Chapter 35
35
RUE
W e started our date in Dumas at Dumas’s Botanical Garden. Malice held my hand as we strolled through the gardens. They were so beautiful, with the strung-up lights and Chinese lanterns hanging from the tree branches.
The lights reminded me of our time on the rooftop. As I pointed to them and talked Malice’s head off about how they reminded me of the most romantic scene from the Disney movie Tangled , where they’re on the boat and releasing lighted lanterns to the sky, Malice stood behind me with his arms around my waist. He had me tucked in his large frame with his chin resting on the top of my head. We fit perfectly, and it was nice to enjoy a peaceful, romantic time with him free from the other kids’ judgment.
Here, in Dumas, we are just a boy and a girl enjoying one another's company. While on the stone-paved walkway, we ran into Nora and her boyfriend, Galley. The guys fist-bump. Nora and I wave and smile at one another.
“You two should head to the skating rink next. It’s eighties music night.”
I look up excitedly and expectantly at Malice. I love eighties’ music.
“Sure, babe,” he says near my ear. “Anything for you.”
“Are the two of you planning on attending DU next fall?” Galley asks.
“Not sure.”
Malice’s answer surprises me. I was certain he would go where his friends go and that they would play football together.
I shrug. “Same.”
“That’s fair. I wasn’t sure where I would land either when I was your age.” He slides his large, muscular arm across Nora’s small shoulders and pulls her close. “Do either of you like riding dirt bikes?”
I raise my hand.
“Cool. That’s cool.” He sticks out his arm. I look at his fist. His fist is huge, bigger than Malice’s. There’s another man with bigger fists than Galley’s.
Galley and I fist-bump. It’s a small tap, nothing painful. But Malice will feel the most god-awful pain when Jerry, or Big J, punches him with his boulder-sized fists.
“Hit me and Nora up when you’re in town. My aunt’s place has a dirt track, and I just bought a shit ton of bikes and helmets of all sizes. It’ll be fun having you two ride with us.”
They are such nice people. Bonus? They don’t know about my messed-up past and my bad reputation.
“Thanks, bruh. That’s nice of you. We’ll take you up on the invite.”
I glance at Malice with hope on my face. What he says means he’ll stick around town, and we can visit Nora and Galley and spend time being competitive on the tracks. After Galley and Malice exchange numbers, we say our goodbyes and head over to the skating rink. We rollerblade round and round to the best music ever. On my third lap, fingers graze mine. I turn and smile, believing it’s Malice back from using the restroom. But it's a different guy.
Tall. Lean. Mahogany brown hair. He smiles. “I thought that was you. What brings you to Dumas, Rue? Are you and your friends planning on crashing another party?”
“Hi, Rory,” I say, ignoring his questions. Where is Malice? Rory and I skate by the booths across from the concession stand.
Isaac, Colton, and Johnny stare at me. I glower. Colton gives me a two-finger salute. Where did they come from? Why are they in Dumas? Shouldn’t they be getting ready for tomorrow’s fights? Where did they stash the purse money?
“Know those guys?” Rory jerks his head behind us.
“No,” I answer. “Wouldn’t your girlfriend be jealous seeing you talk to another girl?”
I skate faster. Rory keeps up. “No girlfriend. I came with my little sister. Some kids bullied the fuck out of her, and she needed to let off steam.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. If she would like to talk about it, I have first-hand experience,” I admit.
“You would do that for her? You don’t even know her.”
“There is power in knowing she’s not alone and that it will get better with time.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” We skate to the wall, away from the crowd, and exchange numbers.
Rory leans close, and with his fingers on my chin, he tips my head up. “I was a dumbass for not getting your number at Galley’s party. That kiss was unforgettable.”
Me, Leigh, and Red crashed Galley’s party before homecoming. We did the favor for Leigh and her friend, Henry. Henry’s now ex-girlfriend cheated on him with this older football player, and Leigh was out to prove that the player would cheat on Henry’s ex.
It was a mess. A horrible mess that had Seven breaking down a bedroom door and pulling the scumbag off Leigh, whose drink was spiked with more alcohol than a small girl could handle.
Before I can tell Rory that the kiss was a one-time thing done out of excitement and drunkenness from being surrounded by an older crowd and too many hot guys, I am yanked back against a solid body. My hair is grabbed by a large hand, and the strands are draped over my other shoulder.
“Babe, whatcha got here?” Malice brushes his fingers over the hickey near my collarbone.
The spotlight above us highlights Malice’s mark on me like a bright spotlight in the night sky.
“Um, Malice, this is Rory.”
Malice extends his hand. Rory looks at it, then shoves his hands in his pants pockets. Malice balls his hand and clamps it against his thigh.
“Where’d you two meet?”
Rory answers before I can. “At Galley’s party two months ago. Your girl’s mouth is sweet, bruh, but I’m sure you already know that.” He smirks.
Before I can blink or take a breath, Malice punches Rory in the face. I teeter on my skates and hit my back on the wall. I use it for leverage and push myself off with my hands. I aim for Malice’s arm. His arm is pulled back, ready to land another blow to Rory’s face.
“Stop, Malice, please.”
He’s been doing so well, and this… Him beating a guy for what was done when we were not an item is a huge step backward. I wrap my hands around his bicep and yank. He doesn’t move, even on skates. In his rage, he shoves me. I fall and hit the back of my head on the wall.
