Indulgence (278 page)

The back door was unlocked which I’d been counting on. The
number of idiots who left their back doors unlocked never failed to amaze me. I
entered and the smell of pot hit me instantly. I fucking hoped he wasn’t
entertaining; I really didn’t want to have to deal with more than him today.

I’d entered through the laundry room, which then took me to
a hallway and I followed that along until I came to the living room. Bruno sat
on the couch staring at the television, sucking hard on his joint like he
couldn’t get what he needed from it. He was so engrossed in the joint and the
television he didn’t hear me approach.

I walked behind the couch and smacked him on the back of his
head. He jumped a fucking mile and almost propelled himself into the television
before turning around to glare at me.

“What the fuck, Kick?” he demanded, still clinging to that
fucking joint as if it were worth a lot to him. I guessed it probably was. This
dickhead had nothing in his life but drugs, debt and a whole lot of regret.

I advanced on him and he must have read the look on my face
clearly because worry crossed his and he began backing up to get away from me.
“You think you can escape this?” I asked as I kept walking towards him.

“Escape what?” he said on a beg. If there was one thing
Bruno was good at, it was convincing himself his problems weren’t as bad as
they were.

I moved into his personal space, glaring down at him.
“Escape the world of hurt you’re about to be in.”

Terror filled his eyes. “No! I’ve got the money!”

“Really? You expect me to believe that, Bruno? You never
have the fuckin’ money.”

His head bobbed up and down rapidly as he nodded at me. “I
have it! It’s in my house…I’ll go and get it for you.”

He attempted to move, and I raised my hand to grip his
shoulder and halt him. “Not so fast, motherfucker. You don’t move unless I say
you can move. We got that?”

He gulped and sweat beaded on his forehead. As he moved his
arm to wipe the sweat away, he agreed, “Yes.”

I let go of his shoulder and asked, “Where is this money?
What room?”

“My bedroom.”

I pulled my gun out and aimed it at his forehead. His eyes
widened and I took in the accelerated rise and fall of his chest. “You lead the
way, but the minute you don’t do as I say, I’ll shoot. And it won’t be to kill
to start with. We clear?”

He tripped over his words to get them out fast. “Yes, I get
it, Kick, but there’s no need to - ”

I pressed my gun hard against his forehead. “There’s always
a need, Bruno. With dickheads like you, anyway. Now shut the fuck up and start
fuckin’ walking.”

He did as I said, and I followed closely behind as he led me
to his bedroom. The house was a fucking mess with crap strewn all over the
floors. His bedroom was no different. As he began rummaging through his
drawers, the only sounds that could be heard in the house were the ticking of
his bedside clock and his breaths that were coming hard and fast now.

I moved to stand behind him and pressed the gun into his
back. “I hope to fuck you’re not looking for a gun,” I said, not really
expecting him to be that smart, but you just never fucking knew.

He shook his head. “No, the money is in here somewhere. I’ve
just got to find which socks I hid it in.”

“You hid your money in your fuckin’ socks?”

He turned his head to glare at me. “Well, where the hell
else would I hide it, smartass?”

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” I bellowed. Assholes
like him annoyed the absolute fuck out of me. First, he was too stupid to keep
his shit straight, then he had the balls to think he could get out of dealing
with the consequences, and to top it off, he wanted to call me fucking names?
Fuck that shit.

The look of recognition that crossed his face was priceless.
That moment when your target realises just how much shit they’re actually in
never failed to pump excitement through my veins. “Shit, sorry, dude. I didn’t
mean it.”

I raised my gun and shot at the roof. What I really wanted
to do was shoot him, but I needed to get that money first so the roof was the
next best thing to hurry him along. Pointing the gun back at him, I roared,
“Hurry the fuck up. I don’t have all day.”

Sweat had started to take over his face and his shirt stuck
to the sweat on his body. He began rummaging faster until, eventually, he
located the cash. Dragging it out of his sock faster than a virgin ejaculated,
he shoved it at me. “Take it!”

