearing at it.
Aton was calm, cool. “I think I just won, cuz.”
“Fuck,” Little Petey said. He stepped toward me and breezed by. He looked down at the gorilla. “What the hell happened?”
I let the conversation fade out and walked to Aton. “Did you kill her?”
“What?”
“Did you kill Rose?”
Aton grinned. “No. Not yet. Still trying to process this situation.”
“Aton, you have to listen to me.”
Aton opened his suit jacket. He put his hands to his waist. He did it to show me his gun. “I’m a man of my word, Wes. You took down the gorilla. You won me some cash. So I’ll give you one minute. You better make it worth my while.”
I stared at Aton. My face throbbed where the gorilla had hit me. My shoulder hurt and burned. What a fucking mess of a day. There was no bullshitting Aton out of this. I had to come up with something legit. Something that would hit home for Aton and make him ease off the situation until I could figure out what to do. Rose needed to be alive. I needed to know about her family. I needed to know why she had people after her. For some damn reason I wanted to keep my word that I’d keep her safe.
“Don’t know what to say?” Aton asked.
Then it hit me.
I grinned. It hurt my jaw to smile.
And in what was left of my one minute I tried to save my life.
9.
(Rose)
I lost track of time. No surprise there. The door was locked. The room smelled old and wet. There was still very little light. The plate was on the floor, cracked, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich still missing a bite. I heard a little scratching sound and swore I caught sight of a mouse or rat, probably smelling the sugar from the sandwich, wanting to feast.
All yours, I’m not touching the sandwich.
I paced the room for a little while. I wondered how it was going to play out.
Was Wes going to be killed first? Or was he dead already?
Part of me cared, part of me didn’t. I had to say though, I’d never had a man try to kill me and then come to save me after his attempt to kill me failed.
I walked to the window and stood there, looking around the large building. There wasn’t much to see. No big shock there either. That’s how it all worked. Money controlled the entire underground scene. And so many important people were involved in it all, that’s what really kept it going. I remembered Dad meeting with cops, politicians, businessmen. They’d talk about the fights, the buildings, the bets. Dad had a way of bringing these guys to see some of his favorite fighters as they trained. I was always the young woman who had to carry drinks and food to and from. Wearing nothing more than a bikini, showing off the body that had been given to me. I was a distraction, a way to get their hearts racing, because Dad told me that when men had power and a hard-on, they’d bet the world to keep the feeling going.
Luke always hated it, too. He hated that Dad pushed him into fighting, demanding Luke show his anger. Especially after Ma died of a heart attack, all hell broke loose in my family. Ma kept things under control for the most part. But the second she passed, I was put on display like some sex object and Luke finally found the rage and anger. He trained in a different way though. He took to the streets and picked fights. And anytime he was picked up for it, the cops brought him to Dad and Dad negotiated Luke’s ass from getting into serious trouble. Then Luke started getting mad at everyone, including me and Dad. He hit me one time and Dad went after him. By then, Luke was big. Luke was the monster I feared in my nightmares. He threw Dad over his shoulder like a rag doll, smashing him through the coffee table in the living room. Dad broke two ribs but played it off, pushing Luke into the fights. Even then, Luke started to get too violent, if that were possible.
The object of fighting wasn’t to actually kill anyone, unless you were hired to do so, which did happen. Luke didn’t care about money - at first. He cared about hurting people. His eyes had a fire inside them like he wanted to kill someone.
It was terrifying to watch. It was terrifying to live through. Which was why I made the decision I made after Dad died. It was my chance to escape. It took me months of working, saving, and hiding money from Luke. Sneaking around behind his back and away from his goons to meet with a guy named Roc. He was the one who was supposed to help me escape it all.
He was never supposed to be killed.
And I was never supposed to be holding the weapon.
Caught. Redhanded. Completely fucked.
I shut my eyes and hung my head. Maybe it would be easier to just calmly wait all this out and take a bullet.
My eyes started to fill with tears as I retraced all the steps of my life, wondering which one really set me on the wrong path.
That’s when the door squeaked as it opened.
I turned, putting my back against the window.
“Hey, princess, let’s go,” Tommy said.
“No,” I said. “If you’re going to kill me, do it right now.”
“I’m not going to kill you. Come on. Let’s go.”
I slowly walked forward. The once aggressive asshole was now calm. It was like he was afraid to touch me.
I walked to the doorway and he held the door and pointed the way. He even smiled.
What the hell is going on?
We walked along the hallway, slowly.
“Hey, princess,” Tommy said. “No hard feelings about that sandwich thing. If I knew…”
I looked at Tommy.
He was sweating.
Holy crap, he was nervous!
I thought I was supposed to be the nervous one here.
Tommy pointed the way again and then we stopped in front of an office door. I heard voices behind it.
Tommy put his hand to the doorknob. “Hey. If you could let all that go, I’d appreciate it. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I didn’t mean to threaten you. The whole car thing… hey… that’s just business, princess.”
