Blowback (21 page)

“Does a king get his hands dirty doing the work of his servants?”

“You’re no fucking king. Our arrangement ends here. If I win, I’m taking Georgia and getting her the fuck away from you.”

“And if I win?”

“You won’t”

“We’ll see about that… I need a day to put everything together. This one is gonna make me a load of money.”

“Yeah, if you’re alive to collect.”

“Might need to move this one outside because it’s gonna be a hell of a crowd. The battle of the century.”

“Inside, outside… Whatever. Name the time, and I’ll be there.”

“Best not forget that I’ve beaten your ass more times than you can count,
son
.”

That word tore through me like a bullet. Every memory of the abuse I’d suffered at his hands exploding like a bomb. My hands balled into fists at my sides as I willed myself to walk out of the room.

I stormed out of the building and back to Big’s truck. Pulling my cell phone out, I read and reread her text about twenty times. There was a huge possibility that this might be my last night on earth and my last chance to see Evie. Should I say fuck it and go to her, despite the fact that it could put her in danger just by being seen with me? Or should I spend it with Georgia? My head told me to go to my sister, but my heart… My fucking heart said to go to Evie. My heart had a way of shouting louder than my head sometimes, but I had to maintain a level of control. Certain things needed to be put into place, and above all else, their safety was my main priority.

I’d made the decision to leave Evie alone until I knew I could go to her safely, and I had to stick to that no matter what. I drove back to Big’s to return his truck and found him sitting outside in a lawn chair.

“Need you to take me somewhere.”

“Where?”

“Can’t say right now, but I need you to get one of the cars you’re working on.”

“What the actual fuck, J? I can’t just take a customer’s car out joy riding.”

“No, but you can test drive it for diagnosis purposes, correct?”

“Yeah…”

“Just trust me, okay?”

He eyed me for a few seconds before reluctantly saying, “Okay. Got an Impala that needs taken out anyway. I’ve fucked the owner a time or two. She won’t care if we take it. Let me lock up the house, and I’ll meet you down there.”

About five minutes later, we were on our way.

“Would you like to tell me what the hell is going on? And where we’re going.”

“Yeah… We’re going to my house. Sorry I couldn’t say anything back there, but your fucking house is at the very least wired and there might be cameras, too. I don’t know if your truck is safe or not.”

“Come again?” he said, side eyeing me.

“I found out today that Niall’s got your place bugged to keep tabs on me.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Wish I was.”

“Fuck. That makes me want to burn the fucking place to the ground. Can you just kill that son of a bitch already? And when you’re done, why don’t you knock some sense into my old man while you’re at it. That has to be how it was done. He had to have either done it for him or left the fucking place open for someone else to do it.”

“That brings me to my next discussion point. Got a fight scheduled for tomorrow. I’m taking that mother fucker out.”

“No shit? Public slaying? I like it. Give the bastard what he deserves. Man, I can’t believe Niall would go for that, knowing how brutal you can be.”

“Yeah, I don’t know how it’s gonna go. In a fair fight, no doubt I could take him, but this is Niall we’re talking about. I have to be prepared for anything he might pull.”

“I’ve got your back, J. If anyone tries some shit, I’ll be there to stop them.”

“Thanks, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to be there.”

“Like hell it isn’t.”

“There’s going to be blowback, whether I win or not. If you’re there and you jump in, it’s gonna land on you. Plus, I don’t need help. I got this.”

“You just said he might play dirty, and now you’re all ‘I got this’? Nope. Don’t think so, my friend. I’m a big fucking boy. I can handle my own, and if someone kills me, well, then that’s how I was meant to go out. Like I said. I got your back.”

Big was dead serious, but I wished he’d listen to me for once, though I have to say there was a small bit of comfort in knowing I wouldn’t be completely alone.

We pulled into the driveway a short while later and I asked Big to stick around until I was done. The feeling of nausea washed over me as I entered the front door a minute later. It always felt like more of a prison than a home, but knowing I’d been monitored for Christ only knows how long like an
actual
prisoner made my blood run cold, chilling me clear to the bone.