“Calm the fuck down,” I suggested as I took the wads of
twenties and tens from him. “And let’s move this to your kitchen table so I can
count it.” He owed us six grand and I wanted to make sure it was all here
before I took care of him.

Once he’d given it all to me, he began walking to the
kitchen. I indicated for him to sit at the table and then I sat opposite him
and started counting. He surprised the hell out of me by managing to keep his
mouth shut while I did this. Bruno usually babbled shit the whole time when I
came to collect cash.

I counted slowly. The bastard had come out in me today and I
enjoyed feeling his fear while he waited for me to finish.

He was fifty bucks short.

I glared at him before pointing my gun at his foot and
shooting.

He screamed out in pain as blood started going everywhere.
Wild eyes landed on mine and he yelled out, “Why the fuck did you do that?”

“You’re short,” I said calmly, leaning back into my chair
and extending my leg out to stretch it.

“Well, you should have just said so. I’ve got more!” His
face had contorted in pain and he gripped his leg tightly. Sweat now poured
down his face and his clothes were a wet, sweaty mess.

“I shouldn’t have to fuckin’ say so, Bruno. You should know
by now that when I come to collect my money I want all of it. What I don’t want
is to be fucked around.”

“It’s hardly fucking you around, asshole,” he muttered. “How
was I to know that sock was fifty bucks short?”

I shot his other foot and watched him writhe in pain. “Where
the fuck is the rest of your money stashed? And don’t screw me around anymore,”
I demanded.

He struggled to get the words out. Jerking his chin at the
kitchen pantry, he stuttered, “In there, top shelf in the brown container at
the back.”

Pushing my chair back, I raised my brows and said, “Funny
how bullets encourage honesty, isn’t it?”

“Fuck you,” he spat out, clearly not giving a shit if he
pissed me off anymore.

I ignored him and reached up into the cupboard in search of
the brown container. My eyes widened in surprise when I opened it. I whistled
and murmured, “Fuck me, Bruno. You’ve been holding out on me.”

There had to be twenty grand in here.

“Just take fifty and leave me the fuck alone.”

My gaze flicked to him. Was he deluded? “You really think
I’m gonna walk out of here today without this cash?”

His fight wasn’t gone. “I swear to fucking God, Kick, if you
take my money I will hunt you down for it.”

I chuckled and cocked my head to the side, giving him a
questioning look. “You really think you’ll be alive to hunt me down?”

Finally, he realised the depth of shit he was in today. He
pushed his chair back and attempted to stand. I watched as he collapsed onto
the floor, his body twisting in pain as he did so.

I walked to him and looked down over him. “You’ve been
screwing our club around for years now, motherfucker, and my president is
finally done with you. And besides, you’re a junkie criminal who preys on the
fuckin’ elderly and disabled so I’d be ridding the world of a scumbag we can do
without.”

Hi voice pleaded with me. “Take the money, Kick. You’ll
never hear from me again. And I promise not to rob or hurt those people
anymore.” His meaningless words fell out of his mouth. I knew they meant
nothing, because Bruno was a creature of habit and he’d never made good on any
of his promises before.

“It’s too late for more shitty promises.” I looked around
his kitchen. “I won’t miss chasing you for cash. Between the dive of a bar you
drink your life away in and this dump, you’ve really outdone yourself in life.”

He spat at my feet before giving me a filthy look. “Fuck
you!”

I pointed my gun at his forehead and pulled the trigger.

He fell backwards as blood went everywhere.

I pointed the gun at his chest and fired three more bullets
into him. Just to be certain King got his wish to never have to deal with him
again.

Then I grabbed the money from the brown container, and the
money off the table, stashed it in my jacket and left the way I’d come in.

Bruno’s body may not be discovered for days, weeks even,
depending on the stench it caused. He had no family or real friends I was aware
of, and in the world we lived in, no one gave much of a shit about anyone
unless you were part of a club or gang. Bruno belonged to no one and so no one
would care.

That was the cold hard truth of our world.

*****

Two hours later, after I’d been home and sorted Bruno’s cash
out and then delivered King’s amount to him, I pulled up at the cemetery. I had
no idea why, but I’d felt the pull there. It wasn’t where Jeremy was, his
family had organised for him to be cremated. As I left my bike and began
walking across the grass, it hit me.

