Invincible (22 page)

43.

(Rose)

It was like watching a horror movie. The way Luke just sat up, his head turning and grabbing for the razor. Wes was on his knees and couldn
’
t move. He was hurting. I had tried to move, but the guys next to me grabbed my arms and held me there. They wanted me to watch this fucking scene. I was ready to fight my way out of it, that was for damn sure.

I thrashed my left arm as Luke took a step at Wes.

I screamed Wes
’
s name as loud as I could.

Wes couldn
’
t die now. Not after everything he
’
d been through.

I turned my head and saw someone rush to the guy next to me. He grabbed his throat and threw him back, slamming him so hard against the wall, he was out cold. The guy to my right jumped away from me to fight the attacker. The attacker was quick though, even in a suit and tie. His fists were fast and hard, sending the other guy to the ground, knocked out too.

The attacker then grabbed me. I tried to scream, but he lifted me and put a hand over my mouth. He started to run with me in his arms like I was nothing.

And I had no idea if Wes was alive or not
…
then I heard a gunshot
…

~ ~ ~

It wasn
’
t exactly a hospital, but it was a little bit cleaner than the shit hole warehouse where the fights had taken place.

I sat in a chair and waited for the door to open.

There were a handful of people rushing around. They were all in suits and ties. They were talking about power, muscle, money - even drugs. It was like the world had come to an end or something. Which maybe was true. I mean, at least my world. Someone muttered that
he was dead
. That all it took was one bullet to finish it off.

They all looked at me and shook their heads.

Did they feel sorry for me?

What the fuck was going on?

I waited with forced patience because there was nothing else I could do. A man stood across from me with his hands at his waist. His suit jacket open just enough to show me the gun.

Yeah, I get the picture.

A door opened a short while later and Aton came walking down the hallway. A cane in his hand, moving slowly and looking tired. He put his other hand to the wall and pointed the cane at me.

“
You and me,
”
he said. He whacked the cane off a door.
“
We need to talk.
”

I stood up, ready to face my fate. Good or bad. It didn
’
t really matter what my fate was if Wes was dead. I had fallen in love with him and he
’
d done everything possible to protect me.

I went into an office and one of Aton
’
s guys shut the door.

It was just me and Aton now.

“
Sit,
”
he ordered.

I sat down.

Aton hobbled to the other side of the desk and sat down. He balanced the cane to the desk and stared right at me.

“
I tried to kill you once,
”
he said.
“
Sent Tommy and Wes out to blow your car up.
”

“
I remember.
”

“
Your brother saved you from that fate. He had intel about it. I guess that worked out for you and Wes.
”

I slowly nodded.
“
Yes.
”

“
Yet I wonder how
…
well, why would Wes go along with killing his wife?
”

I felt my cheeks rage with fire.
“
He came to me. The next day. That
’
s when he was shot in the shoulder.
”

“
After the bomb was planted. The trap set. You should have gotten into the car, Rose.
”

“
I didn
’
t.
”

“
Because of Luke? Because of Wes?
”

My chin quivered.
“
I
…”

Aton raised a hand and nodded.
“
Don
’
t get upset, Rose. I
’
m not a damn fool. And I knew what was happening behind my back with everyone. You don
’
t stay in power without recognizing the target on your back and protecting it. Understand me?
”

“
Yes,
”
I said.

“
Your brother was very powerful. But he could never do what I do. I
’
m sorry to tell you this, Rose. You may get angry, that
’
s fine. But I killed him.
”

My heart twisted.
“
Wes?
”

“
Your brother,
”
Aton said.
“
Wes had his chance but couldn
’
t do it. I had to do it. I had to end all this.
”

“
That
’
s okay,
”
I said.
“
Luke was a bad person.
”

“
He was going to kill you, Rose. He was going to kill me. He was going to kill Wes
…”

“
He told me his plan,
”
I admitted.
“
I saw Danny, too. They held me captive after Luke killed Tommy and his own guys. I thought he killed Wes too. My head is spinning. Is Wes okay?
”

Aton folded his hands.
“
I
’
m going to ask you this once, Rose. You better not lie to me.
”

I knew what was coming. I gripped the arms of the chair.

