Invincible (19 page)

32.

(Wes)

I stroked her back until her eyes were shut. I pulled at the sheets to look at her bare ass. I grinned and ran my fingertips up her back again. It didn
’
t make sense but I couldn
’
t get lost in all this right now.

Me? Loving someone?

Nah, that shit didn
’
t happen.

And maybe this wasn
’
t even love. It was just really good lust. A deep lust. Amazing sex. Christ. Her mouth wrapped around my dick
…
the taste of her body
…

I took a deep breath.

Maybe it was the realness of death. I always knew going into a fight that I could end up dead. One hard punch, I was done. One knockout punch and I smacked my head off the ground, I was done. Or if I lose a big fight, I bite a bullet.

I looked over at Rose as she slept and shook my head.

It was real.

It was love.

33.

(Rose)

It almost felt too normal. Waking up with Wes
’
s arm around me. His naked body pressed tight against me. I put his hand to my breast and squeezed. I felt his dick react. We fucked for the next hour until we were sweaty and tired.

Then we slept again for another few hours.

I couldn
’
t remember the last time I was able to get out of bed after noon. Like the entire world didn
’
t mean a damn thing. Because I had Wes. He had me. We had each other.

We dressed, and while Wes built a fire, I made coffee and eggs.

We ate, talked, laughed, flirted, kissed, and fooled around again.

I couldn
’
t get enough of him. My tongue wanted to explore every inch of his fighter
’
s body. And I wanted his tongue to explore all of my body. No matter where he touched me, it turned me on. No matter how hard he fucked me, I wanted more. It was the craziest yet greatest feeling in the world.

I loved him.

I loved Wes.

It was beyond stumbling and falling and all that bullshit.

It was late afternoon and we were thinking about food again. We were on the couch, me wrapped up in his arms. I loved kissing his biceps. Knowing the power they contained. Fighting. Protecting. The way he held me with such strength.

He was shirtless, which was torture.

I ran a finger down his chest and stomach, then stopped.

“
I was there when it all happened,
”
I whispered.
“
With your brother and Luke. Whether it matters or not, we were against it. We didn
’
t want anything to happen. But we knew it was going to be bad.
”

“
Why are you telling me this?
”
Wes asked.

“
Because I feel guilty.
”

“
Why the hell do you feel guilty?
”

“
I don
’
t know. Because it happened. And when it was done, it was chaos. My father protected Luke from what should have happened. Then it all came undone. My father ended up dead and I ended up
…”

“
You
’
re right where you belong,
”
Wes said.

I looked up at him. There was pain in his eyes. He really loved his brother. He really missed his brother. He had gone from having his brother to rely on to being on his own with no chance to accept the transition.

“
When did you fight after Shane
’
s death?
”
I asked.

“
Aton wanted me a week later.
”

“
Oh, Wes
…”

“
He wanted me to be a mourning kind of fighter. You know? All black. Hair in my face. Stand there and take a couple hits. Then go wild. That was my thing. I always kept silent and just
…
destroyed whoever was in front of me. People started telling me I was invincible. That I couldn
’
t be beat. So I started to gain a little fame in the underground world. And when that happens, heavy hitters went to Aton to make private bets. They put their best guys against me. Over and over. The more I fought, the better I felt. Then the first year came. That date. I went crazy. I started a fight with an entire bar. I took guy after guy out. I got jumped and taken down. Aton sent some guys to get me. That
’
s when I vowed to never fight on the anniversary of Shane
’
s death. Until this year.
”

“
Is there anything else besides fighting?
”
I asked.
“
I mean anything you
’
d want to do?
”

“
No. It
’
s all I know.
”

“
You can
’
t fight when you
’
re eighty, Wes.
”

Wes grinned.
“
I have to get to eighty before I can worry about it.
”

God, can he be anymore fucking sexy?

I kissed his chest and then nibbled up to his neck.

“
Damn, you can
’
t turn it off, can you?
”
he asked.

“
Not when you
’
re sitting here without a shirt.
”

“
Then I better put a shirt on.
”

“
No, you better fucking not,
”
I said.

Wes touched my cheek.
“
Ah, sweetie. I
…
I really
…”

Wes
’
s head quickly turned.

No. What were you going to say? Were you going to tell me you loved me? Because I love you. Wes
…

Wes pushed me away from him and he jumped up.
“
Shit.
”

“
What?
”
I asked.

He looked back at me. All romance stripped from his face. He was now Wes, the fighter. He then said three words
…
but they weren
’
t
I love you.

“
Someone is here.
”

34.

(Wes)

I saw the car and tried to come up with a plan. I grabbed my shirt and put it on. I hurried to the bedroom and got my gun. Fuck me for even having the gun in the damn bedroom. That meant I had been getting comfortable. There was no level of comfort right now. There was only waiting for the next piece of hell to come to life.

Which seemed to be waiting outside.

