Invincible (20 page)

36.

(Wes)

Shane lands a left, then a right. The crowd screams. I push between two guys. One looks at me and shoves me back. I throw a right and sock the asshole in the jaw. He stumbles away and
I
push through. Now I
’
m on the edge of the circle. Shane is throwing fists like a mad man. There
’
s something burning in his eyes. Punch after punch, he works the other guy across the circle. The guy can
’
t defend himself; Shane is too smart with his fists. He finally takes the guy to a knee. The guy reaches up and puts his hands to Shane
’
s body. The guy looks down, defeated.

My mind is racing; my heart the damn same. Shane just needs to punch the guy one more time. Cock a big fist back and wham!

But Shane steps back. He waits for the guy to get up! What the hell is he doing?

Shane waves his hands. He
’
s telling the guy he
’
ll wait.

The guy gets to his feet. Wipes the blood off his face. He puts his fists up and nods. A sign of respect, sure.

Ten seconds later Shane gets the knockout punch. A hard right to the guy
’
s jaw that sends him spinning and collapsing to the floor. Later, we
’
ll find out that the guy broke his jaw in two spots.

After the fight, I stand there as Shane unwraps bloody tape from his hands and wrists.

“
Why
’
d you let him back up?
”
I ask.
“
You had him.
”

Shane looks at me and smiles.
“
Nothing wrong with a little honor, brother. He
’
s pressing against my body, shaking. So I let him up. Let him go with honor.
”

Honor.

It sticks with me.

Honor.

I respect it.

Honor.

The moment is the most important between me and Shane.

Well, until I
’
m on my knees, scooping up his brains from the floor
…
when he
’
s killed
…

My eyes popped open. My hands pressed to the floor and I pushed up. I got to my knees and looked around. The room spun for a few seconds and I fell forward. I heaved with a thundering groan and then fell to my side.

“
No,
”
I whispered.
“
Rose
…”

Darkness again.

~ ~ ~

My eyes opened a second time. Or maybe it was a third time. All I knew was that I needed to get to my feet and get the fuck out of the cabin. Someone had taken Rose.

Luke?

The Assassin?

On my knees, I looked around. The room was much calmer. Back on my feet, I was good to go. I looked around and felt like I was going to throw up again. Two of the black masked men were on the floor, shot to death. And then there was Tommy.

“
Tommy,
”
I whispered.

I reached down and put my fingers to his eyes and closed them.

Rest in peace.

Yeah, Tommy was a bad guy. He killed a lot of people. But nothing came without some kind of warrant. Aton ran the show and Tommy was always loyal. Even if he was a grumpy, Italian prick. He didn
’
t deserve this kind of death. Yeah, maybe a bullet was the way to go in this life, but not because of me. Because of Rose. Because of the lie I started and now spread to this.

I went to the door and looked out.

How the fuck did it get like this?

I rush to the car I had stolen and half expected it to blow up.

It didn
’
t.

I got it to start and drove. I couldn
’
t stop thinking about Rose. My hands were tight on the wheel, my anger at an all time high. There was so much damage I wanted to do to the world, all because the only beauty in it was gone. That was Rose.

I knew it had to be her brother.

Who else would come for her like that? And we had been so close to leaving. With Aton alive that meant we had hope.

But now, without Rose, there was no hope.

I was back to square one.

A lonely fighter with an empty heart.

The difference was that Rose was alive.
So I had something to fight for.

37.

(Rose)

I was back in the apartment. The little piece of shit apartment that stunk of garlic and tomatoes. There was always a lingering smell of the restaurant, but it was the worst when they were preparing the food for the night. The smell was good for about two seconds but it quickly became overwhelming.

There was nothing I could do to get out of the apartment. Not because I feared what Luke would do but because he had me tied to a chair. This was where everything broke down.

He left to take a phone call and I sat there alone.

My heart ached. My body ached. Everything ached.

I wanted to know if Wes was okay. He didn
’
t need to die in all this. He put himself in the mix of this without knowing the full truth. I didn
’
t want him to know that Luke had been the one who killed Shane. Because of that, Wes wanted Luke to die. The crazy part was that I believed Wes could do it. Even with all of Luke
’
s power
…

The door opened.

Luke tucked his cell away. He looked angry. He stormed right at me and slapped me across the face. The pain was white hot and I fell over, still tied to the chair. Luke quickly lifted me back up and had his face near mine.

“
Fuck,
”
he growled.

“
What did I do now?
”

“
You want to go rot in jail, Rose?
”

“
I don
’
t care, Luke.
”

He curled his lip.
“
What? You love Wes?
”

“
Yes. I do.
”

Luke shook his head.
“
And you told him about me, didn
’
t you?
”

“
That you killed his brother? Yes.
”

“
Fucking bitch.
”

“
You had no right to do that,
”
I said.
“
Dad told you. How many times
…”

Luke made a fist and I shut right up. The rage was back in his eyes. He turned and ran toward the wall, driving his fist through it. The wall crumbled like it was a brown paper bag. Luke pulled his fist back and it was bleeding.

“
I never wanted that life,
”
Luke said.
“
He forced me into it. He forced you into it. This life, Rose, is better. For all of us. Let someone else do the fighting.
”

“
No,
”
I said.
“
You can
’
t handle the power. Look at all the damage you
’
ve caused, Luke.
”

There was no reasoning with Luke, yet I was trying to do it.

“
And the damage will keep coming,
”
he said.
“
Until I
’
m in control.
”

“
Then what?
”

“
Then you die, Rose. That
’
s first. I
’
ll mourn your death beautifully. Nobody will ever know it was by my hands. I
’
ll blame Roc
’
s men. Retaliation for his murder. Which opens the door for another war.
”

I swallowed hard. Luke was intense
…
but he
’
d thought this out already. For a long time.