Darting up the steps, I hurried to my room, grabbing a large duffel bag from underneath my bed. I unzipped the bag and opened up the safe that was stashed in my closet. Grabbing wads of cash, I stuffed it all in the bag and zipped it shut when I was finished.

My next task took a few minutes, but it had to be done. Taking a piece of paper and a pen out of the nightstand, I sat down on the edge of the bed and wrote until everything I wanted to say was out of my head. Tucking it into an envelope I sealed it and stood up, picking up the duffel bag.

I took one last look around my room, not knowing if it would be the last or not, and closed the door behind me on my way out. I found Big pacing in the driveway while he smoked a cigarette.

“What you got in the bag?” he asked and got into the car.

A got into the passenger side and closed the door, but I didn’t plan on leaving with Big. I just didn’t want Niall to hear anything I might say.

“A future for Evie. If things go south tomorrow, I want you to take this cash to her. She still lives at the same house she did when we were in school.”

“You’ll take it to her yourself. Tonight. Get in your car and go.”

“I can’t do that, Big. I can’t put her in more danger.”

“You really think she’s not in danger already?”

“Niall doesn’t know about her. She’ll be fine.”

“She doesn’t care about the money, J. She cares about you, and what’s the big fucking deal if Niall doesn’t even know about her?”

“I can’t, okay?” I asked raising my voice. “I wrote her a letter and put it in here. If things go my way, I’ll say it all to her myself, but I can’t just let her think I disappeared from her life again. If I end up dead, she has to know what she meant to me.”

“Okay… but don’t you think she deserves to hear it from your mouth instead of reading it on a piece of paper? She won’t be in danger as long as you’re with her because you’ll fucking protect her, and if she isn’t on Niall’s radar, then she’s not in danger at all anyway. Go have a spectacular fucking night with the woman you love, man, and if things go south, then at least you’ll die a happy man. You deserve that.”

His words weighed on my decision, fogging up my thoughts. The more I thought about going to her, the more my heart ached for it. Unfortunately, my heart wasn’t a priority at the moment.

“If I end up dead, get Georgia—she’s staying over at Katie’s for a couple nights—and take her to this guy,” I said, pulling out the business card the private investigator had given me from my wallet. It was a last ditch effort to make sure she’d be okay. There was nothing else I could really do, other than tell Big to kidnap her and get the fuck away from Niall, but then that would just end with him going to prison eventually and Georgia going right back to Niall. At least this way, she’d have a chance to escape him. “Tell him Niall threatened to kill her and that he kidnapped her, too. After you do that, take that bag to Evie. At least I’ll be able to take care of her one way or the other.”

“You got it, J, since you’re obviously not going to take my goddamn advice,” he said. “Doesn’t matter. You’re gonna come out on top of this, and you and Evie and Georgia are going to be just fine. You know that, right?”

I nodded but couldn’t shake the feeling that all hell was about to break loose.

CHAPTER 28- JET

I stared in the mirror of the small bathroom, psyching myself up for what was either going to be the end of my life or the beginning.

You’re the man who’s going to end Niall.

You’re the one who’s going to take control of your life.

You’re the one who’s going to determine your future.

You’ve got this.

I hadn’t even had a chance to change into what I was going to fight in when my phone buzzed, interrupting my pre-fight ritual. 

Pulling my phone out and sliding my finger across the screen to unlock it, I wasn’t surprised to see that Niall had sent the text. No doubt it would be an effort to get me to call the whole thing off or to rile me up that much more.

My heart pounded as I tapped on the message. The last thing I’d ever want to see from him damn near caused me to drop the phone. There on the screen was a picture of Evie standing in the driveway of her house. The message under the picture said, “Found out who the gash is. Guess it’s time for me to cut those ties for good.”

I stood and almost threw the phone across the room, but I caught myself before I could do it. Immediately calling Niall, I half expected him not to answer. Slipping into my boots, I grabbed my helmet and started toward my bike when he picked up.

“Have I got your attention, boy?’

“How long have you had her?”

