Levi #5
That’s because you’re thinking of it in different terms. You think about that moment you joined The Family under a favor from Augustine.
Dom’s thinking of the fact that Augustine was there at all, involving himself in your life when he should have stayed away.
I mean, what was the point of showing up after all those years anyway?
I think we both know Augustine showing up was for the same reason he decided to send you here.
It was not exactly a new idea that someone in Augustine’s position would want someone to eventually take his place, preferably someone of his choice, rather than end up as Will Senior had, leaving a huge power vacuum in the wake of his death.
Outwardly, I would deny that Augustine would show favor to someone just because they were related to him, and I still stood by that.
What I would be leaving out is that he was also the sort to look at himself, see that he was the best for his job, and assume only someone of his blood would be capable of doing his job. ..one day.
So no, he wouldn’t choose me simply because I was his son.
Instead, I suspected he had sought me out to see what there was to work with, if anything.
Once he’d discovered things about me that might help him in his future role, he stuck around.
Everything since had been his way of casually grooming me for a position I would never have sought for myself.
Not that anyone’s choice ever came into his calculations, but I could see the path he was starting to trace for me.
I think it might be time for you to pay attention.
I thought I was paying attention; that was the whole point.
No, to the real world. Right now.
Blinking, I looked up from my half-eaten wrap to find that the part of the park we had wandered into was empty except for three people following us.
“We...might have a problem,” I said as the three of them looked at us, and I felt a chill go through me when one of them noticed I was paying attention and began advancing.
“Something wrong with your wrap?” Dom asked absentmindedly as he popped the remainder of his into his mouth.
“Not the wrap,” I said, stiffening and taking a step back as the three men began to hurry.
“Uh,” Dom said, spotting them and dropping his wrapper on the ground. “I’m guessing those aren’t friendly.”
“An astute observation.”
“And I’m going to guess that they’re not going to want to stop and talk shit.”
“Another impressive observation.”
“Really? Sarcasm?”
“We need to move,” I said, looking for the quickest route to a more public area.
I couldn’t be sure if these were Los Muertos members or just someone looking to pocket the bounty on my head, but most people were not fond of killing while there were onlookers.
Not to mention, this being a college area, there were bound to be more cops than, say, in my old neighborhood. “Now.”
“Great,” Dom muttered as we turned and ran.
A shout rang up from the trio of men, and I knew they were after us. Okay, so they were definitely here for me, and they weren’t going to wait to see if they could ambush us another time. That I could work with; it meant either their original plan was ruined or they weren’t working with a plan.
“Quickest way to the street?” I asked as we stupidly ran along the path.
“Seriously? What about other people?” Dom asked.
“They clearly waited until we were alone before approaching us,” I told him as I dared to look behind and grunted when I saw they were catching up quickly. “And unless you feel like fighting off three people when I’m not a fighter, and they probably have weapons—”
“Goddammit,” he growled, grabbing me by the arm and yanking me off the path into the woods. “I’m not taking guns into a crowded street.”
“Then what are—”
“Shut up.”
I knew the importance of silence and immediately fell quiet as he hurried us through the copse, then came to a stop, yanking me behind a large tree and shoving me against the bark.
I spared a moment to think it was a good thing I’d just ordered replacement suits, because I had a feeling this one was going to need to be thrown in the trash.
That was as far as I got before I heard the crashing of bushes behind us, the three men talking to each other loudly and sounding like they were ready to have a good time when they caught us.
“They’re going for the street,” one of them called.
“Like I give a fuck? They said dead, so let’s make sure they’re dead,” another called back with a laugh.
Dom shot me a look. Okay, apparently, these men didn’t care about other people’s lives, even random people on the street.
That told me there was a good chance they were members of Los Muertos rather than a smaller gang looking to make a quick buck.
They certainly weren’t professionals; this was too rushed, and no professional would go after their target openly while there were witnesses.
That information didn’t help because I wasn’t exactly a fighter who could use it in a fight, but it was something to keep in mind if I got through this in one piece.
Holding me against the tree still, I watched Dom’s body tense.
Coiling like a spring, he listened closely before leaping out, and before I knew what was happening, he had one of the men by the throat, swung him around, and slammed him into the tree with enough force to make me wince.
The man never had a chance to call out before he slumped to the ground, his hands open and limp.
His friends backpedaled quickly, going for their weapons, and I called out a warning to Dom, who spun around on the guy who’d pulled a gun.