“
Go in the bedroom,
”
I said to Rose.
“
Hide.
”

“
No,
”
she said.
“
I
’
m not hiding anymore, Wes. I
’
m going to fight. Like you do. I want to fight.
”

There was a knock at the cabin door.

A knock?

My head tried to focus on too much at once.

“
Fuck,
”
I whispered.
“
Okay.
”

I ran to the door and held my gun tight. I stood to the side and peeled the door open. I waited for the bullets to rip through the cabin, but it was complete silence. When I looked around the door, I saw
…

“
Tommy,
”
I whispered.
“
Tommy?
”

“
Wes,
”
Tommy said.
“
Christ, man, what the hell are you doing?
”

“
Making sure you
’
re not going to try and kill me,
”
I said.

Tommy opened his arms.
“
I
’
m not here to hurt anyone. Jesus Christ, Wes.
”

Tommy smiled ear to ear. He looked more excited than I'd ever seen him in my life. Hell, the only time he got excited was when he got to blow people up.

“
What
’
s going on?
”
I asked.
“
Do you realize what the hell is going on right now? I had to fi
…”

“
Wes, shut up,
”
Tommy said. He stepped into the cabin and put his hands to my shoulders.
“
He
’
s alive.
”

“
What?
”

“
Aton. He
’
s alive.
”

“
He
’
s always been alive.
”

“
No, Wes. He
’
s awake. He
’
s up. He
’
s
…
he
’
s Aton.
”

I was in shock. I couldn
’
t speak.

Tommy still grinned ear to ear.

Behind me, I felt Rose touch my back.

“
Aton is awake?
”
Rose asked.

“
Yeah,
”
Tommy said.
“
Awake. Sitting up. Talking. Eating. It
’
s like nothing ever happened to him.
”

“
I don
’
t
…
,
”
I said.

“
He just popped up. Doctors said it happens all the time. Just how the body works. He opened his eyes and started tearing at the tubes in his mouth and nose and stuff. He
’
s going to be fine. He remembers everything. He
’
s not telling the police though, of course. This is family. This is business.
”

“
That
’
s amazing,
”
I said.

“
He wanted to know where you were.
”

“
Me?
”

“
Yeah. He wants to talk to you.
”
Tommy
’
s eyes went from me to Rose, back to me.
“
He
’
s wants to talk about everything.
”

“
Everything,
”
I said.

“
He
’
s going to tear your brother apart,
”
Tommy said to Rose.
“
I
’
m sorry.
”

“
I
’
m not,
”
Rose said.
“
He better gut Luke.
”

“
Not if I can get to him first,
”
I said.

Tommy patted my cheek.
“
Look at you. That Irish blood boiling over. I wish you were from the old country, kid. You
’
d do so good in a suit and tie. Out on the street with me.
”

“
Never,
”
I said.
“
I couldn
’
t stand your smell.
”

Tommy laughed.
“
Look at him. Talking like his Irish shit don
’
t stink.
”

My head spun.

Aton was alive. He was awake. He knew it was Luke who shot him. He knew everything. That meant
…

“
When can I see him?
”
I asked.
“
I need to tell him so much of everything, Tommy. That fight I had
…
that was some kind of set up. You now? The guy I fought, Phantom
…”

“
Whoa, whoa,
”
Tommy said.
“
What are you talking about? Phantom? He was a low life dealer, Wes. He was found shot twenty times down by the river.
”

“
What? I fought him.
”

“
No you didn
’
t.
”

“
Yes, he did,
”
Rose said.
“
I was there.
”

“
What the fuck
…”
Tommy shook his head. He stepped back and kept his hand out.
“
Wes, I
’
m telling you, Phantom was a dealer. Some scumbag that was always in debt. There
’
s no way you
…”

I opened my mouth, ready to scream. What the fuck was Tommy talking about? I was there. I punched Phantom. Phantom punched me. It was a goddamn fight. And then
…
the gun
…
shot
…

I looked at Tommy, trying to make the connection of it all.

Before I could speak, Tommy
’
s neck exploded.
Literally.

35.

(Rose)

I screamed because I knew what had happened.

Tommy had been shot.

I grabbed at Wes, trying to wrestle him to the ground. But he didn
’
t move. He stood there like a statue, definitely in shock.

I screamed in his ear and he shook me away. As he turned, tossing me to the floor, a bullet flew through the cabin and went through the back window. Wes turned, his eyes went wide, and he dropped down.

That was just in time for another bullet to zing through the cabin.

The bullets kept flying as Wes crawled on the floor toward Tommy.

“
Wes
…”

There was blood pouring from Tommy
’
s mouth and nose. His neck was rubbery and looked like strings of spaghetti. I had no idea how he was still alive. Not that it mattered because he died a second later.

Wes got to his knees and hovered over Tommy. His hands were inches away, moving, like he wanted to comfort Tommy, but he didn
’
t know how.

