by Xavier Neal
“Of course she said yes,” Drew mumbles.
“But I didn't want to be still involved with The Devil, so I went to him and made him an offer.” Seeing Madden's face pale I finish with, “One job. Just me. He agreed with the stipulation I had to do it in broad daylight with no mask.”
“To ruin you,” Drew sighs.
“To put you away,” Destin adds.
“To end you,” Daniel follows.
“Yeah, well that shit wasn't easy. I was shot at-”
“Where?” Madden interrupts. “Where did you go?”
“Some property in the middle of nowhere. The dude was a complete lunatic. He had his guard hunt me like a fucking deer-”
“Snake's Ranch? You went to Snake's Ranch?” Madden grumbles and starts to shake his head. “Are you fucking insane?”
I think given all the shit I've done lately, the answer to that is yes. Don't...don't agree.
Clenching his fists he grouses, “You took something from Snake? Fuck...”
“Why do you know who that is?”
“Because unlike you I actually know some shit about the enemy,” Madden growls. “What did you steal?”
“Nothing! All I had to do was get the keys and bring it back. Mind you, I had to find the keys in the maze of bullets being sprayed at me, before I could do that.”
“You don't know how lucky you are you didn't get shot. Snake's right hand is ex special forces.”
Explains the precision.
“I don't know how lucky I am? Are you fucking joking? I was the one hunted like Bambi!”
“At least Bambi was adorable,” Knox adds.
“He's adorable,” Destin defends me. “You know, it's funny how much in common you have with that cartoon deer.”
“Can we fucking focus please?” Drew snaps. “What happened after you left Snake's Ranch?”
“I had to bring the Hot Tottie back to The Devil, which I almost did except I got caught on the way back for having no tags. That kind of lead to a...man hunt for me.”
“That news report,” Destin says slowly. “They were hunting you?” When I nod he rolls his eyes. “Oh this is bad. So fucking bad.”
“My fiance is on a fucking timer to live. I know this is fucking bad!”
“Don't yell at me,” Destin demands. “I didn't fuck up!”
Before I can snip back Madden shakes his head. “All this bullshit for some girl...”
Feeling an anxiety clench in my chest, I try not to launch at my brother. “She's not just some girl! That's like saying a Van Gogh painting is just some piece of art instead of a Masterpiece.”
Madden shakes his head again. “It is.”
I take a deep breath and shut my eyes.
Hitting him in the face once fucking hurt. Not real sure if that's what's stopping me from hitting him again or if it's the fact I don't wanna make this situation any goddamn worse. Though I'm honestly at a point I'm not sure things can get any goddamn worse.
When I open my eyes I look at Knox. “Saying Jovi is just some girl is like calling Louboutins just shoes.” She shudders at the thought and I look at Triple D. “Or saying a Confederate Motorcycle is just a bike.”
Daniel points a harsh finger at me. “You bite your tongue.”
Looking at Madden in his eyes, I end with, “Or calling dad's favorite wrench just a tool.”
He looks away, but remains silent.
“Jovi is so much more than just some girl. She's...that final touch that makes my life a masterpiece. The little detail, that without it, I'm nothing more than just another prison sentence waiting to be served.”
“Go get cleaned up,” Knox instructs with a soft sigh. “I'll take care of the couch and your brothers will get started on a plan to save your life.”
“And my girl?”
“That's what I said.” She winks. “Now go.”
Madden holds a hand up to stop me. “If you were supposed to deliver a Hot Tottie, why did he say he wanted his package?”
The realization slams my ass back against the edge of the couch. “Fuck...”
“Do you have any idea where that package is in that Hot Tottie?”
Shaking my head I deny, “It didn't even register that he-”
“Sloppy,” Madden snips. “That's fucking sloppy, Merrick.”
“I-”
“Go,” he demands rubbing the top of his head. “Go get cleaned up.”
I give my family, who is ready to go to war for me, one last look. The people who are ready to risk their lives, their freedom, their safety, to save mine.
That may be what family is for, but I'm tired of putting them in this position. I'm gonna be the one to fix this. I have to be. If anyone deserves to pay with their life for this it's me.
Jovi
There's a steady thumping in my head that causes me to groan loudly.
Why would you let me get drunk with Hayli? How was that a good idea? I know couple spats are hard but...wait what do you mean I didn't get drunk with Hayli? What do you mean I dreamt that? Okay, if that was a dream then why does my head feel like I was hit by freight train?
A soft voice questions, “You okay?”
Very slowly I roll over to a sight that's unfamiliar. The young female looks like an angel waiting to receive her wings. Her dark brown hair is braided to the side of her tanned skin. Her slim figure is covered in all white clothing making her blue eyes pop even more.
Who the hell is she?
