~ ~ ~
The first guy grabbed my bag and welcomed himself into my house. He unzipped it and dumped it on the floor. The second guy pulled the front door shut, his eyes locked to mine.
“Goddamn, she is pretty,” he said to me and licked his lips. “I heard her tits were great. Lift her shirt up right now. I want see them.”
“Easy now,” the other guy said. “We haven’t been properly introduced yet.”
“Get out,” I managed to say. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Shut her up,” the first guy said.
The other guy lunged at me, trying to swing his gun at me. All I could think about was Tripp though. Him telling me that we were meant to fight. That we fought our entire lives, even though we weren’t together. So I jumped back and dodged the guy swinging his gun. I brought my foot forward and kicked him in the shin. I meant to kick him in the balls but royally screwed that up.
I made fists and put them up.
“Are you serious?” the guy ask. “You want to fight me? Bitch, you don’t even know…”
“Yo, Kyle, just don’t kill her yet. We have to wait for that other one.”
“I know, Dana.”
“You’re name is Dana?” I asked. “Isn’t that a girl’s name?”
“Fuck you,” Dana said. He kicked at my clothes. “Going on a trip?”
“Thinking about it,” I said.
He crouched down and hooked his finger around a lacy pair of panties. He stood back up. “Look at these. Who you wearing these for?”
“Nobody.”
“She can wear ‘em for me,” Kyle said. “After I fight her. Then I’m going to fuck her. In every hole.”
“Easy,” Dana said. He lifted the panties up and stuck them against his nose. “Oh, so fresh.”
Kyle turned his head and laughed. “Give me a pair.”
I threw a right fist and hit Kyle in the side of the face. The punch sounded like a smack and it hurt so bad, my eyes squirted tears. I hurried back and jumped up on the couch, watching as the two of them were coming after me now.
I don’t know why I thought I could get away. I got back to the dining room table and they were around the couch. They stopped and leaned against the couch, showing their weapons.
“One more step,” Dana said. “We’ll fucking kill you.”
“And then I’ll still…”
“Shut up,” Dana growled.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Friend of a friend, I guess. Tying up loose ends around here.”
“Stoney send you? You know this is Red Aces territory.”
“Red Aces should be called the Red Pussies,” Kyle said.
Dana snickered. “Nice, man.”
“What do you want with me? I have nothing to do with them. You know Rocky is dead.”
“Yeah, we’re really sorry about that,” Dana said. “But this is a little business and a little fun. The business is finding out who you’ve been fucking around with. Heard there was some hotshot in town.”
“The fun is between your legs,” Kyle said.
He licked his lips again.
My stomach turned.
I wanted to throw up.
“But I’d like to see that fight,” Dana said. “You and Kyle. Tell you what, Winter. You fight Kyle. If you win, we’ll tell you where your daughter is.”
My heart stopped for a second. “What?”
“Sweet little Autumn,” Dana said. “Damn, she does look like you. Darker skin though. That’s because you got knocked up by that greaseball, right? But, oh, give her ten years or so… damn…”
“Shut up,” I growled. “You fucking piece of shit.”
“Yeah,” Kyle said. “Get her angry. She’ll fight harder.”
“Wait, wait,” Dana said. “If Kyle wins, he’s going to take you down. And I can’t promise what I’ll do first…”
“Fuck off,” I said. “Both of you.”
“Fight Kyle or I’ll kill you,” Dana said.
I put my arms out. “Do it.”
“Bitch,” Kyle said.
“No,” Dana said. “Fight Kyle or I’ll kill you. Then I’ll kill Autumn.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Want to hear about her pretty blue eyes? Her brown hair. The way she can never finish a cupcake without getting icing all over her face. Oh, and anything you want me to tell Andrea? Because I’ll kill her too.”
I lost feeling in my knees.
I caught myself on the table.
The room started to spin.
I told myself not to pass out. I couldn’t pass out. These crazy guys would…
Andrea…
Holy shit.
They knew everything.
25.
(Tripp)
What the fuck am I thinking?
The thought attacked me again and again. Leaving Winter was wrong. Leaving the nothing I had was only going to cost me my life. Plus, I fucking loved her. If she was going to end up dead or I was going to end up dead, at least I had finally found a good cause for it to happen. It wouldn’t just be me sitting in the shit hole apartment of mine with the windows open, listening to the waves crashing in the ocean.
More than anything else, Winter required a sense of trust that I knew nothing about. I wasn't incapable of trusting… I just never had a reason to. Some people can read someone and their lies by their eyes. For me, it was about the fists. If someone was willing to fight for the truth, then it was worth the trust.
I touched my cheek.