I opened my mouth, wanting to know what the hell was happening.
Tommy opened the door to the office.
There were two men near the right wall, suits and ties, looking miserable and tough.
Then I saw Wes.
He was alive!
He stood in a black t-shirt, his defined arms filling the sleeves easily. His face looked rough though, along with his hair. He looked like he’d been in a fight.
As he ran his hand through his hair, he grinned and winked at me
. “Hey, sweetie.”
“Wes, what happened to you?”
“You should see the other guy,” he said. He offered his hand. “Come here. It’s okay.”
Behind the desk stood Aton. His eyes were in bewilderment as he stared at us. I felt Wes pull me close to him, his hand going around my waist. I crashed against his side, feeling the hardness of muscle. I swore he was built from stone.
Aton’s mouth slowly parted. His hands made fists and put them to the desk. He leaned forward.
I swallowed hard, my entire body starting to shake.
“Goddamn,” Aton said. “I mean… just… goddamn.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner,” Wes said. “I panicked last night, okay? I didn’t know how to say anything, Aton. I’ll take the blame…”
Aton waved his hands. “No. This is not a time to worry. Wes, my boy, I can’t believe this. You’re a married man!”
~
Aton hugged me tight. He rocked back and forth then broke away. He touched my arms with a hard squeeze, shaking me a little. “And you. If I knew… I can’t begin to apologize. I was trying to ruffle some feathers. I didn’t realize…”
Realize what? Wes is… married…
I turned my head and looked at Wes.
Wait a second. Wes is married… to me?
Wes gave me a nod. “Aton, it just all happened so fast. I wasn’t looking for anything. When Rose told me who she was. Who her family was, I didn’t know how to handle it. I was going to talk to you before, but then Danny put me in that fight. And I slipped away for a little bit. She brought me back though, like a good wife would do.”
Aton touched my face. “I know it’s a mess for our families, but we can make it all work. Wes is the best fighter I’ve ever had. Here I thought the son of a bitch was a rat, but he was just protecting his wife.”
I slowly nodded. “Yes. Yes. He…”
Aton looked at Wes. “You really should have said something before I had you and Tommy go out.”
“I didn’t know how. You were so upset, Aton. I thought you were going to kill me. I had to stay alive so I could protect Rose. That’s all I was trying to do.”
“And your shoulder?”
“Someone is after her. Not just you.”
Aton laughed. “Well, I’m not after her anymore. She’s a good girl.” Aton patted my cheek. “A beautiful woman. My gosh. So naturally beautiful. Too bad it’s going to be nothing but Irish babies.”
Babies?!
I forced myself to laugh.
Aton walked away from me. Wes hurried to grab my hand and pull me in.
“Well, here’s what we need to do,” Aton said. “Do you know who would want you dead?”
“You,” I said. I tried to remind myself not to be too snarky with a high powered mob player who I was lying to.
“Besides me,” Aton said.
“I don’t know,” I said. “My family… I don’t have much. But I think the past is lingering.”
“Of course,” Aton said. “Big scars leave big memories.” Aton tapped his chin. “You know, I am a little pissed that you two didn’t tell me about this. I mean, a wedding…”
“There was no wedding,” Wes said.
“We just went for it,” I said, playing into the lie. “There was no need. I have nobody. Except Wes. So we just said our vows and that was it.” I held up my hand. “Look. We don’t even have rings.”
“We don’t need rings,” Wes said. He slipped his arm around me again and pulled me close. “Right, sweetie?”
“Exactly.”
Next thing I knew Wes was coming at me. My eyes went wide and a fraction of a second later his lips were touching mine.
Holy shit. Our first kiss. But nobody else could know that…
I hurried and grabbed the back of his hair. My instinct was to pull his mouth away from mine and then slap him across the face. But if I did that, it would blow our cover. So I dug my fingers into his hair, kissing him back. Instinct was overrun by need. I had been longing for a hot kiss for such a long time. And here it was.
Before I knew what I was doing, my mouth slowly parted, offering a more passionate kiss with Wes. His tongue touched mine and everything inside me melted. There was no disgust, just pure lust.
“Okay, okay,” Aton said. He whistled. “Save it for tonight.”
Wes broke the kiss and we stared at each other for a second. It was the weirdest yet sexiest second of my entire life.
“Wait, what’s tonight?” I asked, breaking the awkwardness between Wes and I.
“I think the only choice we have right now is getting you both to safety,” Aton said. “Until I can make some calls and figure this out.”
“No,” Wes said. “Don’t do that. Let things be normal. We can do this ourselves, Aton.”
“Like hell,” Aton said. He pointed right at Wes. “You’re my prized fighter and you have a fucked up shoulder. Someone shot you? That doesn’t ring well for my business. Christ. If anyone finds out or sees you, what kind of backlash will I get for my bets? I’m supposed to be running another ring soon. I’ll just leave you off the card for right now.”