Instead of speaking I simply nod.
“Good,” she whispers in what sounds like relief. “The Devil will be in very shortly to talk to you, but he's not the first thing any person should have to see when they wake up.”
Her humor makes me smirk.
At least she seems sweet.
She extends her hand for me to shake. “I'm Melody.”
I introduce myself as well. “Jovi.”
“Ghost's girlfriend.”
My heart aches instantly. Unsure if it's from the fact he is who he is or from the fact that I'm not exactly his girlfriend any more, I don't respond.
“By your reaction, I take it you had no idea what he did for a living.” She helps me sit up against the pillows, my entire body burning with an unfamiliar pain. “If it helps, he was trying to get out of this to be with you.”
I open my mouth to ask for more information, but shut it as soon as the door opens revealing a face that looks like it's come to sell me a new car or a new fridge.
Salesman look very similar despite what they're selling.
“Ahhh...” the male coos out and adjusts his tie. “You're finally awake.” With a wave of his wrist he says, “Melody get her breakfast now.”
“Yes sir,” she replies and slips out the door as he shuts it.
Once it's just the two of us he folds his arms across his chest and gives me a hard look. “Comfortable?”
Probably as comfortable as I'm going to get in a strange room with strange people. How did I get here? Why can't I remember a goddamn thing?
“I should probably start at the beginning.” His hands drop to slide into his pockets. “I'm the one who had you kidnapped.”
Kidnapped?! I've been kidnapped!
“Ghost...you know him best as Merrick McCoy, and I had a deal. I would let him free of my services to run off into the sunset with you if he did one final job for me. My money was on him dying during the job, but when he didn't I got very excited that something I wanted very fucking badly was going to be on my door step soon. Problem is...he got spotted. Now I have no package. I'm not a happy man. Or a patient one.”
Or forgiving if kidnapping me was how he dealt with that...
“Kidnapping you was not part of the plan, but I needed his attention.”
The door creeks back open and Melody strolls in with a tray full of breakfast food.
“Now, just so we're clear Jovi Carter, I am well aware of who you are and more importantly who your father is. I have no plans to keep you here longer than necessa
ry and no plans to kill you.”
That's a relief.
“That is unless of course I have to.” With a vindictive smile he leans forward. “That would be just such a shame.”
This man is fucking crazy.
“Nothing to worry about I'm sure. Merrick only came to me to get out of this to be with you, so I can guarantee he will do everything in his power to get you back. In the meantime, you're going to spend a lot of time napping, so I hope you find the bed comfortable.”
Melody places the tray in my lap and whispers, “Have the orange juice. I know you're thirsty.”
Very cautiously I lift the glass and ask the man, “Who are you?”
With a smile that could send shivers down even the most notorious criminals' spine, he announces, “I'm The Devil. And this, Jovi, is my hell. Welcome.”
Merrick
How do you measure time? I mean really measure it. Do you measure it by the work week? The next time you get paid? Do you measure it by doctor appointments and grocery trips? The school calendar or holidays? Do you measure it in trips to the gas station or canceled dates with your boyfriend? Maybe you measure it in smiles captured and memories missed. In moments you felt fucking alive...that's what I do. And right now, time has ceased to exist. God, I need Jovi.
“That's a terrible fucking idea,” Drew argues with Madden at the bar while Knoxie stands in the kitchen across from them nibbling on a burger.
She went and got Madden's favorite as soon as it opened this morning, but he hasn't had a bite. I haven't either. I have a feeling it's for similar reasons.
“Then you fucking think of something!” Madden yells tossing his hands in the air.
From the kitchen table, across from Destin, I chime in, “Maybe we should tell the Commissioner. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he found out. Maybe-”
“This isn't some shitty B-class action movie where they're gonna turn you into a snitch and let you drive away into the sunset, Merrick. This is real life. This is the point where if he finds out who are you it's jail. Then the pen. And most likely your body found in the yard, the same way Dad's was.” Madden's cold description sinks me into my seat.
The air in the room stiffens so tight I'm not sure I want to breathe. Shutting my eyes closed I hit the back of my head against the wall, Jovi's heart-broken face haunting me instantly.
If she didn't hate me before there's no fucking way she doesn't now. How the hell am I supposed to live with that look of pure hatred for the rest of my life? It wasn't hatred? Then what was that? It damn sure wasn't sadness. I've seen that. That was the look they wore at Ben's funeral. The look I saw was something so much worse, I feel like I should be looking for a line in Romeo and Juliet.
Suddenly it hits me. “Shit! We gotta get Hayli!”
Triple D responds in unison, “What?”
“Hayli!” I shout jumping to my feet. “We gotta get her before The Devil does. He kidnapped Jovi, but what's to stop him from using Hayli to prove a point that he's fucking serious.”
