Draw (Gentry Boys #1)(71)

She glanced at our surroundings and sighed unhappily. “You’re dropping me at Brayden’s?”

“Yeah,” I said casually. “Is that okay? I mean, most of your stuff is still there for now. Anyway, I’ll be back late tonight and you probably want to get some rest for tomorrow.”

Her bright green eyes fixed on me balefully. “That’s not it, not really. You just want me out of the way so you and Creed can descend into the pits of hell together.”

There was no humor in my chuckle. “Just like a typical f*cking Gentry, right?”

She looked away. She was struggling not to cry. Christ, I couldn’t handle her crying again.

“I’ll be there to see Chase in the morning,” she said quietly. “Before I go.”

“Okay,” I shrugged. “I’ll be there too.” I touched her cheek. “This isn’t ‘goodbye’. It’s just ‘good night’. Now come here and kiss me, baby.”

There was a desperate quality to the way she climbed over the seat and wrapped her legs around me. We got sweaty together, kissing for a long time. I wanted more. I wanted it all. I wanted to lose myself in her sweet body again and banish the demons of retribution. But I came from a long line of violent people who knew such shadows aren’t easily pushed aside. Saylor might be right. I just might be headed to hell.

Finally, reluctantly, she pulled away. “Good night, Cordero,” she whispered and walked slowly over to her cousin’s apartment.

I love you too, Say.

But it was the wrong time to tell her. I returned to the hospital without glancing back. Creed was waiting for me.

Chase was doped up again, sleeping soundly. The man who’d been shot in the ass was watching television as his wife complained about everything but the color of the sky. He noticed me watching and sighed, pointing in the direction of his unhappy significant other as she prattled on.

“Thank the good lord that visiting hours end soon, eh?”

Creed pulled me out of the room and into the hallway. His eyes were bloodshot. I wondered if he’d slept at all since Chase’s attack.

“I put in a call,” he said. “Haven’t heard back.”

“Did you tell him what’s up?”

He scoffed. “In a voice mail? Fuck no.”

We ate garbage from the vending machine and hung out at Chase’s side until hospital staff told us we needed to get out. I stopped at the nurses’ station and asked again if they would give me a buzz if anything changed during the night.

Creed looked around when we got back to the apartment. “Where’s Say?”

“Brayden’s. I can’t let her get mixed up in whatever happens next.”

Creed’s hands went to his hips and he looked down with a sad expression. “And after that?”

“Don’t know. It’s up to her I guess.”

My brother nodded. “Fair enough.”

He tensed at the sound of his ringtone. “It’s Gabe.”

Creed put the phone on speaker. “Hey, man. Thanks for calling back.”

“Naturally. How can I help you, Mr. Gentry?”

Creed glanced at me. “You may have heard something about my brother, Chase, getting jumped behind a gym in Tempe.”

Gabe waited a long time before answering. “I may have heard that,” he said warily.

“Chase had run into some trouble down there, a certain pack of college boys who don’t take kindly to losing.”

“Yes, few people do. Especially over privileged brats who believe the odds should always be stacked in their favor.”

“Do you know them?” I asked. It was a formality of a question. Gabe Hernandez had set up fights with them on at least several occasions. Of course he knew them.

“Are we foregoing trial by jury?”

“Fuck that. They’ll never see the inside of a courtroom and you know it.”

“I know that you boys are asking me to be an accessory to whatever flavor of revenge you feel like dispensing.”

Creed’s breath came out in a low hiss. “What do you want, Gabe? As compensation for ah, accessorizing yourself?”

A jingling sound came through the phone, as if Gabe was twirling a set of keys around while he considered. “I’ve been growing tired of these pocket change brawls. Been looking to step up the game and join the big leagues. We’re talking huge payout, boys. But I need a fighter who isn’t afraid to bleed.”

He was talking about more than blood. Creed had told me a little about the high stakes battles. They were brutal. A man could get his spine cracked, or worse. I hadn’t been willing to go that route if it was just money. But for this, for the opportunity to right a gruesome wrong on behalf of my brother, then yeah. I would. I opened my mouth to say so but wasn’t in time.

“Done,” Creed spoke up. “I’ll f*cking do it.”

“Hell yes, the big fellow with a chip on his shoulder. You got yourself a partner, man. It might take me time to get some action set up which is worthy of you but rest assured it’ll happen.”

Creed rolled his eyes. “Beautiful. Whatever. Now tell us what we need to hear.”

“I will. Of course if I flat out gave you names that might be misconstrued.” He was quiet a moment. “Let me see here. You got a Facebook profile? Oh, look at that. There’s Cordero. I’m going to send you some friend suggestions. Do with that information as you please.”