Fight(46)

It pained me and angered me.

“She was a close friend,” Winter said. “So smart. She worked at the club to pay off her loans.”

“Another stripper?”

“Yeah. But she’s not anymore. Not for a long time. She was done right after I started there. When everything happened, Endo insisted on her.”

“Why?”

“Andrea had been pregnant. She’d been with some guy who was crazy for her. And crazy in general. She told him she was done with him after he started to stalk her. But he wouldn’t let her go. Andrea had a one night stand and got pregnant. Her ex set out to take care of her… and he came close.”

“What happened?”

“He crashed her car. Ran his car into hers. She wasn’t far along, but she lost the pregnancy. She had to get emergency surgery and was told she’d never have a baby. Then she met Endo and he killed her ex for her. They probably slept together for all I know. It wouldn’t surprise me. So when everything happened with me and Endo, he wanted to give the baby to Andrea. And she wanted it so badly. I just went along with it all.”

“She’s a good person?” I asked.

“Yeah. But she has tendencies.” Winter took a breath. “Those guys at my place talked about her. She has Autumn and they have her. I know it, Tripp. They have her.”

“Skull X has her? Why?”

Winter and I looked at each other. I could tell she knew the answer before I spoke it.

Leverage.

Skull X had Andrea and Autumn, which meant they had Endo’s deep, dark secret. They were probably holding that against him. They had power over Endo, which meant favors, money, anything they wanted. It also meant a direct line not only to Aldo but a direct line to the Red Aces MC.

“Shit,” I whispered. “That’s… that’s heavy.”

Winter nodded. “It’s all my fault, Tripp.”

“No. It’s not your fault at all. You should have never had to give up…”

“I wouldn’t change that. Andrea is a good person.”

I swallowed hard. “When this is done, you can…”

“No,” Winter said. Her eyes filled with tears. “No. I would never do that to her. If she calls Andrea Mom…”

“Christ,” I said. I pulled Winter close. I held her, knowing I could only protect her present and her future. I couldn’t do a thing about her past.

I killed the shower and grabbed a towel for her. I wrapped Winter up and got a towel for myself. A few minutes later, she was in bed. I crashed down next to her and pulled her tight to my body again.

“Tripp, what’s going to happen?”

I stared at the ceiling. I wanted to lie to her. I wanted to tell her everything would be perfectly okay. That there was nothing in the world to worry about.

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I’m still piecing all of this together.”

“Aldo wanted you to kill me.”

“Yeah, he did.”

“If you don’t listen to him…”

“Hey, I’ll worry about that, okay? He thinks you are hiding Autumn. Or you know something.”

Winter looked at me. “Tripp, you know everything.”

“I know. I believe you.”

“You’re the first person to tell me that in a long time.”

“I understand that. You needed to hide. I don’t blame you. I hide too. But when I’m with you, Winter, I don’t want to hide. I want to be normal. I don’t even know what that means. But if it’s us together, in bed like this, then I want it.”

“You have it,” Winter whispered. She kissed my chest and put her head down on me.

I held her until she fell asleep.

I looked at her and realized something.

I may never get to hold her like this again.



~



I stood on the balcony.

The only question that burned inside me was if Aldo had something to do with it all. So far Endo was the catalyst. And he was the one who had been shot and left in a coma. He had ties to the Red Aces. Ties to Stoney and Rocky. Now he had ties to Skull X because of Winter, Winter’s kid, and the woman who took Winter’s kid.

It was a giant circle that just kept going round and round.

It made no sense either that Aldo wanted Autumn. The family always lived by their beliefs. I had no business getting involved with anything related to the family. I was a fighter. Aldo’s prized fighter at that. I made Aldo money and when he kicked some up higher, I made money for everyone. That was my job.

I stared at my fists.

How f*cking badly I just wanted to be in a circle… staring down some guy… watching his feet, his stance, his shoulders. Watching him watch me. Figuring out his strong hand, weak hand, and seeing if he was afraid. Anything that could give me that edge in a fight.

All I needed was one good punch and then I had the fight. Then I’d wait for Aldo to give me the cue. I could knock the guy out. I could last the entire fight. Whatever he needed from me.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Winter in bed, sleeping.

This fight? Damn, this was something entirely new.

My cell started to ring.

It was a blocked number.

“Hello?”

“Tripp. You alone?”