“Damn,” Daniel mutters and stands. “Baby bro's got a point.”
“Trying to prevent a mess rather than create one. Refreshing,” Drew sighs sarcastically.
I ignore his comment and state, “Let's go get her.”
“No.” Madden points a finger at me. “You fucking stay.”
“What-”
“I don't want you fucking leaving this house unless you absolutely have to. There's nothing stopping The Devil from picking you up-”
“He doesn't want me! He just wants his package!”
“He wants it all!” Madden stands abruptly. “How fucking hard is that for you to get? He doesn't just want his package! He wants your head on a stick for fucking him over! He wants his package! He wants the rest of us in a position to do his errands and bitch work until we die! We've already got a debt I'm stuck paying! Do not for one minute think The Devil isn't all about making it so much fucking worse!”
I whisper, “What's the debt?”
Madden sighs, “It's not important.”
“Clearly it is,” I argue, anger surging inside me. “If it wasn't for your fucking debt the rest of us wouldn't haven't been stuck in this goddamn lifestyle! So tell me, Madden! What the fuck was the debt!”
Knox tries to invade, “This conversation-”
“You wanna know?” Madden steps closer to me. “You really wanna fucking know?”
She tries again, “Madden-”
“Dad only worked for The Devil in the beginning to get us all to a place where we were okay. Where he could fucking feed and clothe us without worrying if this would be the day he was gonna get let go of by some dick head boss. He got us to a point where we didn't have to fucking slum it and then being young, and stupid, and a fuck up, I made a huge mistake that I should be in jail for. Instead, he called The Devil for a fucking favor. The last job he did for him, which wasn't the last of what he had agreed to is what got Dad in prison. Those unfinished jobs got rolled over to me. Me! That debt fell in my lap! It became my responsibility to fucking do it in order to keep all of us alive! And I don't mean in this cushy lifestyle, I mean keeping him from killing us! It's my fault we're in this position now! It's my fault Dad's dead! I tried to keep all of you out of this! I tried to keep all of you from having to be a part of this but fuck...The Devil is always three steps ahead, Merrick. So listen to me for once asshole. Sit. Down. Let Triple D get Hayli.”
Instead of doing what he says, I walk out of the room leaving him to do what he always does. Make all the fucking choices.
I don't doubt my brother. I don't doubt that what he wants is just to keep me alive, but I hate this feeling of uselessness. I am utterly useless. I should be the one coming up with ways to rescue the love of my life, not just sitting here twiddling my fucking thumbs.
About an hour later my bedroom cracks open and Knoxie's face appears around the door. “Still stewing?”
“Is Madden?”
“He left,” she replies.
“Where?”
“Not sure,” she answers dropping down beside me on the edge of my bed. “He's barely speaking to me.”
“Sorry,” I instantly apologize. “I didn't mean to...fuck up whatever-”
“You didn't,” Knox states pulling her legs to her chest. “It is what it is.” With a shrug she mutters, “I just hate when he shuts me out like this.”
“Of all people, you would think you would be the one he let in.”
“You would think,” she mumbles. “I was the first one who knew he had to start to work for The Devil. I was also the first one by his side to help.”
Fuck. I didn't know that.
After a long pause I ask, “Do you know what it is Madden did back then? What he did to make Dad call in that favor?”
“No,” Knox sighs deeply. “But I remember the night. Usually when times get a little uncomfortable, not typically this bad, we reflect on it. Most of the time I grab him a burger from Bab's Burgers, a large onion ring, and we sit in the garage and relive the moment.”
Seriously...is she talking about Madden? Cold as fuck. Distant as shit. Hard as a fucking rock, Madden?
“That night, he crawled into my bedroom through the window. He was terrible at sneaking in. Always tripped over something. That night it was a pair of my heels. He came in and slipped into my bed. He held me so tightly I couldn't breathe. His arms were caging me in right under my ribs. It fucking hurt, but he was trembling. Totally shaken up from whatever had happened,so I just let him stay that way. He never spoke about what actually went down. He just laid there until the sun rose. Hell, he never spoke about coming to me that night to anyone else. I hadn't either until this moment. But that's the closest the two of us have ever been. Probably the closest the two of us ever will be.”
For her sake as much as his, I pray that she's wrong about that.
There's a small knock on the door before Hayli joins us, a frightened expression on her face. Immediately I rush over and she thr
ows herself into my arms. A small sigh comes out of me.
Not at all like hugging my girl, but it is like having a small piece of her back with me. This is better than nothing. Besides if I had to be responsible for Hayli dying too I...I don't know what I would do with myself. At least I can tell Jovi that I saved her best friend. Maybe that'll help her forgive me.
“I'm scared, Merrick,” she whispers in my ear.
