Chapter 2 #2
“I’m not here for relationship advice.” Cocking my head, I give him the attitude most people have gotten from me lately. I’m at my wits’ end when it comes to handling my feelings toward Ruby and the demand that I keep my distance from her.
He chuckles deeply before throwing back a shot, then mutters something I don’t catch, but I know it’s not to me; it’s like a prayer or a private toast. “Deny it all you want, but my prospects have seen you keeping an eye out, though not for the last couple of months. Plus, I know you went and had a tattoo done by Wryan. Her man questioned me about you. He saved my father-in-law earlier this year.”
“Look, she’s the club princess. You might not have one of those, but there are rules, and she is untouchable. Besides, I have utter respect for Swede and Judge.”
“That doesn’t stop the feelings. I served with Franci’s adopted mom. Didn’t stop me from claiming her when I’d had enough with giving her space. I get it. Ruby is the same age as Franci. You think they have their whole life, but maybe you should give her the choice.”
“It was taken out of my hands. Now what’s going on?”
“She has a tail.” He slides a folder across his desk, and I open it. Inside is a picture, taken at a distance, of two men in suits sitting in a nondescript car. My blood runs cold because I recognize them, and they shouldn’t be there. They shouldn’t be following Ruby.
“They’re with the Albanians,” Gambit clarifies, and it’s all the confirmation I need.
I pull out my phone and dial Swede’s number.
It goes to voicemail, so I leave a message.
“They are following her. What the fuck, man? We made an agreement.” When I hang up, I know it won’t take him long to call me back.
Sure enough, as I sit there talking to Gambit about what his computer guy has pulled up on the car, my phone rings again.
“I saw them on her camera a couple weeks ago when she got her newest tattoo. Don’t pull her yet; I’ve got a call into Besnik. Maybe Bersha is trying to move around us, but she should be safe.”
“I told you what I would do if she’s in danger again. I’m getting everything lined up.” My voice remains low, but it’s like a whip cracking through the air.
“Don’t threaten me, boy. I was there for you. I deserve your respect,” Swede barks.
“Don’t fucking think this has anything to do with respect. This is about protecting her. I’m not letting her out of my sight; you got that. I want in on the feeds, or I’ll get my own. Also, she needs to be alerted.”
“She knows. I caught her watching them. A couple months ago, she and her friend Evie went to a club. She didn’t know it was Bersha’s until after she got there–”
“That means she’s on their radar. They know she survived that night.”
“They already knew. Besnik knew when we made the final agreement.”
“What?” This is news to me. I knew they hammered out a treaty, but Ruby was supposed to stay out of it.
“Don’t worry about it. This stays between us; you fucking hear me. I don’t need Judge questioning shit now. He’s got too much to lose. I have a call in to Besnik. Let the old men handle this.”
“I swear…” I shake my head as I stand and start pacing. “I’m not going there again. She’s mine to protect.”
“Not yet. You promised.” The man hangs up without another word.
I rip my hands through my hair and contemplate throwing my phone across the room.
“I’ll get you access to the feeds on her,” Gambit interjects. “I’ll have her location turned on. Do you have a GPS tracker on her?”
“I did, but she took it off. I got her a cuff-style bracelet.” I almost continue with, “to cover her scars,” but I don’t finish that thought. “She doesn’t wear it now that she has wrist tattoos.”
“Get a GPS into her. I can get you one to inject under her skin like I have in Franci.” He says that like it’s no big deal.
“You have an implanted GPS in your wife?
“Yeah, what’s the big deal? It saved her once already.”
“I’ll find something, but I’m not doing that.”
“You’ll think twice about it soon enough. Give me a moment.” He picks up his cell and sends a text. “Take a seat. My guy’ll be here in a bit. How bad did you fuck up with her?”
“Why?”
“I have a gift for you to give her. Does she wear necklaces?”
“No.” I don’t reveal that the ones she wears cover her scars, and she hates them because anything around her neck makes her antsy now.
“What about rings or another bracelet?”
“She won’t accept a gift from me, probably.”
“Well then, we are screwed,” he chuckles. “Come on, Torch, come up with something, or we won’t get a GPS on her.”
“I’ll try. Something with a rose on it.”
“Got it,” a voice says from the doorway, and I turn to see someone walking into the room.
He’s young and completely bald, about six foot two or so, with several tattoos.
He’s dressed in a pair of cut-off fatigue pants and a Mario Brothers T-shirt.
“I’m Browser. Your guy Mal sent me some ideas.
Here.” He hands me a chunky silver ring with a silver rose wrapped around it and a gemstone in the center.
“I’m supposed to give her this?”
“Yeah, dude. Don’t you know how to date a girl?” Browser jokes and Gambit laughs.
“Fuck you, asshole.”
“I’ll send you the links for the feeds.” Browser laughs harder now.
I walk out of the room, heading for my bike, knowing that giving her this will be harder than they think. My girl is stubborn. I’ll have to trick her into getting it on her finger.
Cruising down the highway, the wind whips along my body, against my face, and I’m drawn back to the months following Ruby’s attack.
She was medevacked to a hospital in Providence, with a better-equipped trauma unit than the one in the next town over from Jupiter, barely making it there alive before being rushed to surgery.
She underwent so many of them in those first few weeks.
It was months before she could walk again, her leg almost completely held together with rods and screws.
I still don’t know how she plays on it to this day.
Her face also had to be reconstructed. The pain she was in and the nightmares that haunted her…
She would wake up screaming and begging them to stop, and through it all, I was by her side, along with her mother.
Swede and Judge, when he came home, worked on the club, keeping it together. Swede wheeled and dealed while Judge took the reins. They kept him in the dark as to what happened to his sister, and as far as I know, to this day, he still believes she was in a horrific car accident.
When I finally pull up to campus, my nerves are shot, so I reach into my pocket for the Zippo lighter that was my father’s before he died. The Firefighter Association logo is nearly worn off from rubbing my fingers across it.
Holding the lighter between my index, middle finger, and thumb, I squeeze them together, flipping it open and into my hand before snapping my other hand’s fingers, lighting it.
It’s a trick my father taught me when I was younger.
The flame bursts through the darkness, and I stare at it for a moment, centering myself.
Some would call me a pyromaniac, but I don’t have the urge to set things on fire.
What I crave is the flame itself. It calms my nerves.
I continue watching the lighter fluid dance before closing the lid and watching it extinguish. Now I’m calm enough to face Ruby.
Taking out my cell phone, I send her a quick text because I won’t get into the dorm rooms at this time of night without her. It’s already after eight. I know she’s awake because the lights are visible in her room.
Me
Come out here for a moment.
It takes me a second of thought to realize there’s only one way to do this.
Me
Please.