“
Are you and Wes really married?
”

I hesitated and then sighed.
“
No. We
’
re not. He told me to go along with it to keep ourselves alive. Because you were going to kill me to get to Luke. And that you were going to hurt him for messing up some fight. He said you had a soft spot because of your wife
’
s passing. I just went along with it. I was in a room and Tommy threw a sandwich at me. I was terrified. I wanted to help. I did help, too. I told Wes everything I could. And then we
…”

“
Rose,
”
Aton said.
“
Please stop talking.
”

My mouth clamped shut.

Aton sat for a few seconds.
“
Do you love him?
”

“
Wes? Yes. I do with all my heart.
”

“
You truly love Wes?
”

“
Of course. I swear on my life. I couldn
’
t imagine living without him. So if he
’
s dead, or he
’
s going to be dead, then just kill me. Right now. Seal my fate.
”

“
Seal your fate,
”
Aton said.
“
Okay. I will.
”

Aton then opened the top drawer.

I saw a gun and I turned my head.

He
’
s going to kill me.

44.

(Wes)

I opened my eyes and saw some woman rubbing my shoulder. I threw my elbow and groaned.

“
Whoa,
”
she said.
“
Hey. It
’
s okay, Wes.
”

“
Who the fuck are you?
”
I asked.

“
I
’
m Julie. I work with Dr. Stenbrer.
”

I looked around the room. It wasn
’
t a hospital. And I was on a desk. The desk was pushed against the wall, some couch cushions under my head. It was a makeshift hospital room.

“
How
’
s the shoulder?
”
Julie asked.

“
Burns.
”

“
You lost some blood, but you
’
re going to survive, Wes. You need a lot of stitches.
”

“
Where
’
s the doc?
”
I asked.

The door opened and in came the doctor. Wearing an ugly green sweater, sleeves pushed up, a brown collar sticking out of the top of the sweater. He had a combover and glasses. He looked like some middle aged insurance salesman living the middle class dream. Who he really was was a genius doctor on Aton
’
s payroll. So, yeah, he lived the middle class life and ran a small doctor
’
s office, but he was paid a ton of money to help Aton when needed.

“
Wes,
”
the doc said,
“
I
’
m Dr. Stenbrer.
”

“
Yeah, I got that.
”

“
You
’
re good,
”
the doc said.
“
Julie helped me stitch you up.
”

I looked at Julie. She smiled. She had twinkling blue eyes.
“
Thanks.
”

“
No worries,
”
she said and touched my chest.
“
Anything else
…”

“
Where
’
s Rose?
”

Dr. Stenbrer nodded.
“
Let me go get Aton and we
’
ll get this moving along.
”

“
What the fuck does that mean?
”

“
Julie, come on,
”
the doc said.

The nurse walked around the desk and they both left the room. They were replaced by Aton as he came into the room, walking with his cane. The last thing I remembered of him was pointing a gun at me. That
’
s when I toppled over and blacked out. Only to wake up here.

“
Wes,
”
Aton said.

“
Aton,
”
I said.
“
I
…”

“
No,
”
he said.
“
I need you to come with me. We have to walk and talk a little here.
”

I swung my feet off the desk and sat up. Pain ripped through my shoulder and my back. I saw a t-shirt dangling from a chair and forced myself to stand and walk to get the shirt. I put it on and stood there, looking at Aton.

“
Luke is dead,
”
he said.

“
I remember that part. You shot him. He was going to kill me.
”

“
Yeah, he was. I
’
m taking over his entire operation now. My family has been working negotiations. It
’
s going to get very busy for me.
”

“
That
’
s good, Aton. I
’
m happy for you. And your family. I
’
m sure it
’
ll be great.
”

“
And you, Wes?
”
Aton asked.