That
’
s when Wes jumped to his feet and let out a roar like a wild beast. He charged to the front door of the cabin.

I grabbed at the couch and pulled myself up. As I stood, I was then greeted with a gun to the side of my head. A man in a black mask stood there.

“
Hey,
”
he said.

“
Wes!
”
I yelled.

Wes turned and the man put a hand out.
“
No dumb moves, motherfucker.
”

As Wes put his hand up, another man in a black mask came from the kitchen. He charged at me. Now there were two guns pointed at me.

“
I think we get the point,
”
I said.

“
Shut up, bitch,
”
the second guy said.

Wes stepped forward, eyes on fire.

“
Do it,
”
the guy tempted.
“
I
’
d love to paint her brains all over the cabin.
”

Wes stopped again.
“
You have no idea what you
’
re up against.
”

“
No, Wes, you don
’
t.
”

I thought about making a move. I could throw an elbow and duck down. Right? I could make some wild escape. Wes could dart out the front door and I
’
ll dart out the back door. Then we could meet up out back and
…

“
Fucking pieces of shit,
”
Wes muttered.

From the corner of my eye I saw both guys were looking at Wes.

This is your chance. Do it!

So I did.

I threw an elbow and dropped down to my ass. The guy I hit groaned and his gun went off.

“
Bitch!
”
the other guy yelled.

I
’
d done it!

I kicked back and rolled, knowing if I could shield myself with the furniture, I
’
d have a shot at getting out of this.

I was on my knees and looked to the door, hoping to see Wes gone.

Instead, there was another man in a black mask standing there, something in his hand. I screamed, but it was too late.

The thud of the object hitting Wes
’
s head made my stomach flip.

Wes collapsed like he was dead.

I jumped forward and someone grabbed my hair.

“
Whoa, whoa, whoa
…
take it easy
…”

I fought to look back, but didn
’
t really need to.

I knew the voice.

It was him.

It was my brother.

The Assassin
.

~ ~ ~

“
Do you want me to kill him?
”

“
No!
”
I screamed.

“
Shut up,
”
Luke yelled at me. He pointed to the guy standing over Wes
’
s body.
“
Don
’
t kill him. I have a plan. We
’
re going to end this entire thing right now.
”

Luke lifted me by the hair, bringing me to my feet. He pulled me to his body and put his cheek to mine.

“
How was your little getaway?
”
he whispered.
“
Did you enjoy it? I hope he fucked your brains out. I really do. Because you
’
ll never feel pleasure again, Rose. I
’
m going to fucking cut you limb by limb
…”

“
I love it, boss,
”
one of the guys said.

Luke reached for a gun and pointed it at the guy. He pulled the trigger, sending the guy stumbling back. He fell into a table and then was on the ground, dead.

“
Hey, let
’
s do it again,
”
Luke whispered.
“
Like we did with Roc. Okay? Come on.
”

“
Luke, please,
”
I begged.
“
What do you want from me?
”

“
I
’
m not sure yet,
”
he whispered.
“
I wanted to come and kill you. But the more I thought about it, your little slut escapade has put me in a good position. I can use you. I
’
ll get exactly what I want now.
”

“
I don
’
t understand.
”

“
I
’
m the one who runs everything, Rose. That
’
s how it
’
s going to be. Our fucking father was happy peddling fights around. Not me. I
’
m better than that. And I have the blood to back it up. Now, let
’
s do something fun.
”

“
What do we do with Wes?
”
the other guy in the black mask asked.

“
I
’
m not sure,
”
Luke said.

He put the gun in my hand, just like he
’
d done with Roc. His finger to my finger, against the trigger. I tried to resist, but Luke was strong. He was the worst kind of bully you could imagine, the kind with no heart and no remorse. The kind with too much power.

The only way I could feel safe was
…
Wes. And he was face down on the floor.

Luke lifted the gun. He pointed it at Wes. That meant I was pointing the gun at Wes.

No, no, no, no
…

This couldn
’
t happen like this. I couldn
’
t do it. I
’
d rather get shot than hurt Wes. He did nothing to deserve this. Yeah, well, maybe he had been part of an attempt to kill me. But
…

Luke lifted the gun more, right to the guy in the black mask. The guy jumped back but had no chance of escaping. Luke squeezed my finger to the trigger. I shut my eyes in time. The gun went off and when I opened my eyes, the guy was on the ground.

Dead.

“
Now, Rose,
”
Luke said.
“
Let
’
s go for a ride. This place stinks of sex and death.
”

Luke forced me to step over Wes
’
s lifeless body.

I almost tripped over Wes.

I looked back and prayed for Wes to jump up. To grab a gun and shoot Luke in the back. And for a second, I swore I saw Wes
’
s left foot move.

But it didn
’
t move
…
and Luke had me
…
it was over.