Risk (Gentry Boys #2)(16)

“Hernandez,” I said smoothly into the phone.

“Hey Creed. Listen, I know I’ve been neglecting you.”

“I’ll get over it.” My stomach had dropped to my knees. Every muscle in my body tensed. If I was stone then nothing could cut me. “You got something set up?”

Gabe sighed. “You’ve had less time in the ring than your brother Cord. The men who hold the big chips don’t know what to expect from you. Cord, on the other hand-“

“No!” I shouted. “Cord didn’t deal. I did.”

“I understand,” Gabe answered coolly, “but I think it’ll take a small bout or two for you to prove you’re a cut above the base model. As I know you are.”

I leaned against the wall and clenched my teeth. “Why don’t you just tell it straight Gabe? What do I need to do?”

“You need to show up tomorrow night and take something down. It’ll be easy.”

I heard my own heartbeat. It was surprisingly calm. “Fine. Give me the details and I’ll be there.”

Once Gabe had relayed the boring particulars he cleared his throat.

“Creed. I know this will be an easy win for you because I set it up that way. You catch my meaning?”

“Nah, I’m a little slow. Be explicit.”

“I’m not expecting you to take a dive. If you do I’ll be…disappointed.”

“I wouldn’t let that happen.” I ended the call without saying anything else.

Chase was staring at me worriedly from several feet away.

“It’s not a big deal,” I told him. “They’re calling in a patsy for me to flatten.”

Chase crossed his arms. “Why?”

I told him the truth. “So they can get some deep pockets interested in financing something bigger.”

“Bigger,” Chase nodded, “and bloodier.”

I held out my hands. “What the hell do you want me to say, Chase?”

“Nothin’,” Chase coughed. “You still want to go eat?”

“No,” I said darkly. “My appetite’s kind of gone.”

“Yeah, mine too.”

Chase pushed past me and retreated to his room. I knew it tore his guts out that I was in this position because I’d been on a misguided quest to avenge him. He hadn’t asked me to. In fact he’d begged me not to. And in the end I hadn’t avenged a thing yet I was still committed to the madness.

I didn’t know how long I just stood there, looking at the blank surface of the wall. At some point Cord walked through the door and found me.

He approached me with some wariness. “What’s up, Big C?”

I looked at my brother. This would hurt him and I hated to hurt him. “It’s time.”

Cord’s shoulders sagged. He leaned against the wall next to me with a sigh and then slid down to the floor. “What’s the arrangement?”

“I’ve got to pound some poor f*cker tomorrow night in order to prove I’m a force to be reckoned with.”

Cord looked up at me hopefully. “Then stick your pride up your ass and prove you’re only good at falling down.”

I sat down next to him. “Gabe’s already thought of that. This match wasn’t designed with my failure in mind.”

A door opened and Chase appeared. He sank down on my other side. We stayed like that for a little while, the three of us huddled together. It was the way we’d always been. Our father, Benton Gentry, was a son of a bitch. He was always spinning into some mad bender and searching for something to hurt. We were young when we learned how quickly the mood could take him and we also learned how to hide until it passed. Whenever I was waiting in terrified darkness I could always reach out and be comforted by the nearness of my brothers. I was never alone.

Cord finally spoke up. I knew his cheerfulness wasn’t real. “You shitheads hungry? I’ll treat.”

Chase elbowed me. “Seems we were on our way to eat some chicken before we got interrupted.”

I shook my head. I was too close to the edge. When that happened I tended to look for meaning in the bottle. I got lost that way. It was bad enough that the boys and now Saylor had seen that ugly side of me. I couldn’t stomach the thought of Truly seeing it too.

“I’m in the mood for burritos,” I said

Cord was watching me. I thought he was going to say something about Truly but he stopped and smiled. “You got it.”

Chase started ushering both of us out the door. “Your wallet’s gonna be significantly lighter when I’m done stuffing myself.”

Cord rolled his eyes. “So be it.” He turned and touched me on the arm. “We’ll make it,” he said with confidence. “We always do.”

“I know.” I held the front door open. “After you, brother.”





CHAPTER SEVEN


Truly



“You’re quiet,” Saylor said.

I was sitting at a back table, poking at a chicken sandwich. Saylor paused at my side with a pitcher of water in her hand. She looked at me carefully.

“It’s the heat,” I told her.

She set the pitcher down and sat across from me. “You’re full of it. It’s always hot. Except for a few weeks in January when we all get to pull our jackets out from underneath the bed and pretend we live somewhere manageable. After that the blistering heat returns.”