Stars fill my vision. Sharp pains shoot from the back of my head to my eye socket. I slide down the wall and onto my butt with my head cradled in my hands.
“Rue.”
My name comes to me from a distance. Nausea roils in my belly. The room spins. It’s dark, but it’s not. Lights in every shade of the rainbow move in circles around the room. Someone sticks their face near mine. I blink and blink again.
“Isaac?”
“Hey, Hard Knocks, are you okay?”
“My head hurts.”
“You hit your head hard. We should get you seen.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“It could be a concussion.”
“It’s not that bad,” I repeat. “Not that bad.” My mouth is dry. “I didn’t hit it that hard,” I say again, hoping my big brother will believe me, we can forget what happened, and Malice and me can go home.
“You are not going anywhere with that mother-effer, Rue. He hurt you when he pushed you into the wall.”
“To save me from getting hurt more,” I reason.
“I don’t fucking care. He saves his energy and anger for the cages and not at a family friendly fucking skating rink!” he bellows.
I cover my ears. Isaac picks me up effortlessly and carries me out of the skating rink. I look over my shoulder. Colton and Johnny are holding Malice back. They’re not doing much except putting their hands on his shoulders. Malice locks gazes with me before he drops his gaze to the floor.
He believes he hurt me.
He didn’t. I shouldn’t have tried to get in the middle of their fight. Their. Rory isn’t in the crowd. Oh, God, he was here with his sister. Did his sister see the fight? Of course, she did. The skating rink isn’t huge, and where we were was open for all to see.
“Where is Rory?”
“The D-bag who had his hands all over you?”
“Yes,” I mumble, the headache not going away.
“He picked up his ass and his pride off the floor and left with his sister.”
“Was he hurt bad?”
“Nothing but a stomped-on pride. Your boy better up his game, Rue. The guy blocked Malice’s punches blow for blow. He’ll get his ass handed to him tomorrow.”
“Good.”
“Good?” Isaac dumps me on the passenger seat of his Suburban.
“It’ll get him out of the fights early and save his beautiful face from a bashing.”
“Beautiful?” Isaac scoffs. “Guys aren’t beautiful, Rue.”
“They are to me,” I mumble.
Isaac barks at me to buckle in before he walks around and gets behind the wheel. What a grump a lump. The back doors open, and Colton and Johnny pile into the SUV.
We drive past a stewing Malice standing next to his jacked-up pickup truck. Malice flips my brother and his friends the bird with both hands. He is angry, and it’s my fault.
I shouldn’t have let Rory bait him.
Wait a minute.
Malice shouldn’t have let Rory bait him. Malice is better than that. He can control his temper. Or, like Isaac said, save it for the cages.
“Malice has to go all the way, Rue.”
“Why? Why can’t he lose and be done with it?”
“Because the fucking McCabes are betting on him. They’re betting he’ll take down Big J. Their bet is separate from the purse money. If Malice loses, I’ll owe Sawyer McCabe a shit ton of money. If he wins, I’m twenty grand richer.”
“Why would they think a high school boy can take down a man triple his size, Isaac?” I turn and stare a hole into the side of my brother’s handsome face. “Unless you put the thought in their heads.”
He avoids looking at me, and that’s how I know I’m right.
“You’ll get him killed. Take back whatever you said. Tell them you overestimated Malice’s chances.”
The last guy who went against Big J was carried out of the cage on a gurney. He stayed for weeks in the hospital with bleeding in the brain and hasn’t been the same since.
“Please, Isaac.”
“No can do. The bet was placed and accepted by all parties. Once done, something cannot be undone. Not with this group of men.”
“Mobsters. You made a deal with criminals without mine or Malice’s knowledge.”
“Oh, Malice knows, Rue. He came up with the bet.”
That does not sound like Malice. One, his net worth is greater than the amount of money at stake. Two, he is not a fan of my brother. Is he setting Isaac up to fail and owe mobsters money he doesn’t have?
Why would Malice do something so underhanded and god-awful to another person? Something fishy is going on, and I will get to the bottom of it. And how do I explain his injuries to his parents? I have to find a way for him to get out of the fights and the bet, not because I’ll fail at my job, but because I love him.
Loving someone means saving them from themselves.
“I’ll talk to Sawyer McCabe myself,” I mutter.
“What the fuck did you say?” Isaac’s arm shoots out. He grips my chin in one hand and pulls the SUV onto the side of the road with the other hand on the steering column.
I free myself from his grip and scoot close to the door. “You heard me.”
“Don’t you dare, Rue. Don’t think being female will save you. They’ll kill you for interfering.”
“They wouldn’t.” Even mobsters have a code. I’ll find out what that code is and use it to my advantage. As soon as I get home, I’ll call Leigh. She has an in with Maddox Stassi, and he can give me advice.
“You want to take that chance?”
I shake my head.
Inside, I am thinking over my options. I’m reckless, but I’m not stupid. I’ve rescued myself from my own bad situations before and have helped Riley get out of her messes too, when she lived in Delridge.
Except Malice losing will hurt his pride and leave my brother owing mobsters money he doesn’t have. Plus, Isaac warned me not to step foot on the Eastside or come near the fight. Otherwise, I’ll forfeit the money I’ve been giving him for the past two years. Without the funds, I won’t be able to look for my parents.
But they’re not here. They abandoned me. Malice hasn’t. Neither has Isaac, though he is a pain in my ass.
As we near Cambridge, I come up with only one solution.
Malice must win.