She had landed a hell of a slap to my face. There was a beautiful grit about her that drove me wild. She’d never leave my head, my heart, my soul. Even if this thing came to a crashing end and I was back to fighting for Aldo, she would have a place in my heart forever. She ruined any other woman I’d fuck because they’d never be as good as her. Then again, I had no desire for any other woman in the world but Winter. I wanted her. All of her.
I cut the wheel and spun the car around. The tires screamed in protest; maybe I was making the biggest mistake of my life. I had never followed love before so I didn’t know the outcome.
When I got back to the house, I parked the car a little bit away because something hit me. Not literally but just a sense of something. It was like I knew Winter was in trouble.
I ran from the car to the front door.
That’s when I heard the voices.
“Fucking hit her!”
I turned at the knob and it was locked.
Locked.
I cut around to the side of the house and looked in the window.
There was Winter, circling around with some guy twice her size. Another guy leaned against the couch, smiling, calling out orders.
The dining room table was flipped over and moved.
I was about to punch the window when Winter leapt forward. She threw a punch and hit the guy in the face. His head bobbed, then he burst out laughing. Winter clutched her hand and slipped back, wincing in pain.
“My turn!” the guy yelled.
“Come on, Kyle. Make it fast, so we can get down to business with this little slut.”
I pushed at the glass. The window was locked. If I jumped at it though, it would break. If I got a good enough head start I could dive through the damn thing.
Or I could just go around to the front door and knock. Work my way in. Shoot the door. Break it down. Something.
As I debated, I saw Winter’s eyes. Those stunning blue eyes were filled with hurt and fear. I blamed myself. If I hadn't left, this wouldn’t be happening.
Winter took another swing and missed. She stumbled forward and the guy stood there. I saw his hand moving before Winter knew what was about to happen. With a solid backhand, he cracked Winter’s jaw. She was off her feet and I ran backwards. There was no other choice now.
I ran forward and jumped, tucking my head, leading with my right shoulder. I hit the window and it exploded. I sailed through the brok
en glass and landed down on the floor in a roll.
“What the fuck?” someone screamed.
I kicked up to my feet, already assessing the room. Winter to my right, on the floor, holding her jaw, crying. I wanted to console her, but I couldn’t right now.
The guy who had hit her - Kyle - looked shocked. His eyes went from the window to me. He was the weaker of the two. I dove at him, burying my same shoulder into his gut and drove him back into the wall. We hit with a thud and I pushed off him. Three punches later, he didn’t know what to do with his hands.
“Shoot him!” he screamed.
Well, that gave that away…
I grabbed Kyle and turned with him.
A second later, a gun went off. I felt Kyle’s body jerk as he took the bullet instead me. His mouth fell open, his eyes wide and already going dead. I walked Kyle backwards and threw him to the right.
The other guy still had a gun pointed, like he didn’t give a fuck he just killed someone. I jumped at him and knocked the gun out of his hand. He swung his foot up and kicked me in the stomach. As I started to hunch over, I threw a right and got him in the face. He went over the couch. I scrambled to catch my breath and went after him.
He was back up on his feet, stepping back.
“Who the fuck are you?” I asked.
“Fuck off,” he growled. “You have no idea what you’re up against here. Stay the fuck away from it all.”
I moved fast and gave a one, two right and left combo. I sent the guy back against the fridge. His nose squirted blood. He started to inch down. I went at him and then felt something grab my leg.
It was Kyle, slowly dying, trying to make a last stand. I turned and stomped my foot on his jaw, feeling it crush like a soda can. All I could see was him hurting Winter.
I lifted my foot again.
“Tripp!” Winter’s voice screamed.
I turned just in time to see the other guy slashing a piece of the broken window at me. I turned, offering my shoulder rather than my damn throat. The glass cut me, but I managed to swing my left hand at him, hitting him in the mouth. The glass was stuck in my shoulder, the pain white hot. I fell forward and put my right hand to the fridge.
The guy jumped at the broken window and was gone. I watched him crawl, climb to his feet, and run.
There was no use chasing him.
I turned and saw Kyle on the floor, dead. I looked at Winter. She slowly rose to her feet. She was shaking, in shock.
“Stay there,” I said.
I grabbed the piece of glass and pulled. It hurt worse coming out than it did going into my shoulder. I screamed and then threw it to the floor. I ran to Winter and scooped her up. She buried her face in my shoulder - my non wounded shoulder - and she cried.
I turned so her back faced the carnage in her house.
It was worse than anything I could have ever imagined.
The guy on the floor had his hand stretched out. Palm up. On his forearm was a tattoo. A pretty damn obvious tattoo. A skull. Under that? X.
Skull X.
That’s who had come here to attack Winter.
That meant one thing.
It was time to go after them.
It was time to find all the truth and give Aldo what he wanted.
Because all I wanted was Winter. Once and for all.
“We’re out of here, darling,” I whispered.
Fuck, I really loved her.