Invincible(18)

I stared at Aton. My face throbbed where the gorilla had hit me. My shoulder hurt and burned. What a f*cking 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 f*cked.

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 * 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.