“
That
’
s up to you. Isn
’
t that how it works? I
’
m just a fighter. Nothing else. You tell me to fight and I fight.
”

“
That I do. I
’
m still going to have plenty of fights, Wes. Don
’
t worry about that.
”

Am I going to be alive to be there, Aton?

Aton turned and motioned for the door. We went out into a hallway. I looked up and down.

Rose. Where the fuck is Rose?

“
Aton, I
’
m not sure what we
’
re doing right now,
”
I said.
“
But I have to know if Rose is okay.
”

Aton paused and then looked at me.
“
She sealed her own fate, Wes.
”

“
I never meant
…”

Aton stepped forward and put his cane against a door.
“
I want you to open this door, Wes.
”

That
’
s when I knew death waited behind the door. That
’
s how they did it. They
’
d give subtle hints and then just whack you. Tell you to open a door and then stand there and either shoot you from behind or have a group of guys with guns waiting to blow you to pieces.

I could have fought it, maybe.

But I didn
’
t.

I grabbed the door handle. I looked at Aton and he stepped out of the way.

Fuck.

I pushed down and pushed the door open.

I love you, Rose. I love you
…

 ~ ~ ~

When I saw Danny hanging by his arms I froze. He was covered in blood. His clothes were ripped up. His face beaten badly. There was a table next to him with all kinds of tools. Most of the tools had blood on them. Danny
’
s legs hung limp, his head the same. He gently swayed back and forth. His breathing was heavy, deep, probably blood in his lungs.

“
What the fuck
…”

Aton stepped up next to me.
“
Danny was working for Luke.
”

“
What?
”
I asked.

“
He was on the other side. I knew it for a little while. I just needed to set something up. That
’
s why I went after Rose. I wanted to see if Luke would find out. And he did. He stopped Rose from getting into her car. I had a picture of her put in the car too.
”

“
What?
”

Aton grinned.
“
I figured if you saw her. Saw her address. You know, you
’
d go check things out. I know you, Wes. A beautiful woman is hard for you to resist. I thought you
’
d get close to her and give me something to work with. Never thought you
’
d fall in love with her.
”
Aton looked at me.
“
Or that you
’
d lie to me about being married to her.
”

Every muscle in my body tightened.
“
I didn
’
t mean to, Aton. I didn
’
t know what to do. I checked on her and I got shot at. I had to get her out of there. Then it all went to hell. I panicked. I wasn
’
t thinking.
”

“
You were thinking. With your heart.
”

“
Maybe I was.
”

“
Love at first sight, Wes.
”

“
I don
’
t know what that is,
”
I said.

“
I do.
”

“
Aton, I
’
m sorry. I never meant
…”

“
See, we
’
re going to end Danny soon,
”
Aton said.
“
The thing about a rat - a true fucking rat - is that they don
’
t like pain. They
’
re afraid of dying. So they chase their tail around and around. Luke had it set up to kill us all at the fight. I knew it. My guys were waiting. We took out all of Luke
’
s men. We got Danny and brought him here for a little fun. Actually, it was kind of fun to see him negotiate deal after deal
…
which we, of course, broke. Along with his toes. His ankles. His knees. His arms. And then his face.
”

“
Christ,
”
I whispered.
“
Well, he fucking deserves it.
”

“
Yeah. The thing is, Wes, you deserve it too.
”
Aton lifted his cane and I saw another set of chains hanging from the ceiling.
“
You understand that?
”

I stiffened and nodded.
“
Okay. I accept it, Aton. I deserve it. I fucked up. I fucked everything up. But here
’
s the thing. You can
’
t do it to Rose. You can
’
t hurt her, Aton. You can cut me limb for limb if you want. You can kill me. I deserve it. But not her. She was
…”

“
Wes, I
’
m not going to kill you,
”
Aton said.

I opened my mouth and then another voice spoke.
“
He
’
s not going to kill you, but I am.
”