I saw anger flash across Wes’s face. I knew fighting was the only thing he had. And now because of a bullet meant for me, he couldn’t fight. I knew the tragic risk of not being able to get that release from fighting. I watched it ruin my family.
“I want you both to go to my cabin,” Aton said. “Take some time in the woods. Alone. Cool nights. Hot days. Just take some time to breathe. I can make arrangements to settle whatever needs to be done here. I’m not going to lose you, Wes. You’re worth too much to me. And if you take a bride, then I take her too. I just hope there’s no deep, dark secrets waiting.”
My heart began to pound. My knees were ready to buckle. I screamed at myself to not get dizzy and pass out. I couldn’t blow the cover on this right now. No way. If I did, I was dead. Sure as hell, I would be killed.
A hand touched my shoulder and I screamed.
“Whoa,” Tommy’s voice said. “Easy, princess. Let me just say…”
Wes turned and elbowed Tommy away. He then grabbed Tommy by the throat and walked him back against the wall. Tommy’s face turned red, his eyes ready to pop from his skull.
“You ever call her princess again and I’ll tear your fucking throat out. Her name is Rose. You ever touch her again, I’ll break every goddamn finger.”
“Okay,” Tommy strained to say. “I’m sorry. Okay.”
Wes pushed away from Tommy.
He then grabbed my hand and we left the office. We made it no more than a couple steps before I tugged at him. “What the hell are you doing?”
Wes turned and put me against the wall. There was a sexy anger in his eyes. “I’m saving your ass, again. Don’t think it means a thing, sweetie. I want to know everything about your family. About you. I want to know who shot me because now I can’t fucking fight. And I know you’re hiding plenty from me.”
“You could just say please.”
“I don’t do please.”
“Maybe you should try.”
“Maybe I should tell Aton the truth.”
“Then it’s your life too,” I said, feeling defiant.
I kind of liked having Wes so close to me. Then again, he was being an ass. I almost felt like kicking him in the balls.
He gritted his teeth and looked ready to explode. “Your brother was a fighter? What was his name again?”
“Is everything good?” a voice asked.
I turned my head and saw Tommy eyeing us, one eyebrow lifted.
I had no choice, really.
I grabbed Wes by the face and planted my lips to his.
Yeah, everything was just fucking a-okay.
10.
(Wes)
I could sense it as I pulled up to the cabin. The woman next to me so goddamn beautiful, it was hard to look at her. I had to push away her beauty and look beyond it. There were secrets in those blue eyes. Heavy a
nd deep secrets. Call it whatever you want, but something told me she could help me figure out who killed Shane.
I got out of the car and went to the trunk. I had a bag of clothes and Rose had a bag of clothes. This was some kind of fake honeymoon escape. Bottom line was that as soon as Aton started digging around and asking questions, Rose and I were going to be caught.
No marriage. All lies.
My feeble attempt at clinging to a few more days of life.
To get everything out of Rose.
I slammed the trunk and she stood there, staring at me. We had just driven for a good hour and not spoken a single word. When I looked at her, my chest tightened. Then I pictured her starting the car, blowing up. Yeah, I felt a little guilty but at least it didn’t happen.
“I don’t understand it,” she said.
“What?”
“I thought Aton would be tougher,” she said. “He bought the marriage thing…”
“He lost his wife to cancer,” I said. “She was a little over forty. Nice woman. Made a great meat sauce. She had a stomachache for a week, went to a doctor, and six months later, she was gone. I watched it all happen. I did what I could for Aton. He lost his damn mind over it, rightfully so. He started ordering hits on anyone that looked at him the wrong way. Somehow I wrangled him back to normal. Maybe because he helped me after Shane was killed. We owed it to each other. So he’s got a soft spot for marriage.”
“That’s a heavy card to use,” Rose whispered. “Does that mean you like me?”
“No,” I said. “You’re beautiful, sweetie, but that’s not going to cut it with me.” I stepped forward, holding both bags with one hand. My shoulder was still hurting. “If you want to get tangled between the sheets, I’m game. But don’t think for a second…” I lost my words.
I wasn’t going to bully the woman around. I could see it in her eyes she’d been bullied her entire life. Right up to the point of almost getting taken out by two different crews.
I walked away from Rose without another word.
The cabin was rustic yet beautiful. It had a woodsy smell throughout. Everything reflected the same feeling. Deep colored furniture that wasn’t anything modern. The blankets had weird patterns with a variety of colors. They looked old and all hand stitched. The fireplace was wide, the bricks with black charred marks on them from use. There was a small pile of old, white ash in the fireplace with a skinny, leftover, half burnt piece of wood. The floor creaked a little when you walked on it. There was a second floor loft area with a desk and a bed. The first floor under the steps had a door that led to the master bedroom and the only bathroom.