“Jesus,” I muttered as Dom moved with more speed than someone his size should be able to, and caught the man by the wrist, making the shot go wide, probably alerting everyone nearby.
Without thinking, I started a timer in my head for how long we had until the cops were called and then showed up.
Again, we were in a decent part of town, and since the university was one of Cresson Point’s pride and joys, that meant the cops wouldn’t take their sweet time like they might in other parts of the city.
Great if you were a college kid who was scared for their life, not so great when you were a crime lord hoping to get out of the area before the cops came swooping in.
Both men were now focusing on Dom, and I could barely make out what was happening as they had moved deeper into the tree line.
I took a step forward to help...in whatever way I could when I felt a hand close around my ankle.
With a grunt, I stumbled and felt my leg ripped out from under me.
Hitting the ground hard, I rolled over, shocked to find the first man Dom had brought down was not only awake but holding my ankle with a grip that no one who’d taken a blow that hard should be able to do.
“Where you goin’?” he asked, and I watched as he fought to fix his eyes on me.
Okay, that I might be able to work with.
“Where I please,” I said, rolling to one side when he tried to yank me closer, making my weight shift in his grip.
His hold slipped, and I helped it along by lashing out with my free foot, catching him in the face.
The wet crunch of his nose was unpleasant, but it was matched by the harsh thud of his head hitting the tree and bouncing.
His hand went slack around my ankle, and I shoved off the ground, getting to my feet as I watched him stir, gripping at his pants to pull out a gun. “You are a stubborn one, aren’t you?”
Now on my feet, I put more power into the next kick, and this time I heard something that might have been his skull give way when it hit the tree.
The sounds of fighting were still going on behind me, and I reached down to the now unconscious man and grabbed the gun he was going for.
God, the damn thing had its safety off, what even—
A horribly familiar grunt pulled me around, and I hurried into the nearby trees to make sure Dom wasn’t in danger.
I almost tripped over one of the men on the ground, face down and not moving.
I would bet he was alive. The same with the other man, who was a good size, enough to be a contender for Dom, who was struggling with him as he gripped the man’s arms. My eyes widened when I saw the ugly red slash across the front of Dom’s shirt and the knife in the third thug’s hands that he was trying to drive into Dom’s neck.
Dom was stuck against a tree, his footing awkward and his arms shaking.
Anger flared, and I went ice cold as I stepped forward. “You forgot something.”
My intrusion was enough to get his attention, and his eyes went wide.
It was the last thing he was allowed to do before the blast of the gun in my hand sent a bullet through his skull.
His body went limp as he collapsed, with a new hole in his forehead and the knife dropping to the ground beside him.
Dom stayed in the half-hunched position he had been in trying to fight off the killing blow, staring at me with wide eyes.
“I...” he began, but I turned when I heard the groan of the man on the ground and pulled the trigger again, adding a hole to his head as well, this time in the back. “Jesus Christ.”
Ignoring him, I kicked the now definitely dead man over.
He didn’t look familiar, though I didn’t expect him to.
Pulling out my phone, I took a picture of his face and moved to the other man to get an image of his face as well.
I would have to get a third picture, but I tucked my phone back into my pocket and wiped down the gun with a cloth, covering every inch, as I had done more than once before.
It wouldn’t be enough to remove the weapon’s prints completely, but it would obscure them and make them useless.
“Can you move?” I asked, then walked toward Dom, tossing the gun aside after making sure the safety was on. The last thing I needed was to set the stupid thing off accidentally. I didn’t see the need to risk making the day worse. “We need to get out of here so we can get you stitched up.”
“It’s not that deep,” he said, staring at the men on the ground before shaking his head. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not,” I growled, but there wasn’t any point in arguing about it while we were still in danger. “Can you move?”
“I said it’s not that bad, let’s go,” he grunted. There were a lot of things wrong with him at the moment, but again, this wasn’t the time.
“Alright,” I said, bending down to take the jacket off the bigger man, which required more fighting than I would have preferred, but considering Dom looked ready to bolt or freeze, I wasn’t going to ask him to help.
When I was done, I tossed it at him. “Throw that on and zip it up. We don’t need to draw more attention. ”
He looked at it blankly, as if he didn’t know what it was, then put it on and followed me back to the first man, whose picture I quickly took.
When things settled down, I would send them to Will and ask him to look into who they were.
If he found something, I would decide what to do about it afterward, but right now our priority was getting out of this park without being spotted by the cops or anyone who could identify us.
I had a feeling that was going to be the easy part, because the tricky part was going to be dealing with Dom.
Oh boy.