“
What kind of war?
”

Luke grinned.
“
The dealers, Rose. I
’
ll take control of the city, and then I
’
ll take control of the drugs. I control the fights too. Everything becomes mine.
”
He stepped toward me. He now lovingly stroked my cheek. It made me cringe with sickness.
“
So your death is a beautiful thing. I just need to set it all up.
”
A knock sounded at the door.
“
Oh, there
’
s my help now.
”

My stomach did a back flip. Luke opened the door a little and I heard a voice say,
“
He
’
s alive.
”

I smiled.

Wes? Alive?

“
Who is?
”
Luke asked.

“
Fucking Aton. He survived. He
’
s making requests
…”

“
Motherfucker,
”
Luke growled.
“
What about Wes?
”

“
He ran right to Aton. They made an offer
…”

Wes was alive?

I bounced in the chair, making it move.

Who was at the door?

How did he know so much?

I bounced again and again.

Luke then tore the door open and spun to face me.

“
New plan,
”
he announced.

Then he cracked his knuckles.

But I wasn
’
t focused on Luke. I was focused on the guy in the doorway. I
’
d seen the guy before. With Wes. With Aton. With Tommy.

It was Aton
’
s other guy
…
it was Danny.

38.

(Wes)

Aton had a cane and gritted his teeth as he sat down in his chair. I couldn
’
t believe he was awake, talking, walking, and that he was out of the hospital so fast. There were nurses in the office, along with a slew of medical equipment. He had two doctors on call for any complications, but right now, it was back to business.

He held the handle of the cane and stared across the desk at me.
“
Poor Tommy.
”

“
I agree,
”
I said.
“
I
’
m so sorry, Aton. For everything
…”

“
I sent Danny to retrieve the body. We
’
ll properly send him off.
”

“
You have to let me do this,
”
I said.
“
I have to find her. I have to kill him. I
…”

“
Your wife,
”
Aton whispered.

I tried to keep my face straight.
“
Yes. And her brother killed my brother.
”

“
The Assassin
,
”
Aton said.
“
I know. I
’
ve tried to protect you, Wes. From everything. I was there, Wes. I stood there and watched you
…”
Aton shook his head.
“
I saw the whole fight. How bad it got. How fast it all happened. By the time Luke was taken away
…
Christ, Wes, you were on your hands and knees, holding Shane
’
s head. He was gone. Then you stood up and you touched me. You grabbed for me. It was like you needed me, Wes. I almost
…”
Aton laughed, coughed, blinked fast.
“
For a second it was like a son reaching for his father. You smeared Shane
’
s blood and brain on my sleeves. I
’
ll never forget that. That
’
s when you became Wes. When you became the fighter. If I kept your anger contained to the fights, you were okay. You were okay.
”

“
This is more than that,
”
I said.
“
He has Rose. He
’
s going to hurt her. He
’
s manipulated everything. You wanted to kill Rose!
”

Aton put a hand up.
“
This is deep family business, Wes. Your blood
…”

I stood up.
“
Fuck my blood. I
’
m tired of hearing that. This is my
…
this is the woman I love. She
’
s all I have. All I love. I
’
m not going to lose her like I lost Shane. I don
’
t give a damn what you say, Aton.
”

I turned and walked to the door.

“
Wes,
”
Aton called out.
“
Look at me.
”

I looked back.
“
What?
”

“
You never let me finish. I tried to protect you from it for years. I should have known your paths would cross. And of course you and Rose would end up together. You were raised in this life. You understand it. Normally I
’
d plan out a long fight. But this is different. This is the only way to end it, Wes. You and Luke.
”

“
What are you saying?
”

“
You
’
re going to fight him. You
’
re going to fight
the Assassin
. The man who killed your brother. And you
’
re going to kill him, Wes. Because he tried to kill me. I can
’
t promise anything for your sweet Rose. She
’
s a pawn right now.
”

“
He agreed to this?
”
I asked.

“
Yes.
”

“
What
’
s his stipulation?
”

“
If he beats you
…
well
…
he
’
s going to try to kill you, Wes. And if that happens, Rose is dead. I
’
m dead. He
’
s going to take over everything.
”

I was like a block of ice.

This wasn
’
t just a revenge fight. This wasn
’
t even a fight to save Rose. It was my chance to avenge Shane
’
s death and find peace.

I had to kill him
…
I had to kill the Assassin.

~ ~ ~

I bit at the tape and ripped it. The roll fell to the floor and rolled. A cane came down and stopped it.

“
Are you supposed to be here?
”
I asked.

“
No,
”
Aton said as he labored a breath.
“
But I have to be here. I have to witness this. I have to
…”

“
Bets are being taken?
”

“
Of course,
”
Aton said with a sly grin.
“
This is business.
”

“
How
’
s the money looking?
”

“
You want to know who
’
s betting you or him?
”

I didn
’
t respond. I fixed the tape on my wrists and stood up. I ran both hands through my hair and then walked to a wall. I started to throw punches, warming up.

“
Wes, I have the faith
…”

“
Aton,
”
I said and stopped.
“
I can
’
t hear anything else right now.
”

“
Okay. Good luck.
”

Good luck.

This wasn
’
t about luck. Or faith. Or even skill. This was about will. This was about aggression. This was about anger.

I looked down at my hands. I thought about the night I looked down at my hands and saw my brother
’
s blood dripping from them.

Will, aggression, anger.

That wasn
’
t a problem for me.

“
Hey,
”
a voice said, and then there was a knock on the wall.
“
It
’
s time to go, fighter.
”