“I don’t have her. Not yet, anyway. Just had someone do a little surveillance the other day and thought I’d share one of the pictures with you.”

“She dumped me. No need to drag her back into this. She can’t stand the sight of me, and all this shit is between you and me. Leave her out of it.”

“You must think I’m a fool. I saw how broken she looked when she left that hotel the other night. That was not the look of a woman who planned on never seeing you again.”

“How do you know who she is?”

I felt like a snake, coiling and preparing to strike as he continued on, fueling my venomous rage. Too bad he wasn’t in front of me or I’d have ended him then. The fact that he had locked in on Evie made the whole being-signed-over-to-Niall-by-a-mother-who didn’t-care thing seem like nothing at all. I didn’t give a shit about those people. They weren’t my family. Blood wasn’t always thicker than water, and Evie was my other half.

“Funny story… Stop me if you’ve heard it. There once was a prostitute who fucked the boss’s son. In order to regain the attention of that son, she concocted a plan to make it seem as if she’d been beaten and raped by one of her clients. When in reality, she’d been paid—extremely well—and lied to the boss about it all so that the son might be her knight in shining armor. You see, the son made her heart pitter patter so fast she couldn’t ignore it. When the boss ordered the son to kill her for lying and for being a bad little whore, he couldn’t do it and sent her on her way, never to be heard from or seen again.

In an effort to smooth things over so she could remain in the city where she had drug connections and a steady income, she reached out to the boss and confessed, mentioning a name that was of particular interest to said boss before he ended her like the son should’ve done. The name was one he hadn’t heard in many years, though the boss was aware of a special lady via an overheard conversation at the best friend’s house. No name was given then, but once the boss connected the pieces, he remembered what he told the son if he didn’t cut ties.”

“You son of a bitch,” I yelled. “Don’t lay a finger on her or I swear to God I’ll kill you.”

“Yeah, yeah, boy. Dodged that bullet today, didn’t I? How stupid do you think I must be to willingly face a man trained to fight people to the death? But don’t worry. I’ll give you one last chance to see her before I gut her like a fucking fish. Just hope you can make it here in time. Her death is on you. You should’ve left things alone and done your goddamn duty.”

“Your fight is with me. Don’t fucking touch her. She doesn’t deserve any of this.”

“She’s out at the moment, but it’s only a matter of time before she gets back, and I’ll be waiting.”

The phone went dead, and my heart stopped. An eternity passed in the seconds it took me to text her. I didn’t have time for a conversation, so a text would have to do.

Don’t go home. Please, don’t go home. Trust me.

I got on my bike and sped off down the road toward Evie. I estimated I could make the trip in twenty-five minutes or so if I pushed the bike to the brink and didn’t get pulled over along the way.

Every mile that went by, I prayed to a God I didn’t even really know that I would make it in time. I’d give my life for hers, and I’d make damn sure I’d do everything in my power to make sure she survived, even if I had to die to do it.

CHAPTER 29 – EVIE

As I pulled into the driveway in the new car I’d purchased a couple days earlier, I was feeling hopeful. The car had alerted me that I had a text from Jet, but I was still learning all the cool gadgets of the car and hadn’t quite figured out how to have it read it to me.

Reaching for the phone, my fingers trembled as I hoped for good news. Reading the text caused my heart to skip a beat, and for the first time since Jet had come back into my life, I felt truly afraid for my life. I instinctively looked in the rear-view mirror so I could put the car in reverse and back out. A black SUV pulled in behind me, blocking me in. I went on high alert and bolted from the car, hurrying to the front door in an effort to get inside before whoever it was could get out. There was no chance of driving away since I’d been blocked in, but I had to do something to try and save myself. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw the form of a man moving toward me.

A voice called out calmly, but firmly, “If you want to live, you’ll stop.”

I stopped just as I stepped up onto the front stoop, turning to face him. His slicked-back blond hair shined in the sunlight. His suit—crisp and expensive—made him look like he was worth more than the prick he actually was. I’d never seen Niall Flanagan face to face, but I’d seen this man from a distance at the warehouse. There was no mistaking that was who he was.