Shelly’s here.

I’d almost made it to her grave when a little old lady
stumbled and fell on the path in front of me. She landed on her knees and
struggled to get back up again. I quickly walked to her so I could kneel down
and help her up.

“Are you okay?” I asked, assessing her to see if she’d done
much damage.

Her eyes came to mine and while I saw a small amount of pain
there, she smiled. “I’m a silly old fool,” she said softly, “I’m always falling
over these days but I haven’t hurt myself. If you could just help me up, I’ll
keep going.”

She raised her arms and I placed my hands under her
shoulders and helped her up. A little unsteady on her feet to start with, she
regained her balance, but I kept hold of her until I could verify she wouldn’t
fall again.

“Can you stand on your own now?” I asked, watching her
intently to make sure she could.

Nodding, she said, “Yes, I’ll be fine. Thank you for your
help. It’s hard to find good people like you these days.”

I ignored her incorrect assumption about me being good and
slowly let her go. When I could see she was all right on her own, I asked,
“Where’s your car?”

She gave me a smile. “I can manage on my own.”

I shook my head and reached for her elbow to help guide her.
“No, I want to make sure you get there without falling again.”

“Thank you. Even my own son doesn’t look out for me like
this,” she murmured as we began walking.

The journey to her car took some time because she couldn’t
walk very fast, but that was okay with me. I was just glad when we got there
and she hadn’t fallen. Once I had her settled in the car, I shut her door and
stepped back. She smiled and gave me a wave as she drove off. I stood lost in
my thoughts while I watched her go, and didn’t hear the approaching footsteps
on the gravel.

“Kick?”

I spun around.

Evie.

“What are you doing here?” she asked before I said anything.

“I really don’t know.” In that moment, I felt lost.
Suddenly, and out of nowhere, I felt alone in this world, like I had no one in
my corner.

Fuck, what the hell is wrong with me?

She frowned. “Are you okay?”

I scrubbed my face and blinked my eyes a couple of times.
“Yeah, I don’t know what the fuck it is, but I’m okay.”

The hardness she tended to look at me with these days eased
a little and she said, “It’s Jeremy’s death, I’d say. I feel the same way.”

I didn’t say anything, just stood and watched her. Fuck, I
could watch her forever and never grow tired. She seemed so vulnerable at the
moment, though, and I wanted to wrap her in my arms, but I knew that would be a
bad move so I kept my arms by my side and stayed silent.

Her body relaxed and she raked her fingers through her long
hair. “Why did you two have that falling out years ago?”

She caught me off guard. I hadn’t been expecting that. My
body stiffened and I blew out a long breath. “It’s a long story, Evie, and
there’s no point rehashing it. What’s done is done, and Jeremy’s gone so I
can’t fuckin’ fix it now.”

“I feel like whatever happened between you two had something
to do with me, and I hate that. I hate thinking that I came between you guys.”

Fuck
.

I hated the tinge of sadness I could hear in her voice, and
the way her body slumped.

“It wasn’t your fault. We were just stubborn assholes and
couldn’t see past a disagreement. It was a fuckin’ waste of a good friendship
and if I could go back and change it, I would. Instead, I have to live with it
now. Live with the fact I fucked up.”

She shifted on her feet and slung her handbag over her
shoulder. “Okay, I can respect that, and I’m glad it wasn’t because of me.” She
took a step away from me and added, “I’ll catch you, Kick. I’m gonna go visit
Shelly now.”

I’ll catch you, Kick.

Those fucking words warmed my heart.

“See you, baby.”

She blessed me with one last smile and then headed towards
Shelly’s grave.

Fuck, that shit with Jeremy would haunt me for the rest of
my life.

*****

Kick

30 years old – 5 years ago

“What the fuck are you doing, asshole?” Jeremy’s
thunderous voice echoed around the room. He’d just barged into my house and we
stood glaring at each other in my living room. I knew why he was here.

Evie.

She and I had just gotten back together, so of course he
was in my face.