Chapter Eleven #2
“Jesus Christ! Mum, I’ll have to call you back. Ryan and Danger have tried to kill each other.” She ends her call and folds her arms across her chest, tilting her body to one side. “Okay, someone talk. Talk fast right now, and I want the fucking truth.”
We take a seat at the dining table. “We were at the VIP lounge, and Debt Money came in with his crew.”
She opens her eyes wide. “As in the rapper?”
Danger nods as she gathers a clean washcloth, wets it, and comes over, wiping away the blood from his face. He winces slightly from the pain, and she smirks, enjoying the show.
“So anyway… his whores wanted to play pool with us. We said no, and then they tattled on us. So Debt Money wanted us to leave,” I explain, and she raises her eyebrow and murmurs out a groan.
“Let me guess… Danger got all pissy?” she asks.
He chuckles, and she pushes harder to wipe his mouth. Danger winces, making me smirk at her.
I love this chick.
“We didn’t really do anything, and he set his goons on us. They attacked us unprovoked. We didn’t even fight back, but some skank was recording it.”
Lunar groans, shaking her head. “You know that’s going to end up online, right?”
Danger and I both exhale, slumping in our chairs as she grabs another washcloth and comes over to me, wiping at my nose. It stings, but at least she’s gentler with me.
“It better not end up online. I don’t want people to see us being beaten and not fighting back. We’ll look like pussies,” Danger says.
“Shut up! You’ll look like you were being attacked unprovoked, fucking cock-sucking mother fucker. If I ever see him out, I’ll sucker punch him myself for doing this to my favorite men,” Lunar states.
I smile, loving the protective mother-hen instinct she has going on for us.
“Well, hopefully, it won’t go live, and we’ll have nothing to worry about,” I say.
“Yeah, ’cause Tillie would love to clean up this mess,” Lunar murmurs.
And with that, my stomach flips, but in a very bad way.
***
The sound of my cell ringing wakes me.
My nose fucking aches, and my head is pounding so much the incessant ringing is like a sledgehammer to my skull. I struggle for my cell, and when I finally find it, I pick it up and place it to my ear. “Mm,” I murmur as a hello.
“Okay, first… are you okay? Is anything broken?” Tillie’s concerned but beautiful voice soothes my aching head instantly.
“Nothing’s broken. I’m fine. A little sore and bruised. A dented ego maybe, but everything’s fine…” I pause. “Wait, how do you know?”
“Because it’s all over the entertainment news, Ryan.
Debt Money posted a clip of him ‘taking it to the man’ as he put it, and it’s gone viral.
People have identified you and Danger in the clip and tagged you.
Debt Money came out saying he thought you guys were locals, not celebrities, and he has publicly apologized.
I don’t think it’s good enough, though, and his apology is more of a ‘well, if they weren’t there, this wouldn’t have happened’ type of thing.
Very insincere and definitely fake. Everyone’s commenting, saying how the apology is a joke and how we should take action. ”
She’s talking so fast I can barely keep up. “Take action?” I question.
“I’ve talked it over with Oliver, and if you and Danger agree, we’re going to sue Debt Money and the men who attacked you.
I’ve already contacted the police with the footage.
The two men who hit you… unprovoked, I might add, as the video shows complete evidence, they’re going to be charged with assault and battery. We can’t let them get away with this.”
Opening my mouth wide, I smirk slightly, then nod. “Okay, I agree. Let’s have them charged and sue their asses. Make people realize that they can’t treat people this way.”
“Exactly, Debt Money has apparently been doing this for a while, but it’s never been caught on video like this before. Whoever uploaded the video obviously was only supposed to upload the punch, but they uploaded the whole thing, showing the entire incident.”
“Well, thank you, Harmony… or Melody… whichever dumb blonde it was,” I say.
“Huh?” Tillie murmurs.
“Never mind… how’s Vegas?”
She exhales. “It’s good, things are progressing well. Looks like a deal will be made with Zaria. Ryan, I was so worried when I saw that video, though. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Warmth encases me that she’s so concerned, and it makes me feel so fucking good that the pain in my face almost completely disappears. “I’m good, I promise… wishing you were here, though,” I say honestly.
She’s quiet, a little too quiet, for a little too long. My heart pounds as I wonder if she’s changed her mind about us.
“You mean that?” she says so quietly that I barely hear her when she finally breaks the tension, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Of course… I miss you.”
She sniffs, and my chest squeezes at the sound. I hope like fuck she isn’t crying. I’d hate it if I’ve upset her.
“I miss you too. I thought… I thought from our last call, things were, well, different between us.”
Exhaling, I run my fingers through my hair. “I was a dick, Tillie. I’m sorry. I’m so damn sorry.”
She sighs and is quiet again.
“When are you coming home?” I ask, breaking the silence.
“This afternoon.”
“Can I pick you up at the airport?”
“I’d love that. Then you can take me back to my place, and we can have dinner?” she says more like a question.
“Yeah, I’d love to see your place.”
“Great, it’s a date. My flight lands at ten past five. Don’t be late.”
Chuckling, I nod. “I won’t. I’ll be there three hours early, just waiting to see your beautiful face.”
A noise like a gasp echoes down the cell, and I smile.
“Smooth talker.”
“Only for you.”
“Are you really okay? Did you go to the hospital to get checked out?”
“I didn’t go to the hospital, but I don’t need to. I’m fine, I promise.” I smile at her concern.
She exhales. “Okay, I’ll see you a bit after five.”
“See you then, beautiful.”
“No more fights, okay?”
I nod. “Promise. Now go snag us an Oscar winner.”
“It’s practically a done deal. Just have to see when she can fit us into her schedule.”
“Shit, really?”
She giggles. “Yep, I’m that good. Don’t tell the others, though. I want to tell them when I get back. Well, tomorrow anyway.”
“Okay, done. Can’t wait to see you.”
“You too, but really, I have to go this time. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“See you in a few hours.”
“Bye, Ryan.”
“Bye, beautiful girl.”
She ends the call, and I sit in my bed, feeling so much happier than I was last night. My face still hurts, but at least I know Tillie’s tension with me has eased.
At least something good came from the disaster that was last night.